Imperator Edward Pascal.
3rd Legion, the Cogs.
***
Not to discount the others and not to complain, but I had the most on my plate out of everyone. I was Amun's Chief Engineer. I was the 3rd Legion's Imperator. I was to be Eotrom's God of Industry. So too was I the proprietor of Pascal Industries. I was the sponsor of Winwell, initially, and then Atford County as a whole.
That encompassed a lot. Yet I was never understaffed. The other founders in my Legion had ever-increasing numbers. The undead forever increased in number. As did the prospective tinkerers of Bakewia who came from far and wide. But in some cases, I sought them out as well. In any case, they trickled in after Amun and his girls left Bakewia at the end of Ianua. However, they were received by my Doppelganger, Ed, on the base floor of my tower. As I was on the floors above, fully melded into the divine energies spread throughout the floor in order to bring my next project to fruition.
The birth of Kit and the Omni-Wagon saw the need for Umas to be created for the rest of the Legions' founders. However, it came with the condition that Zeta, or Capital-Class Umas were only to be given to those who met the requirements to command a legion. Everyone else was to get an Alpha-Class Uma. Thus I sent out a request at once, stating my need to borrow their deeply rooted wise rocks along with a creature felled by them or brought from their woven worlds.
Of course, a data packet was sent along with the request, containing everything they needed to know about the machines in ways easiest for them to understand. Even without them, however, I suspected the response times would have been just as fast. My vehicles were that well-received.
Naturally, I made mine first. She was born from a burrowing centipede native to my home world, Preem; or the Planet of Resource Extraction, Engineering, and Manufacturing. Due to the industrial nature of the world, the centipede had a body of cogs laid side by side and preyed on the metal of other creatures, using its 'venom' to melt their components and drink the slurry for its own ends.
Now, that the Cogipede was merged with my tower, my home and workspace were separated, with the former being at the head and the latter being at the tail, where they could connect whenever the Uma bit its own tail as it so often did in life.
At all other times, no less than nineteen modules sat between them. Two for each of my eight corps, plus a city for them to run wild in during their off times.
While Elsgril and Forgruna went off to Mazi, Matthew Reid and Quinn Leonhart remained in Bakewia to demolish things on request and to construct roads and fuel stations across the country.
Their perks as artificers coupled with Amun's blessings saw the work finished in days. Thus, with their work done, they were in place to see the Uma come to life and crawl along the newly constructed road to Shavew, where it stopped a ways away from the gates to curve in on itself and bite its tail.
That alone invoked a wave of potential workers, citizens, and Legionaries. The advertisement I sent across the ManaNet saw even more arrive before the day was done. Including an expectedly unexpected gnome.
I wasn't too versed with the species, so I only knew her to be young, and yet older than me. She was maybe 110 centimeters tall, with an afro of hair protruding from a loosely tied bandanna and thick goggles. A pair of heavily armored greaves, a pauldron, and a thick tool belt were all she wore besides a smithy apron, some white shorts, and a tunic the same light blue as her bandanna.
Alone, that wasn't significant. But her username on the ManaNet and her introduction made that a different story.
"Hey-hey! Down here! Over here! It's me, Zazz. Zazz Zeelba!"
"Ed's Engineer?" I snorted, reading her username. "I never consented to that, you know.
"Aha ha!" she waved an armored glove. "That's why it's a question, it is! And I'm gonna be your engineer, I am! But that's not why I'm here. My Pa wants to meet you."
"Your Pa?"
"The King of Bakewia. King Zapp Zeelba."
Therein marked my first staff officer and the beginning of my journey across the northern coast. Of course, I recruited Eomen first, yet they wanted to create and serve in my industrial army, navy, air force, and support corps; seeing as how the other industrial aspects were covered by Elsgril and the others. Thus I elected to find the best and brightest of various nations for my staff.
King Zeelba wound up being just as eccentric as his nephew, Zook, and Zook's daughter, Zoop. He served me, Matthew, and Quinn, a grand feast and thanked us profusely for our work throughout. Then thanked us some more once we were given an impromptu show from Hogaz wiping out the pirates of Shujen Bay. During which, the gnomes veritably drolled at the Moonsliver.
While dinner was winding down, he told us that with Atford County uplifted and a new, vehicle-ready road looping across the entire country, they could finally gain their independence from Vruria and cease being a Protectorate. In turn, he stated his first order of business would be to ally themselves with the 3rd Legion and Eotrom.
I congratulated him on his achievement and accepted his offer with gratitude before sharing my plans going forward. In short, I'd be extending my work elsewhere. First to Knighilia and then to Nevstan and Mazi, as Shujen was currently being uplifted by Zaraxus. By the middle of the year, they should be connected all the way to Chor. Perhaps more.
Another round of profuse gratitude was given while our dinner wound down and was eventually punctuated by Zazz stepping before her father to ask. "Can I accompany them?"
"Of course, you have my permission. However," he turned to me. "That is up to you."
As stated, she wound up being my engineer. My first officer, but not my Executive officer. That title belonged to a man of 66 years who was chatting it up with my Doppelganger when we returned, Lou Lytos, a retiree of the Bakewian royal guard.
My Doppelganger saw to it to whip him into shape by the time we got underway. Allowing me to spend the majority of my time on my task. And changing my plans.
Hogaz killed the pirates I aimed to use as test subjects for the new toys I intended to make. While unfortunate, the fault was mine for not claiming them on NoxNet, thus he had to be rewarded in some way. That said, Amun claimed the creation of his Zeta-Class Uma. Thus I was relegated to upgrading his ships before hiding them in a spot of Amun's choosing. And upgrade them I did.
The forcefields, smoke screens, torch-powered engineering bays, and flight capabilities aside, I automated the weapons bays on all of their ships and fitted their spell cannons with various enchantments, allowing them to construct fresh munitions from their resource reserves and fit them with tungsten warheads.
After that came the real work. And the first Uma in many regards was the most complicated.
It was the first to arrive and thus the first I would work on, belonging to the 1st Legion's Imperator. He sent his Tempest Griffon's egg, of all things. Not to say I was surprised. I only struggled to make a design for the damn thing.
It took until we crossed the Knighilian border to remember Toril's preference for vehicles that left him open to the environment. So, I merged his griffon egg with a heavily modified version of the levitating chair akin to the one Amun gave Iris, then fitted the voluminous interior and mountainous throne with the wise rocks of the many founders in his Legion.
Coupled with some materials born from his world and the nature of the egg itself, the Uma boasted the innate ability to render itself invisible in the air or show itself to the realm below as it pleased, appearing as a dark thundercloud that could take whatever shape its owner desired.
That left me with a small break that I spent surveying the lands of Knighilia. It was both the most tamed and the most untouched land in all the Peninsula, based on all I'd seen. Like in Kasia, everything beyond the roads went largely untouched while they occupied eccentric wizard towers and beautiful city-sized castles. But unlike there, the snowy forests were pristine, with many a magic beast calling them home.
Less than 100 kilometers past the border was the first Knighilian city we came upon. Belldyard. One of the few settlements with a focus on trade, due to its proximity to Bakewia. Being on the other side of Atford County made it all the better, as they were higher in elevation and thus were looking down on the Bakewian city of Soralerameno while Quinn was doing his work.
That coupled with this undoubtedly magical craft of mine opened the proverbial door to the Grenholdia Canton. We were in contact with the rulers within hours. Thus a transportation hut and a fuel depot were under construction by that night.
By morning, the Fabrication perk saw the buildings complete and the Cogipede was underway to the capital in the heart of the country, traveling slower in its road layer configuration. Likewise, Quinn, Lou, and my four corps commanders were scattered to the arterial roads, where they were sure to gather more recruits as they passed each city.
Meanwhile, I continued my work. Jaimess sent over a massive draconic centipede thing he killed last year, during our training with Amun. After learning of its electrostatic properties, I ensured to harvest as many scales as I could while ensuring to leave enough to form a layer of armor over the temple existing in the lair stone.
When it took form, Jaimess' tower extended down the length of the body. Creating a mountain-like jungle of a tunnel throughout the interior, straddled by countless shoulder blades- alcoves leading to the towers and temples of his many subordinates.
We arrived at Dawnrungar by the time the last pair of legs were complete and the thing was sent to hide in his world like Toril's. The Republic's Capital was in a time of celebration due to Hogaz's exploits in ridding the waters of pirates. And with him sailing off to the Great Ligin Bay, we were left to receive his credit and more, receive requests.
I got a commission to build a transportation hub on the other side of the Shavewell River. Within would be airports and harbors for both personnel and freight alongside a driving track to teach a new fleet of operators just like in Bakewia. To that end, I gave Zazz her first task, overseen by my Doppelganger, and in turn gained two more officers over the course of the construction.
Ah'l L'eti was a high elf of 49 years, who nearly became desperate after I told him the nature of a Technical Wizard. The half-high elf, on the other hand, was a lot more tame about the idea of becoming a doctoral witch. So, at the age of 27, Dorrn Everwood swore into the Legion as well.
While they trained and the others worked, I got to work on the Uma I was most excited and worried about. Roheisa's Vulcanox. Although there was no need for such worry, as Amun insisted he would take the blame should things go awry. But I had faith that Roheisa would appreciate the crawling mountain I made for her.
We were done in Knighilia by the 13th of Duotra and off to Shujen. By then, even the newest additions were in the swing of things, and thus Matthew and my Doppelganger collaborated on a few projects. A new type of wand and broomstick for the Legions' auxiliaries- the allied and often weaker nations we would fight with in the future.
What they designed was a long-range wand that could be used by anyone, evolved or not. All that was needed to fire it was the release of some mana from the index finger. Interchangeable cartridges could alter the type of projectile launched, akin to Amun's Zodiac crossbow. Yet it was about as long as a short spear, with a quite comfortable grip that saw the wand rest in the shoulder. The Rapid Arcane Projectile-launching Hand-fired Extended Wand; or Raphew- the name needed work more than the item.
For the witches, they designed something that would fit all the assets of a witch hut within a slimmed-down version of the Grav-Bike Amun made for Zakira, called the Portable Operating Table for Trauma, Emergencies, and Rescues. Or the POTTER Mk I.
In the meantime, the monk's walks through Shujen and Zaraxus' work left little in the way of sightseeing. Thus my attention was turned to the Dusk Owl sent over by Lucia. One of the simpler ones, I turned out, as Lucia's castle of bronze fit perfectly inside the creature's chest; and its divine nature made it all the easier.
Due to that, I was at the forefront of the Cogipede's exit when we stopped at the Shujen capital. Some disembarked to make a few pit stops to trade goods and recruit people from various parts of the country, including me.
He was pointed out by Zaraxus on the Net. A blue-skinned strifling of 11 years named Lahkrius, who'd been tinkering alongside the undead. Thus Zaraxus saw fit to teach him how to lead and fight, and he'd been learning well.
While he was young, his training would see him mature in record time. Thus he was named as my Marshal and began the next part of his training while the others shifted to moving people across the countries or relocating those who wanted to join other Legions.
Part of that consisted of him observing me create Peter's Uma. Born from a soft-shell turtle in his world, it was one of the simpler craft to make. Especially when I got my hands on the outrageous terrariums they began to make. Thus I moved on to Zakira's Uma out of a Lunar Moth, creating something like Lucia's but with an open-air theme.
By the 15th of Duotra, we had moved on to Nevstan, where we faced a massive wall encircling the entire country. It was the first and largest of our tasks in the region, given the severity of the issue. So I called ahead to Willard Rowe in Chor, who put me in contact with Princess Nevstan so I could explain the nature of the poison in her walls.
The work got underway in short order after that. Even then though, she saw fit to travel all the way to the western wall to have dinner with me. I didn't know what I expected, but it wasn't a strifling with sulfuric-yellow skin and horns growing out of her brows. Nor did I expect her to be utterly infatuated with Jaimess. Or, as she called him, the Tengu Tamer.
She talked about him constantly, refusing to let up even after I relocated the Cogipede to Chor and sent my subordinates on a path to each city to rid their walls and buildings of asbestos. It got so bad I had to bring Willard and Ritrix in just to get some work done. But even then, I had to chime in over the Net every once in a while, lest she try and force her way into my Creation Station.
That wouldn't have boded well. For I was creating Opal's sanctuary out of a Gloom Pit Viper. A perfect fit, it wound up being, as the beast's nature allowed it to burrow in darkness and solid ground alike. Not to mention fly or swim when needed.
The aftermath was a different story, however. Their tasks were completed by the 16th of Trescia. Thus they took to the shores of Crater Lake and the Misthand River to build harbors, shipyards, quays, sky ports, and other such structures while I took to more civil matters.
Like nearly everyone else, I recruited a halfling for my civil chief. A woman of 24 years who called herself Yerda Sprigmore. A chore native, she was. Thus she talked up the Princess while I went back to the station to create the last two Uma.
The largest Uma, they were, due to the nature of their Imperators. The home of the 10th Legion was a Blue Sky Whale that grew a forest on its back as opposed to a field of barnacles. It even had a few lakes populated with fish from native to both above and below. The interior, however, went from countless perches, docking bays, and hangars to industrial-military complexes and residential structures the closer one got to the center.
The second was a posh castle made from a Boulder Crab. Like the whale, the exterior was kept natural but lined with caves for the draconic creatures of the 11th Legion and their solitary members. What was more, it was made to be modular, and thus capable of docking and undocking with other boulder crab Umas.
Throughout it all, this divine magic all over my workspace paired with the zealous behavior of Lois and Horace leading my civilians produced recurring thoughts in my mind. Memories, more like. About what Etan said.
The uncanny resemblance aside, he repeated the same things Amun himself said, but in ways that made the facts far more impactful.
Imagining the technological prowess of those beings was nigh impossible, for magic had been part of our lives since birth. Even the ancients from before the portals opened could manipulate the elements and obtain classes. Many of us were taught to perform chores with elemental manipulation. Yet they didn't even have that. Amun's ancients had to make tools just to dig by hand. Sweeping was done with brooms, not manipulating air. They started fires by rubbing sticks together. Water had to be prospected and carried to their homes. If not they had to dig for it or rely on the rain.
Those were just the basics. But in a time equal to the portals opening to the present day, Amun's people stepped out of the 'Dark Age' of their tiny world and into their fleets of manufactured void worlds scattered across an area greater than that of the Mortal Plane. Truly, they were divine. For me to then be gifted their seemingly infinite knowledge was truly a blessing.
So it was, I'd been toying with the idea of becoming a cleric to the Divine Engineer. Or a paladin, assuming I could be knighted. Of course, there was no religion for his engineering aspect. Yet. Even then, though, Iris seemed as if she would become his cleric. And if she could, so could I.
That said, there was no need to pray to him, for I had been giving him worship through the very act of working all along. And I'd been working for over half a decade. And so, I continued working, but while giving thanks. I continued developing, even as the worlds wove themselves above Crater Lake. I continued creating, even as the realm around me began to change.
Even as my legendary armor began to change; disintegrating into a stream of blue circuits that snaked into my frame and my store of wise rocks. Changing, shifting- augmenting them and me both into something new. Yet, I continued, planning for my expansion into Mazi, even as I watched my grimoire flip to a page imbued with deep blue energy and inscribe tantalizing words before my eyes.
[Blessing of the Divine Engineer Received: [Transformation] - Augmentation, Grim Gear Bio-Frame.]
[The touch of divinity that has been seeded within you has integrated your spirit and flesh with your Legendary Armor, Grim Gear Mk V, and the essence Divine Engineer, turning you into an Augmented Human with the inborn capabilities of the ArcaTech Power Armor.]
[Blessing of the Divine Engineer Received: [Evolution] - Technomancy Core.]
[Your transformation has seen a sorcerous ability to awaken within your spirit, evolving your artificing prowess into a blood-born ability to create and fully integrate any piece of technology you can design with your augmented frame]