Ravens of Eternity

112 Dangerous Investment, Pt After their meal, they quickly set up a plan to meet with the Ferreshii through Alevos. But they found that the bladesmith himself was incredibly interested in bringing them together. So much so that he offered to bring them to his friend in person.

They couldn’t have asked for more, and so hopped into their gondola and traveled over to the Ferreshi clan’s district in the city. It was thankfully still a Green Zone, though Eva noted a part of it was marked in Blue.

The gondola touched down at one of the pads closest to the district’s HQ. This section was absolutely a madhouse to Eva and Miko.

There were hundreds of Drogar at any given time, busily going to and fro between buildings. Above their heads, industrial and commercial drones sped around the skyways. Some carried various crates and machinery inside of their antigrav fields.

The buildings all around the district were uniformly colored, and were emblazoned with a logo that appeared to be the clan’s name in Drogarii. It was simply three wavy lines topped by three small circles.

The translation in their DI’s was absolutely mangled. It was clear that the clan name was something poetic, but instead it came out a confusing “Skyfly Wave Nomad”.

But other than that, the buildings varied in size and in purpose, but they interestingly grew taller the further away they were. In fact, at the very far end was a rather modest tower that overlooked the district itself.

Close to it was a group of apartment buildings, but otherwise the great majority of the rest of the buildings appeared to be production-oriented. Though they were all beautiful in design like the rest of the city, it was clear that their functions were heavily utilitarian.

Eva and Miko wowed as a massive cargo gondola hovered over a warehouse as it moved goods up and down from its platform. It had multiple antigrav tractor drones all around, and picked up or dropped off whatever crates it needed to.

.....

A great many crates were transferred down to the warehouse’s receiving area, where a great number of Drogar workers and their drones organized everything. Some went into the warehouse, some went out to the other buildings, and some were placed off to the side.

And all the other buildings that surrounded them that took in all those crates seemingly ate up a great deal of them. Whatever came back out were in much smaller crates, or in large chunks of trash.

Trash which ultimately ended up at a recycling facility within the district itself. As they passed by it, Eva could see the huge reprocessing tanks through the open bay doors. They churned out chunks of raw materials almost as fast as they ate the trash itself.

Those raw materials were picked up by various drones and workers, packaged up into bundles, and transported to other buildings yet again. No doubt they were going to be processed into many other things as they traveled through the district.

To Eva and Miko, it was a chaotic storm of parts and materials going in every direction. But the closer they paid attention, the more they realized it was all headed towards the very end of the district itself.

Absolutely everything that came in was refined further and further and sent to the main tower, where they were presumably finished. There, huge crates of those products were lifted up onto multiple highly secure cargo gondola.

Each of the gondola boasted a beefy security detail which included heavily armed and armored Drogar guards and a slew of support drones.

“What the hell are they shipping?” blurted out Eva. “That’s a bit too much firepower for just random stuff.”

“Szereth’s specialties, no doubt,” answered Alevos. “You could ask Szereth yourself what they are when you meet him. Probably best not to, though. Wouldn’t wanna offend.”

“This Szereth your Ferreshii friend, then?”

“Yeah, we’ve known each other for, oh, decades now. Since back in our old academy days, actually. Those were some good years.”

“So you’re friends, then?”

Alevoth grinned at Eva. The two of them were basically brothers, in his eyes.

“I’ll say this,” he said. “Neither of us would have what we have without the other.”

As the group of them got closer to the tower at the end, they found it was far larger than all the other buildings, but oddly didn’t feel imposing. There was a sculpture out front that also acted as the building’s signpost.

It read ‘Szereth Design Group’, as translated through their DI’s.

The building was impressively wide, far wider than it was tall. From its wide footprint, it curved upwards and tapered relatively narrowly close to the top, where it flared out again. The curves gave it an organic, plant-like appearance that still fit within the coral aesthetic of the city.

But it clearly stood out from the rest as well.

When they stepped into one of the main entrance chambers, they found the interior just as beautiful as the outside. Its lines curved gracefully and led all eyes towards the front. There, a number of receptionists stood behind a long desk while stylishly armored guards flanked the sides.

Every surface was either a polished dark stone or a brushed blue titanium. Both combined screamed simple, refined beauty with every single millimeter.

Alevos chatted with one of the receptionists for only a few moments before they were all quickly escorted towards a private lift off to the side. They were even awkwardly accompanied by one of the stylish guards, who might have looked imposing if not for the two Justicars.

Although the flowing plates on his armor were highly beautiful and protective, it wasn’t nearly as threatening as the Justicar’s simple lamellar scales. Eva noted that both likely had similar protective values.

After seeing many similarities in their armor’s profile, she concluded that they might have been made by the same person. Or, at least, designed by the same person. And they were about to meet him.

The lift was spacious, fast, and unbelievably smooth. Neither Eva or Miko felt it move, and yet they were at their destination far faster than either of them had expected. It was almost like they had teleported, minus the whole sparkly part.

But as it opened, they noticed that the lift just slid into place, flat against the floor. So they knew that the thing simply moved at top speed. But somehow, they didn’t feel their blood pool from immense g-forces.

Both were incredibly curious, as this thing appeared to break the laws of known physics. Miko in particular was greatly intrigued.

The lift immediately opened up to a vast, open room with very few decorative objects. There was a desk in the center, along with a few chairs and some floating shelves. Almost every surface was that same dark stone, but dull rather than polished.

Szereth stood by the huge windows on the other side, and peered down on his domain. His main one, at least. The vast, highly efficient machine that he had been building all his life was before him in all its glory.

He finished marveling at his own handiwork and spun around to greet his guests. His grin widened as he approached them. Well, Alevos, specifically.

Szereth was taller and skinnier, especially compared to Alevos. His scales were a bright blue, almost like a sapphire. The robe around his body was modest-looking, but was clearly cut from a fine cloth and perfectly tailored. Any adornments on him were made of some greyish metal, but had a nice mottled patina on them.

“Master Alevos,” he said. “So good to see you! It’s been some time, eh?”

“It’s been too long my friend,” replied Alevos.

Szereth sized up his friends’ companions – an incredibly odd lot to say in the least. Two Justicars with two humans. All female.

“You’ve brought quite the crew to me today,” he said. “I hope I haven’t done anything wrong to gain this much attention. In any case, I’m Machinefather Szereth of the Ferreshii Clan’s High Industry Group.”

The four of them introduced themselves, although Eva and Miko used their callsigns instead of their real names. Truth be told it had become a force of habit for them.

The callsigns had more meaning in their new lives, anyway.

“Freya and Raijin, huh,” said Szereth. “I can only imagine why you two are on this planet, and I imagine it probably involves a little infighting among the higher ups.”

He pointed upwards and made spiraling motions with his finger to help punctuate his meaning.

“Can’t make a decent meal in this city without Red Zoners poking their tails in our stew,” said Alevos.

All other Drogar chuckled in response, even the guards in earshot.

“So, how can I help you all?” asked Szereth.

“Master Alevos here told us that you might have some need to employ humans,” said Eva. “Or at least a human.”

“Employ is a rather large word,” Szereth replied. “And a little too confining for my tastes. I certainly have a use for a human, though I’m not sure if you quite fit. I understand the males of your species are more... physical, which is what I need.”

“I thought you were supposed to be the smarter one,” said Alevos. “Look at who they’re with, my friend. Do you think they would be accompanied by two Justicars if they were more harmless than not?”

Szereth looked over at the two Justicars. Both were rather well-known, Severas in particular. He sized up the two humans, but still looked rather disappointed by what he saw. What he had in mind was something much more brutish, and these two looked far too frail.

“Fine,” he said. “Which one, then? The small one or the big one?”

“I suppose it depends on what you want done,” said Eva. “If you want someone found, removed, or misplaced, you want me. If you want data to be found, removed, or misplaced, you want her.”

“Lawfully speaking, of course,” added Miko. “Tell us what you need, and we will let you know if we can handle it. We are professionals, and have performed many contracts.”

Szereth couldn’t help but chortle at the two humans. Both smaller and daintier than any he had ever dealt with. He truly had a tough time believing the two were up to the task. But what Alevos rung true, and he couldn’t shake it.

One Justicar was more than enough for a half dozen humans. But these two had one each. And both of them were highly decorated.

He sighed in defeat, then went over to his desk and poured out a clear blue liquid into a handful of stylish empty glasses.

“I’ve been talking with a few Hegemony pals over the past few months,” he said. “Merchant stuff, really. Mostly about our species’ different cultural passions. Music. Imagery. Poetry. Intoxicants. Sports. Gambling... I’m sure you know where this is going.”

He offered each of them a drink, which they all accepted happily. And although he took the last one, he was the first to take a sip. Only after Alevos and the two Justicars took their own sips did Eva and Miko follow suit.

“Specifically,” he continued, “we Drogar love arena duels. It’s a traditional sport, passed down through the ages, since time immemorial, however long that was. But it’s basically two powerful athletes compete against each other. All that they have are their bodies, their arms and armor, and their skills.”

“Lemme guess,” said Eva. “They duel to the death.”

“Most of the time, of course. The bets would be meaningless if that risk wasn’t there. And the audience loves blood. Loves it. Honestly, what Drogar doesn’t?”

“So what now?” asked Eva. “We make a sports team centered around an athlete? Then bet on the outcome? Why not just go for a regular Drogar?”

“Because the odds for a human opponent would be absurd! What would it be? Ten to one? A hundred to one? Question is if you’re capable of winning even one match against a Drogar pitfighter.”

Eva looked down at her hands, squeezed them into fists, then opened them back up again. She had grown considerably these past few months, and was certain she could take on any Drogar. But a highly trained one with a deadly blade could pose problems.

“Let me ask this,” Szereth continued, “do you think you could overpower a Drogar at peak physical condition? If not, do have a decade of Drogar bladefighting experience under your belt? Do you even have a beltknife? Somehow I think the answers would be no.”

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