Chapter 3 - Decisions
The next morning, Admiral Haris called the entire base down to the launch deck for what he called an address on "future affairs". Everyone on base was required to attend. The Admiral had a platform set up with a symbol on it that no one recognized. The platform itself stood about 10 feet in the air, giving off the feeling that the Admiral would be giving the address from very high up, and therefore, asserting his dominance over the base. Mathison noticed it immediately, and made sure to point it out to both Henry and Michael. As the rank and file shuffled in, the Admiral waltzed in, looking very smug and self confident. He gazed out over the two hundred soldiers he had in front of him and allowed them to gaze up at him momentarily before beginning his speech.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the HAWC. We find ourselves in a bizzare situation. The world has been brought to heel, our enemies have been supressed, and the might of the American Empire has been shown to all that refused to believe in it." The Admiral paused for the applause that came afterwards. "Make no mistake, we are far from completing our objectives." Muffled confusion came from the crowd. "We have recieved intel that China is preparing a contingancy plan to counteract our HAWC's to prevent us from defending ourselves. This is intolerable and unacceptable." He glanced down with a look of disgust on his face. "Britain and Jeruselem are funding the project as well. It appears to be a joint effort to neutralize us."
Mathison nudged his collegues as if to say `told ya`. Haris's voice continued to fill the deck. "The President has carefully considered and weighed his options in this endeavor, on just how to approach it. None of the three nations are aware that we have this intelligence, so we needed to find a way to proceed in a way that will allow us to neutralize these nations without starting world war three. The former territory of Nevada is going to be seceeding from the American Empire, and through this, we will launch several attacks into the territories to prevent them from developing the technology that will neutralize your MT's."
The deck fell dead silent. Everyone here understood what was being said, but what they didn't understand was why they would be attacking nations that were friendly with the Americans. "As for us," Haris continued, "we will be on our own. We won't be recieving logistical support from the Empire, however we will still be siphoned intel, that will be hand delivered to us, as to prevent any possible communication leaks. We are about to unify the entire world as one nation of solidarity. All peoples will come to recognize our president as the rightful leader of the world."
Mathison was almost elated inside, but didn't show it. That fool. That overambitious fool. There is no way the president sanctioned this. He's staging a coup and is getting everyone to go along with it, or so he thinks, through a noble cause. This couldn't be more perfect. Thank you, Haris, you just filled in the last little bit of my plan. Everyone else looked aghast at what was being suggested. For the first time in world history, someone was talking about conquering the entire planet. The only difference was that this time, there was literally nothing that could stop the man from wiping out everything with his Massive Tanks, should he choose to do so.
The Admiral carried on a bit longer about honor, duty, and respect, as well as nonchalantly stating that the base was in a full communications blackout, but wrapped things up fairly quickly afterwards, and departed back to his office, leaving approximately two hundred very confused people on the deck, wondering what had really just happened. Mathison decided it was time to talk to all of the pilots in the battalion. Haris had lost his mind, and now was the time to make his move.
"HAWC Pilots, meet in briefing room Delta immediately," he announced, "We have many things to discuss regarding the dawn of the new world order. Be there in 10 minutes. Dismissed." Mathison waved both Smith and Wallace over. "It's time," he whispered, "they're going to need to know what's going to happen once we get our move order."
Both of the commanders nodded and immediately took off for the briefing room, and Mathison sprinted towards his quarters. He needed to gather his papers and go over his plan one more time to ensure there were no holes in it before addressing the pilots. As he reached his quarters, Admiral Haris was waiting for him, and greeted him rather whimsically. "Joe, you seem like you're in a hurry."
Goddamnit, just what I need. "Yessir, I am. I've called a briefing for the battalion that will, hopefully, prepare them for the events to come." Not necessarily lying, just leaving a few things out. At the very least, it will appear sincere.
Haris opened his hands. "What do you think of my plan, Mathison? Rather ingenious if I do say so myself."
Joe decided to fiegn a little ignorance. "I thought this was the plan devised by the President, sir?"
"Oh come on Mathison, you know better than that. The President is incredibly shortsighted and can't see the obvious threats to national security. So I'm being forced to step things up to compensate for his lack of initiative. Things will play out just fine in the end."
"Yes, I'm sure they will sir."
"Oh, one other thing, Lancer."
Joe paused, "Sir?"
With the secession from the Empire, we're going to be forced to look for other means of revanue. Please inform your pilots to be on the lookout for vital resources, and limit collateral damage so we can reap the spoils. We've got one last shipment coming in from the defense department that should secure us for three months without additional requirements, however, past that, we'll be on our own. Also, I've discovered something you might want to address sooner, rather than later..."
Haris handed him a manilla folder with the words Classified USAF: Samantha Ruthers splattered across the front of it. "She needs to be eliminated as soon as possible. Inside you'll see the reasons why. Pilots are replacable. Remember that. Just make sure she's not inside her MT when you erase her, we don't want to have to replace that machine."
Mathison was fuming on the inside. So, the MT's are really the only thing you care about, are they? "It will happen, sir. If you would please excuse me, I need to read this, get some things from my quarters, and brief the battalion."
Haris nodded and walked off.
After Haris was out of sight, he opened the folder, and was a little surprised at what he saw. This makes way too much sense. Everything makes sense. Goddamnit, no wonder she's nuts.
Mathison quickly gathered his things, and took off at a dead sprint towards the briefing room. By the time he'd arrived, all of the pilots were seated around the table, waiting for him to show up. Psycho was even looking calm and collected today, and it even looked like she was going to be paying attention. That's good, I don't want to out her in front of everyone, so hopefully she'll pick up on the more subtle hints. The pilots noticed him entering the room and quickly sat down and went silent, waiting for their boss to address them.
Lancer began distrubuting folders to each of the eleven pilots in front of him, but made sure Psycho recieved the folder Haris had given him, underneath the one that outlined his plan, of course. As the pilots began to go over the folders, they started looking up at him, unable to comprehend what they were reading. Mathison made sure each one of them were going to follow the rules. "Pilots. Do you understand the very first line of the briefing protocal?" If anyone was listening into the briefing, and he was sure the Admiral would be, this was absolutely key, as the first line read: `The briefing you're about to get is a ruse. You will disregard everything that is about to be said by me, and read the briefing in this folder instead.
He looked around the room, and one after the other, the pilots nodded an affirmation, all except psycho, who was now reading the second folder she'd been handed. Very slowly, she looked over at Lancer, with a look of terror, who was sure to look at her, and make a reinforcing gesture. She wasn't buying it, and stood up, getting ready to leave... this wasn't good. "Senior Pilot Samantha Ruthers sit your ass down right now or so help me god, everyone on this base is going to get filled in."
She sat down very quickly, avoiding eye contact from everyone in the room. That got her attention. She'll play ball... for now.
The Battalion Commander then went through with his mock briefing, outlining different targets of opportunity, as well as targets that needed to be neutralized for strategic purposes. He made sure to add in Haris's request, and made it sound extra bloodthirsty and necessary. He figured the extra enthusiasm would clear any suspicion the Admiral had about dissent inside the pilot ranks. When Mathison was finished outlining the Admirals plans to neutralize the other three nations, he asked if there were any questions. He knew there would be. Each pilot was given a question to ask if they agreed with what they were reading inside the folder. And all of them did... all but one... who just sat in silence. An alarm went off in everyone's head.
"Pilot, please reiterate your name and rank."
The lone pilot looked over. "Pilot Jenos Idallian, third HAWC squadron, recon."
Mathison nodded. "Everyone here, please take your folders back to your quarters and study them. Very, very carefully. Commit them to memory, and then discard them into the base incinerator. We have to be sure that the deck personel, as well as the others on the base do not catch wind of what is about to happen."
The pilots began to stand up, and shuffle off. "Smith, Ruthers, Wallace, and Idallian, remain behind."
All four looked at each other and retook their seats. "Smith and Wallace first. Things are in order. Do you see any problems arising from your end with regards to how the missions will go?"
Omni sat back and grinned, "Loads. But those can always be dealt with on the spot. Don't worry Commander, I have faith." Thriller just shot him a thumbs up.
"Alright, you two are dismissed."
They both rose and left, in very good spirits. Micheal even gave his buddy a playful little punch on the shoulder, which caused him to stumble and nearly faceplant into the door on his way out.
Mathison turned back towards the two remaining pilots. "Idallian. I noticed you didn't have any questions during the briefing. Could you elaborate why that is for me?"
The pilot stared back. "Sir, respectfully, I'm not entirely convinced it would be any different."
Mathison nodded. "That is why it's called a leap of faith, Jenos." He paused for a moment, looking for a way to word it that wouldn't alarm any observers. "The world is heading towards a very bad place, and we're the only ones in a unique place to do anything about it. Righting the injustices of the world is a responsibility that we alone are mandated to undertake. In the face of evil, we are required to be good. Will things be different? Absolutely. Do I know how everything is going to play out? No. I don't believe that a legitmate plan could be made to prepare that far in advance. Plans are only written to be rewritten later, after they've become obsolete."
The pilot seemed to accept that response. "Sir, with all due respect. What is the point in secceeding from the American Empire, only to rejoin it later?"
Mathison cheered on the inside, that was the pilots coded question of agreement. "Well, it gives us the ability to move without restriction, and take care of things in a way the Admiral sees fit. If we're free to move without restriction, we're not limited by local laws, nor are we limited by the current rules of engagement."
Idallian stood and saluted. "Sir. Permission to be dismissed. I have studying to do."
Mathison shot back a salute. "Dismissed, Pilot."
The pilot tore out of the room at almost rocketlike speeds, obviously eager to get busy going over his paperwork.
Psycho was sitting still, silent, staring intently at the table. The only thing she'd said during the entire briefing was the coded question, which was half-hearted and very monotone. Mathison decided it was time to put her at ease. "So, you've got yourself an interesting record. Who would have known that the illigitimate child of one of the most notorious Chinese-American double agents would have managed to get this far inside our ranks without raising a single flag."
The words that came from her lips were very short and cracked. "Due respect sir, I'm not my father."
Mathison nodded slightly. "But the family ties go quite a distance back. It seems your family is one of traitors, dating all the way back to your oldest ancestors in ancient China. I'm not a believer of the phrase `apple doesn't fall far from the tree` but in your case, it would seem it's an orchard of history that lies beind you."
Upon hearing this, Psycho drew her sidearm and just stared at it momentarily. After hesitating, she put it on the table and slid it towards Mathison. "Get it over with, I know what's going to happen."
Mathison picked up the sidearm, and guagued it. It was loaded, and live. "Stand up Pilot." She did. "Do you want to see it coming, or do you want it from behind?"
Again, she hesitated, as if she couldn't honestly believe this was happening. "I'm a big girl, commander. I've never looked away from death before, might as well keep the trend alive." She chuckled, "at least for the next thirty seconds or so."
Mathison nodded and took aim, directly at her forehead. "Senior Pilot Samantha Ruthers, it has been an honor to serve with you. It's a shame that it has to end like this."
She stood there, proud, and fully at attention. "Spare me the sappy bullshit, sir, and just get it overwith."
He nodded. "As you wish, Pilot." He took aim and cocked the hammer on the sidearm back. She closed her eyes. Mathison squeezed the trigger, three times, the shots ringing loudly in the corridor.
What seemed like an eternity passed, and Psycho exhaled, opened her eyes, and gave her body a once over. As she was doing so, noticed the three smoking holes in her chair.
Mathison clicked the saftey of the weapon back on, and threw it back onto the table. "Samantha Ruthers, you are now dead. How you choose to live in death is up to you. I suggest you don't let the other ghosts, primarily the ones from your past, dictate your actions anymore. As far as you're concerned from hereon out, I am your only anchor to this world. I cut the anchor, you go straight to hell. Are we clear?"
She stood up, attempting to make sense of exactly what it was that was happening here, and after it sank in, she stood at full attention and saluted again, and very loudly and enthusiastically answered her commanding officer. "Yes sir!"
Mathison saluted back. "You are dismissed, Ghost. You have matieral to read, I suggest you get to it, as you're already behind your comrades."
She grabbed the two folders and hustled out of the room.
Mathison thought about what he'd just done. The Admiral wasn't going to like it. The thought had no sooner crossed his mind than the man himself walked into the room with a very confused look on his face. Speak of the devil and it shall appear.
"I was listening in on your briefing, Commander, and I was fine with everything up until that last episode. You mind telling me why it is you're disobeying orders?" The Admiral had a look on his face that suggested he was more confused than angry. I suppose in his mind he figured he could always reverse the mercy and have her executed later if he didn't like Mathisons response.
"Yes sir." Mathison braced himself and hoped that the longshot in his head payed off. "With the defection from the American Empire, should things go wrong, we have ourselves a very prominent scapegoat. We have the command structure `locked` in a brig, stage a coup, which we will subsequently `escape` from, and we make her records available to the president. This gives us a reason to rejoin the American Empire in the miniscule chance that things don't go the way we hope they do, and we need to use the Empire again."
The Admiral was elated. "Joe, this is why I keep you around! You always think of the things that I seem to overlook! Very well done."
Mathison saluted him, as painful as it was. "Thank you sir. The Admirals faith is not misplaced."
Haris wasn't even paying attention at this point, another cog in his master plan had just been put into place. He strutted out of the room, full of ambitious pride.
You're going to burn, you son of a bitch, and I'm going to be your instrument of death.
Mathison sighed. He was hungry. Planning a revolt required a lot of energy. He took off towards the mess hall, silently wondering if it was Salsbury Steak day.
*******
The rest of the week passed very quietly and the pilots did as they were asked. Fanning out amongst the base personel, talking to some of the ones they considered close friends. Mathisons plan was becoming reality very, very quickly, and all that was left was the spark that would trigger the bomb that would change the world. More and more of the base was being filled in on the phrase to listen for that would signal the change of the tides.
It only took a few days for that opportunity to arise. Haris ordered all of his pilots to get into the MT's, and prepare to withdraw from the Empire. Haris figured there would be a massive response from the Empire, given their ultimate weapon, their trump card, was no longer with them. All twelve pilots were lifted up into the Nevada desert, and Haris took the time to address them all. "Pilots. Now is the time to put our ruse into effect. It is very important that what the world is about to see appears as authentic as possible, so don't be surprised at the reaction's were about to see. Everything is going to be broadcasted on a very wide frequency, on multiple satillites all over the world, to ensure that as many people as possible see it. We need this to be convincing. Stand by, and enjoy the show."
Mathison looked over towards Omni and put up two fingers on his right hand, four on his left. This was instantly understood, and a thumbs up was given back.
A few minutes of silence followed, and then their cockpits were filled by the images of both Admiral Haris, and the President of the American Empire.
"Good Evening, Mr. President." Haris started. "The HAWC's have decided to make a public declaration of intent."
The President was sitting inside the oval office, staring back at him. "Admiral Haris? What is the meaning of this?"
"Mr. President, the HAWC's, and all of Area 51, as well as what used to be the state of Nevada hereby withdraw from the American Empire. We will be acting as an independant nation from hereon out, without listening to the psychotic babble and beuaracracy that flows from the desk of all of the Senators and yourself. We are finished listening to incompetent Generals and Intelligence officers. We are no longer under your control."
The President was getting very red in the face. "Haris! What the hell are you talking about? Just what are you saying? Do you realize that you will be hunted? Do you realize that we WILL find you, we WILL destroy you, and we WILL bring all of our MT's back under American Control? Mark my words Haris, you WILL regret the decision you're making here today."
Mathison signaled Omni, and Haris's portrait dissappeared from everyone's cockpit, and was replaced by that of the Battalion Commander."Greetings Mr. President. My name is Joe Mathison, commander of the HAWC Battalion. We have some things to discuss."
