OR2-EP1: Perun Awakens (20)

Even the most ardent follower of international news would be hard pressed to identify the root cause of such a radical shift in OUN from news reports alone. Within less than a month, the organization, which had come to power under a radical banner, had abandoned its original hostile attitude towards the United States in favor of continued cooperation with NATO in order to jointly resist the Russian invasion. As soon as the news was announced, the world was in uproar, and many authorities who had predicted a sharp deterioration in relations between Ukraine and the United States were so disgraced that they stumbled over their TV programs, suggesting that the United States had used some kind of special means of covert pressure to make the OUN choose to give in, and that they could not produce reliable evidence of this. Regardless of what the pundits and ordinary citizens think of the matter, the brief standoff between Ukraine and NATO was declared over for good, military supplies were once again imported into Ukraine in a steady stream, and the U.S. troops trapped in Kharkov were given a break.

The EU assumed that the United States would surely take drastic measures to sanction the OUN for kidnapping and killing foreign hostages, and once again their predictions fell short. The Hetman of Ukraine and the OUN, Stepan Golivin, in a public speech strongly condemned the extremist groups that took advantage of the chaos in the early days of the OUN's takeover and claimed that the lunatics who burned and looted in the name of the Ukrainian people would be punished with severe penalties. He has offered his pitch, Ukraine will deal with the criminals impartially, and the United States should not continue to hold OUN at fault at this time.

After STARS had successfully completed their mission, the time had come for them to retire to the sidelines. Of this, McNeil knew full well that more authoritative official figures would inevitably take their place. Diplomats from the Embassy of the United States, escorted by the outspoken OUN militia, arrived at the Presidential Palace and respectfully, but not arrogantly, presented Hetman with the complete contents of the new agreement. The new agreement was much more lenient than the version provided to Lt. Gen. Pavlyuk by the CIA, and it was rumored that it was only because Lt. Gen. Pavlyuk had repeatedly explained to the Americans that the famine was no longer solvable that the Americans relented and lowered the amount of supplies demanded. Stepan Golivin was powerless, his OUN could overthrow the President but had no way to counter the army that had hooked up with the Americans, and their previous power grab had been successful mostly because the Americans had retained their support at that time.

"Where did those young men go?" Hetman asked casually about the STARS squad, knowing that the men were from the Marines and were soldiers who had retired from the front lines of the Eastern Front battlefield, and were said to have most likely taken the mission to be exonerated after their risky escape.

"They should be commended for their merits and punished for the transgressions they committed, simple as that." Diplomats were unaware of the affairs of the military; the embassy had only recently become directly involved in subverting the OUN in order to protect itself, not realizing that it had managed to do so with the help of preparatory measures left behind by the intelligence services - Lt. Gen. Pavlyuk was a key figure in the CIA's liaison responsibilities. Some of the diplomats who hadn't wanted any trouble in the first place thought they'd been working as a punching bag for the Marines and the CIA for nothing, and had somehow taken the blame for engaging in subversive activities, and were so furious they were close to driving the STARS team right out of there. But they don't have a chance, Wyatt Curtis will be leading the trapped eighty or so American hostages back to their home country, and the STARS team that saved those hostages will be leaving with them. In the words of Senator Curtis, even if they didn't overthrow the OUN and the prep work should be credited to the CIA, the STARS team had at least once rescued the hostages with no outside help, and that credit was enough to get their story made into a movie.

In fact, Captain Shields didn't want to return home so soon, in his opinion, what strategic level magic the Russians had used to cause so much damage was worthy of further investigation, and if they were able to get that piece of intel before they left the Ukraine, it would be taken seriously by their superiors. His idea was unanimously voted down by the other four, with McNeil arguing that they shouldn't be in charge of something that even the professional intelligence officers of the U.S. Army couldn't do, not to mention the fact that four out of the five were magically illiterate who didn't know anything about magic.

"We'll have to go back to the frontline combat units after all, and it would do us good to learn more about the enemy."

"I'm afraid that won't be the case, sir." McNeil threw the playing cards on the table, "They see our greatest value, and in the future, they will only find ways to use us as special operations weapons ... Ace of Spades."

"Hey, where'd you get the Ace of Spades?" said Tom, spreading out the woefully inadequate pile of playing cards on the table, "The Ace of Spades is all played out-"

"Dumbass, he just snuck open the second pack then stole one ..."

Captain Shields was the only one not involved in the poker activity, sitting by the window thinking about how to deal with McNeil's higher influence on the team and how to find a promotion with the opportunity to return home. He had a big advantage, Alfred Shields was a good officer out of the military academy and Michael McNeil was an ordinary soldier who hadn't been in the service very long, and as good as soldiers were they could only be the chief non-commissioned officer advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and most of them could only be the assistant to the company commander. However, compared to the other three heartless guys, McNeil was the biggest threat to him. The same attention, used on Shields could open up new paths for his career, spent on McNeil could only create an old sergeant who would mope around on the front lines, that was Captain Shields' intuitive thought. The resources were more valuable to himself than to McNeil, and if McNeil's position now surpassed his, then Shields would certainly be in favor of making McNeil the leader.

"You don't look too happy about this, why don't we tell a few jokes?" McNeil noticed Captain Shields' abnormality and intended to make a joke.

"The jokes you tell are never funny, McNeil." Randal listened and shook his head back and forth, "Don't listen to him, all he does is tell snide jokes."

"It's not that I'm not amused, I'm thinking about it." Captain Shields walked over to McNeil, "We're soldiers, and whatever mission we're on is a matter of course. However, fighting on the front lines in a dignified manner and going into subversive activities after receiving all sorts of strange orders are two entirely different things. OUN ..." He didn't detect displeasure in the faces of the other four and continued to make his remarks with confidence and boldness, " OUN is the devil on the ground as far as we are concerned, they overthrew a legitimate president and rule Ukraine with their own set of hierarchy. However, most Ukrainians support them, and even those who are relatively neutral don't express their antipathy towards the OUN."

"You're trying to say that sometimes we fly the banner of answering the call of the people, and other times we can't trust overly naive citizens, right?" McNeil saw at a glance what was really bothering Shields; in his younger days, he would have been skeptical of GDI's motives because of such contradictory propaganda. By the time he was older, McNeil, who had become one of the core figures of the GDI military, recognized the essence behind these slogans, which was profit. What slogans are most in line with current interests are to be adopted, and as far as contradictions are concerned it's completely trivial. all GDI needs is a few frills to distract the public's attention to dispel the citizens' skepticism.

If someone does not know what to do and intends to get to the bottom of the matter ... then let him evaporate.

"No, no, I understand very well, I've made investments, and although I've lost millions of dollars, I understand the businessman mentality." Captain Shields embarrassedly explained, "I mean ... I mean, McNeil is right, we are still in the same boat now as well, and I hope that the final decision we make together will be beneficial to everyone."

Each person's ideas and goals are at odds with the others. As far as Captain Shields was concerned, the three short-sighted guys were no threat to him, and only McNeil, who had dominated the mission in the capture of Hetman, was likely to take the squad in a different direction. Shields had originally been the commanding officer of the Marines, and going from being able to command troops on the front lines to being a cheap punching bag with an officer's title was a bad deal for him, but it made little difference to the other four, and could even be considered a kind of talisman. If the time was right, Shields certainly hoped that he would be able to return to command of a combat unit, but it didn't look like he'd be presented with such an opportunity. McNeil would surely turn them into a band of mercenaries for hire, a predictable end.

"You're worried about the evaluation report, aren't you? I remember the sergeant having to think about that too." McNeil played the rest of his cards, "Well, if Senator Curtis knows some friends within the military, perhaps we can take this opportunity to get them to do some underhanded maneuvering to make your and Sergeant Salas's paths to promotion a little shorter- "

"Alas, there is no way that I will ever be promoted." Sergeant Javier Salas shook his head in a hurry, "I'm just muddling along, I can't be as active as you guys, I don't have much of a future."

"That's not always true, luck sometimes favors the honest man."

"What mistake did the honest man make?" Corporal Randal looked at McNeil unhappily, "By your tone, honest people don't usually deserve to be lucky?"

"Oh, so what you're saying is that we should pin all of our hopes in life on striking it lucky?" Tom saw the hole in Corporal Randal's remarks and didn't let the opportunity to bash the other man go by, "Come on, the Captain has lost millions of dollars tossing stocks, do you think there are any of us who know more about financial investments than he does? Since he's lost his ass, there's even less hope for us ..."

"You guys, speak properly!" McNeil knocked on the table with another box of playing cards, "Captain is seriously discussing life matters with us, and there's no room for you to take things lightly here."

Listen to him talk as if he were Captain Shields' adjutant and not a common soldier like Tom.

Wyatt Curtis had intended to pick them up in the morning, but the fellow, probably delayed too long by talking to his own father, did not appear after noon, and the crowd had to remain in the embassy and continue playing cards. During that time they tuned in to reports in the relevant media in the United States of America about the initiative to organize an International Magical Society, which had been first proposed by some enlightened individuals and Magicians who feared that a new form of war would destroy human civilization once and for all (especially considering that the new ice age had already led to a decline in the population), and whose platform had been viewed by some radical anti-magic groups as the organization of a Shadow UN. Among these initiatives, one of the ones that had aroused widely disputed was the right of Magicians to temporarily break away from the state and work together to prevent the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a war involving nuclear fission weapons. Considering that existing fusion weapons also needed to be triggered by nuclear fission, this clause was tantamount to a total ban on nuclear weapons - but a significant portion of the public had originally feared that Magicians would eventually develop into a separate species from the human race, and now this yet-to-be-established International Magical Association was openly advocating for Magicians to rebel against the state, with its ambitions plainly visible.

The only Magician present was Captain Shields, who himself had not volunteered any comment or opinion on the news.

The other news item reminded McNeil of a strange prayer he had seen long ago. There had been a shooting on the streets of New York, and the shooter had mouthed the words as he was being arrested, and those words were somewhat similar to the ones McNeil had heard the last time he had been in an airport. As a self-professed devout believer, McNeil couldn't remember any church using such vicious language for a prayer, and it was more of a cult's curse than an official form of church-speak. The reporter on the screen gushes that this is the 17th similar shooting this month, and that the police in New York are doing their best to track down the possible dark secret behind it. The only thing the cases have in common is that all of the killers are white, and all of the victims are black.

"Sir, did you ever hear a similar prayer in the military?"

"What prayer?" Captain Shields, who was fuming, almost missed McNeil's question.

"What that suspect just said when he was taken away, I heard a similar prayer there at an airfield near Kherson." McNeil's expression turned serious as he turned his gaze to the other four, only Corporal Randal seemed to drift into realization.

"The NFFA," Captain Shields said in a nonchalant voice, "Their very name is arrogant ... New Founding Fathers of the Regenerated United States of America."

"When it comes to that, I'm more vocal because the NFFA is more popular in the southern states, and its organizations pop up more frequently." Corporal Randal finally found a chance to express himself, "The NFFA is an upstart organization with a strong religious background, founded around the beginning of the New Ice Age, which was around 2030. According to the news released to the public, its founder is a mysterious person who used to be engaged in chemical research, this person calls himself the Father of Truth, and seldom appears in front of the public, and communication with the media is done by his deputy, who is also the Chief of Council of the NFFA on his behalf. For more than a decade, the NFFA has managed to establish a new set of religious norms of their own, and the churches in the South have been more or less influenced by them."

Corporal Randal, no less an American born and bred in a southern state, explained to McNeil in a few words the NFFA's profile, drawing on the information he had at his disposal. Since ancient times, any natural and social phenomenon could be interpreted as the will of God, and the arrival of the New Ice Age was God's judgment on man in the eyes of devout believers, who honestly believed that everything that happened in the world could be explained by God's will, and that man would naturally be punished if he disobeyed God's will. At this time, the NFFA was born, and [Father of Truth] rhetorically attacked the hedonistic ideologies that had been spreading through the United States over the past few decades, believing that these spiritual poisons were corrupting the morals and values of the United States, and that his and his followers' physical practice of an almost ascetic lifestyle had intrigued a number of spiritually vacuous citizens of the United States. As the NFFA began to gain a foothold in several states, their namesake company introduced a new type of drug that [Father of Truth] and his drummers told followers was capable of enabling humans to abstain from excess desires and maintain their sanity and sobriety - to the amazement of outsiders, those supporters of the NFFA did not hesitate to heeded [the Father of Truth's] admonitions, and hell knows how much money that guy actually made in the business. McNeil had only listened to a few sentences before judging that this group of agitators had business on their minds. He'd seen a lot of similar self-appointed prophets, hoodwinking the public and inciting hatred with gibberish that couldn't even solve any real-life problems that existed, and would just dump all difficulties on enemies they'd created out of thin air.

"How is this drug made?"

"I don't know, we don't know anything about Magicians." Corporal Randal scratched his head, "Logically, the relevant authorities in the United States would have demanded that they disclose their patent, but after all these years, no one has ever been willing to go after them. Perhaps the Senate and the House of Representatives are already stuffed with their devotees."

"That's too much of a stretch, I don't believe the NFFA can do that." McNeil planted a question mark in his mind first, he decided to seriously investigate this mysterious organization that had suddenly risen to prominence when he returned home, "Corporal, have you ever used that drug?"

"No, even though it's cheap, I just don't want to inject myself with anything for no reason." Corporal Randal's caution might always keep him out of danger, "But, I have to speak from my conscience, the NFFA is really popular in the South, you can't imagine how powerful they are. They hold a well-run financial conglomerate, have many teams of professional researchers, and think tanks responsible for external and internal propaganda ... There's a rumor going around that if a Southern governor or anything of the sort doesn't have the approval of the NFFA, he or she can't possibly take office properly."

"I see what's going on with the flag change." McNeil was dumbfounded, "The situation has gotten so far that it can be decided by more than just a handful of people. The soil that could support the NFFA was produced first, then the NFFA, and their first test was to change our flag to this ... rather oppressive and violent Bald Eagle flag."

Corporal Randal looked uncertainly at the serious-faced McNeil, somewhat puzzled.

"What's the matter? The new flag is pretty, isn't it?"

"... You only see good looks and bad looks in your eyes?" McNeil cried and laughed, "Corporal, if I put a sickle and hammer symbol on the flag right now, would you support it?"

"Then of course I'd be against it, that's-"

"See, the same goes for this eagle emblem with its severely oppressive look." McNeil pointed out the window at the flag frozen stiffly upright in the wind, "It only brings to mind might, which is a symbol of strength and power ..."

Of course, McNeil selectively ignored the fact that the eagle emblem was ubiquitous in GDI.

The crowd grew silent as they listened to McNeil's words. How the social climate in the United States had changed in recent times, they knew this only too well. Both sides of society were becoming more extreme and unable to listen to any dissenting views, which had begun in the 1920s and intensified with the advent of the New Ice Age. After several struggles, the conservatives have taken over overwhelmingly, which is the reason behind the NFFA's ability to interfere with the political situation in a dignified manner.

At 2:00 p.m., Wyatt Curtis arrived late, followed by a number of Ukrainians carrying luggage. After seeing these guys with panicked faces, McNeil immediately guessed the identity of the other party, and he pulled Curtis aside and asked in a whisper:

"What's going on? Our plan doesn't include Ukrainians."

"These people are Ukrainian big shots, they were almost killed by the OUN before, and now they think that Ukraine can't hold on anymore, and they plan to defect to us."

McNeil burst into a rage, he despised losers who could only run away, these people had the face of the powerful men who had kicked the citizens off their ships during the retreat from the dying Blue Zone. The soldier in the white military coat angrily walked up to the group of Ukrainian travelers and yelled at them in English:

"The resources and wealth of Ukraine are in your hands, and it will be your fault if it perishes! If you can't hold on to your country, then go down with it. What's the point of just running away after you've emptied the land? The United States doesn't welcome bastards who just want to make a buck, so go home!"

Wyatt Curtis was alarmed, he called out to the soldiers around him to hold McNeil back, and said kindly, "Don't be ridiculous, they're of great use, and besides, these people are willing to roll up their property and come to us, so we can't just kick them out, can we? McNeil, this is a deal, we need these people ... to wait until they have corrupted the property in their hands, and then it is not too late to find an opportunity to clean them up."

It seemed young Curtis' conscience wasn't too bad, McNeil reassured himself. He didn't really intend to actually force the men back, he didn't have the power to do so, and he might offend some unexpected bigwigs in the United States proper. It was unrealistic to expect men in positions of power to understand ideals and beliefs; they saw only profit. They only see profit, and if they can get enough of it, they'll even sell rope to those who are planning to hang them all in the next second.

The temporary Ukrainian team and the eighty or so Americans in the embassy finally left on a special plane prepared by the Ukrainian side at about 5:00 p.m. that day, and if they learned any bad news before they left, it was that the idea of counting on this so-called International Wizarding Association to sanction the Russians had been completely defeated. Along with the Ukrainian and U.S. military side publicizing the data of more than 300,000 dead on the front line, the hard-line Russians also let the term strategic level magic appear in the eyes of the world. Banning nuclear weapons was pointless; the Russians had found a new weapon of war and had a head start on their old rivals. Perhaps these Ukrainian powerbrokers had the right idea; there was no need for them to stay in a country that would sooner or later perish.

OR2-EP1 END

Chapter Notes:

Facing a strategic level Magician head-on with the combat power of an ordinary human is almost tantamount to suicide.

Some may have realized that NFFA is from the Purge series, but that doesn't mean the story will have a hybrid worldview.