Chapter 4 part 3
12th December, the Year 1096
1515 Hours ( Day 1 )
Lungmen Central Administrative Node,
District 1, Greater Lungmen.
Meeting Room.
The meeting room was filled with many notable characters which Alex learned from his friends on Earth.
Despite his shock at Ace's survival in this world. He regains his composure and is seated opposite the leader of Rhodes Island herself, Amiya.
Unfortunately for the young General-turned-CEO, his action was noticed by the keen Medical director of Rhodes Island.
Dr. Kal'tsit.
A mature Feline lady with the keen eyes of a veteran, she had observed the aftermath of the previously unknown faction in Chernobog, now known as Axiom Security and Consultation. Her cold calculating eyes observed the young man that supposed to be the CEO of the said company.
Then, she observed his guards. Armed with short-barrel carbines and tactical equipment, their faces were covered with balaclava and semi-transparent combat visors similar to what Rhodes Island security units wore, albeit not fully armed like their Axiom counterparts.
She has called her favors and pulled some strings to research who Axiom is and what their intentions were for Terra. Unfortunately, all her contacts denied and even unrecognized their existence. Her affiliate from Laterano has denied their involvement as rumors had been heard from their superiors, the Laterano Notarial Hall has called several Executors to investigate the said group.
The amount of firepower they had bought during the fight was staggering as only Laterano could field them in such size and even the Pontificia Cohors Lateran fielded dedicated melee units within their ranks. Their actions and capabilities surpassed her expectations and even though she has repeatedly watched the footage, it's undeniable that Axiom is legitimately a capable fighting force.
Yet, her mind questions why none of them even have designated melee units. Almost none except for the melee scenes where Axiom troops used bayonets and combat knives in CQB.
She even asked some of the RI Laterano operators, especially Sankta operators of their opinions on these units if they know about their equipment and combat attributes. The operators shared with her that it was unlikely a mere private force could maintain such equipment as the amount of ammo used in that gunfight took comparably about a tenth of Rhodes Island's total ammunition storage.
And that if the Logistics Department has better funding to acquire the expensive Originum ammo.
Her observation was cut short as Chief Wei announced the start of the meeting.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Now all the parties are here, let us start this meeting." Chief Wei said as he seated.
"For our newest addition to this new session. Perhaps an introduction is needed." he gestured at the young man before them.
The man of the hour stood up and slightly bow down to the representatives before him in a courtly manner.
"Greetings, I'm Alex Munroe. CEO of Axiom. The very company that had requested this meeting."
"We intend to have both sides to be in the same room with us for we had complications that must be addressed with utmost urgency." he continued.
Amiya's ears perked a bit as she gave her attention to the man before her. The Doctor, or commonly, Dokuta also presented himself as a tactical advisor for Amiya and took heed of the CEO's request. For sure, the moment they have the invitation, she immediately prepared herself and Dokuta for such an event. The reports provided were screened thoroughly to smoothen up the meeting process and if there are opportunities, she will try to garner some support from Axiom towards Rhodes Island's objectives.
"We had given both parties encrypted data files that contain much of the basis of this meeting. For Rhodes Island, we had attached medical assessments of the survivors and POWs we had under our care."
"First of all, we would like to formally request Lungmen administration to authorize the formation of Axiom headquarters in the city with acceptable agreements that will be set up for our future stay in Lungmen." He gave his opening act to Chief Wei.
Chief Wei nodded his head. It is imperative for him to take action on such a request and prepared several available sites for Axiom to choose their main branch within the city. Such opportunity not only will secure political support but also strengthen the city's defenses as Axiom is quite liberal with their usage of firearms as compared to other peer organizations. Blacksteel will not let this through unanswered.
Inwardly he smirked at the aftermath of this meeting. In the PMC market, Blacksteel controls the major holding and even manipulated them for their own. Now, with Axiom inserted into the equation, he may break Columbia's monopoly in the lucrative market and add some of his own. He knows that Axiom has hereditary from Columbia, but through the reports he gathered, most of the men who served Axiom are those who were disenfranchised from the Columbian government's conduct in past years.
That is the bonus point to exploit and if successful, break Columbia's hold in the market and may even challenge Laterano in firearms technology.
Finally, he has the opportunity to remove Blacksteel's bullshit, a pun he intended to use.
"If we reached suitable agreements beneficial for both sides of the aisle, we would provide more commodities to ensure all parties respectably accept our offers of peace."
Chief Wei took note of his request and proceed to continue. Then, he turned to Rhodes Island and addressed his next agenda to Amiya.
"Second, we would require further assistance from Rhodes Island's expertise in Oripathy treatments and safety protocols for future treatments."
Amiya's electronic notepad shows the data he has shared in the past month with her as she swiped to the notes that she has prepared for the meeting. The Dokuta even follow through with the reports provided and added some notes for future reference.
"In the past month, our medical staff had conducted medical assessments for the survivors currently under our care and had found out 32 out of 184 survivors including 20 Reunion POWs were confirmed with Oripathy, in which the severity varies from mild to concerning symptoms."
"Based on the medical treatments we provided, we only did so little to combat this infection as the signs of infections began to grow in our patients."
Dr. Kal'tsit read back the data on her pad especially the treatment process Axiom has conducted for the Infected. So far she has approved the steps taken and appreciated the efforts of the company's medical staff to explain more of their observation on the infection growth. The reports and assessments are thorough and direct about their actions. The treatments may be inadequate for her standards but she may let this through as Axiom is not specialized in Oripathy treatments, let alone having dedicated medical research programs.
"Fortunately, we managed to slow down the infection rate but our medical staff struggled to even combat it in proper form."
He glanced at Dr. Kal'tsit and Amiya for a while. "This is why we need your expertise in this field and if possible, provide further treatments for the infected."
"Finally, we need to address the major reason why we came here for this meeting."
Chief Wei took notice of the issue presented to him by Alex. With his cunning wit, he has prepared for such an issue. The data he had provided by Axiom were mostly offers of security services including intel about Reunion during their daring escape.
The data are still invaluable for Lungmen and LGD as they were preparing for future incursions and how to handle them. Thus, his defense plans were greatly improved thanks to the young man before him. In just one engagement, Axiom has provided more data and even combat analysis on patterns and behaviors of Reunion combatants better than other services. That firsthand experience may buy Lungmen time to prepare strategies and plans to their advantage.
"The Reunion, Mr. Munroe?" Chief Wei said to the man. "Even with the fall of our neighboring Ursus city, we managed to stem down their movement within our city in the previous month."
He then continued, "Our Guard department had conducted their operations with excellent results in this past month which had curbed down Infected crimes throughout the city's sectors."
Chief Wei turned to the Superintendent of LGD with confidence in his gendarmerie. " Inspector Ch'en will attest that," he reassured the young CEO.
Alex wanted to add more to his thoughts on the issue, yet he relented as he knew the records of LGD in handling threats inside and outside of the massive nomadic city. Chief Inspector Ch'en is one of the most capable of all officers LGD had to offer.
After graduating from Royal Victorian Guard School with superb results and achievements, she joined Lungmen Guard Department with intentions to curb crimes in the city.
From violent crimes to bringing down international criminals, her records are filled with achievements of her success far succeeding him in milestones. Her swordsmanship is impressive thanks to her genes but Alex is not fooled by her appearance.
This woman is literally a warrior in both heart and mind. Her stature before him may be slim as needed for an anime character but her sharp, stringent posture sets her as a straight-to-the-business kind of lady.
Both their eyes met the moment Chie Wei called her.
Sharp, calculating eyes of man meet the fiery and dedicated peer, trying their best to know each other intentions behind the veiled cover of courtesy between two leaders. It seems to look like a prelude to a fight between man and dragon.
But even Alex knows, 'Never fight dragon heads on...even though she is cute.'
Inadvertently, another voice broke the silence.
"That is still not enough, Chief Wei." A smooth mature voice interrupted.
Alex broke his stare and looked to the voice's source, Dr. Kal'tsit, who broke the previous tension.
Her calm and cold expression unnerved Alex. This woman before him is one of the leading characters and even the de facto leader of Rhodes Island even though Amiya, the young Cautus is the official leader of the said faction. Even now, he could read that Amiya still held Dr. Kal'tsit with high regard, akin to the relationship between daughter and mother.
"Even with the quarantine conducted by LGD in this past month, it will not work for an organization such as the Reunion Movement." Her eyes glinted with intelligence on the topic.
She then continued, " Mr. Munroe's forces just stalled back their preparation to attack Lungmen. One month is more than enough to rebuild and replenish back some of their forces after the aftermath of the broadcast. "
Alex nodded his head.
There is no denying that claim. One month is enough to replenish your ground forces especially when you have a large resource pool and manpower. The scouts had reported various movements stirred within the region. It is quite unsettling for Alex as the Reunion may not only replenish their forces but also prepared their doctrine against him in such leeway.
If the reports are true, then this future incursion may have been harder to repel compared to the original timeline.
Suddenly, his vision was greeted with a new notification, a message from his escort teams.
[Wildcat to Badger, Forward Element forces have been deployed. Linking up with local forces.]
Discreetly, Alex replied to the report back to the command squad. His actions were unnoticed by everyone in the room as Dr. Kal'tsit talked to Chief Wei about the Reunion from Rhodes Island's perspective.
[Copy that, Wildcat. Maintain security around the helos and hold your position until further orders.]
[Affirmative, Badger. Wildcat out.]
The moment he received the affirmation, Inspector Ch'en coldly rebuts the Doctor's impression of what Alex perceived as distrust towards Rhodes Island's representative.
"The Guard Bureau knows more about Lungmen than Rhodes Island and Axiom. We know better about the city's strengths and weaknesses."
She then continued, "Lungmen is not obligated to inform any third party about its confidential operations."
The impassive face of the veteran officer aimed toward the older woman. Yet, Alex was sure that he just saw her eyes blazed a bit before shrouding back into the cold indifference she wore right now.
Cold, apathetic, and dedicated.
These three words are the definition of the young police inspector before him. No wonder the crime rates in this city plummeted after she entered the LGD ranks.
'Sheesh…..She's like the Chinese version of Sonya in adult form.' Alex absentmindedly said to himself while reading the file provided by Rhodes Island in the meeting.
He then shuddered at the implication of the young ward under his protection.
'No, thank you. I've already had an edgy girl to handle with care. Not going to be involved in a catfight between these two.'
Luckily for him, Chief Wei intervened. He raised his hand at the inspector, and signaled her to stop and she did, albeit reluctantly stand down from escalated tension.
Then, he turned his attention to Dr. Kal'tsit, intrigued by what the other side had on the matter discussed at the table.
"Dr. Kal'tsit, please continue." he addressed the female Doctor of Rhodes Island.
"Lungmen does have experiences handling unarmed Infected, the results are there. But, does LGD knows how to handle armed Reunion troops? The battle conducted by Axiom had shown us that the Reunion is not just a pack of rioters." She explained.
"They are a fully armed rebellion army from Ursus with very intent to burn this city as their next onslaught. Unless we have access to multiple guns on a large scale such as Axiom and Laterano, only the Infected can fight another Infected."
Chief Wei raised his eyebrow as if he was uninterested in Rhodes Island's opinion. He read back the file provided by the RI for a moment, then he returns to Dr. Kal'tsit.
"So, has Rhodes Island ever dealt with Infected issues on a large scale such as the Reunion Movement? " He asked.
He shut the RI file and opened the Axiom one. Comparing the data and information provided for this meeting.
"So far as I can tell, Axiom has proven to be efficient in handling Reunion Movement." He remarked on the information before him.
He continued, "Mr. Munroe's Axiom troops conducted a daring mission deep within Reunion line for a rescue mission, and they succeeded not only in the evacuation but also inflicted a staggering amount of damage to their ranks in a mere hour. " He stated as the tension began again to rise between the two leaders.
Miss Amiya and the Doctor could only watch on the sideline as they have little experience handling such interactions. Amiya is the young one and the Doctor on the other hand lost his memories before they escape from the fallen city.
Both cannot even intervene as Amiya saw Dr. Kal'tsit as her mentor and even as a mother figure. She would not dare to cut her off.
To prevent the escalation from turning into a mess, Alex politely intervened as the Feline wanted to rebuke the Lung before her.
"Chief Wei, I appreciate your insight on my forces." He said.
His action that came between the two leaders made both parties before him to a halt.
Now, with all attention now focused on him, he then continued his speech.
"But, Dr. Kal'tsit is right. We need the Infected to handle other Infected. There are reasons why she tells us about that."
It may not much, but his actions have got him some respect from the Rhodes Island side. Infected Terrans are already a problem, adding trained and combat-experienced Infected turned the tide between them and non-infected Terrans as Originium Arts need Originium as catalysts. The non-Infected needs Arts staves or Arts guns to cast Arts skills properly while the Infected amplified theirs at the expense of their own body.
A reckless move, yet effective in combat. Alex may detest Arts magic-like skill when compared to tried-and-true Modern Combat doctrine. Nonetheless, he cannot deny its advantages and applications in battle, especially in infantry combat. Those Arts will rip anyone that is not prepared against it.
He needs to be ready for such engagements and Rhodes Island has its experience points in gold. Quite literally if the Arknights gameplay proven such with the Operators' borderline BS skills.
"In our perspective, Axiom could attest that Rhodes Island has experience in handling this issue. It would be unwise to deny aid that possibly helps us in near future."
Alex bow down a bit, "I'm sorry for the interruption, but I need to address this because your talks are now leading to accusations on another party, one way or another."
He softly admonished both sides as the talks were diverting from the main issue they must address with caution. If not, both sides might be dragged into another political strife between a Pharma Corp and the city's administrator.
This kind of divide will worsen the problems faced by both Infected and non-Infected in Lungmen City. One that he guaranteed will bring down this city if left unattended.
He addressed both leaders, "Axiom acknowledges the current standing of Lungmen and the LGD in handling Infected cases but we also recognized the contributions given by Rhodes Island to the public."
"If both sides have problems in information sharing, then let Axiom be the first to break the ice and share our intel with both parties for comparison."
He turned on his tablet and moved towards the large Smart TV inside the meeting room. "If you may, Chief Wei?"
"You may proceed, Mr. Munroe." Chief Wei gave his approval of using his property.
"Thank you, sir."
He then linked up his tablet with the large device. Moments later various data and pictures were displayed to everyone inside the room including the guards.
"These are the intel we had gathered in the past month observing Reunion movements within Chernobog and its outer regions after the rescue mission. "
He selected the file, ' Reunion ', and show its contents. Several pictures and reports were arranged according to its requirements.
" As you can see right here, we managed to identify some of the Reunion's current leaderships, and their command structures including the troop movements within the fallen city and the regions near them. "
Alex selected the leadership file and show a picture of a woman. A mature noble lady with cold indifference as she leads some Reunion troops within the fallen city. Both sides watched the small footage of her walking away from the camera, unnoticed of its presence recording her movement.
Rhodes Island remembered the first encounter with Talulah and saw firsthand her abilities. The fires and heat produced by her Originium Arts melted the floor and even structures around her. Thankfully, with Doctor's tactical acumen, all members involved in the rescue mission managed to get away from the Blazing Witch.
LGD's side of things was shown with a stoic expression. Chief Wei frowned a bit at the picture before him while Inspector Ch'en glared intensively at Talulah's image.
'Looks like she does have a connection with her….and Wei too….' Alex observed their reactions.
'Who are you, Blazing Witch?' He thought to himself. 'What do they know about you?'
He then continued his briefing, "The very leader of Reunion is none other than Talulah Artorius, the fallen Ursus noble that was responsible for the assassination of Duke Kashchey, years ago."
"Now, with the massive victory against Chernobog via support from the rioters and even defected Ursus soldiers, she was able to maintain power within Chernobog with great efficiency even though most of the city's sectors has fallen to the Catastrophe and even reported a high concentration of Originium deposits on the city itself. "
"We also received reports of Sarkaz mercenaries employed by her which we may suspect become the elite frontline troops and her guards. The numbers vary but the confirmation of a high concentration of Sarkaz warriors around the main city node strengthens our theory."
Then, he turned to the image below Talulah. A picture of a massive man with a black shield and a damaged spear stood next to heavily armored Reunion soldiers. The terrifying mask of a beast's skull with horns has pushed the point that he is the leader of the group. Even the heavy soldiers near him were greatly dwarfed by his size in comparison.
Unknowingly, Dr. Kal'tsit narrowed her eyes at the masked monster that appeared on the screen.
"Next, we got one of the founders of the Reunion Movement himself, Patriot."
"The very general that rebelled against the UE after crushing the previous rebellion in the Empire's Northern Tundra. This big guy is the meanest fucker that you do not want to face unless you have a death wish or you have enough ordnance to bury him with."
Alex inserted a picture of the armored soldiers next to Patriot.
"Our recon on his forces has shown that his men are fully armed with Stoykiy-class Heavy Assault Exosuit or the Stalwart-class Exosuit. This hardware is very rare for Regulars to get their hands on, let alone use them. But these men, are veterans of the Northern Tundra Uprisings. That alone made them one of the deadliest Reunion combat units under Talulah's command. The fact that they were Ursus soldiers, there is no surprise that they pledged their loyalty to their General than to the Throne. "
He switched to the next image of the similar armor used by Reunion soldiers including the captured sets from his faction's first engagement.
"Blood is thicker than water, but sweat and blood made the bond stronger. Our advice would be indirect combat with Patriot's Guerrilla forces. Fighting them head-on is borderline suicide. Their heavy armors were so thick that even our guns have problems handling them. We had to resort to more powerful munitions to engage them."
Alex miniaturized the images and popped up a new Reunion leader. An ambiguous gas-masked individual with a crimson-black hoodie is displayed on the screen. Such appearance, especially the grenade launchers carried on both hands made the observers implied that he or she is a leader dedicated to storming a position, possibly leading an assault on the front.
"Then we got this sweetheart. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Skullshatterer, the Frontline Assault leader of the Reunion. "
"There are not many solid data we got other than this pic but lately this guy had been involved in several skirmishes against Yan Border Guard units near the Ursus-Yan border. Right now we had concluded that he is tasked to poke at the border defenses to iron out their troops' movement into Lungmen."
Alex paused a bit before continuing, "The problem is, his troop movements were randomized as if he did not want us to know his overall battle patterns. Intel suggests his capture would be paramount for what he knows but if failed to do so, his demise would cripple Reunion's frontline cohesion for future ops."
He selected the final file he has on him. The stoic expression intensified with a glint of cold rage as he read back the reports of this…monster.
As an empath, Amiya felt the rage steaming from the man before her. A pure violent rage directed at a certain individual that was currently on his tablet that even she was sure that others could read the mood.
"Finally, we got this…. individual. I think you Rhodes may have…unpleasant experience meeting him. "
An image of a fairly young teenage boy with white hair and pale skin replaced the previous picture. The familiar deranged smile of a madman is unsuitable for such an individual yet perfectly shows the world the madness within his eyes. The picture was taken from an angle where the camera could capture the moment when he ordered the Reunion troops around him as he stood on rubble.
The youthful appearance did not make a significant impact on those attending the meeting. But for Rhodes Island members, they knew what this young man was capable of doing. His handiwork, those twisted depravities, and the horrors they encountered during their escape were made by the very monster that appeared on the main screen of the TV.
"Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mephisto, the Devil of Reunion."
He locked eyes with Amiya. The stoic and calm aura was now replaced with something more sinister.
Amiya may have hated that madman for what he had done. But the moment she looked through the eyes of a man named Alex Munroe, even she prayed for mercy and safety of those close to Mephisto.
Because the man before her has none to give back.