A Soviet game, August 24th

I stood just to the side of the stage, glancing at the thousands of people that had gathered in the Sofi stadium. Thousands had gathered for the Premier's speech… and the football game that was happening afterwards. 

The game was between a pair of high school teams, Fob Fyodor's Lions and Fob Dominqez's Vampires. The press had hyped the game up quite a bit, shame I'd been too invested in the military sphere to know what was going on. That being said, progress was good, Assedio de Sueno was nearly ready.

My wife squeezed my hand, drawing me away from the soldiers dying hundreds of miles away. I gave her a small smile. The sudden shock of seeing a pair of system notifications surprised me, nearly causing me to jump. But a combination of my wife's iron grip and sheer willpower…. Mostly my wife… I only jerked slightly.

'Quest complete, (series quest). Expand your survivor camp to 64,000 survivors. Reward 75,000xp 22,000 credits. 64,002/64,000'

'Quest complete, (series quest) establish an economy for your camp. Ensure food/water/clothing/housing is available and that a currency system exists. Reward, 50,000 credits.'

'You have gained 75,000 xp, 4,541,800/20,000,000 xp needed for your next promotion.'

'Quest issued!(series quest). Expand your reach. Achieve 3 separate survivor camps with a population exceeding 120,000. Reward, 150,000 xp, 50,000 credits. Camps 9/3, cumulative population 378,953/120,000'

'Quest issued!(series quest). Power. Provide steady consistent power to your first camp for 15 days. Reward, 150,000 xp, 75,000 credits. Days powered consistently, 49/15.'

'Quest complete!(series quest). Expand your reach. Achieve 3 separate survivor camps with a population exceeding 120,000. Reward, 150,000 xp, 50,000 credits. Camps 9/3, cumulative population 378,953/120,000'

'Quest complete!(series quest). Power. Provide steady consistent power to your first camp for 15 days. Reward, 150,000 xp, 75,000 credits. Days powered consistently, 49/15.'

'You have gained 300,000 xp, 4,841,800/20,000,000 xp needed for your next promotion.'

'Quest issued, (series quest) Government. Have a recognized government that rules over a minimum population of 300,000 citizens. Reward, 300,000 xp, 100,000 credits. 378,953/300,000'

'Quest issued,(series quest) Fuel independence. Establish and maintain fuel extraction and production, produce enough fuel to power all vehicles and the electrical grid. Achieve and sustain a 90 day reserve supply. Reward, 200,000xp, 150,000 credits. 1/90 day reserve.'

'Quest completed, (series quest) Government. Have a recognized government that rules over a minimum population of 300,000 citizens. Reward, 300,000 xp, 100,000 credits. 378,953/300,000'

'You have gained 300,000 xp, 5,141,800/20,000,000 xp needed for your next promotion.'

'Quest issued! Building a nation. Have a total of 750,000 citizens, and recognition of at least 5 factions. Reward, 500,000xp, 200,000 credits. 378,953/750,000 citizens, 7/5 faction's recognition.'

I was absolutely bombarded with notifications, several quests being issued and competed in the span of a second. My wife looked at me worriedly. "Is everything okay my love?"

"Yeah… just got bombed with notifications." I replied as I started reading through the sudden backlog. I discreetly tried swiping them away, but if anyone was paying attention they'd likely think I'd developed the world's itchiest nose.

"Are they good notifications?" Veria whispered. She leaned closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"So far, accidentally stacked a bunch of quests, looks like it was hanging off of the number of people at Fyodor… then suddenly the quests kept coming, while the union had already met the requirements." I replied as I swiped the last one away.

"Are you going to leave after the speech?" She asked, giving me a long look.

"And skip out on our first date since this shitshow began? I'd like to live through the day." I joked while panting a kiss on her forehead.

"Good, he's learning." She replied while snuggling into my side. I chuckled a bit and watched as Merida took to the stage, quite a great many cheers broke out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, citizens and visitors. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Sofi stadium for this momentous occasion." His voice boomed over the stadium's speakers.

"We've come so far in our progress despite the difficulty of the times. That we're now able to host actual sports games again!" Merida gestured at the crowd, electing more cheers.

"That's due to everyone's hard work! Restoring El Segundo refinery, restarting the power plants, drilling for crude once again! You did all that!" He shouted.

"But we can't forget our guardians, the soldiers, sailors, and airmen and women of the Soviet military. Even now as we celebrate our achievements they fight for our protection and security far afield!" I suppressed a frown, staring at the Hawaiian delegation as Merida made those remarks.

Colonel Maithers raised an eyebrow, glancing my way, I nodded, keeping my thoughts hidden. The grizzled old marine was a sly bastard, arrived this morning as part of a diplomatic team to mitigate the rising tensions. He'd been given a brief tour of LAX and Fyodor, we'd tried hard to steer clear of the empty barracks of 1st, 2nd, and 4th division.

"We've built the First Nation of this new world! Together, our labor, our strength, our determination will see us through to our inevitable victory!"

"Now let us celebrate the fruits of our labor in a classic tradition of the old world!" Merida and the rest of us on the stage quickly cleared the field as a team of workers swarmed the platform, quickly disassembling it. The speakers switched to music, a steady deep beat… Poker face began to play as air horns announced the teams running out of their respective tunnels.

The glass ceiling rattled and shook as a full squadron of MiGs buzzed the stadium. The crowd began to roar as players began showing off, doing their workout routines. We made our way to our seats, the fan zone of the home team. Banners had been hastily put up over the Charger's, the logo in the center of the field being what remained.

The announcer came over the speakers, introducing themselves to the crowd. "Good Evening Los Angeles! I'm your host Branden Loyd…"

"And I'm your co-host Jackson Flores!"

"Tonight at Sofi stadium we're watching high school football, the Fyodor Lions are facing off against the Dominguez Vampires!" Loyd announced.

"Got to say Jackson, it's a very early start to the pre-season. Late August?"

"When has more football ever been a bad thing?" I'm excited to see how the regular season turns out for these young men." I glanced up from the tv, watching as the coin was tossed.

"Looks like it's going to be Vampires receiving! Seems, here they come now…!" 

"Fighting far afield huh?" A gruff marine appeared next to me. He stared at the tv, but it was fairly obvious his attention was on me.

"Already after Black horse?" He mused, prodding.

"I'd like to communicate with them…"

"That won't be possible Colonel. We have no diplomatic channels with those psychopaths and rapists." I replied firmly.

"Perhaps they'll respond better to a US national better than some traitors." Maithers directly attempted to provoke me. I grit my teeth, choosing to let it go.

"Maybe they will Colonel, maybe they'll string you up like a puppet… go back to your island Colonel, you aren't ready for what the world has become." I replied. I turned and walked over to my wife, watching as the Vampires offense was getting ready to take over at their 30 yard line.