"Clear!"
Adam slid open the door of the van and checked all its corners for any hidden monsters, ensuring it was both empty and safe for travel.
"Clear on my side as well."
Sergeant Elena joined him, and the two met in front of the vehicle.
"This is our lucky day," Adam said, pleased that the vehicle they found was in good condition, enough to haul the entire team and all the cargo they needed.
"Sadly, it will soon turn into night. Will we be alright?" Sergeant Elena asked as she looked at the sky, which barely held any light.
"Don't worry, even if we have to camp outside, this team has better dynamics than anything I've joined before," Adam said, commending the performance of his Men-at-Arms.
"The Solarium's finest, after all," Elena replied, circling the place. "It must be pretty nice, being able to command a squad with your strange powers, isn't it, Sir?"
Elena's question made Adam narrow his eyes before he turned to her.
"I assume something is weighing on your mind, Sergeant."
He spoke directly and made the ever-blunt and confident Sergeant seem a bit hesitant. She looked away for a second before offering a fake smile as if she was trying to cope with something, then she spoke:
"I've had the liberty to ask Citizen Kave a few questions. He was rather forthcoming with me."
"Of course he would." Adam smiled as he began checking the gas level of the van. "Kave has a weakness for powerful women, such as yourself, Sergeant. I take it you like your men… malleable."
Elena grinned and assisted Adam in hot-wiring the van before sliding into the passenger seat.
"He told me about Wartopia and the various… factions, if you'd ever call it that. I only imagined this so-called game to be about the Solarium fighting its enemies."
"I see." Adam nodded, "Players could play any faction: Solarium, Machina, Hive, Demons, and even rare factions like the Umbra'Kin and the Elmwald."
"What are those?"
"It is natural you wouldn't know about them. The Inquisition would naturally be tight-lipped about such minor factions of the galaxy, especially if they represent a shameful period in the history of the Solarium... I mean no heresy, of course."
"Sol forbids!"
Elena and Adam smiled, each with their own thoughts about the other, before Elena dropped her pressing question:
"When Citizen Kave told me about the other factions, I asked if there were effigies of them, and he confirmed it. Still, he said you wouldn't be summoning from any faction other than Solarium."
"That's my intention, and what Kave and I agreed to, indeed." Adam nodded, confirming her knowledge.
"But why?" Sergeant Elena asked with a contemplative expression. "You are not a subject of the Solarium, and with your ability to… compel whomever you summon, you could have the cold machines of the Machina, the endless hordes of the Hive, and even the might of Hell itself."
"Yet I chose humanity." Adam shrugged, still smiling as he understood Elena's feelings.
"We're weak, mortals, and corrupt," Elena said, building a solid case against such a choice.
"Well, we're here in the business of being human. Honestly, I think I would crap my pants if I were to summon some Eldritch Hiver or a Doombot. If we are to do something about humanity, we'd need to be humans, all of us."
"But are we?" Elena asked. "You said it yourself. You summoned us from plastic."
"And God made Adam from clay... or dust... depending on who you ask." Adam smiled with a wink.
"Your name..." Elena noticed the wordplay in Adam's name.
"My family was very religious, but that's not the point." Adam chuckled and continued, "If I were made of clay and you're made of plastic, we're no better than one another."
"Yet we are dependent on you. We all felt it when you made that daring jump; if you die, we die."
"It is just the circumstances we find ourselves in." Adam shrugged without looking Elena in the eyes as he turned the van around to park by the loading bay. "I am just a guy, and you're not dependent on me, or anything. My power to summon you is something even I can't understand, which means its source is probably not me, either. So, I'm just lucky; that's all. And if you are really dependent on me, you wouldn't be able to relieve me of my command and put me under house arrest, would you now?"
"Oh!" Elena realized what Adam was getting at, and her eyes widened. "I hope you're still not upset about that, Commander."
"You were looking out for me and the others. I appreciate it, Sergeant." Adam smiled as he finally made sure the van was parked the right way before opening his door and walking down. "We ought to join the others."
"Yes, Sir."
Elena jumped out of the van, Blazer in hand, and climbed the loading bay simultaneously with Adam, the two covering their flanks and advancing with cautious steps. As they looked at the entrance to the rear depot ahead of them, they saw many Gobzkin and Host bodies lying there, downed by both blazer fire and bashed heads.
"Our people's handiwork." Adam relaxed, knowing that Sharp and the others had done a pristine job.
"You still haven't answered, Commander. Why the Solarium and no other faction?" Sergeant Elena pressed her questions one more time.
"Don't get me wrong, Sergeant, it is not a simple choice. I doubt I'd be able to summon other factions as perfectly as the Solarium," he replied.
"Oh. So it is a matter of quality." Elena looked at Adam, trying to understand him better.
"You didn't listen, Sergeant. I am lucky."
"Yes?"
"To be saved, humanity's savior should be humanity. If we owe our survival to freaks and xenos, do we even control our fates anymore? Would we be worthy to still inherit this Earth?"
"…"
"I said I am lucky. I got this power, not sure if it was at random or by the hand of fate, but I got it anyway, and somehow, I happen to have the means to use it right: to summon more of humanity to save humanity."
Elena's eyes narrowed, yet with a smile, as she averted her face, thinking how profound this human, whom she was compelled to call Commander, truly was.
In no way was he worthy of being a commander, lacking most of the basic skills a Man-at-Arms would have. His aptitude for the Sacred Code made him a worthy candidate as a Techno Monk, but not a military higher-up.
Yet this conversation just now opened Elena's eyes to the person whom she followed. Even if he didn't have the qualities of a military commander, he had the ideals embedded in him, which were more than enough to trust him.
Only humanity would save humanity. She liked the sound of that. She didn't feel compelled by some strange power to follow that; it was what her harsh life had taught her.
Humans may prey on each other, screw one another over scraps, and even backstab each other on a daily basis. Hell, she had been on both sides of many of these relationships more times than she could count, but every time she looked at her squad, she knew that their accursed kind wouldn't work any other way.
Dysfunctional as a race they may be, but from flaws come ideals, from limits come beauty.
≪ You have gained 1 EXP! ≫
Adam may have given some answers that he had since stopped thinking long and hard about, but just as Elena looked back at him with a refreshed face, a message flashed in front of his eyes.
"Let's join the others, Commander." Sergeant Elena aimed her gun ahead and walked forward.
"Yes." Smiling, Adam followed suit, knowing that his summoning ability still held many secrets.
He liked the idea that he was able to summon people, that these people could grow to trust him and weren't just "puppets," as the name of his Rune implied.
Interesting things would happen if he continued to get closer to them, to make their bonds stronger, and their loyalty deeper.
With these thoughts, the two entered the large shopping center, a bastion of consumerism with all its glory, transformed by the Gobzkin horde into a fortress of primitive savagery. Skulls lined the shelves; blood, corpses, and the remains of tortured humans were everywhere.
"Sol's light!"
Elena exclaimed as it was her first time witnessing the grotesque savagery of the green-skinned menace.
THUD!
But as she was scanning the surroundings with her eyes, a sound startled her, making her aim her Blazer in its direction, but what she saw next made her freeze.
In the distance, between some empty shelves, someone stumbled to the ground, wearing the colors of her squad and a distinctive cap.
"H—Help!"
As the feminine voice spoke, Elena didn't need to confirm the identity further.
"Biscuits!"
Rushing to save the medic, Sergeant Elena still checked her left and right as she approached with her gun aimed at anything that might spring out at her. Adam's footsteps followed her from behind, covering her back. As she was about to help Biscuits, who seemed badly injured…
"AAH!"
Sergeant Elena was immediately kicked from her side by Adam, causing her to stumble away with a pained expression.
"Comman…"
She was about to protest, supporting herself with her mechanical arm and recovering her Blazer, but what she saw next shocked her to her core.
Private Medic Biscuits looked up at Adam, holding her injured torso and begging for help. Adam, on the other hand, only replied by aiming his barrel at her face.
"NO!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
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