Warband

Chapter 16. Headquarters.

“We’ll see about shopping, Gritvart. First, I’ve got to find this headquarters place,” Silas told the goblin merchant as he started to show Silas his wares.

“It’s where the portal you originally arrived at is located, you can’t miss it. Come see me when you’re done,” Gritvart advised. Silas promised that he’d come back at some point, but didn’t commit to buying anything. From what he saw at the goblin’s stall, there wasn’t much he was going to be interested in.

Silas walked down the passageway, with Buster lagging a bit behind as he sniffed at some new scents. Near the end of the passageway where he had first exited the portal, was an iron-bound wooden door. Before, there was no door, just some rotted wood splinters around the doorway.

A second door was directly opposite the one that supposedly led to his headquarters. It was sealed with no indication of what was behind it. When Silas tried to open it and check out what was inside, the door remained sealed, and he received a small shock to his hand.

“Okay, that’s a no-go, what about this one?” Silas said, reaching for the iron ring on the door to his portal room. System prompts appeared as he touched the handle.

You have established a connection to your headquarters. This area is now secured and can only be accessed by your party and those designated as guests in the headquarters logbook. The headquarters is your initial destination whenever you begin a delve into the Pit of Bhalkur.

Silas pushed the door open and stepped inside. After both he and Buster entered, the door sealed behind them with a solid thump. The room had changed quite a bit from what he had seen before, and unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, the space was even larger than it had been. Silas now stood in a room that was almost as big as his garage back home.

This is the Muster Point of your headquarters and contains an interface to handle administrative functions. Until you construct a vault, your rewards chest will be placed inside the Muster Point. You have rewards waiting for you inside the reward chest.

A desk appeared along the far wall of the room. Placed next to the desk was an oversized, iron-bound trunk that must have been that reward chest the System had mentioned. Other than a sturdy wooden chair, there was nothing else inside the huge space.

Two more rooms led off from where he was standing. One was an open doorway that led to the portal linked to his garage. The portal was dormant, but when Silas approached, the runes on the floor began to power up with mana. He had a few things to do before heading home, so Silas instead checked out the other room, which was sealed by another thick wooden door.

The door was unlocked and when Silas stepped inside, more System prompts appeared.

You have activated the Armory attachment for your headquarters. In here, you and your party can stow any gear you acquire while inside the pit. Loadouts of your preferred gear may be arranged in a variety of ways depending on the threats you face. Please note that you should leave any bonded weapons inside the armory before you return home. Your mana-starved world will drain them of mana and render them useless.

Silas remembered the bit about having to leave his new weapons here, and it was going to feel strange to trust them to this armory when he wasn’t here. He really didn’t have a choice, and for now, he would keep them with him, as he had a bit more exploring to do.

The armory itself was a long, narrow room lined with shelves and small alcoves where there were racks for various types of gear. He was also happy to see a weapon stand complete with cleaning supplies for his firearms was placed against one section of the wall. When he touched one of the empty alcoves, the System gave him some additional information.

You may store your gear here as a set. Mix and match to create various loadouts. One loadout may be selected as your standard loadout when arriving from your world to your headquarters. Upon arrival, your standard loadout will be immediately equipped. Do you wish to create a standard loadout now?

That was good news. This headquarters was supposed to be secure, but if he had to store his weapons here, he wanted to make sure he was able to get to them quickly in an emergency. Having the System automatically give them to him when he came through the portal seemed like a win.

Silas found that he had to take off the equipment he wanted for the loadout, place it in the appropriate rack or shelf, then confirm his choice. For now, all three of his bound weapons were included in the loadout. His clothes, and other things weren’t infected with the magical voodoo that would destroy them back home, so he could keep them on as he moved back and forth between worlds.

He also designated all his ammunition to remain here. With his new class, the ammo he had brought would be protected, but new ammo might have some trouble over time, at least until Gritvart’s people figured out a way to duplicate and sell him some.

Buster brushed up against the armory racks as he sniffed his way through the room. By touching the armory, Buster inadvertently triggered a System prompt.

Your companion may also have a loadout selected for when he arrives at your headquarters. Currently, your companion has no compatible gear, please return to establish a loadout once you acquire the appropriate gear for your companion.

At least Buster wasn’t going to be left out of the whole loadout deal. Silas would have to find something for him to use, but at least he knew the potential existed for his buddy to have his own weapons and gear.

“What do you think Buster, how about a backpack with a rocket launcher?” Silas joked. Buster looked at him with the same eyes he used when he wanted human food. His dog really wanted a rocket launcher.

“Wow, you really do understand a bit more now, don’t you. We’ll have to see about that doggy rocket launcher, I don’t have anything like that yet, but who knows. This crazy place seems to be able to do just about anything with that mana stuff,” Silas told Buster who seemed content to drop the subject and continue his thorough investigation of the new space.

You have selected your standard loadout. Changes to this loadout can be made at any time, and alternate loadouts and conditions for their use may be added when desired.

With his loadout squared away, there was still the desk and the reward chest in the muster point to check out. The chair for his desk wasn’t the most comfortable, just a simple, but sturdy wooden chair. It was fine for now; Silas had no intention of spending a lot of time at this desk. Inside the desk, he found rough parchment paper, several inkwells and those feather pen things he wasn’t quite sure how to use. New information appeared as he examined his desk.

Your administrative interface is now active.

Your logbook is now active.

Warband administration is now active.

Intrigued by the warband notice, Silas started with that.

Warband Administration.

Roster:

Silas Ward, Special Operations Commander.

Buster, Pack Warden.

Open.

Auxiliaries.

Open.

“Now that’s interesting, Buster. It looks like we’re going to have to win the hearts and minds of the locals if we want to recruit some help against Bhalkur. I hope it goes better than it did back in Vietnam,” Silas said, his mood souring when he thought back on the Montagnard groups he’d worked with. They were brave fighters and loyal to their allies. Sadly, the government had left them behind to a horrible fate when the US had pulled out of the war.

A few groups had been brought over to the US, many sponsored by military veterans before the war ended. Silas knew that there was a large community of Montagnard’s somewhere in North Carolina. Silas had never visited, but had donated money to help support them. Pushing aside thoughts and disappointments from the war, Silas dove into the logbook.

Just thinking about the logbook caused it to appear on his desk. The logbook was a huge, leatherbound tome that, for now, was filled with empty pages. Silas just had to write a name and add any restrictions if he wanted to allow someone to visit his headquarters. It would also document any unauthorized entry into the headquarters, which told Silas that the stout door leading into this place, and the electrical jolt it gave for the uninvited, could be bypassed.

The general administrative interface was like a computer screen that showed each room of his headquarters and the status of whatever was in each place. Until he took off his weapons and returned home, there wasn’t much to keep track of. Well, Silas knew he had one more thing to check out.

Silas looked over to the large chest sitting next to his desk. It was time to see what the System was going to reward him with for completing the tutorial.