As the surrounding gunships stopped buzzing and became silent, Mac and Anastasia appeared to have created the first building block of actual understanding.
"I once again apologize for my overreach, I didn't believe you."
Not in her wildest dreams would Anastasia have believed that Mac was what he said he was, but seeing a flying ship the size of a castle floating above the capital with a halo of fire certainly made her think differently.
"I didn't make it easy to believe either, but now that we've gotten over this slight misunderstanding I would like to establish a place and date for negotiations."
Attempting to bring things back on track with his original schedule and reason to even visit this world, Mac was immediately derailed when Anastasia's older brother stepped forward.
"Negotiate? If you think we'll just surrend-"
"Woah, woah. Nobody ever talked about surrender, or even an invasion."
Cutting Will off as he went off the rails and puffed out his chest, Mac glanced at Anastasia who seemed to have forgotten his words.
(I swear…)
"I am here to establish peaceful contact, not to invade, conquer or raid. The alliance I represent believes that betterment of one's neighbors is of mutual benefit for all involved, to that end I've arrived here and stand by to provide medical, cultural, economic, technological and educational aid. This is what I would like to negotiate, to find out if your country wants or needs anything I can assist with."
As Mac once again stated his mission statement Anastasia seemed to remember an off-handed comment he made.
"... So when you said you discard more gold each day than I'd ever seen you meant it?"
"Yeah. Would you like a rock of gold the size of that castle? I think there are a few specimens I could bring down for mining."
With Mac casually presenting Anastasia with wealth beyond her wildest dreams, the knight captain decided to sidestep that corruption and collusion charge as she focused on Mac's other offers.
"When you said medical aid, what did you mean by that?"
Sensing a certain interest from Anastasia, Mac formed a slight smile as he started listing off the wonders of modern (to him) medicine.
"The complete eradication of disease, regrowth of lost limbs and organs, psychological therapy to cure mental suffering, extension of natural lifespan and synthetic augmentation. Immortality falls under cultural assistance, but that is also something I can offer."
"... In that case could yo-"
"Do you still intend on arresting this individual, Miss Anastasia?"
Perhaps tired of being ignored, or just genuinely bitter over the cost overrun, the finance minister Frank Willow still remembered the amount of coin that had been wasted searching for Mac.
"... No, I do not."
Feeling a headache mounting, Anastasia remembered she had been in a crown budget meeting, and just because the sky set on fire didn't mean she would avoid that.
"Then I would love to hear how you plan on paying back the deficit you've caused to the crown coffers at a future date."
"Oh, that reminds me."
Seeing that they were discussing money internally, Mac remembered he had prepared something to offset the chaos he had inflicted on the capital. Within a few seconds yet another dropship landed behind Mac, immediately its rear ramp swung down and a logistic drone drove out a pallet of sparking metal.
"I-Is that!?-"
"Yeah, 2 tons of pure gold. Consider it a gift in apology for the chaos my parade created, and to help offset the cost of my manhunt."
"Speaking of chaos, could you do anything about that?"
Feeling her eyes glaze over at the sight of an absurd amount of gold, Anastasia nevertheless managed to stay on task as she glanced to the sky.
"Sure, but it'll take a few minutes."
"Please."
It wouldn't really be a problem to get Just Call Home and its escorts leave immediately, but protocols existed for a reason.
"Just Call Home; suspend atmospheric cooling and rig for return to orbit with defensive formation. Prepare to return to station 01."
[JUST CALL HOME, B-02, W-9X RIGGING FOR RAPID ORBITAL REINSERTION.]
In response to his words, the massive castle floating above sounded a fog horn loud enough to shake windows inside the capital.
"And now for the dropships: Suspend defensive posture 09 to 02. Relocate; head back upstairs."
[CLUSTER NODE ADDED TO NAV NET; RETURN TO ORBIT, EXECUTING.]
At once most of the dropships and gunships circling Mac's position pointed their noses straight up as they started climbing while each of them painted virtual navigation nodes to a common network.
[221 VECTORS PAINTED; NO BLUE, PROCEED.]
With no overlaps on their vectors, the dropships started rapidly accelerating as they made for orbit.
[JUST CALL HOME, B-02, W-9X RIGGED FOR EMERGENCY R.O.R. SOUNDING RAPID ACCELERATION ALARM.]
Another blare sounded from the large castle overhead, only this one seemed to continue on.
"Mac!?"
Covering her ears as she winced, Anastasia wondered if Mac was being mean on purpose.
"What? Give it a moment."
Warming up it's massive beam forming speakers, Just Call Home made a loud announcement.
[EMERGENCY R.O.R ORDER RECEIVED, BRACE FOR RAPID ACCELERATION, SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. ACCELERATION IN 10… 9… -...3… 2… 1…]
At the end of the countdown, Just Call Home and its accompanying escorts Wallflower and Big 2 did as they had warned and started climbing straight up into the sky using Just Call Home's gravity engine. This acceleration was so fast that it immediately created gusts of wind all over the capital like that from a bad storm, hence the warning it sounded earlier.
In a little under a minute, the sky above the capital returned to normal, save for a few gunships still orbiting around Mac as he had believed dishonest people a bit too much in the past.
"There we go, satisfied?"
With mostly clear skies and an olive branch (bribe) presented, Mac was about to leave when a guard ran up to Anastasia.
"Ma'am, I have an urgent report for you!"
Switching gears as she received the report, Anastsia started reading the parchment as her face hardened.
"Excuse me, I need to leave immediately."
"What happened?"
Sensing something serious had happened, Will half expected Mac had something to do with this new issue and eyed Mac suspiciously.
"There's reports of a monster surge at the Rosewood dungeon, if not contained soon monsters could breach containment and overflow into the surrounding villages and farmland."
Immediately understanding the severity of the situation, Will was about to suggest going with his sister when Mac cut in.
"Rosewood? That's the one to the east, right?"
With his eyes briefly losing their focus, Mac examined the situation from the air.
"Hmm… 50 to 60 contacts are visible outside the 'dungeon' entrance, but heat signatures indicate more just inside."
Not knowing how serious that situation was, Mac casually listed off the monster's strength as he observed it.
"R-really!?"
Feeling a panic set in, Anastasia realised she wouldn't be able to make the 14 hour journey in time to save her subordinates, by the time she arrived they would be overrun.
"Is that bad?"
"Yeah, it's bad. Monster surges only start spilling out of the dungeon just before they swarm to attack their surroundings."
Explaining the severity of the situation, Will's time and experience working in military intelligence told him that the Rosewood containment structure was already lost, by the time any reinforcements could arrive there they would have to deal with a horde of monsters spreading out in all directions, targeting people and livestock.
"Mac!"
"Y-yes?"
Seeing a tragedy approaching Anastasia realised it wasn't time to be haughty and grabbed hold of Mac's arms as she lowered herself to pleading.
"You can get me there fast right!? Please-"
"Sure, go get your gear."
"Eh? Just like that?"
Only Mac had no issue transporting Anastasia, if anything he was interested in further study of these 'monsters'.
"Yeah, if you allow me to test a few weapons against the monsters I'll be-"
"Then wait right here, I'll be back in 5 minutes!"
Given the opportunity to save her subordinates, Anastasia didn't care much for what Mac asked in return, so she immediately set off for her family mansion to retrieve her shield and sword.
"... Sure, whatever."
Seeing Anastasia run off, Mac accessed his neural uplink and ordered one of his gunships to head to the Lighthouse and collect a few weapons, by the time they started heading back 5 minutes later Anastasia arrived on a horse with her weapons.
"Okay let's go!"
Practically leaping off of her mount now wearing plate armour, Anastasia hurriedly said goodbye to her brother as Mac's light gunship landed and lowered its rear ramp.
"Ladies first."
Gesturing for Anastasia to sit down in the cramped troop compartment of the gunship, Mac quickly strapped her in as the ramp closed behind them and the gunship started climbing.
With Anastasia and her gear secured, Mac sat down on top of some reinforced equipment crate as he accessed the gunship's computer and adjusted some flight parameters as he started chatting.
"I've heard about these monsters a few times before, but what are they really?"
Mac had figured monster was just another word for animal, but seeing how worried Anastasia and the others had been that clearly wasn't the case.
"... Monsters are corrupted creatures that spawn from the ground or dungeons, they prey on the land, people and animals."
"So they're a pest that occasionally needs to be culled?"
"That about describes them perfectly, yes."
Getting the basic rundown from Anastasia, Mac silently ordered a further study into monsters to be conducted, as far as he knew natural creatures didn't just spawn from the ground or dungeons without some kind of bioengineered fuckery.
"Then provided the tests I'll conduct goes well you can add wiping out monsters to the list of services I'll be able to provide."
If the monsters lacked sentience and were as much of a threat to life as Anastasia claimed, Mac wasn't above developing a 'fix'.
"How come you have all these weapons? It doesn't really mesh with your mission."
"Because previous attempts have shown me that when I offer some people wealth and eternal life without asking anything in return some start demanding instead of asking for it."
There had been plenty of times where Mac had been threatened to hand over his technology and apparent wealth, each and every one of those times had ended in the same kind of hollow disappointment as the last. Needless to say, Mac didn't want to repeat that, so he started bringing weapons.
"There's also the very real threat that someone else arrives to this world while I'm here with less than noble intentions, but I mostly carry weapons with me because the gear I use can be dangerous if used or abused the wrong way."
An incorrectly calibrated gravity engine could create earthquakes just by existing, and most of the bioengineered fabricators onboard Mac's 'farms' could smother a biosphere in weeks. Even less dangerous materials Mac's fabricators handled every single day were dangerous in the amount they were stored in, spread over a planet a few hundred tons of indium nanopowder could also do quite a lot of damage.
"I see, then provided the monsters aren't actively attacking my men I'll allow you to conduct your 'tests'."
This was a win-win situation for Anastasia, provided Mac took care of some monsters her men would face fewer dangers, but it was also a chance for her to directly evaluate the threat Mac's machine army posed if things went south.
(Then again, if he totally fumbles this test I'll also be able to hold that over him…)
The Rosewood dungeon was a massive cave located inside a steep valley, this natural choke point made its flow of monsters one of the easier to manage in the kingdom, and a solid 5 metre tall stone wall had been constructed about a kilometre from the dungeon entrance to further contain the spread of monsters into the surrounding. That was the idea anyway, but within the last day, the amount of monsters observed in and near the dungeon entrance had quadrupled, signaling the start of a monster surge which could easily overwhelm the defending containment team of soldiers.
Landing on the fortress wall that surrounded the Rosewood dungeon created a bit of a stir, but seeing Anastasia calmed the soldiers down, allowing Mac to set up quickly.
Joined by a single human type drone and a few reinforced metal crates of equipment, Mac eyed the dungeon entrance some 700 metres away.
(A bit too far for subsonic ammunition… I guess I'll just test the M-227 helical and M-621 suppression HMG.)
"Then I'll go ahead and start now."
Announcing the start of his trail to Anastasia and a few curious soldiers, Mac opened the first crate and retrieved a M-227 helical rail rifle, inserted a fresh 10 round magazine and took aim. Mac's first target was a bipedal humanoid with the face of a swine, pointing his rifle vaguely in its direction and squeezed the trigger he turned his attention to Anastasia for a moment.
"Where are their weak points located?"
"What?"
"Where do you shoot to kill it?"
Although he did have a bit of an idea where to aim based on scans and the rifle's integrated sensors, Mac tried to see if Anastasia was willing to cooperate.
"Why don't you find out for yourself, this is a test isn't it?"
"Okay then, I'll go for centre mass."
Seeing she wasn't, Mac turned his attention back on the monster as he selected a target for the rifle. With a quiet hum, the electromagnetic rifle started up as the rangefinder and fire control system located below the barrel sought out a place right in the centre of the monster before 'painting' it with an inferred laser.
Now with a target and Mac still holding down the trigger, the rifle fired a slug at the monster which promptly fell over dead.
"Yeah, the center mass works great. In that case."
Selecting 9 additional targets, Mac started rapid firing at the monsters in the distance, making sure to piss off a large number of nearby monsters for his next test.
"M-227's work great, but as expected it's mostly overkill with these kinds of targets."
Helical's were made for penetrating heavy armour, or shield tech, so shooting at unarmoured flesh and blood monsters made for impressive splashes of blood, but not much else.
Handing over the rifle to the drone, Mac opened another crate and picked up a significantly larger weapon. Instead of a sleek figure of the M-227, the M-621 was a heavy machine gun with a massive drum magazine, solidly reinforced, actively cooled barrel and butt pad large enough to smother someone with.
(This has always been more my speed anyway, ever since I was enhanced anyway.)
Bringing the massive weapon up to his shoulder, Mac charged the weapon and aimed down its holographic sight unit.
(Range about 400.)
As Mac had intentionally shot at several different groups of monsters at the dungeon's entrance to antagonize them, Mac now had a variable buffet of targets approaching.
Setting the range, Mac switched the HMG to semi-automagic and let a single shot fly. The 14.7mm round reached its target almost instantly, and just before it hit the monster it exploded into a shower of shrapnel.
"Good effect on target."
With an absent minded comment, Mac switched the weapon to fully automatic and extended its bipod to use it as a foregrip before letting loose. Although the M-621 had a slow fire rate, it more than made up for that with point exploding ammunition, as Mac rapidly engaged targets he reduced them to chunks of meat with no discernible shape in just 2 or 3 shots.
"Hmm… That's satisfactory, I guess."
Having confirmed what did and didn't work well against the horde of monsters, Mac dropped his HMG back into its case and turned to Anastasia.
"Do you need the monster's corpses to be intact?"
"What? No, not really. Adventurers might scavenge what they can from their corpses but the army doesn't really care what happens to the remains."
Not really seeing where Mac was going with the sudden question she snapped out of her awe at the sheer destructive potential of his weapons.
"Then can I conduct one final test? A wide area test this time."
"... Go ahead."
Partly wanting to see what kind of 'test' was going and partly wanting to ease the burden on her own subordinates, Anastasia gave Mac permission to use a bit more of the toys he brought along.
"Great~"
Flashing a large smile for a moment as he formulated a fire mission, calculated danger close cut offs and decided on a fuse setting, Mac's eyes turned cold as he turned to the drone beside him.
"Vengeance 2-2, fire mission."
[V 2-2 ON STATION, READY FOR TASKING.]
"Priority 1; Annihilate, blanket FMM-99 with half a radius sep, fuse for air burst 1 metre stagnation. One salvo on my command."
[V 2-2 STRIKE PACKAGE 1, ROTATING… READY.]
"Triple check for blue, then go for one."
[V 2-2 RIFLE, SPLASH 10.]
Wondering what kind of spell Mac was casting, Anastasia was briefly confused by the sound of thunder from somewhere above her, then she glanced out at the monsters.
Then, the ground erupted.
"W-what the fu!-"
At once ground, dirt, monster parts and blood became one, Vengeance 2-2's rockets detonated between the monsters about a meter from the ground, creating a localized pressure zone of shrapnel and body parts as most of the ogres, goblins and trolls died without knowing what hit them.
"Good effect on target, creep 200 and fire for effect."
[V 2-2 ON STATION; FIRE FOR EFFECT. SPLASH 10.]
Turning back to Anastasia, Mac remembered to inform his guest about the state of the viewing.
"Now is when the fun really begins… Brace."
On cue the real strike landed deeper into the monster forces, catching them in a panicked retreat and turning them into dirt-tained chunky salsa in a series of bright explosions.
Watching that series of explosions and manufactured pandemonium, Anastasia realised with horror that this level of destruction was brought on by a single 'light craft' as Mac had called it.
(He truly holds the power to destroy our country, so why doesn't he make demands of us?)