Eric had been staring at his phone for well over ten minutes at this point. Milano had called him five times, but Eric ignored the calls. His brain was still struggling with the image that Ricky had sent him. Milano called him again.

"Yes, sir?"

Milano didn’t waste time chewing Eric out. After a full minute of cussing Eric out, the General seemed to come to his senses. "It doesn’t matter. Come to the Command Room. I don’t care what you are doing or where you are. You are to be at Hood Hill pronto."

"Roger."

Eric looked at Mia. Ever since he had received the picture, she had been sitting at the desk in their room. She hadn’t bothered with dressing. She had gone straight to work. She handed Eric three reports. "I don’t know if I am allowed to give you this." She said, her voice trembling with fear. "But, I don’t give a flying fuck right now."

She turned to him, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Eric..."

Eric hugged her. He coiled his arms around her waist and pulled her head to his chest. "I know what you are about to say, but don’t. It may seem impossible, but we will work it out. We have to. No one could indeed expect for..."

His words trailed off as he looked at the images on his phone.

"That."

He hugged her even tighter.

"But we will get through it, I promise. We have dragons, tanks, missiles, planes, and two pissed-off heroes. We are in a good place to stand a chance."

He kissed her head, holding her tightly, before his watch beeped.

"The world never sleeps." He said softly.

She sighed and held his hand against her chest. "Be careful, my love."

"I will do my best."

Eric dressed quickly and was out of the house in a few minutes.

Hood Hill was a beehive of activity. Every available asset with rockets or artillery capabilities was being loaded. Idle motors roared as tanks were preparing to move out. The ground rumbled as wind pushed past him. He looked up and smirked. "You boys are finally getting your chance to join in, too." The remaining Apaches were taking flight. Eric pushed his way past a few soldiers carrying ammunition with the "Vargas Industries" label on the boxes, and Eric could only shake his head. "So now he has a corporation," He muttered before walking into the building. A soldier running down the hallway nearly ran into Eric. The soldier didn’t stop to apologize, and Eric ignored the incident as he walked into the command room.

Tryasche, Stronmam, Lisaeth, and the two 6-8 Generals were already sitting down. Every S-shop officer was present, and President Nieto was standing by via video call. Eric narrowed his eyes.

"If it flies, it dies." He muttered as he took his seat.

Miher was the first to speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a shame that this will be the first time our alliance is tested." He said as he stood up. He walked over to the map and pulled out a laser pointer. "We have begun mass evacuations of Killeen. Austin, Washington, D.C., and Vegas have also been informed. As of the last report, each of the cities is sheltering those who can’t leave underground."

Milano then looked at Nieto. "Sir, due to the urgency of the situation and potential mass loss of life, I have ordered a targeting package on the Ark."

Nieto looked at his cabinet. The Secretary of War was about to speak, but Nieto glared at him. He then turned back to Milano. "Do what you think is best, General. This is an unprecedented situation. If you think something should happen, you have my full authority to make it happen. Let me deal with the politics. You deal with the warfare."

Milano nodded. "Thank you, sir."

A call came over the radio.

"Sir, turn on the news."

Eric pulled out his phone, looking at it under the table. "Fuck."

Murmurs of assent echoed throughout the room, and Milano rubbed his face with his hands.

"Okay! Put the phones away, goddamnit."

The room went silent. No one there had ever seen Milano break composure, so all those present leaned forward and took their notebooks out.

aMilano glared at the guilty parties.

"So what if news reporters can report on the Ark already? Our duties haven’t changed. Dryer and Stryer, you will set up a perimeter around Dirarya village. Every available asset that has targeting capabilities is to head there. If they want to come into our territory with a mega weapon, they’re going to earn every blade of grass."

The meeting continued for an hour. Eric sat in front of his truck after the meeting, watching the news reports flood in as the Ark continued its trek towards Esponia. The Ark had already destroyed two news choppers, but the news companies had apparently decided that the Ark was important enough to risk their lives. An anchor sat in the middle of the screen, his face pale as he commented on the event.

"We currently do not know what this is, or where it is going. Per the Liasion from 6-8, plans are being made to engage with this asset. Officials from Austin..."

Eric turned the news off and sighed as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Michael walked up. "Didn’t you quit?"

Eric glared at the Captain and lit his cigarette, offering him one.

Michael took it and joined Eric.

"This is gonna be a tough one, Mike," Eric said while crossing his arms. "That thing looks like a tough sumbitch."

Michael nodded.

"Yeah, I think so too. If it is as tough as it looks, we could probably put all the rounds we have into it, and the damn thing would tank em."

Eric sighed. "This world never lets us rest, does it?"

"Aren’t you the one who told me, and I quote, ’no rest in war, bud’?"

Eric rubbed his face. "Go fuck yourself. "