by Jordan Ervin
Once Rupert and Sandra finished, Geoffrey Poteau—a onetime Swiss Ambassador who had retired to begin a lucrative firm that consulted international organizations on foreign relations—took the floor. He was a genius, able to survey the world and predict events years before they happened. He had even foreseen the collapse of America and the rise of the Imperium, though he simply called it the inevitable new world order.
Africa was completely shattered and in disarray, though this was nothing new for the historically volatile continent. Only South Africa appeared to display any abilities to hold itself together while every other country broke itself apart. Even the countries that had banded together in the Middle East were on the verge of breaking due to a lack of funds and famine. Though Geoffrey did see value in allying with the South Africans, he also saw wealth and opportunity in the broken lands north of them. He claimed whatever man or nation seized the world’s largest region of untapped resources would become wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.
In South America, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina had united against the drug lord controlled nations to the north of them. Though a newly dubbed South American Union claimed they wanted to finally rid themselves of the raw narcotics and drug crime that had plagued their streets for generations, Geoffrey suspected the likely case was that they only wished to seize those operations so they could control the main supply for themselves. With the rise in digitally delivered psychotropic injections, Geoffrey saw a nasty fight brewing between those who had established drug empires, those who had wanted to take those empires for themselves, and those who wanted to rid the world of the drug cartel completely and replace it with the new digital version.
Across the Atlantic, Europe had finally collapsed. Cities and towns had quickly begun to divide themselves according to ethnic and religious backgrounds. In the beginning, Jacob had worried that England’s royal family might serve as a beacon of courage and earn the support of the rest of Europe. Lukas had agreed that they couldn’t chance another super power in Europe and had ordered the assassination of everyone in line for any European throne. Much to his delight, Geoffrey delivered the news that the assassinations had been overwhelmingly successful. On top of that, he had already begun to use Jacob’s network of European agents to place the blame on Sigmund and the Patriarchs. Everywhere else—Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific, and India—was falling apart, the structures of yesterday collapsing under a worldwide revolution. The earth was fractured.
The Purge was nearly complete.
“So the EU is collapsing,” Lukas began, “Asia has splintered into dozens of factions, Africa is doing what it does best, South America has finally joined the fray, and the Middle East is struggling to survive as the Western countries they had once hated so badly ceased providing their financial support. All around the globe, new nations rise and old kingdoms fall. It is total war, my friends, and the world will soon be looking for that one leader to unify them all. Thank you, Geoffrey, for your insight. Now General Kane, I assume you’ve prepared an update on the status of the War for Unification here in North America?”
“Yes, my Sovereign,” General Kane replied. To say General Kane was enthusiastic about the new Imperium would be an understatement. Despite everything that had happened, he saw Lukas, the Imperium, and a world allied under one banner as humanity’s only logical path forward. “I’d like to begin by thanking you for the privilege to serve the Imperium as your highest ranking military officer. My life is yours.”
“Your expertise, commitment, and loyalty are all I ask of you,” Lukas replied, knowing the man’s life very well could be the necessary price in the end.
“Still, it is an honor,” the general said. “I think it would be wise to begin with what we know is certain. As we all know, the Patriarchs had three advances they were planning to use to quietly invade America and Jacob only managed to seize control of the eastern front. We’ve been creating a database of the equipment and supplies we acquired when Jacob’s team secured those shipping freighters just before the battle. My team has been working around the clock to compare those numbers to what Jacob knew was being deployed elsewhere. I think it’s safe to say that the east coast was planned to be the drop off point for the largest portion of their drone army. But as we all know, Sigmund alone is not the only threat. As a precautionary measure, we have permanently deactivated all Chambers Firearms in North America, save our own.”
“And will that be as effective as we had hoped?”
“America was the gun capital of the world,” the general replied. “While the program was widely successful, there will still be plenty of old hunting rifles and shotguns laying around. Word is that Texas secretly defied the law and hid their military firearms from your inspectors last year. Still, the good ol’ liberals of the Northeast were more than happy to adopt the program, thus castrating themselves. They have no option but to welcome us with waving flags as we roll in with Yellow Jackets and troops.”
“And what of the large populations out west?” Lukas asked.
“Reports are somewhat vague and we’ve had to rely heavily on satellite imagery, but we can tell that everywhere west of Denver is a complete no-man’s land.” General Kane looked down and shifted the map, focusing in on the lands west of the Rocky Mountains. “The west has completely buckled under the compounding weight of a harsh winter and an even more brutal chaos. Though there are a variety of more powerful factions at play west of the Mississippi, the entire western region of what had been the United States is gearing up to become something quite different.”
“And what do you think is going to happen out there?” Lukas asked.
“The west is not like the east,” General Kane replied. “There is much more defiance and far less resources. Our best guess is that those fending for tomorrow’s water will quickly band together and form fortified settlements. It will be like when Rome fractured into what became today’s European countries. Well, I suppose they are now yesterday’s countries. Regardless, the people out west are tough and they won’t take kindly to someone trying to raise a foreign flag. If the Patriarchs have landed on the California coast, I imagine they will be facing one hell of a resistance in the coming days.”
“Then let us hope they wear one another out so they have little or no fight left in them by the time we arrive in a few months.”
“A few months?” Jacob said with a laugh. “Though I appreciate your enthusiasm and believe in your abilities to grow the Imperium’s borders, I can assure you the west is more than a few months from raising our banner.”
Lukas paused, lowering his eyes for a moment and refusing to glance up. His face grew hot and his eye twitched, causing the digital map displayed before him on his nVision to shake violently. It had been the first time Jacob had insulted Lukas in front of the others and though Lukas knew Jacob was invaluable, he also knew his image was just as important.
“I meant no offense, Lukas,” Jacob replied as though he realized his words had slighted Lukas. “I am merely pointing out the fact that you have enemies at your doorstep who will need to be pacified before the west is won.”
“Jacob may be right,” the General began, “but the Imperium’s numbers swell by the hour and we are far more organized than anyone else at this point. I am currently restructuring our military into a fighting force that will be easily managed compared to the clumsy beast that was the United States Armed Forces. With luck and proper planning, perhaps we will find ourselves conquering the west far more quickly than any of us could have hoped.”
Lukas wanted to nod and reply as cordially as possible, but he also wanted the others to know disrespect would not be tolerated.
“Thank you, General Kane. And though I appreciate your humble apology Jacob, I would kindly ask that you do not speak against me again. I am the Sovereign. Not you.”
As though to disrupt the tension between her husband and her father, Maria broke the silence.
“What of those at our doorstep?” she asked a
s she moved the map back to the central states. “What of the Republic of Texas?”
“Though the influx of refugees coming to the Imperium is impressive, Texas has begun to rival our numbers,” General Kane replied. “They are growing faster than a dry sponge tossed to the sea. They’ve annexed much of New Mexico and most of Oklahoma. It will only be a matter of time before they expand eastward into Arkansas and Louisiana, northward into Kansas and Colorado, and possibly even west toward the Pacific coast, depending on how great the power vacuum becomes out there. Despite the fact that they are spread thin, there has been virtually no resistance in the cities and regions they’ve occupied. Reports say that most towns welcome the Lone Star Nation with open arms. Though they lack the advanced weaponry we hold from the Patriarch’s seized equipment, I must note that there are many military bases now within their reach.”
“What of their nuclear arsenal?” Lukas asked.
“We can thank our predecessors for diminishing that arsenal long before we arrived,” the general said.
“But what’s to stop Texas from parking a sub off of DC?” Lukas asked.
“The fact that there are no more nuclear submarines to patrol your waters,” Jacob replied. “As you were taking the throne, my team contacted each NATO submarine capable of launching nuclear warheads. Embedded in that message was a code that overrode their systems and caused each sub to blow their oxygen tanks and descend to the sea floor. A messy solution, but a solution that leaves us to deal with only land-based missiles.”
“Quite a costly decision,” Lukas said.
“And a wise one,” General Kane replied. “I’d very much prefer we do everything we can to prevent this war from becoming nuclear. Nuclear war is a slippery slope and I’d much rather defeat those who hate us by all other means. Regardless, such rapid growth in Texas is not something we can afford to leave unchecked. If we leave them be, who is to say they won’t cross the Mississippi within the matter of a month or two. With time they will—”
“Texas is not my concern,” Lukas said abruptly. “Not yet, at least.”
“I beg your pardon?” Jacob replied, clearly swallowing whatever else he had been about to say before continuing. “That is, would the Sovereign care to elaborate on why he believes Texas is not a problem? I’d hate to win us all of Europe only to have you lose America.”
“That won’t happen because the Republic of Texas will help me mend a fractured land,” Lukas said with a grin. “Yes people join them, but why? Is it for security?”
“And you think it’s not?” Jacob replied.
“Honestly, no. I think every town, every city, every military instillation that joins Texas does so with the hope that they may one day see that which they once were restored to its former glory.”
“Which is what?”
“The United States of America,” Lukas said. “As you said, the Republic of Texas fights to instill order and expand their borders by peacefully converting towns, cities, and military bases that had been part of the United States up until its collapse. And honestly, we should be grateful for that.”
“Do explain, my love,” Maria said.
“You see, we have enemies aplenty from foreign rulers and furious old allies, but they are only men. They can easily die with the proper gauge of war and violence. But a tried and true ideal could live on in the hearts of millions, festering for generations and refusing to go away completely. The Republic of Texas…that is a new idea, unproven and easily infected once those who had been peacefully annexed realize that their new guardians can’t deliver on their promises for protection. As I said, Texas is brittle like hot steel. The United States of America, however, was an idea that had centuries to cool and harden. That country was like an unbreakable rod and if that flag begins to fly again, then we will be dealing with much more than a new nation that can be pacified with a little corruption and terrorism.”
“Which is what?” Jacob asked.
“An indestructible symbol that could even turn the hearts of those within our own borders,” Lukas replied. “After all, most of those who now bow to the great Imperium star would have saluted the red, white, and blue one month ago. I say we let Texas do the job of helping every town, city, and base forget the American dream for the time being. Let them fly the Texan flag for now. Let them identify and become part of a new nation. That way, when we crush Texas, every town, city, and base that had been Texan will lower their worthless flag and have nothing left to fly but that which we give them. That is the victory I desire most.” Lukas paused, leaning forward over the map as he did so. “Well, one of the victories I desire most.”
“I see,” Jacob said, pausing before raising his eyebrows and continuing. “You are right. I see we all made the right decision by giving you the Sword of Lords. But that leaves us with one opponent.”
Lukas nodded with an eager grin. “The Patriarchs.”
General Kane moved the three dimensional map. What had been the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana were now shrouded underneath a digital canopy, leaving only a blank gray slate and the outline of the coast. They had known the Patriarchs were due to invade the port cities of the Gulf States shortly after the State of the Union address, but as soon as the Battle of DC had begun, a large number of Graystone devices had been activated in the region, blanketing the area from central Mississippi to Puerto Rico in the fog of war.
“What can you tell us about Sigmund’s initial plans for the occupation of America?”
“Not much,” Jacob replied, pausing to take a sip of tea. “I had little knowledge about Sigmund’s plans outside of overthrowing you and America.”
“Do you think he suspected you?” Lukas asked.
“If he had, I’d likely be dead right now. I think Sigmund trusted so very few other than himself.”
“Do you have any guess as to where he might be?” Lukas asked.
“Most any fool could separate the rumors from the facts and make new hypothetical conjectures. However, I believe someone who knows Sigmund better than any one of us might have a better idea of where to look. For that, I would like to introduce Intelligence Specialist Jamie Rowe.”
Jacob motioned to the attractive young woman who had entered with the others before. She had dark red hair that was pulled tight into a bun, three silver pins sticking through the thick of it. Deep brown eyes looked back at Lukas with a warm smile in between flushed cheeks. She was gorgeous—nearly as stunning as Maria—and Lukas had to force his eyes away quickly, knowing that beautiful of a face could hold his gaze if he wasn’t careful.
“She was one of the few Patriarch Agents I picked up in the week between your last meeting with Sigmund and the battle of DC,” Jacob said. “She’d spent her career working in Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service by the day while she reported anything of use to Sigmund and me by night. When Sigmund fell off the deep end, she was one of the few I knew personally that would be more sympathetic to our cause. Like you, she was for unity among our peers and hated infighting. She secured all the data and information she could regarding Sigmund and assisted me with the defense of DC. Sigmund had grown quite fond of Miss Rowe, keeping her close whenever he could. I assure you that if anyone of us might be able to lead the Imperium to Sigmund’s whereabouts, it will be her.”
“The Imperium thanks you for your service,” Lukas said cordially, nodding his head to Jamie.
“It’s been my honor,” Jamie replied.
“You don’t sound like you’re from England,” Lukas said.
“I actually grew up in America, Mr. President,” Jamie replied before her cheeks grew a dark red crimson that nearly matched her hair. “Sorry, I mean, my Sovereign.”
“It’s quite alright,” Lukas said with a smile. “Old habits die hard for all of us.”
“That they do,” Jamie replied with an uncertain laugh.
Lukas smiled, though one look at Maria’s narrowing eyes caused him to quickly move on. “So tell me, what exactly d
id you do for Sigmund? Why was he so fond of you, as Jacob implied?”
“Does any of us have any idea why Sigmund does what he does?” she replied with a coy smile. “I assisted both him and Jacob by monitoring and redirecting any intelligence about the Patriarchs that might have led back to them. Once your journal was released, he had me working around the clock to filter through any information that might have led back to him.”
“I see,” Lukas replied. “Now I don’t know if this is too personal of a question, but were you two ever—”
“Lukas!” Maria cut in heatedly. “That’s quite unnecessary.”
“It’s fine, and no we were not,” Jamie said quickly. “He didn’t see me that way, something for which I am quite thankful. I pity the woman he does fancy, though I think a man like him is probably incapable of loving anyone but himself. He always said I was the daughter he never had, though that never made any sense to me.”
“Trying to understand Sigmund would be like trying to gaze into a pitch-black room and describe it in detail,” Lukas replied. “He is and always will be a bottomless void. Nevertheless, I only asked because the greater the ties anyone had to him, the better our chances of knowing where he has hidden himself. Speaking of which, did you ever discover where exactly he had taken up residence?”
“I have my theories,” Jamie replied. “He always spoke about a place he called the Promised Land, but he never said exactly where that was. I thought he might have meant Israel, but I never had anything to prove that theory. I was always curious about it, but the one thing this line of work taught me well was that curious eyes and ears could easily get me killed. It wasn’t until Jacob told me what Sigmund had done to you and how he was losing his sanity that I decided the time had come to part ways with the old man. Sadly, I had never been able to discover exactly where his Promised Land was located.”