CHAPTER II: OLD GUNS

February 18th, 6 months before the Undampening

Saffron City, The Laughing Lapras Bar


Nathan Geir walks down the backstreets of Saffron city dressed in a trench coat with a wool cap over his head. The snow dusting the city had received earlier in the week had given way to a blizzard from the north. The chilling winds had driven most civilians off the streets with a few people walking to get home from work seen sporadically around the city. If the winds or chill bothered the general, he didn't show it. He rounds the corner coming to the intersection of the city's 49th and Silver Street. He waits for the crosswalk to switch to 'WALK' even though there is not a car in sight before continuing across to the other side of 49th Street to an older building. Unlike the rest of the city's bright yellow bricked structures this building had a wooden exterior with a large set of windows that covered the front of the structure. Jutting out from the doorway was a wooden sight with a Lapras with its front flippers waving in the air. Above it the faded blue text saying "The Laughing Lapras" were barely visible.

Geir opens the door, the hinges of the door squealing as he does so. The barkeep, a heavyset older balding man with a white collared shirt on looks over at the noise and smiles, "Ehy Nate!" He puts down the glass he was cleaning and turns around to grab one of the bottles from the shelf. "looks like I owe you that round, congrats!"

Geir walks up to the bar, "About time you gave me something for free Mick! Been coming here since the war and this is the first time you have ever given me anything on the house. It's a damn crime if you ask me"

Grinning Mick turns around and pours a shot of whiskey for Geir and pushes it toward him, "Well then enjoy it, that's the only free anything you'll ever get out of me!"

Geir chuckles and the downs the whiskey before looking back at Mick, "Are Jim and Frank here yet?"

Mick nods and motions over his shoulder, "Yea Jimmy and Frank are in the back, beat you here by a little bit. Getting slow in your old age huh?"

Putting the glass down on the bar Geir begins to walk toward the back, "True, but I'm still faster than your fat ass."

He hears a chuckle behind him as he walks toward the booths in the back of the bar. The air is thick with smoke and laughter from several other booths in the bar. A few drunks were already starting to stumble out, trying to get sober to be ready for work in the morning. In the back corner of the room two men sat sipping two bottles of Raichu Ale. The first was a built stocky man in his mid-forties with brown hair with specs of grey in it wearing a large grey coat. The second man looked to be a little younger then Geir with a face full of wrinkles and a frail-looking frame to match. He wore a trench coat as well with a black beret on his head. The younger man spots Geir first and waves, "Sir, over here!"

A soft smile spreads over Geir's face as he approaches the two men, "Master Chief, Major. It's damn good to see you again!" He shakes both their hands and sits down next to them in the booth. He looks at the older man, "Jim, every time I see you I think you get more wrinkles then I do!" This caused a chuckle from the younger man, Frank, and a quick stern glare from Jim.

"If it was anyone else besides you I'd knock them out cold." The glare drops and a small chuckle escapes the old Mater Chief's lips, "We've come a long way from our days at the academy huh Nate?"

Geir nods, "Indeed we have. Never thought any of us would make it out of that hell, yet here we are. We stubborn few." He raises one of the beers on the table to which Frank and Jim raise their bottles to as well. Frank nods solemnly, "Amen to that sir." All three take a drink from the bottle and place them back on the table. Frank looks at his old commanding officer quizzically, "Not that I am complaining about a meet up with war buddies or a toast to the old days, but you don't do small talk. Why are we here?"

Jim grunts in agreement, "I'm with the rook, what's the deal? And why the hell did Mick give you a free drink, I've never gotten anything on the house from this place and I've been coming here for 35 years!"

Smiling Geir looks at his glass, "Let's just say I won a little bet me and Mick made a while back" While Frank just looks at the General still confused Jim nearly spits his drink across the table. Struggling, he gulps the beer down and gaps for a second before looking at Geir with a look of shock, "No. Fucking. Way."

Frank, now thoroughly lost in conversation, looks at the Master Chief, "Um Chief, what's the big deal?"

"Here's what's the big deal!" Jim nearly yells with a smile spreading from ear to ear, "There has only ever been one bet between those two men and that was if Nate ever got the big wigs to set the army back up he would give him a whiskey on the house." Upon hearing this Frank's jaw drops. "Sir, did the Chief just say what I think he said?!"

"That he did Major." Geir says leaning into the table, "The 3rd is back in action."

"Why the hell did we lead with that damn depressing toast then! To the Third!" Frank says raising his beer high to which the two older men clink their own beers to and take a long swig of the liquid. Upon putting his glass back down Frank looks at Geir, "So that's why you called us, we need to get the 3rd back to fighting strength- "

"-and you need some old stubborn sons-of-bitches to whip these peacetime wimps into shape." Jim concluded. "Are we wrong?"

Geir sighs, "Well yes…and no." getting a confused look from his men. "It is true that we will need to get the army trained and I need some of you vets to whip them into shape there is something else I need from you two. We live in a time of peace, and no one wants to enter an offensive military unit. We need to do a lot of outreach to get people to join. Jim, you have more Vet connections than anyone else I know and then some, I need you to use that. Frank, you're younger than us and you were always very personal with the men under your command. I want you to set up a recruitment center on 3rd Street and start getting us some local talent, I already got the permit and everything. Our first battle is getting the men before we can even have an army."

Frank strokes his chin and leans back looking up, "I can set up by the end of the week, but we can't have this be about national pride like the war…. maybe helping your neighbor?" He shakes his head, "No too general and can apply to the police and KNG." He looks at Geir and snaps his fingers, "How about 'Defending Kanto at a moment's notice'?"

Geir shrugs, "Eh, needs some work." Causing Frank to go back to his thoughts.

"That reminds me." Jim says, interrupting Frank's planning. "Who is the enemy this time around? We aren't going to war anytime soon."

"We aren't going to war with anyone or any nation this time. This has been in response to the rapid increase in incidents with Legendary Pokémon over the last few years." Upon hearing this the two men raise an eyebrow, "…..and that means that due to our possible targeting of Legendaries 65% of our arsenal will be non-lethals and we have been restricted to a force of 5,000 combat troops."

When Geir said those words, he might as well have shot a Growlith in front of them as the faces of both men dropped. Frank sighed in disappointment and Jim simply frowned, "I expected there to be a few stipulations, but that is well past what I thought they would do. The 3rd was composed of 200,000 men at its peak, this isn't an Army, it's a glorified division."

Glumly Gier nodded, "It is, but its more than we had. This might not be the 3rd that we fought in, but I'm gonna make damn sure that it succeeds. I am just as disgruntled by this as you are, but it is a chance to rebuild the 3rd into a force that was better than our own with a purpose that isn't sending men to a meat grinder." Any response Jim was going to give was quickly quieted by that last sentence. They had all ordered far too many men to their deaths in the last war, preventing a repeat of that was probably the best legacy they could leave behind.

Geir leaned on the table, "I want, no, I need to make this Army succeed. I need to prove to the nation that a military is not just a sword or a shield, but a tool that can be far better than the National Guard. But I can't do this without either of you." He looks at his fellow soldiers, "What do you boys say? One last hurrah?"

Jim takes a final drink from his beer and shrugs, "Ah what the hell, you've always had my back, I might as well keep covering yours. I can get you probably 500 to 750 vets who would be willing to join at the most." He points to Frank, "The rook here is gonna have to get you the rest of our greenies."

Frank sighs, "Chief, I haven't been a rook in 20 years, when are you going to let that go?" A quick grinned glace from Jim that said when I'm dead caused him to sigh again. Frank looks back at Geir, "Sir, I'll get you our greenies. I'll do what I can to round them up and see if I can reach out to some of my contacts to set up recruitment centers in some other cities too. What's our timetable look like?"

"End of March training starts." Getting a startled look from his men he explains, "We need to get the ball rolling on this, the sooner we get the training camp up and running the better." He takes out a pair of files from his coat and puts them on the table and slides them toward Jim and Frank who grab them and begin to skim through the contents. "The military has allotted us 500 police officers for the use of Military Police within our army. Most of these guys are raw, but they still have more training then anyone else. The Medical Division will also be giving us access to 350 medical officers and medics to utilize for the army. With these numbers we already have over 1,500 men under our command."

Frank nods looking at the paper, "It's a small start, but its still a start."

"What about vehicles and weapons?" Frank asks, "If you expect me to take care of the 112th without some Wartortles I may as well get some trucks and strap a few guns to them."

"I Don't worry Jim, I won't have you throwing rocks at a Moltres." Geir says grinning, "I managed to get in contact with the head of Silph Co."

This got Jim's attention, "Holy shit, how did you pull that off?"

"Actually, he came to me," Geir says finishing his drink, "Silph want to re-start int Silph Industrial branch that made them a ton of cash during the war, but the current demand for weapons is too low to do so. From what I understand they have a few side projects here and there, but nothing that prompts them re-opening the branch. President Shinko is hopeful that the reactivation of the 3rd could lead to the revival of the military as a whole and allow Silph to not only get its technology contracts but arms contracts as well."

"That's a lot of possible cash, so what did he say he would give us?" Frank asks inquisitively.

"Mostly old gear right now with a bunch of non-lethal tech too from the Rangers from stun nets to tranquilizer guns since that's what is required but we are getting some toys too." Geir states pulling up another file from his jacket and opening it up. "As of right now we have 10,000 M1-C Marowak Rifles, 3,000 Dotrio tri-barreled gatling guns, 12,000 Cubone 12.7 mm handguns, 60 Q-12 Rhyhorn AFVs, 100 trucks, 20 Wartortles, 130 Bellsprout 105 mm Artillery units, and 30 Mk-6 Noctowl Helicopters."

Jim leans back, "Eh, its not what I would normally settle for but it seems we don't really have a choice."

Geir nods, "We have to make do with what we are offered. The first year is most likely going to be handouts and mothballs, but President Shinko has told me that he plans to give us access to new weapons completely independent from those built for the defense forces."

"Good, but I still think that X Series tank they have is some pansy shit." Frank says taking another drink, "Computers do all the work for you, those National Guard guys have it way to easy."

"Our boys won't have it easy that's for sure!" Jim says grinning, "I'm gonna make sure they get their asses whipped into shape. Have to keep up the 3rd Army's rep as Kanto's only undefeated force."

Geir slyly grins, "So does that mean that Silver Pass isn't-"

"Nate, I will break this bottle over your head so help me Acreus."

Geir puts up his hands grinning, "Still a sore spot huh?" Frank and Geir begin to laugh as Jim turns bright red. He nervously smiles, "However, you're gonna get more then just boys this time around."

After a pause Jim realizes what his old friend means and slumps back, "Great."

"Yep." Geir says smiling still, "It's a boys and girls club now."

Frank shrugs, "I don't think that's such a bad thing. We had a fair amount of partisan forces made up of women during the last war, why not in regular military service?"

"Because war should be man's domain." Frank says disgruntled, "Women have no place on the battlefield, that should be at home where its safe and a far from any sort of violence."

"Look Jim," Geir says leaning in toward his friend, "I am not fully comfortable with it either, but these are the times we live in. The Army is open to everyone now, which means we have to deal with all the issues that come along with that."

Frank and Jim look at each other before looking back at Geir before Jim sighs, "A bunch of teenagers and elderly around a bunch of women. What could go wrong."

Frank smiles, "It would be easier to count off what would go right in that situation."

All three chuckle knowing that the co-ed army would be just another hurtle for them to jump over. The trio continue talking and exchanging war stories throughout the night, reliving past battles and looking forward to the possibilities of the future that awaited the 3rd. Finally, a few hours later the group had no choice but to depart. Mick came over to the table to help Frank walk the intoxicated Jim out of the booth and back to the street, struggling against the old man's surprising strength for someone of his age and build. While this scene was unfolding Geir watched and for an instant was taken back in time, to when all of them were younger and didn't know any better. Jim and him fresh out of the academy, getting into a barfight at the Lapras over something so minor he didn't even remember it now. What he did remember was breaking the top of Mick's countertop when a large burly man threw him into it. That counter was still there, held together by duct tape and Mick's stubbornness. A weel later they would be at the bloody frontlines at Mt. Silver where they would receive their baptism by fire, waking the both of them up to the harsh realities of war. Now he knew better then to be that naive, and he had to be better too. Not just for his sake but for the men and women who were about to fall under his command. Standing up he walked behind the drunken duo who had just gotten to the door. After saying their goodbyes, the three parted ways, leaving Geir to once again walk in the frigid snow alone once more, its touch holder much more weight on his shoulder then it should have.

Little did any of them know the horrors of war were not ready to let them go just yet.


POKEMON ARMED FORCES MAINFRAME

REQUEST PASSCODE: ******

PASSCODE ACCEPTED – OPENING DATABANK

FILES FOUND – M8 WARTOTLE MAIN BATTLE TANK

Crew: 4

Weight: 38 tons

Dimensions: 30 feet long, 10 feet wide, 7 feet tall

Armor: 7.5 inch thick ceramic belt armor

Weapons: 105mm Rifled Gun (55 rounds), 12.7 mm machine gun (660 rounds), 7.62 mm Machine Gun (4,000 rounds)

Speed: 33 mph


Background Data: During the Great Pokémon War Kanto was a defensive power for the majority of the war, lacking the armored might present in other nations to strike beyond its mountain borders. Toward the midway point of the war this changed when the Kanto Army requested that Silph Industrial (The original parent company of Silph Company) design a new tank that could stand up to the K-4 Larion and Z-81 Donphan used by the Johto and Hoenn forces. After two years of designing and testing the M8 was developed and saw its first combat a year later at the 3rd Battle of Mount Silver where is held its own against the enemy tanks and even surpassed them in a number of ways. The troops lovingly gave the tank the nickname ' Wartortle' after the turret's turtle shell like design and the wings that the many of the drivers would paint on the turrets of their machines.

Due to the tanks success in this battle they were mass produced on a large scale with a total of 1,204 being produced in the last three years of the war. Heavily armored packing a punch these tanks were ultimately one of the factors that led to Kanto's offensive to reclaim its territory lost at the start of the war. Had the Luminos Summit not occurred between the major powers a major land-based offensive into Johto would have occurred centered around an armored push through the Indigo Plateau. What should have been the tank's finest moment was cut short.

Today, 15 years after the war ended over 600 of the tanks have been preserved either in storage by the National Guard or by the Kanto War Museum. The tank still is in active service today with 23 of them being used currently by the KNG. However, the new X Series Tank has become the new staple vehicle of the KNG, speeding up the decommissioning of the aging Wartortle. The remaining tanks can still be found across Kanto with many rusting out in the norther mountain ranges or the ruins of wartime military bases.


END OF DATA