/K/-Day T + 6 hours Lackland-Kelly AFB A secure comms room in the 1st level basement of the Inter-American Air Forces Academy, currently the ad hoc office of one Général de Brigade Pierre Andrepont, current commander of a detachment of the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, sent on a multinational NATO training exercise in the western desert of Texas. [A triple-knock at his door, his two paratroopers running guard duty look at him for orders, the faint sound of Upside Down (Dizzy Does It Make Me) by Vanessa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TdnuEaI_UQ from a Mp3 player] “Dragoons, zee who could be knocking at zis godforsaken time?” (The door opens, a Lieutenant Colonel Ronnie McAllen, of the British 51st Highland Volunteers, enters the room, his skin as clammy as a common cockle) (R.M) “General Andrepont?” (A man of Algerian-French mixture sits at a dusty wooden desk, the Stars and Stripes lie in a closet, Le Tricolour stands in its place. He responds in a thick, yet smooth accent, a combination of Normandie and Pied-Noir) “Oui, that is my name?” (R.M) “I’ll get straight to the point if you don’t mind” “Do please, Corporal? It appears that this may be the right place for such things, but mos’ certainly not the time” (R.M) “Very well, I’ve been sent for you by a cabal of officers that are now in charge of this base. Your now thinking, ‘wotever ‘appened to General Brownley’? Well, right before that EMP took out our grid 2 ‘ours ago, he shuffled off his own mortal coil with a .45 through the cranium. We’re supposin’ that he thought the EMP was nuclear, and decided to go out on his own terms before it vaporized us all. Due to this, by a well-thought-out list of NATO protocols, YOU are now in charge of Lackland-Kelly” “That…. is terrible news indeed. I’ve known Brownley ever since Desert Storm, he was a cautious, wiry fellow, but I never thought he would go out like that. I accept, but will the Americans tolerate a foreigner commanding them on their own motherland?” (R.M) “Not really an option right now, sir. A massive amount of civilians ‘ave literally vanished into thin air: we’ve got half of the officer’s unfit for duty, grieving about their families; and the other half aren’t even Majors, nobody here’s got experience like you’ve got. We can’t get through to Camp Bullis or Randolph. For the time being, we are on our own. God knows what’s happening in our homelands, and it looks like these portals and magic crap appear to be going on world-wide. Scotland’s probably utter scuffed right now, most of our regiments are overseas on training missions like here, they're probably ‘andin out bolters and Webley’s to whatever poor bastard-off-the-street they can find.” “Then, take me to this ‘cabal’. Dragoons! Assemble our men in the parking lot by the Security Forces museum! Their radios and phones are down, go to the barracks and inform them in person!” (Dragoons) “Affirmatif, mon General! (They exit the room) 10 minutes later A hardened bunker underneath the 624th Operations Center (Now playing: The Spirit of Man (PC Game Remix) from Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds) (General Andrepont enters the room, all rise to stand and salute him) “At ease, you may proceed with your duties. Give me a sit-rep, what assets are still usable, and how quickly can we repair our power grid, vehicles, and airplanes?” (One lieutenant, holding a printed-out paper on a makeshift easel, stays standing) “General, all our planes are fried, save for two C-5’s still in their hangers. We assume the thickness of the concrete walls was enough to protect them. But, with so many engineers on base roster, and with spare parts lying around, we can get at minimum, 60% of our planes up and running, within 5 days. All we have to do, is to make sure no one wastes time. We’ll need teams working shift-in, shift-out, 24/7. Our personal vehicles are all fried as well, only 5 are in working order, due to having been in underground garages.” “And what vehicles are they?” (LT) “One Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, former property of General Brownley, may he rest in peace. 3 Humvees, a Toyota T100, and a bus that had been inside a C-5 hangar when that EMP went off.” “Get some of the airmen, find out who has experience with automobiles, but not planes, put them to work on armoring the bus, up-armoring the Humvees, and to turn that Toyota into a technical. Once the planes are all back up and running, put them to work on the vehicles, even the civilian ones. I want every vehicle on base turned into a technical or armored for defense, except for the Phantom! What of the power grid?” (LT) “We can get that back to a fully-functional state, within 2-3 weeks. Trust us sir, this base is the hub of spare parts for a good fifth of the entire stateside Air Force.” “Excellent, here are my further orders. I want this base cleared of any creatures that are in, consider Kel-Lac under complete and total lockdown! Shoot-on-sight orders, for all who resist. Those who are intelligent enough to surrender will be taken for interrogation! I want to know where these things came from, and who sent ‘em here! Ignore everything that occurs off base, however, perimeter guards are free to fire at anything that appears to be a threat, but they SHALL NOT leave the perimeter! Whatever spare radio systems still function, give it to them, ASAP! Also, give out arms and equipment to every single non-essential personnel, along with the cadets, and any other foreign military units on base. With all our non-underground computer systems gone, we’ll have plenty of fighting men and women with nothing better to do! Afterwards, I want them to assemble in the open field by the plane display cul-de-sac! Take the Saudi soldiers on this joint operation that was planned, round them up, and shoot them, along with all those who resist our orders, immediately! The situation is far too dire to let them live, no doubt, the Saudis will ‘try something,’ as their homeland is most certainly going ‘tits up’ as they say. And before you say something about double-crosses, I was in Desert Storm, Gothic Serpent, and did quite some time in the Sahara! ‘This is not my first rodeo,’ as the people here say, and I can say with conviction, that the Middle Easterners cannot be trusted!” (R.M.) “Sir, may I speak freely?” (A.D.) “Permission granted.” (R.M.)“Sir, you’ll be in the ‘ottest water for killing these folks, since the bloody ‘ighway of Death!” (A.D.) “Lieutenant Colonel, by the time the smoke clears, I doubt there will even be a Hague left to prosecute me, much less a Pentagon. We must assume that we are the last bastion of civilization, and that we are now above any authority but our own! This base, this city, is now ours to command and conquer! We will take advantage of our peculiar situation to cleanse this city of all it’s organized ills! Be they dragons, ogres, Mexican cartels, anarchists, communists, or even entire invading armies! This is now ‘our turf’, and here, we shall light the true lamp of ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’! They’ll make us lords for saving them from this now-hostile Earth! No, better than lords, I’ll be Empereur, yes, emperor of the 3rd French Empire!” (R.M) “What in the bleedin’ name of Saint Peter ‘imself are ya talkin’ about! What makes ya think anyone on this base is gonna make you an Emperor, 90% of the people on this base swore an oath to the Yank’s Constitution! Which I must remind you, is specifically meant to make sure that they send people like you to the bottom of the Chesapeake!” “That is a very good question, my dear Scot, and one I have a very good answer for! The power of speeches, monsieur! I told them to assemble everyone to the field, so that I can speak my piece, and if they will not accept what I have to say, I shall step down from this position! I have caught them in a Catch-22! They will accept my terms, or they shall fall apart from inadequate leadership!” (R.M.) “Alright, Andrepont, you bought yerself a chance, but if they don’t like what you ‘ave to say, I won’t save ya from the angry mob.” “Monsieur McAllen, I received top marks in Public Speaking at ‘école secondaire’ and college. I know exactly what I am doing.” /K/-Day T + 13 hours A soccer-style field, bleachers assembled and a podium put up, with a hastily-repaired megaphone on a tripod, right in front of General Andrepont. A crowd of a little over 7,000 are there, sitting, waiting for the speech to arrive. He coughs slightly, chugs half a bottle of water, and proceeds to speak his piece. (Now playing: Theme from Les Misérables by Basil Poledouris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9qlbJDVkfg) “Hello there, and good evening! For those of you who do not know me, I am Brigadier General Pierre Andrepont! The commander of this base, General Brownley, died from an incident caused by the explosion of the missile, which we now know to be an electro-magnetic pulse bomb, that has fried almost all of our electronics. But we shall prevail! By NATO rules of a clear chain-of-command, I am now in command of this facility! Already, we have teams who shall work day and night, to repair what your government did. A government that has abandoned you, left you to die against the dark forces and malicious beings, that have swept across not only this city, but this entire country, and even the world! We, just might be Western civilization’s last stand! We shall regain control over this city, street-by-street, home-by-home. And when the smoke has cleared, and this city is free, we shall re-light freedom’s flame, a flame that no force, natural or supernatural, can ever quench! We have an opportunity, one not seen since the Philippines in the aftermath of the Second World War, a chance to leave those who have killed us by inaction, and strike it on our own! Is this not the fabled Wild West, that cultures all over the Earth speak of in high regards? Is this not the place known throughout the world, where a personne can build a name, a home, even a nation, to free themselves from the shackles of the Old World! Both of our former nations were built upon the same principles of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity! They have failed in this mandate, just as they failed the Philippines then, but we shall not! And if you will have me as your leader, I will use my extensive knowledge of war and peacekeeping, forged in a great many battlefields throughout Africa and the Middle East, to guide you into another golden age! An age where no man or woman, be they from Austin, or Washington, can force you to be, or do something, you do not wish to do! A man in the next state over, a man descended from the same stock as I, once said ‘Every Man A King!’ and that is a promise I make to all who stand by me. And those who do not wish to live in such a place, are free to leave! Fight for us, fight for civilization, and you will receive a reward rivaling the 4th Crusade that sacked mighty Constantinople! A reward that will leave you all as kings and queens! Afterwards, you are still more than free to leave or stay! With the disappearance of many, many civilians, you will be free to have nearly any home here of your choice, any penthouse, any RV, or trailer, that your heart desires! There are almost 10 thousand of us, and this was a city of nearly 2 million! And there are other bases here, that is true, and if they join us, we shall accept them with open arms. If they strike it on their own, we shall respect their sovereignty! But if they choose to stay as pawns of the failed nations of the past, we shall punish them for their unwarranted, unjustified attack upon us! If they wish to represent our betrayers in the Pentagon, then they shall be held as equally responsible! So I ask with humility, yet pride. Are you with me? Will you help me, to build a civilization that will stand the test of time itself! /K/-Day T + 1 day, 11 hours The impromptu ‘throne room’ of First Consul Pierre Andrepont, formerly known as the main office of the 624th Operations Center [Recently-promoted Colonel McAllen enters the room with several files bundled together, held by his right arm, his demeanor and body language much chipper than before] (R.M.) “Sir, I’ve got good news and bad news.” (P.A.) “Give me the bad news first…” (R.M.) “Our attempt at salvaging anything of use from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, and the Southwest Research Institute, have been near-total failures. The SRI had most of their systems fried by the EMP, and if anything useful was left, the SAPD and their NSA bastard pals across the ‘ighway from the TBRI, beat us to them. We lost 12 decent troopers for bloody nuthin’ over there. The TBRI…., well…., you’ll need to read the report to believe it.” [Andrepont reads through the TBRI AAR (after-action report)] (P.A.) “Jésus-Christ et Dieu tout-puissant! On top of all the things gone wrong with this town, a contagious mutation plague, along with several airborne chemical weapons, are running roughshod! Is there anything ELSE, I need to know?” (R.M.) “No, sir, other than our raid on the Wal-Mart norf’ of the TBRI, a complete failure with 4 casualties, that’s all for the bad news. I’ve got Captain Lewis listening in over the radio, he’s awaitin’ responsive orders.” (P.A.) “I want our lines pushed back to Highway 151 and West Commerce Street! Use the concrete barriers as barricades, for protection against….. anything! I authorize shoot-on-sight orders to any of these ‘bio-hazards’, or anyone wearing a SAPD uniform! As of now, I am formally declaring war upon them! Anyone else who comes by, do not fire unless fired upon! We must play the defensive game on this northern front, see if we can lure the creatures northwards, use them to make a buffer zone! And once the TBRI is sufficiently cleared, I want a full assault upon the NSA’s regional facility! Colonel McAllen, organize a stealth unit to quietly seize any data-servers that were untouched by ze pulse, then to ensure that they stay intact after we take over! This may be the most critical part of our plan, if the US government survives this cataclysm, no doubt we will need several forms of leverage, to keep what we have gained. Now, if that is all of the bad news, Colonel, let us move on!” (R.M.) “Alright then. Good news is that our plunderin’ of all the nearby pawn shops and gun stores have been nearly-complete successes, that one Wal-Mart on Ray Ellison and 410 was oddly cleared of shotguns and 6.8 Creedmoor ammunition. Left all the weapons we didn’t need, out in front of the stores, anyone who wants one is free to take em, and we even scored a functionin’ RPG-2 launcher from that Patriot Tactical police equipment store. Most folks in our zone are quivering in their homes, so almost no lootin’, ‘specially after our boys were able to put out those fires that pack of dragons caused. And the ones out and about ‘aven’t bothered any of our troops, most are just going through restaurants and grocery stores looking for food to stockpile, some of ‘em even want to join us, including the ones a tad bit ‘new’ to this, uh, planet. I thought the decision to recruit locals ought to be up to you, sir.” (P.A.) “Let them in, more is always merrier, is it not? Train them a bit, then place them on the front lines of our seizure of those NSA servers. I think they will be very pleased to be able to take part in the destruction of such a hated organisation. I shall deem it ‘Operation: Circuit-Breaker.’ Anything else to report?” (R.M.) “The expedition you sent out to Hondo and Castroville? Well, we engaged 2 squads of National Guardsmen on Interstate 90, right before exitin’ city limits. They wouldn’t come quietly, 2 minor injuries on our end, both of their squads were completely wiped. Managed to take a M2 Bradley off of them, we suppose it was being transported to, or from, Fort Sam Houston for repairs to the turret. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, please, read the report.” [Andreport reads the report, much of it is written in French, making a note to tell one of his men to translate it into English for the sake of the rest of his subordinates. He summarizes it to McAllen.] (P.A.) “Elves. A sizable tribe of Elves, who speak French, of all places and things. Treated my Dragoons as peers, sent an envoy with you, to meet with me. This tribe, which has taken over 2 towns to our west, and the surrounding area, appear to be equivalents to High Elves, such as in ‘Le Seigneur des Anneaux.’ Dragonnes! Send the envoy in! Colonel, take the furthest seat back, if the envoy attacks me, do please open fire.” [The envoy slowly enters the room, a black bag over his head, all Andrepont could make of him was his pointed ears poking from the bag, along with well-tanned skin and no shirt, identifying him as a male.] (P.A) {I apologize for the bag, you must understand that it is standard procedure to not show the interior of our installation to strangers, for the sake of maintaining security. But you may take it off now. Would you care for some water, a small appetizer, maybe?} (Envoy) {Thanks be to you, I will have some water. But I ate before coming here, no need for food. You are the First Consul, ruler of the new lands to the east?} (P.A.) {Indeed, I am First Consul, but I do not rule ALL the eastern lands. I wish to make that clear, for the sake of honesty. Nothing good could come from lying to you. I barely control a quarter of this city, I am too far extended on my southern flank. As we speak, I am defending my lands on nearly all sides. On the northern flank, opposition from a rival nation, and the eastern flank, from local marauders and militias. And then there is you and your people to the west. I have no quarrel with you. My desire is to take this city, then expand to the southeast, where a great ocean lies, and my nation will then be capable of true autarky.} (Envoy) {A bold goal, such mighty ambition! You strike me as a leader who has plans within plans, wheels within wheels. There can be peace between ourselves, as we have no interest in your lands, we are quite pleased with what we have already taken, and should we decide to expand, the prisoners and free humans in our towns have shown us that there is far more land to the west, where nothing exists that can be a serious threat to us. You mentioned a rival nation to the north, do you suppose they would be a threat to us as well?} (P.A.) {Most certainly, as you can see on this map, here is where we are, and this green line to the southwest, is the border that they claim to be rightfully theirs. But I believe in the right-by-conquest, and no doubt, they will do everything in their power to conquer both of us. I humbly request that we ally, to remove this mutual threat to ourselves. As you may have found out by now, this world has weapons that are far more capable than the ones in the world that you came from. We have more than enough, to share and trade with your people, and I would be honored to send advisors, to teach you how to use them.} (Envoy) {We would graciously accept your assistance, but we have already learned how to use the more basic ones that we have captured from hunters, and soldiers from a land called America, which is what I assume is our northern enemy. Our sorcerers have mind-peeling spells that gleaned the knowledge we needed, to learn how to use and operate many things of your mechanized world. I must admit, I was not entirely truthful to your subordinates. Let me reintroduce myself, I am King Fyoniel, of the Elven people of Malgiers. My father was killed only a week ago, as we were undergoing a fighting retreat from our home city, besieged and then conquered by an army of Dwarven barbarians. Our mages and sorcerers had decided to attempt a mass teleportation spell, which would have been much more difficult, under normal circumstances. But due to our worlds merging, the barriers to these sorts of things became much easier. With this world’s ley-lines being newly-born, it was trivial for a large group of magic-wielders to send over 12,000 elves across the great gulf of the dimensional void. We would have materialized right in the city, but there were several disturbances that our sorcerers sensed, and thus we sent ourselves further westwards.} (P.A) {Then may I proudly welcome you to the Third French Empire, King Fyoniel. There were many banks and private collections filled with gold and silver, now within my lands. I shall gift you a great portion of them, along with a large reserve of standard American military rifles that we’ve captured, as a gesture of good-will between our peoples. However, I also have a seperate offer, that I will not judge nor punish you for not accepting.} (Fyoniel) {Twelve thousand thanks upon you, what offer do you have in mind? A grand alliance, perhaps? Mutual aid for conquest of surrounding lands, mayhaps? Whatever your terms, all I ask in compromise, is that all dwarven and gnomish people are to be handed over to us, where we shall have their kind, ten-million-curses upon them, executed immediately!} (P.A) {That is precisely what I was to offer! And your counter-terms are more than acceptable! At the center of this city lies an ancient fort, and I truly believe that it would be a great demoralizer to America, to fly our flags over that fort they hold so dear, its legendary history is one of America’s greatest symbols of resistance and indivisibility. It shall be an announcement to the world that their vaunted homeland security is nothing more than a myth! Other revolts and invasions will spring up throughout their lands, forcing them to divert more and more of their forces and resources from fighting us! Help me in conquering the rest of this city, and we shall assist you in conquering the western lands afterwards, a mutual defensive AND offensive pact! The fleur-de-lis shall soon hang from the Alamo. And once again, after over three centuries, it shall fly supreme over Texas!} (Now Playing: Nung River, from Apocalypse Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_MIaZ4qRSs)