Gray knocked on the door to Major Valen's office and heard a firm "Come in" and then entered Major Valen's office.
"Private Gray Wilhelm, what can I do for you?" Major Valen asked.
"Sir, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions I have regarding merits and factions."
"You can ask, I will only answer if I am able to." Major Valen replied.
Gray wasn't sure if he meant 'able to' as in Major Valen didn't know, or 'able to' as in Major Valen was under order not to answer.
"First, I want to create a mercenary group, and maybe eventually turn it into a faction. How do I do this?" Gray asked honestly.
"Forming a mercenary group is easy, go to the mission board and request the form to create a mercenary group. Was that not in the manual we gave you?" Major Valen asked.
"I probably just forgot that part..." Gray said while laughing slightly, he really needs to get better at lying.
Gray saw Major Valen reaching for a clipboard and the hurriedly added "Ok, I may have just forgotten to read that part… or even the whole manual…"
Major Valen sighed then put the clipboard down. "Honesty is always the best answer with me even if it is something bad to admit. We give you these reading materials for a reason, stop treating it like a game manual and read it!"
"Sir, sorry sir!" Gray said apologetically.
"Was that it?" Major Valen asked.
"No sir, if our mercenary group needs something that we cannot requisition with merits, is it possible to exchange merits for Alliance credits and purchase it privately?"
"What would you be trying to purchase?" Major Valen asked suspiciously.
"Nothing yet, but I am merely asking since I would like to keep our options open."
"Well, I can say everything you will need for your part in the war will be available to you, even a modest amount of luxury goods are available as well. Can you give me an example of what isn't available that your group might need?"
"Well, if we're a mercenary group, we'd like to be able to purchase our own gantries, technicians, and a base."
"You can already purchase all of that with merits…" Major Valen said
"I am aware, but after reading the fine print, we aren't purchasing, we are leasing. Plus I noticed we can't purchase ammunition or fuel by itself to stockpile it."
"Stop there, everything is setup this way for a reason." Major Valen said, then he took out a pen and paper and said "Listen, I think you are worrying a bit too much about things that you don't need to be worrying about. Relax for a bit, head out the east entrance of this base and you'll see a small bluff overlooking the Adriatic Sea, it's too bad you can't fish though, the sea in this area is contaminated beyond our capability to clean it."
"I don't really have time to sight see, sir" Gray said feeling that something was sounding a little off.
"I'm sure you can spare some time, I insist" Major Valen said as Gray noticed he had wrote down a message while he was talking that said 'Be at bluff at 9:37am, nod head yes or no'.
Gray felt like was a very specific time so Gray nodded his head yes and said "Yeah, you're probably right, I'll just relax for a bit and clear my head. Thank you for your time sir!" Gray said, then saluted and left.
Gray saw it was 9:02am and figured that it was more than enough time to head there. It surprised Gray that he could honestly just walk out of the military base without anyone questioning him. After thinking about it some more, this was supposed to be a game to the average players and players were easily identifiable due to their unique pilot jumpsuits, they were probably trying to not restrict their freedom to maintain the façade that this is just a game. As a gamer himself, Gray understood that the one thing all players and gamers hated was to be told they couldn't do something.
As Gray walked east out of the base, he wasn't sure where to find the exact bluff Major Valen was talking about since the terrain was fairly flat. Directly east of the base was the Adriatic Sea so a road didn't get paved out of the east gate leaving most of the terrain in a fairly natural state. Finally Gray spotted a small bluff that was slightly elevated and looking out over the Adriatic Sea. It appeared to have been formed recently and Gray wasn't sure what had caused it to form here in the first place.
The top of the bluff was solid rock and Gray felt a little uncomfortable sitting down on it, but he had to admit that the view wasn't that bad in the morning. Gray checked the time again and saw it was 9:37am now. As if it was scripted, Gray heard footsteps on the stone behind and he turned to Major Valen walking up towards him wearing a jogging suit.
Before Gray could say anything, Major Valen said "You have 3 minutes until the satellite coverage gap is filled, don't ask why, you don't have much time. First of all, the system was designed to keep the players dependent upon the Alterran Alliance Military. I am helping you here and now because I do not believe the Alliance should throw all of their eggs in one basket, but I will not hesitate to kill anyone that is a threat to the Alliance."
Gray felt that Major Valen was deathly serious about this so he didn't question it and instead asked "How can we get credits with merits?"
"Directly you can't, but if you purchase goods from the supplier directly so the military can't track who spent the merits, you should then be able to sell the items on the open market, but DO NOT sell weapons on the open or black market, especially mechs." Major Valen said.
"Who are the suppliers, how do I sell stuff on the open market or black market?"
Major Valen tossed Gray a piece of paper folded neatly into a small square. "Contacts from my days before the military, do not use my name, use the name I included on the list for each contact."
Gray thought that the Major was very prepared for this and then asked "How did you know…"
Major Valen interrupted him and said "1 minute left"
Gray asked "Who should we get to join us?"
"As many players as you can, but not military cadets as you run the risk of exposing yourself."
"What is going to happen to us after the war?"
"Diamond-tiers will become full citizens of the Alterran Alliance, everyone else will be returned to the virtual world." Major Valen stated while looking a little upset about this.
Major Valen's reply surprised Gray and he had then ask "Why not let them stay in the real world?"
"Because…" Major Valen then checked his watch again and said "…and so what I recommend is that your team join the military. The training alone will help you guys improve by leaps and bounds! Anyways, good running in to you Private, I'll finish my morning run and hope to see you among our ranks!"
Gray wasn't completely oblivious as to what Major Valen was doing and could only curse inwardly that he had ran out of time. Gray had an idea and said "Thanks! I'll strongly consider it sir! How often do you go running?"
Major Valen smiled in understanding and said "I jog every morning, but I change my course often. Usually I only come out this way every 2 weeks or so, so the next time I'll go by it again is probably in 2 weeks."
Gray made a mental note that in 2 weeks he could come here again to ask more questions. "Thanks, I'll probably come out here again to relax then if I ever need some time to clear my head, sir."
"No problem Private!" Major Valen said as he jogged off leaving Gray alone on the bluff.
"I need to head back, I learned enough for us to have a pajama party tonight." Gray thought to himself.
__________
As Major Valen jogged away, a call came through his armlet from General Brian.
"David! Good to hear from you again! What can I do for you this fine morning?" Major Valen said.
"Nothing much, just wanted to see how your recruitment efforts were paying off. Anything to report?"
"General, sir, the recruiting has been surprisingly effective I suspect that we"
General Brian interrupted him "Line secured for 15 seconds, be careful, you're being watched closer than you think and I can only protect you so much."
"I know, but I had to inform him of certain things even though I know he wants to know more."
"Why?" General Brian asked surprised.
"To save as many pl.."
General Brian interrupted him again and said "Yes, I continue to expect more player recruits like those, keep up the good work and sorry for calling you on your jog."
"General Brian Sir, it is an honor to serve under you and the Alterran Alliance Military, no need to apologize. Good day General, sir" Major Valen said then hung up the call.
__________
Just as General David Brian hung up with Major Valen, a female voice said from behind him. "General David, it's not necessary to call the bases and ask for reports, your assistant or AI can handle that."
General Brian kept his nerves in check even though General Elise Bellerose had surprised him. "I am aware General Bellerose, but I feel that sometimes talking to them directly provides better motivation."
"So that 18 seconds of silence was part of your motivation?" General Bellerose added.
"What 18 seconds of silence? I imagine the AI just didn't hear it due to the interference from that part of old Italy." General Brian said while acting like it was normal.
"Hmmm… we'll leave it at that. Get your squads ready, we're having a mock battle with paint weapons at noon."
General David nodded his head and then sent out a message to his officers to gather at the classroom for a briefing on the training.