Post by albatross on Mar 7, 2010 21:39:07 GMT -5
THE THREE DEMONS
Only thirteen days had passed since South Korea had fallen, yet so much had already changed. In that first day, in only a few hours time, more than five thousand United States soldiers had died alongside more than ten thousand South Korean soldiers. More than one hundred thousand South Koreans were missing, feared dead. The entire peninsula had been evacuated. Airlines and every ship available had been commandeered to move millions of refugees.
Subsequent nuclear strikes had failed to stop the enemy - three huge robots whose very presence brought death. Satellites and flyovers confirmed that North Korea had also suffered steep losses, and though the attack was blamed on them the North was leaderless, engulfed in civil war and starving due to the destruction of its neighbor and principal supplier of food.
Rumors spread that super-powered teams from South Korea, the United States, China and Japan had all been killed during the attack or during the evacuation. It wasn't hard to believe. No living thing survived within a mile of the demons. Not even insects.
The Omega Shield base was nearly empty, save for a couple administrative assistants, Tiger, and a few agents she had exempted from the many missions which called every other Omega Shield agent, and substantially all of the support personnel.
The President had delivered his grave address to military veterans and retirees a week ago with a simple message: report for work tomorrow. And not just recent veterans and retirees. Everyone who could 'check an id or push a broom.' The president had only talked briefly of the threat - saying that the best military and scientific minds were at work to devise a defense - and in the proper time and place - the means to strike back. He made clear that the entire United States military, save a few trainers, was being deployed to assist with evacuation plans and refugee transport. He also informed retirees, especially those in transportation, fuel, food and medical industries that they would be needed back at work. Because there was now a draft.
The only people age 18 to 24 exempted from the draft were those who joined international relief organizations. The volunteer or be drafted program worked, and millions of people flooded the offices of the Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, and other international relief organizations.
The last three days had been especially chaotic as the entire economy had been turned on its head. Tiger had been on the phone and at her computer for more than a week. The admins had been feeding her calls with contacts all over the world. They slept in shifts, or at their desks.
The eerie waiting in the empty base was over now. Tiger had sent a text message to meet at the base bar. She looked grim, but refreshed. She must have found time for a nap and a shower. She stood behind the bar and served drinks, as the bartender was deployed to Japan, where he was probably working hard to lay the groundwork for an orderly evacuation of Japan rather than serving drinks. One of the demons was currently walking across the ocean floor toward Japan. Another was headed North into China, and the third was stalking the ocean floor towards Indonesia and Australia.
Tiger surveyed the team with her blue eyes, greeting everyone upon their arrival and offering beer or mixing drinks. Snacks were laid out along the bar. When everyone arrived, she began to lay out the mission details:
"The United Nations has scheduled trials in Alaska. There will be two divisions: one will test individual applicants to contain the threat, the other will test teams. The first division is a sideshow at this point. We will field a team in the second division."
"Scientists have studied data gathered by robotic probes and drones and they are currently refining a device which can shield a person from the demons. I have obtained plans for this device and created a toy version in order to screen potential applicants. I released the plans for the screening device to other potential team backers today, and they will begin assembling their own teams as early as tomorrow."
"Tests with the larger version are far from complete, but they indicate that the smarter, the more agile, and the younger a person is - the better they will be able to operate it."
"The second division will be for potential pilots, and is open to three person teams age eighteen and under. Our commission with the UN is to find and train three potential pilots for the division two trials. In exchange for the plans for the portable detector and consulting work on the trials planning committee, I've obtained a military commission with the United Nations Special Forces group in charge of the project. Each of you will receive an enlisted rank or UN diplomatic credentials in the alias of your choice."
"I have used Omega Shield's intelligence network to compile a list of more than fifty potential individuals, and I've narrowed the list to nine based on the intel of the desired characteristics. Before we discuss our recruiting plan and the list, are there any questions?"
[tag: Jeckle, Kris, Dante, Aiko, Strongbow]
Only thirteen days had passed since South Korea had fallen, yet so much had already changed. In that first day, in only a few hours time, more than five thousand United States soldiers had died alongside more than ten thousand South Korean soldiers. More than one hundred thousand South Koreans were missing, feared dead. The entire peninsula had been evacuated. Airlines and every ship available had been commandeered to move millions of refugees.
Subsequent nuclear strikes had failed to stop the enemy - three huge robots whose very presence brought death. Satellites and flyovers confirmed that North Korea had also suffered steep losses, and though the attack was blamed on them the North was leaderless, engulfed in civil war and starving due to the destruction of its neighbor and principal supplier of food.
Rumors spread that super-powered teams from South Korea, the United States, China and Japan had all been killed during the attack or during the evacuation. It wasn't hard to believe. No living thing survived within a mile of the demons. Not even insects.
The Omega Shield base was nearly empty, save for a couple administrative assistants, Tiger, and a few agents she had exempted from the many missions which called every other Omega Shield agent, and substantially all of the support personnel.
The President had delivered his grave address to military veterans and retirees a week ago with a simple message: report for work tomorrow. And not just recent veterans and retirees. Everyone who could 'check an id or push a broom.' The president had only talked briefly of the threat - saying that the best military and scientific minds were at work to devise a defense - and in the proper time and place - the means to strike back. He made clear that the entire United States military, save a few trainers, was being deployed to assist with evacuation plans and refugee transport. He also informed retirees, especially those in transportation, fuel, food and medical industries that they would be needed back at work. Because there was now a draft.
The only people age 18 to 24 exempted from the draft were those who joined international relief organizations. The volunteer or be drafted program worked, and millions of people flooded the offices of the Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, and other international relief organizations.
The last three days had been especially chaotic as the entire economy had been turned on its head. Tiger had been on the phone and at her computer for more than a week. The admins had been feeding her calls with contacts all over the world. They slept in shifts, or at their desks.
The eerie waiting in the empty base was over now. Tiger had sent a text message to meet at the base bar. She looked grim, but refreshed. She must have found time for a nap and a shower. She stood behind the bar and served drinks, as the bartender was deployed to Japan, where he was probably working hard to lay the groundwork for an orderly evacuation of Japan rather than serving drinks. One of the demons was currently walking across the ocean floor toward Japan. Another was headed North into China, and the third was stalking the ocean floor towards Indonesia and Australia.
Tiger surveyed the team with her blue eyes, greeting everyone upon their arrival and offering beer or mixing drinks. Snacks were laid out along the bar. When everyone arrived, she began to lay out the mission details:
"The United Nations has scheduled trials in Alaska. There will be two divisions: one will test individual applicants to contain the threat, the other will test teams. The first division is a sideshow at this point. We will field a team in the second division."
"Scientists have studied data gathered by robotic probes and drones and they are currently refining a device which can shield a person from the demons. I have obtained plans for this device and created a toy version in order to screen potential applicants. I released the plans for the screening device to other potential team backers today, and they will begin assembling their own teams as early as tomorrow."
"Tests with the larger version are far from complete, but they indicate that the smarter, the more agile, and the younger a person is - the better they will be able to operate it."
"The second division will be for potential pilots, and is open to three person teams age eighteen and under. Our commission with the UN is to find and train three potential pilots for the division two trials. In exchange for the plans for the portable detector and consulting work on the trials planning committee, I've obtained a military commission with the United Nations Special Forces group in charge of the project. Each of you will receive an enlisted rank or UN diplomatic credentials in the alias of your choice."
"I have used Omega Shield's intelligence network to compile a list of more than fifty potential individuals, and I've narrowed the list to nine based on the intel of the desired characteristics. Before we discuss our recruiting plan and the list, are there any questions?"
[tag: Jeckle, Kris, Dante, Aiko, Strongbow]
