On the edge of the battlefield, Adam stood, looking through the scope he had, unable to fathom the machinations of this simulation.
Mirroring his own actions, the Iron Maiden simulation replicated his level and defense strategy in the other half of the level, a territory he was unable to invade.
He set two defensive points with SolTech weaponry; the simulation mirrored him by installing similar defense points using Hellfire weaponry. He spawned ten Troopers on each wave, and the simulation responded with ten Satanists.
Now, the only thing he could do was introduce variables using his power alone, as this was his sole advantage.
He needed troops to fight the dragon, but the simulation countered them by deploying similar troops. If he canceled all summons and went alone against the Dragon on Kave's side of the simulation, he would be a burden on Kave, not a savior.
> MESSAGE (ELENA) — "If you want to do this, Commander, you must lead an assault against the enemy and defeat them before they generate."
"I don't have time to play war," Adam said, gritting his teeth, as he saw the troops of the two sides kill each other to an equal result.
> MESSAGE (ELENA) — "You don't? Wasn't everything you did up to this point playing war? You may call it survival or apocalypse, but Sir, you are a war gamer. You may be in it for painting miniatures, but isn't this what Wartopia is all about?"
Adam looked at Elena's message in a daze and tightened his fist over the scope of the rifle he was slinging over his shoulder, contemplating what kind of battle he should wage. He wasn't the strategist; he could do simple tactics and build a war economy, but large strategies and plans weren't his thing. Using overwhelming forces and high technology after turtling in his base was, in all honesty, his chosen style.
He didn't have the mantis reflexes Kave had when rushing a base with one Men-at-Arms squad, one Harbinger walker to sabotage energy supplies, and an energy drink. What he had, however, was stubbornness and a keen eye for exploitation mechanics; the only problem was that everything around was a straightforward situation with no convoluted rules to cheese like a pro gamer.
"Sister Solana, if we use the runic codes, we can amass a big army managed directly by the Puppeteer Rune, but the simulation will respond in kind. If we spawn fully using Sacred Code, we will be occupying Data Core space, of which we already have so little," Adam recounted the two rules he operated under. "Also, to beat the Dragon at Kave's side, we need a lot of units."
> MESSAGE (SOLANA) — "That is correct, Brother-Commander. The Sacred Code of the Iron Maiden exhibits strong Reliance patterns and will deploy its Code-Spirits, employing the very same Duplication and Evolution Rites we ourselves invoke."
Adam analyzed her words, the Sage doing most of the thinking in the backlog of his mind, now that it had leveled up and could run two thought processes at the same time.
The first seemed to be idling with its thoughts: Solana's wording for Simulation NPCs as Code-Spirits is funny.
The second seemed in agreement as it continued: But now that I think about it, it feels like every machine has different characteristics for its own Sacred Code. Benchy, for example, is shy and helpful. The Iron Maiden is stubborn, but it likes to play by the set rules.
The first seemed to have liked the idea and thought of an explanation for it: It must be like that thing with the Summons. Whatever Adam… I mean, We… think of them and their personalities, they get summoned that way.
The second agreed: But the Sacred Code is more volatile and easy to influence; we don't need to summon to overwrite things. It is in a sea of thoughts, so we can alter it more than necessary if we act recklessly.
"Okay! Time out!" Adam immediately made a T-sign with his hand. "You guys can speak to each other when I can't hear you. My subconscious is open 24/7."
The first Sage sulked: It's like a horror show down there, man. Plus, it's nice to finally have someone who is not trying to shut me up.
"Subconscious, or I'll start looking for sleep pills again. Also, clean up the place down there," Adam said. "I want one of you doing long-term strategy thinking while the other focuses on the current rules that we have."
The second Sage tried to protest: But…
The first Sage stopped it: Let's just go. You don't want him trying to mute us by imagining everyone naked again.
Adam's head finally started to calm down after giving each Sage a task to focus on. Immediately, they started giving him ideas by analyzing all the information he knew.
This must be how it feels to be a genius. You can think of multiple things; you don't try to gloss over things you're too afraid to understand or too lazy to think through yourself.
The thoughts he got from the two brain assistants were in line with what he needed since he was practically doing the thinking from his perspective, with the Sage skill running parallel thought processes.
The idea he liked the most was the following:
"Sister, I want you to write new codes without the Rune Codes in them. Run those on our Data Core memory. I want you to create a countdown that can load in different items in random locations across the level: Bombardment Cannons, Enhanced Ammunition, Superior Soldier Armor, and Troop Spawn modifiers. Create wide intervals between the spawning of each of those modifiers on the battlefield."
> MESSAGE (SOLANA) — "But, Brother-Commander—will the Sacred Code of the Iron Maiden permit such invocations?"
"It will," Adam replied and looked around with a smirk, finally detecting the nature of this simulation. "It's not science at this point, just psychology. This machine likes playing fair, but something tells me it hates boring games. I mean, Dragons of all things, am I right? It wants to play a real game, so let's compete for Orbital Drops."
> MESSAGE (SOLANA) — "If this is the case, then the invocation of Orbital Drops will demand spatial capacity far exceeding that of the Trenches."
"You are right." Adam nodded and looked around. "We'll need more trenches for sure. Tell Sergeant Elena to design new trench routes and start sending Troopers through them."
Solana immediately gave Elena control over the holo table terminal and asked her to start planning new trenches. But since the trench areas were still not enough, Elena proposed a bold idea.
> MESSAGE (ELENA) — "Sir, we'll give access to No Man's Land. You're no longer confined to the trenches. All the Orbital Drops will land there."
Adam heard that, and the look in his eyes changed, before a string of ideas came to him:
"Sister, spawn in sniper teams and widen the area around my bunker. Scratch that! Widen the area around the bunker, add defenses, and create ample access to No Man's Land." Adam sucked in a breath of cold air and gulped as he spoke, "Sister, spawn units from the Armamenta Bellarium."
The three women in the Command Center—Solana, Elena, and Megan—had their breath hitched. Adam was famously an overly cautious commander, but his sudden enthusiasm meant he was getting into the mindset of war.
They looked at him as he lay in his chair, motionless and peaceful, yet without a doubt, his mind was grinding its gears to the fullest, operating this battle with tact and control. Kave, on the other hand, was going into a totally different yet similar mindset to Adam, a state of total chaos, fighting solo against a trench horde, his talent blossoming in ways they couldn't even imagine.
Whereas Adam was immersed in organizing and launching an assault, absorbed with focus, Kave was on the edge of madness, running from cover to cover, hiding in tunnels, placing poppy traps like a crazed survivalist, and using his small size to crawl out of tight places and rush the enemy from the back with his bayonet in melee, where he was most advantaged as a Warrior class.
While it was a simulation, and the risk of death wasn't an issue, these two had completely forgotten that and had become absorbed into their war games, leaving the onlookers with little more to say or do other than offer the occasional support Adam requested and switch from view to view.
Megan took the holo table, Elena took the command terminal, and Solana took the Iron Maiden terminal. Megan would occasionally relay Kave's situation and the battlefield layout to Adam. Elena started sorting out the types of support drops that would fit the battlefield, as well as the best Bellarium units to send to Adam, before relaying them to Solana. The latter had the unfathomable task of referencing all the data she received into Sacred Code templates while invoking prayers for focus and accelerated execution.
As for Adam's war, he stood in the center of his small trench, basking in the glory of the war he had just designed.
"If we are going to fight a Dragon with Bellarium units, how much do we need?" Adam asked loudly, hoping to get a number he could work with.
> MESSAGE (ELENA) — "Judging from the look of that monster, it may be just as powerful as a Hell Wyrm, which would usually require no less than a Battalion!"
"A Battalion?" Adam went pale from the realization. "A Bellarium Battalion is…"
Using his fingers, Adam made a rough estimate of the number he needed.
Elena is a Squad Sergeant, leading a team of 9 or 10 Troopers. Above her, there should be a Lieutenant who commands a Platoon of 3 to 6 Squads; above that is a Company of no less than 3 to 4 Platoons led by a Captain; above that is a Battalion, and Battalions consist of 4 to 8 Companies led by a Major.
Just by roughly estimating it, a Battalion can have between 500 and 1000 units.
"I don't think I can lead more than a Platoon," Adam said after thinking about it seriously.
> MESSAGE (ELENA) — "Your goal isn't to win a battle, Commander. You must divert attention and run a rescue operation. Anything else is a distraction."
> MESSAGE (MAGPIE) — "You don't need to worry about Kave. He is taking care of himself."
> MESSAGE (SOLANA) — "We are in accord that this simulation serves as a Specialized Training Rite for you, Brother-Commander. The Brother-Recruit faces no threat beyond his ordained capacity to endure."
As the ladies insisted that Kave was doing fine, Adam could at least commit to the task at hand. He looked left and right; now the area surrounding his trench bunker was redesigned to accommodate the large number of soldiers he needed.
Adam used the Font of Magic two more times to print out more runes and increase the soldier production rate, with it now spawning 30 troopers per round, engaging the enemy through three different fronts.
But as he was now splashing more soldiers across a wider range, Adam suddenly halted his steps as he was going to join the fray when a whistling sound rang above the battlefield, with something dropping from the red sky and landing with a THUUUNGGG!
The entire battlefield shook from the weight of the orbital drop as a towering drop pod landed to the south of No Man's Land.
Then, as Adam tried to take a second to calm his mind, an engine growl came from the direction of the bunker as a towering vehicle crawled out, a mighty cannon aimed ahead.
Its design was that of a landship, having no less than seven medium and heavy weapon systems peeking from the hull's sides and front alone, in addition to a bulky turret that carries the cannon and a light slugger autocannon above it.
Adam saw this green-painted vehicle, and a sudden feeling of nostalgia crept into his heart.
His first love in the grimdark, what truly got him into Wartopia, and the only thing Megan should worry about Adam around.
"My Armamenta Sweetheart!"
Adam simply stepped forward, put his hand, rested his body, and laid his head on the side of the tank that stood three times his height.
He had finally met his childhood love and could finally die a happy man; he had met the Battlemaster Tank.
Only this Armamenta Bellarium beauty would dare venture into No Man's Land, and following its mighty tracks, Adam would fight a battle that would transform him into a true commander.