The V-Bug may have been the first vehicle choice Adam went with; now using the light ones for transportation between bases, the heavy ones for outside patrols, and saving the W-Bug when direct bombardment is needed. However, Adam's first order from the War Factory was a subject of extensive debate, with his subordinates arguing among themselves as he sat watching and listening.
"Stingray drones, multiple of them at that. We need to see beyond the Fog of War." Kave was the first to voice his opinion, gaining agreement from the Venusians and Martians, whereas the rest had different opinions.
"You don't have to know where the enemy is if you have enough troops already engaged with it, so faster reinforcement is key, my boy. I say we need a Carapace." Sergeant Duke, the Titanite, voiced his opinion and got more approval than Kave.
"Usually, that's true when you have numbers. Also, the Carapace on its own isn't a good choice. It is always the Carapace and something, usually a Harbinger." Megan interjected with full support from Elena and Wright.
The Stingray Drone was, as its name suggests, a flying drone shaped like a stingray. Rather than being a conventional flying drone, it uses the same hovering technology as the Hoverbarrow. It is even more powerful than the tiny reconnaissance drones used by the Tech Operators of the Men-at-Arms, as it can shoot blazer bolts or drop small payloads of explosives.
On the other hand, the Carapace Troop Carrier was a solid choice, a battle bus with insane customization options used by both the Legio Bellarium of the Men-at-Arms and the Ordo Bellarium of the Paladins. Usually, the Carapace needs another vehicle to tow or carry it, like a Harbinger Starcraft, but it can also be outfitted with thrusters or tracks to be driven around. Its most impressive feature is the capacity, with the ability to carry ten Paladins or fifty Men-at-Arms.
As for Adam, he was there, listening to these conversations; however, his mind was completely elsewhere. In his hand, he had a trooper miniature that he had hand-painted a week ago, and despite being his proud handiwork, he was noticing something unsatisfying about it lately.
Right after leveling up his [Artifice] skill to 10, he started noticing flaws in his previous work that he could no longer remedy, suddenly striking him with feelings of dissatisfaction.
He would love to go back to his place and put some work into his miniatures, with all the new ideas and techniques his head was generating at a fast pace…
"Commander… Sir… Adam!"
But as his head was totally elsewhere, Elena's voice woke him from his daze. He looked around the people gathered in the Command Room and saw them waiting for his decision.
"The Stingray drone is the first choice; a couple of them will provide a tactical advantage to support any forward unit." Adam said, proving that despite his mind being elsewhere for a second, his head was still in the game. "The Carapace will take a long time and won't be as effective since we are technically hibernating in winter. After that, we will upgrade the Base Bastion."
"I don't think you will go for the Field Hospital or Propaganda Center upgrades this time." Kave turned to Adam. "Hexdome Generator?"
"No. Even with a Holy Furnace, that thing will eat power like crazy." Adam shook his head. "This leaves…"
"The Great Cannon!" Almost everyone in the room blurted at the same time.
Adam put away the miniature in his hand and switched the holo table view to the rough map of Brighthaven that was dimmer than Springhead due to the Fog of War, the area that doesn't appear under active beacon surveillance.
"In the RTS Wartopia, the Great Cannon could reach all corners of the map with a nasty cooldown period of ten minutes. Sergeants, how would this translate in real life?" Adam asked.
"Sir!" Sergeant Wright stepped forward. "The Great Cannon of a Bastion is basically a Railgun with unfathomable power. When full energy is diverted, and the right amount of Monks, Troopers, and Serfs are assigned, it can fire its heavy ammunition once a day. As for the range, it would be 200 klicks for accurate shooting and 350 klicks for full range, with an accuracy margin of 3 to 5 klicks at maximum."
"Lord Almighty!" Megan exclaimed with a pale face; she then started zooming out the map to a full recorded view of the East Coast. "That's like… if we shoot south, we can hit all the way past Connecticut and reach New York City. And if north… that's Montréal in Canada."
Adam himself whistled before speaking:
"Well, this is all theoretical, assuming that the weather is favorable and all requirements are up to standard."
"Right you are, sir!" Sergeant Wright nodded.
"The only problem that would arise here is manpower, but on the plus side, we will not require that kind of heavy ammunition just yet, since there are a lot of survivors all over the urban areas that we may hit. I want the Great Cannon to be reserved for support for the time being. Also, it would be extremely critical against foes such as Dragons or Giant Monsters." Adam laid out his vision.
"With all due respect, sir, I wouldn't bet on the Great Cannon against such foes. It is good at bombarding, not targeting." Wright interjected.
"And I hear you, but let me introduce you to a certain Justiciar who used a Great Cannon to bullseye a Hell Titan… thrice!" Adam replied with a grin that unsettled the Moonman.
"I'll just add that none of us here is Tristan Warwick, sir." Megan said before adding her opinion: "But I think the Great Cannon will be the better choice here."
With a wave of agreement all across the Command Room, Kave then asked:
"We still have to solve the manpower problem, though. Since we can't have Civilians or Troopers sacrificed, does anyone have ideas?"
"You overlook the safety of the entire operation and focus on the suffering of some Serfs?"
The one asking him was Sergeant Ragna, leading the Martian Squad. Adam was sure he didn't input asshole character traits into that woman when he summoned her, but by Sol, she was a handful.
"Sergeant, at this point, we don't take Serfs or solve problems the same way the Solarium usually does: piling enough corpses on them. You know why?"
"No, sir, and honestly, whatever the reason, it is affecting our operating efficiency." She replied with clear criticism.
Adam looked at the other Sergeants, seeing that some clearly had the same thoughts as Ragna, but wouldn't voice them as she did.
"Alright, let me make something clear." Adam said and straightened his posture to appear imposing. "I don't like needless sacrifices, but when those sacrifices are needed, I wouldn't stop you from doing your duties. Actually, I would applaud it, and if the Graying doesn't take your bodies fast enough, I would commit them to the Holy Furnace so that they become Solymer."
Adam gave his stance on "sacrifices," but he had yet to address the main matter.
"As for Serfs, it is not a designation I use for civilians. Morality and rights aside, did you guys not notice that this world is going through an apocalypse scenario?" Adam's question was clear, but then his tone became rather harsh. "In this universe you were summoned into, this is the only human world we know of, simply because humanity hasn't gotten out of this world yet. So, by all sane standards, every human on this damn space rock is all that's left! A year back, we were 8 billion souls. By your universe standards, this is not anything impressive, but we were some backward fossil civilization; cancer was our greatest disease, whereas your civilization had millions of worlds, some with populations so vast, we're speaking of a trillion souls in some world turned into a sardine can, or some such shit… and you fucking made cancer a cure."
Adam's voice hoarsened, so he took a second to clear it and calm himself down before continuing:
"What you will have to adapt to is that no unnecessary sacrifices will be taken. Rough estimates say we lost 19 out of every 20 we once knew, and no parents are willing to give birth to children in a world like this, so if all the world is similar to Brighthaven, which I doubt, all members of our human race left in this universe can't be more than 250 million." Adam scanned the faces of his Sergeants one more time before making a firm order, "Once our survival situation turns around and we make advances against monsters, I'm planning to save every last human on this world. This is not a Warfare operation; it's a Rescue mission. We fail it, we go extinct, we become a dying breed… if that's not already the case."
Adam's speech clearly worked its magic, and the level 8 Charisma under his belt was showing great promise and was his current highest skill.
"Well said, Commander." Elena immediately saluted Adam, as his longest-running subordinate.
The others immediately followed with salutations, heeding the Commander's orders. Their summoner/summon relationship may affect their mindset, making them consider him their highest superior, but it goes without saying that they can think independently, and it would cause problems if their thoughts weren't put in order whenever a rebellious opinion arose.
But before any more words could be exchanged regarding this topic, the base's communicator buzzed:
"Team Alpha to Base! Do you copy?" Chip's voice came through.
"Base here!" Adam pressed the reply button immediately. "What's your status, Team Alpha?"
"Code Red. Monster entities. Sending visual." Chip responded.
"Acknowledged," Adam replied, his gaze shifting to the large screen displaying multiple views.
In each section, a part of the H-Bug's interior was seen, except for one showing the view from on top of it. The vehicle was maneuvering easily through snow and broken roads, pushing through broken cars like they were plastic toys. Hammerhead, who was on top of the H-Bug, showed multiple Dire Wolves that were trying to flank the metal creature, which was not supposed to be moving. Just as Fish got the vehicle in a favorable position, Hammerhead started blasting at the wolves, mowing down their numbers without remorse.
"Firing positions!" Fish shouted from behind the wheel, signaling the other three men in the back seats to get ready to fire.
Bolt and Ajax immediately fixed their Blazers through the gun ports on each side of the armored car and started blasting, guided by small screens on top of each port. Wolves tried to ram the armored car with their bodies, but only ended up harming themselves as Fish kept the vehicle moving, committing multiple hit-and-runs very skillfully.
Once the situation became safer, the passenger hatch on the H-Bug opened, and Chips' drone shot up to the sky, sending feedback to the vehicle, and from it to the base, sending an eagle-eye view of the situation.
"Damn! Somebody tell that British girl she's driving on the wrong side of the road." Megan joked as she watched the armored car chase a dire wolf and run it over mercilessly; the beast seemed to have suffered a shot to its back leg.
Adam looked over his tactical scan before speaking into his radio handset:
"Alpha team, we receive visuals, but you're pushing the edge of our scan range. Multiple reds are south and southeast. Break northwest and disengage. Go cold."
"Acknowledged!"
As the reply came, the armored car broke into a speedy turn and moved through the residential ruins to hide in an old parking lot. Every member of the group climbed out of the hatch once the scan came back clear.
Ajax had received days of training on Solarium equipment, and everything about it was simply too fantastical to believe, with things having a brutalist and bulky design but actually containing some amazing tech within.
His Blazer had multiple firing modes; his helmet came with its own built-in radio, warmer, and an AR single lens that could see in all conditions and even mix many sight modes. He scanned for heat signatures in the snow but found none, confirming the scanning feedback from base.
"Your task is to find a low-vis position with good overwatch, but it should be accessible for a quick setup of a Beacon tower. You're our eyes on the ground, so use your judgment to pick one out."
With these orders arriving via Chips' radio, the team converged for a quick strategy discussion.
"So, a beacon. I've seen one in base, but how quickly can they set it up?" Ajax asked, his question directed to Hammerhead.
"Moonmen will be sent to set it up, so I'd say it wouldn't take minutes, since they probably have it set up in advance. They'll transport it to the location and start working right away."
"And what should this location be like?" Ajax asked.
"As the order came from command, high ground, but low-vis. You got any ideas?" Hammerhead asked Ajax, who started looking around immediately.
"It shouldn't be difficult. I understand a beacon should be on high ground and kept hidden. So… there was that depot store I remember in this neighborhood, which had a bunch of funny-looking antennas on it. Could still be there and can just blend the Beacon in among them." Ajax suggested and pointed north.
Chips immediately directed his drone and started searching for such a building, even in the dark, aided by the Solarium's night vision technology, and after a while, he found the building. Hammerhead confirmed that it was one of the scrapping spots they frequented for salvage during the early days, since it was in an area untouched by the dragon's fire, but the building itself was half-collapsed and in bad shape. However, one corner was enough to support the beacon tower.
After arriving and securing the perimeter, the team sent a signal back to base, and Adam authorized Team Bravo to head out, commanded by Corporal Wrench and four more Lunar Engineers. They had the other H-Bug, towing a packed, pre-built Scanner Beacon that could be set up in minutes once they arrived on site.
Adam watched the multiple feeds and was learning more and more about scouting operation control, since all he had been focused on these past few weeks was defense. This scouting operation required its own support lines, unlike how it was when he played RTS games, where he would just follow a squad of soldiers that he would simply send in whatever direction, without thinking much about other logistics.
He could only warn them about the red dots he would see on his radar, watch the feeds from the screen, and stress over how little control he had in this situation, while calculating how to do better next time.
As he watched the second H-Bug arrive at the location, towing a large contraption on a large hoverbarrow, he noticed a Moonman wearing something similar to an exoskeleton suit that they used to unload the truck rather quickly, with even a man carrying over his head a beam that should weigh twice his size.
"Those are…" Adam said, pointing at the soldier who was augmented with a metal contraption of his own.
"That's Private Perry, sir." Sergeant Wright said as he approached to stand beside Adam.
"No! The thing he's wearing…" Adam pointed and turned to Kave and Megan. "You remember those artworks of Lunar Engineers showing up to work in exoskeletons like these?"
"Yes." Kave replied with narrowed eyes. "I remember the art, but nobody had a name for these, like… they were just another Lunar toy."
"Indeed." Adam nodded, now finding it fascinating that there was something so insignificant as an exoskeleton in the lore's artwork, whose name he never knew. "What's that device, Sergeant?"
"Just a Lifter, sir." Even Sergeant Wright shrugged. "You can call it anything, really. It's a bunch of power limbs big enough to go over the body, wired to a power pack, and operated with simple controls. Not even programmed with Sacred Code."
"That simple, huh?" Adam raised a brow and pointed. "You can build that without a Mech Bay or a Walker Gear technology?"
"It is much simpler, sir. A rudimentary walker, if you'd like to see it that way. Since we can't drive much back home on Luna, unless it's a big enough vehicle, toys like these were common." Wright replied.
"Good! Very good!" Adam's smile beamed and pointed. "A few of those will solve the workforce problem, right? Especially in tight places like the inner parts of a Great Cannon."
Sergeant Wright thought for a while before nodding:
"It will eliminate the need for Serfs and Troopers… but it is not much in terms of dexterity and combat."
"Don't care about that. I want you to show me a design, and let's make something new out of it. I'm getting some creative tingles." Adam said while watching the tower being worked on with a wide grin.
Soon, he will have his view expanded with the addition of another Scanner Beacon, and once that happens, he will have a better grasp and oversight of the situation of his base.
Back on the ground, Ajax watched with interest as each part of the tower was put together with the same speed and efficiency of the military engineers he was used to, cementing his feeling that he had made the right decision to leave the airport and arrive here. However, a warning from command came that multiple reds were approaching them from the south.
In terms of firepower, they were now twice as strong as before, so dispatching a bigger group of Dire Wolves was easier than it should have been, but they heard fighting noises in the darkness. Not until they could confirm visuals of a person locked in a fight against multiple Dire Wolves did Ajax's team get the green light to move ahead and rescue their fellow man.
It happened just as they had imagined it, no surprises. They arrived with their H-Bug, fired a few shots at the wolves, killed some, injured the rest, and drove them away. The man they came for was lying on the ground, with bite marks all over his body, yet he didn't look different from any other survivor save for the severe lack of clothing and the crude weapon of wood and sharpened stones with him.
The H-Bug wasn't designed to take one more passenger beyond its capacity, so the other H-Bug with a hoverbarrow was called, and both Ajax and Fish stayed on the hoverbarrow with the new passenger, whose injuries were stabilizing fast.
Just as the two cars returned home, Ajax and Fish started to notice the strange appearance of the man, and as they voiced their thoughts, he opened his eyes, and their suspicions were confirmed: what they picked up wasn't what they would consider the same species as they were.
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