Part 21 – Leadership for dummies

It was some kind of gigantic map, glowing with dozens of colors representing the power blocs in the lawless lands beyond Empire City just up there before me. Small explosion thumbtacks marked the entire south all over, with continuously updated fatality statistics posted every hour. Hideously morbid, I slowly walked back, clutching my heart at the thought that perhaps I had gotten myself in deep.

Still, to get anywhere I would have to carve out my own heart in this desolate place. To somehow form a great alliance capable of toppling whole regimes! I stewed quietly, calming down and looking around at the various murderous types, many of them all to happy to sit on a junction and pick off travelers as they came through, for the capital crime of neutrality.

Many of the strange bands out here had such weird names. There was mention of alcohol conglomerates, crimson coalitions, a renegade medical agency that spread diseases, and buffs of that old vampire movie, From Dusk till Dawn. I knew that my empire needed something catchy and unique, like the names of these groups. I needed something riveting. I needed something that would indeed show how powerful my mighty personal army could be.

My first name was ‘Terrifying Assault Revenant Division’, a name that would surely strike fear into the hearts of my enemies and gather the proper strong-armed thugs I would need to dominate the land. It was a mighty pity that the first shorthand I could name this little alliance didn’t stick too well.

My second name was somewhat more appropriate. And a little more reserved. I would advertise it wisely, placing shipping containers with my words written prominently on them all over the world, so nobody could possibly miss them.

Jettisoned Container:

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Join DISCORD, and go make trouble for the establishment! We're a new group dedicated to destroying all that we don't like! Join us, since we're the best, and I'm not littering, honest.

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Brilliant. Kids these days loved making trouble for the establishment, and I would surely solicit the vows of loyalty of dedicated, disciplined people with my 'complete honesty' approach to advertisement. I waited for the applications to roll in, sitting in the parking lot in front of my Crow. Oddly enough, I was the only person for hundreds of feet to all sides in this parking structure. Why was I the only one in this part, barely able to see the next parked person? Efficient utilization of space certainly wasn’t a chief concern of rest stop owners.

Still. I waited. And waited. Nobody wanted to sign up for my most anti-establishment DISCORD Alliance, the perfect antithesis to the injustice of Empire City’s ‘shoot first, walk away later’ police force.

Perhaps pitying my position, a single individual walked over from a nearby booth belonging to some small corporation. “Hey.” He said briefly. “There’s a Person Owned Structure two blocks down that needs to be taken out. I’ll pay you a hundred million dollars if your corp knocks over the tower.” He said, looking quite serious.

Money? The chance at violence against people I barely knew? I took his offer without a second glance. This could be a big break, for DISCORD was in business at last with it’s mighty army of one.

I left, quite pleased with myself then. Whistling happily with the Crow pulling out of the parking garage. I snickered. A hundred million for such a task at knocking down some crappy POS?

How long could this possibly take?

(to be continued).