Debauchery Worlds 40 (Patreon)

Commissioned by Southmonk

Debauchery Worlds

Chapter 40

-VB-

A2

Theramore, Dustwallow Marsh, Kalimdor

2981.10.08

“I hate murlocs,” A2 growled as he and the other clones with him dipped into the sea to wash off the guts and blood that had splattered on them. “I fucking hate them.”

They were veterans of the Invasion of David, the Counter-Invasion, and even ComStar’s Nuclear Attack. They fought in the Conquest of Alnus Hill. He was there to fight Scion. He fought in the Boston Games! He fucking fought and headbutted the Butcher in the face!

They faced off grander threats!

So why did he have to fight murlocs with nothing but a laser pistol and rifle?

Why did they even have to cross halfway across Kalimdor on foot?! 

UGH! 

“... You lot alright?”

A2 looked up at a pair of human guards standing at stone gatehouse who looked down at them.

“... No,” A2 grunted. “My job sucks.”

“It looks like it. Did you get shipwrecked along the Barrens or something?” the closest - and younger - looking guard asked as she leaned on her spear. 

“Something like that,” he grumbled. “We actually arrived on Kalimdor over at Azshara.”

She stared at them.

The other guard stared at them.

“Holy Light, you actually …?” she asked, aghast at the prospect of what they had to go through.

“Yes. We traveled down from Azshara following the river that divides the Barrens and Orc’s Durotar.”

The duo looked at them in surprise. “The orcs just let you slip by?”

“The orcs didn’t even come by to say hi,” 5B3 replied. “We even stopped to stare at a croc for like an hour because our idiot wheel here,” he said as he thumbed at the last of the clones. “Wanted it as a pet.”

“Oi, you didn’t need to tell random strangers that!” the idiot in question shouted as he walked out of the ocean, having done a full dive. That’s what he got for letting himself get swallowed by a clam.

A2 shook off the last of the water and walked up the slope of the side of the road and got on the road. “Alright.”

The guards took on a straighter posture but, well, their prior introduction certainly didn’t give them a lot of respect. 

“Welcome to Theramore, stranger,” the woman said. “I am Sergeant Nayra. For what purpose have you come to visit our new city?”

A2 cleared his throat. “My name is A2, and these two are my companions. We are visitors from another world, and have heard about the magical prowess of Jaina Proudmoore. We’ve come to talk to her about exchanges.”

The two raised their eyebrows as the idiot and 5B3 finally walked up to stand behind him.

“Do you have any kind of official documents or …?” she asked skeptically. 

As far as A2 was concerned, that was a fair statement. The fashion statement of the era was high medieval European to early modernity. However, the three of them wore science-fiction power armor that the locals simply had no idea to categorize other than “potentially plate armor” and thus someone who looked more like a meathead adventurer or a knight, neither of who9m were exactly diplomacy material.

And then there was his claim about being from another world. 

He smiled behind his helmet and brought up his left forearm where the portal generator was. And then he paused. He wanted to do something cool but he wasn’t sure if the stone bridge could hold up his surprise. So he and the clones backed away until they were on solid dirt ground. Then with but a finger waving over the holographic command console, a portal opened up right next to him, and the guards tensed up before reaching for their weapons. A2 adjusted the portal as he sent a request through the hive mind… and the request was granted. 

When the portal reached some 15 meters tall, it stopped growing taller and wider. 

“I think a otherworldly show can convince you that we aren’t adventurers or scammers,” A2 said with a grin that the guards could not see. 

Because within moments after he said that, a metal leg wider than three men standing side by side pushed out of the portal. 

The guards gawked, and A2 was glad he had the helmet’s cam on recording. 

Slowly and carefully, the one of only three Urbanmechs in the possession of the company stepped through the portal and came to a rest. 

“I think this can prove that we’re not from around here?” A2 asked as he walked over to the left foot of the Urbanmech as the portal closed, and then leaned on it. The “weakest” battlemech stood taller than the stone gatehouse and cast a shadow so big under the early afternoon sun that it covered all three of the expedition members. 

“Uh, yes, I guess.”

“Great but we don’t have documents. Do you mind if we enter the city, regardless?”

“... Can you let us ask our superior?”

“Sure, but please don’t make us wait too long. We only want to set up a trade between, let’s say, nations.” 

-VB-

3J

Proserpina VI, Federated Suns

2981.10.20

The second Irotryoshka to be made by their Proserpina Shipyard neared completion. He gave it a week for the armor plates to finish installing and a day or two for the selected armaments for the ship to be put on. At that point, the ship would be ready to fly. 

This would make it the third of its class to be made; another one was on schedule to leave its drydock only three days from now. 

The shipyard was more limited compared to the headquarters on David II from a lack of dedicated specialized manufacturing factories. Whatever specialized components the ship required, it needed to be shipped here from David II. 

Oi. General Jamakawa is asking for more shells and armor plates. One of the clones in charge of communication with Prosperina IV spoke into the hive mind. 

Already? 3J asked.

Yup. Apparently, there are a lot more guerilla fighters and resistance fighters that they assumed before. 

Tell her to send a dropship over to us. We’ll have them ready by the time she’s here. She knows what she’s paying with, right? 

She knows. She’s actually upset that we raised the price.

Tell her to deal with it. We’re putting our own projects behind schedule to keep her and her soldiers supplied.

That was one of the reasons why their shipyard was slower than the headquarter. Proserpina IV needed to remain in the hands of the Federated Suns for the company to remain safely operational on Proserpina VI.

So they provided, at near cost, arms, armor, and weapons to General Jamawaka and her 41st Avalon Hussars. But only them. No one else got the same price. If anything, their price for common arms and armor was higher because they didn’t have spare manufacturing lines dedicated to sale, and what they did sell were their own modified armors, guns, and mechs that, well, were too pricy for most people because they didn’t need to scrounge for money. Why would they when they mined and smelted ores into bars, paid workers who spent money on goods they made, and got even more money from other revenue sources? 

It was clear to all of the clones and the original of the hive mind that they were starting to become a fixture in the Federated Suns’ coreward worlds. 

We wondered how long that would hold true once we started taking planets for ourselves.