“Brother. Are you sure you want to do this?”
Tama found himself finishing packing up his last set of luggage.
“Yes. I got word the Japanese scientist arrived to the island not long ago.”
Tama got up and faced his sister.
“You should give up our family’s century-old plan of a coup and come with me. There is no future for us here.”
Tama sister shook her head.
“I can’t.”
Tama’s heart stopped as he heard his sister’s reply.
“Don’t tell me…”
Tama’s sister could only nod at Tama’s speculations.
“Are you insane!? The mainland is nothing but a husk of its former self.”
Tama sighed as he shook his head sideways in denial.
“Is it because of our Duty to the People?”
Tama’s sister grabbed ahold of Tama shoulders firmly.
“Then please. Help us once more.”
Tama let out a deep sigh and proceeded towards the door. He stopped and gave his sister one last look.
“I am sorry sister. My answer is no. The OutCasts and I are done.”
Tama slowly took out his family’s coat of arms and threw it at his sister.
“As I had mentioned over the phone, there is a future and we, the OutCasts will be the ones to take that first step.”
Tama woke up to a heavyweight being pressed on his stomach. Groaning, he got up while rubbing it. It has been a long time since Tama dreamt of the argument he had with his sister before the experiment.
“Of all times to have that dream… I think I was too harsh to her…”
Tama muttered silently to himself. Looking at his left he picked up an assault rifle and in his vision, an icon of said rifle appeared on the bottom right with the clip and ammo reserve counter next to each other.
“Weapon, motion tracker, digital compass, AoE map, clip, and ammo reserve counter… Aight nothing much has changed since then.”
As Tama is conducting a check of his Heads-up Display system, he noticed a few functions are restricted. Long-range communications and base management are greyed out.
“There might be a possibility that headquarters did not come with, therefore it is imperative to get that dozer…”
Tama sighed, it is common knowledge that without an HQ means the death of a faction, no matter how powerful they are.
“Sir. Two recon unit just reported in.”
Evelyn entered as Tama re-equipped his combat gear.
“Out with it Evelyn.”
Evelyn nodded her head in acknowledgment.
“Yes sir.
Eclipse squad reported a skirmish a few klicks North-West of our current location. Meanwhile, Homer squad reported a caravan a few miles south that’s being engaged by bandits. It appears that a noble is leading the defense.”
Tama pondered which action to take given the risks that come with it. Originally he wanted to send two squad to help with the skirmish but shot the idea down due to the risk of losing his T-Doll units.
Tama decided on the latter since he knows that getting involved with a noble is a double-edged dagger.
“Dispatch Glory and Retribution squad to assist. Tell them to use Shadow Tactics. Also, put Eclipse on standby”
Tama paused for a second before following up.
“Bring over 404 squad. I have an assignment for them.”
Evelyn saluted to Tama and left.
“You called for the 404 sir?”
The squadmates of 404 entered not long after Evelyn left.
“Yes. I want you guys to blend in and gather as much information as you can. Be it a guild, it doesn’t matter. However, at the slightest hint of danger, pull out immediately. Understood?”
The 404 unit looked at each other and nodded before facing back at Tama.
“Clearly.”
As the 404 squad left Tama, he became to recalculate the manpower left under his command.
“Let’s see. Glory and Retribution reinforcing Eclipse and Homer… 404 dispatched to gather intel.. umm.”
Tama used his fingers to do the math.
“4 units makes 1 squad. That makes 20 units out in deployment from the total of 50 and that leaves me with 30 units.”
Tama concluded he still has at least 7 squads left under his command. He toggled open his short-range comm to contact Evelyn.
“Evelyn, get everyone ready. We’re going to assault that cave we discovered a few nights ago.”
A few nights ago before making camp, Tama and his Vanguard task force came across a cave which is occupied by goblins. It was an easy fight as the goblins weren’t equipped to deal with firearm projectiles.
Tama thought it would be a good idea to go back to the cave to get a taste of combat in this new world and a better understanding of monster intelligence. He would later realize that some monsters are smarter than they look.
“Way ahead of you Tama. We’re just waiting on you.”
On the opposite end, Tama could hear the sound of engines turning on.
Tama left his personal tent and packed it away in his buggy. He paused and started looking around his surroundings. Ever since the crash, he has been getting the feeling someone or something is spying on him.
At first, he tolerated it because he shrugged it off as being paranoid but over time as he got situated in the new world, the feeling of discomfort grew. As he looked up he felt his entire body go cold as if he is looking at a cold glare.
“Tama, sir! What’s taking you so long!?”
Evelyn came running up to Tama and gave him a hard slap on his back which brought him back to his senses. Tama shook of the cold feeling and looked at Evelyn.
“Nothing. Is everyone geared for close-quarters engagement?”
Evelyn nodded her head enthusiastically.
“Yep yep! Some of the Dolls are running buckshot, fletchee and dragon breath rounds”
Evelyn grinned mischievously.
“I mean it’s goblins we’re going up against. This is going to be fun!~”
Tama knew she is thinking of some fucked up way to dismember a fantasy creature. Then again Tama remembered being mischievous is part of her persona. Tama quickly pulled up Evelyn’s status information.
[Name: XM8 Glory
Rarity: 5*
Level: 500
Dummy link: On
Nickname: Evelyn
Affinity: Cheerful but also mischievous
Specialty: Torture, Demolitionist.]
Tama took out a cloth from his inventory and wiped a sweat from his forehead.
