In a world where most humans still hadn't heard of calculators and were only just starting to figure out electricity, the appearance of electromagnetic weaponry seemed to be a very big jump in technology, but while most humans on Sorrel II were stumbling around the industrial age, the Woofers had brought the wolfcats, wolves, foxes, and other canines of the Wildlands straight into the information age with smartphones, tablets, eye-tracking, microcameras, wireless communication and wireless charging ports all paw-and-bark compatible with heavy claw protection. Whether they used their paws, noses, barks, or tongues to interface with these relatively high-tech devices, the canines and semi-canines were rapidly developing over each generation (which, for common Tier 3 wolfcats breeds, only took two years, thus an entire generation had already matured and birthed their own children in turn since the Mice Raft Project began. Bigger Tier 4 wolfcat breeds, however, took 6 years to fully mat
Five seconds passed. The other four incoming dropships high above were still arriving in flames. The hustle and bustle around Craggy Falls and the Draconian Quarter were still ongoing. But in the starport and the immediate surroundings, all the world was still. Then with a sudden surge like a ripple of meaning itself in the air, motion resumed. The Tuskan Dropship plopped down on the tarmac unceremoniously and landed with a thump, but nowhere near the kind of devastating velocity that it had moments ago. There was a tremor in the ground as it landed, and a good deal of cracking concrete, but that was the worst of it. Meanwhile, people in the starport were still in a flurry. “I thought we were going to die!” “He... he just...!” “I’m too old for this sort of excitement!” Sior’khan-dras himself was all but dripping with sweat. “Since when did you have that sort of power?! I thought you was just some average rich guy supporting the
Kae-Taur was the minotaur boy in an orange-and-black t-shirt. Sal-taur was wearing the sleeveless khaki vest. Chi-taur was the girl in the tube dress. All three looked very bulky and easily twice Remian’s height and four to five times his size. Being children of the prestigious Banner clan of the Bison tribe, the Taur children put on good, dignified behavior in front of Remian. “Welcome to Sorrel II.” Remian cleared his throat. “We’ve done our best to prepare accommodations and refreshments for you. Please let us know if there’s anything specific you need or have trouble with.” “Indeed, we do have to trouble you for a few things.” Bak-taur nodded. “I brought my children out for experience and tempering. They need to see the world, and face many challenges and seek their own opportunities. I understand that some sort of tournament is to be held soon?” “As your captain requested, yes. It’s become something more of a mixed contest, including a Forest War
Since it was supposed to be a trip for tempering, most of the Tribes sent just the younger generation so that they would learn how to handle themselves in foreign worlds. Bak-taur’ul was the only adult who landed on the surface with his children (the logistics officer and his crew didn’t count since they returned as soon as their dropship was loaded with their supplies). This also seemed to have made him the default caretaker of the entire group while they were on the surface. After lunch, they went on a tour of Craggy Falls. “What a quaint rural countryside town.” Brittany commented on the most advanced settlement in the world. They couldn’t be bothered to waste time flying around the Wildlands on airship, so they wanted to take the Bison Tribe Dropship to tour the other sites. This presented a problem since they absolutely refused to let primitive natives (like Remian and his crew) on board their advanced spacecraft, which meant they would be wandering arou
It turned out the urgent call managed to gather 200 youths who suited the requirements for the Forest War. A simple fitness test disqualified almost half of them. Some basic sparring and a short obstacle course weeded out half of those who remained. A quick run through the forest with a few planned surprises and traps along the way left only twenty-three names on the list. Xiao Yan nodded to herself. She knew most of those people. Darian, Mindy, Tim and George were obviously there. Alani, Juni, Jamie, Gary, Isabella and Siti... the whole Class 2 was there too. Eriane made it just fine even carrying a railgun the whole time. Raven was there with three siblings; Swift, Swallow and Sparrow. Izak and Izhan the two Sand People brothers were there, but Talia didn’t sign up. Sandra and Gammie made the short list too. There were three others she wasn’t familiar with who were members of Darian’s adventurer team during their jaunt at the Three Pines Ruins, the Navigator scout Ron, Lil
“Remember, play nice.” He advised his brother and the others. “We could stand to gain a lot if we can make friends with the Tuskans, for trade if nothing else.”“You say that to us, but who’s going to say it to them?” Mindy shot back, eyeing the Tuskans swaggering towards them. They did not seem intent on making friends. They had quite literally come here to fight.Especially Ghurki’elle. Goodness, that guy could boast. He bragged and swaggered and threatened and flaunted enough for a whole webnovel chapter, and then Darian, Mindy and the others responded and tempers started flaring up with enough tension to add a second filler chapter to a webnovel. But let’s skip all that.Finally, a Woofer shuttle brought both teams to opposite ends of the forest zoned for the War, and let out the participants. Three hundred drones swooped through the forest in regulated circles, providing full coverage broadcasting to vie
It took exactly three seconds for Mindy and Gary to subdue Admirer 2. He went down unsconcious with a lump on his head too. Seeing all her admirers defeated, Brittany also gave up with both hands raised. Remian made the Referee Announcement. “Boar Tribe, all five participants, out.” With the walrus and boar tribes out of the fight, and George back on his feet, the full force of the human youths closed in on the remaining five Tuskans. As if in a world on their own, Ghurk and Darrian exchanged blows while Heila and Kae-Taur were slowly pummeled into oblivion by Alani, Juni and Jamie. On the other side, Chi-Taur was shrieking. “Ow! OW! Stop! Stop I say! How dare you! Do you know who I am?!” Tim didn’t really bother to reply, too busy tangling and whipping both her and her brother at the same time. Mindy and Gary returned, with Raven’s and Lily’s squads at their backs. Eight of them surrounded Kae-Taur, clearly the most fight-capable opponent rem
The Bison Tribe was also invited, but they were given ordinary seats, not VIP seats. Seeing that, Chi-Taur sniffed, turned around and left the banquet on the spot. Kae-Taur apologized for her snobbishness; he and Sal-Taur joined the banquet in a polite manner, if cool and lacking much enthusiasm, but they were at least cordial and courteous. Not surprisingly a fight broke out in the middle of the second course. There were yells, there were punches, and people went flying in two different directions. When the dust cleared, five tables were broken, six chairs were smashed and four chairs were held in someone’s hands as weapons, along with two broken bottles, three forks and a chicken drumstick. On one side of the fight were the Tuskans, namely the Bison siblings, and the Boar Tribe. On the other stood the Zhao family and the Xue family youths. “You guys...!” Mindy leapt to her feet. But Remian put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t.” “But...
That was an advantage the Tau never had and could never have. Their wanton exploitation, for all its efficiency and wastelessness, had already built a huge vendetta between them and those of their neighbors who loved nature, like the Tuskans and the Elves. But if they did this right, the Sorrelians wouldn’t have that problem. Given their friendship with Wilds, and the way they treated nature, Remian’s people at least should have no such issues with those same neighbors. The Tuskans, certainly, seemed willing to let their kids play together. To Remian, this said a lot. As long as the children played nice, he felt reasonably sure that a great deal of trade opportunities would be on the table. As for the Elves? Elenath Edhellen might even offer them sanctuary. For a while, at least. In any case, given their current relations with the Woofers, Reiman intended to bring his people to the Galactic South regions of Tau space, neighboring the Woofers. Since th