Fortunately the weekend passed peacefully without incident after the whole fiasco with the Mercenary Association. Seth was able to follow his original schedule and receive some more training with his Master without anything else occurring.

The next time Seth entered the Federation base, he immediately reported to Jacks about what the Mercenary Director had said. Jacks had been slightly surprised, but said that the visit would have to be put off to another day. Instead there was something else already planned for Seth. Jacks had Seth recount his story which resulted in Jacks raising an eyebrow.

Looking at Jacks reaction, Seth was curious. It was as if Jacks knew something about Kong that he didn’t.

Seeing Seth’s curiosity, Jacks said “It’s not too unexpected about what Kong did. Do you remember when the Federation first invited you guys? They do a background investigation on every recruit. I don’t remember every detail, but i did go over both of your histories. Without going into too much details, Kong had a lot of shenanigans on his report.”

That made sense. Seth barely knew his fellow intern, but the few times they went out together, Kong had already caused trouble. “I don’t remember anyone telling me about the background investigation, but it does make sense. I remember being asked questions that only a person who knew about my life could ask. The Federation still accepted Kong despite all his shenanigans? I thought the Federation would be a lot stricter on the screening process?”

Jacks laughed and waved his hand. “The amount of trouble Kong caused doesn’t even enter the Federation radar. Now that he’s under Ms. Nadeem, he’ll be under her control and won’t have the chance to cause trouble. If this was any other Federation base, then they wouldn’t accept a troublemaker like Kong. But here in this city? As long as you’re not some extraordinary threat to the city, you get a pass. Anyways enough of that, what did that old hag assign you for punishment?”

“Wall duty” Seth answered. He was a given a week to report in and Seth had wanted to do it during the next weekend, so it wouldn’t interfere with his internship at the Federation.

“Oh that’s perfect. I had wanted to take you up there sometime just to have a look. I’ll have one of the guys bring you there now.”

“Wait, the punishment could be done like this? Seth looked at Jacks incredulously.

Jacks grinned seeing Seth’s reaction. “ I was originally planning to have you signed up at the mercenary Association. A lot of the missions assigned by the Federation beyond the walls require elimination, but no recollection. You can sell the corpse to the Mercenary Association for some cash. A lot of Federation Officers do this to make some money on the side.”

“And the Federation doesn’t object to this?”

“Nope the federation turns a blind eye, or at least in this city. Don’t mention being a mercenary and part of the Federation force at the same time in other cities. It works as an alternate identification if you don’t want yourself to be investigated.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of experience with alternate IDs.”

“Just a little. You need it when you're out there in the field. Unfortunately most of them are classified so i can't share my stories with you. Alright go meet Bertha.. It is time for you to personally experience the walls yourself.”

***

The walls.

They are considered one the most important defenses for a fortress city against external threats. Towering at hundreds of feet, looming over the citizens of Oasis city.On the walls were mounted with thousands of weapons such as missile launchers, laser cannons, and many more to crush any threat that comes within a ten mile radius of the city. Not only was there a large number of weapons, there was also a lot of Awaken standing guard on the walls.

Hearing it was one thing, but seeing it was another.

All the information Seth had gathered about the walls was from school and the Federation database. It’s one of the first things a child learns about their city because of it’s significance. Not only are the walls always standing guard to protect it’s citizens, it is the final barrier that keeps away monsters.

Buildings can change. People can grow old and pass. But the walls can not and must remain constant throughout the city’s history. If a wall is breached, then that would mean that the end of the city. There are only cases where the walls are breached and the city survives the disaster. That was the main reason why Red Lightning was so famous. He was able to single handedly stem off the threat and save the city from near annihilation.

Now Bertha was taking Seth to have a look for himself. She was the most free of Squad 46 so Jacks had ordered her to escort Seth to the walls. Squad 46 was currently on standby as there was no mission that needed their “unique skill set”, but the members could still be found in the Federation base. Echor had gone to the research department to work on his own personal mechanical projects. Hunter could be often found at the shooting range. Captain Dan had his own reports and paperwork to fill out and was the most busy among the squad. Bertha was the complete opposite as she could be found visiting all the different departments and chatting with them.

Now Seth found himself on the walls. The walls were split into two sections at different elevations. The section with the lower elevation was where the weapons that needed to be controlled manually. It was also where people stood watch. Seth could see Federation Officers patrolling and prepared for any event. The second elevated section was where the automated weapons that was too large for people to handle.

“Quite the sight isn’t it?” A jolly boisterous man with a hefty mustache spoke to Seth. He was wearing a Federation military uniform that looked a size too small for him. He could not be described as muscular, since his belly betrayed the military strict image. This was Colonel Sanders, the man responsible for supervising the walls, or at least the portion Seth was currently standing on. Bertha had introduced the man as the one responsible for wall supervision.

“I've been standing guard here for forty years. Rain or shine, I'll be watching. This wall here is 10 feet thick and made with titanium steel, some of the hardest metal on this planet. Not only that, I want to see what creature dares to break through when we’re blasting them with fire and lead.There is no beastie that can make it past me!”

“Except that one time when the wave did breach the walls,” Bertha chimed in.

The Colonel gave her a reproachful look and then sighed. “ …Yes, except for that time. That was the biggest shame of my life. It was only thanks to the commander that we survived. That was a dark day indeed. We lost a lot of people that day, but their sacrifice was not in vain as our city survived. If you're interested, I'll share the tale of that day later with you.”

“ Really? Thanks!” Seth was really interested in hearing those first hand accounts of the legendary tale of Red Lightning. While he grew up hearing these stories, listening in person was something completely different.

“No problem! Here let me show you the command post. “ Seth was led to a booth filled with mechanical equipment and federation officers. “This is my command center. This is where i hear everything and give out orders. There are sensory equipment running here 24/7 along with at least ten Awaken with different sensory abilities deployed here. If any monster dares to show up within a ten mile radius, i’l blast them to kingdom come with just a order. You want to have a try? I’ll show you which button to press to launch all the missiles.”

The image of all the weapons on the wall firing flashed through Seth’s mind. Something deep down in him actually wanted to see that actually happen. He wanted to see humanity's technology used to fill the horizon with gunfire and explosions. Perhaps it was just the teenage instinct of a boy, Seth really wanted to actually see it happen in reality. However he quickly shook his head. One in refusal and also to remind himself. No matter how advanced the weapons were, humans were still helpless in the presence of true power such as those who were Class 4 and and above.

The Colonel smirked. “ Hah, just teasing you. Can’t authorize you to actually fire anything. It’ll be too costly. Each missile cost about 100,000 credits. You won't be able to afford the mistake of firing one missle. Besides, you're much too young. Maybe if you stick around long enough you witness something being used as there is a bi-annual equipment check. Wouldn’t want to spend all this money and then it breaks down due to rust halfway through a battle, would we?”

Seth nodded and then asked a question that had been bothering him. “Isn’t your Command booth a bit small?” The set-up looked impressessive, but to command the whole wall within just 10 sq feet? And also command over 1000 Federation Soldiers during an attack? It just seems odd that the command was set up in such a small and open place.

“Good eye! This place was set up because I like to see the situation for myself. There is an official Command room set up on the lower level which is more secure. However only authorized people can pass through since thats where the ammunition and storage are. Can’t tell you anything more then that. Let’s get to the task on hand. Your task is to just keep an eye out on the wall and stand guard.” Colonel Sander motioned the wall with his hand. “ Choose a spot, watch for threats for 6 hours. Simple right?”

Seth stared into the horizon where only sand and the dried earth lie beyond the city reach. There was no sign of life as the Federation had long ago given the wildlife ample warning with their weaponry. Nothing dared to approach the walls and Seth could tell that this was going to be a dull assignment.

He looked helplessly at Bertha. She shook her head and said “ Nope. I was told to bring you here and that’s it. You’re on your own here.”

It was enough to make him miss the paperwork that Jacks always dumped on him.