"So I'm told," replied Ranma, who'd been getting that a lot.
"Here's the Sitrep," said the rocky being. "I'm General Grim. Mongo originally had fifteen moons under Emperor Ming. We added four under Wang's rule. Yun added five more. So that's twenty four moons, each having its own artificial climate. You with me so far?"
Ranma nodded as a computer put up a display of a fairly crowded sky. "Twenty four moons. Gotcha."
Grim gestured and one of the moons started blinking. "This used to be the Ice Moon. Farthest out from Mongo, coldest of the worlds, a human of your species would probably freeze to death within three minutes if you didn't use special protective gear. Within ten you'd shatter. During Yan's rule some kinda meteor hit. We think maybe now that 'meteor' wasn't correct and it was a ship. We started losing contact with villages during that weirdo's tenure. After we lost most of a hemisphere, the other areas started evacuating. We lost all contact since then. From possible landing to no data - five months."
"What happened to the people?" Ranma asked, a little concerned. After all, if he was Emperor - that meant he was responsible for these people.
"We couldn't tell anything until after you took up as Emperor," said Grim. "One of those orders you were asked to give was to investigate. As you are the Emperor, the robot troops respond to you and you alone. WIth that order given, we should be getting our first real surveillance since the disaster. When we've sent more conventional troops in, we get a few transmissions before everything goes dead."
"What do they say?" Ranma asked, hoping it was a martial arts fight.
Grim shifted uncomfortably. His own people were almost three meters tall, solid slabs of stone-like material and muscle, far tougher and stronger than the softskinned races, though slow and deliberate. The last expedition had seen three of his own people and a crew of lionmen with rifles, all handpicked as top notch commandos by himself. "The last group we sent reported empty villages, feelings of discomfort, and not even any sign of wildlife. It all ended with the last transmission being a normal time check that broke off abruptly. No hint that they even had a clue that something was about to hit."
Ranma considered some of the speed-based techniques he'd seen. Maybe something like the Umisenken to cloak their presence, then a sudden overwhelming strike? Hmmm.
Grim looked up as one of the androids entered the conference room.
Some of the androids had been built by each Emperor since Wang. Wang's tended to be starkly mechanical and functional. Yan gone for big imposing and with lots of visible weapons. Yan's successor had gone for large breasted human-like females.
This was one of the latter. The female android stepped down and saluted. "Emperor. Unit 2051 is on the Ice Moon now. Relaying holographic display."
The android girl's red eyes glowed and an image appeared in the air before her.
2051 was one of Wang's units. Looking something like a meter-long metal armored insect, it scuttled across the snow and scanned the area around it continually.
Two ships had landed in the square prior to 2051's approach, neither recently. One was confirmed as the prior military transport. The other was a civilian vehicle that apparently had not evacuated in time.
Investigating both revealed no signs of the original inhabitants.
2051 scuttled away from the square and through the town. Over a year of neglect showed the usual effects, but other than that there were few signs that anything was amiss. Well, other than doors which had been shattered.
The robot caught a blip and activated jets that had been kept ready for such an emergency. It made a quick darting motion, heading away from its previous position and heading back to its own shuttle pod. In the meantime scanners were frantically searching around for a sign of whatever had triggered the alert.
2051's last transmission was stopped by the computer in the last split instant.
"What the hell is that?" Ranma asked.
Grim frowned. "That? It is-"
(Posted Sun, 16 Mar 2003 12:37)
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