Super Sales on Super Heroes: Book 2

Chapter 27 - Negotiable -

Felix watched as the locals were being sworn in. This was the first group of individuals who had passed their language lessons and had been put into actual Legion training.

The first of Legion world from Fort One to join Legion directly.

Right after this would be given proper Legion training after being provided with their new recruit equipment.

One of the things they’d found out early about the skill books Felix made was that they tended to do a great job with information, but application of that information could be problematic at times.

There hadn’t been many mistakes in the past because a lot of it had been context dependent.

Having to bind up a wound only had so many ways to be done.

The problems showed up when security forces were being deployed in early training exercises. Too many possibilities for how to approach something.

Solving that was having constant training.

All that drilling was for situations that could and would happen in the field. Which they had knowledge of, but needed to know how to apply it without thinking.

Just like the military, according to Michael and Adriana.

Gripping the edge of the wall, Felix shifted his weight around. Even though there wasn’t much to do here, it was better than sitting around in the dark underground of HQ.

The sun, wind, and open skies were considerably better than small dark rooms.

With Fort One being stable, other than the occasional ball of fire or lightning bolt, they were actually having people come through here regularly. If only for a break and breath of fresh air.

Both SC:HQ and T:HQ were sending people on field trips regularly. It did wonders for morale to be able to escape what was viewed as a siege. When you could simply walk through a doorway and end up on another planet without a care, suddenly nothing seemed that bad.

It seemed like it wasn’t a siege.

“Things aren’t going well back on Earth I take it?” Michael asked, easing up next to him.

“Well enough for us. We’re supplied for a few years as far as foodstuffs and water goes. Ioana has an operating portal up in Wal now as well, so we could always start putting in massive orders there, and shipping it here,” Felix said with a smirk. “I never thought I’d become a smuggler, but with the portals, we’ve got the ability to do exactly that.”

“Sounds like a good way to get people out of the cities, too,” Michael said.

“Definitely been doing that. We’ve been having a large number of visitors who enter the Legion shells. They come asking for help, looking for it, trying to find us. Me.”

Felix paused, watching as the recruits got up from the benches. They moved over to a series of lockers and equipment chests. Making an orderly line, they all began to move through the area, coming out the other side with gear.

This was their recruit assignment. The day they all got the equipment they’d be personally maintaining and using throughout training.

“For anyone brave enough to do that, and passing a Fixer scan, they get a few options. Join Legion, leave, or pay to get shipped off to Wal. We don’t give them any documentation, so they’re on their own once they arrive, but most seem happy enough to just escape.”

“How much of a fee are you charging?” Michael asked curiously.

“Five a head.”

“Five hundred a head?” Michael repeated.

“No. Five a head. It’s about as much as it costs us to feed them while they wait for the next batch to be teleported. We put them up in the bunker until it’s time to go.”

Michael snorted, then started to laugh at that. “And how many actually teleport over after that? None?”

Frowning, Felix mulled that one over. He didn’t quite understand what he meant.

“We teleport them all of course. I’d not let our people cheat them,” Felix said a little defensively.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, how many actually want to teleport after you casually give them an option, charge them about as much as it would for fast food to provide them a meal, and give them safety at the same time while waiting for the next group.”

“I don’t know… I never looked into it.”

“Not many,” Andrea Prime said from his left side. She was still a bit sulky after he pulled in the Andrea Other and Adriana Prime on his night out, and she hadn’t been allowed to go.

“Interesting. I suppose seeing is believing since the offer is made while they’re still in the shell,” Felix said.

“Is it?” came a cold voice from above him.

Craning his neck around, Felix found no one there.

“What are you doing?” Andrea asked.

“Does your neck hurt? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to do that to me,” Adriana Prime said.

Andrea Prime had confusion written across her face when she looked at her sister.

“You didn’t hear that?” Felix asked, looking from the two Beastkin to Michael, ignoring Adriana’s comment entirely.

“Hear what?” Michael asked.

“They can’t hear me,” came the voice again. “I wish to bargain. Go to the top of the tower. Alone. We will speak.”

Felix looked back to the training field, not really seeing anything. He wasn’t sure who had just spoken to him. If he followed his gut, he’d bet on it being a god.

“You alright?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I think I could a use a minute alone and see the lay of the land at the same time though,” Felix said, turning to face the tower coming up out of the keep.

It was a massive stone structure reinforced with steel and magic. Felicia had come out personally to build and set it up. It could theoretically withstand a direct hit from a tank shell or an artillery round. Which meant on this world it was practically untouchable. Since the enemy force couldn’t really muster anything near that level of power, that was.

It served as an observation post that had great defense.

Thankfully it had an elevator, but it was a slow ponderous thing that moved more through magical application than actual machinery. Apparently most of the tower had to be forfeited to its integrity needs, which forced some things to be sacrificed.

Like elevator speed.

Michael waved his hand at him and started walking away. “Have fun with that. I personally only go up when I have to. Elevator takes for-fucking-ever.”

This better be worth it.

“I’m here,” Felix said, standing at the very top of the tower. There were numerous viewing slits that were all fitted with extremely thick laminated glass.

The elevator ride had been every bit as slow as everyone said it was.

Thankfully the top was enclosed and heated, otherwise this might have been an abysmally chilly adventure, as well as boring.

A woman and a man appeared as if they’d always been there. The woman was attractive, older, and built like she ate only when she wasn’t working off the calories. Additionally she was tall, wide of frame, and clothed in animal furs. Hooked to her belt was what could only be described as a battle axe.

If she wasn’t a warrior, Felix would give up his ownership of Legion.

Standing to her left was a shorter, chubby man that was practically drowning in furs. Each and every finger of his hands was adorned with gold rings. He had pale blond hair and grey eyes. He’d probably be attractive if he wasn’t overweight.

“I am Abera,” said the woman. “This tub of lard is my husband, Desh.”

Smiling, Desh said nothing in response. He bowed his head fractionally to Felix.

“You are Felix. Leader of your country,” Abera stated.

“I am,” Felix said.

He knew Abera had been the one who had attacked his people in the field. Felix didn’t know who or what Desh was, but he could assume he was from the same pantheon.

“I have watched your people for a while. Some of your people worship the old ones, but few. As a country, you have no god,” Abera said.

“That’s correct. Legion has no shared religion.”

“You should turn to us,” Abera said, taking a step forward towards Felix.

“I see no reason to. I’ll not put on your yoke,” Felix said, staring up at the goddess.

“Do you not fear me? You should kneel before me,” Abera hissed.

“No. I made a deal with a third party who I believe you know. My agreement was to not influence your religion, and I believe your side made the pledge to not directly attack me or mine. I’m not sure if they’ll come back to renegotiate for you, but I could ask them just to see, if you like?” Felix asked.

Maybe this’ll be a chance to see and w—

“No! No. I will abide by the arrangement. There is no need to bring… them… here,” Abera said quickly, taking three steps backward.

Desh had the appearance of a man who wanted to hide somewhere with the change in conversation.

There was no reason for them to be trying this unless they were desperate. He wasn’t sure about Desh but he’d bet he was the god of trade from what he could see of the man.

Which Legion had effectively crushed when it entered into negotiations here. Almost all trade was done with, in, or on Legion territory.

And War, Abera’s domain, wasn’t much of a possibility anymore in this neck of the woods.

Legion stomped the local military into the dirt. There would be no war in this area that Legion didn’t get involved in.

Then immediately crush.

No, they needed him for those reasons, but he got the impression there was something else going on as well.

He’d bet it was an internal issue in their pantheon. One large enough that “the band was breaking up” so to speak, and they needed a place to lay their heads.

Or that was Felix’s guess at least.

Lucky for them, Legion needed a defense against gods. Gods fighting gods seemed like a valid defense.

And right here and now seemed like a prime opportunity to get the best deal for himself.

“I take it you’re having troubles on the home-front?” Felix asked as casually as could be.

Abera froze up at the question.

Her head turned just a fraction towards Desh. Felix almost missed it. Almost.

Abera needed to work on her body language. Everything he wanted to know was answered in that one second.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then?” Felix asked.

Desh let out a slow breath, literally deflating before Felix’s very eyes.

“You have the right of it,” said the man in a deep voice. “Our home has been torn asunder. When we formed together, many many years ago, we took in gods from other worlds. Those with no power, but experience. Our world was young then. Very young.

“Now that the portal has opened, many of those very same gods have returned home. Leaving us with missing aspects. Holes.”

Makes sense. And also explains all the new religions cropping up back home. Or old religions, as it were.

“I think I can make an offer—”

“We were told how you maintain power in your country. We’ll not subject ourselves to ownership. That’s simply not possible,” Desh said, interrupting Felix. Desh’s voice was firm, giving Felix the hint that there’d be no budging on that.

Huh. I wonder who they got that from. That kinda narrows the possibilities, though.

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be willing to allow your worship as a god or goddess. For the same reason you wouldn’t wish ownership, I wouldn’t wish a future power problem. I think putting myself in a beholden position to someone else would do that,” Felix said with a smile.

Abera and Desh both looked annoyed at that, but unsurprised. Felix had the unfortunate feeling that he was only catching up to where they thought the conversation might go.

“We didn’t think you’d allow it, but we still wanted to try,” Abera said forlornly. He wasn’t sure who she was talking to.

“Let’s not be hasty,” Felix said quickly before they could vanish as quickly as they’d come. “Let’s discuss something else. I’d like to learn a bit about you. From where I hail, there were no gods previous to the portal opening. I know little of your needs and wants.”

Desh and Abera were more human than he expected, as they shared a moment to look at each other before turning back to him.

“Keep in mind, anything you tell me will be kept in confidence, and I’ll not move against you, unless you move against me,” Felix offered up. “I can also make that oath on the mediator of our previous pact.”

There was a pregnant pause as the two deities seemingly waited for something to happen.

“Is there a problem with that? I’ve only spoken with him—it is a him, right?—twice but he seems reasonable. I’d be happy to abide by his mediation,” Felix said.

He knew he was pushing it. Whatever this entity was, it was powerful enough to cow an entire pantheon.

“That… I suppose that’s alright. We are empowered, and live, through the power of worship. It is directly proportional to the amount, and belief, of that worship. We know you’ve taken no action to hinder our religion in any way, per our arrangement, but nonetheless, we are no longer confident in our ability to survive the storm,” Desh explained.

Ok, that all kinda lines up with what I was expecting.

“If you do not allow worship of us, and we won’t allow ownership, we appear to be at an unsolvable impasse,” Desh continued.

Abera nodded her head, her right hand resting on the axe-head at her side.

Desh noticed where Felix’s gaze had landed and he smiled apologetically. “Forgive my wife. She’s a warrior. Things of this nature are not in her disposition. As I’m no warrior, we compliment each other quite well.”

Chuckling at that, Felix couldn’t help but relate on a few levels. He had a number of people who filled out the gaps he had.

“Don’t go anywhere. I’m going to make a quick call. I’ve got a crafter in my employ who… honestly she’s a genius. Her only limitation is her own creativity, which is somewhat lacking, unfortunately,” Felix said, turning his wrist over. “This should be quick, but I think it’ll be enlightening for both of us.”

With the number of signal repeaters and towers the construction teams had been putting in, there were few places in Fort One that were off network.

There are few places within thirty miles that are off network, in fact. They went overboard.

Tapping in a command to dial Felicia, he lifted his other hand to his earpiece.

It only took two rings for Felicia to answer.

“What?” she said in a flat tone.

“Hey Felicia. I have a new challenge for you,” Felix said, his tone of voice bright and chipper.

Felicia responded to challenges, and if you were happy about it, it only made her angry.

Angry Dwarves were determined Dwarves.

“I just finished up your last challenge, you pox ridden sex toy,” Felicia grumbled.

“You’re right, of course. If you need a break and can’t handle this, I could see about spinning up a second team so you can—”

“What the fuck do you want!? Spit it out already,” Felicia shouted through his earpiece.

“I want a machine that converts all the faith, energy, and worship that people seem to place in me, and send it elsewhere. Think of it as a magical power source, and we need an adapter to change the flow and direction,” Felix said.

The line went absolutely dead. He imagined Felicia was standing there as that beautiful mind of hers melded with her power and began spinning off as many possibilities as it could.

“Huhn. Well… that’s definitely a challenge,” Felicia said after several seconds. “Did you have a specific destination in mind?”

“I did indeed. It would be to certain contract holders. You could easily use the agreement as a target point.”

“Uuun. That’d work. I can do this but I want an off-cycle budget increase,” Felicia said, her tone changing rapidly.

“Oh? What’s the price tag?” Felix asked. He was curious where she’d go with it. Her pursuits were different than most.

“Points, and some of your time. I want to use your power to start combing through future builds and plans. You’re a walking time machine if we do it right. So… that’s what I want.”

Now it was Felix’s turn to freeze.

She was right. With the right application and a healthy dose of points, Felix was a time machine to a limited degree. Especially with things that would have a set value. Like the Fist.

“Done. Put in the request and kick it up the chain. Gotta go. I should probably have those contracts to you later today, or tomorrow. Need to have Lily take a look at ‘em,” Felix said.

“Be sure to have the princess take a look at your sausage while you’re at it,” Felicia responded, then promptly disconnected the call.

“She’s a vulgar thing,” Abera muttered. Her face showed nothing but disgust at the moment. “A disrespectful creature.”

“And incredibly loyal for all her faults,” Felix said, pulling up another contact in his wrist device. “There is something to be said for that trait outweighing every other. I’d take a loyal psychopath over a disloyal warrior.”

“And what are you doing now?” Desh asked, watching Felix closely.

“Calling up my lawyer so we can begin the negotiations on a contract. I’d like to get this put away as quickly as possible. If possible, I’d really like to walk away from this with you two as allies and partners to Legion. You’d receive your power from Legion based on how much my people are invested in me. I think that’d be the best way to play the middle for us both. You’d be free to seek worshipers outside of Legion, but gain power from it simply for supporting it. And I’d keep control over my own company without a concern.”

Abera snorted and Felix wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

Desh, on the other hand, nodded his head, laying a hand on Abera’s forearm. “I think that’d be something we could work out. This all seems… negotiable,” said the god of trade. “And negotiable is a great way to start a deal.”