"Yeah, that's right."
"Major…Nina…if you had disappeared here, our Trevor never would have gone running after you. He would have just found himself a new play thing."
– Across Thebes that day harsh words were exchanged and guns drawn, but no more violence. Trevor’s disposal of The Committee came so brutal and fast that it shocked any opposition into silence.
With the coming of night, the change in the human city became visible for miles. Trevor turned on the lights and opened the shutters. Spotlights defied the heavens, street lights turned dark thoroughfares into bright boulevards.
Thebes lived again.
22. The Art of War
"Whattaya lookin' at? You're all a bunch of fucking assholes. You know why? 'Cause you don't have the guts to be what you wanna be. You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your fucking fingers, and say that's the bad guy. So, what dat make you? Good? You're not good; you just know how to hide. Howda lie. Me, I don't have that problem. Me, I always tell the truth-even when I lie. So say goodnight to the bad guy. Come on; the last time you gonna see a bad guy like this, let me tell ya. Come on, make way for the bad guy. There's a bad guy comin' through; you better get outta his way!" — the character of Tony Montana in Scarface
Despite a few grumbles here and there, Trevor Stone controlled Thebes. He spent two weeks consolidating that control, relying on Director Snowe and Nina to spot potential problems before any disgruntled elements could organize opposition.
The weather helped. Eight inches of icy snow fell on the city and surrounding countryside, creating a sense of isolation and making control over power and food distribution an even stronger tool at his disposal. Any attitudes that required adjusting found their heat cut off and meal credits suspended.
As his grip solidified, he considered the big picture; a picture that involved dealing with the Chaktaw in a more permanent fashion and, eventually, turning his attention to the Geryons. Although Major Forest insisted otherwise, Trevor felt certain he could find more survivors out in the wasteland, or perhaps in alien slave pens.
He vowed to find out one way or another and planned a spring offensive, a move that would require training and preparation.
Much to his delight, Director Snowe and Major Forest saw to the details, leaving Trevor free to concentrate on grand plans. In that sense, he found this new throne far more pleasant than the old. Here, Trevor did not concern himself with supplies, logistics, industry, health care, or any god damn Senates. He faced no challenges from wannabe politicians and the people followed his orders as obediently as the K9s of his home world.
In short, he focused completely on the fighting and not fighting with push pins, either; fighting with a gun in his hand amidst the storm of battle. And all with Major Forest…the lovely, accommodating, Major Forest…at his side during the day and during many wonderful nights.
He organized intense training exercises, even blocking off much of downtown for large-scale war games pitting legion against legion, the victors earning extra rations and luxuries. When Snowe expressed concern over diminishing fuel reserves, Trevor assured that with the victories to come they would find and exploit more resources.
The time came for Trevor to share his plan. He gathered his Generals in the Operations Center, utilizing one of the huge monitors to display a map of the surrounding territory.
Nina’s people referenced sectors and grid numbers instead of names; part of what she said had been their Trevor's plan to forget the old. It seemed an awkward and inefficient approach, but since Trevor thought he would not recognize the names from this alternate Earth anyhow, he kept the system in place. Nonetheless, he knew the map they examined that day showed the topography of the area that on his duplicate Earth was 'Pennsylvania'.
He also recognized the Great Lakes to the west, the converging three rivers to the southwest, and the Appalachian Mountains cutting across the center of the region. He knew the vacant old estate was a couple of hours east and that the Chaktaw came from somewhere to the north from what he thought of as New York.
The geography was essentially the same, just not developed in an identical fashion, meaning he could not trust his memories of cities, roads, or other man-made points.
Nina’s people did not talk about the old world. She explained they had gone to great lengths to erase many of the reminders. Again, she said the 'old' Trevor had introduced this concept to which the new one responded, "Who am I to argue with myself?"
Again, he thought such an approach awkward and inefficient for them, but for himself it made no difference since learning the names her people gave to cities and places might actually confuse him more than generic numbers and sector designations.
In any case, he told a technician to, "zero in on grid reference W-F Five," an area some twenty miles southwest of Thebes.
"What do you see?" Trevor asked his assembled officers and confidants.
General Goss-a white haired pot-bellied man who grunted a lot-answered, "I see steep hills and forest."
"Look closer."
Snowe said, "According to recon, there’s a Windigo living in that area."
Trevor did a mental translation. "That’s what my people call a Goat-Walker."
"That’s not what you’re looking for, is it?" General Gronard asked.
"No. I look at that hillside and you know what I see? I see oil. Plenty of it. Enough to take care of our fuel problems for a while."
Goss scoffed, "Bah! How do you see oil there?"
"Because on my Earth that area was the site of the world’s first commercial oil well. So if all you have here is mountain and forests that means…"
"That means there’s oil waiting to be found," Snowe said.
"So?" Goss asked.
"So let’s go pop that cherry."
Each them gaped at Trevor, confused at the reference.
"What does that mean?" Nina asked.
"Um…never mind. Give me W-A Six through W-A Fifteen."
The video map pulled out, scrolled, and then tightened on an area northeast of Thebes.
"And then there are these guys."
Goss: "Huh? What guys?"
Snowe answered, "The Chaktaw."
Nina said, "They came at us from somewhere up north. I mean, they’ve got to have a base up there or something. Right?"
Gronard added, "We haven’t heard from them in weeks, not since their force got wiped out by…by Trevor," he nodded at their new leader.
"Maybe the warning has scared them off," Nina thought aloud.
Director Snowe said, "Recon units found a Chaktaw outpost in that area."
"That outpost isn’t their main base," Trevor said. "They were using it as a staging area for hitting Thebes. If there isn't a sizeable force there now, there will be when they reconstitute."
"So? So what?" Goss asked.
"This is pretty obvious, don’t you think? Tell him, General Gronard."
"We wipe out that outpost. It might lead us to their main base. Maybe take that out, too."
Trevor ordered the technician, "Show me W-C Four."
The monitor displayed a close up of what the map noted as a ‘Class Two Lake WH 3’ or what Trevor recognized as "Lake Erie."
"I give you a big food source. Fish. More specifically, what I would call walleye, perch, small mouth bass and more."
"One problem," Director Snowe said. "There’s a city in that area occupied by Duass infantry. They’re well armed with support vehicles."
Trevor now knew that the Plats his people fought in Ohio back home actually went by the name 'Duass'.
"We swoop on in, clean em’ out, and set up shop. Then we secure a road between here and there."