Military Mistakes

"You have no authority here and you are not going to take any of these aircraft," Marsh said as soon as they had gotten to the back of the hangar.

"I'll be begging your finest pardon, but you can't keep them here to rot. They aren't being used and won't be used. The government is gone. The economy, gone. Society, gone. You can't argue these points, you just have to accept them. We've got over a thousand people we need to protect from an invasion and the only way to do that is going to be to get in the air." Derek explained, crossing his arms over his chest, and leaning back against the wall of the hangar as though he was confident that he had already won the argument.

"That's not how this works, and you should know that better than anyone else here, Major," Marsh said gritting his teeth. "You can't just come in here, disrupt the chain of command, and take whatever you like."

"Your chain of command is dead. You are proof of that, Lieutenant. Who is the commanding officer here?" Derek asked.

Marsh looked at the two men who had come with him for the meeting with Derek and Tom and then back to Derek.

"I am," he said simply.

"Ha! Then you really don't have a leg to stand on if I order you to hand over the aircraft. I outrank you." Derek laughed.

"You aren't active. You don't have any authority here." Marsh countered.

"With no system to tell you that I'm not active you have only my word on what I am, and I was confused before. Protecting myself to ensure I didn't get in trouble with a commanding officer. Now that I see that's me, I'm happy to assume command here." Derek said as he stopped leaning on the wall and took a step forward.

"Denied. I am in control here, and that will not change." Marsh said, his face going dark as he took a step forward too.

"Lieutenant, I suggest you proceed with caution. We aren't just a civilian group playing at military. We are a trained group of fighters who have been actively battling monsters and humans for months now, surviving off not only our strategic might but off of the abilities this new System has given us. Do not underestimate us." Derek said firmly, stepping into Marsh's personal space to stand eye-to-eye with him.

Marsh paused for a long second as he sized Derek up. Neither one looked away from the other.

"You do not want to go down this path with me. Others have tried. I'm still the one here." Marsh said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Funny, I thought that's just what I said?" Derek replied.

"I think it's time you and your people joined us here. We will assume command so that we can build our way back to communication with the other military forces. We can get you drafted into the military with little problem. I believe these times allow for that." Marsh said with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure the President and Congress need to authorize that process," Derek said, still not moving away.

"What do you want to bet they already have?" Marsh continued, still smiling at Derek. "This is a national state of emergency. All citizens of the US have a duty to defend it."

Derek finally looked down and let out a long sigh.

"Is that your final decision?" Derek asked, seeming resigned.

"It is. You all will make fine soldiers in the..." Marsh's words cut off as a dagger jutted up into his jaw.

Derek rammed the dagger so hard and so fast through his head that the tip erupted out the top of his head and sprayed blood, brain matter, and pieces of his skull straight up like a volcano.

The man that Marsh was with barely had time to react before Tom had a gun pointed at him. He raised his hands in surrender as Marsh's body fell to the ground lifelessly. Others began to draw their weapons, while some of the military members seemed to hesitate. The Vanguard guild members all drew weapons immediately on the others. One of the military men drew and began firing at Bobby. Briana threw up a barrier around the man and the bullets ricocheted off of the barrier causing the man to duck and stop firing.

"Everyone is going to keep their cool right now!" Derek called out loudly in the hangar. "If not, things are going to get ugly. Now, who's next in the chain of command?"

No one spoke right away. After a long pause, one man raised his hand.

"You, your turn in negotiations," Derek said firmly. "What do you think about these aircraft?"

"I think they're just going to waste here. I think we should have left a long time ago, but Marsh said we had to protect the base because it was our duty. But he never did anything to protect it. He sat on his ass and ordered us around." The man replied.

"What's your name soldier?" Derek asked.

"Lieutenant Conrad Anderson, sir," The man answered.

"Well, Lieutenant, I think we can get along then. You don't see any reason to draft us do you?" Derek asked him.

"Of course, not. In fact, I'd rather we joined you. Living here has been miserable." Anderson replied. "Sir."

"How many pilots are with you?" Derek asked him.

"Eight, sir," Anderson answered.

"And how many of them were Marsh's lackeys?" Derek leaned in closer to speak more softly.

"Only one. Marsh was another, but I didn't count him on account of his being dead now." Anderson replied, leaning back from Derek as he answered.

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"Can you point them out to us?" Derek asked in a more pleasant tone.

Anderson pointed to five people including the one Briana had in her barrier.

"Thank you. Tie them up. Take their weapons." Derek ordered and the team rushed to get them.

When the military men had been gathered and sat tied up on the floor glaring up at Derek, he marched in front of them.

"You all were loyal to Marsh. I respect that. But in this world, I have learned a lesson about people like him. You can't leave them to come back later." Derek stated as he paced in front of the five men on the floor.

One of the men at the end of the line began to cry.

"I didn't want to follow him! He made me! I wanted to go find my wife and children!" The man sobbed as he sat tied up.

"Shut up, Dillon. You're embarrassing yourself." Another of the men said as he rolled his eyes at the display.

"Dillon? Where were your family?" Derek squatted down to ask the man.

"Dallas, sir," Dillon replied as he tried to compose himself. "We had an apartment there so that my wife could get help with the kids from her parents while I was on duty. Her dad was an engineer for a big company based there."

"And the rest of you?" Derek asked as he turned to look at them.

Only one of the others looked at him and he spit in Derek's direction.

"That's too bad. Untie Dillon here. We will help him try to find his family." Derek said as he stood back up.

"You will, sir?" Dillon asked in disbelief.

"That's what we do here, brother," Derek smiled down at the man. "Kill the rest."

Derek walked away while Dillon was helped to his feet.

"Don't you think that's a little cold?" Briana asked.

"Remember Jeffery? That's what happens when you let people stew about why they're mad at you. James was right, as much as I hate to admit it. Can't leave anyone behind to hate you in this world." Derek said coldly.

James stepped up and shot each of the men sitting on the floor.

"Now, Anderson, was it?" Derek asked the man, and he nodded. "We need to talk about these jets. There is an invasion coming and we are stuck on the ground without them. Can you help us?"

"Yes, sir. We need the boxes for each one, they should have a serial number that matches the planes. Then there is a unique identifier code for each individual pilot that has to be input to activate them. Every pilot has one and we can get planes off the ground as soon as you'd like." Anderson replied.

"Perfect. How about fuel?" Derek continued.

"There's a supply here that hasn't been touched. It does have a shelf life, but it should still be good for use for a bit longer. We can load up trucks to take with us. We have a couple that we have the keys to. Any others we need can be hotwired." Anderson replied, still seeming on edge.

"What's the matter, Anderson?" Derek asked him.

"I'm just still a little stressed, that's all, sir," Anderson answered.

"Stressed about what?" Derek prodded the man.

"You did just kill my commanding officer and four other military personnel," Anderson replied after looking back at the bodies on the ground, blood pooling under their heads.

"Do you think we could have let them go without any repercussions?" Derek asked.

Pausing for a long moment, Anderson thought about his answer, "No, sir. They were not the kind of people to let that go."

"That's what I thought. I'm sorry it had to be done. Humans should be banding together to make this world safer, but there are always people who will take advantage. Trust me. I've seen the worst of it." Derek breathed out heavily through his nose and hung his head slightly, his hands on his hips. "Now, let's get these birds in the air."

"I'll run back to the base for the computers. They are all stored in a secure location. We need the helmets and suits as well. Let me have Williams to help me and we can be back faster." Anderson spoke up.

"Do it," Derek ordered. "The rest of you should be able to teach my people how to help you prep these jets. We are taking as many as we can to Dallas. Get Eric there one of the jets too. He can fly and show you where we are going. We'll have ground transportation to bring you back for another round."

Everyone moved to begin helping.

"Kedron! Can you get in the Hummer and head to Dallas to pick up the pilots and bring them back?" Derek asked.

"With all due respect, I used to be security here at the JRB and know the layout. I think it would be better that Bobby drive back and I stay to help guide you." Kedron replied.

"That is better. Bobby! Head out now so you can bring the pilots back!" Derek called out.

"On it!" Bobby replied and jogged for the Hummer after catching the keys that Kedron tossed to him.

"You know, when we finish with the jets, I can think of a few other things we should....reappropriate," Kedron said to Derek.

"I like it. Let's look at it after we get the jets taken care of. Anderson! Come talk with Kedron. We have a shopping list now." Derek smiled at the idea.

All of the military personnel helped eagerly, many of them looking as though they were relieved at the prospect of leaving the base. They called out orders and gave instructions on preparing the jets. One man even left and returned with a tug vehicle to move the jets out of the hangar and began to position them outside once the blocks around the wheels were removed.

"This new attitude is refreshing," Tom commented.

"They seem happy to be leaving. I'm just glad it wasn't any worse than it was." Derek replied.

No sooner had he said this, than a shot rang out from the other end of the hangar.

"What the hell was that?!"