Contingency Plan Ravernal

Qua-Toyne Principality - Maihark

Central Calendar - April 5th, 1639

Prime Minister Kanata shielded his eyes from the sun as he gazed out towards the harbour. He could just barely make out the shape of a huge metallic ship approaching the city, supposedly even larger than the titans that had docked at Maihark about a week ago.

By sheer coincidence, he had traveled to Maihark for the day for personal leisure not long before the manacomm report had come in. A patrol fleet had discovered the steel men again, and this time they seemed to speak the common tongue fluently. The operator said that they wished to speak with him specifically, and they wouldn't mind waiting a while for him to arrive.

The steel ship approached with surprising speed, and before long it had docked at the harbour where a spot had been reserved for it alone. Kanata made his way towards where the ship had extended bridge, and watched as several armed metal soldiers cleared the area before the VIP egressed.

A part of Kanata's mind wondered if he should be cautious, but this was pushed away as the foreigner briskly walked over to Kanata and extended their hand. "You must be the prime minister who was mentioned by the crew, correct?"

Kanata was briefly surprised at the person's voice; it sounded like a human's, but distorted or altered in some way. He got over his shock quickly and gave a firm handshake to the stranger. "That would be me. I am Prime Minister Kanata of the Qua-Toyne Principality. Who are you and where do you hail from?"

"Our kind does not exactly use names, but my designation is D-6, a diplomat," came the reply. "Did the crew not mention our nation?"

"Ah, I was in a hurry when the messenger came," Kanata sheepishly replied. "Something starting with an A, I believe?"

D-6 nodded. "The Akkarian Contingency, south of this 'Rodenius' continent. We have been transferred here by your world's gods."

"That's certainly a bold claim, but we should discuss this in a proper conference. The capital is quite far though, unfortunately."

The steel man gestured to the rear of the colossal warship, which had a curious construct parked on it. "That is not an issue. We will be able to fly there via helicopter."

Kanata took a moment to study the 'helicopter' that this... D-6 had mentioned. It had an elongated form, with a rounded nose and a long tail, but the thing that drew his eye were the strange blades on top of the machine. They reminded him of a windmill, only made of some unknown material instead of fabric.

Seeing no better option, Kanata followed the steel man onto the warship. The greyish deck felt strange to walk on, his feet producing hard metallic thumps instead of the familiar creaking of wood. As he made his way over to the helicopter, Kanata took a moment to marvel at the incredible engineering that he was standing on. The bow of the ship seemed to mount an advanced looking cannon, something only the premier superpower of the Parpaladian Empire was supposed to hold. Alien machinery and objects adorned the huge tower in the center, and an array of peculiar hatches adorned the area near the stern of the vessel. 

After fiddling around with the straps that were apparently required for safety, the blades on top spun to life and his ears were filled with an ear-splittingly loud chopping. To his utter amazement, he then noticed the surroundings shrinking beneath him as he climbed into the sky.

Qua-Toyne Principality - Capital

Same day

Kanata and D-6 touched down near the conference area in record time, after being partially guided by the Prime Minister on which building was relating to government affairs. 

The Prime Minister was the first to disembark, eager to be standing on solid ground again. The novelty of flying around in the helicopter had worn off quickly, and while he didn't throw up, his insides nonetheless felt uncomfortable. 

The robot stepped off soon after, apparently unbothered by nausea and disorientation. 

After regaining his composure, Kanata turned and faced his guest. "The conference will be held here," he said while gesturing to an ornate building. "We will hear about your mysterious species and origins there."

Stepping inside, D-6 found themselves in what looked like a reception area, with a woman that had pointed ears sitting behind the desk. Their appearance matched closely with common representations of elves, but that would need clarification later.

The receptionist raised an eyebrow at the sight of the metallic alien walking next to the Prime Minister of Qua-Toyne, but her face remained neutral otherwise. "Good afternoon, Prime Minster. The conference should be in Room B." 

Kanata replied with a quick "thank you" before briskly walking into the meeting. The other officials were already seated and having an intermittent discussion amongst themselves about various topics.

All of them were surprised to see the Prime Minister show up so early at the conference, and many gaped in silence or dropped whatever they were holding when they spotted the foreigner standing beside him. 

An awkward silence hung over the room for a moment before one of the ministers spoke up. "This... person. They were the ones who came to Maihark back then?" 

D-6 nodded. "Indeed. We apologise for any disruptions that may have occurred."

Eyebrows were raised. "I thought your kind didn't speak the common tongue?" another minister inquired.

"That 'strange alien artifact' your people found was actually our property. Among other things, it contained a full database of your language and its intricacies."

A wave of mumurs spread throughout the room that were quickly silenced by Kanata's raised hand. "I believe our guest here should explain everything from the start. If you may?"

"Sure." The robot opened the briefcase it was holding to reveal a sheaf of exhaustive documents, covering everything there was to know about the Akkarrian Contingency, without disclosing confidential information. These were then distributed to the curious men who immediately poured over every word written on the pages. The paper was of noticeably high quality and each word and image was flawless, with mistakes that you would typically see in a handwritten sheet completely absent. 

"While you read over these documents, I will also explain orally for comprehension purposes," D-6 began. "Sector Zero, the primary nexus of the Akkarrian Contingency, is located 1023 kilometres south of the Rodenius Continent."

Another wave of mumurs. "There are only uninhabited islands down there, though? If you're some collection of primitive tribes, how did you do..." The minister who spoke up performed a series of wild hand gestures. "...all of that?!"

"We were summoned here by the combined effort of your gods and our world's," came the calm reply.

"I find that even harder to believe, honestly. This is a meeting, not a tavern to joke in."

Kanata scratched his chin at D-6's words. "Don't the Muans claim that their continent was a summoned one, too? Besides, our friend here seems to have zero magic in their body."

Hushed whispers seemed to agree with the PM's point. "Well alright then, Prime Minister. But you, steel man."

"A more correct term would be 'robot', but continue."

"Okay... robot. Do you know why you've and this Contingency have been summoned? Surely these gods would have a reason to place a highly advanced nation on our world."

D-6 nodded. "Are you all aware of the entity known as the Ravernal Empire?"

The room immediately fell into an uncomfortable silence as looks of concern washed over the men. An official managed to clear their throat with shaking hands. "Y-yes, every person knows of the ancient sorcerers. Why would you mention such a taboo?"

"They are estimated to return to this world in approximately two decades. We are here to stop them."

Looks of concern turned into faces of utter dread as the words sank in. The Sorcerers were returning, in twenty years no less? 

"Stop them?! They are the Ancient Sorcerous Empire themselves! If what you say is true, then we are all doomed to be enslaved by these subjugators of old!"

D-6 put up their hands and tried to ease the panic spreading amongst the Qua-Toynians. "They came to our world to attempt the same thing, and we defeated them through effort. They managed to spirit themselves away and appear to be coming back to a weaker realm."

"And that is true? It better be."

"Our entire collective was constructed with the aim to destroy the Ravernals in the first place. We are aware of how to counter them effectively."

A few officials raised an eyebrow at that. "Constructed?" one asked.

The robot paused to gather their words. "We are... not exactly living beings. We don't breathe, eat, most of us don't feel and our bodies are metal, not flesh." 

Those in the room who were not stumped before were beyond confused at this point. Someone who walked and talked like a person, yet was not? 

Another man raised these concerns. "Then how do you speak? Walk around, talk to us, do anything?"

"Perhaps they are more like intelligent golems than people?" spoke up another. "I see the similarities: both are made of rock or metal."

D-6 gave a light shrug. "If the comparison helps you, then we don't mind. The many countries of our world created our central intelligence, or leader, who in turn built all of us. I assure you again that two decades is certainly adequate time for our purpose."

More murmurs spread in the room, though with noticeably less panic than before. If they were telling the truth, this country of strange golems could be their only hope to stave off calamity.

Kanata had been mostly quiet for the discussion, but spoke up after everyone had gone silent. "I believe we should discuss other affairs soon, but I would like to emphasise something for us all," he said, his tone hardening as he continued. "Do not reveal this information to our people. The panic would spiral out of control, even if our friend reassures us that they can defeat the ancient sorcerers."