Part 2: An Army Without Funders

Part 2: An Army Without Funders

I know where we are! The Land of the Lost!

Huh?

It's a new show I just saw--a family falls through a time warp and lands in a place full of lost things. Lots of dinosaurs and reptile-men! I love it!

I see. How did they leave?

Leave? I don't think they ever do. If they did the show would be over, just like Gilligan's Island.

Great…well, in either case, we've got Aztecs breathing down our neck. That can't be good.

It'll all be worth it if they have dinosaurs here!

Chico, we already went to an island full of dinosaurs, remember? And I killed them all.



Hey! These assholes just raided one of those salvage dumps we were going for!

Better watch out--they're wearing jaguar headdresses. Aztecs only gave those out to the fiercest possible warriors--to qualify for Jaguar you had to hunt down and kill three other badasses.

My life is crap.



Oh, good! Our archer team found a bunch of axes and picks in a pile of rubble. We should be able to supply Mother Base better now once we can cut stone and wood.

We'll worry about outfitting miners and lumberjacks after we're done with the basic stuff around the base, though.



Hey! These savages are sending guys to attack us! Permission to engage!

Go for it, Marmot! You've got 'em flanked. Raid their camp for valuables when you're done.



Good work! Your new code name is Howler Monkey! More money…we sure as hell aren't going to be able to barter well with Montezuma. Is there anyone else here we can trade with?

Actually our archer team just found someone else!



Huh. Free money. How…nice of them.

They say that's thanks for blowing away those barbarians nearby--and they want more protection. Strange…"Valetta" is the capital city of Malta.



I knew it! We are in the Land of the Lost! Dinosauuuurs, come out, come out, wherever you are!



They're eager for more help. They say that for every day we have soldiers stationed in their borders, we'll earn money.



Not very much money…

They'll pay us more if we earn their trust, Snake. And we can work out better payment plans in the future. What's even better is, their city was built out of salvage just like ours--they say they'll trade us the leftover bits of technology and things they don't understand for guard duty too. We'll be able to really rebuild Mother Base if that happens.

There's another way we could rebuild Mother Base too. If there are other settlements made out of salvage, storming the joint and raiding it would probably help out. Not these Maltese folks, of course. I mean the assholes who want us to donate blood.



I'm thinking we'll need a dedicated training facility first. That should be pretty easy to whip up. Don't worry about that too much, Boss--you can build whatever other improvements you want on your own. Let me handle the salvaging of technology.



I don't mind guard duty too much. Sure, it's boring, but I need time to rest and heal my wounds. Those barbarian clubs hurt.



We've got pots and stuff…let's see if we can't try to tame some of the wildlife around here. I saw a herd of cows not far from here. I guess I should get around to assigning some people to be our construction crew too, soon. Man, we're seriously digging our way out of the Stone Age one step at a time here.



Mother Base is already upgraded? Fast work, Kaz. What's next on your agenda?



A better command center. Just something to direct the overall gathering of resources more efficiently.



We can't really see the city directly, but we know it's there. Those Aztecs are going to chew us up soon if they can. One of the scouts said he saw them getting ready to spread to more areas.

Sir! We've gotten in contact with another, uh, leader!

Please be Enik, please be Enik, please be Enik…



…Shaka Zulu?! "Run-fifty-miles-and-fight-a-battle" Shaka Zulu?!

Aw, jeez. Someone out there hates us.

To be continued!