Chapter 33
Specialist Justin Wallace woke up at 0430 hours, as usual. He was still getting used to the more relaxed nature of the SRGs schedule. Instead of going back to sleep for another two hours, he decided he could use some extra PT. The last week and change had been absolute hell. An invasion had cost the lives of most of his unit, and before they could even be buried, he’d joined another unit only to witness the loss of another 200 soldiers.
Certainly, there had been some positives. He’d ended up with system access, gaining the power to exact the vengeance that burned so hot in his chest. The unit he’d joined had one of the most decorated 1st Sergeants in the army, and a group of officers he actually respected, rather than people who only paid lip service to the officers' creed. He’d also met some fascinating people in the new unit, SFC Ming and SFC Olagsdotir, both foreign nationals who’d transferred to the army as part of the Ironman Project.
Justin dug a clean pair of PT uniform shorts out of his dresser drawer, and one of his favorite graphic tees, before taking a quick shower and dressing. The walk back to his room down the hallway of deserted barracks rooms was more depressing than he’d expected, but he let the sadness and sense of loss become more fuel for the raging vengeful fire.
He grabbed a protein bar and energy drink from the mini fridge in his room, before walking out of the barracks building and to his car. The drive to the Gym he preferred wasn’t long, but his Pers-e-comm dinged with an incoming message from base command on the way.
Justin quickly scrolled through the message after finding a parking spot near his gym. The idea of a system store node didn’t excite him much, but he would at least check it out. Hopefully, he could find a good way to spend the credits currently burning a hole in his proverbial pockets. Maybe he’d even get lucky and find some combat upgrades.
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As he checked in with the gym staff and headed for the cardio equipment, he considered what he wanted to accomplish. Justice for his friends and bringing vengeance to the ice elves were at the top of his short-term list, but he wasn’t sure what to do long-term. He’d always planned to use the VA benefits to go to college after his 6-year contract ended.
Now with the advent of the system and a war for the very survival of humanity, suddenly being a civil engineer didn’t seem nearly as important. Saving humanity did. But if the war continued, he would either die or keep leveling, and increased levels meant an increased lifespan, at least if what he’d discovered during the level 5 quest and forming his core was true.
He’d already noticed a difference of sorts. Between his increased constitution and his core’s ability to retain life energy better, he needed far less sleep, and food seemed to provide much more than it previously had, both for energy and for motivation. He couldn’t predict what other changes the system might bring at increased levels. And who knew what abilities he might gain with greatly increased attributes and aggregate stats? Just the thought of having almost limitless stamina and mana allowing an [Endless Ammo] assisted [Bullet Hell] filled him with desire.
But after the war was over, what would he do? Maybe he would spend his whole life with Savage Company, fighting off one alien invasion after another. As he considered that more, it didn’t seem to resonate with him. He wanted justice, certainly. But he also wanted to explore the possibilities that the system offered. If the elves could come to Earth, could he travel to other worlds as well? Obviously not as a conqueror like the elves, but maybe he could find a way to travel and explore.
The more he thought about leaving Earth to see what the universe had to offer, the more it appealed to him. The elves hadn’t come on some massive generation ship, so they had some way to travel faster than the speed of light. If he could buy a ship someday with the same abilities from the system, he would. Besides, by that point, he’d likely be strong enough to handle anything the universe could throw at him.
As he finished his warmup and moved to the more intense portion of his workout, he focused on planning how he wanted to advance. His current class, [Gunsworn Warrior of the Yang Palace] wasn’t bad, but he wanted to do more. He remembered thinking how amazing the suit that SFC Ming had piloted was, moments before passing out, and how surprised and honored he’d been when everyone in the company, all the way up to First Sergeant Cabral, had approved his bid to train on the exo mecha system.
Even as a kid, Justin had loved the idea of robots fighting each other. The fact that the suits were losing their effectiveness so quickly was extremely unfortunate. The XO, First Lieutenant Lyndis Soto had a class that made her exo mecha more powerful, but due to the lowered effectiveness of the onboard weapon systems, she hadn’t been able to spend much time fighting or leading in her mecha, which had resulted in lowered exp gain. As a result, Soto, who’d been one of the higher leveled soldiers the US had after the first wave, was now one of the lowest.
As Justin finished his workout and chowed down on the now room-temperature protein bar, he concluded to at least try to find some solutions when he went to the system store node. He didn’t know if the damn thing would even allow him access to military equipment, but it would be worth it to check. Besides, other than energy drinks, video games, e-girl streaming subs, Zyn, and the occasional off-post meal, he didn’t really have anything to spend money on. Maybe he would have to do a bit of shopping around to see what was available.
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