Part 7: Revenge!

Part 7: Revenge!



A lot of our guys are hurting, and we can't push forward effectively yet, so we agreed to a temporary ceasefire. We'll need to rebuild and attack again soon, though. They're chomping at the bit to pay us back.

Yeah. What Montezuma said… that we'd need to completely wipe out his people to be free of their threat…he wasn't exaggerating. They're already copying us, starting to use iron swords.



Oooh, you've rebuilt so much here, Snake!

A lot of this just came from our latest battle. I'm thinking, next we need to work on a war room. That'll give us a whole new level of organization for our society. Our finances are hurting too, so we should probably set up trade caravans with whoever we can reach.

And I'm ordering up more sword guys--there's two barbarian pirate camps north of our bases, they're the ones who keep raiding our cargo ships. We need to take 'em down.

Anything you want me to do?

Honestly, I'm not even sure what you did on our last base, Cecile. Go, uh, study the birds or something.



Hey, we were attacked by these barbarian horse guys, but we were able to subdue them non-lethally and impressed them into our service! Looks like they like us more than they like the Aztecs.

Excellent work, Elephant! Keep that up and we'll bolster our army to huge sizes in no time.



According to intelligence, the Huns broke off their attack on Alexander, in exchange for one of his cities--but they're just burning it down for spite.

Heh. Kid got in over his head.

Snake, there may be cause for us to finish off Alexander, now, while he's weakened.

Why?

He's been spreading lies and rumors, subverting the independent states to his cause, and trying to get them to send him more recruits. If he keeps it up, we'll be out a lot of potential contracts.

Hrrm. Speaking of that…we need to take steps to make sure we're on better terms with the locals.



They pay us more if they like us more, so making sure we don't lose that goodwill is key. I'm going to issue a few sensitivity training sessions, make sure our troops butter up the city-states as much as possible.



Haha, profitable heroism! I just rescued some more tied-up hostages and this city loves us for it! Man, they're really paying out the big bucks now. Gotta love being a merc sometimes…

Case in point!



Hello, Big Boss. Making friends, I hear?

I've heard the same about you.

Indeed… I think you should keep your nose out of Milan's business. There's only so many tributes they can give out and I was here first.

Pretty tough talk for someone who just got beat down by Attila the Hun.

Hah. An extremely minor setback. I once tamed the great Bucephalus when all others thought it impossible. Once the world sees the new kind of stallion I'm breeding, I will again rule from horizon to horizon.

"New stallion?" What are you up to?

As I said, I've been making friends. One of them is very clever. Goodbye for now, old man. I suggest you turn your eyes to your own business, lest you lose it. *fftz*

Grrg. Yeah. He's definitely on my to-kill list now.



SPEAR-MAN! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM!

I am unafraid. My people have made empires tremble with fear.

(that's right, guys, keep chewing each other up while we grow…oof, Snake better not find out what I traded to Attila for this…)



Our forces are literally staring right at the faces of the Aztecs. Nobody's made a move yet but they've got murder on the brain.



Sir, why are we here?

Your new code names are Lemur and Marmoset. These are two typewriters. Get to it.

Sir? Sir, what do you mean? Sir? Sir?!

I guess we just start…writing whatever we feel like.



Sir! We've gotten reports that the remaining Aztecs just tried to take a few hostages from Samarkand again!

Right. That does it. Our troops are in position. Let's tear these suckers apart.



Tlat--tll--the south town is down!

Light that damn thing on fire. I don't want anyone returning there.



Our guys managed to capture one enemy catapult near Tlatelolco. This should make things more than even.



(looks like Attila's sending his battering rams to Shaka…here's hoping they occupy each other's time…)



I think our troops have done it! The rest of the Aztecs are surrendering their arms!



We should probably keep this one. It's got a giant lighthouse on it--it'll probably make navigation in these waters a lot easier. And if we need to fight off Attila it'll be a good buffer zone.

There's some orange groves near there too! Fruit is good for you. We don't want to succumb to scurvy!



Hell of a lot of salvage this time, Boss! I'm trying out a new "adaptive" training room, designed for guerillas. It'll train the troops to think on their feet, be more observant. They won't just learn more here, they'll gain experience faster in the field. And after that I think we can try out making a proper science facility.



So, you reveal yourself as yet another vile warlord, Snake. I knew it to be true.

What? No! Those guys were totally assholes!

Hmph! You live. They died. What else is there to say?

Of course, the other rulers will come to see you as a monster for this…heh heh…just as you thought me a monster…

Get out of my head, Monty!

To be continued…