XCV
A Congregation of Hope
The co-pilot of the Lockheed Martin SAI Quiet Supersonic Transport jet came back to update Bruce after Talia had finished with her meal…
"The armored transport has been arranged for you at the destination, sir. There's a lot of turbulence in the air over Kahndaq, but we're pretty sure we can put her down close."
"All five are ready?"
"Yes, sir."
Wayne nodded to the co-pilot as he headed back to the cabin. There wasn't much time to gather the troops, but he was certainly doing what he could. He had arranged five tank squadrons to transport him to Trigon.
He would feel much better as a passenger inside one of seventy M1A1 Abrams tanks than he would strolling alone across a cold desert filled with soul-hungry demons. If conventional weapons truly worked on the Nebu, they were in for a rude awakening.
Wayne was starting to analyze the plan of the attack sequence once more when a call came in from General Johnson. Bruce smiled as he answered…
"Tyrexius! How goes the battle?"
"…Better. The bodies on the moon made the international news an hour ago. We don't need to make calls anymore, they're calling us… Everyone is taking this 'Big Red' threat very seriously. I just wanted to let you know that if this situation goes south, there's not much we'll be able to do to prevent a full-scale nuclear attack on Kahndaq. Everyone will be ready to shell Kahndaq but they've made it clear they've got their finger on the hot button."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that… How's the country holding up?"
"Haven't you seen the news?"
"No, I've been working on my arrival delegation."
"Open another screen and have a look at the Pentagon…"
Bruce opened another screen and did a quick search for the Pentagon. The coverage that he saw amazed him… Night had fallen in Washington, D.C. but for miles surrounding the Pentagon, tens of thousands of people stood facing all five sides of the historic military building. Some prayed, some held hands, some held candles, some held signs and others held one another. It was not a protest, it was not a rally, this was a congregation.
A newscaster spoke of an amazing show of support from the American people for this brave, new President. She spoke of the need to remain calm and to help one another.
"How many people are there, Tyrexius?"
"Last count had it at ninety thousand, Mr. President. And it's growing every minute. Traffic around the Pentagon has stopped for miles."
"… I've got to talk to them, General."
"We can broadcast a video from the jet to the media room, sir. It would be on the air in minutes. Everyone in the world seems to be holding their breath, waiting for you…"
"I've got a better idea… Talk to you later, General."
Bruce Wayne ended the call and opened a wi-screen program. Any user could draw a square in the air with their finger and place their thumb in it. For safety reasons, Wayne Communications had always limited the size of these screens to nine square feet. But Bruce could do one better… He could program and open screens to any location of any size. He programmed five new square-shaped wi-screens, each side nine-hundred-and-twenty-one feet across, which happened to be the exact length of a wall of the Pentagon.
Calculating the necessary volume controls for a projection of this magnitude, Bruce constructed a screen above each of the five sides of the Pentagon, their top edges sprawling more than three hundred yards above the ground. With now over four million square feet to address the crowds, he could do this properly…
The acting President's face appeared on all five 60-storey tall screens positioned above the roof of the Pentagon. People for miles around could see his gigantic image as he spoke from the evening sky.
"People of America … Thank you… Your support, your acceptance, your hopes and prayers mean so much to me right now. I'm half a world away, but I can still feel your hopes and concerns. There is a tremendous power in your spirits, your combined voices, these hopes and dreams… never forget that. Our country was founded on that power. The common will of the people to make a better tomorrow.
And beyond our shores…We truly live in an amazing world. It's taken something like this to make us realize what we have, what we share, and what we can be. That we're all in this together and we can work together. Countries of the world have coordinated our resistance to this terrible threat. We now stand ready in a show of force never witnessed throughout our history.
Personally, I want all of you to know that my wife and I will do everything in our power to save you. If the demon will accept our surrender to spare you, we will gladly offer it. If the demon seeks to use my wife as a pawn to murder innocents, she will reject him outright without hesitation. If he plans to destroy this world, this world will destroy him.
Lastly, please indulge a personal request. I have an amazing wife. Her name is Raven and she is the daughter of that demon, a father she had never met - until now. Even with such a tragic background, she has chosen to embrace her humanity and rise above her dark heritage. She has come to our world for a second chance and chosen the love she has found here among us. She has saved my soul countless times and now she endeavors to save all of ours for no other reason than it is the right thing to do. She is willing to sacrifice herself for her adopted world.
I ask that you include Raven in your hopes and prayers. Because beyond a doubt, she is our greatest hope to see the light of tomorrow. She is our champion of Hope, the bridge to new worlds. And I just wanted to say that I love her very, very much…
What we do now, we do for good… we do for love… And we do it for all of us. We must prevail for there is no other choice in this our darkest hour. The sun will rise upon a new dawn because it must and your spirit has shown me how it will be faced, America…
Together.
Let our prayers be for the dawn and a brighter tomorrow and keep hope alive in our hearts through this night."
And his own prayer was that his wife would be successful and arrive in time… That all that was good in the Universe help them now.
The earthly world couldn't save itself from Trigon alone.