John found Rhys at the park, obviously recently back from an excursion outside the Park, "Hey, Rhys. I could need you and Allen for something. I've done some major exploring of the area, also performing reach outs to other sane settlements for the Republic. Seems like this place, from west Fort Worth to east Dallas is packed full of raiders and other unsavory figures. So I've decided to do something about it. I'm going to raise an army. The Republic of Arlington has agreed to my idea, amazingly, they still believe in the potential of the possibility of a new, united Republic of Texas, much like the old one, and they see it as an opportunity to bring it to reality. I'm hoping you and Allen can accompany me to the various settlements around the North Texas area to build up our alliance and train the army. Just so you know right now, this process will take potentially many years. After all, just looking at the map given to me, the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a huge city, over 1,400 square miles of just city, almost all of which is overrun by one of the most concentrated and largest raider and slaver populations in the entire former US. But, removing this stronghold of terror will turn Texas from a forbidden place to outsiders to potentially a great and powerful nation. Will you help." - - Auto Merge - - (Here's the wiki on the Metroplex if you'ld like extra info about it; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas%E2%80%93Fort_Worth_metroplex )
(Welcome back buddy ) Rhys looked at John before looking at the ground. He had to think about this, there was no possible way to get back home to the real world, and after witnessing the horrors of the wasteland, he wanted to do some good in the world. After a moment, he looked back up at John. "Count me in."
(Thank ye man ^^) John grinned at that and patted Rhys on the back, "'atta go! Now, where's that friend of yours, Allen? Need to talk to him to. Oh, by the way, we head off in the morning, just before sunrise. Don't be late. Otherwise, you're going to be taking part in the attack on that Hurricane Harbor across the highway, and I can already tell you that's going to be a bloody one."
(You've told me that you have had Pneumonia, try not to die on me If I ever get the chance to visit you, I'll be heading to Dallas within the next couple of years, maybe after my 21st birthday or something.) "I'll go grab Allen for you, don't know exactly where he is at the moment." Rhys replied before walking away. "I'll be back in a minute"
(Don't worry, we caught it early enough to where there was never any serious threat to my health ^^ and that's cool man, look forward to it^^) Allen ran into Rhys as he was walking around enjoying the sights, "Oh, hey there Rhys, what's up?" He asked, unaware of what was going on.
"Hey, John just said we're heading off in the morning before sunrise. If we be late, then we're going to be in the fight of our lives." Rhys replied before pointing to his north. "John knows more, he sent me to get you so that he could tell you himself."
A few days later John, Rhys, and Allen walked into the protected area of a settlement to the north of D/FW itself. The town called itself "New Denton", and was a thriving trade town thanks to the road infrastructure that lead to D/FW, but was far enough out to not have many problems with raiders and also had amble farmland surrounding it to feed the mouths of its 10,000 hungry inhabitants. It was the largest single sane settlement for over a hundred miles. After smooth talking to the guards, John soon was able to get Allen and Rhys through, "Alright. Here's the plan, we're going to meet the leader of this town, mister Awksborough, on behalf of the Republic of Arlington with the confederation treaty. You two are officially my bodyguards, that's why you're being let in, also why I had you two put on matching armor. Let me do the talking and the first step to improving this land will be complete."
Rhys nodded silently as the group was led inside of New Denton. Much to his expectations, Rhys found that the settlement was much like the republic of Arlington, traders at their own shops moving backwards, farmers working on their crops and the general public moving about in their daily lives. The arrival of John and his 'bodyguards' did not cause much of a stir across the town, mistaking the three of them as traders. However, in terms of leadership, some questions were raised.
John lead the two through the small town (which turned out to be the downtown of Old Denton), finding themselves at an old courthouse, "This is it." He said simply, "Ready to begin the rebuilding of the Republic of Texas, you two?"
"I'm ready" Rhys said simply, stretching his back before looking at the door. Once ready, he moved towards the door.
John nodded and lead the two to the office of Mister Awksborough, where they were shown in after a little wait. "It's been a long time since the Republic of Arlington has come directly this far." The slightly porkly, but somehow heavily muscular man that was Mister Awksborough said as he poured four shots of whiskey, one for each of them, both John and Allen declined. John took a seat at the desk after Awksborough had and nodded, "I would guess so. But the dangers along the route don't exactly encourage trade and relations sir." Awksborough laughed heartenly at that, "Yea, I'ld guess so! How are things going in the Republic, by the way?" "Things are good, currently launching a major campaign to clear the Raiders from the surrounding area. How about here in New Denton?" "Haha! Things couldn't be better, trade is on the rise, and with the recent die off of the I-35 Denton gang of Raiders, we haven't seen a raid in quite some time. Sorry to hear that things aren't so great in city. Now, I'm sure you fine folks didn't come all the way out here for small talk, what do you want?" John slipped a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it to Mister Awksborough. "The Republic of Arlington seeks to reunite Texas under the Republic of Texas once more, with the hope of one day bringing the entirety of the first Republic of Texas under Texan control once more." Awksborough studied the paper, "So. Essentially a confederation treaty? Hm..."once the proper forces are gathered, the liberation of the former D/FW Metroplex shall begin and mark the first step to reuniting Texas. Upon securing sufficent numbers afterwards, campaigns are to begin to secure all of North Texas and Austin. From there, it will be decided how to further unite Texas." Awksborough looked up at John, "Quite the lofty intentions, and quite a gamble if I do say so myself. But, the idea of a united Texas is prevalent even now. I'm sure as soon as word gets out, all sane Texans will wish to join this venture. I will be pleased to become the first besides Mayor Cluck to sign this treaty and bring back Texas."
Rhys kindly took the glass of whiskey from Mister Awksborough, despite his liver deficiency. One glass could not hurt, but several would. He took a sip as he waited for a reply from John. While it seemed small now, the idea of starting a new nation was enormous and how Rhys would play his role to make it a reality was quite inspiring. He had never dreamed of making such a change as he watched the smiles on the faces of both men
Allen watched eagerly as Mister Awksborough's pen made its stroke on the document, bringing his long dreamed of dream of an independent Repubpic of Texas closer to reality, even if it was in another parallel universe. "It is settled then. In return for this, I will provide training for your militias and then be on my way to expand this confederation and hopefully raise a large enough force to take down the raiders, slavers, and feral ghouls infesting D/FW." John said with a smile, "Glad to have your support, sir." "Thank you, uh, John right? Well, if you're going to provide training, you might want to get to it! Pleasure doing business with you." (Time skip to after uniting all the various sane settlements across the area as it would be time consuming and repetitive...)
(Sure, it would take forever to write each individual one) After a while, roughly six different settlements had signed up to the chance to create a unified Texas, and Rhys acted whenever needed as a bodyguard. When he was not with John and Allen, he helped train alongside the militia. While his skills improved with his rifle, he also learn't greatly in hand to hand combat if he were to encounter a raider close up. The future republic had almost 30,000 wastelanders in it's ranks, while the Raiders in the city numbered far greater. Every passing day, the republic gathered strength. Once the republic was strong enough, the sky was the limit
John had soon become the de facto leader and Commander in Chief of the newly formed Republic. He had given so called "Specials", men who had survived for years on their own in the middle of the D/FW hellhole and had enormous survival, combat, and lay of the land knowledge, officer training and made a unified system of divisions in the militias across the Republic. He only had 5,000 militia to use, and it was a number unlikely to go up without ranging far afield, which would be useless. He needed to reaffirm and legitimize the Republic of Texas. The Republic of Arlington had stretched Itself to the limit of its ability to properly defend its territory with the liberation of the entertainment and downtown districts, but had seemingly only served to make the people of the Arlington Republic believe they didn't need the Republic of Texas. He sent out a general order, prepare to liberate the Dallas-Fort Worth Wasteland. The raiders were disorganized and untrained, but far outnumbered the . Hopefully, they wouldn't unite, much like they hadn't against the Republic of Arlington.
From what he understood, the Raiders were drugged up psychopaths with little to no weaponry or protection. And from what he also knew, they were also stupid. As much as he wanted for the Republic to prosper and defeat the raiders, he knew that eventually, he would have to fight for it. If the raiders united, it would be a very serious problem. But if they were to remain in their current state, then they could be divided and taken down like the animals they degraded into.
Allen watched from a position in a tree as the militia deemed unneeded for the defense of the town he was in formed up by the gates soon after a messenger arrived and marched out of the gates. He had seen the orders detailed in the letter, as this was a settlement to the south, they were to go to a rally point with all the other southern town troops and begin fighting their way through the Mid-Cities (cities between Fort Worth and Dallas) to provide two funnels, one from the north and one from the south to connect the Republic of Arlington safely to the rest of the world. Then they were to begin working their way city by city, street by street, house by house, to clear out every last raider from the mid-cities. He, meanwhile, was stuck on the next portion, clearing out Dallas and Fort Worth themselves. Meaning he had nothing to do.
With the forces moving to their rally-points, Rhys was moved to become a guard of the town he was stationed at as a sniper. As much as he wanted to get his revenge on the raiders for originally injuring his back, he also naturally, did not want to die. Remaining on guard and watching the time fly past him, he seen almost nothing for miles other than an occasional traveler. By the time his shift ended, all he could do was head down to the town square and find a way to entertain himself. (I'm going out all day and night and almost the beginning of tomorrow as well. I wont be able to post until then.)
