The Official Declaration of War

I spent yesterday talking to Anne while coordinating our move to the meeting spot. To try and get the drop on whoever we end up meeting, we have a mobile setup for our broadcasting equipment. We are going to have them posted up nearby but away from the tent that we have ready to set up. That way, should anything happen, there will be a recording of the meeting. This is supposed to be incredibly hushed to not scare them off but somehow an email went out to alert the media group distribution list that we have letting them know where they can also set up.

Funny how that happened. The more sources we have, the better off we are. I know that these folks don't care about my well-being. I've already poked the bear a few times. Now it's time to pull the bear from its cave.

The sun comes up on another day. We start moving out before the heat starts to get to be too much. The tent is one of those that one would use traveling across the desert. There is plenty of room for plenty of people to fit inside. Our camera crew is set up well outside of the area to not draw suspicion. Their goal is just to provide a separate set of eyes in case something happens. I have a long-range repeater installed on the back side of the tent to relay audio to them.

I only plan on keeping this meeting a secret for so long. I know my life is in danger. Anne is pushing to have herself nearby if something happens. I try to tell her about the dangers she could face with this but she shrugs them off. She's dead set on helping however she can. She'll be the greeting face, I guess. She'll stand outside to give them a false sense of security. If she is the first person they meet then they may think there is no protection.

It takes no more than an hour to get the tent built and the others sent away to their position. The closer the time gets, the more stations begin to show up. They are kept at a long distance where they can only see the tent. They don't know what this event is. They have no idea what's going on. Only that The Fox, Red is going to do something great.

The tent is left mostly empty. There is a small desk with a chair but the focus is on the center. There is a rather large table with only two chairs across from one another.

Anne stands outside in the shade watching over the desert looking for another sign of movement. She spots the cloud of dust before the black vehicle that's kicking it up. She gives me the warning that someone is coming. I remind her to be gracious to our guests. I hear the wheels come to a stop before the stomping of boots on the dry dirt. The curtain moves to the side as Anne and three others step inside.

Anne makes her way behind me while the brassed officer takes a seat across from me. I don't recognize this man or either of the peons he brought with him. I am rather surprised that the one to address me is another red fox. He looks rather weathered from his years of service. I can see a few scars here and there where the fur doesn't grow quite right.

He removes his glasses with a smile as he addresses me, "The man, the myth, the legend. The Fox, Red. I am General Weller. The man who ordered your arrest." Just straight to the point. I appreciate that but his openness reeks of overconfidence. Even his personal guards are underequipped for something like this. No rifles, no weapons at all. I wonder if they're also magic users.

He leans back putting his paws forward, palms up. "I know you have many questions and I only agreed to do this because you have the stones to call me out like this. So, I would say take advantage of this while you can. This is a very rare treat for anyone."

"What do you do? How are you connected to General Parson?"

"General Parson is under me. He is in charge of the program in all of the southeast United States. I am in charge of him and the others across the country."

"Why come after me?"

"I figured that would be obvious. You spilled a national secret. You spilled a huge international secret. Do you know how much damage you have done?"

"Do you? How many lives have you destroyed by using mages as weapons?"

I was going to try to avoid being aggressive but he knows how to push buttons. But it got him to back off. "Red, I understand your concern but you need to know that once a mage bomb is in the military, they're protected from the persecution that comes within the community for practicing. We just allow them to use their skills in exchange for being able to use those skills."

"You can politicize it all you want but you're using these people as weapons. That was the intention with me."

"We taught you skills to broaden your skill set."

"I was only taught spells that are used to cause harm to others."

"But it saves the lives of your fellow soldiers."

"Yea, that's why I got the honor of watching 3 of them be executed on a ship. But that didn't happen, did it? I know it didn't as I was wiped from the Earth."

If I don't keep up the pressure on him, he's going to push me. I brought him here for answers. "General Weller, my important question is once you had me arrested, did you plan on giving me a trial for my court marshaling? As I see it, bringing me in would be an admission of a screw-up that was supposed to be buried under the foundation and forgotten about." He nodded as processed the question. "I feel that you deserve an honest answer. No. There wouldn't have been a trial but you would have been given an option. You could have chosen an honorable way out by execution or to rot in a jail cell for the rest of your life."

I hear Anne behind me fidget at the idea. I wonder what I would have done when that moment came across. Honestly, that was all that I was looking for with this meeting. I wanted a straight answer to what the plan was for my capture and I got it! "Well General, I appreciate your honesty. I guess my only question now is, what's next? The cat is out of the bag and the world knows."

"That's an easy one. We still keep a lid on this and push back against you. We deny and deny and deny until it goes back to the way it was."

"I don't think that's possible at this point."

"You would be surprised! It'll be easier once you step out."

Does he genuinely expect me to just walk away? I think his ego is blinding him. One of his guards steps forward and taps him on the shoulder. "Red, I am a very busy man. Are we done here?"

"It depends on what you mean by 'done'."

"I would like to leave."

"You could leave at any time. You didn't even have to show up, to begin with."

"I figured I owed it to you."

Nothing more was needed. He stood up taking his men with him. I heard the engine of their van fire up before they take off at a high speed. "Anne, please stand close to me." She steps forward to my right. There is no way that he would just walk away. I know his ego won't let this die here as it did. He's up to something.

I take a deep breath in and as I exhale I set up a barrier thick enough that it distorts the area around us. Anne steps closer as it sets up, "Red, what's going on?"

"I don't trust him."

No sooner than I finished that sentence and the world around us changed. A blinding light hit my eyes. The roaring boom was only for a split second before my ears went deaf to all sounds around me. The fire and flames spread out leaving behind dust and smoke. I could feel my body react strengthening the shield without me having to think about it.

I didn't even notice that Anne grabbed onto me. There's so much that happened so quickly. Once I collect myself, I find myself panting heavily. I can begin to feel everything again. My muscles are tight but not sore. That quick expulsion of power took a lot out of me. Yet I feel great! My adrenaline is pumping as I bring down the barrier. The heat of the surrounding area hits the two of us. He tried to pull something. And it failed.

I chuckle as I try to get my faculties back. Anne finally lets go of me with a gasp, "Red, are you ok?"

"Never better!"

I do. I feel amazing. Something flipped a switch in me and I am fired up. "Red, please look at yourself." Anne grabs a makeup dick from her pocket with a mirror on it. I take a look and I look horrid. One of my eyes is bloodshot. I wondered what this taste in my mouth was. Turns out it was blood. I can also see that some of it has started running down the side of my face from my ear. That must have been from the shattering boom. I can see why Anne was concerned.

But this is a victory. I can only hope that the cameras that we had set up were running. They caught what happened outside of the tent. "Anne, please go to where the rest of the crew is. I have some business to take care of." She looked hesitant at first. But she nodded, "Go give them hell." And that was all the motivation I needed.