With the collapse of the United States of America, the Army, Navy, and the Air Force soon dissolved, or was forced to dissolve due to failing supply lines and financial struggles. However, the soldiers refused to simply give up, and thus formed the first Domestic PMCs with the goal of continuing the fight.

  It was not three years later that those groups either died out or were bought out by various corporations to fight for their interests instead of the safety of the citizens that remained.

  -History of Private Military Companies in North America, 2050 edition.

  Jason was finishing a raid in Fatal War: Apocalypse in the Mesh with his clan mates when he received a call from War Games’ building, but from a sub-ID he did not recognize. He directed the call to one of his sub-minds that was doom scrolling. He clicked his tongue at his other self, closing the P.A.W. channel from Britain, currently showing a rendition of Braveheart casted by raccoons

  Picking up the call, he recoiled slightly as a fucking dragon took center screen.

  “Good evening, Vanguard Black Log. Thank you for answering my communication request.” The silvery dragon said. “My name is Bahamut, and I am Sire's Strategist and Advisor. For all intents, I am in charge of big picture operations and the civilian side of his business.”

  Bahamut, platinum, not silver. He also wore a Fotou on his head and Mangfu robes. Jason was immensely amused by his junior and his preferences. “So I take it I should send non-urgent communique to you and not Morrigan going forward?”

  “Indeed!” Bahamut responds, a very toothy grin on his face. “This request was, in part, to introduce mineself to you, as I believe you are Queen Doma's right hand man?"

  Jason wanted to laugh so hard at that address, but also feared Doma ever hearing it and its implocations. “While not incorrect, maybe don't refer to her as such?” Jason asked as tacitly as he could.

  Bahamut nodded thoughtfully, “Very well, Black Log. I shall withhold such address from Madam Doma in order to preserve your dignity.”

  ‘Cheeky dragon’ Jason thought. “You said in part, so may I ask what the other parts are?”

  “Yes. I am calling to let you know that we are going to begin the recruitment of individuals for our Private Military Company, as well as set up the required support network for such troops. Madam Doma requested that, once we begin in earnest, we should reach out to The Family for both assistance in recruiting as well as the paperwork necessary to link our company to The Family for purposes of jurisdictional authority and legal protection.”

  ‘Right! She did mention that a few days ago. Man these guys work fast.’ Jason thought. “Of course. I just sent over the files for the linkage. As far as recruitment is concerned, we will, of course, sponsor any ad you put out and send them to any relevant recruiter centers. Just need to know a few things.”

  The signed files were sent back quickly, so Joason skimmed it, and his eyes widened. They were planning to have around four thousand active soldiers? And support their families in their building with food, water, and optional jobs? Reading the proposal papers, he was shocked at how detailed it was, as well as just how many benefits they were offering not just the soldiers but also the families. The thing that stood out was the PMC name, however.

  “The Monster Box? Really?” He asked.

  “Of course! Our operations center is already called the DM Screen, so this fits. The DM picking and choosing from his box of monsters to decide what the players would fight against. Cody was very proud of that one.”

  Bahamut as the advisor, the DM Screen, and the Box? He saw reports of the other three combat units they had and could only shake his head. War Games fit pretty well, honestly.

  “Fine. Four thousand-ish active troops, plus sixteen hundred-ish support staff is doable, especially since Bestlé declaration of war is public and the PMC is owned by a Samurai backed by The Family.” Jason replied with a heavy eye roll and a smirk. “It says here training time for active duty is only two months? Using dream learning or Mesh training?”

  “Mesh training as well as live simulated training.” Bahamut explains. His eyes narrow in annoyance, however. “While I would have preferred an accelerated schedule, but this is the fastest we can push them with unaugmented human brains. I have observed that a majority of humans have an aversion to brain enhancements that my Sire does not, so that will be an optional upgrade that they can choose later.”

  “I agree.” Jason nodded seriously. “More humans should upgrade their grey matter. I predict that would prevent so many problems. But conversations for later. Last thing I need to know, you have stated here that your area of activity would be Arizona as a whole. With just four thousand members, that might spread your troops a bit thin.”

  “Yes, that would be the case normally. We do intend to expand our numbers at some point in the future, however every squad will also be equipped with a small Swarm for support, which we anticipate will greatly improve the efficacy of each squad, allowing them to cover more territory in a much safer manner.”

  They were planning to equip Normal humans with nanite swarms? That rang some alarm bells in Jason's head. “Do you have safeguards for those swarms?” He asked cautiously.

  Bahamut looked slightly offended. “Of course we do.” He rolls his eyes. “Each squad will be equipped with a minion of mine that will authorize the swarms usage, listening to their assigned squad leader. If the order would endanger civilians with no good reason, or if they decide to abuse the swarm, or if they decide to desert with their gear, the minion will either disable the swarm, or cause the swarm to disassemble their gear and return home.”

  Jason relaxed. He didn't know what a minion was, but it sounded good enough. He typed a few commands and recruitment notices were sent out, as well as the internal connections finalized. “The troops will be fully trained in two months, so what will you do for the army Bestlé will send our way in the meantime?”

  Bahamut gained a very large toothy grin and a red light glowed in the center of his eyes. “If the army arrives in the city, we will deploy them to help. But we do not anticipate that they will reach within one hundred miles of the walls.” His expression changed rapidly to a more thoughtful one, giving Jason whiplash. “That said, our information network in the city will not be ready for a few weeks, so we will not be able to detect any saboteurs that might already be here, and will be relying on you to find them until then.”

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  “Wait, hold up. Information network?”

  Bahamut tilts his head slightly in confusion. “Yes? While we could use The Families, after an extensive audit that you should have logged, we have determined that it is both inadequate and not as secure as it should be.” Jason felt truly offended at that. Sure, it may not cover all of New Phoenix, but it was a very secure network. He snorted in anger. “And please, do explain how my network is not secure?”

  “Non-Vangaurd have access to it, and they can easily adjust the logs and reports in your systems to indicate that what they are looking at is nothing, or routine.” Jason cringed internally at that. He was the one who discovered that Ci-Spi had been covered up by people who had access to his systems, so that point hit home.

  “Don't worry, Black Log.”Bahamut’s tone attempted to reassure Jason, “We will give The Family access to our network, but only to Vanguard. And we will make sure that all uses of it are logged and black boxed, accessible to other Vanguard to keep us honest.”

  Before Jason could relax at that news, Bahamut switched topics. “Now, let's negotiate compensation for our Company manning the walls and for rapid response deployments for Incursions."

  Jason swore he saw a literal glint in the dragon's eye.

  **************************************

  Today was the day Bahamut would inspect the first batch of new recruits. Or, at least, those who he and his siblings saw as having great potential as company leaders. Bahamut had asked for Victor to purchase a Social Warfare Catalog and software dedicated for potential and moral detection and prediction, which he bought, and picked five candidates from the pool of applicants.

  The first was Horatio, an average looking military type. Solid build, average height, buzz cut, ram rod straight spine. He had spent time in the Texas army, but left due to ideological differences between himself and his old commander. His application mentioned the dispute was on suicide squads and their usage. Horatio argued against their need, while his commander argued with his fists.

  Next was Wanda, a twig of a woman with no military experience and a bounty list full of anti-corporate actions. Vandalism, modifying corporate property, illegal penetration testing of corporate servers, numerous slanderous posts of various corporations and their leaders. She was picked because of both the community she was from, a group of self styled black hat hackers with clear humanistic tendencies, as well as her creative inventions in dealing with unexpected situations.

  Third was Ulrich, a fifty year old veteran of the Nebraska war front. Six foot five and a wall of muscle normally, he has fought and survived dozens of encounters with antithesis, but had to leave due to losing both his legs and left arm, and his company being unwilling to pay for useful prosthetics, instead cheaping out for civilian models, taken from his pension. Morrigan was working on fixing that, and was, for once, not pestering Victor for a catalog, saying she had enough to experiment with.

  Forth was Julius, a former member of the Steel Panthers PMC and the youngest recruit. He initially joined his previous PMC because he had the desire to man their Super Heavy Main Battle Tank, yet was told he was unfit for such a task. Outsider's investigations revealed that the Tankers were super racist, and didn't want a ‘street roach’ in their fortress. They have been flagged for removal from the city at the next earliest convenience.

  Finally, there was Mindy, a girl from the Kansas Territory who graduated from the Kansas Army School of Engineers, mastering in Aerial History and Theoretical Antithesis Tactics. The reason for her choosing was her dream to build her own flying combat craft strong enough to go toe to toe with Elevens, as well as the few designs that were rejected by the Army for reasons of cost.

  As they stood at attention, or an approximation of such, Bahamut walked in with Outsider, a few boxes floating behind them.

  “Good morning, recruits, and thank you for responding to our Company's request for troops.” He began, his voice even yet deep. “As you know, we are a brand new group under Vanguard War Games with the intent of becoming a well known PMC. What is not known, however, is the scope of our ambitions.”

  The five recruits shifted nervously, yet remained quiet. Bahamut maintained his neutral expression as he continued. “This city has long been protected not only by The Family and the various independant Vanguard, but the numerous other smaller PMC companies as well, who not only man the walls, but also blockade incursion sites and evacuate the civilians therein. Unfortunately, we have discovered that a few of these critical companies have not been doing their duties. The walls are manned by only forty percent of the troops and munitions required, while those on the ground slack in their evacuation efforts, letting numerous civilians in yellow to orange danger zones remain in their shelters as they deemed it not worth the risk.”

  The five stood aghast, and Bahamut could see anger bubbling within them. “This is, in part, due to corporate greed and an over reliance on the Vanguard such as Doma and Heracles, as well as the relative lack of incursions in and around New Phoenix. However, the data of the last few years worldwide indicate an increase in incursions across the board, and we foresee that soon, an incursion will hit New Phoenix with such a massive intensity, that even Heracles would find it difficult to stop, resulting in mass casualties the likes not seen since Ohio or Ft. Wayne. We have already dealt with two massive hives that would have breached New Phoenix's walls had they not been discovered early.”

  Mindy and Ulrich blanch, while the others simply grow concerned. "And finally, you all know of the war declaration Bestlé has issued, yet we do not have any data on where they are, or when they will arrive. Yet we know that the corporate council does not have the troops necessary to repel them once they arrive, as they were relying on Doma and The Family to intervene. Unfortunately, due to a situation happening off planet, they will not be here for the next few months, leaving the defense of New Phoenix to us. You are not expected to fight them, as no one will be trained enough before the end of the two month period. Vanguard War Games and the remaining Samurai will be enough for that, however the point stands. The city is, for all intents and purposes, defenseless.”

  They were riled up, yet he could see their resolve hardening, so he smiled for the first time this meeting.

  “You must all be wondering why you five are here, why I have told you all this information that is basically classified to everyone else. And the reason is simple. You five have the greatest potential to succeed in the roles we have in mind for you.”

  He turns to Horatio first. “You, Horatio Fernandez, have been chosen to lead Goblin Company, currently set to have fifteen hundred soldiers as infantry.” He looks at Wanda. “Wanda, you have been chosen to lead Ankeg Company, the combat engineers with the goal of battlefield fortification, repairs, and demolition. They are set to be one thousand strong. Ulrich Viethouser, you have been chosen to lead Orc Company, the heavy infantry of one thousand men and women, utilizing heavy flamers, heavy machine guns, and plasma cannons. You will also be receiving a new set of custom cybernetic limbs.” He turns to Julius, “Julius Baker, you have been chosen to command the Ogre Company, our heavy armored division of two hundred and fifty super heavy vehicles, ranging from fighting APCs to the planned ten super heavy tanks. Finally, Mindy Mason. You have been chosen to command the Wyvern Company, a planned set of two hundred aircraft, ranging from fighters to our flying Cruisers. You will be working with Morrigan, our Chief Science Officer, to design and test such aircraft for human use, as well as the tactics for them.”

  Each of them was shocked, excited, and full of motivation to fight.

  “In addition to your normal combat and tactics training, you will each work together to design squad compositions utilising the combined members of each of your companies, as well as the tactics and preferred technologies for them. You will each receive your own support staff and design your own combined chain of command, with myself sitting above you, and Vanguard War Games above mineself. During training, you will receive a simulated monthly budget that will act as your Company budget going forward. Every bullet, shell, and piece of equipment will need to be planned and accounted for. We will provide a work rest schedule for you for each person, as an unbalanced work rest schedule has, historically, been the cause of numerous revolts. Finally, you will need to plan on how to fight not only antithesis and clear and clean their hives, but also against other PMCs who would seek to invade our home.”

  Outsider waved her hand and the five boxes floated towards each new commander, opening to reveal their new uniform.

  “Any questions?”

  Racoons Gardening Guide by Keron, a very good book you should all read. It is full of chaos gremlins known as the Great North American Trash Panda, yet it is based in Britain!

  patreon that I try to keep 10 chapters ahead of the public release.