Jake was standing on a hill overlooking the complete destruction of the two embassies the demon’s hand mercenary group destroyed but they didn’t attack any of the other embassy’s, only the ones that had overtly attacked them. For example, the UN embassy was not purposefully attacked by the Demon’s Hand mercenary group. But some members were.
“We sent them a message here today, boss.”
“Yes, we did.” Jake said in a dejected tone
“Boss, is there a problem?”
“We just made enemies with one of the world’s strongest nations. I also failed to protect the captured prisoners. I said I would come back, but then the building collapsed.”
“Leave that issue to Emma, me and Kiki, we will mend the fences. You just keep getting stronger and we will be fine. As for the people left behind, you can’t protect everyone.”
“Thank you, Eric. You really are a good man. Just tell me if you need help with anything.”
“Boss, let’s head back to the settlement. Emma said that there are some things to talk to you about.”
“Okay, if she wants to talk, then it must be important.”
Jake and Eric were walking together back to the meeting hall.
“So I’ve been thinking of taking some people to a planet with learning materials on alchemy and smithing. I was wondering if I should make it a thing just for our mercenary group or should I set up a school and send the best people there as a prize?”
“Well, I won’t say it would be great if it was only the mercenary group but I think maybe you should go with the school option but only send the teachers there to learn then they can come back and teach the new techniques they picked up.”
“That sounds good. I will need to speak with Emma about that, or maybe yes. If the mercenary group sets up the school, it will still increase the mercenary group’s political power. Can you speak to Kiki and set that up? Also, let’s move the mercenary group’s hall to a different place? The old building can be destroyed. I think Emma will need a bigger office soon.” Jake said
“yer, you're probably right about that.”
Jake entered the meeting hall, sitting in one of the chairs with a stack of papers in front of her.
“You needed to talk to me?”
“Yes, I need more workers for the council and the settlement guard might need to be increased and required to swear loyalty to the settlement and its owner. We cannot have another incident like last time.”
“So, for workers, what do you want?”
“I would like to put some people on the council as members, one to represent the beast folk, and for humans, one to represent the settlement guards and a member of your mercenary group.”
“Do you need me to find people, or are you happy to do that?”
“I will find them this time around. I just need permission to make them members of the council.”
A notification popped up in front of Jake’s
Warning
Give permission to council member Emma to grant membership to four new members to the council. Yes/no.
Jake selected yes, and the said
“Done, now as for the settlement guards, do what you like. Also, I’m starting a school under the mercenary group’s name. It will teach alchemy and smithing at first, but I will need teachers. I’m going to pull some from the mercenary ranks, but it would be good to have some that are not connected to the mercenary group but to the settlement instead.”
“I will get to work on that for you.”
“Yer, this office is too small. The mercenary group is moving out of the building next door, so do what you want with it.” Jake said
“I could use that area. I also landed the fighter over at the campsite and sent over some people to build a factory and labs. We have also moved materials out there for building new ships. The leader of the professionals goes by the name of Harry Bernette. He is a blueprinter and is looking forward to working with your blueprints.”
Jake left and started heading for the bushland where the camp was he wanted to work on the new fighters and the eventual upgrades to his shuttle he really needed to bump it up in quality after its complete rebuild into a more powerful ship Jake was thinking a gunship with FTL capabilities and more shielding and weapons pods jake was thinking a full redesign.
As Jake entered the camp, he was taken aback by the significant amount of activity happening around him. They had removed the tents and were creating new structures. One of the smaller buildings was already finished as people were rushing in and out, some with dejected faces and some with smiles. Jake walked over to the building. He opened the door to enter when a loud voice rang out from inside.
“Get out, no one is getting any more changes to the plan and if you’re here to complain about the allocation of resources. Then go complain to the council members.”
“I’m not here for any of those things.” Jake replied
“Well, then what the fuck are you here for? Don’t tell me you're here to make coffee. Or are you my new trainee, no your a bit old for that. Let’s see, yes, you're the janitor. Well, get to work. The shit is piling up back there. Go clean it up.”
Jake just stood and looked at the man, thinking to himself, is this man for real?
“Hay janitor, get to work and stop wasting my time. I’m a busy man.”
Having enough of the man’s rude behaviour, Jake asked, “what is your name?”
“Harry Bernette. What’s it to you? I’m in charge and if I say you're a janitor, then you do the job.”
“So you're the one Emma put in charge.”
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“Yes, now get to work.”
This man took Jake aback for a second till he said with a grin, “You're fired. Go ask Emma for another assignment, or would you like me to make one that suits your character? I can think of one or two.” Jake looked over at the back room.
“What the fuck are saying? Just shut up and get to work.” Jake walked over to the man, grabbed him by the shirt and through the door, bouncing across the ground. Jake walked out of the door as Harry Bernette lifted his hand, pointing at Jake, and told the guards to kill him. The guard looked up to see what was going on
“Sir, that’s the owner I mentioned to you. What should we do?” the guard said
“Are you sure?”
“100% Sir, that is the man.”
“Well, go assist him. I sure as shit don’t want to get on his bad side.”
The guard walked over to jake and asked if he needed any help. Jake replied with a simple “can you take him back to Emma and tell her to send someone that I can work with, not a power tripping fool.”
“Not a problem, I will get that done for you.” the guard looked over at Mr Harry Bernette
“Come with me, Mr Bernette.”
Jake walked back into the office and sat down.
“What the hell do I do now? The man I needed to work with was a pompous ass. Now there’s no one to work with.”
“Excuse me, is it possible to get an increase to the footprint of lab b1? We are working on important research and the size of the lab is too small.”
Jake looked at the man and asked, “what research are you conducting?”
“We are conducting research into the fabrication of glass.”
Jake just looked at the man for a good minute before saying, “production of glass is this sand heat and mana. Now get the fuck out.”
The man looked dumbfounded as he walked out of the office. On his way out, a woman asked him what was wrong.
“His an idiot. He just told me that glass is made from sand, heat, and mana. What kind of person could be that simple-minded?”
“You do know who he is, right?”
“No, who is the idiot? Or some rich kid and daddy paid for this position for him? I really don’t care. If you don’t know the basic formula for making glass, why bother pretending?”
“He is the owner of the settlement and the founder of the demon’s hand mercenary group.” The man’s face went pale as he looked back at the office.
“I think I should go.”
“Yes, you should, and fast.” The lady said
“Fucken idiot. Didn’t even know who he was talking to twice in a row.” Kiki said as she walked into the office.
“Boss, I didn’t take you for one to sit behind a desk.”
“That’s not funny, Kiki. This job sucks. I don’t know how you do it.”
“You get used to it after a while. Any way I’ve come to tell you that the UN representative is hoping to have a meeting with you.”
“Where would the meeting take place?”
“outside of the barrier. I’m putting together a security team to assist you. They should be ready in ten minutes.”
“So who am I representing in this meeting the demon’s hand mercenary group or the settlement?”
“Both, the UN have struggled to stay together with a lot of the members not willing to accept best folk in. they are thinking of adding the settlement and its mercenaries of different races into its membership. It could sway the positions of some members to stop persecuting the non-human races. Which I have been finding funny as a cat lady that thought she could control the humans killed my mum.”
“Okay, are you sure we even want to be members?”
“It won’t hurt us to try.”
Jake walked out of the office and over to the settlement guards. He then asked for the commanding officer 30 seconds later a man came over.
“Lord.”
“No, that doesn’t sound right. Just call me Jake or something.”
“Jake, what can I do for you?”
“Could you take on looking after the office till I get back or a replacement arrives? It should be easy. Just tell everyone you can’t make decisions and to come back later, also use the office as your command post if you want.”
“I will do that,” the officer said
“Okay, Kiki. lead the way.”
The two left the construction site and headed for the main gate. Upon reaching the gate, Jake let out a sigh.
“What is it Boss?”
“It’s just that we are being watched and they’re really crap at hiding.”
Kiki looked around and gave a command to a person who was there to guard Jake. The next moment, they were gone.
“Was that a stealth skill she used and not the one you all get right?”
“Yes, boss.”
“It’s not very good, but it’s got potential. What is her name and her class?”
“She has an odd class. I’ve never seen it before. It’s called night stalker. It is a variant of the assassin class and her name is Annabel, but she goes by the nightwitch.”
“cool she has a nickname. So her weapons would be?”
“Depending on the situation, she doesn’t seem to be restricted to a specific type.”
“That’s cool. What did you send her to do?”
“Find and verify the enemies and dispose of them if needed.”
“That seems fair. If they can hide good enough, then they can live.” Jake said with a chuckle.
The meeting point was halfway between the UN embassy and the settlement. The two groups of people sat at a table in the middle of what probably was some farmer’s farm.
“So I’m Jake. What’s yours? At least that’s how I was told introductions go.”
“Sir, we have lost contact with our teams,” a man that walked up behind one of the UN members sitting at the table said in an American accent.
“Are you talking about the people that were spying on us the moment we left the settlement? If so, I’m so sorry they’re probably dead now.”
The man's face went red as he started yelling, “you think you can just go around killing whoever you want and not face repercussions?”
“Do you think you can enter other people’s lands and steal their secrets, kill its people and enslave its citizens? Which I would think a country like yours would know better. Then you think you can get away with it, without consequences. Unlike before the system, you can’t just enter an oil-rich nation with your army. Actually, I recommend you give it a try. We need the extra experience points.” Kiki yelled back at the man.
“Kiki, leave the man alone. His just the mouth. Don’t bother with him.”
The American man jumped over the table and grabbed Jake by his shirt collar.
“I suggest you release your hand,” Kiki said
“Or what I’m going to kill your precious leader, then take you all as servants? Because as you said, we are a nation with a history,” the man said with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Last warning.” Kiki said. The man just started laughing historically.
“Your leader has been captured, so you’re not so powerful now,” one of the people sitting at the table said with an Australian accent. Jake finally spoke. “so was this your plan from the start? Capture me, then threaten the citizens of my territory. If that was it, I think you need to get your head checked.”
“Shut up. You have no power here.” Another member of the UN delegation said this one was clearly not a native English speaker.
“What country do you represent?” Jake asked
“Why should I tell you?”
“Well, I just wanted to know what other nations I will be making enemies with.”
“Oh, you really are a tough man.”
“Kiki has this meeting broken down beyond recertification.”
“Yes, boss.”
Jake’s body turned into that of a demon just before he ripped out the man’s heart, crushing it into pulp.
“Fuken idiot’s use identify next time.”
Jake looked over at the people sitting opposite and asked, “what is the name of my mercenary group?”
A person who had been sitting to the side with a shocked expression from the beginning replied, “the demon’s hand mercenary group.”
“Why do you think we picked that name?” All the people standing behind Jake said in unison.
“Demon’s hand, mercenary group. Take out the trash.” Kiki said as the guards moved, slaughtering anyone that tried to resist but leaving those how didn’t know what was going on alone.
Jake sat back down in the chair and just waited for the commotion to calm down. Sitting across from the man that spoke earlier, “so what’s your name? You seem like a smart man.”
“Thank you. My name is Jared Moore I represent a coalition of ex-soviet countries. We don’t want to go against anyone, but we can’t just sit back and watch as people get enslaved by the former great powers. We would like to make an alliance with you and cooperate with the demon’s hand mercenary group for protection from external threats.”
“The demon’s hand mercenary group is always willing to take on new jobs. But Europe is a long way away from Australia. We could do it if we may set up a hall in one of your country’s and recruit members. Are you willing to allow that?”
“Yes, the beast folk in our territory have been struggling and would appreciate the chance of a new life.”
“Then we have a deal. We will send people to Europe as soon as we can to start setting up the hall, and I will send a small group to accompany you on your return. Kiki, can you organise an expeditionary force to go to Europe? Make sure they have a good leader.”
“Yes, boss.” Kiki said before leaving to gather people. An hour had passed when Kiki returned, followed by a group of Twenty-three people.
“Boss, this is one of my trainees. You met her once before she will take up the position of lead official in the new hall, and these two will be her direct subordinates. As for the fighters, I have picked Frank here as their leader. He should be suitable for the position. The rest are all fighters. I’m assuming these nice people have builders that can be hired to help build the hall?”
“Yes, we do. Thank you for your help.” After organising the expeditionary forces, Jake returned to the construction site to see how things were going.