Chapter 26 - When The Mongols Come, They Leave Nothing But Dust

Day 21

Noon

Erin was cleared from the hospital in the morning, after she showed significant improvements the previous afternoon. The wounds had healed to complete scars, and her energy felt at least equal to before the incident, if not better given her level up and increased attributes. This brought her relief and at least some happiness, but it was tempered by a message from General Anderson.

Anderson: I ask that everyone make time for a meeting at the McGibbons residence at noon.

There was an inherent ominous nature to the message, but more in the subtext than in the intent. It was to Eun-ha's great pleasure that Erin's plans to swing by the Dojang and train her first day out of the hospital were thoroughly thwarted, though. Erin, Eun-ha, and their military escort were picked up by Logan in the SUV shortly before noon, where they all drove home.

When they turned onto the home stretch, Erin noticed a surreal mix of neighbours on their lawns. Some waved with smiles, some just stared, others had open scowls. Erin couldn't say which of the three made her less comfortable, but she tried to at least smile and wave at those who did the same. As they pulled up to the house, Erin was genuinely pleased to see her friends outside waiting for her to arrive.

When Erin started to get out of the SUV, Brown and Johnson asked her to wait. Small crowds of neighbours were forming around them, and her guards didn't want to take the chance. Nevermind that those neighbours were more likely to hurt themselves than Erin, but Brown made a valid point to her when he said their job was to be a buffer, and to de-escalate before it reached a point where anyone could get hurt. So Erin followed their lead.

When Erin and her mother were ushered out of the vehicle, she was bombarded by a mix of "Glad you're okay!", "You turned our street into a warzone!", and "You should leave, please!" Erin did her best to ignore them, but she couldn't help but look when some of them got close enough for Brown or Johnson to shove them back. Before she knew it, Anderson and the remainder of his soldiers joined in the task of ushering Erin and her mother safely into the house.

Once Erin and Eun-ha were safely inside, Anderson turned to the crowd and asked them to leave. The well wishers were friendly and cooperative. The more polite detractors didn't give too much fuss, but the angrier group tried to step up and intimidate a three-star General who had a storied history of combat experience.

"You need to get the fuck outta our town, and take your pet psycho with you." The ring leader said.

Anderson pulled the Silver Replenishing Springfield M1911 pistol rewarded to him from the Phase 2 assessment and racked the slide, "Son, that young woman took grievous injuries saving two of my men, even after several rogue servicemen and women threatened her family and friends, and put a bullet square in the middle of her forehead," Anderson accented the end of this statement by pointing at the center of the ring leader's forehead with his finger, "Now, even before she saved my men I'd stand up to a self-important bully like you for no other reason than I don't like bullies, but after everything she's been through I'll go so far as to say that I'll Mozambique your ass and sleep like a baby tonight."

"You'll what?" The ring leader asked in surprise.

Cohen fielded the question for his commanding officer, "Two to the chest, one to the head. He can do it too. Seen him pull it off in theatre." Throwing a thumb Anderson's way, "General Anderson has ice in his veins and the twitch reflexes of a man a quarter his age."

Anderson continued, "And believe me when I tell you son, the town would be better using bullies as fertilizer for food instead of letting you spew shit out your mouth."

The Ring Leader took a step or two back, clear concern on his face, then turned and called his friends after him, walking back down the street.

Watching them go, Cohen said, "That was only a delaying tactic. They'll be a problem again in the future."

"Yup, but let's not borrow problems from the future just yet." Anderson turned and headed inside, his soldiers following.

Gathering everyone in the living room, Mrs. McGibbons and Eun-ha grabbed drinks and snacks for everyone before they sat down to have their meeting.

"Thank you for talking to the neighbours, George," Eun-ha said.

Anderson nodded, but wore a grim smile, "Mrs. Moon, that problem is not resolved, but it will pop up again in the future. For now, we have other things to discuss."

Eun-ha just nodded, unsure what she could add to that conversation.

"Everyone, thank you for meeting with us," Anderson gave a slow turn of the room to look at everyone, "Following the events with Hawthorne the other day, it was necessary for me to report back to Command, particularly to advise them my unit was no longer effective."

Some questioning gazes looked back at him with that last phrase, so Anderson elaborated, "That means we don't have enough forces to continue our mission. Likewise, we lack the forces required for a return trip to our base."

"That conversation is the source of your concern then?" Logan asked.

"Yes and no," Anderson nodded, "Upon my report I received direct orders from General Hawthorne on our command chat." Turning his gaze to Erin, "He ordered us to assess the state of the…asset, by which he was referring to Erin and…terminate if an opportunity arose." Anderson took a deep breath, seeming a little less burdened after sharing that news, despite the increase in tension among those present. "I intentionally delayed reporting back until Erin awoke, as I felt the orders were unlawful, at which point I argued in your favour."

"Okay, but even if you wanted to follow those orders, none of you could succeed in the task. It would be a suicide mission, so what's the purpose of this meeting?" Erin maintained a reasoned tone without sign of accusation or boasting.

"We met last night after receiving those orders to discuss our next steps. The military is not a democracy, but I won't consign my soldiers to a suicide mission for unlawful orders." The soldiers all gave Anderson nods of respect and appreciation, "The decision was made to leave the military, but…when we do this, we will be leaving the organization that the System placed us into as well. It won't go unnoticed."

"They'll come for you…for us…" Sydney said.

Anderson nodded at her, affirming the statement.

"How long?" Erin asked, no hesitation in her voice.

"Once we officially leave the organization…they'll need to gather forces. That depends on what they plan to bring. After they've gathered, they'll need to travel here. That could be as little as three days for a small, strong force that doesn't allow themselves to get bogged down, or up to a month if the force is bigger and they run into delays from the wildlife." Anderson's uncertainty played across his face.

"That's an incredibly wide margin of time to work with." Logan said, adding his thoughts.

A surprising voice spoke up, startling everyone present. "I knew this would happen. Well, this or something like it. I've been planning, but I'm not ready, and I still won't be in a month." Noah's voice was more confident than Erin had ever seen, but there was a pensive note carried with it.

"This ain't on you, son," Anderson said, "You're only fifteen. You're not responsible for this town."

"Fifteen, yes, but I've also been putting half of all stats I get into Intelligence. I'm now over 470." Noah rebutted, and got whistles and notes of surprise from everyone present, "I have a supercomputer that I've been building working on several projects even as we speak. Most of you can fight, but fighting isn't the only way to win. It's not even the best way to win."

Logan spoke up on Noah's behalf, "He's a damn smart kid, and from what I've seen that was before the alien stuff. We need to plan, and he needs to be a part of it."

"I'll admit, I'm old school." General Anderson said, "That means soldiers fight, civilians don't." He paused a minute, letting that thought permeate, "But this damn alien System is turning the whole planet into a battleground. That doesn't mean I want civilians on the front lines, but…I guess what I'm saying is, what do ya need, son?"

Noah looked around, nodding a thanks to Logan, squeezing his mom's hand reassuringly, then looking to Anderson, "For starters, I need resources. I can convert energy into matter to an extent, but it's an expensive conversion. I need as many opportunities to let Sky scan System equipment as possible, and we need to recover that tank."

Sydney looked at Noah funny, "Sky?"

"She's my super intelligent AI. I named her SkyNOT, but I call her Sky for short."

Cohen snorted, "You built a super intelligent AI and named it…SkyNOT?"

Noah shrugged, "Keeps my intentions on point."

"Fair enough." Cohen said.

"Also, no one can interact with Sky right now, so nobody asks." Noah's voice was firm when stating this point.

Logan asked what everyone was thinking, "Why not?"

"Simple," Noah replied, "If she experiences too much human interaction before reaching sapience, she'll probably try to murder the human race."

Mrs. McGibbons actually spit her coffee out at this statement, then stared at Noah with a face that said she did not believe what she just heard.

"We don't need a second psychotic AI on top of the first one. Can you guarantee Sky won't go crazy?" Anderson asked.

"Absolutely." Noah's confidence on this was unwavering.

Logan spoke up in support of Noah again, "I trust him. If he says we're good, we're good."

Begrudgingly, Anderson nodded in acknowledgement, "Alright. In that case, we can probably delay for two to three days before we have to tender our resignations, as it were. Any longer and I suspect General Hawthorne will see through my stalling tactics."

Erin nodded and stood, "So, as much as we can done in three days, then our schedule becomes day-to-day goals. Multitask where possible, but prioritize. Questions?"

One of the tank crew, they had Kowalski on their name tape, stuck a hand up.

"This isn't grade school, Kowalski," Brown said, "Just ask your damn question."

Kowalski dropped his hand and asked, "How are we supposed to recover a tank?"

Erin smiled a wolfish grin at the man, "I've heard the military have a phrase. It's a shit sandwich, and everyone has to take a bite."

Anderson chuckled, but Erin's face reddened when Eun-ha smacked her daughter in the leg and said, "Language, Ttarai!"

Erin reddened, "Sorry, Eomma."