69 Pacification

I appear in the middle of the reorganized camp. I haven't been gone for a very long time, but the place already looks completely transformed. Rows of recruits are lined up at a shooting range, and a Legionary instructs them on how to use their weapons. On the other side of the camp, rookies are learning about the administrative process of the Order. In the meantime, Roshia and her group are brainwashing Inquisitors.

All in all, a pretty good camp.

"Ah, Prometheus!" a familiar voice reaches my ear, it belongs to Terrence.

"Commander, what can I do for you?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

He makes a wry smile and hands me a small booklet. "I'm sorry to bother you, but we need those resources transferred from the main camp."

I nod, as long as I am the only one with a functioning Portal Gun I'm bound to be the delivery guy.

*I should change my name... Behold, Fedex! God of deliveries!*

A quick Rewind allows me to hide my chuckle from Terrence, and I examine the list before grabbing my Portal Gun.

It's going to take some time.

Two hours later and the latest shipment appears in front of me. The supplies are soon carried away by a group of waiting cultists. Most of the supplies were Printers and construction materials, and I can already see the effects of our presence. The camp now looks like a proper base, with appropriate buildings and amenities. In the meantime, the recruits of the Order are cleaning up and rebuilding the Tunnels to be more livable.

The housing we provide isn't luxurious by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a lot better compared to the shacks the inhabitants were living in. Of course, this arrangement is temporary, and we'll build a proper housing complex once we take over the entire Shard.

Speaking of the Shard, Terrence wanted to talk with me about something related to our conquest, so I head towards the Commander's tent.

"Ah, Prometheus!" the middle-aged man raises his head from a pile of documents. I notice it's smaller than the last time I went there, it looks like our Administration is already showing its worth.

"You wanted to see me?" I ask as I sit in front of Terrence.

He nods, "Yes, now that we took over the Tunnels, I think it's time that we expand our influence into the rest of the Shard."

"Of course, then what's the plan?" I reply. Taking complete control of this Shard is a priority, and who knows what kind of ancient technological wonder is hidden into its walls?

"From what Taanyth told us, there are only a few factions we have to worry about. Outside of the four key players, the other groups are small and inconsequential and should fall in line with a bit of persuasion." The Commander declares as he presses a button on his phone, a three-dimensional map of the area is projected in the air.

*This is so cool!*

"As you can see, we already control the Ilffs," he says as he points towards a green portion of the map. "The nearest enemy is the Green Ones, which we already encountered. There's also the Remnants, which are composed of the remains of the gang we purged. They are hiding in their old HQ, but their numbers are few so it shouldn't be troubling. Furthermore, the display of your battle should have earned us the support of the captive population, so we are bound to reap great benefits from this campaign."

I nod, so far our opponents aren't anything we can't handle.

"And last, but not least, is the Coalition. This is a tough nut to crack for a variety of reasons, and even the gang who owned this Shard was wary of the zone." Terrence says as he points towards the gray portion of the map. "The Coalition is a federation of dozens of small groups. According to Taanyth, their goal was to unify the factions of the Shard to stop the endless warfare plaguing the area. At first, it worked, but tensions between the numerous species rose, and it collapsed. Now, the Coalition is in a state of constant internal strife."

"Then what's the problem?" I ask, "Are any of those small factions a threat to us?"

Terrence shakes his head, "Not at all. The problem lies in the web of alliances that formed into that war zone. Attacking someone will earn us the respect of other factions, but also the hatred of their allies. Not to mention that certain groups still believe in the ideals of the long-lost Coalition. So encroaching in what they believe is their righteous territory will make negotiations impossible."

Oh boy.

And I thought that Shard politics were complicated, but it's even worse than I imagined.

I feel a bit bad for doing this, but I'm going to dump this problem onto the Crimson Administration.

"Here's what we are going to do," I say will leaning forward. "First of all, we're going to dispatch a small force to strike at the Green Ones. They are the closest to us, and their failed raid probably weakened them. Furthermore, their habit of enslaving their enemies is a boon for us. We'll get a good number of recruits that way. And, with any luck, freeing the slaves would make negotiations with the members of the Coalition easier since they might belong to these groups." I declare.

"Your will is my command! I thought of doing something similar, so I'm glad that I didn't disappoint you!" Terrence says with a bright smile.

I ignore the Commander's fanatical outburst. At this point, I'm used to it.

"In the meantime, we'll deploy a small force to pacify the local populace and groups. We should use the Inquisitors for that, and assigns them a couple of experienced Legionaries to supervise them. That way, the recruits should gain some experience and help us accomplish our objectives." I continue.

"Duly noted, then what should we do after the Green Ones are taken care of?" Terrence says while writing something on a piece of paper.

"Our next target should be the Remnants. If it's possible, lead an attack against them while the other force is attacking the Green Ones. If we don't have the numbers, then put a few patrols near their territory, we don't want another surprise attack. Once they are taken care of, then we'll set our sights on the Coalition." I take a deep breath and clench my fist.

What I'm about to do isn't how I wanted to act at first, but the political cancer that is the Coalition forced my hand. "Task the Administration with collecting as much information as possible on the various groups. I want their numbers, their alliances and how willing they would be to join us. Once this is done, the Administration will write up a battle plan which should allow us to maximize our potential recruiting pool."

Terrence nods, "As you wish, I'll relay your orders immediately. By the way, the Diver you requested is waiting for you in a guest tent near the door." Terrence says.

*Oh yeah, I was supposed to visit a Diving Station. But then the Rosewoods appeared.*

"Got it, and good luck! I'm counting on you." I say before leaving the Commander and heading towards the tent where the Diver is waiting.

I open the flap, and a pale Ilff raises his head. "P-Prometheus?" he asks nervously. I notice that he's wearing the typical equipment of a Legionary.

"Sorry for making you wait, Legionary," I say. "Now, I believe that you were dispatched to show me where this Diving Station was?"

"Y-Yes." The thin Ilff nods. "I was supposed to do that. I heard what you did for all of us while I was waiting here, and I decided to join the Legion Of The Cleansing Fire."

Our propaganda is really useful, it's a bit scary if I'm honest. But it shouldn't go out of hand as long as I keep a firm hold on things, right?

"Then show me, I'm following you." I declare.

"O-Of course!" the recruit nods and gets out of the camp while I follow him closely. The Shard should be less chaotic, but the public order was still poor, so I better watch out for any hidden threats. This new Legionary should be able to handle himself, but better be safe than sorry.

I think the Ilff is a bit frightened by me since he hasn't said anything during our brief journey.

"We're here." He says when we arrive in front of a portion of the wall surrounding the Shard. I pay close attention as he taps the wall in a specific sequence. I suppress a gasp when the wall shifts and move, revealing a hidden corridor.

"Oh, it's you. And who's this guy?" an Ilff covered in oil stains glares at me with suspicion while his companion tightens the grip he has on his massive wrench.

"This is Prometheus, so he isn't 'some guy'." The Legionary says before stepping forward.

The mechanic pales and nods, "I see, we received a message earlier about... the change in leadership. I heard that you're giving away food for the people and that you come from the Surface. Is that true?" he asks as we walk into the narrow corridors.

"Of course, the Order will bring peace and prosperity to this place." I declare with pride. After all, there no bad moment to do a bit of propaganda.

"I don't care about this religious crap. As long as we don't have to rely on those metal coffins I'm good with whatever you want to do," he says with a wave of his hand.

*Man, I'm glad that Terrence isn't here.*

We arrive in a large room where worn large metal suits are lined against the wall. They are near what looks like a sort of large airlock.

"I assume that those are the Diving Suits?" I ask while examining them.

"Yup, you can do whatever you want with these. I don't want to see those things ever again." The mechanic says before turning around. I raise an eyebrow and look at the Legionary.

"Being a Diver isn't a long-lived career, and we lost a lot of good people over the years." The Legionary explains.

*I see. I would also be bitter in his situation.*

"Is there anything of value other than the Suits here?" I ask as I mark the location on my Portal Gun.

"Nope, look around you. Everything is rusted to shit or has been broken beyond repair for centuries!" he says while clenching his fist.

I nod and call Alan to warn him of the arrival of the Suits. I take photos of the area, along with what I assume in instructions on how to operate the Suit since it looks a lot newer than the rest, before sending them to the Fabricator along with the metal armors.

The crew looks at me with wide open eyes when they see the portals appearing out of thin air. I turn towards them, "Now that this Station serves no purpose, I have a job offer that might interest you. I'm in dire need of people who can build and understand things." I say to the shocked crowd.

"W-Would we learn how to make something like this?!" the bitter mechanic asks while pointing towards my Portal Gun.

I nod, "Of course, and you'll see so much that this will appear to be tame by comparison."

"Count me in!" the mechanic says with a bright smile, and his colleagues soon join him.

*Once again, the awesomeness of the Portal Gun conquers the heart of the people!*

I smirk and create a portal leading towards the camp. "Now I want everyone to grab my hand. We'll go back to the Tunnels."

They exchanged worried glances for a few moments before grabbing each other's hand and mine. I walk into the portal and the crew of the station gasp in surprise when they realize where we are.

I get the attention of a cultist and point at the gasping Ilffs, "They are recruits for the Fabricators, so please handle them." I say before turning towards the Ilffs, "This guy will handle the administrative processes, once it's done you'll be able to work on exciting projects!"

They smile and nod before following the cultists.

*Now, what should I do? I reckon that the attack against the Green Ones won't begin until a couple of days, so-*

A ringtone interrupts my train of thoughts. It's my secure phone, and Alan is the caller.

...Steve's PoV...

I take a deep breath and glance behind me. The soldiers behind me are determined to see our operation succeed. Absorbing the Reformists into our group was hard, and numerous concessions had to be made, but their resources and manpower were too good to ignore. The negotiations were surprisingly easy, and I wonder why my mother struggled so much with talks in the past.

Reports from other Freedom Movement cells have mostly been positive. They are gathering strength and supplies to prepare for the upcoming coordinated strikes. It pains my heart to hear that some of those cells have been wiped out, but their sacrifice will not be in vain.

The Loyalists are losing partisans by the day, and now our combined forces should be equal in number to them. And due to our propaganda efforts, it should be the same in other Families. I'm quite proud of myself. The first inter-Family movement is a success so far.

The other leaders and I met during one of the numerous rounds of negotiations after the Beelzebub Incident. At first, we were discussing things to pass the time, but we soon found common ground and realized that our ideas aligned.

We all lost comrades and good friends during that botched war, and we are sick of the political games of the Council. The division between the Families has killed so many. It's time to put it to a stop! It's true that our initial objectives changed due to our merger with the Reformists, but not too much. We will drastically change the system instead of destroying it.

Now, we want the Enforcers to be a proper unified organization, free of all this Family business. Their goal will be only to enforce the rules, and they will be accountable to the population they police. We will implement regulations to make sure that the current situation doesn't happen again and end the monopolies of the Families.

But our actions will ensure that the other Councils and Families will threaten us and try to destroy our movement to maintain their power. Not to mention that the Stonecrusher Empire is waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

It's going to be difficult, but I genuinely believe that we can succeed if we all strike at the same time.

We have gathered enough people and resources, and we were lucky to recruit some fairly high ranked people in the Wolfheart hierarchy. So we'll strike all our supply depots at the same time. As one of the major Families, the Wolfheart have unreasonably large stockpiles of weapons, armors, and supplies for rituals. If our attack is a success, then we'll take over the leadership of the Wolfheart and arm our brethren, thus allowing them to take over the territory of the Families.

I sigh and lead the march. We have recruited the ones responsible for the most secure depots into our ranks, so they disabled the security measures for our raids. We'll empty the warehouse and strike the other ones. We will then arm our comrades before marching towards the main Wolfheart residence.

Our victory will be the moment that marks the beginning of a new era.

Then we'll give my mother a choice. Hand over the territory and abolish the Family, or face the consequences of her actions. I hope she's going to be reasonable and do as she's told. Even if we have our disagreements, she's still my mother, and I don't want to harm her.

And I wonder what my fence-sitting brother is going to do. He hasn't taken any sides yet, and I worry that he'll oppose us. I don't know if I'm going to be able to fight him if it comes to it, I don't want to hurt him. The Family might be dissolved, but we are still a family.

My mind wanders as we step into the depot and loot it. I don a suit of armor that once belonged to my dead father and pick up his sword which was resting nearby.

*What would my father think about this situation? And how he would have reacted?*

I reminisce about what started this whole debacle. The Beelzebub Incident is what caused the formation of the Stonecrusher Empire and the downfall of the Wolfheart Family. But what caused the creation of the Freedom Movement was John's outcry.

I don't think that he realizes how much of an impact his declaration of independence had. It sent ripples through the entire Council, and even farther than that. But his role should stop here. I briefly considered having him as our leader, but nobody would have followed an Outsider. Not to mention that he failed to gather an army after all this time, so he can't be that serious about his cause.

But it doesn't matter now, what's done is done.

We are going to take over, and save everyone from the greed of the Families.