The president of the Caledornian nation, Zeke Palminer sat on a plane departing the country. His wife’s cell phone clutched tightly in his hand.

“Katy!” he screamed once more. Again, there was no answer.

He had heard the gunshots. He knew there was a high chance his daughter had just been murdered while he was left to listen to it. But his heart wouldn’t let him give up hope so easily.

“Katy!”

“Zeke, what is going on?” his wife cried while clutching onto his arm.

Zeke wasn’t sure if she had heard the gunshots, but he assumed she had, they had been loud.

“I don’t know,” he responded, looking at the phone.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the events. Was this all a dream? First, his nation was invaded, and his citizens were slaughtered. Then his daughter was murdered in cold blood for trying to save some lives?

Zeke felt his heart rate increasing. His temples began to throb with an excruciating hunger to end this god forsaken war.

He passed his wife’s phone back to her, “Stay on the line. Alert me if Katy responds.”

He knew his tone was harsh, but he would apologize later. At that moment, he had more pressing matters to attend to. He stood up and looked at all his cabinet members, his trusted advisors and his military generals that aided his decisions. Lastly, he looked at his vice president.

“Let’s end this god forsaken war,” he said.

With that, he walked to the back of the plane where there was a meeting room. The room had a large oval table and chairs for all the people on the plane.

One by one his most trusted political confidants entered the room. They each took seats around the table.

“What are our options?” he prompted as soon as the door was closed.

All at once, people around the table started shouting options.

Attack them, send all our efforts to reclaim the western border, cut off the groups that are spreading to the north and south, meet them head on.

All the options sounded mundane to what Zeke wanted. He wanted to find the man or men who’d just shot his daughter and torture them within an inch of their lives. He wasn’t above petty revenge, but he managed to keep that idea contained in front of his peers.

He looked at each member of his team as they debated with one another. He raised his hand and slowly, everyone silenced.

“What’s the best way to counteract them at this stage?” Zeke asked, looking at the military members at the table.

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“It’s a little too late to meet them head on in Remdia,” a four-star general started to explain. “They have the advantage of tanks and planes to intercept any team trying to get close to them. I reckon the best bet is to bring the fight to Remdia. Hit them where it hurts in an attempt to draw their soldiers out of Caledorn.”

“Right,” Zeke nodded. “And how do you propose we do that?”

There was a beat of silence before one brave soul said the words they were all dreading.

“Arm the nuclear missiles. Launch them all at the capital.”

Most people in the room winced at the mere thought of it, but Zeke knew it was the most sensible step. He needed it to be someone else’s idea though so he wouldn’t sound irrational.

“Is that the only option?” he asked, more for show than anything.

“Not the only option sir, but definitely the best one. They will definitely retreat after that,” his vice president responded.

“And if they hit us back with the same attack?” Zeke queried.

“Many of our citizens have already left, we’re ahead of their large-scale attacks because of the evacuation,” the four-star general stated.

“Alright, get me the briefcase,” he said.

No one moved for a moment, still unsure of how it all came to this.

Zeke knew he was partly to blame for the unfortunate events that had taken place. In his attempts to keep relations with Remdia beneficial he had tried to strike up a deal. He wanted money, as Caledorn was severely in debt. In return, they’d give a portion of their oil reserves to Remdia.

The deal had been working perfectly until the oil reserves started getting smaller. Zeke had assumed they’d last a century, but suddenly they were drying up. The cost of supplying two nations apparently.

Each month, Caledorn would give Remdia less and less oil in an attempt to save some for themselves.

The Remdian president had threatened a war if the quantity of oil kept decreasing. Zeke had tried to explain that there wasn’t as much as they had once thought. That his own country would suffer if he gave the agreed upon amount.

The Remdian president didn’t care. He saw it as a promise not kept. So, he invaded. To both teach Zeke a lesson and to take over control of the oil mines.

Zeke had spent countless hours attempting to make a new deal, but all trust in him had been tainted. The Remdian government refused to listen to his pleas.

Eventually, he accepted the war and began to fight back, but he knew it was too little too late. He had already lost the war and his country would suffer.

Finally, the briefcase was placed in front of him. Closed and locked.

Zeke opened the secure package with his fingerprints. It clicked when it unlocked, a click that was deafening in the silence of the room.

Zeke lifted one side and looked at the contents of the briefcase. There were two key holes, a blinking map and a small keyboard.

He looked at his general and gestured for him to enter in the proper coordinates.

The general obliged and tapped away on the keyboard. He turned the case back to the president when the screen prompted another fingerprint to confirm the destination.

Zeke placed his finger on the pad and waited.

[Confirmed: Location Input Valid]

Zeke took off his watch and pulled a small key from the band. His vice president took a chain from around his neck. At the end of the chain there was a small key attached.

Both men looked at each other, nodded, then turned to the keyholes. They placed their keys in the designated holes and took a deep breath.

Turning their keys simultaneously, they heard two sequential clicks.

The screen prompted for two fingerprints this time, one from each man. After then both pressed their fingers on the pad, they leaned away from the device. They watched, unable to look away as a little green dot moved across the map, towards Remdia.

[Countdown to Target: 15 seconds]

The room was silent, many of the members had gathered around behind the two most powerful men in the nation to look at the screen. Others wept at their seats at the table.

The countdown continued while Zeke stared.

[Countdown to Target: 1 second]

For Katy, he thought, I hope your country feels my wrath, Frederick Sanderson.

[Target Impact Confirmed]