Classless Ascension

As Josh brought Alexa (aka the Tech Queen) onboard, the two general completely lost their cool. She had an air about her that made others curious, but most just assumed it was another of his weird friends.

But, that was different for the generals. As soon as they noticed her, they instantly recoiled in shock and panic, their eyes bulging. The first to recover was Roderick. He gave Josh a look that could only mean: "Why the heck is she following you?!"

As for Gaiden, he was nervously rubbing his chin as they left Universal Tech. He kept looking at how meek Alexa appeared. He seemed torn between avoiding to reveal her secret identity and making sure his soldiers didn't mistakenly offend her.

For these people, she was akin to a lively time bomb that could explode in their faces at any time. They could only hope that Josh would handle the situation accordingly. The moment Gaiden realized that his fate could depend on him, he began grimacing.

Instead of going straight to D-23, Josh decided to go for the most majestic and mysterious inauguration ceremony possible. For that, they had to be seen by as many people as possible.

"Head toward Metropolis-E, and then we'll come back to Metropolis-D. Oh, is there anything you guys can do to be even flashier? Perhaps a glowing energy shield or something." Josh organized their journey.

Many soldiers could only facepalm in dismay. Was this how it was going to be from now on? Was this why they had joined the army? For a small percentage of them, the answer was obviously "Hell the fuck yeah!"

There was even an overenthusiastic guy that began striding toward Josh with a twinkle in his eyes. "How about we fire Energy warning shots all over the place? They are flashy, loud, and the best! People will notice for sure!"

Was Josh about to condone causing mayhem everywhere on their way just to serve his selfish purposes? Obviously, duh! It wouldn't really hurt anyone anyway.

"I love that! Make it even more intense than the fourth of July. Light the sky up. I want enough fireworks to turn the night into day and the day into an epileptic nightmare! Ah, right, the fourth is—"

"No worries, my Captain! I got this! Of course, I know what the fourth is! It's the day Earthlings party like there is no tomorrow! I'll do some tinkering to make it even more epic!" He excitedly chimed in.

Josh loved his drive! He contentedly watched as the soldiers were forced to voluntarily disrupt public order.

"There 100% will be backlash from this. People will call us failures for failing to prevent the Metropolis-C attacks and the sloth wave." Gaiden was massaging his brows, already picturing the worries to come.

"Let them, who cares. What do they expect? The Black Legion was already busy with Gene Corp. Plus, what good would vessels have been against terrorists and biochemical weapons? It would have just caused needless destruction." Josh scoffed.

"Sure, but this will lower the confidence level in our organization. The MTA may seem strong, but we are under constant pressure from the guilds. It's maddening." Gaiden softly complained.

That's when he seemed to come back to his senses. Why had he been sharing his thoughts so openly with this crazy man?! Josh could see him close himself once more. But, he didn't share his unease.

"Why worry so much? There is only one way to reply to such baseless slandering." Josh smiled as he clenched his fist hard, making his interlocutor jump up.

"We won't be using violence against our own citizens!" There was a hint of hostility in his voice.

"No need. You just need to show strength. There will always be people judging you and looking down on you for valid or sometimes completely ludicrous reasons."

Josh pointed toward the outside that was being bombarded by colorful flash bombs, energy rays, and other stuff. "First they'll take notice, then they'll criticize, and finally we'll show them a sight they won't forget." Josh chuckled.

"What do you have in mind?" Gaiden asked curiously. Somehow the current Josh made him look forward to what would happen.

"Simple, pick the 50 soldiers that you think are the most worthy. We just need to make it so these 50 can overwhelm a crowd of a million in spirit." Josh spoke these ridiculous words with deep conviction.

The few that heard him were in disbelief. That was his plan?! That wasn't humanly possible, even for a Climber! But, their incredulity didn't matter one bit to him.

On the side, Alexa was murmuring to the nearest Dale. "Is he always like that?" She was staring at Josh with apparent interest as she wanted to understand his thought process that seemed so unique.

Dale chuckled: "No way!" She felt it made sense. Of course, he couldn't always be that unrestrained. But, then he added: "Usually it's worse! What you see now is still in the realm of the believable!"

She couldn't help but be taken aback. This was still in the realm of the believable?! He had bullied her, was willfully disturbing public order, and was calmly trying to scam a general!

She would observe some more...

****

That's how they kept going. At Metropolis-E, they were initially perceived as a potential threat but were soon granted access. Well, approaching while firing everywhere was evidently suspicious.

That's when Micheal came out. For a man that loved to shine so much, there were only two reactions possible. Either he would be jealous, or he would join the party.

That is how plenty of reporters got to witness a mind-boggling sight. Right in the middle of the city hovered an armada of killing vessels. But what happened next rendered them speechless.

"Let's bring this up a notch, shall we? You, official fireworks guy, make it even flashier!" Josh ordered with a huge grin.

Whatever that guy did, it was working. The projectiles began to whirl into the air, shattered into thousands of sparks, coiled around near Tower, and shimmered with all the colors imaginable.

The fireworks guy had even used the flagship's camouflage system ingeniously. Their vessel was now emitting light: it looked like a miniature sun!

"C'mon, guys. This can't be a party without some music!" That's when Kasha convinced (intimidated) a soldier into playing her EDM music compilation. It soon began blasting across the entire Metropolis.

Michael came flying right next to them, a drone under each foot. He somehow managed to be even more eye-catching than them as he danced, following the rhythm covered in lightning.

What kind of travesty was this military operation?! Down on the ground, everything was getting recorded by literally everyone present. There were even families coming to watch the show!

People were crammed together like sardines, their heads bobbing up and down alongside the Bass. Josh couldn't help but smile watching all this. In his eyes, all of this was entirely justified.

What was wrong with spreading the joy? Oh, there would definitely be lots of criticism going his way, but whatever. This had to be the best school inauguration ever. It was just that none of the people knew that it was one.

Eventually, they did pick up the 50 MTA members from Metropolis-E. This slight hint would let the people's minds run rampant as they speculated endlessly.

Now, it was time to bring the party to Metropolis-D!...