Watching the most powerful woman in the world come trotting up on a supernatural flaming skeletal not-a-horse is one of those situations that the Secret Service just had to tighten up their belt buckles and deal with.
The Marines on duty gawked in delight, as this was quite a show, even for Powered.
The dhatun Senior Agent on duty also happened to have the last name of Blakhamar, which amused me to no end.
“Um, Lady Traveler, I’m not at all sure how to ask for your ID,” he said with a perfectly straight face, craning his neck up at me.
“There is nobody who can correctly imitate my Name, Face, or Voice,” I informed him kindly. “I am the Lady Traveler.”
He blinked with everybody else, as they all realized it at the same moment. I matched everything they’d seen of me, and nobody else, even those who were definitely trying online, could do so.
“Right, then. Let me escort you in.” He was a Dragon Warrior, and could trot at a decent clip, despite his thick frame. The Old Steed politely stayed very slow to allow him to do so.
“Nice of you to come here, instead of making them come to you,” he said under his breath.
“Teleporting cuts down on travel time. It’s only a few hours of time,” I replied agreeably to him. “You should be asking the President for some combat time. You and your squad are falling behind, Ohrim.”
He grimaced. “Don’t I know it. Part of the whole duty to country, I guess.” He winked at me, and I smiled slightly as we came up to the side entry.
Unlike the original mansion, the White House in DW was a modern building with a modern layout and defenses. While it kept some of the classical charm, the interior was much more friendly to groups of people.
Some of the antiques from the original White House had been recovered after the DC Shroudzone was cleansed, and were being put into place here and there, or put out to be restored via magic or other means. At the same time, such things were only tokens and casual connections to the past... it was a new world.
It was going to change again when the Shroud went down.
I was ushered inside very politely, Ohrim Blakhamar escorting me all the way. The layout wasn’t that confusing, although it very quickly could be, if what I was observing of the architecture inside was true, and there was a lot of Artifice ready and waiting in these walls to protect the leader of the country.
Never skimp on your own security when you’ve got loyal Powered and an unlimited budget, after all.
The Situation Room was downstairs, but Ohrim took me down a carpeted spiral staircase instead of the elevator, then through some short hallways down there, until arriving at a reinforced, secure door there with a pair of Marines stationed outside of it.
The Marines had heard my Voice above, just like everyone else within a mile, and didn’t bother to do anything stupid, like ask for an ID that I didn’t have. The urukhar on the right knocked once, the door was opened from inside by an adjutant there, and I stepped inside.
Some of the most secularly powerful men in the world rose to greet me, equal parts expectant, wary, and dismissive, the last faltering and failing in the force of my Presence when I glanced over them all.
Yes, generals and admirals, that’s a 38 Charisma, a Noble Rank of 18, +56 to Oratory, +49 to Intimidation, and +47 to Diplomacy. I am very much the real thing, and you are not playing at my level.
I knew who they all were, of course. Visual Files and the resources of Heavenbound Hall saw to that, and I had plenty of Allegiance members tracking them and what they were doing, conveying their attitudes and displaying their fears to their subordinates about me: what I was doing, and how I could make things all go horribly wrong.
They particularly didn’t like the idea of a King, or even worse, a foreign-born halvyri Queen. Unfortunately, the Land didn’t care about them, and there was already jockeying for power going on among the politicians trying to remain relevant in the age that was coming.
Things had to get done, whether they liked them or not, and whether they remained relevant or not.
I noted that the heads of the FBI and the CIA were also here, in addition to the Prime Minister of Canada... and the American Hierophant of the Druidic faith, Pinewhisper, a Blackfoot. The Speaker and the Majority Leader, as well as the Vice President, had also found their ways in here.
“Ladies, gentlemen. A pleasure to meet you all.” Their names glowed and then faded out behind me in series as I met each of their eyes one by one, assuring them that I knew who they were. It also let everyone know exactly who I was looking at at any given time, which would cut through any means of trying to gain my attention. I stayed at this end of the table, as the President had the other end, the Prime Minister and Vice President to his right and left respectively. “Before I begin, do you have any questions for me?”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The President naturally lifted his hand, and his name rose behind me as I turned my eyes on him. “Mr. President?” I asked calmly.
“Is this related to some of the announcements that have been going out on your rocket research?” he asked quickly. “The findings have been... disturbing.”
“Yes. Again, I come before you in Truth, Hope, and Valor.”
Curses rose as men and women gasped. Less than half of the people here were actually Good, and hearing the Words of Creation was a harrowing experience for them.
On my side, the Words indicated that I was deadly serious.
I waited for them to stanch their bleeding noses, and if they shot dirty looks at me, there was a very healthy measure of fear behind them.
They didn’t have to like me, they just had to do what I told them to do.
“The whole technological basis of your military is going to collapse on its face. The electronics, combustibles, and munitions that your forces are built on are going to disintegrate. To a very limited extent, you may be able to replace them with alchemical munitions and engines... but you are all versed in the costs of such things. They are an order of magnitude or higher in cost than making the technology you have now.
“You have to expend all your current munitions and fuel before the Shroud comes down, or they will expend themselves for you. That is particularly true of your explosives. How and what you are going to equip your men with is going to be problematic.
“In particular, you better get your naval assets to safe ground, because when their fuel blows, you aren’t going to have any naval assets anymore.” Admiral LaSalle paled as he realized what might happen if someone was on a ship at sea when all its fuel and munitions exploded.
“Is there any chance you are wrong about this?” Canadian Prime Minister Jean-Paul Tioz spoke up urgently, clearly not wanting to believe this any more than the military men here.
“There is a 99% chance we are correct in this, given the redundant and overlapping levels of tests done given to confirm this fact. The 1% should be removed within three days. We are finishing up a rocket with a Greysphere to get it past any residual energies from the Haze, to be dropped once the rocket clears the trapped souls and the necroic matrix there.”
One percent wasn’t very good odds, but I was still going to crush that hope to stop any delay arguments.
“Literally the only kind of munitions you are going to be able to use are those with Energized elements made alchemically, or magical rounds. That is going to drastically limit the viability of most firearms, as Endless Ammunition cylinders are not cheap. Furthermore, not even the thin barrier of magical construction is going to help you if you use automatic weapons. Those things attract fire Elementals like nobody’s business, and only inside a Greysphere are they anything approaching useful. Paying twenty goldweight so you can shoot a GAR off is not a wise investment by anyone.”
They winced at the implications even more. The lack of logistics would also mean that they’d better demobilize before the food situation got totally horrific, too.
“The kind of assets you have now, in a magical world, are the result of accumulations built up over hundreds or even thousands of years, in most cases. Technology is a result of the knowledge of centuries, but works on scale.
“Magic... it works on time, not on scale.
“If you do not make the right moves, you are going to crash and fall, and probably take all of North America with you.” My expression was uncompromising. “If North America falls, the world likely falls. I will take severe steps to see that this Land does not fall, and if that means I must remove any or all of you, then that is exactly what I will do. You are not only unimportant if you refuse to help, you are an active impediment to saving this entire world.
“There are many, many people willing to and working to save this world.”
“N-Now, see here, Miss Traveler...” General Mallory started to speak, but his stuttering in fear and pale face kind of took the edge off his voice.
“Save the world, General Mallory. Is that too much to ask of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?” I inquired directly of him.
His lips flapped, and the commander of America’s military couldn’t say anything.
“If your people want to talk to my people, we can have structural help in your demobilization efforts on your desks tomorrow, with advice as to what directions to take the national military, especially in the face of the competition for the King that is already starting to take place. Smooth transfers of power are often the hardest to do, especially with those finding it hard to deal with the new age coming.”
The military men here all swallowed. I noted the Hierophant looked rather smug. He hadn’t been at the Solstice meeting, but he had likely urgently requested to be here for this, probably hoping to meet me afterwards.
“General,” the President said calmly, reining in the Chairman, who was finding it very hard to argue with me at all. I simply swamped him too much. He was only a Faux Seven, after all. “Lady Traveler, please, tell us what you would like us to do.”
“I would like to borrow your naval assets before you mothball them, and I would like to use the atomic weapons you have found little use for while they are still usable, before you have to Disintegrate their atomic material.”
That was definitely not the reason they thought I had come here. Demands on how to reorganize, couched as advice, had been much more expected.
“Let me get this straight,” Army General Brown spoke up in some disbelief. “You want us to give you nuclear weapons?”
I made an affronted face. “I’m not a nuclear munitions specialist. What would I do with an atomic weapon? I want you to use them, I certainly don’t want one for myself!”
“What could you possibly need an atomic weapon for?” Air Force General Tomawild asked, very curious now. “We’ve seen the videos of you taking out whole cities! It is a terrifying sight, and certainly does far less fallout damage then atomic weapons would!” They all nodded instant and emphatic agreement, even the Druid.
Well, especially the Druid.
I nodded at their point. “I will not argue that.” A globe of the world spun up behind me, spun over to Southeast Asia, and there a hot pink area began to draw itself into existence over the various oceans and seas out there, painting strips of the blue a different color.
Four, six, nine points of light suddenly arose out there, also of varying sizes, two sharing the biggest size.