One of the new changes is Sun Shards, which is now changed to Solstone; it can also be referred to as Atenite, a type of mineral, derived from the Aten, the Forbidden City of Sol Imperius.
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Lieutenant Justiciar? Legio Bellarium? Earth Legion?
Ajax tried to comprehend each word individually, some familiar, some strange, all striking a resemblance to something he once knew.
A game he had played, a popular RPG title, something along those lines.
As he followed the so-called Lieutenant Justiciar into more tunnels dug in the earth, Ajax observed wall lamps, smelled the dingy scent of earth and rotten wood, and watched soldiers in strange attire clearing the way for Adam Clay, stomping the floor with force. A palpable discipline permeated the air as he was led to the operations room.
Then the word struck him.
Wartopia! Right, that's the name.
It wasn't a good memory or a sudden strike of realization, but rather because the word was staring him right in the eyes.
[ Wartopians and Earthlings! Together Stronger! ]
[ Different Worlds, Same Goal! The Survival of Mankind! ]
[ Submitting Wartopia Relics to the Solarium Reliquary will earn you Merit and Credit. Help preserve the Culture of the Solarium. ]
[ I want you for the Earth Legion! ]
It was a mind-bending experience, enough to make Ajax open his mouth to ask a question, only to see another one of those posters and rephrase his question in his head a few more times.
If that was some sort of a dream… nope! It wasn't. The clock on his hand was showing correctly, and everyone was walking around with force and momentum, transporting weapons, patients, and even wolf corpses.
Then, after a turn, Ajax found himself entering a large room with multiple operators sitting in front of computer screens in all corners. In the center, a round table displayed a hologram. Around that table stood three individuals, all dressed in military officer uniforms, yet not as grand as the man he was following.
"Got a live one!" Adam Clay spoke, earning everyone's attention and indicating his highest authority in the room.
An Asian man, a brunette woman who looked just as young as him, and a Blonde woman with a scarred face and a more professional temperament received him.
"Lieutenant Justiciar, sir?" the Blonde woman asked, looking between Adam and Ajax.
"A member of the U.S. military," Adam replied, pointing at Ajax behind him with his thumb. "Ajax Wills, Army Rangers Staff Sergeant, was it?"
"Yes, sir," Ajax replied, still waiting for someone to explain what was going on.
"The 75th Regiment, huh?" The brunette woman seemed knowledgeable as she stepped ahead. "I know this is a lot to take in, but welcome to this operation. We are not U.S. Military; in short, we are a reformed military of civilians and Otherworldly Humans."
Ajax blinked twice and looked at the people around him.
"Otherworldly?" He asked hesitantly.
The brunette, identifying herself as Private Magpie (or Megan Dorsett), a Legio Bellarium Marine and Strategist Officer, explained to him the short version of the story: Humans from what is commonly agreed upon as the Universe of Wartopia had arrived via the Rifts; their Commander was helping more of his stranded compatriots get to this side; and the base's role was to prepare for the arrival of more troops and save as many Earthling Survivors as possible.
At first, Ajax felt that this was all wrong. He was familiar with Wartopia; in fact, he had played it when he was an enlisted soldier on a combat tour in yet another poor country being bombarded to the Stone Age by the U.S. of A. He remembered it clearly: sitting in the desert with the game's rulebook, using white pebbles and stones instead of miniatures, and simulating real-world tactics as jets flew by over their heads. The memory was from more than a decade ago, and he hadn't touched the game since then. He knew how it had grown in popularity with later editions and video games, yet these people were simply claiming that it was getting real.
He had a few hundred questions contending for the first spot to be asked, but as Private Magpie was giving him whatever bullshit story they were giving to everyone, the hologram in the middle of the room started glowing red warning colors.
"What's going on?" Ajax immediately asked.
Megan invited him to the holo table to inspect the situation while explaining:
"This all started around a month ago. Most of the small camps around Brighthaven, Crownbridge, and Omen were in dire need of power. As people started wandering about, rumors of our base began to circulate. It was convenient for us back then, since we were looking to take in refugees for recruitment and industry work. We jumped from the 200 we already had to 500 in a week. We burned through the reserve in mere days, but it was then that it appeared."
Megan pointed to a large red spot on a map projected on a nearby wall. Ajax narrowed his eyes, carefully scanning the large red spot and the multiple smaller red ones before suddenly realizing.
"A Rift?"
"Yes," Megan nodded. "A Rift Gate opened right beside our base and started spewing Dire Wolves en masse."
"You survived a Rift invasion?" Ajax turned to Megan, wide-eyed.
"I dare say we thrived." Megan smiled. "All these wolves were taken into the Belly of the Beast and turned into food bars in an instant. What didn't kill us literally filled our bellies."
"Damn!" Ajax exclaimed, looking at Megan. "What about the giant monsters? And that one that was killing wolves outside?"
"We have our heavy hitters to deal with anything too much for regular firepower to handle, and that giant you saw was Adam." Megan pointed with a nod before suddenly getting awkward. "Lieutenant Justiciar Clay, I mean. Kinda hard keeping it professional."
Ajax understood right away that Adam and Megan were an item, but that was the least interesting thing about this. When the Rifts hit Earth, nobody was ever ready. It was all so sudden that it shook the confidence of all surviving humans, Ajax included, when it came to getting close to a Rift zone.
But these people are not only keeping a Rift at bay but are actively utilizing it for food while taking in more refugees. These people… they are organized, disciplined, and have potential.
After taking a minute to absorb the situation and watching Adam get out of the operations room to join an ongoing defense against a group of Dire Wolves aiming to rush the trenches, he exhaled and turned to Megan, who was facing him with the other two:
"I assume your Justiciar brought me to a classified operations room for a reason."
"You are the first U.S. military personnel we have come across. I assume you were active on D-Day?" Megan asked.
Ajax nodded wordlessly, so Megan continued.
"I'm sorry I'm loading this on you before we offer you food and water, but we would like to recruit you, make you our own Captain America, and show you off fighting alongside Solarium Men-at-Arms and all that."
Ajax raised a brow, understanding what was going on.
"You are trying to recruit refugees into the military?" he asked.
"Honestly, importing troops from the other side is a logistical problem since we need to meet certain quotas. In a month, we had only increased our numbers by a hundred, but the recruitment rate wasn't promising, and with the increase in refugees, our resources were being depleted anyway." Megan spoke with calm honesty.
"I've seen the corny posters," Ajax said, pointing outside the operations room. Then he shook his head. "I would fight monsters alongside you, but I cannot assist any alien entity in establishing its power on the sovereign land of the United States."
Megan listened to him, her expression remaining neutral, but she stayed unmoving. But rather than her trying to make him reconsider, the other woman took over the conversation.
"The United States, you say?" The Blonde stepped ahead, clearly outranking Megan, who stiffly took two steps behind her. "Where is that?"
Ajax frowned the moment the Blonde woman asked him so, yet he kept his expression calm. He saw the name "Skarn" on her chest. On her shoulder was a pauldron with a Solarium insignia on one side and a rank indication on the other. He failed to recognize the rank, which depicted a winged sun with two chevrons and alien scribbles.
"And you are?" he asked, trying to gauge who he was facing.
"Sergeant Elena Skarn, Legio Bellarium, Venus Legion," she replied.
"You're one of them?" He asked, a bit on guard.
"Rather insensitive of you to call us aliens." Elena smirked, now feeling more confident using the same petty arguments Earthlings used, all about insensitivity, getting offended, and being overly sensitive.
"Then what are you?" Ajax asked, exhausted.
"Perfectly human, by the grace of Sol Imperius."
Ajax shook his head with a smile, still trying to process this.
"Listen, this is beneficial for all parties involved." The Asian young man stepped ahead to lessen the tension. "The main priority is survival, so we need to focus on that. Monsters: bad; humans: good; more humans training to fight monsters: even better."
Megan also stepped in:
"And regarding the issue of United States sovereignty over this land, if it ever becomes a real issue and there are constitutional governments coming to take over, the Commander gave us permission to negotiate. Plus, we aren't forcing anyone to stay. We provide training for a service period; anyone can leave after it to join a free crew or simply move on."
The young man then chimed in:
"And by the looks of it, you don't seem like a guy who needs training; just evaluation and deployment."
"So… like negotiating a contract?" Ajax asked.
"Yes." Megan nodded.
"And what makes you trust my word? Hell, what makes any contract we make binding?"
"Trust?" Elena Skarn smirked before continuing, "We have our ways to evaluate your trustworthiness."
"And what makes our contract binding is the fact that we have laws," Megan added.
"And you've seen our Justiciar hulking out," the young man added.
Ajax went silent for a few seconds before asking:
"And after 500 survivors, I'm the first U.S. military personnel you've got?"
"Try a thousand," Sergeant Elena replied as she turned away to the holo table.
"Yes, we've grown five times our size in terms of population in a month, but only three times in military count," Megan confirmed. "This place is mainly a military base, so you can understand how desperate we are not to turn this into another refugee camp."
"Well…" Ajax stared for a while before nodding. "Thank you for your candor."
"So?" The young man asked.
"Can I have some time? Look around, get my thoughts in order?" Ajax asked. "Promise it won't take long."
"Of course," Megan nodded. "Sorry, we had to load this on you. Private Kave here will show you to a temporary cabin in the newly arrived area."
The Asian young man called Kave stepped ahead.
"Follow me, Sergeant Wills. Let's get you settled."
Kave walked ahead and returned to the main tunnel, where it was still as busy as ever. Squads of nine troopers were marching back and forth in the tunnel: fresh ones going to the front against monsters, while others who had been fighting were returning, some bearing injuries but mostly in good shape.
"You're awakened, right?" Kave, who was one head shorter than Ajax, spoke first.
"Yes," Ajax replied, watching the young man with mild interest. "You too?"
"Yes, Warrior class," Kave replied. "What about you?"
"Warrior, as well."
"That's the majority of the recruits. We hardly have any Thief, let alone a Sorcerer," Kave spat out with a sigh.
"A Sorcerer?" Ajax frowned. "I've heard rumors about a third class, but is that what it's called?"
"Yeah, very rare bastards. More adaptable to Runes than most. Bad at frontal combat," Kave said as they started climbing one end of the tunnel to end up way beyond the trenches.
"They can't just focus on Might? I know a Thief class who focused on Might rather than Trick and would still hit like a truck," Ajax said.
"Not as good as a Warrior, right?" Kave looked back. "Probably had a higher Might than most, but Thieves sit in the middle between Warriors and Sorcerers. To our understanding, they enjoy the benefits of both types, but not all the way."
"Yes, that checks," Ajax agreed and looked around. Now they were in the open with a few buildings in the distance in an area where most buildings were leveled; the ground itself had also been leveled by some construction machine, as he could deduce.
Along the way, the two ran into some troopers, led by the energetic Justiciar, whose smile beamed the moment he met them:
"Ey, tell me some good news?" Adam asked right as he saw them.
"He wants to rest first before giving an answer," Kave replied.
"Come on! You're breaking my heart!" With an exaggerated Italian accent, Adam joined his fingers together in yet another Italian stereotype while addressing Ajax. Then, returning to normal, he said, "Take your time, man. No pressure, seriously."
And he simply walked past them, marching the squad following him while transporting supplies to the trenches.
"He's awfully relaxed."
"The world ended long ago; no use stressing anyway," Kave replied as he led the way further towards the walled area at the end of sight.
Ajax couldn't help but agree.
Unlike the Airport Camp, where things were always full of worry and stress, order and discipline gave way to a peace of mind that he had never felt in almost a year… a year that felt like ten.
He ended up in a strange place that looked like stacks of cubic containers piled on top of one another. They were connected by rails and beams (some metal, some concrete, some a mix of the two), with power lines running between them, forming a compact, round complex with an intense concentration of population.
In its center was a large pillar of mechanical boilers and chimneys, forming a unique contraption that emitted heat and melted the snow all around the refugee camp.
"That's one of them snowpunk boilers?" Ajax asked, taken by the size of the machine that reached four stories up.
"Heh! Yeah, you can see it that way." Kave liked the idea, but he then shook his head. "That's a Fossil Furnace. The Wartopians almost rioted when we said we wanted one of these, but the moment people started dying, we could at least reach a middle ground about having one in the temporary camp."
"And the other places?" Ajax asked.
"We have solar power, but the snow isn't doing us any favors on that front," Kave nodded while looking around the place, before approaching the supervisor officer of the camp and getting Ajax registered.
Two meals a day, all made of hardtack-like bars composed of (according to Kave) anything and everything that isn't metal, were provided. He also received a cubicle room with the dimensions of 2 by 2 by 2 meters, located on the highest story, away from the smells and with no roommates, a courtesy from Kave.
Ajax had his time looking around after Kave left, easily climbing over the cubical room to stand above it and see past the circular makeshift slum. Yet, the sheer scale of the area beyond shocked him to his core.
To the north, a fortress rose from the ground, with buildings close together as if a cluster city were being packed tightly for warmth and protection. Multiple trucks with cranes and concrete mixers stood still, their crane-like mechanical arms moving in uniform rounds, leaving behind walls and roofs. Workers braced the cold winds as building stories popped up everywhere the vehicles worked.
In the distance, and obscured by the snow mist, there was a higher hill area, heavily guarded by a wide fortification encirclement. It was far and difficult to spot, but if not for some small vehicles coming and going between the uphill fortification and the downhill fortress, Ajax would not have noticed the fortification entirely.
The place was alive, pulsing, resisting death and winter, whereas other places—like the camp he came from and the other ones he knew about that were fragmented around the state—weren't even putting up a single wall, let alone a full building.
Ajax wanted to rest, to get some shut-eye after the journey he had endured to get here. However, he couldn't rest at all. He needed more information, even rumors, something to make a decision with. It all looked too good to be true in what he believed was a hopeless world. With that, he scaled down the building once again, his rest blown out of the window.