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As they were painting miniatures at night beside the fire, Adam and Kave discussed the Puppeteer Rune power and how to make it work on a massive scale.
The quality of the miniatures was something they needed to ensure to the best of their ability in order to reach the quality that brought Captain Creed. The cost would be immense for Adam, but he was willing to do something with that power he was given, even if it meant his own life was the price. If there were no power left on Earth to stop monsters, this may be the best chance for the remnants of humanity to be saved.
To ensure that quality, Kave read the lore information to Adam about this particular squad of Men-at-Arms, some snippets of lore that came printed on the set's case.
"The Squad 223-XV Auxiliary—named itself the 'Trench Dogs'—hailed from the fiery crucible of Planet Venus. Formed from veterans from the Pirate Wars and new conscripts alike, those hardy Venusians went through thick and thin after getting relocated to Urd and put in a trench war against a great outlaw uprising in Urd's Sector 7. Each Man-at-Arms knows they are expendable—yet they fight as though each life could tip the scales of the Solarium's fate. With blazers locked in discipline-perfect drills, communication units blaring fire missions, and special weapons hissing with charged fury, the Trench Dogs fight not for glory, but for duty."
Kave finished reading the lore piece carefully, ensuring that the summoner, Adam, absorbed the necessary knowledge.
"Alright, move on to the notables."
"Let's see. Sergeant Elena Skarn, a resolute daughter of Venus who was raised in a Silo-city and joined the Men-at-Arms to escape poverty at the age of fourteen. However, after losing an arm, she failed to get promoted, which is a source of great annoyance to her. Still, her bravery and zeal for the Solarium were nothing short of exemplary."
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She stood over the edge of the hill, scanning the landscape of the city with her eyes, almost finding it hard to comprehend. To her, the world she came from wouldn't build such high rises unless it was a Hexdomed city, a city with its own bubble of atmospheric shield, but that was too resource-intensive, and Silo-cities were cheaper, easier to control and maintain.
The natural air was alien to her; it carried no stench of death even though the place was devastated like a battlefield. Somehow, the world was healing on its own as if it were a living thing, not barren or arid.
This is not a wasteland, she thought. It is like the stories we heard about Urd before the Fossil Age, a paradise world that could sustain life on any of its corners.
Such a poetic thing!
"H-Hello!"
Her brooding was interrupted by the voice that came from behind her—a man with a messy appearance, a flawed sense of fashion, and a clear lack of a proper hairdresser.
"Speak, citizen." Elena turned, looking at him with her stern yet natural look.
"He woke up. Adam, I mean."
Kave spoke, rather unnerved by the woman who was ten years his senior in appearance but clearly the very same miniature he helped paint with Adam.
"Affirmative. I will go see him."
That's super weird… and awkward!
What was weirder was the amount of inappropriate jokes he and Adam told about how scary that woman looked on the cover, with Adam saying something about how Kave was weak to bossy women and how she could crush his balls with her bionic arm.
Elena and Kave walked toward the camp near the suburban area where Kave used to live, at the edge of the woods. After summoning Elena, Adam became really weak and wanted to rest immediately. Elena decided that the place was safer than simply staying out in the open.
But on their way, Elena dropped a sudden question on Kave.
"Tell me, citizen. Are you familiar with the Commander?"
"Adam? Commander?" Kave couldn't understand why Elena called him that, but since the look in her eyes wasn't that amused, he fixed his attitude and spoke straight, "He's my lifelong friend. I am familiar with him."
"And what is he like? His commanding skills? Strategic knowledge?"
Kave realised that her question was out of professional interest, as if there was some doubt about Adam lingering in her mind despite her treating him like a commander right away.
"He is well familiar with tactics, and I consider him second only to me when it comes to strategy."
"To you?" Elena turned to Kave, doubt in her eyes.
"In simulations, of course. I don't mean to brag, but I have resolved the Battle of Gilvard many times on brutal difficulty," Kave said before noticing how narrowed her scary eyes were.
She halted her steps, and so he did, somewhat frightened as she walked two steps toward him.
"I have been trialled in the Battle of Gilvard as an ultimate test of strategy before. How do you resolve the final push by the Rogue Machina?"
As she asked that, her question revealed that she was very familiar with the battle he had played so many times on Wartopia's RTS games. Kave took in a deep breath to calm down and spoke:
"I use the bottleneck as a terrain advantage," he said.
"But that's the trick; the Rogue Machina starts blasting the bottleneck between mountains when you try to defend it."
"I don't defend it, though."
"Go on."
"I simply place two Plasma Generators at that place before any Machina raid parties begin and start defending casually. The Machina avoid destroying my Generators since they can capture them, so I let them have them anyway, and when the raids become too much, I deploy a Doombringer Bomber and level the generators to the ground. The thermal meltdown from the destroyed generators means all Machina ground mechs will start avoiding the meltdown area, so I can bomb the disoriented mechs with the Doombringer. My AA-Blazers will deal with the flying mechs until a squad of Sun Paladins arrives and decimates the Machina from the back lines."
"…"
She looked at him intently, then took a look up and down before speaking:
"Sacrificing Solarium assets, especially two Holy Energy generators, is quite irresponsible... You'd be tried for heresy." Elena seemed upset, but stepped back and continued, "However, it's a good plan... for a simulation, that is."
She then turned and walked with wide steps, with Kave following her.
"If you are going to advise the Commander, you must know that wasting resources is bad for long-term battle. I had men mount bayonets and charge demons, heretics, and even fanatics, just because we ran out of Power Cells. If we had two plasma generators in the base, I wouldn't have lost so many good comrades."
She said while lecturing him, but rather than sounding angry or insulting, she was actually passing knowledge to him.
"What about if we had a strong economy supported from the start?" he asked.
"Economy support? By who? The Planetary Dukes?" She was revolted by the question, "Simulations give you an ideal world where politics and greed do not exist, where the enemy moves according to predictable patterns. In the real world, even your troops won't move according to predictable patterns. If they lose morale, they miss their shots, they run, and they die."
She was right. He knew how low morale could break the ranks in a trench situation in the RTS games of Wartopia. Still, a Commissar or a Propaganda Beacon stationed on each point and the right number of medics can keep a platoon fighting for an entire game.
Still, that would have to be an ideal situation, as she says, with resources available without corrupt politicians or aristocrats involved.
Right now, the world was crawling with monsters, and all they had were a Sergeant Mechanic without her squad and a Star Paladin who had been clearing the area of threats all night.
This was far from ideal as Elena dictated.
"What about the commander? How would he fare in that simulation?" Elena asked.
"Slow and defensive. He dislikes Build Orders that finish a simulation in ten minutes and prefers to play a game of relentless defence and breaks his enemies with attrition and number superiority," Kave said.
"Ah! A man after my own heart, I see," Elena said with a wide grin.
At last, Kave and Sergeant Elena finally arrived at where Adam was resting, and once they got to him, he was pouring something from the pot by the fire into a cup and giving it a taste.
As he saw them, he stood up and looked intently at her.
"Sergeant!" he said and offered a handshake.
"Commander." She took his hand, with her right this time, and looked him right in the eyes.
"I had a feeling that you were coming, as if you were tagged by a radar wired to my mind," he spoke, with her presence clearly registered in his brain.
"I also feel the same, Commander. You look like you've been through a lot. I'm glad to meet men with such a strong will to survive... both of you," she replied, emphasising that they were survivors of a ruined world.
"Thank you," Adam said and then asked, "This strange link between us, is it the thing compelling you to call me Commander?"
Elena thought for a while and nodded.
"I believe it is. I don't feel forced, though. It is like I am following orders from High Command."
Adam and Kave exchanged looks.
"This is much different than Captain Creed," Adam said.
Kave shrugged:
"I don't know. Captain Creed is very powerful compared to you. I think your ability is weaker with him, but if we look at it, he is a Star Paladin, a slayer at that. Those guys don't have any interest in anything that doesn't run at them, picking a fight. The fact that he agreed to help you is a miracle by itself."
"Wait! Commander, you have a Slayer Paladin under your command?" Elena asked with a face that was the first time for it to be shocked.
"Command is a big word, no?" Adam asked Kave, and the latter shook his head.
"More like he's still figuring out the world, and Adam happens to be the reason why he's here, so he is a tad interested," Kave said.
"I see. Star Paladins operate independently after all," Elena made an understanding face. "Commander, I have a suggestion."
"Go ahead," Adam said.
"Establishing a base in this place will be a challenge, but if I have my squad, we can do much more," she said.
"That was our plan, but what is your point?"
"If we provide a paladin with logistical support, especially one that is stranded away from his Legion, he may answer our call if we need help. He will be an invaluable asset."
Weighing her words, it wasn't how a game was played, but they knew she was right. A paladin like Titus was able to sustain himself logistically even in hell, looting materials, and upgrading his own weapons and armour.
But having a logistical team at his beck and call would mean that he would be compelled to protect and provide support for it—something Adam almost gave up on when Creed told him that they would part ways.
"Alright. Let's do this."
Adam turned to the toolbox where the miniatures were kept, picking up the next summon he wanted to do. What he picked this time wasn't a Man-at-Arms. It was Kave's Pencil Sharpener.
"Alright." He said and let out a tired sigh, "This one may kill me, but let's see if I can summon a base."
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Please show some Love ❤️, Comment 💬, and Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
You can also read the early chapters on Patreon & Join Discord! 🔗 https://linktr.ee/donovel