Farewells & Futures

Vanguard has received 3 Free Building Upgrades

Due to the Federation's inability to reach your planet to aid it in time, your guild has been awarded 1 free Building Upgrade for every day the Federation was behind the invaders.

Tom dismissed the notification in his vision after reading it. That would go a long way toward helping keep them safe. He would have to discuss with Brian and the others on what to use them on, so he put it out of his mind for the moment.

If Tom was being honest, the rest of the celebration went quite well. Time was given for the sorrow of the loss of life, but more time was dedicated to the lives saved by all those who had fought in the battle. There was food, dancing, singing, drinking, games, and more to celebrate the day. All those in attendance partied late into the night.

Firepits that Roland had created for these night events were brought out and lit throughout the courtyard, adding a warm, homey feeling to the atmosphere. Many people made fools of themselves, as Tom had ordered the liquor stores be brought out so that people could drink as much as they wanted. Even the Federation troops joined in the party, offering their own special foods and drinks to the guild.

At one point, Rularis hopped up on the wall's stairs, pulled out a lute, which he played, and sang a song of victory for everyone in attendance. Inari danced to the song, people moving out into a circle around her to watch as she flowed through an intricate dance that almost seemed like a martial art kata.

Some of the Barbarians started their own arm-wrestling competition at the bar when a fight almost broke out over a bottle of Jose Cuervo. Tom intervened and told them to find a non-violent way of deciding who got the bottle. They then proceeded to be challenged by many other barbarians, regardless of whether they even wanted tequila.

The party almost ended at one point when James, completely drunk, began to fire his gun in the air while screaming, "Olé, mi pistolas, más tequila" over and over as though he was a cartel member. Derek promptly equipped his power armor and tackled James, wrestling the gun from his hand and taking him away from the party. Tom swore he saw Derek smile before he tackled James, though.

Sitting on the steps up to the building now that the party had completed, Tom stared up at the stars. Derek, James, Jay, and Kiera came to join him on the steps.

"Nice night," Derek commented.

"It was. It is, actually," Tom said, correcting himself. "The stars are beautiful now."

The others looked up as well, smiling softly at the night sky.

"I see you're feeling better, James," Tom commented.

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"Yeah. Derek hit me with a Cleanse spell. Took all the fun away in a matter of seconds," James replied.

"You could have shot someone," Derek said.

"I knew what I was doing," James brushed the comment off as though nothing was wrong.

"We've come a long way," Jay said after chuckling at James and Derek.

"We have. It's been one hell of a journey, though," Tom said, sighing heavily.

"It'll be nice to be able to focus on ourselves for a little while now," Kiera said.

"Don't count on it," Tom said, now looking at her and smiling.

"What? Why?" Kiera asked, now confused.

"We still have those quests to go after. I'm thinking we start with finding out what that dragon meant. It seemed important," Tom said, returning his gaze to the sky.

"I forgot all about those," Kiera said.

"Right? With everything going to shit here, we haven't been able to focus on anything else. It's about time we did a little bit of the fun stuff that comes with being integrated into the System," Tom said.

"So, who's your dream team for that adventure?" Jay asked.

"Well, all of you, of course. Michael, Kevin, Kirsten, and I'd like to ask Bohdan to go. But Mark is my next choice. We need a mage in the team," Tom replied.

"Agreed. We have been seriously lacking in the magical firepower department. I mean, you're great and all, but you went pretty far with the sword build," Jay said.

"It's worked out pretty well for me so far," Tom said.

"That it has. And we definitely should bring at least Bron, right?" Jay added.

"Oh, yeah. I can dismiss him and summon him when we arrive. No need for transport," Tom said.

"Can we take two vehicles? Eight people in one SUV again doesn't sound like much fun anymore," Kiera asked.

"We'll have to. We have Jerky and Squirrel to take with us as well. Can't leave them behind," Tom replied.

"Good. Then it's settled. The first thing we do is go after the dragon," Derek said.

"I can't wait. I'm so excited to start a new journey with you all. My family."

End of Book 3