"What should we do?"
"It's just an interrogation, right?"
"We don't have to fight her, or him. Just ask some questions"
"Who's going to do it though?"
Ro Sham Bo.
Rock
Paper
Scissors
After countless bullshit games, a man in a trench coat and a woman wearing sunglasses were chosen to approach the two. This was even harder then fighting the pirates. Each step they took caused them to nearly faint. They barely crossed 2 rows when the woman's legs almost caved.
A man sitting in the aisle seat next to her reached out to catch her. She didn't pay attention to him but he didn't care. The two continued walking but each step became even slower and slower. The conversation of the civilians around them didn't help.
"What are they so afraid of?"
"Right. These are just young adults basically"
"Do they need me to do it?"
"Hey kids. Wake up. These adults want to ask you something"
Oh my god! They actually woke up a sleeping monster. There was a saying that when you were unaware of danger, you wouldn't be scared. However, they were very aware of the terrifying calamity that they might provoke, therefore they had proceeded with caution. Now, that was literally thrown out the window.
"Hmm?"
Skyfang opened his eyes and stared at the two people in the distance. Their faces were pale and they trembled all over.
Dawn was affected by his movement and also stared.
"Why do they look like little mice now? Are we in danger?"
"Kid. They want to interrogate you"
Oh my god! Why did they have to say interrogate.
"Huh? We didn't do anything wrong. If they want to create trouble, I don't mind causing a bit of chaos"
"You want to ask questions right? Ask"
The man and woman sighed in relief.
"The assignment you're on. Can you tell us more about it?"
"That's classified"
Dawn frowned, not expecting them to ask such an idiotic question.
"We might have similar jobs. It's good to know your teammates"
"First, classified information can't be discussed in front of citizens. Second. I'd know if I had partners"
The WMRs grew embarrassed from their error in judgment. They were pressed so badly that they forgot standard protocols.
"I don't know either. I'm just following her to fight Beastmen"
Skyfang was blunt and honest. Dawn looked at him, speechless. The other WMRs eyes lit up.
"Anything specific about the Beastmen?"
"Training for me"
"I see. How long do you plan on staying there"
"You'd have to ask her, but she won't give you an answer"
"But you did, idiot"
"Oh. Didn't seem to matter to me"
"It does to me"
"Well, I consider anything I was told about this assignment to be public"
Dawn smacked her forehead with her palm, not knowing what to say to that.
"Anything you plan on looking for specifically?"
"Oh. I don't know. Wait. That's top secret"
"Why?"
"Because I don't know what it is I'm looking for yet"
"That's why it's top secret?"
"Yes"
"I don't think we're gonna get any more then this from him"
The group of WMRs returned to their seats after thanking the two. On the other hand, Dawn was super angry.
"Why did you tell them that?"
"If it's not going to get me killed, I don't see why not"
"What if it was classified information that we don't want our enemy to know"
"Not sure. Didn't think that far"
"Dumbass"
"Aren't you the one lacking intelligence for telling me"
"You're my partner. If I can't tell you, who should I tell it too?"
The Gambler was simply eccentric and unpredictable. As long as something contributes to its success, it didn't really care about the specifics.
The plane landed in New York at 5PM. 2PM but they had to add 3 hours to account for time zones. The state was a war zone. There was smoke everywhere, billowing into the sky. Every other block there was a fountain of blood that dyed every building red or black. Bears prowled the streets while lions scavenged leftover corpses. The sea of monstrosity was barely being held back by Specialists scouring the battlefield.
"That's the situation. We're not boxed in, but we're being assaulted on 3 sides by totally different nations. The Beastmen are working together with the Psychofiends in order to penetrate our barrier and infest the United States. We're gonna clean up some of them. Hopefully we'll be done by midnight"
"Done with what? This has been going on for years"
"Patrol"
"Doesn't sound interesting. I'll pass"
"Brass doesn't like that"
"Brass makes the decisions?"
"All of them"
"I guess I gotta stick with my odds. Do you know if they still serve food in such an environment? I'm famished. I'll be done quick and simple"
"You're thinking about food after seeing what's here?"
"Just a question. Don't need to jump into a long philosophical query"
"Ok. Ok. There's a burger joint on the other side of the city, where a safe haven was set up"
Skyfang took a step and instantly disappeared. Dawn didn't even see where he had gone so she rushed to the safe haven.
The Safe Haven was a city packed to the brim. 16 residents to a house instead of the normal 4. The military was always recruiting. Civilian men could sign up as scouts. Calm people down. Sort the rations and relay orders.
There were posts everywhere that detailed the hierarchy of WMRs.
Civilians. Known as Civs. They were the basic, mostly expendable troops. Those without any combat ability could risk their life in exchange for lucrative day to day rewards from the government. Thousands of dollars if they stayed inside the perimeter. Tens of thousands if they stayed behind the WMRs. Mostly to gather essentials.
Operators. Known as Ops. Basic front line troops. They were in charge of killing anything that displayed hostile intentions. Warriors, Magicians, and Rogues worked in groups of 8 to complement each other.
Double-Archetype Operators. Known as DAO's. The back line of front line troops. They provided supporting fire and only got serious when the WMRs were inadequate. It was usually 5 Warriors, Magicians, or Rogues in front of them with a WM, MR, and WR providing support.
DAO's had higher variety of attacks. They were essentially 2 operators in once, so 5 WMR's, but 3 DAO's outnumbered the WMR's by 1.
They were the most basic units. Then came a concept known as Synergy. Feats, spells, and methods that inherited traits from two Archetypes. Traits from different Archetypes didn't mesh well. They would often fight and superseded control. Many Operators in fact had traits from two or three Archetypes, but they were all submissive.
Ops had traits from 1 dominant Archetype and DAO's had traits from 2 dominant Archetypes. It was quite similar to genetics. The difference was that DAO traits were equally dominant.
Military called them Covert Ops Soldiers while the government called them Double Archetype Geniuses, or DAG. Synergy was quite weak. It was trainable. That's why so many DAO's and Covert Ops Soldiers went onto the battlefield, willingly.
The area that saw the highest foot traffic was the site of a concert avenue that was the first to get hit. Everyone had been killed on impact. It was where most of the Beastmen, Psychofiends, as well Mutants had stationed their primary battlefield nearby. It was 3/4 of the way to the coastline. Obviously, that was not the first destination. Closer to him was an event known as the Spatial Bend.
A turf war between renegade Psychofiends and Mutants and their 'commanders', it was a losing battle where rogue enemies sought assistance from the United States. Why did betray their kind? The theory was that one of them snapped out of their mind control by accidentally unlocking the concept of Space. This let them regain their sanity and they 'broke' several hundred other minds while escaping.
Just in front of the Spatial Bend were many human refugee sites that had been set up in an emergency as civilians and operators were feeling from the massive sea of beasts. He needed to save them first before engaging in any war. So he went to the local military branch after having a meal and inquired about the situation.
The branch had long lines stretching dozens of blocks. Most of the people waiting were ordinary civilians.
"We don't have to wait in line. You can use the Nano-Suit to wirelessly register your intentions. There are no missions, unless you're hopelessly weak and need instructions"
"Oh. You caught up?"
"Damn you! Every time I catch up to you, it's like you instantly disappear again. If it wasn't for my expert tracking, wouldn't I be lost by myself?"
"How do we register our intentions?"
[TAE, Dawn. Going to extract refugee camps near the Haven]
[Roger that. Go get em soldier]
"Roughly where do you rank as a TAE?"
"Hmmph. I'm top 1000. Out of 100k"
"Is that all the TAE's we have"
"Earth has a population of Decillion's. Of course not"
[DAO, Skyfang. Same as Dawn]
[Huh? Who is this? You know Dawn?]
[Fool. Type it properly. DAO, Skyfang. Goingn to extract refugee camps near the Haven]
[Omg, you know Dawn! Holy fuck. Lucky asshole!]
[Goddamnit. Follow proper protocol]
[Yes M'am]
[How strong is this Skyfang?]
[Stronger]
There was silence after that
[Stronger then who?]
[Who else]
[Dawn…?]
[Who else is speaking]
[Just my support]
[On our end dumbass]
[Dawn and Skyfang. Skyfang is stronger then the other person. That person is Dawn]
[Holy fuck]
[I need to replay this up the command]
With that, a series of important messages were rerouted through the entire military command. They didn't know, but hundreds of super important eyes were now on them.
Skyfang relished in this. He never spoke without reason. Now that relevant eyes were watching, he would give a good show…