*Dae Ho*

Outside my closet of a room that stupid drone imprisoned me in I can hear loud crashes and shouts. In the distance Truck engines and convoys are roaring to life in a controlled panic. Just outside the door I can hear someone rush up to the peon guarding my cell, “hey, come on! We have been ordered to go to the front line. An incursion army is on its way here. We must defend the base!”

The drone is panicked, “I can’t, the general gave an order. I have to stay and guard this room.”

The idiot is not arguing with the drone. This is a perfect opportunity to get him out of here so I can escape. I lean against the door, “trooper, can you hear me?”

From the other side of the door, I can hear him respond, “I am not supposed to talk to you, please remain quiet.”

A good little drone huh, “don’t be like that trooper. I just wanted to tell you that you can go help your brothers and sisters on the front lines. There is no point in guarding me here.”

There is hesitation in his voice, “I am on orders from the general. I will not be leaving my post. Now remain silent.”

Time to start, “Can’t you tell? This is a mass mobilization. There is an army of monsters on their way here. The only person who could initiate a mass mobilization of all IDR forces on this base would be the general.”

The trooper remains quiet on the other side of the room. I can still hear others rushing around outside. I continue whispering into the drone’s ear, “The general ordered for all IDR forces to go to the front line. They will need all the help they can get. That is an army of incursions out there. Will you really let your friends, your comrades go to fight and die, all while you remain safely by this door guarding a single person?”

I can hear the drone shuffling around his feet, “orders are orders. I will not abandon my post.”

I keep at it, “you won’t be abandoning your post trooper. You received an update to your orders. Orders that originated from the general. Go to the front line. What could I possibly do anyway? I am just one guy, and I am locked in a small room. How would I get out? The door is locked from the outside. You have the key, no one else does. Just promise me that you will come back for me after you earn a medal or two alright?”

Barely audible, a groan and a mumble make it through the door. I can not make out what the drone said but he seems to be breaking, “Do you know what I have been doing at the HQ? You know who I am right? I am Dae Ho. One of, if not the richest and most powerful men in the world. Or at least in the old world. Here, I am just another guy. But before this all started, I did have an extensive network of informants to keep me up on trends in the markets and governments of the world. I came here because I got wind of strange occurrences happening in the world. I came to warn the general. I thought something was coming. I just regret not making it in time. I am here to help the IDR. I gave over a third of my fortune to the IDR in the old world. I believe in what you stand for, what you represent. I swear to you, I will remain in this room. I want you to do what the IDR has always done. There is a disaster approaching this base. Please, respond to this disaster. One trooper can be the difference between success and failure. That is taught in your training is it not? I know it is, I was there when it was being written. I helped write it. Don’t leave your brothers and sisters to fight alone.”

After a pause the drone on the other side of the door questions, “you will remain in this room?”

I smile deeply, “the door is locked, where would I go?”

On the other side of the door footsteps echo out and then there is silence.

I wait for a further ten minutes before probing, “trooper? You out there?”

Again, “Trooper?! Open up, there are incursions outside the window! I just saw an incursion! The incursion army is here. They made it past the front lines! Don’t leave me in here to die! Trooper!”

I wait, only silence answers my please. The smile on my face grows deep and toothy. I cycle my mana and press against the door. I told the general about what mana can do for the body. I told him how slow it was for the human body to absorb the mana. After over a decade, I could barely match an Olympic grade athlete. That was before the invasion began. That was with what little mana I could syphon from the anchor blade stabbed into my body. Since the incursions started showing up though, flooding the world with mana.

The door creaks and cracks under my push. Splinters pop out and the surface warps. I push a little harder. The level of effort normally used to open a jar of pickles, and the door falls from its hinges. Bolts and metal torn free from the molding, the dead lock and latch hanging limply from their sockets in the frame. I step outside the room and look down the hallways. There is no one here. The drones have all gone to the front lines like the general ordered. At least I think it was the general’s order. Well, it matters not. I am free and unobserved, that is all that matters.

I turn down the hallway and start a leisurely walk. It is time the general and I have a more serious discussion about leadership, but first, I need some support for my argument.

*Dae Ho*

I find my security officer bunkered down by my airplane. When I approach guns are pointed at me, but upon recognition my officer orders a stand down. He walks up to me, “sir, where have you been? There are reports of an incursion’s army attacking the base. Every time we ask for you location we are shut down. I have spies scouring the entire base for you. We are ready to go wheels up at any time. Please board the plane rapidly. We need to get you to our forces as soon as possible before the base is over ran.”

I nod to the man. He is very over protective of me but I can’t blame him. Back in my first life, he was one of the top level players. He helped me out more times than I can count. I owe him my life several times over. I owe all of my core personnel more than I can ever repay them. Every last one was a friend from my first life. Even if they don’t know it they are closer to me than my own family. They died rapidly after the first wave of the invasion in my first life. In this one, I don’t know what happened to them. I gave them some money to get them to stop bothering me and haven’t seen them or spoken to them since.

Instead of boarding the plane I grab my security officer’s weapon, “we won’t be escaping anytime soon Lee. Get your men ready, we will be saving the IDR HQ and might as well make it our own as well. Do you still have contact with our forces?”

Lee nods, “yes sir, they are only thirty miles away, hidden in an abandoned industrial site.”

I smile, “good, send them word. They will come here and take command of the defense of the IDR HQ. They will repel the incursion army and become heroes by doing it.”

My team and I remain hidden as we observe the front line come spiraling towards the IDR HQ building. After the HQ is engulphed I will breach in and kill the incursions. If the general is still alive inside, well a misplaced shot will fix that. As we wait, reinforcements from the military garrison arrive and start pushing the incursions back. I can’t have that. The HQ needs to be on the verge of collapse if I am to be able to swoop in and take control. The very fact that the front lines have made it this far is proof enough that General Sherwood is far too incompetent to be able to rule the IDR.

I pull out a mana beacon. I had my boys put this together based off of designs from my previous life. It took them a while to get a theoretically working model designed, but they did it. Now that the materials for it have arrived, it is time for a field test. This beacon should drive the incursions away from its center, or, with a flip of a switch, call them to it.

Igniting the beacon, I use my enhanced strength to throw it into the military reinforcements. From all around incursions stop their ransack and drive towards the military contingent. The beacon works. Once I am in command of the IDR, I will have these put into mass production to use in the convoys. Larger ones can be used to deter incursions away from my bases.

With the new influx of enemies, the reinforcements are pushed hard and collapse in the end. I am sorry to see good soldiers be sacrificed, but to defeat the gods and save humanity, I need the IDR. I can not leave it in the hands of someone so incompetent and weak.

Once again, the HQ is threatened by the incursions. They are battering at the doors and windows. Within moments they will breach the building. When that happens, I will make my move. The front doors of the building blast open and I can see over a dozen grenades be thrown out before a table is lodged in the door way. The grenades detonate, taking out well over half the incursions on this side of the building.

After the explosion the troopers inside remove the table and move outside. Weapons raised and engaging they are able to escape the incursion hoard. I can see both the general and his major minion within the group.

I hold fast and watch them go. This is perfect. They are abandoning the base; I can use this. I fallow behind them watching their moves. They work their way through the mayhem and to a communications tower. Although analogue, the tower is connected to others that can send their voice across the installation.

I call over my security officer, “blow the connector relay. It has an access point on the street to our right. Send another two teams to cut the ones on the north and east side. I will take care of the west side.”

Confirming my instructions Lee sculks off and issues my orders. Not long after two teams of three go off in other directions while Lee and two others enter the nearby street.

I move with the remaining two escorts and find the final connection. I crush the lock with my hands and open it up. Inside is a speaker and two heavy wires. I unplug the outgoing wire and listen.

It is not long until the general’s voice is heard, “This is General Sherwood. I am issuing a mass evacuation. The IDR HQ is lost. Move to defend the civilian quarter and prepare for evacuation. All personnel will regroup at outpost three seven. Do not risk your lives for a fallen installation. We are the IDR, help those you can, and live to fight another day. God speed and good luck.”

As I listen to his speech Lee reunites with me as well as the other two teams. I smile to him, “contact our force, tell them a team of players are abandoning the field of battle and are headed to outpost thirty two. Destroy them without prejudice, we do not need cowards. After, have them engage the incursion army. It is time to save the IDR.

*Hix*

The front line is collapsing. Incursions are breaching at multiple points. The so called players are abandoning the field. We have yet to receive news from the HQ. Sherwood, what are you waiting for? The military reinforcements we requested for help should already be there. Did they get delayed, destroyed? You told me already didn’t you, we would abandon the installation if the military did not arrive by now. Where are you?

I grab my rifle and exit my staging area. Outside troopers, soldiers, first responders, and recruits are engaging the enemy incursions. We are the final fall back point before the installation proper. The artillery batteries have long since been overtaken and have stopped firing.

I approach the battlements when a captain stops me, “colonel, this is no place for you. Let us handle the line.”

He may be right but, “trooper, there is nothing left for me to do. I will be informed if the HQ contacts us. Until then every rifle counts. We still have troopers out there and they need our cover fire to make it here. I am going to the line. I will cover my troopers.”

The captain pauses but nods gravely. The man is up for promotion to major; he likely understands that there is nothing I can do anymore, rather than nothing left for me to do. We are on our own now.

I line up next to a lieutenant and a private. The private almost freaks out after recognizing me but the sergeant next to him forces him back down to firing position. She glances at me over the private and seeing me with a rifle in hand she nods and returns to firing as well. By this point we all know we are not getting out of this alive.

I look through my sights and see the horde for the first time. Creatures of all shapes and sizes. Some furred, others scaled, and a few with fleshy skin. Some tall, others short sizes both massive and tiny. Some muscular, others lithe, some bound to the ground, others flying high. Every incursion of every kind seems to be present except for the high intelligence ones. They seem to have been smart enough to not rush headlong into a rain of bullets.

After taking in the oncoming wave of our demise, I get to work. We may end up dying to these things, but we will not be an easy meal. The incursion line is almost at our throats. From beside me I hear a crunch and turn only to see the private laying there, a boulder where his head once was. Blood and brain splattered across the ground. I wipe the sweat from my face. It comes off red. I feel my head for injuries before looking at the private’s headless body again. This is his blood. He splattered on my face. I role his body to the side and pull his mags free. I do not have as much ammo as a regular trooper. His will come in handy.

While I scavenge ammo from the dead explosions shake and shatter the ground in front of us. I lay back down facing the line. Another barrage of detonations blinds me shortly. Looking through the spots in my eyes I can see a new convoy pushing towards us from the flank. They are engaging the incursions with prejudice.

I retreat from the line and grab the captain from behind, “reinforcements inbound. Open the west line up to give them access. Shift the troopers there to the east and north sides. Deploy two heavy rifles from the north to the west. Keep the two already there in place. Cover the convoy’s approach.”

The captain’s eyes lite up at my orders. He can see hope for us. I am not so excited. I did not recognize the approaching trucks. They are neither ours nor the militaries. They are also the most heavily armed vehicles I have seen since the flare hit us. The only reason I am opening the door for them is how well armed they are. They could level us as easily as they are doing to the incursions if they so chose, but even a small hope is far better than none at all.

The convoy pulls into the post and a person unloads from the second vehicle. The rest move to the inside of the battlements so that they can fire over the top of them with their heavy weapons. Several have equipped cannons that are still operational. The remaining have heavy machine guns and one even has a rocket salvo pod on its roof. These are warfare vehicles.

The woman that exited the convoy vehicle approaches me, “good day ma’am. I see you might be in need of some assistance. I am from the Jeonsa contractor company. Glad to be of service. This rescue is even on the house, as thanks for all the IDR has done in the past.”

She smiles at me. Her accent is awkward. These people are not from here, foreigners. Yet the Jeonsa sounds familiar. I take a moment to think and then I remember. The Jeonsa is the mercenary company bank rolled by Dae Ho.

I glare at the woman, “what are Dae Ho’s attack dogs doing here?”

The woman laughs, “rescuing you apparently. We arrived on this land a couple of days ago. We fallowed our boss here you see. When we came to give him our support, we see the base he is in under attack. Figured we would give you a hand since we will be working together in the future.”

Arriving two days ago? When no new ships have been able to pass the sea after the first week? Then show up just as the installation is about to be over run. This spells trouble.

*Dae Ho*

I have repulson mana beacons placed at each corner of the newly secured HQ building. Lee has just informed me that the Jeonsa has arrived and are reconnecting the remaining posts still standing. I can now start to resecure the IDR base. First though I need to secure my position as leader of the IDR.

Lee returns from his most recent task, “sir, we have reconnected all the speaker lines. Your words should reach the entire base.”

He hands me a microphone that has had its connection to the grid repaired. If Sherwood was able to use this instead of having to go to a tower this would have been much harder. I don’t know which incursion cut the lines, but I must thank them.

I take the speaker and begin my speech, “To all IDR troopers and military soldiers, this is Dae Ho. You all will know me as the recent lead advisor to General Sherwood. I have successfully made contact with our reinforcements the Jeonsa. They have operational communication devises. These devises are being distributed to command to be used as needed. Further instructions will be relayed via these devices. With Jenosa supporting our forces we have begun to retake and secure multiple sections of our installation. Jenosa has also deployed to secure the civilian quarter. All IDR troopers and military soldiers, assist Jenosa to retake this installation and drive off these incursion monsters. This is our land not theirs, remind them of that.”

With this I should be given some time to establish myself some more. By the time any of the high ranking IDR troopers deign to investigate the HQ building and try to find Sherwood I will already be in control and have placed the evidence of his cowardice. I apologize Sherwood, but you will be known as a coward who has abandoned his people. Rest assured though; your sacrifice will not be in vain. I will lead the IDR to victory, and we will track down these gods and kill every last one. It is all thanks to you general, have a peaceful rest.

Lee comes in with Lan Ling, the leader of Jenosa. She reports to me, “sir, we have yet to even reach the civilian district. If the IDR troopers find out that we . . .”

I cut her off, “Ling, worry not. I am sad to say it, but it seems most of the IDR leadership has perished in this attack on their base when they fled with general Sherwood. They will not find out what happened. Do you still have your IDR ID cards?”

She and Lee nod and produce their retired IDR identification cards. They each were privates in the IDR for two months. Just long enough to be fully integrated into the system before leaving IDR service for my employ. Although, they were in my employ from before they entered and left the IDR, so I suppose it would actually be that they returned to my employ. I am glad I always think ahead and have back up plans for my back up plans.

I take the two cards and pull out a flash drive. I place the drive into the central computer of the HQ building and slot Ling’s card in first. After it pops back out, I slot in Lee’s. I turn to the two of them, “well then, it is an emergency situation, and everyone needs to do their part. I order you both to return to service in the IDR immediately. Coronel Ling, Major Lee, I welcome you and hope your passage from the South Asia IDR regional headquarters was pleasant. I look forward to working with you both as your primary advisor on all things related to the incursion threat.”

The both of them take their new cards with a smirk on their faces. A perk of being the one to build the central computer of the IDR, you have the security keys to make it do what you want it to do.

The front door bursts open and the Hix girl storms in, “Dae Ho! What is the meaning of this!? Where is General Sherwood! You will tell me what is happening right now!”

Now to deal with this girl. I turn to Lan Ling and nod. She steps forward and addresses the coronel, “Hix, stand down. I am Coronel Ling of South Asia. I was sent here by General Mou to reestablish communications with the primary headquarters, but I see you have failed to defend the HQ. Without General Sherwood here you are the ranking officer, but due to your incompetence I am forced to reassign you elsewhere. Under the authority of General Mou, I am commandeering command of the primary IDR headquarters effective immediately.”

Hix looks Ling up and down, “and where the hell did you come from? Do you really think I will fall for the bluff of one of Dae Ho’s bimbos?!”

Ling huffs and places her id card into the command slot, “computer, transfer command authority from Coronel Hix to Coronel Ling under authority of General Mou.”

Hix erupts, “what kind of farce is this! The computer isn’t even . . .”

The primary screen in front of the room flashes on and begins the authority update. Ling turns to Hix, “unlike you lazy Americans, we have been upgrading our facilities in case of high yield emps. I brought with me a generator and repair kit that can bring various systems back online. I came here under the escort of the Jenosa. Since our troopers are busy finalizing the security of our cities, which you have failed to do. Coronel Hix, you are now under my authority. Return to the lines and secure this base. We will be having a discussion later, on our strategies to retake the cities.”

Thankfully the generator worked. Alongside the beacon this generator took years to perfect. There are still several more creations from my past life that I am excited to try out now that I have control of the IDR.

*Dae Ho*

The next morning Ling knocks on my bedroom door, “Sir, our technicians have repaired the damaged telegraph systems.”

Radios still don’t work due to the continued interference of the solar flare. Thing would be so much easier if this damn interference would just go away. The ionization will eventually dissipate but until then even my disruption boxes won’t be able to get the radios working. The boxes disrupt the electro magnetic waves, allowing the computer systems to work, but they just don’t have the range to work more than a few hundred meters. If only I had more time to work out the kinks, the engineers are good and all, but they just would not stop complaining that there would be no way to power my creations, that they had to keep changing the designs, that physics don’t work like that. If only those, if only they would have just shut up and did what I asked of them. My creations were made by the highest-level blacksmiths and crafters of the future, I know more than these engineers about how the mana works, if only they would have just listened to me rather than complain I would have much more options than I do now.

I am getting distracted again. I open the door and step out, “good, we need to see what the damage is in the other bases. We may likely be one of the few bases remaining.”

Ling looks down to a tablet she has started carrying, “about that sir, we have successfully established contact with twenty-seven bases so far.”

That, is a lot more than I had expected, “how about state military installations?”

Ling shakes her head, “the integration of the telegraph systems into their infrastructure is only limited and thus we have lost contact with all installations except for five of them.”

I nod at that, at least the government sponsored muscle heads are acting like they should be. It is a strange feeling though. I feel relief in that this is still the same when my entire goal was to change the future. Seeing things change so much from how it should go is conflicting to say the least. On one hand this is exactly what I wanted. On the other hand, not knowing what will happen next after so many years of knowing is quite terrifying, a terror that I have almost forgotten.

I look to Ling, “have you disseminated the news about our illustrious General Sherwood’s demise?”

Ling grimaces slightly, “yes sir, the reception though is, not optimistic. General Mou is not responding to our acknowledgment requests, and we have lost General Collins in Europe and General Aramid is denying our requests of command. He is stating that we do not have authority to take command until a proper change of command is held, ‘no matter what your stupid little ones and zeros say’. General Markov in Russia has declared himself to the Russian state and is claiming he no longer falls under our chain of command”.

Damn, why wont these people just fall in line? What is happening with General Mou? He is supposed to advocate my takeover to avoid what is happening right now. “What of Africa, Russia, and South America?”

Ling looks back to her pad, “we can’t contact anyone below North Africa General Sima is requesting reinforcements to counter uprisings by local warlords south of him. We have lost all contact with South America and General Ruiz.”

Calmn, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, “so the only one following the chain of command is General Sima?”

Ling looks back up from her tablet, “not exactly, General Sima requested reinforcements from command headquarters but did not acknowledge the change of command either way. Europe is acknowledging the change though.”

I to her, “I matters not, those bastard gods won’t let this lie. They will have their players move against the bases soon enough.” After that, they will have no choice but to fall in line. Despite what they may think, I am the only one capable of saving them, the only one capable of bringing justice to the gods that have brought this hell down upon us. I do not know why they sent me back, but it will be the last mistake that the so called gods will ever make.