Timothy Nugent Author
patreon
Chapter 70 - Teams
🕑 Added 2024-10-14 13:00:05 +0000 UTCOver the next twenty minutes, Blake explained everything to the new recruits. Since they were already aware of his fugitive status, he clarified exactly why he and his brother were wanted by the police. Although, he decided not to mention the officer he had killed.
Thankfully, Jerome remained silent the entire time as he cradled his injured hand.
When he was done, he invited all but the injured man to the Collective and then their faction. Blake did not want to waste his time on someone who would only cause problems for him and his faction.
He showed them his Spatial Step, multiple times, and showcased the hardness of his skin with a borrowed knife. Eventually, even the most reluctant skeptic in the group conceded defeat.
“I’m sorry,” Jerome finally spoke up.
Blake turned to the injured man on the ground in surprise.
“I didn’t know any of this. All I saw was a kid who thought he was hot shit because his mom runs things.”
Not much of an apology.
“I’d like to join your faction and kill goblins, or whatever else I need to.” When he saw that Blake did not appear to be swayed, he added, “I swear, I can follow orders.”
Should I invite him?
If Blake invited Jerome to the Collective, took the time to invest gear and nano into the man, and he still refused to follow orders, Blake would be pissed. However, if he turned Jerome away, the man would likely retaliate by going to the police for the reward.
If I don’t, I’ll have to throw him in our new jail.
Blake would not risk the future of the faction, and would confine the man until after Invasion day. Luckily, the man was rude, and he would not feel even the slightest amount of guilt if he decided to do so.
Before he made his decision, he wanted to discover how the man thought. “Why are you here?”
“To join the faction.”
Blake rolled his eyes. “No, you just found out about that. I mean, why did you decide to come here this afternoon?”
“Oh. Cause I needed the cash.”
“Most people who need money are respectful and polite to their potential employers, regardless of how they feel. Why would you be openly hostile? You had to know there was no way I would hire you after you refused to listen to me.”
Jerome frowned. “Like I said, I didn’t know. Honestly, I wasn’t really thinking, I was just annoyed to find nepotism here, too.”
“Well, ‘not really thinking’ is going to be a problem. If all you were gonna do is get yourself killed, I wouldn’t really care. But, you’ll probably get your teammates killed as well.”
Blake was leaning toward jailing the man.
Kasey, the man in his thirties who had cautioned Jerome, sensed his thoughts and spoke up on behalf of his friend. “Jerome can be an ass sometimes, but he’s good in a fight. He won’t let his friends down. If what you said is true, we need all the warriors we can get.”
“You’d trust him not to get you killed?” Blake asked.
Kasey nodded.
Blake then turned to the others. “What about you guys? Do you want him on your team?”
Dahteste and four others remained silent as they studiously avoided eye contact with Jerome. However, two men agreed to fight by his side.
“Then, it looks like we found our teams.” Blake turned to Jerome, who still cradled his left hand as he sat on the ground. “Are you going to have a problem following Kasey’s orders if I make him the team leader?”
Jerome quickly shook his head. “Not at all. That’d be great, actually.”
Blake grasped hands with the injured man, and inducted him into the Collective. As he did so, he cautioned, “Don’t make me regret my decision.”
Jerome nodded and then asked, “This Collective doesn’t have any doctors, does it. Can I get some magic healing?”
“Not yet,” Blake responded. “You’ll have to heal the old-fashioned way for now.”
He then turned to the rest and said, “Okay, I’m going to find you all some nano-gear to wear. Once you choose a weapon, I’m going to transfer ten mega-nano over to each of you. You need to learn the basics of combat, and a general skill is the fastest way to do that. Also, unless you’re already an expert, do NOT spend it on an attribute. I’m going to spend almost a hundred mega-nano on you all already. You aren’t getting more.”
Blake hobbled to his temporary armory and handed out weapons and gear. By the time he was finished, his hoard was greatly diminished, and everyone was eager to test out their new equipment.
He explained the process of purchasing a general skill, and then began to transfer over ten million nano to each trainee. After he transferred one hundred mega-nano to the treasury, spent nine to induct the new trainees to the Collective, and then transferred over another ninety so they could learn a combat skill, he was left with only ninety-five million nano.
Seventy-five after I build the Faction Hall in Payson.
Blake grimaced.
Just an hour before, he held almost three hundred mega-nano. Now, he was almost broke.
Once these two teams get started, I’m starting a faction tax. I can’t keep doing this. I’ll have mom break the news.
As he had done with Montgomery and Jeff, he had them spar against each other for practice. Unfortunately, nine trainees was an odd number, and Dahteste was left without a partner. Blake would have trained with her, but his own injuries prevented him from doing so.
“Holy shit, Blake!” Montgomery strode up behind him, finally back from the goblin scenario. “You look like shit!”
“Thanks,” Blake responded dryly. “Good to see you too.”
“Who are all these people?”
“These nine are our new combat team recruits, but there’s another forty or so elsewhere.”
“Where’d you find so many people?”
“Kuruk found them. According to him, they’re friends and family,” Blake added dryly.”
Montgomery whistled. “That’s a big family.”
Jeff nodded in agreement.
Blake laughed. “That’s what I thought too, but he vouched for all of them.”
Montgomery suddenly leaned in close to Blake and whispered, “What’s up with the hot chick?”
Blake chuckled at his friend’s expected reaction. “That’s Kuruk’s sister.”
“Seriously?!” Montgomery blurted. “They look nothing alike!”
Dahteste had been closely observing her fellow trainees as they fought, but was finally distracted by the outburst. When Montgomery noticed he had her attention, he strode over to her with a big grin and said, “Hey, my name’s Montgomery.” He pointed behind him. “And this is Jeff. We’re the A team.”
Smooth, Montgomery, smooth.
The young woman wrinkled her nose in disbelief. “Did you just say you’re the ‘A team’?”
“Yeah,” Montgomery replied unapologetically. “We actually just got back from killing a ton of goblins.”
At the last statement, her curiosity was piqued. “What’s it like in a scenario? Do you really go to another world? How often do you do them?”
Montgomery laughed. “Hold up, I don’t even know your name.”
She flushed in embarrassment. “Sorry. My name is Dahteste.”
“Nice to meet you, Tadosty,” Montgomery extended his hand.
She offered her own hand in greeting. “It’s pronounced ‘Ta-dot-se’,” she corrected.
“Sorry. I’ve never heard of a name like that. What’s it mean?”
“My father named me after an Apache warrior woman.”
“And now you’re going to be a warrior, too?”
She nodded.
“Wanna spar?” Montgomery asked.
Dahteste gripped her staff tight. “I would love to.”
“Great. Is this your first time?”
“Yes. I have learned the staff mastery skill, but have not had a chance to test it out.”
“Then, I’ll go easy on you,” he offered.
She frowned. “Please don’t. I want to fight, not be coddled.”
Montgomery shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
He collected his spear and shield and then slammed them together. “Ready?”
She set her feet wide, raised her staff at the ready, and nodded. Blake internally chuckled at his friend’s awkward advances.
Let’s see how she does.
Montgomery stepped forward and half-heartedly thrust his spear forward. She easily batted it aside with her staff, and followed the deflection with a strike of her own.
He quickly raised his shield to block the attack, but at the last second, she redirected the staff low. The end of her nano-enhanced wooden pole slammed into Montgomery’s knees, and she grinned in triumph.
Nice.
“Good job,” his friend congratulated her. “Now, let’s see if you can block this.”
He stepped forward and slammed his shield into her. She tried to intercept the blow with her staff, but there was no way she could resist his super-human strength. Dahteste was thrown backwards with a cry of alarm, and landed hard on the ground.
“Sorry!” Montgomery’s eyes widened and he rushed forward. “Are you okay?”
As he leaned over her, face full of concern, she abruptly twisted and swept his feet from under him. He fell on his side, and she quickly struck him hard across his chest with her staff.
You gotta stop underestimating her, Montgomery.
His friend barked a laugh from the ground. He slowly stood and turned to take in the fierce warrior woman. “That was badass. You wanna join my team?”
Blake snorted. “I thought you said you and Jeff were a duo and didn’t need anyone else?”
Montgomery turned to Blake in disbelief. “Dude… shut up. This chick’s fire.”
Dahteste frowned and then looked over her shoulder at the other trainees as they sparred. After a brief moment of indecision, she shrugged and said, “Okay.”
Montgomery’s grin returned. “Awesome!”
Blake glanced over at Jeff to see how he took the news. The stocky man seemed elated to have another team member, and had a grin of his own plastered across his face.
As he continued to watch the groups spar, he noticed that his chi reserves had finally refilled. He activated Focused Regeneration, and targeted his injured leg. Blake was tired of walking with a limp, and he hoped the wound would be fully healed before the end of the day.
He was about to rag on Montgomery, when he unexpectedly received a message.
Rajesh Kshetrapal: Hello? Is this working?
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Rajesh! It’s good to hear from you!
Rajesh Kshetrapal: Hello, Blake. I wanted to apologize for my previous behavior. I realize now that you were trying to help, and I reacted badly.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.
Rajesh Kshetrapal: Thank you for being understanding. Is the offer to join your faction still open?
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Of course! I’d love to have you. I actually already invited Montgomery and Jeff, those two friends I told you about. We’re training a batch of new recruits as we speak.
Rajesh Kshetrapal: If I drive out to your faction town this evening, could I receive similar training?
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Sure! And you’re welcome to stay here in the bunkhouse with us as well!
Rajesh Kshetrapal: That is good. I have decided to drop out of university. If the end of the world is coming in a few months, it makes no sense to waste my time here, when it could be better spent elsewhere.
Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity: Exactly! Don’t worry about food or shelter, we got you covered.
Blake grinned fiercely as he messaged back and forth with his old friend. He shared their location and made plans for Rajesh to join them for a late dinner that evening.
When he finally cut off communication, he could not help but be excited. His mother was right, Rajesh changed his mind, and he would now be reunited with all of his former teammates.
He took in the sight of his new trainees sparring, with the luxurious faction hall in the background. New faction members were spread throughout the town as they filled their new positions. In the distance, he saw Jordan and Brent with two other new constructors, as they worked on yet another building for the budding town.
Robert was joined by three new farmers in the field as they tended crops, now shin height. Jason showed off his wood shop to an interested member, while Owen gave a tour of the quarry. He even saw his brother, Oliver, lugging furniture to the bunkhouse, while his mother supervised.
It’s finally all coming together.
Comments
John Doe
It is a puzzle. The author writes the protagonist as being a wise, experienced Old Soul. Yet, the character makes so many decisions based upon his emotional needs and instability. As you alluded to, each person has a Core Personality, but the total psyche of an individual is dependent upon ALL of the life experiences (pain, failures, successes, etc.) that they encounter throughout their lives. The Rajesh of this timeline has not had the "Fall of Civilization" burned upon his soul, so while his DNA may be the same, he is NOT the person that Blake used to know. I think that every reader of this story (based upon the many comments listed here) completely understands that the previous Rajesh does not exist in this timeline. Why, does this otherwise intelligent protagonist insist on perceiving him as being the same friend that he used to know? It is astoundingly illogical. Or, as an old SciFi television series was so fond of uttering: "This does not compute."
Undead Writer
Thanks for the chapter! Rajesh is a bitch and will betray. Here come the feds, here come the feds!
Laura Pilkington
yeah, absolutely not. Rajesh has no reason to change his mind, so he definitely didn’t
Danielle Warvel
I see your point. It’s also strains belief that a guy who lived through an apocalypse already with all of the backstabbing out of desperation and the breakdown of society and morality that implies, wouldn’t even have these same sorts of scenarios we’re coming up with enter his mind. It’s completely contrary to his character so far. He’s not that stupid or inexperienced.
Crapgeezer
Good thing he's bulletproof! Looks like the government is arriving at the camp soon 😅 Would actually be a cool plot twist if Rajesh doesn't betray him.
Sean
Yeaaah he's totally going to betray him
Connor Hinrichs
Rajesh is going to rat them out to the police/CIA, I'm sure of it
Talen Drake
It feels like Timothy had the timing there so there would be some sort of doubt about who the traitor was, but literally, Blake just had a perfect example of how to test people with a false location, and yet he doesn't use it. He doesn't deserve this chance, and I think what is going to happen is the government is going to take over the faction facility now. Thus they will be forced to go nomad with the remains of whoever lives through this debacle. While not the worst plot twist, it is entirely too forced.
Danielle Warvel
Agreed, but I’m trying really hard to reserve judgement until I see where he’s going with this.
Talen Drake
Ugh. The MC is an absolute idiot. I don't know why you are writing it this way, you obviously have a plan, but this is barely believable. How could Blake have no clue that his "friend", who really doesn't know him at all, is logically going to either be a spy or a traitor? Why would he give him the correct location over collective text? So naive and foolish.
Danielle Warvel
Blake has a major blind spot towards his not yet friends of another timeline. They aren’t the exact same people that he knew, but he’s still treating them like they are. I heavily suspect that Rajesh is either going to report him to the FBI and give them the location Blake so thoughtlessly provided to a guy that was acting incredibly hostile towards him the last time they met, or the FBI is already leaning on him and prompting him to do this.
Noon2Dusk
Hopefully Rajesh will not bring police for the 25k reward
Talen Drake
First!
