For the better part of a month, the Earthling Recruits of the Wartopian military were experiencing one weird event after another, survived the training of Sergeant Elena Skarn—who was always whining about Justiciar Clay making her go easy on them—and despite every lead that kept suggesting that this military faction came from a fictional universe—thanks to Yapper never shutting up about it—the result of their training was finally showing this morning when Sergeant Elena decided to drop something on them.
"The Iron Maiden trial for the Trooper Auxiliary rank is now open for Recruits who spent over a month in Boot Camp. You have 7 days to prepare, or you will face immediate expulsion." She said with a stern tone. As was her habit of always presenting the stick, however, she had a carrot this time around: "The soldier who passes first becomes eligible for the first fully produced Winter Military Outfit produced by the Textile Printer this morning."
The thing that she presented in front of them was something that made them all look with wide eyes.
A heavy trench coat, white and gray camouflage combat fatigues, a winter-lined combat helmet, thick gloves, and what were arguably the world's warmest combat boots.
"All of that… produced here in base?" Bolt (Tommy) asked, trying to step ahead with an excited face, before getting a glance from the Sergeant.
"You know, this may be the first fully made outfit since the apocalypse itself… worldwide." Brains (Qasim) followed up.
"Look at those warm mittens! So soft and cozy, they just melt your heart looking at them." Fish (Yvonne) followed up.
"Alright! If you're all finished marveling, you all better get ready." Elena spoke up and turned to Yuki, "Boneface, you've been here the most recently, so I'm still giving you more time to train. You have a month."
Yuki, known as Boneface for her thin boney body, stepped ahead orderly.
"I can take it earlier, right, sir?" She asked.
"You can. I advise you to use your time, though." Elena replied and then turned to Kave, "As for you…"
All eyes landed on the recruit, who, despite being Elena's boy toy and one of Adam's inner circle, was still getting the worst treatment from the Sergeant.
"… you have one hour to prepare since you've spent a whole month and a week as a recruit." Elena said and unnerved him with her eyes, "If you fail to make it, I'll expel your ass to the Civilian Base myself."
Elena didn't even wait or dismiss them; she turned around and stormed away. No more orders or training.
"What was that about?" Crunch (Steve), the oldest of the recruits, asked, eyes locked on Kave.
"A woman dropping a bomb and refusing to elaborate: that's textbook angry girlfriend." Yapper commented while joining the older man.
Kave looked at the two and shrugged:
"I don't know, I haven't done anything."
"You haven't?" Megan asked as she finished checking out the outfit, "Elena wasn't happy with what you did this morning, you know."
Kave blinked twice and rubbed his head:
"I only got baptized."
"With Solana and Flint. And you showed the new Sheriff around the Base." Brains added.
"What's wrong with showing her around?" Kave asked.
"Bro, she was clearly checking you out." Adam's voice came from the Command Center's direction.
"And you were mean enough to tell him to go around with her." Megan retorted, pointing at Adam.
"The boy's a native. Correction: the Native around these parts. Anyone showing anything around, it's gotta be him." Adam defended before turning to the rest of the recruits, "Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, I'll be taking names for anyone wishing to take the promotion trial today. You will have to sign an NDA about the test and a Liability Waiver for its risks."
"Whoa!" Yapper interrupted Adam while frowning, "Sorry, sir, but who would we appeal to even if we don't sign?"
"Just me, myself, and I, Mr. Axel." Adam replied, "Being a Justiciar means I am the face of the law around here."
"Excuse me once again, sir, but ain't this situation going on too much like Wartopia? I mean, I know we're calling everything Wartopian and Solarium names, but it's already too much to ignore at this point. These aren't just all coincidences and shit?"
"And shit?" Adam asked, taking two steps towards Yapper, who looked around frantically before trying to hold his ground in front of Adam, "You're awfully familiar with Wartopia. Clearly a big fan. I am, too. That's why I named everything this way, I mean."
Adam seemed indifferent as he replied, but he had a dangerous look in his eyes as he continued:
"But being a fan yourself means you know well what a Justiciar would do to enforce morale and discipline," Adam said, moving his coat aside a little bit to reveal his new Blazer gun resting in its holster around his hip.
Yapper looked at the gun and gulped before shifting his gaze to Adam with a shaken expression, only to find Adam beaming a smile at him.
"Chillax, man!" Adam laughed with a wide smile, a hearty sound that spread as he looked around at the others as they joined him.
Yapper let out a sigh of relief before joining them with an awkward smile. For a moment there, Adam and Yapper met eye to eye. Adam wasn't smiling amidst the noise. He was simply giving Yapper a look that only lasted a second, and the latter caught it well.
He was supposed to. Adam meant it.
A clear threat, and it wasn't anything else.
"Alright, alright, calm down, people. We have a long day ahead of us. The ones entering the trial should register their names with me. Kave, Elena set you up first, so you have no other choice. I've gone ahead and signed your paper for you."
"No choices, eh?" Kave asked with a tired face.
"That's what friends are for." Adam patted his shoulder and pushed him towards the Command Center before dismissing the others.
As the two entered, the place seemed full of clutter and mess, since Adam had all his work projects reassessed for Malcode by Sister Solana, who was finally taking most of the Sacred Code work off Adam's hands.
"That was scary, what you did with Toby." Megan entered from a different door, joining the two at the tactical holo table.
"It had to be." Adam shrugged, "Yuki's plan for the in-camp rumors among the recruits is to make Yapper scared for a while before trying to be subtle and serious about his theories. We'd show him the Portal, as we did with the Professor, and that would be enough to tighten up the rumors outside."
"I don't like the fact that you're spending that much time with her plotting things." She stepped forward and cornered Adam against the table.
"Sadly, I'm the kind of guy who is boringly loyal to his girlfriend and keeps trying to find a good time to propose, but she…" Adam said, doing a little magic trick as he revealed the ring he once proposed to Megan with, but as always…
"Wrong time. Not romantic enough." She pushed it back.
Adam rolled his eyes, and Kave smiled, before averting his eyes from his best friends. He looked at the tactical view of the base with his eyes and saw a few edits that Adam was working on.
"What are you on about here?" Kave asked, pointing at the new view.
"Right. I wanted to run this by you, since you're the RTS expert here." Adam turned and pointed at the table, "We weren't doing much urban planning when we built the first, second, and third Solar Plants, but to maximize their production with the Holy Furnace, we must move around some buildings. The Solar Plants should be boxing the Holy Furnace, and we can get up to 200% power up if the formation is right, if I remember correctly."
"You've done it well." Kave commented with a nod, "And that over there?"
"I'm thinking of placing the new Base Bastion over there." Adam replied with an awkward voice.
"You want to vacate this Command Center?" Megan asked.
"It wouldn't be the most efficient thing to upgrade this building. You know how big it could get if we made this a Bastion on such weak foundations. The Titanites were all against it." Adam justified before looking at Kave, "I was going to delegate what we could do with this building to you. Converting it fully to a hospital would be great if you don't mind…"
"It's good with me." Kave replied with a rare, sane look, "It would honor the memory of my parents and would preserve their shrine in the backyard."
"Good. Glad you see it my way." Adam smiled and exchanged a nod with Megan beside him, who went ahead and hugged Kave.
Kave appreciated how Adam and Megan were looking out for him. Megan was always there, while Adam always had a sure smile and treated Kave without showing excess pity or treating him like someone fragile. He may have lost his family, but it was a miracle that he was reunited with those two out of everyone, a reunion that gave his life meaning.
"It's time."
And then there was she, the Sergeant who gave him chills of love running through his spine. She appeared beside the Iron Maiden further down the hall, and rather than the anger she'd had throughout the morning, she seemed in a good mood, looking warmly at him.
Adam left his friends and joined her, glancing at the Iron Maiden once before turning back to her:
"I hope you aren't angry with me."
"That depends on how well you pass this trial." She said and opened the Iron Maiden for him with a confident smile, "You will walk in a Recruit, and you will walk out a Man-at-Arms."
"I will." Kave nodded and faced the confines of the Iron Maiden with both worry and anticipation, "I was born in this house."
"And you will be reborn." Elena replied with a confident grin as she helped him strip his jacket and shirt to walk inside the machine before calling for the Medics: "Biscuits, Patch, strap him in."
The two medics, who were on standby, walked towards the Iron Maiden and closed the inner cage as they cuffed Kave tightly and secured his head in the head compartment. Biscuits then injected the drug into his system, and he slowly started to mutter a mix of English and Japanese as was his habit when his sanity started slipping:
"Adam… Tomodachi." He called for Adam.
"What's up?" Adam got closer to the Iron Maiden, touching Kave's hand once to let him know he was there.
"I'm going to be the first Earthling doing Full Dive VR… in history!" Kave said with a soft voice, his consciousness fading into the machine as he finished his line.
"Go get them, tiger!" Adam nodded with a smile, yet worry was still clear in his eyes.
He didn't want Kave to be the first human to do this, but the latter insisted. Adam stepped back as Megan joined him, putting a hand on him to ease his tensed shoulder.
"He'll be alright." She said.
"He better be." Adam replied and looked around, "I'd rather not do this whole thing without him."
"Don't be a whiny bitch." Megan shook her head and dragged him along towards the holographic view on the holo table before switching to the Iron Maiden simulation view.
There, a 3D hologram appeared, showing a grid of trenches, a trench bunker, and Kave picking up a rifle and getting his commands from the Commanding Justiciar.
Kave seemed his normal, excited self, picking up a bayoneted Blazer and centering himself in a place where he anticipated the enemies to attack. Immediately, he opened a barrage of Blazer bolts and cunningly took down the first three targets by using their melee attacker as his meat shield, before finishing him last with a bayonet to the throat.
He was brutal, and the others gave him a nod.
However, something static suddenly crossed the view for a second, and almost everyone was taken aback by the sudden appearance of what seemed to be something in the sky inside the simulation.
"Flying crafts?" Adam asked as he turned to Elena, "This was never in the enemy spawn."
"Maybe a personalized addition." She replied and started to grip the edge of the table, "The simulation doesn't follow the exact same pattern for everyone."
"Zoom out the view." Megan immediately went for the control terminal and started mashing the Minus button, setting the view back while still focusing on Kave in the center.
Something crossed the view again; this time, however, it was more visible but still obscure; it was enough for everyone to recognize what it was.
The view settled as Kave's movement hinted that he was following the thing with his head. Then a strong tremor shook the view as a large creature landed not too far from Kave.
Everyone froze, both in the simulation and outside of it, all looking at the same thing and gulping in terror.
A Dragon!
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