[UNITED STATES – PENTAGON]
[The Same Morning]
General Mercer sat behind his dark wooden desk located in the center of this office.
His shoulders straight and posture erect, while he read the detailed committee report before him.
Thomas Anthony Mercer was born in a small town in Texas, so small that the highway seemed to apologize as it passed through.
His family lived in a weather-beaten single-story house at the edge of town.
His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and fathers before that had all served in the U.S.
military.
Each ran their household with the same precision and discipline as an army platoon.
Shoes aligned under the bed, chores completed before noon, and homework done before diner.
No excuses and no exceptions.
It was in this environment that Thomas Anthony Mercer was raised.
From an early youth he learned that discipline and strength were the true language used by men and women to express their character.
He learned endurance from his father, he learned leadership from the military, and he learned loss from the battlefield as he witnessed the death of his closest friends.
Most importantly, he learned honor from his father’s funeral.
He had been killed in action while deployed in the Middle East.
Thomas did not cry during the funeral ceremony, instead he watched his father’s coffin covered by the flag.
He watched the men and women that served under him give their final salute as he was laid to rest.
It was at that moment that Thomas decided to serve…not because of anger or hatred, nor because he was forced.
Rather, he did so as an inheritance.
A family legacy.
West Point added further to his training.
He learned that strength and discipline were important, but more was needed.
Intelligence, strategy, and tactics matter equally.
He devoured history lessons from ancient armies to modern battalions.
He learned that a true leader is not the strongest or brightest, rather, it’s the one who remains steadfast when everyone else falters.
His first taste of command came at a heavy cost, he lost his two best friends during an intense firefight.
He learned from his mistakes, owned them, made them part of him.
These lessons shaped him into something more than a solider…he became a commander.
Within a few years of faithful service, he rose up the ranks of the U.S.
military eventually earning his first star as a general.
The rise did not define him…it did not change or mold him.
He carried his father’s discipline and his hard-earned wisdom every step of the way. Get faster updates on g.com.
He soon discovered a new battlefield in which he was inexperienced.
Politics.
His first time in the Pentagon conference room opened his eyes to a new reality.
The men and women seated at the table were not soldiers.
They did not earn that seat through years of discipline, training, and rigorous combat.
They were advisors, deputies, and senators who earned their seat at the table by smiling and shaking hands.
These men and women did not think in terms of strategy, they thought in terms of narratives.
Policy was made based on public opinion, not based on the nation’s best interest.
They viewed the military not as a defense, rather as a part of the political ecosystem.
Orders were political pathways, not sacred truths.
It was at that moment that General Thomas Anthony Mercer was forced to make a terrible decision.
Surrender to politics?
Or engage in war?
A war without guns, without applauses, without amor, without ceremony and acknowledgement.
General Mercer thought of the friends he had buried, the thousands of men and women who proudly wore their uniforms everyday as they followed his orders with the same respect as the holy Bible.
This was his battle to wage, and it was one he could not run from.
A battle not against opponents wearing uniforms, rather opponents wearing suits and ties.
He took unpopular decisions, failed to support certain political endorsements, and resisted administrative obstacles.
Twice he found himself summoned before the Oversight Subcommittee.
Several times he found himself as the target of surgical and subtle attacks, meetings canceled, briefings reassigned, request for additional resources “under review.”
Through it all he persisted.
Under some Administrations he was promoted and rose further up the ranks, while in others he stagnated and remained stationary.
Eventually, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking military officer in the United States.
His primary duty was to advise the President and Secretary of Defense.
It was under this post that he learned of NAVA, Nexus Avalor Ventures Association.
Other top officials in the military viewed it as nothing more than a videogame, or a realistic training program.
General Mercer, however, saw it as the future.
The future of clean energy, manufacturing, transportation, bioengineering, weapons development, and defense.
This future was in the hands Morgan Novaris, a civilian and scientist, and open to millions of “gamers” to manage.
Avalor was a new world, unspoiled by multinational corporations, and unclaimed by superpowers.
Furthermore, it had untapped resources ranging from gold, silver, precious gems, rare minerals…and most importantly mana crystals. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
The single most valuable resource known to man.
A select few countries knew the truth behind Avalor.
Every nation’s military thought the same thing – the first to control Avalor would be the undisputed world’s superpower.
That single thought kept General Mercer up at night.
All the previous wars and battles would be meaningless if he lost this war.
It had to be done for the good of the nation, for the good of America, for the millions of men and women who had sacrificed their lives defending the flag.
The U.S.
military had to gain control of Avalor.
No matter the cost.
A faint knock on the door disturbed the General’s concentration.
“Come in,” he said loudly as he looked up.
“General Mercer, sir.
Our primary underground facility in Avalor has been destroyed.
Nothing survived.” The captain said firmly.
“What?
When the hell did this happen?
Who did this?” The General barked furiously.
Captain Rios spoke evenly in a calculated tone as he relayed the latest information.
He said, “Sir, four days ago we picked up comm interference.
That is normal in Avalor so our intelligence team thought nothing of it.
After 24 hours of transmission silence, a security team was sent to investigate.
They were ambushed along the route and never made it.
Assassins by the looks of it.
A second team was sent, but by the time they arrived, there was nothing left.
The entire facility is buried under a mountain of rubble.”
“I want names!
And I want a detailed intelligence report!
Do you understand?
On my desk in an hour!” The General barked in a fit of furry as he slammed his fists on his desk.