That's how they returned to Metropolis-D at full speed. Both of them drinking during the ride, but none even flushed.
The poor Markus even got his entire stash wiped out by Josh, who showed no sign of even being tipsy. Wait, was he condemned to live the rest of his life 100% sober thanks to his Gluttony bloodline?!
As this dawned on him, he was stunned while Markus was in shock too. From that day onward, he would not brag about his incredible alcohol tolerance. Both remained deep in thought all the way back.
D-23 had gone through a complete upheaval. Before, there had been a few pitiful-looking signs with Black Squad members patrolling. Now there were troops everywhere! Really every-fucking where! There were about 300 of them.
One shouldn't underestimate that number. It was only slightly higher than the ragtag group of Climbers that had died here, but they were completely different. They had discipline, they were true soldiers, and they looked awesome!
Their black outfit, their stern faces, and their black shades made them look Hella cool! On their chest, they had ???????????? written in silver lettering. Each was carrying a silver gun that looked to be a standard futuristic assault rifle model. Which one? Josh had no clue.
As their flying car entered the area, they almost got shot down. The soldiers all pointed their weapons at them, and bigger turrets even locked on them. Funny how all this investment was all in order to defeat Gene Corp.
Markus identified himself and a stern and tall man welcomed them. "It's a pleasure to have you here, Sir. I'm general Roderick. Please inform me if you have any requests." He had an air of authority about him, or perhaps was it his bushy brows?
Meanwhile, most of the soldiers returned to their business. They seemed to be laying some kind of metal plates on the ground, making a perimeter. What could these things even be?
"How's the situation? Are you guys properly receiving the EVE data?" Markus inquired.
"Yes, Sir!" The man pointed to a small tablet that showed red markers all over. These were slowly congregating and making their way toward them.
"So, why exactly can't we just drop a bomb on their asses and be done with it?" Josh asked, puzzled. That sent everyone around laughing.
"I really wish we could do that. Well, we could, but it would doom us. It would violate the international treaty on weapons of mass destruction. Anything that causes indiscriminate destruction is banned."
"It wouldn't be indiscriminate. It would be right on top of our enemies!" Josh retorted.
"Anything that remotely has the potential to kill innocents along with the target is out of the question. It wasn't like that before but let's just say there have been too many incidents. That's why people began researching gene alteration and building mechas in the first place."
"I see. That explains it. Let me guess. This is to prevent humanity from killing itself?"Josh sighed.
"Of course! Well, with the advent of the Tower, it's just easier to have an army of Climbers armed with this." He brandished his weapon as he said that.
"What about killer robots? Couldn't they be used as an army?"
"Yes, but it's really hard to code a perfect AI that will work in all situations. It's extremely dangerous to let them loose in case they somehow decide to murder a bunch of civilians. They are best suited for jobs like security guards." Roderick patiently explained.
"Makes sense, somehow. But will our enemy respect that treaty in the first place?"
"Yes, because they need support for their research. It's an open secret that they have shady deals with Metropolis-H. If they go too far, they'll lose all their funding. We are dealing with evil bastards, but rational evil bastards." He said.
Was that supposed to make it better? Well, in a sense, but that also meant that they would have the ability to scheme. How would this play out, he wondered.
"Gotcha. How long do we have before the invasion begins?" Josh inquired.
"About a day. In the meantime, we'll make sure to set up defenses around the place properly. We should be done with setting the energy walls soon. Afterward, we'll have the mobile covers set up." Roderick replied.
"Good job! Alright, I'll go back to Metropolis-D to begin an evacuation 'drill'. Hopefully, this will suffice. Alright, Josh here will be acting as my eyes." Markus weaved them goodbye, leaving him behind.
"So, who are you exactly?" The commander asked him, puzzled. He seemed more relaxed now.
"I'm the dumbass that bought the land here. If I knew it would turn into a warzone, I would have bought a small farm instead." Josh chuckled.
"Okay, seriously, who are you?" Roderich reiterated, perplexed.
"I'm here to help. Right, I'll need a weapon and a quick demonstration of how all this stuff works. Other than that, just tell me where I should cover, and I'll do my best." Josh smiled at him.
"You're here to fight?! Aren't you a Climber? Weren't you left here as an advisor?!"He seemed shocked.
"Aren't you guys Climbers too?" Josh raised an eyebrow.
"Eh, we're soldiers above all else. No way in Hell regular Climbers would ever come here, same for Rankers. What if they die a shameful death because of a stray shot!" Roderick exclaimed.
Oh, so that's how it was. Rankers were the celebrities of this world, and they Climbed mostly for their own benefit. It made sense that they wouldn't overly risk their lives on the battlefield. Josh couldn't help but have respect for these valiant soldiers.
"Well, that's them, and I'm me. I just have to make sure I don't die, isn't that right?" Josh grinned while shrugging.
"HAHAHA. Perfect! Just perfect. Alright, follow me!" the man soon chucked in his hands a gun before showing him how to use it.
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"There are three modes, safety, non-lethal and lethal. Ah, but the non-lethal can be lethal with more than a few hits." Overall it seemed pretty easy to use.
"This is neat." Josh couldn't help but smile as he manipulated the gun. Not only was it light, but it seemed pretty sturdy.
"These things are harder than they seem to use. I wouldn't count on—" He began only to see Josh shooting wildly in the air in full lethal mode!
PEW PEW
"This is fun." He chuckled. Somehow there was no recoil either.
PEW PEW PEW!
"What do you think you're doing?!" He seemed incensed.
"Shooting?" Josh looked at him inquisitively. Wasn't that obvious? Ah, somehow his wild shooting had alerted the entire base that was now coming over with resolute looks that soon turned to confusion.
"Goddamnit! Everyone return to your post. It's a false alarm!" He shouted before turning to Josh. "You clearly are inexperienced. You'll stay in the back instead." He looked adamant.
But just as he was shaking his head, a flamboyant red vessel could be seen entering the area. It was a car Josh recognized instantly: the EDM-mobile!
"Don't worry. This is a friend. By the way, can't use guys just use flying vessels to fight? Wouldn't that work perfectly?" Josh said.
"Once again, there are —"
"Treaties against that? What can you guys do?!" Josh felt there was something wrong with their warring.
"Actually, no. This one isn't much a treaty as common sense. If you use your ships to annihilate an army, chances are their supporters will send ships to destroy your city in retaliation."
"This sucks…"
"Well, we do use them against external enemies…." Roderick reassured. Wait, external? As in not from the Metropolises, right?!
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Kasha's car landed right in the middle of the place. She didn't care about the surroundings or the many soldiers pointing their weapons at her. She headed straight for Josh while shouting:
"How dare you!" Hearing her, Roderick sighed in relief. She would take this eager man off his hands. This way, Roderick wouldn't be blamed for him dying like a fool. But then she finished her sentence.
"How dare you have fun without me!" She was smiling brightly as the poor Roderick realizEd he had not one but two crazies on his hands now!
"I was sure you'd be able to join eventually. Plus, I tried calling you as soon as I heard about D-23, but you didn't pick up. What was I supposed to do?" Josh gave a helpless shrug.
"You were supposed to wait for me, obviously! Alright, what do we have here? Also, where's my blaster?" She looked around everywhere excitedly with the commander about to facepalm. How was he supposed to react to that?
"I think it's better if you guys leave this place to us and—" He tried reasoning with her.
"No way! We'll help defend it. We have our reasons too!"
"It's cool. I already told him that I bought the land here." Josh added.
"Oh, then that makes it easy. I'm just here to help a friend." Kasha happily explained.
Roderick could only be seen standing frozen in place. His air of authority was gone completely as all that remained of him was bewilderment. It's at that moment that he understood that Josh had been serious. But how?! Also, why?!
Who would want to buy such dangerous land?! For the sloths perhaps? No, the government would do whatever they wanted with them, using regional safety as an excuse. As for the Alter Tower? That one was a waste of time to Climb! It had casualties registered but not one good reward!
What was up with this?! Was this why Markus had left the man to oversee the operations? Now the newcomer was happily playing around with the blaster, sending a few shots in the air and disturbing the entire army once again.
That's when Roderick resolved to make them give up. For that purpose, he had a fantastic and quite straightforward idea too. There was enough time for it to be carried out while they waited.
"You both. I don't mind you guys staying and fighting with us, but you'll have to prove yourselves. Either you guys participate in a friendly shooting challenge, or you can leave right away."
He could see their eyes twinkling in excitement, but that was fine. He'd make sure they lost and soon he would be rid of them...
Creator's Thought
How they conducted warfare was extremely stupid. Of course, they had their reasons. The Metropolises Alliance was an extremely frightening enemy to have. In retrospect, we should have brought the big guns out. Everything would become a chaotic mess anyway. But, we did the best we could with the information we had.