As Sonya predicted, the REJOIN referendum failed, with 88% of Ukrainians voting against being absorbed by Russia. The defeat alone was a huge blow to President Kolschonski who had invested enormous political capital in the referendum; the margin of defeat made it an embarrassment that he had to respond to. In the Russian ministry of defense, preparations for invading Ukraine were proceeding at full speed. Instructions were given for 100 000 troops to be readied for deployment, along with tanks, personnel carriers and long range artillery. Naval maneuvers were taking place in the Blacks Sea, and the Air Force was moving aircraft to western bases. Sonya estimated that the invasion would commence in six weeks, she just hoped that the Goose and the others would be ready to make their move in time. Since arriving back in Moscow from New York Sonya had been making moves of her own, using the connections that she'd made during her time in government--and her wealth--to gain assurances from individuals in positions of influence that if the invasion went pear shaped and Kolschonski's political demise looked inevitable then they would throw their support behind her. If, however, Kolschonski was able to hold onto power and he became aware of Sonya's scheme to usurp him then they would deny their involvement and Sonya would be left to face the consequences all on her own, those consequences being certain death. Sonya wasn't afraid of the risk that she was taking, President Kolschonski was taking Russia down a dangerous road and for the sake of her country she had to do what needed to be done to stop him. She was also, after meeting with the guardians in New York and formulating a plan with them, confident of her chances. What also boosted her confidence was the performances of Tom Groff and Jim Balmer in the US election. Both candidates had been officially nominated by their delegates at their conventions, but whereas Tom Groff's convention was an exercise in supreme synchronicity with all of the speakers reading from the same script, Jim Balmer's convention was a parade of controversial figures making controversial speeches that conformed to no core message, and Jim Balmer's acceptance speech on the final night of the convention was a disappointing appeal to the nation for them to remember the unity that had once made America great and for them to get back to that so as to make America great again! What made Jim's speech such a disappointment was that it came after Chris Dixon had brought the house down the previous night with a speech about how the United States needed to be relentless in the pursuit of its enemies like illegal immigrants and unforgiving in its punishment of them. Chris had completely overshadowed Jim and as a result Jim came out of the convention without the momentum that candidates traditionally get from their convention. The next major event in the election was the first debate. Tom prepared assiduously for the debate, focusing mostly on Russia as the main story on the news was Russia's seemingly imminent invasion of Ukraine. Jim Balmer also spent a lot of time preparing for the debate, but his preparations were blown to bits by Chris Dixon making the following statement on his show the night before the debate:

"It would be absolutely ludicrous for us here in the United States to side with Ukraine in the event of a war between Ukraine and Russia. If we are going to side with anyone in this conflict it should be with the Russians who are an energy powerhouse and a military heavyweight. Jim Balmer is smart enough to know which side we should be on which is why, if I were the Russians, I would wait. I would hold off on launching this invasion until after Jim Balmer has won the election because then they would be dealing with an American president who's smart enough to keep us out of a conflict that we have no business being involved in."

Because of Chris Dixon delivering this monologue at the beginning of his show and Jim Balmer having to avoid saying anything that offended Chris's fans he spent almost the entirety of the first debate doing his best to evade the question of what the United States under his command would do in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and whether Chris Dixon, a senior adviser to his campaign, was openly coordinating with the Russians through his show. Jim Balmer's debate performance was branded by everybody outside of conservative media as a disaster, and things didn't get any better for him. On the eve of the second debate the news broke that David Huntsman had quietly liquidated 85% of Prism Capital's holdings, sending the markets into a tailspin. The market sell-off was triggered by speculation that David Huntsman knew something about weaknesses in the economy that he wanted to insulate himself from. Having received the bulk of his campaign financing from David Huntsman it fell to Jim to explain why David was keeping what he knew secret and if it was right for a presidential candidate to be so indebted to such an individual, an individual who also had significant business interests in Russia. Jim didn't have answers for these questions, and his performance in the second debate was branded an even bigger disaster than his performance in the first debate. His campaign was crumbling too fast for him to save it, which only deepened Jim's conviction that he was the victim of divine retribution, causing him to succumb to his crisis of faith. He participated in the third debate no longer caring about the election and it showed in his performance, which was lazy and disengaged. Only at the end of the debate did he come to life. With it being the final debate, the moderators decided to close it out by asking each candidate why he wanted to be president, a question that Jim Balmer had long since forgotten the answer to.

"Congressman Balmer?" The moderator asked after Jim's failure to answer the question.

"Yes?"

"The question was why should you be president?"

"I shouldn't be president."

His answer stunned everybody in the room and produced more than a few loud gasps.

"I shouldn't be president because I am a vessel of SATAN! I sold my soul to an emissary of the dark one and now I am being made to pay the price for it! Just like Cain was made to wander the earth with the mark of sin upon him, I have been condemned to live out my days with everybody knowing that I was forsaken by God because I put my own selfish ambitions before my faith in God! There is nothing left for me to do but repent and hope that God can find it somewhere in his heart to forgive me, though I don't know if he will after I let myself be seduced by that talking bird. But I'm still going to try, I have to believe that I can redeem myself in the eyes of God, because if I don't have that then I have nothing."

His bizarre outburst had all but put an end to Jim's presidential ambitions, but it wasn't the final nail in his coffin, that came in the form of the tape of him having sex with his housekeeper Consuela being leaked online. The video wasn't uploaded to the internet by Robert or the Goose but by the cat herself after she had fled to Colombia with David Huntsman and all the money that he had embezzled from his clients. Tom Groff would go on to win the election with a grand total of 412 electoral college votes, a healthy, decisive total that did nothing to convince the Goose that they had prevailed.

"This is when things get dangerous," it said ominously to Robert on election night after Tom Groff was declared the winner.

Until The Gryphon had slain The Behemoth nothing was guaranteed. There were still threats out there and if The Behemoth emerged victorious from its battle with the Gryphon then all would still be lost.

"But Jim Balmer lost," Robert said to the Goose.

"This is about more than just one election. The Raven's got multiple irons in the fire that all need to be dealt with."

One of those irons was Chris Dixon. With Jim Balmer having proven a disappointment and a failure, those that had invested their hopes for a new America in him found a new savior in Chris Dixon who, the night after the election, used his show to announce his refusal to accept the results of the election.

"People, what happened last night was nothing more than the coming to fruition of what I have been warning you about for months. I told you that they were going to steal this election, that they would do everything in their power to stop Jim Balmer from getting to the White House and that's exactly what they did. You don't have to be a genius to work out that those leaks that occurred on the eve of the debates were specifically intended to hurt Jim Balmer and help Tom Groff. And as for that sex tape, I've never seen a more obviously doctored piece of video in my entire life! Is it any wonder that congressman Balmer had a mental breakdown? Here you have a guy who's running for president because he wants to do what's right for America, and he finds himself the victim of a disgusting smear job orchestrated by the elite political establishment who hate America and don't want to see this country return to greatness! They hate America so much that they were actually willing to go so far as to tamper with ballots to take votes away from Jim Balmer and give them to Tom Groff. This election was nothing but one huge filthy con job, and this patriotic American isn't going to stand for it! I am going to Washington! On January 6th I am going to be in Washington to tell Congress that they have no right to certify this election that was so blatantly stolen, and if you love your country as much as I do, you'll join me."

This was the danger that the Goose was worried about. There were millions of people that watched Chris's show every night for whom his word was gospel, a great deal of whom were going to show up in Washington on January 6th believing that they could stop Tom Groff from being certified as the president. Chris Dixon was setting the stage for a siege on the Capitol. This was dangerous stuff, but fortunately the rooster had predicted that this was exactly the move they'd make in the event of Jim Balmer losing the election and a plan had been formulated for dealing with it, just like a plan had been formulated for dealing with Russia if they invaded Ukraine. Key to both plans was the Leviathan, whose ability to control water and the weather made it the most powerful weapon in their armory. With Jim Balmer losing the election, there was no longer any reason for President Kolschonski to delay the invasion. Sonya sent word to Robert that the invasion would be commencing in a matter of days. Using its ability to slip through dimensions the Wolf was able to get itself into position with one simple leap. Getting itself into position was going to take a little longer for the Leviathan. Robert and the Goose took another late night drive and released it into the East River. From there it would make its way to the Atlantic Ocean and into the Black Sea via the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. Robert kept the Leviathan hidden under a blanket and carried it into the water in accordance with the Goose's request that they exercise extreme caution with the Leviathan to avoid another incident like what they had experienced in Scotland. Once it had gotten to the ocean the Leviathan could revert to its full primal form and fully utilize its powers, against which the Russian navy wouldn't stand a chance.