CHAPTER 59: Chat with the Generals

“So…mind control?” asked the Colonel.

“Yup,” answered Tom succinctly.

“Did he…?”

“Nope, the boss uses something different.”

“Infiltration?” The Colonel’s expression darkened.

“Probably.”

“How?” exclaimed the Colonel.

“Lots of ways besides mind control. Shapeshifting…”

“Shapeshifting?”

“…illusions…”

“What?!”

“…charming…”

“How?!”

“…maybe other human looking races…”

“Damnit!”

“…stealthing and invisibility...”

“We won’t even be able to see them?!”

“They're all possible after what we’ve seen.”

“How…how are we supposed to deal with this?” begged the Colonel.

“Aren’t you an army leader? Haven’t you seen wars? We deal by preparing, just like the boss is doing. The boss keeps saying you’re looking to defend against an Earth war, but they’re looking to fight in other ways that we aren’t prepared for. We need to figure those out. If they can pop out in the middle of cities and bases, then we need a base they can’t do that too, which is what the boss is setting up here.”

“Is it possible that Adam is one of them?” the Colonel asked hesitantly. The teen next to him was stronger than humanly possible and obviously very fanatical about Adam. There was no telling how he would react to the question.

“Sure,” Tom responded, surprising the Colonel.

“Then…”

“But I wouldn’t lay money on it. Something was done to him when the [System] arrived, while everyone else got classes. He was in school at the time. I don’t think there was time for any mind controlling or replicant replacing. Besides, look at what he's done. I’d rather follow him than anyone else so far. For now, we’re coming out on top, even if we have almost died lots of times. Can you think of anyone else who is, or will?”

“After what you showed me, I can’t. Aah! This is going to be hard to convey to the higher ups. We have no credible information other than what I’ve seen here. Don’t tell anyone else, but all the defense agencies in America and its allies combined have zero real information, let alone a plan.”

“Better get moving, bucko. We’ve only got 5 days until things start for real. Our team just grabbed a head start on it, thanks to the boss,” Tom nodded and finally let go of the Colonel. He was used to being around strong men who had enough respect to never touch him. To have a teenager be able to easily overpower him was more than a blow to the ego, it was downright humbling. The Colonel felt like a newly enlisted private, unaware of how the world worked and knowing that everyone else had power over him.

Looking over at his men, while Tom trotted to Adam yelling, “the government doesn’t know anything at all,” the Colonel saw shock and confusion on their faces. They didn’t know what had just happened to them. No amount of training or ability mattered when facing someone with crazy powers like Adam. Some of the more adaptive soldiers, including the captain, were back on their feet and sparring with level 5 policemen and even level 21 teenager, presumably from Adam’s group. None were a match. Even Doug, at level 2, was getting thrown around by a level 5 [Warrior].

“How can we make this work?” the Colonel sighed.

***

Colonel Davian sat in a private room in a bar. He had driven through town and tried selecting a decent looking one at random. Outside the room, music played, intoxicated people spoke loudly, and the sound of billiard balls crashing could be heard.

Ten of his troops had come with him. Five were in casual clothes while the others were in their fatigues. They were all taking casual drinks throughout the room while keeping their eyes on the door to his room so that no one approached it.

A secure military laptop sat on the table in front of him, including an encrypted key to activate it, thumbprint scanner, and a frequently changing token to login. A video camera several generations old, but vetted by their highest intelligence techs, was focused on him as he waited for the general to accept his connection.

“Good to see you again, Frederick. I hope you don’t mind if I’m a little rushed. There is just too much to go through, even though it all feels useless. Tell me, any credibility to the reports from Jackson and those kids?” asked the General directly.

“General Gervin, I think it’s more than safe to say the reports from here were credible and then some.” At the Colonel’s words, the General brightened.

“Really? That’s great! Was it some alien technology like has been suggested?”

“Well, there is alien tech, way more powerful than I could have expected, but it isn’t the reason for what they’ve done. It’s the results. They gained this tech due to their own efforts.”

“Were you able to get it from them?” The general asked with expectations on his face.

“Sir, no, sir. I recommend giving up on getting it from them.”

The general stared for a moment, clearly surprised. “You couldn’t get it from them?”

“No, it would have been impossible.”

“You’re the US Army, damnit! You went with 100 trained soldiers and you couldn’t take something from a bunch of kids?”

Colonel Davian felt the sweat running down the back of his neck. Even the thought of trying to take something from Adam seemed like certain death. “Uh, sir. I’m sorry to say but antagonizing those ‘kids’ is an exceptionally terrible idea.”

“How terrible?”

“Terrible enough that I would turn in my resignation rather than follow an order regarding it. Then I would tell any soldier to earn a dishonorable discharge rather than follow it,” the Colonel answered honestly, no embarrassment showing.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What could they possibly do to stop us?” The general asked, as much out of curiosity as intention.

“Sir, we might, and I stress might, be able to overcome them if we approached with tanks, air support, and were willing to have 10,000 soldiers suicide bomb at the same time. We would also have to catch them outside of their base, since getting into it would be impossible.”

That dumbfounded the general.

“Are you saying those kids can take on a whole army?” Asked the general.

“From what I’ve seen, their leader would do it by himself. However, realistically their whole team could carve up a good chunk of it.”

“I’m finding this more than a little hard to believe. Tell me about the alien tech,” the general change topics.

“Yes, sir. It isn’t just tech. They captured an enemy base.”

The general’s jaw dropped at that. “One of those black nests?”

“Yes. The black is the protective barrier around it, controlled from within. Their leader, the one called The General, has found a way to personally penetrate them, though only after he had already captured two of the bases alongside his team. The space inside is an entirely different dimension that can be shaped and controlled by the owner of the base. It is limited in size and scope, without a way to affect the outside world or to take objects that aren’t natural outside. However, the one they showed me was large enough for them to build a small city, which they were working on doing. It also allows them to connect to a network of information and shops that all invaders have access to, though it requires [System] currency to use.”

“Wow. That sounds like it would be a big boon if we could get our hands on it. Can’t they give us one of their two?” Demanded the general.

“Actually sir, they have three. One of them was taken yesterday. Apparently, The General lost an arm, his fingers, and his skin trying to enter.”

“You can’t be serious. How could he be talking to you today after experiencing that yesterday.”

“The General simply told me he ‘got better.’ He didn’t say how, though I saw one of their healers repair broken ribs, a punctured lung, and cracked spine in three spell casts. That soldier then got up and went back to fighting. However, the boy with the big mouth from the news interview showed me videos of it. After dinner. I don’t think I’ll be able to eat again for a while. I’m telling you their leader can’t be stopped by any means at our disposal.”

“This is preposterous. All it would take is one bullet. No one can walk away from a well-placed shot.”

“Um…I suggested that too and the big mouthed boy showed me a video of their leader getting shot in the neck by a policeman. It tore out about 40% of his neck and the boy still wasn’t stopped. It took his friends knocking him down and running to stop him from killing the cop. If only you could see what he did when he faced our troops in a ‘challenge’ match.”

“This all just sounds like you are feeding me a line. Have they bought you out, Colonel? I wish I could see what would happen when he faced some well-trained soldiers,” insisted the general.

“I can help you with that,” a third voice said.

“Who’s there?” demanded the general.

“Adam, is that you?” asked the Colonel, surprised.

“Yes, Colonel. If you do resign, I’ll hire you,” said Adam, across their secure communications.

“Who is Adam?” snapped the general.

“I’m Adam Clemens, The General from Jackson,” said Adam in a pleasant voice. “It’s nice to meet you, General Gervin.”

“I can’t say the same, boy. It is a felony to hack these lines. In fact, it should be impossible to hack these lines.” The general started out angry but devolved to confusion.

“General, the invaders are able to teleport across who knows how many galaxies and set up extra dimensional spaces for their bases, and you think our Earth security can keep them from listening in?”

“Are you telling us that we are being monitored, boy?” the general asked in outrage.

“Obviously. Didn’t I hack your meeting with nothing more than telling my base to listen in? I didn’t need to know anything, it did it for me. There are probably dozens of invaders listening right now. Though that is most likely just a formality since they have already infiltrated the military,” Adam said casually.

“That is absurd! We have the best security and defenses in the world. It wouldn’t be so easy to get in. Right, Colonel?”

“Well…” the Colonel shrunk back from the camera.

“Explain yourself,” the general roared.

“I’ve seen things today that make it seem quite possible that our defenses and security will be easily breached,” the Colonel said, looking like a child trying to find an escape after taking a cookie.

“Nonsense! This conversation is over. You’re no general, boy! I’ll be sending people to arrest you for terrorism and treason. We’ll see how flippant you are then!”

“Sure. Send them. In fact, send your whole army. Do it in the next 4 days too. I double dare you.” They could hear the smile in Adam’s voice.

“Wh-wh-what?! Preposterous! What are you even talking about! Colonel, please explain!” barked the General.

The Colonel sighed. “He's trying to get you to send more troops to his town, so when the invasion happens there are more soldiers for him to train. His people think the country and world are a lost cause.”

“Psh! Some BOY thinks that? I’d like to see how he would fare again some of the nation’s best!” Smugness oozed from the general at that. Then a link appeared on their screens.

“Watch it,” commanded Adam.

“Is this some trick?”

“I doubt it, sir. I think it’s a video from this afternoon.”

General Gervin skeptically turned to another computer and typed in the link. He sat there, red faced and glaring as the video started. Only a moment passed before the general’s eyes almost popped out of this head.

“Wh-what happened?” he gasped to no one in particular.

Instead of answering that questions, the colonel said, “I’ve been assured by the police that mind-control is real.”

“Mind-control?” the general turned back to the camera dumbfounded, having trouble processing what was said.

“Yes sir. As well as shapeshifting, invisibility, and illusions. Those would make infiltration easy,” said the colonel.

“Is it really that bad?”

“Keep watching the video,” said Adam in response. The general watched for several minutes, his face changing constantly as he could no longer keep it straight.

Finally, he let out a huge sigh. “I don’t suppose you’d sell us one of those three nests that you captured?”

“Not a chance,” responded Adam. “You have no one able to resist the mind control. Giving it to you means giving it back to them. However, I am willing to bargain some.”

The general squinted at the screen. “Bargain how?”

“I’ve already provided the colonel with information about leveling, evolving classes, enemies we’ve found, and how the bases work. That was a freebie, along with a few alien materials for your lab boys to look into. Though you should hurry since they only have 5 days left. The information must be shared with all government agencies and allied nations. Put the leveling and [Class] information on the news, so people know how to operate their classes. The information will be a lot more credible coming from the government. Make sure to credit us for the information and link our website, so people can see what the fights actually look like. We also have already posted this information and will continue to as we learn more.”

“This isn’t some attempt at money, is it?” interrupted the general.

“Of course not. I can’t even spend all the money I’ve collected in the next five days.”

“Why five days?” asked the general.

“Because if things go the way he expects, there will be no government left, making the currency and economy worthless,” answered the colonel for him.

“Worst case scenario, that does make sense,” the general responded thoughtfully.

“Here is the real bargain. Colonel Davian has already asked for safe accommodations for his and his soldiers’ families. I’m willing to provide that if they stay and let me train them up. Get them some levels and experience fighting against skills. However, the men here aren’t enough. I want some techs and operators from the army, air force, and navy to work for me. As well as more soldiers. As many as we can get. Bring as much preserved food, military rations, and if you can send some engineers, scientists, and logistics officers over that would help too. Make sure they know to bring their whole families.”

“I assume you want weapons as well?”

“No. Sniper rifles maybe, but everything else is a waste of time. Storing explosives and dangerous materials would just endanger my own people and town. Bullets and guns will be useless.”

“Useless?!”

“Level 12 elves were immune to bullets. The colonel’s handgun barely scratched a bowl made from elven wood. Missiles and rockets would be too easy to dodge with some agility. Not worth the space. They’ll do more for your level 0s than for my people.”

The general thought for a few minutes. The colonel could see the reality trying to sink in but being resisted by the decades of training and experience.

“According to you, the troops who arrive between now and then won’t hold a candle to your own people. Will they be that useful in your town? Also, the loyalty of the other positions will be with us, not you. What if we have them do something not in your interest?”

The colonel picked up his questions, “He wants as many soldiers as possible because if they’re spread out then they are more likely to die in the initial invasions. Adam thinks he’ll be able to protect them, allowing him to train a larger fighting force for the future. The loyalty also doesn’t matter if the government or communication lines fall. They’ll have to become loyal to their families and surviving, which Adam has the edge on.”

“This is just…so much,” sighed the general.

“I assume it always is with war,” said Adam. The general just nodded.