Without another word they left, finally leaving Sawyer and the 3 men in peace.

"Everything good sir?" the corporal asked

"Everything is fine Corporal. Everything is just fine." he smiled. "This is the best damn cup of coffee I have drunk in a long time. The sweet tears of those goddamn Nips really do make a difference!" he grinned as he watched Hazama's convoy pull away fromhalf-finishedished base.

There was still a lot of work to be done, Sawyer could trust that the Japanese would not be bothering him anytime soon and his hardware should be coming in nicely. But there were still troubling reports of banditry in and around the region. The Japanese might have suppressed most bandit activity in the region but in the outskirts still contained several bandit strongholds. The elements of the rebel empire still stayed strong with multiple warlords now controlling the regions. Ever since the Japanese and americans deposed of Zozal there was not much political will to do anything about the rest of Zozal allies.

"So, Captain Parker. I take it the preliminary security analysis has just been completed?"

"Yes, sir. We have just completed our security analysis of the area."

"Anything we should look out for?"

"Yes. Our analyst thinks that the nearby city of Estila be a source of major concern."

"Hmm. One of the reasons why we built our base here is due to the town being nearby. What makes them think it could be a problem?"

"There have been reports. Our arrival here does not seem to be as welcoming as we have assumed. The citizens view us with suspicion. The governor does not seem to want us here. He has attempted to enter the site multiple times but we made sure that did not happen." Parker explained as he read off the report.

"The town and its surrounding regions also seems to be controlled by a criminal organisation, the Keepers. Their leader Chrisco La Sissle was a mage from Rondel. He seems to have quite a reputation around here. Practically rules the town and the villages with an iron fist. His men have attempted the breach the perimeter multiple times. There have been a total of 4 instances where they were successful in entering the base in the last 2 weeks. One was found trying to steal supplies and another one was trying to access the armory. They were dispatched on the spot but it is still quite a scare."

"Have we taken any steps to stop this from happening?" Sawyer sighed, the city might be more of a burden than an asset they once thought it was.

"Yes, we have. Additional manpower have been diverted to strengthen the perimeter. Our engineers have just finished setting up the fences and cameras. Motion sensors and the iTI detection software should take care of the rest. Our main problem comes from Keepers, they have been attacked our supply convoys multiple times. They were almost successful once in capturing one of our trucks."

"Define almost."

"They took out the driver and damaged the truck's fuel tank before it caught fire."

"Annd?"

"We were transporting one of our Leopard 2 that time as well. I think you can imagine how all it worked out."

"Damages?"

"We took down most of the raiders. But some got away. We towed the truck back for repairs, they rest got away with a few boxes of rations at most."

"How the hell did those SOBs even managed to kill our of our guys in the first place?" Sawyer demanded, these reports could be the start of more trouble to come. It was his responsibility to shut them down before it spirals out of control.

"Our men have recovered several what seems to be muskets sir. Intel teams say that they came from rondel. It seems that they are supplying arms to the Keepers in order to disrupt the empire's trade."

"Christ. I hope you at least have some good news Captain." Sawyer sighed.

"As a matter of fact. I do. Our engineers have finished construction of the launch pad and assembling the rocket they are waiting for your orders."

"Good. This should speed things up" sawyer nodded We shall launch in a weeks time. In the meantime make sure our perimeter is secure and our convoys unaffected. In need you and your men to prepare for combat. The moment our satellite is launched"

The town was buzzing with activity these few days, ever since the men in black came to the town and begun building a base just like the ones in Alnus build by the JSDF. They were different however, in the past week they focused solely on building the base, no one could come close to the general vicinity, those that tried to sneak past only resulted in their swift capture and after a beating later were released back in the town. Their uniforms were nothing like the men in Tan or Green. They were clad in black armor and shirts. Their only distinction was the patch they wore, just like the rest they had their own one. A simple red triangle with a white Arch above it.

Timothy La Kin was one of the residents of the small town, his parents have lost their lives to imperial warlords when he was just 10 years old. It has been 2 years since then. Japanese influence in his part of the region had been minimal, he had to travel to a much larger town closer to Alnus 10 leagues away to attend the school there.

He had heard all sorts of stories about the men in black. Men that successfully evaded the men in black patrolling the area disappeared.

People started to think the site is cursed, the elders warned everyone that venturing into the forest nearby will be cursed with roaming the forest for eternity never to be seen again. Not that he cared much for these stories, the city got its own problems anyway. The keepers roam the streets without fear of the local authorities, who instead sometimes join in on the action.

He is an imperial human citizen, but due to his tanned skin, some mistook him for a dark elf child at times especially at night. Living was beginning to become harder as at nights, you never know when you might be jumped by drunken soldiers or Keepers looking for someone to beat up. He had saved up enough money to stay in an inn for a week, it was not possible to save up more since the Keepers would just steal it.

The Inn was one of the cheaper ones, attracting all sorts of clientele. The inn owner gave him a job as a server, it was not much but enough to pay the rent and leave a small bit aside. He hated the job, the lecherous glares from the drunken customers were hard to tolerate, but he needed the money. One day he thought to himself. One day he will save up enough money to go to Italica or maybe he live in the Alnus settlement, if the stories were true, he could maybe finally settle down without watching his back every night.

He was serving one of the tables during the night when he overheard a conversation between a group of men dressed in dark robes, masks covered their faces., signifying their role as a member of the Keepers organisation. One of them held a box that looked like it was made of paper. On the box words "Property of Atlas International (Rations)" his school taught english and japanese and he was able to make out the words 'property of' there was a logo stamped on top of it. The red triangle and white arch confirmed it belonged to the men in black.

"Those men in black are nothing we expected them to be. We ambushed one of their metal carriages using those staves boss got from Rondel. Worked like a charm, we got the driver and stole its goods. They aren't that powerful as they claim to be."

"Do you think they will come after you?" one asked.

"Bah. it's been a week and all they do is stay in their metal houses up there. There is quite a lot of noise coming from the sky these few days. Maybe they have dragon problems."

"Suits us just fine. But What if they have those flying swords like the men in green or tan have?"

"Nah. my men in Alnus tell me the men in black are nothing more than mercenaries from the other world. Here to ensure peace between the empire and Rondel. They don't have weapons the Men in green have. I heard in their world they these mercenaries are not allowed to command those iron beasts too. We will be fine."

"I think the time has come to show those men in black what the Keepers are capable of. The boss has set plans in motion to capture their base and even take their riches. Who know what they have in their stores. Their weapons too will fetch a high price. We will gather our people together and the whole region will march up to their base and demand ransom from the men in green." the man laughed, his mug clinking un unison with the rest of the group.

Timonothy shuddered at the thought, but such is the life in the region of the empire there was nothing a child like him could do other than carry one with his life, waiting for his shift to end so he could return to bed and sleep.