Chapter CV: Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma - Part 1

31 Oct 2301 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

After the air had settled around camp and all the pieces were moving to assemble for an all-out assault on the Imperial compound at daybreak Bremer went to coordinate his efforts with Colonel Kang. Kang in essence had become the base commander while Bremer was the field operations commander and since Bremer's plan would require virtually emptying their headquarters of all combat ready personnel he was obligated to get Col. Kang's approval before he could proceed.

While en route to the concert venue where Kang was waiting for him Bremer ran into Sobieski on her way back to the ambulance to resume her post by Major Han's side.

"The wounded are stable and Tae-yon's working as fast as she can to get them back in action. I've got people looking over the vehicles and I'll get to work on them in the morning so long as we have the parts I need." Lyndsey reported.

"Very good. Very good. If it's just cosmetic damage I'll keep the banged up ones for tomorrow. With the others I'd like you to check with the workshop and see about getting some of that mech armor plating put onto the hood and other areas of the more valuable vehicles to help repel small arms fire. Something to look into for the long term." Bremer replied.

"Won't that slow us down big time?" Lyndsey asked.

"We're already slowed down by all the stalled out crap that's clogging up the roads. We'll hardly notice the difference aside from maybe being able to shrug off a few shots without catastrophic damage."

"I'll see what I can do." Lyndsey told him.

"So do we have a target for tomorrow?" Sobieski asked as they walked along together.

"The short answer is no. I've checked with Hong-gi and his group. They've seen some of the Empire's hideouts but they're not sure which ones are still in use or which one the Emperor himself might be in." Bremer told her.

"What about Jin-shil? Does she know where their main base is?" asked Sobieski.

"She doesn't know. They were in the process of relocating when she got her opportunity to escape. For all any of us know they've relocated again since then." Bremer replied.

"She's given us a list of their safe houses which could be of some use if they had returned to any of them." Bremer continued.

"We could compare her list with the locations which the other defectors are familiar with and see if any of them match up." Sobieski suggested.

"That we could. The guys Chico is helping bring back here might know something also." Bremer said.

"Hopefully. In the mean time I'll get with Min-ho and see what he knows." Lyndsey said.

"Right after I check on the Major real quick," she added.

"Carry on then Sergeant." Bremer told her. The two of them then went about their business in different directions.

When Bremer entered into the main office of the venue complex Kang was seated behind his desk having a late night cup of campfire brewed coffee. Having just been awoken not long ago he was still dressed comfortably in his bedtime attire and still mentally lost somewhere between sleep and the waking world. Chang-woo was seated in a chair on the side of the desk looking over sketches brought in by the scouts earlier today to pass the time until he and Kang could both retire back to their respective bunks.

"I see you've returned mostly unharmed Colonel." Kang commented as Bremer shut the door behind him.

Bremer nodded his head upward and sighed after turning to face Kang before posting at parade rest in front of his desk.

"Let's have it then, your report?" Kang inquired.

"As planned we attempted to negotiate peace with the resistance cell operating across southern Seoul. Their leader refused to consent to any kind of mutually beneficial arrangement between our two organizations. Furthermore, he was unwilling to permit us to continue operating independently and proceeded to order his forces to fire upon us. At that time we fled southward where we were aided by a new group of defectors which apparently had positive dealings with other surviving army units. After we defeated the pursuing force and a contingent of aliens south of Anyang we proceeded to return here via the long route." Bremer reported.

"Were you followed?" inquired Col. Kang.

"No sir. We were thoroughly certain we had lost both the Imperial fighters and the aliens before we entered Seongnam proper." Bremer replied.

"Did you give the enemy leader any indication of where we have been operating during your negotiations?" Kang asked.

"No. I'm not that foolish sir. To my knowledge he believes that we are based out of Seoul. For that reason I'm suggesting we evacuate the civilians from Gangnam station at daybreak." Bremer answered.

"Very well. See to it that the civilians from Gangnam District are brought here but take care not to let yourselves be noticed. I've already got to worry about aliens knocking on our door here I don't want any more of our problems finding their way home." Kang told Bremer.

"The new defectors, I'm assuming you brought them here?" Col. Kang asked.

"Yes sir." Bremer replied.

Kang raised an eyebrow cautiously "You're sure we can trust them?" he asked.

"Absolutely. What they did for us was a death sentence for them. They can't go back after that." Bremer replied.

"These other army units you spoke of. Might you or our new friends know the current status and location?" Chang-woo interjected, posing a question of his own.

"Unfortunately no. Our allies believe they were likely to have been destroyed in the recent bombing campaign against the city. Their last contact with anyone outside their own group was several days before that so even if they are still out there they could have moved a considerable distance during that time. At the present we don't have the resources or manpower to go looking for them at the present time without any further details concerning their whereabouts." Bremer reported.

"I see. So what do you propose to be our strategy concerning these human renegades moving forward?" Kang inquired.

"I suggest taking immediate action against them. I've been provided with information concerning their leadership and am expecting our allies to have some knowledge of their whereabouts. We need to go in with overwhelming force and hit them fast and hard before they can hit us. If we can take out their leadership and those who would support them then the rest of the organization will fall apart. From what I gather a fair chunk of their army is comprised of forced conscripts who can't be very loyal beyond the threat of violence coming to themselves or their loved ones. When I met their leader he talked tough as if he has all of them under his thumb but from what I've learned since our encounter there are serious cracks within this organization. If we can cut off the heads of this snake the others would likely join us or at least stay out of our way. Also if we can win ourselves converts from the uncommitted among their ranks we're liable to gain a sizeable fleet of armored vehicles replete with heavy weapons that we can use in our strike against Incheon and in crossing the river." Bremer advised.

"I would exercise caution if they are as well armed as you claim them to be. From what I heard from Tae-yon we took some heavy losses during that last firefight; shouldn't we wait and tend to our wounds first?" Col. Kang asked.

"We don't have time to wait for the wounded to come back to active duty. We'll leave a minimal detachment behind to see to their safety but we really have to move now if we're going to do this." Bremer insisted.

"Why the hurry?" asked Chang-woo.

"The recent alien attacks had to have broken up Kwang-su's forces nearby so for the time being he is vulnerable. Like I said before he replenished his forces with soldiers of uneven quality and dubious loyalty. We took a beating yes but not as bad as they did. They've only took losses, and we've just got about thirty new friends to fight on our side. It's really our best chance if we strike now. The aliens might be cool with ignoring us and giving us our space but when dealing with humans you know that's not the way we operate. They're going to start looking for us and eventually they will find us. Once they do they aren't going to stop coming for us until we're dead. If we let him reform his lines we won't stand a chance that is why we have to strike quickly." Bremer explained.

"I see your point Colonel. My only concern is the defense of our headquarters. If we pull troops out of Gwanju and that line collapses the aliens could overrun us in a matter of minutes." Kang replied.

"We're not going to pull men from Gwanju. We should have enough between our Seongnam, Yongin and Seoul units to make our assault. Gwanju's the only location where we are getting significant offense from the aliens so we should be fine with the other stations running with skeleton crews." Bremer said.

"Very well. I'll authorize the mission." Kang agreed.

"Promise me you won't be out there any longer than you have to. It's going to get nervous around here with so many spiders around and not enough guns to point at them." Kang told Bremer before he dismissed himself.

Bremer laughed a little "You have my word sir. Don't fret over it; experience has shown us that the fewer people in an area the less interest the bugs seem to show in it. You'll probably be safer while we're away." Bremer said.

"Now if you would excuse me gentlemen, I've got a war to fight. You two should probably get back to bed. I can see those dark circles under your eyes starting to take a toll on you." Bremer nonchalantly dismissed himself from the debriefing and left Kang and Chang-woo to once again retire for the night.

Afterwards Bremer gathered up all of his squad leaders that were present inside the venue to lay out a plan of attack for the following day's mission. He had also assembled the leadership of both Hong-gi and Min-ho's groups to assist them. The soldiers were restless, anxious and tired. Most of them just wanted to get this over with.

"Alright now, we're just short Chico. Once he and our allies get back we can begin." Bremer said aloud.

As if on cue Vargas, Seo-hyun and Seung-hwa entered into the venue after checking in with the guards.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Vargas announced.

"Excellent, then let's get to it. I'm sure all of you would like to get a nap in before we die." Bremer joked.

"Where's Sun-mi?" Min-ho asked with a deep concern fearing that she had perished rescuing the rest of their group.

"She's off with her sister taking care of our wounded. She's fine." Seo-hyun informed him.

"That's good." Min-ho said, not directly admitting he was worried about her.

Bremer, Vargas, Ji-hwan, So-hyun, Lyndsey and the leaders of both parties of Imperial defectors now called the meeting to order to determine the best strategy to nullify the threat of the Empire. Among them was Moon-soo, the surgeon who had recently defected to their side. Having been in close proximity to Kwang-su as the personal physician for several of the elite members of the Empire, Moon-soo presumably had greater knowledge of the Empire's current activities. In truth he was the only one among them that had insider access to the nerve center of the Empire in recent days.

"I found someone that knows where the son of a bitch is." Lyndsey told Bremer as she introduced the surgeon.

"Then spill it, where are they?" Bremer asked.

A street map was laid out over the table between them and the surgeon stepped forward after being nudged by Lyndsey to proceed.

The surgeon stuttered as he began to speak in a soft voice.

"Speak up man; they can't hear you in the back." Bremer told him.

The surgeon went on in a firm but shaky voice as he fingered the location on the map where Kwang-su was believed to be hiding. "They're holed up in an underground mall in Gangnam District. The area looks totally destroyed so it is off the aliens' radar." the surgeon informed them.

"I know the place he is talking about. I was there for a couple days. It was just a backup armory then and mostly empty; it wasn't anything too important. "Hong-gi remarked.

"They've made it important after the bombs fell. I was patching up the important people hurt in the bombing there up until they sent me out with those guys." Moon-soo said.

"What can you tell me about it?" Bremer inquired.

"There's only one accessible entrance into the mall through the side of what remains of this parking garage." Hong-gi explained.

"There goes the idea for a sneak attack. So we just have to smash down the front door and go in guns blazing I guess." Vargas commented.

"It's very well defended so a direct assault would be ill advised. There's just one straight approach in with the area in front cleared out to give the guards a clean shot from one of many strong points in the wreckage. Even if we succeed our losses will almost guarantee our total demise the next time the aliens hit us." Hong-gi warned.

"We could just ambush them in the field; lure them out like we did before. Take them out bit by bit that way." Vargas suggested.

"Do they have a usual route or do you have any knowledge of what operations they may be undertaking in the near future? Any idea when and where these guys are going to be outside their castle?" Bremer asked looking to the group that had most recently been part of the Empire's tactical side.

"Unfortunately not and now that they are already aware of us they would have adapted their battlefield tactics to account for our involvement." answered Min-ho.

"They won't fall for the same tricks again." added Min-ji.

"Given the extent of the alien airstrikes I would assume that they are going to be hunkered down in that fortress a while before we see any major offensives where any significant numbers of them are going to be exposed. They're thinking about the aliens too." Hong-gi added.

"Yeah, and those crawly bastards up their game exponentially the longer you press on them. If was them I'd keep my head down too." Vargas commented.

"By that time we would have lost the initiative." Bremer lamented turning away briefly and thinking to himself.

"You said its underground right? Now that might give them a defensive advantage, especially from the air but it also has an inherent weakness built in. In order to live down there they have to have air coming in from the outside. They might have CO2 scrubbers that'll let them stay down there longer but they're going to need power to run the ventilation fans or to sustain electrolysis, if such a system even exists and is functional, in case they're sealed in during a bombardment. Now they're going to have to have their generators exhaust to the outside or they'll be breathing in the fumes. We have enough explosives why don't we just seal off all the ventilation shafts, plug up the exhaust ports and wait until they all suffocate?" Bremer proposed.

"Sir, wait a minute. Is that really the kind of people we want to be?" Vargas objected.

"They wouldn't think twice before doing the same to us." Bremer said in his defense.

"He's right, and they'd enjoy the hell out of doing it." Min-ji concurred.

"What about all the innocent women they have held down there against their will? I'm assuming that's an acceptable level of collateral damage." Vargas protested.

"We were just talking about how there were still good people with the Empire. You do this you'd be killing them along with the bad." Da-hee concurred.

"If it's us or them we don't really have a choice." Bremer retorted.

"Kwang-su kills anyone he doesn't have a need for so how many innocents do you even suppose he has down there?" Seo-hyun asked.

"Probably more than you think. A lot of people would lie to get on board just to save their own skin." Da-hee replied.

"And the women, Jin-shil even told us they have their own harems for each of the big wigs down there." Vargas added.

"Chico, I get it. We're not looking at the most ethical way of resolving this issue but it is the quickest way. In case you've forgotten the Empire isn't the real enemy out there. We have to get this mess out of the way fast and with the fewest losses on our side so we can get back to fighting the aliens." Bremer said stopping Vargas before he could object again.

"I agree. Kwang-su's intransigence is playing right into the aliens' hands. If we spend too much of our time and resources battling this guy in a protracted struggle it's just going to allow the aliens to tighten their grip on the Earth making them that much harder to dislodge. Every day we wait our potential allies in other countries are getting killed off as well, if we're going to contribute to their struggle we've got to be strong enough ourselves." Hong-gi concurred.

"And arrive in a timely fashion. We break out of Korea after Russia and China have been turned into spider central we're screwed, especially if it only got that way because they were short a handful of guys at that one critical moment." added Min-ho.

"You can also kiss your dreams of ever seeing the 'States again goodbye at that point." Bremer told Vargas.

"Besides if you have to justify it to yourself think of this, when this is all over do you want to have to make compromises with people like that when we rebuild the world? People with no regard for human life whatsoever and treat others like their property. Might as well get rid of those types now so we don't go straight back into fighting each other when the aliens are gone. I don't know about you but the new world I'm fighting for has no place for warlords and tyrants." Hong-gi turned to Vargas and said.

"You're actually starting to sound a little like him there." Bremer warned Hong-gi in a low deep-voiced whisper.

Though he agreed with Hong-gi's sentiment he was cautious to avoid becoming the next Emperor-type figure. This wasn't about reshaping the Earth to conform to anyone's particular desires for an ideal system; this was only about getting the aliens off their planet. Humanity could peacefully come to terms with how they were to divide up the land and live with each other after it was all said and done. That part shouldn't even come into question now according to Bremer.

"Forgive me if misspoke, I may have gotten a little too passionate there." Hong-gi replied to Bremer.

"Differences of opinion aside we have to deal with these guys now." declared Bremer.

"I'm in." Min-ji said.

"Me too. It ain't pretty but but it gets the job done." Min-ho concurred.

"If it's the only way to stop them from hurting more people." Moon-soo reluctantly agreed.

"Do it." Ji-hwan said. Those bastards were responsible for the death of his best friend, they could all choke, they deserved it.

Hong-gi nodded in agreement while Seo-hyun, So-hyun and Da-hee held their piece. Da-bin was hesitant and ultimately did not show any sign of support for the measure.

"You're going to do what you have to do sir but I can't condone this." Lyndsey shamefully told Bremer.

"Chico I need you on board with this. Are you in?" Bremer sincerely asked Vargas.

"I'm in." Vargas sighed reluctantly.

He inwardly hoped that God would leave an asterisk by this when he was called to account for all his sins. He certainly was filled with regret prior to even committing the atrocity. His conscience wasn't comfortable with the plan but he was out voted. Being sore or half-hearted about it would do nothing but dampen morale and hurt the greater cause. Vargas knew they couldn't draw this fight out any longer and I couldn't think of another idea to take the Imperial leadership out with one fell swoop.

"So bury them alive, that's the plan? Vargas asked trying to mask his cynicism. "Yeah." Bremer nodded.

"Unless anyone has any better ideas?" Bremer put the question out there just in case.

"We have an alien nuke?" suggested Lyndsey

"You'll still get the same amount of collateral with that and hell no. We are not wasting that on some wannabe Kim Jong-un." Bremer quickly shot down the proposal.

There was silence followed by a few quiet grumblings between some of the soldiers gathered around the group.

"Maybe we can draw them out some other way. They won't come to us but they do have to come out of their hole sometime. We just set ourselves up and wait. When they come out we corner them and then we strike. We don't have to kill them all; we only have to kill Kwang-su and his empire will fall apart. Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies with it." Da-hee spoke up and suggested.

"That would take too long and we'd be leaving the base undefended for far too long. The aliens might have turned a blind eye towards Seongnam once they assumed we were pacified but we can't just tempt them with a soft target for days on end and expect nothing to happen. Besides, Kwang-su told me he had legions of ideological zealots that would rise and take up his mantle should he fall." Bremer told her.

Though Jin-shil had confirmed Kwang-su's followers were not quite legion if they didn't get every last it would be no different than not getting a single one.

"He's full of shit." Da-hee replied.

"I met a few of his inner circle once and yeah these guys are true believers but they each have an ego second only to Kwang-su himself. I promise you that before Kwang-su's body is cold his captains will be fighting amongst themselves for control of what he created." Da-hee told Bremer.

"Some of these people we could make deals with. We could put a minimal effort behind them to make sure they come out on top and when the dust settles we have a larger army to fight the aliens with." Da-hee elaborated.

"My sister's got a point. Not everyone in the Empire is bad, even those you might disagree with aren't all as ruthless as Kwang-su. I fought with them, now I fight for you. I'm sure others will do the same." Da-bin joined in.

"I say drag him out and feed him to the spiders. They're as pissed off at his asshattery as we are. As long as this Kwang-su guy is dead it's all the same to me." So-hyun made a more or less irrelevant remark in support of the new plan.

"What do you say sir? We could come out of this with fewer men or wait a little longer and come out of this with more people behind our banner. Human beings are the most valuable resource we have. We can pound out more bullets, bombs and blades to throw at the aliens but we can't make more people to carry them," Vargas pleaded with Bremer jumping on board with Da-hee and Da-bin.

"Actually we can make more people you know. They might not teach you that in Catholic school but there's this thing where you. ." Bremer sarcastically started to respond to Vargas before he was interrupted.

"I know about that sir and you know what I mean. We can't whip a fresh batch of grown men fast enough for it to make any difference in this fight." Vargas clarified his statement.

"I was just messing with you Chico, I know what you meant." Bremer laughed.

Though Bremer felt the plan had some serious holes in it the potential to bolster their ranks made him give it some serious consideration. The manpower issue was a real concern for the 4th Korea. They already had to use teenagers as soldiers and children to make bullets. There were some even discussing arming the older children for battle. If they could double or triple their numbers just by waiting a little longer it was worth it to Bremer. The aliens just had to give them the time and the space to do so and that was also a real concern.

"We'll do it your way then." Bremer consented. "If and only if we can do it in a reasonable amount of time." Bremer said to qualify his statement.

"Now how are we going to go about drawing them out?" Bremer asked.

"I don't think we can draw him out, we just have to wait. He's not going to be fooled twice." Min-ho said.

"I still say we blow the damn thing." Hong-gi remarked.

"We still might have to do that." Bremer said.

"We'll wait twelve hours for them to come out once we've set up. While we're waiting we'll rest up in a secure location nearby so we're fresh when we have to be. If they don't show by then we move in and blow the place at dusk." Bremer offered a compromise strategy to which the group gave, with some reservation, almost unanimous consent.

"If we're going to be holding position in shitstorm central we're going to be exposed to the aliens as well. They aren't quite as kind in Seoul as they are out here in the burnt out burbs. Chico, I need you to go around and cover our eastern flank. Screen us from the spiders; the Empire's not the only bad news in this town." Bremer turned to Vargas and said.

"Wait, on second thought how about you lead the bugs straight into their camp?" Bremer suggested, snapping his fingers at the idea. "That right there is how we're going to flush these Imperial sons of bitches out." he exclaimed.

"Ok so Chico, you're going to lead a light motorized platoon into the spider's nest between Gangdong and Songpa districts draw all of those little bastards out and get them to follow you. Try to buy us some extra time to get into position but don't overdo it. If you feel pressured go ahead and feign a rout and bring those eight legged freaks straight into papa bear's den. When you get to the Imperial base you'll break off and we'll take over to lead the bugs right up to the front door. That's going to be the trickiest part so we need our top riders to charge in without getting hit." Bremer began to lay out the plan.

"That'll be me. I'm probably the best rider you've got." Ji-hwan volunteered. So-hyun looked at him with a level of concern when he said that.

"Once the Imperial guards start popping rounds off I want you to turn back and get out of there. The aliens should be drawn in to Kwang-su's place at that time. If Kwang-su decides to sally forth from his castle to meet the bugs head on that's when we'll strike as a whole. If he doesn't then the aliens are going to cut us the hole we need to get into that place and start knocking off his officers." Bremer continued.

"We'll only have a limited amount of time to get this done before the bugs are upon us from all sides. Once we take that first shot the clock starts. It'd be preferable to get them outside but if it looks like it's not going to happen we better move in while we can. We'll have to be quick and thorough because once their air power shows up we're going to have to bug out." Bremer cautioned the group.

"So when they do come out how are we going to counter their armor? We don't have enough heavy vehicles in our arsenal to match their strength and we can't count on the scout walkers to do it all for us." Hong-gi asked.

"They're low on fuel for the armored vehicles. That was one thing they really had pressed upon their tax base for lately. The value was high enough to them that I would assume their need was dire. I wouldn't speculate they would deploy them against us unless they really felt we were that much of a threat." Seo-hyun mentioned.

Bremer and his advisors planned out the rest of their tactics then went to turn in for the remaining hours of the night. Bremer and Lyndsey walked side by side out of the building towards the hospital after Vargas and the others split off to their bunks.

"Lyndsey, since I know it is going to be impossible to pry you from the Major's side I'm going to need you to shore up our defenses here while I'm gone in case the bugs get any wild ideas to come after us." Bremer instructed Lyndsey.

"I'll get with the guys from the workshop and have them drop whatever they're doing and help you out." he went on to say.

"We're going to be leading with our chin out down here so I'm going to be a little nervous. Take care of the place for me alright?" Bremer asked her.

"I assure you it'll be standing when you come back sir." Lyndsey pledged.

She then returned to the ambulance where she reclined on her bench to rest while Bremer went into the hospital to check on the wounded and bed down in one of the unused upper floor rooms. Needless to say no one in the 4th Korea slept well, if at all that night. Tomorrow was a date bound for bloodshed and every one of them knew it. It seemed as if their greatest battle as a single cohesive unit to date wouldn't be against aliens but against their own kind.