Samantha walked up to me after I voiced my opinion of the gathered people and flashed me a cheeky smile, “Making friends boss?”
“Something like that, I need to get all of that out of the way, any ideas?” I pointed at the shattered remains of the City Hall.
“I think I can help with that, gimme a few minutes and I’ll have this all cleared out for you.” She shrugged as she began to float in the air, her magic infusing itself through her entire being.
“So, what are we doing about these guys, their physical wounds have been fixed, though they’re going to need a lot of counseling I suspect.” Michelle walked up and pointed at the former crucifix victims.
I looked over the lot. They huddled in a group and their eyes darted furtively around the gathering of people.The only ones that had any stones, they’d be the ideal ones to run the city if they weren’t mentally broken. I sighed at my own thoughts and Clarissa the Barista surprised me when she spoke from behind me. “Uh, Warlord, Sir? Uh… I know some people that specialize in trauma treatment, I can send a message out for them to come and we can find them some place to sleep? Would that help?”
I looked at her for a moment and wondered why she hadn’t left when I berated the whole town. Before I could respond to her fairly excellent idea Michelle looked at her and asked, “Hmph, who’s the new girl?”
“This… is Clarissa the Barista.” Clarissa winced when I associated her name with her assumed profession, “But I think you can call her Clarissa the Assistant.”
“What? Me? Are you suggesting I be your assistant?” She stammered wide eyed.
“Hey, it comes with perks, and pay. It may even have upward mobility if you do the job well. And when it comes to administrative shit, well, I hate it. So whadoya say?”
“Uh, oh, oh, Okay. I suppose I’ll find the counselors.”
I looked up the hill past the quickly growing pile of building material that Samantha was excavating at a mind boggling rate and dropping to the side of City Hall. I saw that the Mayor’s Mansion still stood and decided that would be an excellent place to house the victims of her ire. “Why don’t you take them up to the Mansion and claim that as their housing for now, when you come back I want an honest report on the state of the city. Food supply, housing, etcetera.”
“Uh, yes sir!” She jumped into motion and with Courtney and Junipher’s help guided the shell shocked survivors up the hill. Soon Samantha had broken through to the basement and the shining silver city core was exposed to us. This one was much larger than the one that sat under my own admin building in Winslow. I decided at some point when I returned I would need to inspect that one and see what changes I could document. For now I was eager to claim Flagstaff as my own.
I stepped forward and pressed my hand to the crystal and a moment later the expected notification prompted me.
You may now claim the Bureaucratic City of Flagstaff as your own. Do you wish to do this now? (Y/N)
“Yes” I muttered and the core instantly chimed, then a notification was sent out to everyone that resided in the city.
Congratulations, you have Conquered the Bureaucratic City of Flagstaff! All property, resources and wealth of the city is yours to command.
Congratulations, you have conquered your first rival city, you have gained the title ‘Conqueror’. You have gained a one time attribute bonus as follows; +5 to all Attributes.
Alright, now to look at all the laws, regulations, and taxes. Better yet. “Veep, let’s adjust the tax rates down to 10% across the board. Some of this shit is just ridiculous. While we’re at it… eh, we need a place to work, this is going to take some time to sort through.” I started out gungho, though as I perused the aforementioned laws and regulations and build order I was suddenly overwhelmed. So I decided to look at my resource balance, ie Credits and SP.
“Whooooooooo, bitch was hoarding alright.”
“Yeah? Give us the deets.” Samantha said and Stephen nodded his head eager to hear what we were working with.
“She had roughly 480 million credits and about 23 million SP. Tax rate was at 60% before I merced her ass, and she was confiscating half of the adventurer loot. What wasn’t taken by the Red Bands was either stored at the Mansion in an underground armory, or sold at the kiosk. Let’s fix that too.” I went to the laws and immediately wiped out the loot confiscation one then told Veep to sort through them and dump the ones she knew I wouldn’t be about. There was just too much regulation going on for me to bother looking at it personally when I had a super powerful AI and a cute assistant to do the work for me.
“Damn, that’s a lot, I mean, that would be more than enough to build up Winslow the way you envision. What was she doing with it?” Stephen asked the million credit question. Just what was she planning?
“Dunno, maybe Clarissa will have more insight?” I posed the rhetorical question as a teenage boy came running up to me.
“You’re the Warlord, right?” He gasped between deep breaths. I proceeded to face palm.
“He is, how can we help you?” Samantha chuckled and stepped in for me.
He looked at her then back to me and back to her again, “Uh, there’s army men at the West Gate requesting to speak to the leader of the city. Which I guess is you now.”
“Great. Just what we need. Let’s go see what they want.” I began checking that all my weapons were loaded and ready to go and marched off towards the West Gate with purpose. Samantha, Stephen and the boy followed behind me and Kaia and his pack mate followed them. Clarissa came down the hill as we were marching off to meat the next threat and joined us.
“Military decided to show up after all the fun was done.” I said to her unspoken question.
“Oh, woulda been nice if they came around sooner.” She muttered under her breath.
“It would have, however, we have our own issues to sort out, housing and food was the first task I gave you, so fill me in as we walk.”
“Well, that’s easy, food production is non-existent and only the Mayor’s Mansion was constructed, she kept saying she didn’t have enough, though she wouldn’t let anyone else see what our balances were.”
“Oh shit, you’re gonna be pissed when you hear what we just found out, name’s Stephen by the way” He smiled his usual too wide goofy grin when he introduced himself and she shook his hand and smiled back. Damn kid, you got Courtney wrapped and now you’re trying to filch my secretary? Don’t go getting in over your head, now.
“Why, what did she…. OH FUCK! THAT BITCH!” I had directed Veep to give her access to the city administration menus. She was able to see our balances and what construction options were available to us.
“Exactly, so you have two tasks, assemble a plan to get these people housed and fed, I’m going to forward your info to my Settlement Administrator, Johnny, at SooHoo and ask him to give you a primer on city building and how we’re handling the influx of residents there. Your second task is to find me some people in the city with some spine to actually manage and run the city properly.”
“Ok, yes sir, thank you, I’ll get to it.” She started to run off and I stopped her.
“Stick around for the meet with the military, right now for all matters involving the city, you’re my right hand. You’ll need to be present for this.”
“Oh, oh, of course.” The woman was barely managing to keep up, though to be fair I pretty much dumped it on her. So she was actually doing better than I expected, which prompted the sadist in me to keep cranking up the intensity. Before I could come up with something else to dump on her Gregor came ambling around the corner of a building ahead of us.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Hey Gregor, you get your man?” I waved as he joined our procession.
“Aye, I did. Crushed the bastard's skull good.” He grinned in satisfaction.
“Did you find your girl?”
“Aye, found the lass alright, already covered in their blood, though…” He trailed off and Samantha jumped in for him as she had for me earlier.
“I don’t think you’re going to need to hunt down the ones that got away, Karl. That girl only had one purpose once we removed her from the cross. As soon as she was healed she walked up and demanded a knife, then started assassinating Red Bands in a way that reminded me of how you fight.”
“Excuse me, which girl are you talking about?” Clarissa asked curiously.
“Ah, new girl, I’m Gregor. We are talking about April Dunbar.”
“Oh.” A sad look crossed her face and she continued, “I knew her, everyone did, but she was trying to recruit me. We were going to meet some others, but she never showed, until she was tacked up to the wall. The things they did to her once they realized being crucified wasn’t enough to kill you, what with System enhanced regeneration and all.” The woman visibly gulped and looked away in shame.
The group was silent then as we walked the remaining 5 kilometers to the West Gate where my first run in with the military waited. I pushed the large gate open and stepped through, surprised to find an M1 armor platoon parked on my doorstep. I easily found the Platoon Leader standing on the deck of the lead M1 with his Company Commander next to him. Before anyone could say anything Samantha screamed and bolted towards the Captain, who dropped gracefully off the deck.
“DADDY!” She collided with the man nearly bowling him over and they embraced each other hard. Her father pushed back and looked at her shortened left arm in alarm.
“What happened!? Are you alright!? I…”
“I’m alright, I’m alright, have you been able to reach Mom and Matt?” Samantha assured him repeatedly and the two barraged each other with a dozen questions. The reunion went on for several awkward minutes where the rest of my party and the assembled soldiers watched the pair uncomfortably. When they finished the Captain turned to me and introduced himself.
“Hello, I’m Captain John Devers, Sam’s father.” He extended a hand and I gave it a firm shake.
“Name’s Karl. I’m the currently recognized owner of Flagstaff here, and Winslow. What can I do you for?”
He looked around at his men and then back to Samantha. He clearly hadn’t planned more than reuniting with his daughter. “Well, I was thinking we could trade. I have info, you have a kiosk that can resupply my company. I promised my men I’d get them home, seeing as we haven’t received any orders from any higher command, that’s still my intent. The armory at Fort Tuthill didn’t happen to survive the transition did it? I can possibly get my supplies there if it did.”
I turned to Clarissa who was listening intently and she supplied the answer for me. “Sorry, I don’t think much is left, Dragon swooped in and fire bombed it. I think it’s actually a dungeon now.”
The Captain grimaced and scratched the stubble on his chin.
“You said company. I only see a platoon?”
He looked at me surprised, “You were Army? Yeah? I only rolled up with a platoon, didn’t wanna look too threatening. Got a Scout section in the hills.” He motioned behind him, “Rest of the company is down the highway out of sight.”
“I was, was even a Tanker.” I grinned and the man grinned back.
“Well Karl, that’s probably the best thing I’ve heard since the shit hit the proverbial fan.”
I walked up to the tank and ran my hand across the rough slope, remembering what it felt like to tear across the countryside in one of these. The contradictory rough yet smooth suspension that caused me the occasional bout of motion sickness. The muffled sound of the main gun echoing within the turret and the sound of the shell casing dropping onto the steel floor. The mixed smells of gunpowder and JP8 that you almost absolutely knew were mixing to inflict some kind of cancer upon your person.
“I have to ask, how the hell did you fit in one of these?” The captain asked.
I laughed loudly at the man, “I wasn’t always this big. Call your company up, they can park to either side of the gate. You’re right, I think we can help each other out.”
The Captain began barking orders to his assembled men and they sprung into motion like a veteran combat group. I wagered they had seen a lot of combat on their way here. As they were reorganizing a deuce and a half rolled up with some of the former inmates that had fled the city restrained in the back. I stalked forward single mindedly and drew my 9mm pistol. The Captain and his soldiers tensed, seeming to be trapped in the moment.
“We caught these men running from the city. They attempted to attack my men and steal a HUMVEE. We were going to remand them to the proper authority. I guess that would be you now. Though…” He looked up at me apprehensively.
I stopped and looked down hard at the man, he didn’t flinch or back down. “I gave these men a choice. They chose poorly. They terrorized these people. They committed crimes that can’t be forgiven. And I won’t allow them to gain any more power.”
A light clicked behind his eyes. His tension eased as he considered the implications of my last statement. His conscience warred with his better judgement. “Veep, are we tapped into everyone’s visual and audio memories since I’ve claimed the city?”
“We are, are we letting that cat out of the bag?”
The assembled soldiers looked at me in confusion, only the Captain and his Lieutenant acted unphased at my current revelation. Probably have a similar ability being in a position of command.
“Not exactly, are these four men still considered residents?”
“They are.”
“Scan their memories and show everyone here what they got up to as the sole policing authority of the former Flagstaff regime.”
The men looked up surprised as their best and brightest moments over the last couple weeks were laid out for all to see. Various scenes of rape and murder played out and the mood of the gathered soldiers darkened. Only one man, an older individual, wasn’t guilty of rape or murder. It seemed this man didn’t even bother anyone, he legitimately had family in Flagstaff and did his best to protect them from the ministrations of the other Red Bands.
“Is this accurate?” The Captain asked as he watched their ‘greatest hits’ played out above their heads.
Clarissa stepped closer to a particular inmate and shook in anger. I turned my attention to his display and saw my new assistant running from him. He caught her easily and smacked her to the ground. On the display above his head she stopped resisting the man. “It is. This happened before April’s group attempted to take out the Mayor. I… resolved myself to…”
I handed her the pistol I had drawn and she looked at it hesitantly. She looked back up at the man on the back of the truck and took the pistol silently. It was clear she had never used a pistol before, fortunately my Canik 9mm was easy to operate and accurate. She let out a painful wail and pulled the trigger until the slide locked back empty. The man who had abused her slumped out of the back of the truck perforated by more than a dozen bullet holes. She collapsed to the ground and sobbed. Samantha went to her side and her father looked on struggling with a moral dilemma.
Of the three men remaining, only the older one who hadn’t gone out of his way to abuse anyone wasn’t pissing himself and quivering in his boots. I reached up and grabbed all three off the back of the truck and lined them all up on their knees. I pulled my plasma pistol as Clarissa had clung to my Canik, and I walked up behind the men.
“These men were given a choice. An option to live. They chose another option.”
I pressed the pistol up to the first asshole's head and pulled the trigger. His body slumped forward headless, smoke and ash trailing up from the stump of his neck. The man next to him flinched and whimpered. I repeated my previous motion and executed this man with no remorse. I walked up to the third man and looked at him. He didn’t flinch, cry, or beg for his life. In fact, he stiffened his spine and lifted his chin, prepared for what would come next.
“How many of you are there total?”
“What?” Confusion tinged his voice and he hesitantly looked back. I had already holstered my pistol.
“How many of you were there? I need to know how many slipped my grasp.”
The man considered his words and looked up at me, “Uh, about a hundred twenty. Only about ninety from the original group continued south. The rest of us came this way. You put my memories on display, you know why I made my choice.”
Clarissa had since gathered her wits and walked over to return my Canik. I stared at the man and began cataloguing his tattoos and demeanor. This dude was a convict. Convicts were a different breed from the shitty inmates that plagued the prison systems of modern America. Convicts still lived by a code. I could work with that.
“Veep, can you calculate how many we got?”
“I can, one moment. Ok, between the dozen you killed and the couple dozen that Samantha’s team took out I estimate a total of 67 kills. Which leaves approximately another 53 loose in the countryside.”
“I’m certain April is going to hunt as many down as she can, I could see it in her eyes.” Gregor added from beside the tank where he was inspecting the construction of the track and road wheels ignoring a scowl from the Lieutenant that commanded it.
“Stand up. This is what’s going to happen. You’re not going to stay here. You’re going to head south to Phoenix and scout the area for me. You’ll send me a weekly report. Within the next two months I plan to take all the settlements and cities in the area as my own. If you stop sending me reports for any reason short of death, I’ll assume you fucked me over. Don’t let me find you again if that happens.”
Everyone gathered, the soldiers included, looked at me with intense interest. I was kind of declaring war on all of Arizona. Many of these men were heading in the direction my wrath would eventually travel and they had to be wondering if at some point they would be forced into a position to fight me.
“What about my family?” The man asked, resolving to his fate, but still concerned about his family.
“They’ll be taken care of. Everyone will be taken care of. Once I’ve secured the region we will be able to open up travel again.”
“Alright, not that I have much choice.” He looked over at the headless men I’d lined him up with.
“Get going.” I turned my attention to the Captain, “Shall we find somewhere to talk properly?”