'No! No! I just opened the door and he was there! I didn’t see anything!'
Trevor pushed her away and then knelt at Johnny’s corpse, running a hand over his eyes to force the stiff lids shut. Then he squeezed his own eyes tight as a wave of emotions poured in. First came guilt over his series of reckless decisions that eventually led them here. But that guilt drown in a sea of red anger, a much more satisfying emotion because he could focus it outward instead of in.
Nina's voice-a thousand miles away-asked, 'What's that?'
Trevor opened his eyes and noticed a blood-stained note on Johnny's lap. He leaned close and read: REMEMBER WHO IS IN CHARGE.
'Trevor…The Committee…oh shit…did they do this?'
Nina’s first guess was also his guess.
'The…the Committee..?' Jolene mumbled.
Trevor stood straight but he did not take his eyes off his friend. His fists clenched.
Remember who is in charge.
Yes. It is time to show them. Time to show them who is in charge.
– A few snowflakes drifted among the buildings of Thebes on a cold but windless morning. The clouds that brought the flurries looked as if they carried a heavy payload of snow to deliver but were not quite ready to give up their cargo. Maybe later. Maybe somewhere farther east.
Despite the flurries and despite temperatures in the teens, the sentries outside of the Operations Center felt fairly comfortable. With little wind, their heavy parka jackets and balaclavas kept them relatively warm.
Whatever calm the improvement in weather bestowed to those guards ran away as two armored attack vehicles bearing Third Legion insignia screeched to a halt opposite their post.
'What is this?' The Captain of the Guard went from annoyed to concerned when he noticed that the rocket launchers were fully armed and pointed at him.
An assault buggy joined the armored trucks and two people jumped out. The Captain of the Guard recognized them. The first, Major Forest of the Third Legion. The second was, well, still somewhat of a mystery. He resembled his old Emperor and rumor had it he had been riding the asses of every soldier over at the Third L. Other rumors — newer rumors- said he had personally overseen the slaughter of yesterday’s Chaktaw invading force.
The two of them-the Major and the man-walked to the Captain of the Guard.
'Major Forest..?'
She did not speak. The man did.
'Captain. I’m going to give you a choice. I’m going to give you a choice and you need to give me an answer right now.'
Suddenly that bearable cold became an arctic blast careening along his spine. Partly from those missiles, and partly from the blood rage glowing in the man's eyes.
The Captain made his choice…
…Scuffling and shouts from outside the sealed chamber doors interrupted the conversation between the three Committeemen. Two of them sat at their elevated desk reviewing papers and photographs. The third occupied a chair at the oval conference table working on a small computer.
A heavy thud caused the doors to shake, drawing the attention of Thebes' three leaders.
'Guard,' the one at the table ordered. 'Find out what’s going on out there and silence them. We have important work to do.'
One of the two sentries in the room nodded and walked toward the doors. As he reached for the knob, both doors exploded inward. Wood and metal and the sentry’s body parts blew across the chamber in a gale of shrapnel, punctuated by the crack of an explosion. The wave of concussion and debris engulfed the committeeman at the table, tossing him from his chair.
An angry swarm poured in to the room directly behind the blast, led by Trevor Stone.
The second sentry raised his rifle. Major Forest fired from her silver pistols blam-blam…blam-blam.
Two horrified Committeemen remained and attempted to speak from atop their shattered pedestal. Trevor did not afford them the chance. He tossed a grenade between their chairs. Their bodies flew in the air as if their asses had been spring-loaded, and then fell to the floor in two deadened thumps.
The air inside the chamber grew to a surreal quiet broken only by the rain-like pitter-patter of debris caught in gravity’s grasp. A cloud of dust hovered over the scene.
Trevor, his invading force, and the stunned spectators in the Operations Center stood and waited to see if a few seconds of violence had truly erased years of The Committee’s rule.
A groan broke that silence, followed by a sliding sound, then the sound of debris being pushed aside. Trevor searched the piles of scraps, the overturned chairs, and the bloody remains until he found the source.
The Committeeman seated at the table when the door blasted open lived, his body covered in ceiling tiles and wood chips and he was missing half of his face, but he still drew breath.
Trevor saw the face of Reverend Johnny on the floor outside his penthouse. Reverend Johnny-his friend-was not drawing breath anymore.
Every one in the room watched. They watched as Trevor walked in big hard steps over to the crawling man covered in dust and debris. They watched as Trevor raised his assault rifle, aimed the bayonet, and drove the blade home.
– Eventually the dust settled and the silence broke. Workers carted off the bodies of the three deposed rulers.
Director Snowe and General Gronard stood in what had, a half hour before, served as The Committee’s chambers. Major Forest hovered near the door looking out at the Ops Center where Trevor moved among the technicians and support personnel, providing more chances to choose.
So far, Snowe heard no gunshots, suggesting people made the right choice.
In addition to offering choices, Trevor also shut down communications. The man who would be Emperor again wanted to control every snippet of information in Thebes while he moved to consolidate his newly-won position.
Gronard asked again, 'What caused him to do this?'
From the doorway, Major Forest said, 'After his counter attack yesterday, they killed his friend. I mean, I guess they wanted to send a message.'
'Really?' Based on his expression, that piece of information stunned Gronard even more than the coup. 'That doesn’t seem like something they would do.'
'No,' Snowe agreed. 'But you heard them yesterday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them that annoyed.'
Gronard absently nodded. 'I suppose so. Just seems out of character.'
'Well it’s done,' Nina said. 'So what do we do now?'
'Trevor did this?' Gronard repeated what they had already told him.
'He did it, yeah,' Nina agreed. 'But everyone followed him. I mean everyone. Me, the guards, the squad leaders from Third L. And, shit, they loved it.'
'So I guess that puts him in charge.' Gronard looked directly at Snowe.
'I guess so.'
'For the man who was probably next in line, you seem to be handing it over to him easy enough. I would have thought you’d have more to say about that.'
Snowe answered, 'I guess we’ll just have to see how things go.'
'How things go? Last time things didn’t go so well,' the First Legion’s General reminded.
Snowe said, 'Last time we did things half-assed. Things got out of control; there wasn't enough discipline in the ranks. With a few exceptions here and there, we're not dealing with a professional army. We should have anticipated that some people wouldn't just fall in line. This time, we drop the hammer on anyone who acts up; leave no doubt who is in control.'
Major Forest interrupted, 'They want to follow him. Our people — our troops- are ready for a strong leader again. You know?'
The sound of approaching footsteps silenced the conversation. Trevor Stone walked into the room, a rifle slung over his shoulder. He stopped and surveyed the scene.
'Are there any problems I need to know about?'
Snowe glanced to Gronard. Gronard turned to Trevor and said, 'No problems here.'
