Stars spun in the sky as John whirled through space. What? Where am I? He thought to himself as his spinning slowed, and the white and silver streaks solidified into twinkling stars in the distance. Then he heard a voice from behind.

“So, you made it.” John spun and found Greaves floating in space, beaming a smile as bright as the sun. “Glad we could talk like this finally. It’s been a few months. How are things progressing?”

“Good, but you know that already, I’m sure. What is this place? I thought we were supposed to meet in a conference room?”

“Yeah, I thought that mental construct was stuffy, so I had this designed instead. Besides, it lets me show you some things. Watch.” The silver pinpricks of light spun into lines again as John and Greaves moved through space at wild speeds. They stopped in front of a floating orb that looked suspiciously red and orange. “Mars.”

“Caught that. I’ve read scientific weekly too, you know.” Greaves laughed.

“Yeah, I know. But I didn’t just want to show you Mars’ old friend. I wanted to show you that.” Greaves pointed towards a small black dot on the surface that John had never seen before.

“Uh, what is that?”

“Mankind’s first colony outside of Earth’s orbit.”

“Is that site zero?”

“No, no dude, that’s not site zero. That’s site two.”

“Then what’s site zero?”

“Where do you think we built, launched, and refitted the ships we sent those colonists here in?” John thought about it for a moment before realizing what his friend was talking about.

“The moon.” Greaves snapped his fingers and his smile broadened even further.

“Exactly! Here.” Greaves reached his hand out in the same gesture as before, and they rattled through space again. This time stopping above the surface of the far side of the moon. A massive construction yard spanned a gigantic crater. They split the crater into two sections. One was the construction yard itself, the other a base and what looked to John like a working colony. They painted the US flag on nearly every flat surface Greaves people could find. “The Chinese and Russians have one a few miles that way.” Greaves pointed in what looked like a random direction to John. “But they keep to themselves.”

“Did they ever find their pillar?”

“The Asiatic Pillar? Yup. Sitting at the bottom of the Yangtze River, just west of the Three Gorges Dam. They have about three army groups stationed there permanently now, along with some Russian air assets, and North Korean slaves they use for manual labor.”

“Is that going to be enough? Did they at least build more defenses?”

“A few, but mostly just buildings designed to house their troops. What they did do however, was station a massive nuclear weapon directly next to the pillar just under their listening station. The Russians gave them that sub-surface station built on their old soviet deep sea designs. If something comes through that they don’t like, and they don’t think they can handle, they’ll just blow the hell out of the place.”

“But that would flood all the way down to Shanghai.”

“Uh. . . well, Shanghai doesn’t exist anymore.” John stood, floated really, stunned at the pronouncement. “Taiwan decided they didn’t enjoy being the little brother that the CCP kicked around anymore. So they sunk all of their National Points into a massive shield the second they could and launched an all out nuclear strike against China’s main military cities. The Chinese party responded, of course, and half of Taiwan is now a smoking radioactive crater. But it was effective. They ‘Won’ their war with the mainland.” Greaves made air quotes with his fingers. “Half the population was gone in a few hours.”

“When did this happen?” John asked after a moment of pure quiet.

“About a week ago.”

“And I wasn’t informed? Why not? That kind of thing can have catastrophic cascading effects geo-politically.”

“Three reasons. First, it was a relatively limited nuclear exchange. A few dozen nukes each, but it was enough to wreck most of China’s major cities, and with over half its population in those cities, well. . . there you go. Second, information has become harder to share globally. The System restricts us on the information we can share through its internal systems, while our native communications systems have been, well, destroyed or compromised. Which brings me to my third reason.”

“Has the chaos spread?” Greaves’ shoulders slumped, and the man deflated like a balloon.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. We thought we had a handle on things after we quelled the rebellions and then conscripted a powerful police force. But that wasn’t enough. One level ten mage, trying to subdue six level six mages who have gone nutso? Could happen a few times, but not over and over. Our people have been giving ground, consolidating around hard points and concentrating their strengths to prevent the worst from spreading. But that’s pretty much all they can do right now.”

“So our people are just out manned then? Do we need to send troops back to help stabilize things at home?”

“Oh, God no! You and the Rocky Mountain facility, and a handful of bases in the south, are all we have left. But damn Colonial, I mean General Sedrick is doing a bang-up job. He’s organized everything we’ve needed, secured his six outlying firebases and their settlements, and has been sending out patrols to recapture and stabilize the western US. We’re trying to duplicate his success back east, but we’re making little headway. Florida up through Georgia seems to be the most stable areas we have in the east, and that is mostly because of local pride and sheer patriotic stubbornness. The random militia group seizing a small town here or there, or the holy rollers who keep attacking magic users as witches are a pain in our ass, sure. But they’re a normal level of crazy. They’re nothing compared to the damned system and anti-system cultists.”

“I keep hearing about these guys, but I’ve never encountered them yet. What’s their deal?”

“I take it you have read the briefings?” John looked chagrined for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

“I’ve had a lot to do, Greaves, and not a lot of time to do it in.”

“Fair enough. Well, the anti-system morons are pretty straightforward. They come in different flavors. Most are harmless Luddites who don’t think anyone should use the system to gain levels. They think it’s some kind of trap. But they can get pretty intense, and downright mean, particularly in areas that have seen some of the rampages earlier this year that we had to put down.” John grunted. It made sense to him, when people were hit by tragedy, it was typical, hell down right understandable that they would blame and demonize the thing they thought had caused it.

“And the system cultists?”

“Literally their exact opposite. They think we should eschew all forms of earthly tech and develop ourselves in a more ‘pure’ and ‘natural’ way through the system. They believe the system is there to fix all the inequalities in health, and strength between everyone, and thereby allow for a moral version of social Darwinism.”

“It’s a dog eat dog world, and they like it that way?”

“Basically. Fucking freaks if you ask me. Shoot on sight. That’s official US Government Policy, by the way. They don’t have a symbol or proper organization like the anti-system nutso’s, but it’s pretty clear when you come across one. They’re power hungry, and they’ll do anything to anyone to get it.”

“Got it. So, why did you call me here? I doubt it was to show off your new toys.” Greaves sighed deeply and rubbed his face. An affectation the man took with him into virtual reality.

“Two reasons, really. First, to give you the opportunity to ask questions like you have been. Its easier to give information through system supported communications if you ask questions of us, so we are prompted to respond. Giving information directly without being asked typically costs us resources we can’t afford to spend right now. Second, is to inform you of the formal withdrawal of the US Government from the surface of the planet.” A silence fell over both of them, and John started laughing. “Hey, I mean it. John, this is serious.”

“Sure it is! This is a good one, Greaves. I didn’t think you’d go this far to play a prank on me like this.” John took a minute to compose himself and looked back at his friend and former student. “So what, the president got cold feet and headed to space?” Greaves just stared at him, expression stone serious and John felt a creeping feeling in his gut. “You’re not joking. What the hell?”

“It’s only temporary. But the official capital of the United States is moving to the lunar surface. To Site Zero.”

“Okay, sure. That looks big enough, I guess.” John pointed at the habitat that was an enormous dome encasing atmosphere and plantlife the size of a small town. “But, why?”

“Moving the capital here has several benefits within the system’s integrated settlement management system. As long as you, the southern coast, the North and South American Forts can hold on to your support settlements, we qualify as the predominant power in the system. Which grants us System Points, not just settlement, national, or even continental points like we’ve been getting. Besides that, the president got attacked a few months back. Some anti-system morons hacked into the automated defenses and fried them. Half way through, some pro system cultists attacked and nearly killed him before our boys could get him out. We were lucky though, and two conscripts from the magic corp intercepted the attack and delayed it long enough for him to get out.”

“So he’s rattled then?”

“A bit.” Greaves looked uncomfortable for a moment before deciding on something and barreling on with his explanation. “He’s considering stepping down and letting his VP take over.” The vice president was a former admiral, but he was older than the president by nearly three decades. The man had a spine of steel, which is why he had been selected as the president’s running mate, if John remembered correctly. But his health had been a major concern, though with levels increasing people’s longevity, it might not be a serious one any longer.

“That can’t be good for morale.”

“No. Which is why I never told you. Look, we can continue to support you until a few days after connection. After that, we’ll need to focus heavily on the Mars colony. We’ll be in hot competition with the remnants of the CCP, and the Russians to maintain control of the system. After we’ve secured it though, well, we’ll see where the pillars lead too and make plans from there.”

“So, we’re going to be alone then?”

“For a few years, probably. Yes. Though, maybe longer. All depends on who wins, and how decisively they win this thing.”

“So that’s why the emphasis on self-sustaining forts.”

“We will be in contact from time to time, to help with research and development. We’ll see what we can do on our end to send you schematics, or intelligence, through traditional methods of communication. But don’t rely on them.”

“What about the other forts? How will we stay connected with them?” Greaves looked uncomfortable again.

“You, uh. You won’t. Not regularly, anyway. The South American fort is a sea based mobile force, and they have most of the complex coms equipment left on the ground. They’ll be the bridge between you and the US based forces. As for satellite support, don’t expect any. The Russians have already started shooting down communications satellites, and the CCP before Taiwan took over the mainland, shot down anything we moved anywhere near their territory. So we’re pretty light on them at the moment. They’ll be primarily tasked with helping monitor and protect our space born assets.”

“Any chance of orbital support?”

“Only if you lose complete control of the area. At that point? We have an agreement with the CCP, and the Russians. We’ll nuke the site from orbit rather than let aliens get a foothold on the planet. Some of the things the System has told our intel people about are, well, let’s say we don’t want to meet them until we’re ready. Really, really ready.”

“Well shit, and here I thought you didn’t care.” Greaves met John’s frown with a sigh of exhaustion and a slump of his shoulders.

“What can I do John? Everything is in chaos. We’re in a space race like no one has ever seen before, and we’re doing incredible things. We just need. . . we just need to survive long enough to pull them off. If we can, then there will be a future for our species, the likes of which none of us have dreamed of. If we can’t hold out that long, we’re done. Every man, woman, and child on the planet, and in the entire solar system, is done. Your job John? The job of every fort commander, is to buy time.” John floated through the quiet above the moon base. He watched as lifters took off from the surface and left into orbit, to meet some other ship he couldn’t quite make out in the far distance above him.

“Fine, we’ll do it. It’s not like we have much of a choice, anyway. I need one thing though.”

“What is it? I’m limited in the support I can give John.”

“I need Mary here with me. I left her in northern Idaho with my sons at our ranch, but if it’s going to be years, and if things are as crazy back home as you have said, I need her here. She’s safer by my side.” Greaves grinned and stared at him. “What?”

“Mary was on the last flight in. She was going to surprise you. Her, and two of your kids’ families were coming to help deal with the civilian side of things. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but there it is. You’ll probably see her as soon as you get out of this meeting. Give her my love when you see her.” A chill ran down John’s spine. “John?”