Master of Warfare

Launch Party

Amy returned to the base on London, excited to see where she was at now, as she knew she had done well in the scenario to both get kills and protect the lives of her men. In fact they informed her that halfway through Colonel Pendergast had ordered them to stand down, except for the mortar teams that he had plenty if ammo, but no one trained to use the tubes he had. Because of 2 snipers and 2 mortar teams, the defensive units had almost no work to do.

She walked into her office and looked at the system displays for the first time, surprised that from kills alone she had just earned 6 levels worth of experience that brought her up to level 11.

She used all of the stat points to increase her Charisma, knowing that in later missions it would likely be down to how many men she could lead onto the battlefield that would make the difference. What she didn't realize at the time was that her one mission had split off into several more, one of which was ensuring that atleast half of the forces under Colonel Pendergast survived. Another was to ensure that more than half of her own did, and she completed both without even a single loss when she went to compose her report.

To her utter surprise when she opened the screen, her report and the one from Pendergast had already been filed, and all 3 missions were telling her to report to General Simmons to turn in for rewards. It was than she decided to leave her office and men to do what they were doing and reported to him. What had surprised her though, was each point she put into Charisma added 10 soldiers who she could lead, and the 6 points had taken her from 30 to 90. As soon as she entered the office of the General she was told she was expected, and to go into his office as he smiled upon seeing her.

"Well, that certainly went far better than expected, especially as I understand it there were absolutely no casualties in your troops or under Colonel Pendergast. In fact he has submitted you for several medals, and recommended you for promotion." Simmons said looking at her.

"Yes sir, the mission itself was a great success. The teleporter worked as expected, allowing us to deploy in a manner that allowed us a significant victory." she replied as he smiled as he saw her new stats and all 3 missions resulted in new level ups taking her to level 14, and only 100 experience points shy of 15.

"It seems you have proven yourself worthy of that promotion, and as such I am issuing you a promotion to Captain. We need people who can be assertive in the face of pressure, however I might suggest finding a more diplomatic way to tell superior officers that they are about to get shot to hell." Simmons said laughing as she smiled.

"Apologies sir, but if he put what I think he did, that is not an exact quote. It does however convey the meaning of what I did say." Amy replied as he handed her the report and it was indeed exactly the way he had phrased it after the battle had ended. "That is not how I phrased it sir. However I did tell him if he failed to retreat into the village he would find himself getting hit by friendly artillery and it was his choice whether he did or not."

"Relax Captain Snips, he informed General Howard of what you actually said when it was recommended you be couts martialed for insubordination. As I said, next time I would recommend finding a more diplomatic way to tell a superior officer to fall back. That however is the end of thatconversation, and for the moment there are no missions that require your attention. Take a day of r and r, and explore what the city has to offer. I understand there are some skill classes that are being taught that have battlefield benefit, and will make your unit that much more prepared to deal with whatever may come up in combat. So far you have been lucky, but I believe this war is far from over." he said.

"I have no money sir." she said as he smiled.

"Orders just came down that you are to be awarded 50 credits for every confirmed kill. With over 3,000 from the last battle, and 1400 from this one, I believe you are owed over 200,000 credits. You will need to stop at the paymaster on your way out of the base to know the exact amount. Keep up the good work, and you may leave this war a rich woman. Dismissed Captain." he said saluting her before she walked out surprised at how much she had made.

Amy decided to take the Generals advice, opening her map to locate the nearest profession trainers, and was surprised they were all here on the base. The nearest she figured would be the most useful, as it was the gunsmith trainer that would allow her to make and upgrade guns of all kinds and sorts. She had already learned she could directly replace a weapon of any of the troops under her command, and according to the information, once she got good enough her weapons would even improve the stats of those who used them.

The walk wasn't very long, as surprisingly the base was very compact and small compared to some of the others, but she liked it because it meant she wouldn't have to waste time going all over the city. The Gunsmith Trainer however was a gruff looking older man, that seemed like she was wasting his time until she asked to be trained to become a gunsmith. It was than he showed her the beginner set of the tools she would need, however she had a different idea in mind as she had already discovered she would be able to expand her own area. She bought the Expert set, assuring him she had the space to set it all up, and learned everything he could teach her while she had the skill set she did. In all it ended up costing over 10,000 credits, but because of her rewards and the items that had been looted from her kills, it was but a drop in the proverbial bucket. One thing she liked about being a sniper, is anyone she killed the loot was automatically delivered to her inventory. She however had not bothered looking at it yet, and realized that she had some rather rare objects in it from her insistence on killing the officers herself. She had just finished equipping all of the best gear she had automatically looted, when another player approached the Gunsmith and learned the basic profession. When offered the toolset however, he didn't have enough funds for it.

"Add the beginner set to my tab Duncan, he will need it." she said as the player looked at her and was surprised to see Captain Insignia on her lapel.

"How in the world did you manage that?" he asked stunned as she finally stopped looking at her system and looked at him.

"A lot of kills in the first two missions. If I were you, I would focus on killing the officers first, and expanding your Charisma." she offered him the advice unsolicited as she could easily tell he could at best control a basic squad of 10. The base stats for Charisma only allowed 5 followers each, and his class only got 2 points to start.

"I have a question for you, if you don't mind." he said as she shook her head. "How many kills did you get in the first mission?"

Amy laughed at that one as she pulled up her details and selected the first mission before spinning the display so he could see. His eyes went wide when he saw the number was 3,147 kills. "Air strikes and artillery can be your best friend. They give you credit for the kills, and don't impact your inventory too much. Once you get more Charisma, I would also suggest a mortar team or two. I know it is tempting to specialize in one class of follower, and each for team should do that. But you will get the best results if your squad is made up of different teams to supplement eachother." she said showing him she had two different kinds of guns just so she could engage enemy's in the best way.

"Thanks, I will keep that in mind. Do you mind if I send you a friend request? Everyone else seems to be just barely getting through the first mission, and I would be willing to bet you are way beyond that now. Name is Greystone." he said holding out his hand.

"Snips, and I don't mind at all." she said shaking his hand and initiating the friend request because it was easier this way.

"See ya around, maybe after the launch party we can go on a mission together, so you cam show me the ropes of being an elite player like you." he said hopeful.

Amy smiled as she looked at him. "After the party I will finish setting up my squads and invite you to a party so we can complete the second mission for ya. I suggest for your second squad you get a sniper team before you worry about much else. It may take you some time, but I will give ya some good advice based on what I learned already."

Before she realized it she was running to the city center, her movement speed greatly increased because she had finally emptied her inventory in the barracks. It had surprised her what exactly was in it, as she would be able to break down a lot of weapons for both skill experience and parts when the Launch Party was finished. It had been reported there was a major announcement from the developers, as well as massive rewards that would only be available to those who were there.

As she neared the location, she could tell there were thousands of players in attendance, and perhaps more as it was clear they were tightly packed into both the square, and the rooftops of the buildings surrounding it. What no one had expected, was everyone logged into the game was teleported to the area as a massive figure filled the air in the center. It had 8 faces, each of them hidden in shadows as it began speaking.

"Welcome to the launch of Master of Warfare. By now some of you have figured out that there is one key element missing from you interface, and to assure you, it is not a mistake. This game has been launched in only the Federation territories, for one simple purpose. To find the next Master of Warfare among those who excel at War Games. One million users have been locked into this simulation, and the only escape is going to be your characters death. Those who participate, will find that there will be rich rewards once you leave this game, while those who refuse to participate or take the so called easy way out by intentionally dying will find the consequences harsher than one can imagine.

"In the next few days those who are here, will be transferred to government facilities where your bodies will be well taken care of. You are not at risk of actually dying, whether you decide to participate or not. You are the future of our armed forces, and we hope you will take full advantage if this training simulation. Good Luck." it said before disappearing.

Amy looked around, knowing that her required training was supposed to start in a month, and most of the other players looked to be around the same age she was. She sighed as she knew it was somehow to good of a game to be true, but decided that she would give it her best as she vowed she would find a way to beat this game as a notice popped up with how they would be able to advance the simulation.

She read it carefully, knowing that it was going to take every trick the system would allow in order to be victorious. She ran back to her base, knowing that the work was only just beginning.