General David Rensmor watched as the other Generals and a single representative of the Forum filed into the room, some stopping to grab a beverage or snack from the table by the entrance. He stood by his small table, at the end of the room with two large display screens above him. The others quickly found their seats at the large, half circle table, the Forum representative in the middle most seat, with the rest spreading out to either side based on rank and seniority.


    David let them talk amongst themselves as he went over his notes, shuffling some pages around as he considered and reconsidered the order of his presentation. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat and pressed a button on the desk to dim the lighting in the room.


    “Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for making time to attend this briefing. It has been a rather busy month,” he said with a smile, “and all of you have been doing an exceptional job in meeting or exceeding our objectives”.


    The General nodded to a staff aide standing to the side of the room, who quickly picked up a tray and began placing frost coated glasses before each person seated at the table. General Rensmor nodded in thanks as he accepted his glass and the aid returned to their spot.


    “First, I would like to propose a toast.” David said, raising his glass before him, “Like the great Phoenix of myth, we shall be reborn from the ashes. To continued success!”


    “To continued success,” echoed around the room as the glasses were raised, and nearly as one, were drunk from.


    Taking his seat at the desk, David looked around at the leaders gathered before him. Department heads, field operations, security and of course the representative for the civilian leadership. He smiled. “We have had a very successful month since we last met. Several new settlements have been added, three hundred former raider and bandit scum now wear iron collars and work to repay their debt to society by building its foundation, and, a special thanks to General Elthrens for bringing into the fold two more tribal groups.” he said, raising his cup towards General Elthrens before continuing.


    “On the domestic side, I would like to acknowledge General Phillips and his team for their work on civilian outreach with the security forces.” again he raised his glass in acknowledgement to the General in question. “Overall the integration of the local settlements and the tribals have been progressing well, and we will face greater challenges as we bring the new regions into the fold. I expect we will hit some rough spots, but I expect you to rise to the challenge.”


    Pressing another button on the desk, the displays above him flickered to life. The left screen showing a map of the Northeastern United States that was broken up by various colored lines and symbols, the right listing out a legend for the map.


    “Thanks to Generals Lepin and Remirez, we have pushed deep into the central region of New York state, securing the former capital region of Albany and the I-87 corridor. General Lepin continued pushing west and setting up a defensive line along the north-south running I-81. She has dug in against the blight lands that were once known as the finger lakes, already it is being classified as High Red to Medium black” he said as green dotted lines showed the generals progress on the map, and alternating red/black stripes appeared to cover the region further west of that line.


    “Furthermore, General Remirez split his army, sending a third North and personally leading the remainder south towards the ruins of New York City.” General Rensmor stated, “the further south he pushes, the greater the resistance. He attempted to use drones to scout ahead, but a combination of flying beasts and heavy weapon fire from warlords and intelligent mutants are preventing him from scouting too far out.”


    The map changed to reflect the progress as he spoke, notations of combat encounters began scrolling on the right display.


    “I approved a high speed reconnaissance, and the results were, to put it frankly, terrifying.” David stated plainly. “I am declaring New York City, and the surrounding urban regions a level 5 Hell Zone.”


    Pictures of a wrecked and ruined city replaced the map. Thick columns of smoke trailed up across the island, and mega-flora could be seen covering multiple city blocks.


    General Rensmor bought up a new set of images that had obviously been taken by powerful cameras at high altitude.


    “Our aircraft made several startling discoveries, the first being that humans still inhabit the city. Another is that the whole city seems to be just one massive war ground.” he said as images changed to zoomed in pictures, “As you can see, we have Mutants and beasts fighting each other and humans, as well as humans fighting other humans.”


    The last images showed what appeared to be vast fortresses constructed from the ruined skyscrapers that once made up the city.


    David and several of the people gathered drained their glasses, as the aid went around offering refills. He took a moment to try and get a read on the thoughts of each person, most seemed shaken or deep in thought at the problem that the city would be. General Elthrens seemed to be practically vibrating in her seat, likely in excitement to challenge that pit of death he thought.


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    With a nod of thanks for the refill, he resumed the briefing. “For now, I have ordered General Remirez to dig in and begin scouting for a way around that mess, perhaps we can encircle it and bring up some heavy artillery to grind our way closer, but that will be a briefing for another day.” he said with a chuckle before continuing, “and that covers the good and bad news, now for the strange”


    Again the images on screens changed. Now they showed a state much further to the south, much less urban infrastructure, more swamp and marshland. It focused on a set of ruins highlighted on the map, labeled Site Gamma.


    “If you will recall, at the briefing approximately a month ago, we discussed the discovery of an emergency beacon activating inside the ruins of a pre-apocalypse base, one specifically used for advanced research and development.” the General said, and several heads nodded, and surprisingly General Elthrens pulled out a notebook and began taking notes.


    “Well, we received approval to retask one of the high altitude automated drone tenders to break off from mapping the Ohio river valley region and move south. So far, we have confirmed five human or human-like settlements, various new creatures” an image of a giant mutant bird appeared on the screen, “such as this one that the analysts have taken to calling a hell goose, and most importantly, we have located the shelter where the beacon was activated.”


    Everyone watched as a new image appeared on the screen, and Daivd tried to suppress the urge to laugh at their expressions. He had chosen this image specifically in the hopes of their reaction, and he was so glad he did. It was a crystal clear image of a garish looking neon sign, glowing brightly on the wall of a patched up mess hall, with four spindly looking towers supporting what appeared to be home made auto turrets.


    But it was what was in the foreground that really got everyone''s attention, a human in a white lab coat kneeling down, face visible to the camera, and appearing to high five a bipedal raccoon covered in bandages.


    And on the right screen, an old archive file image of the same smiling man stared back at them, the picture attached to a personnel file with the name “Thomas Wayne Ingroff” displayed next to the picture. The date on the file was March 1, 2048.


    The room erupted into chaos as everyone began talking at once.


    ***************************************************


    She leaned back upon her stump throne in the glade, drumming her fingers on the arm rests, wishing for the ten thousandth time for a nice set of pillows or cushions. She watched as the giant lizards fought tooth and claw, for both her supposed entertainment and to jockey for position in the various sub clans that made up the tribe. She also once again found herself comparing her servants to her old tribe, the brutal existence of the strong ruling the weak through force rather than cunning.


    Oh how they would bristle and reject being compared to the humans they so obviously resembled, at least in attitude and manner, if not appearance.


    At last the fighting ceased. Her new Alpha knelt before her, having healed from his elevation and the wounds taken from that ill fated journey into the old base to the west. It had grown in the weeks since, its body becoming bulkier and more muscled. Its skin thickening and growing hard plates on the exterior. She wondered if it retained any of the cunning that saw it survive what claimed the others of its previous clan. Only time would tell, she thought.


    “Rise Saav, rise in victory over your challenger.” she said looking into the ring of Arvo and seeing the beaten and bleeding form of a rival Alpha. She carefully hid her surprise, and turned her eyes to her newest Alpha, “It does not escape my notice that your challenger still draws breath Saav, explain yourself?”.


    The young Alpha hissed out a pained breath, before bowing its head to its queen. “Great one,” it hissed, “This one…I mean, I have defeated my challenger in combat, proven my strength. They were mighty, but I mightier still.” It turned its upper body to look at the downed Arvo in the center of the ring, and continued, “It would be a waste to destroy a strong warrior, I would like it to continue to serve tribe, as part of my clan.”


    She hummed, and considered the strange request. Perhaps, she thought, this one had retained some bit of cunning, of creative thought beyond the hunger most Alphas were limited to. A smile crossed her lips, full of mischief.


    “An interesting thought my young Alpha, bring the defeated one before me.” she said loudly, so that the others in the cleaning could hear.


    Two of the warrior cast quickly ran forward to grab the downed fighter and dragged it before the throne.


    She stood and stepped towards the defeated Alpha, she recognized it. An older male, one of the first dozen or so she had elevated when she arrived in this place. She was honestly surprised it had survived this long she thought as she stood over it.


    The creature was beaten, blood foamed at the edges of its mouth and deep gouges in its already deeply scarred hide leaked a steady trickle of blood. It would die without aid, that much was obvious to her. She turned to face the still kneeling Alpha, “You would have one who knows defeat, and in such a terrible state serve you?” she said.


    “Yes Mistress” it wheezed.


    She considered this new development and let tendrils of purplish lightning course down her arms and arc between her fingers. With a flick of her hand, the lightning reached out to the defeated Alpha, its color changing from purplish to a faint green. The body began to twitch and spasm, the creature letting out a scream of pain as its bones began to shift and knit back together. The bloody gouges began to scab over, the blood leaking out slowed until it stopped.


    Hiding the exertion from healing it, she returned to her seat. “Your request intrigues me, I shall allow it.”


    Saav let out a breath that it had been holding since the Omega stood. It felt awe at the display of power. He bowed low to the Queen of the Arvo, such a small and frail looking human, compared to the rest of his kind, but powerful beyond question. He ordered the warriors to take the new clan member back to their nest, and sought the Queen''s permission to depart.


    She watched as the young Alpha strode away, and motioned for the scout that had been patiently standing off to the side to approach. She reached out and touched the back of its scaly head as it bowed, a nimbus of energy covering her hand, “Now, show me what you have seen.”


    And she smiled as she saw through the scouts memories, a glowing sign.