Strategic Planning

Chapter 11

Strategic Planning

 

            Fred was more surprised than Nas was.

            The morning after the grenade incident, Fred called Nas over to his mansion to speak about recent events. He told Nas about the dream he had about the ghost, the fire, and King Ultio. Nas turned pale white and looked ready to pass out.

            “What’s wrong, Nas?”

            “Fred, something isn’t right,” Nas said, standing and walking around the table.

            Fred turned in his chair, a quizzical look on his face. “What’s not right? I thought you already knew his name.”

            “Fred, there is a reason his name has not come up in any conversations we’ve had about the Sneilians.”

            Now Fred was confused. He stood and walked over to Nas, who was facing the wall. He turned him around and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Nas… what is wrong?”

            Nas looked down, then met Fred’s gaze. “King Ultio killed Tidiltmin, our last king right before you. He did it at the end of the last Great War we had. That was when we were sentenced to be under Sneilian control. Rumor has it that Ultio flew Tidiltmin’s body back to Esab, the home planet of the Sneilians, and had it cremated. When he returned, the Anerians had gathered an uprising, and they killed Ultio when they returned. The body of the King has been missing ever since… until you found it again.”

            Fred stepped back from Nas. “When did I find it?”

            Nas looked at Fred as if he should have known the answer. “That morning you found the note from Tidiltmin? That wasn’t from him. It was Ultio. He wrote that letter in an attempt to draw you to the third floor. Then when you passed out. It was an attempt to take your life, Fred.”

            Fred staggered back against the table. A supposedly dead Sneilian King had gotten into his mansion and tried to kill him. Two questions swam around in his head.

            “How could he be two places at once? Why did I not die?”

            “Fred, it’s hard to explain-

            “I want to know, Nas. Tell me.” Fred glared at Nas like he was about to rage.

            Nas stood up straight and looked Fred in the eye. “When Ultio died the first time, we figured that would be the end of him. But obviously the Sneilians had backup plans. They must have… duplicated him somehow, I don’t know. But him showing himself to you in a dream… that’s never happened to my knowledge. We always thought that they had a new king. But now that Ultio is back and ruling… well, that’s bad news.”

            Fred nodded his head slightly while staring at the ground. He looked up and asked, “But why didn’t he kill me?”

            Nas looked up at the ceiling, then took a huge breath and exhaled, looking down to the ground. “The reason you’re here is because Ultio doesn’t want you dead. Not yet. His time is not ripe.”

            Fred was confused again. “Time not ripe? What does that mean?”

            “It means that he was giving you incentives to declare war. That’s been his plan the entire time. He wants to wipe us out, and he can only do that if we go to war with him. If he would have killed you when he had the chance, then he wouldn’t be able to kill us as well. So he kept you alive, just so he could kill you and every Anerian when the time came.”

            It all came together in Fred’s head. It made perfect sense. Everything that had occurred was a trap set by Ultio. He had his revenge. All that needed to happen now was war.

            Fred was lost in a staring contest with the floor when Nas spoke again and drew him out of it. “Fred, this isn’t good news. This is a bad omen. Unless something miraculous happens… we aren’t going to win this war.”

            Fred looked up at Nas, barely able to meet his gaze. Fred was on the verge of tears. He couldn’t believe the journey he had made. He escaped from one war that his side was destined to lose, just to show up on some planet that about to wage a war that they couldn’t win? It was too much for Fred.

            “Nas, I can’t do this.”

            “Do what?”

            “I can’t lead you to this war, if what you say is true.”

            Nas plopped down in one of the chairs. “So what happens now, then?”

            Fred thought about his answer for a good minute. Nas had taken to swiveling back and forth in his chair, looking around the room. When Fred spoke next he stopped swiveling. “You know what… no. I came here for a reason. And that was to escape my hell-hole of a war-torn planet to find safe haven in a future world. And that is exactly what Anera is for me. But now that the same thing is happening here as it was back home, it’s too much. But we won’t go down without a fight. I’m not just gonna sit back in my mansion while the Sneilians rule over us like we’re some first grader being baby-sat! And I’m definitely not going back home, so there is only one logical answer to this dilemma… We fight.” And with that, Fred strode out of the room, leaving Nas with a look of utter surprise on his face. It was his turn to feel that way.

 

•••

 

            King Ultio and his army arrived back on Esab. The mission had been a complete failure, save the grenade throw that rebounded and destroyed the Anerian army in the mountains. Ultio plodded into the throne room and sat down, a look of defeat stricken across his face.

            “What is wrong, my King?” asked Vir.

            Ultio sat, appearing as if he did not hear the question.

            “Sir?” Vir repeated.

            “He knows,” Ultio said immediately.

            “Who knows what, sir?”

            Ultio stood on his talon feet, resembling a bird’s. He walked away from his throne and said, “Nas, that lousy little…” Ultio cocked his head to one said and back and continued. “He gave me trouble the first time we met, before I died. And now he’s doing the same thing.”

            “Um, excuse me sir… but how is he doing that?”

            Ultio turned and walked briskly toward Vir, glaring at him. “He knows we tricked him. He knows our plan. He knows that I want to wipe them out, and now he’s told their King! Fred now knows all about it, because of that stupid, backstabbing Nas!”

            “Backstabbing?” Vir choked out as he was being strangled by Ultio.

            Ultio let him down. “He used to work for me, after I killed their King. I brought him back here, and he served as my right-hand man. Then he went and backstabbed me and told all of Anera to up rise against my old self. He led me straight to my death. Now he’s planning to do it again. But this time he won’t get the chance.”

            “What can I do, sir?”

            Ultio looked down to Vir, and grabbed him by the armor. “Bring me my 3D Blueprints. We have some strategic planning to do.”

 

•••

 

            The Anerian Council met in its usual spot. Four were the Representative Council, one coming from each portion of Anera. Nas was the Executive Director of the Council, and Fred was the Reigning Overlord of the Council, considering he was the King.

            Fred strode in the room purposefully, a roll of papers tucked under his arm. The Council members sat back in their chairs, as if they had been discussing something but stopped once Fred entered. Fred said nothing and assumed his position at the head of the meeting table. He settled himself in his chair, and then finally looked up, realizing they were missing someone. Nas was MIA.

            “Where is Nas? He should be here,” Fred said, a look of disbelief on his face.

            “He should be here momentarily. He had to-” The Southern Territory representative nudged the Western Ward’s. “He had to… finish a quick errand. He should be here soon.” He gulped, looking at Fred, hoping he bought the excuse.

            “What kind of errand?” Fred said, now standing.

            At that moment, Nas strode into the room. “Sorry I’m late. Had to finish a quick errand. Let’s get down to business, shall we?” He sat his briefcase on the table and looked at Fred, giving him a look that probably meant, I’ll tell you later.

            “Alright men,” Fred began as he sat again. “The Sneilians must have known our game plan. Something tells me that they knew where our hiding places were. We must be more careful when it comes to the strategic planning aspect of things.” The Council members all looked at him, waiting for him to continue. “Anyways… So we need a strategy. And this might just do the trick.”

            Nas stood, his hands still on his briefcase. “Excuse me Fred, but I believe that this would also be of use… you know, just in case you want to build off of it.” Fred put his hands in the air and sat back down. “So gentlemen, as you know, the Sneilians are very smart creatures. We need a strategy that does something to mess with their heads. Do something the exact opposite of what they think we’d do.”

            “Reverse Psychology?” Fred asked questioningly. He asked it, assuming Nas couldn’t find the right word.

            “What?”

            “Reverse Psychology. At least, that’s what we call it on Earth.”

            “Okay, well, reverse psychology it is then. That’s what we must do. So…” Nas reached down and opened up his briefcase. “Gentlemen, I give you…” A projection shot up in the middle of the table. “Project SNEak Attack.”

            Fred couldn’t believe his eyes.

            While rummaging around his mansion this morning, Fred had come across some battle plan blueprints that were left from hundreds of years ago. Anera looked much different, but the concept of the plan was ingenious. He grabbed them and brought them with him to the meeting.

            But Nas was a step ahead of him.

            Without realizing it, Fred was on his feet, staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the projection. “Something wrong, Fred?” Nas asked.

            Fred snapped out of his trance. “Oh nothing, nothing,” he said. Secretly, he slipped the blueprints under the table.

            “The plan goes as following. The Sneilians are expecting what? Any guesses?”

            “A frontal assault, on the ground, but hidden,” Fred guessed.

            “Exactly. So what this plan does it reverses it.”

            “We’ll attack from underground… it’s ingenious,” The Eastern District rep said in awe.

            “We can use the shields we made to cover up the foxholes, too,” Fred said.

            Nas folded his arms and looked around at the council. “Well gentlemen… do you think this will work?”

            All four of the members nodded their heads in agreement. Nas looked at Fred. “Fred?”

            “Of course. It has to. It’s the only way.” He clapped Fred on the back and walked out of the room. Nas looked around at the council members, shut off the projection, and followed Fred with his briefcase. The other four men followed him.

            After they left the room, the wall crumbled. Camouflaged into the wall was a Sneilian spy. He reached under the table, grabbed Fred’s blueprint, climbed back through the hole and flew into the night sky.

            Fred was walking toward his house. Nas stopped him. The other four Council members had gone their separate ways. “Fred,” Nas said. “What’s wrong? Do you not believe in the plan?”

            Fred stopped and turned, a look of anguish on his face. “Nas, I have to ask you something. Where did you get those blueprints?”

            “Um… yeah that’s the thing, Fred. That’s the errand I had to run…”

            “Did you break into my mansion to get it?”

            “What? No, of course not… why would you think that?”

            Fred looked down and huffed a deep breath, returning his gaze to Nas. “This morning, I found blueprints, older blueprints: but they had literally the same exact battle plan on them as your projection. Look,” he said, reaching into his pockets for the blueprints.

            Nothing.

            Fred cursed under his breath as he sprinted back for the meeting room. He raced in and looked under the table, exactly where he had set the blueprints. “Oh my God…”

            “Nas stood at the door. “What is it, Fred?”

            Fred looked up. “They’re gone.”

 

•••

 

            “Here you are, sir. As per request.” The spy bowed as he exited the Throne Room of King Ultio.

            Ultio held the papers in his hand, knowing what they contained.

            “Vir, follow me. Step one has been completed, and step two awaits.”

 

•••

 

            “Fred, come on. You aren’t gonna find it. Maybe one of the council members picked it up by mistake.”

            Fred was on his knees, scouring the floor of the meeting room, looking for weak spots in the floor. Nothing. He got to his feet. “Nas, they have to be somewhere… Wait! Wouldn’t the CTC have an electronic file of it? Maybe Ty knows something. Let’s go!”

            Fred and Nas arrived at the CTC building and were granted access inside. They made their way down hallways until they ran into the COT, Al. “Hello sir. Hello Nas. What do I do for you?”

            “We’re looking for Ty. Where is he?” Fred asked frantically, out of breath.

            “I haven’t seen him around. If you do see him, tell him to report here. He hasn’t come to work for days.”

            Al turned and walked away. Fred faced Nas and said, “I think I might know where he is. Come on,” and with that they left eh CTC.

           

•••

 

            Back at Fred’s mansion, Ty was gathering his stuff from the overnight stay. He grabbed his stuff and headed out onto the lawn. He transported back up to the dilapidated building and continued down the hallway. The last thing he saw was a long black snout.

 

•••

 

            Fred and Nas raced to the broken down building and hopped into the tube. They ran across the front lawn and into the house. “Ty!” they both called. No one answered.

            “That’s weird,” Fred said, looking around. “He should still be here.”

            “Well, maybe he went out for some fresh air,” Nas suggested.

 

•••

 

            Ty’s eyes didn’t have to adjust very much when the cloth bag was ripped off his head. He found himself in a very familiar place, looking at a very familiar face.

            “Hello, Ty,” King Ultio said. He spat on his face as he closed the prison door. “You’ll be working for me now. And don’t try to escape again, or it could cost you dearly.”

            Ty was alone.

            Back in the throne room, Ultio sat on his throne, looking very confident. “Vir!” he called. Vir appeared at the foot of the throne and knelt.

            “Yes sir?” he said.

            “Gather the army and train them,” Ultio said, handing Vir the blueprints. “Have the new prisoner Ty show you how it works. And if he does not cooperate… bring him to me, and I shall deal with him myself.”

            “Yes sir,” Vir said. He grabbed the blueprints and exited the throne room.

            “My plan is almost finished. All that’s left is the hologram. But that-” he said as a hologram flickered to life in front of him. “Comes with the attack.”

 

•••

 

            It had been 3 Anerian days since the first Sneilian attack, and Fred was busy preparing his troops. They were using the strategy from the blueprints, and the plan was not working so well. The ground was not stable enough, it being on a cloud and all. That worried Fred, so they had to come up with a new strategy.

            Double Reverse Psychology.

            The Sneilians somehow knew the first time where the Anerians were and what their plan was. The blueprints Fred had were missing (luckily Nas had another copy), so he assumed that it went missing. If they attacked from the shadows first, then the ground, there was only one more way they could attack.

            The air.

            Back when Fred first arrived in Anera, he was fascinated with the technology the Anerian vehicles had, and it only took a month to build a GPS replica that could do the driving for you. So if they could make the car go where they wanted with a month’s work of technology... That’s when Fred got his idea. He went to find Nas, and he found him sitting in the square, enjoying a nice glass of what looked like fruit punch.

            “Nas, I have the perfect plan,” he said.

            Nas stood, looking slightly depressed. “Well hopefully it’s better than the genius plan I thought would work.”

            “Yeah. I think it is. Listen, this isn’t your fault. I found the same exact plan you did.”

            “Yeah, yeah, alright. What’s your idea?” Nas asked, sipping his fruit punch.

            “What are you drinking?” Fred asked.

            “It’s called A-J. Mixture of watermelon and strawberry juices. Signature drink of Anera.”

            “Ah… anyway, my idea might not work, but it’s worth a try. What if we turned our vehicles into tanks?”

            Nas gulped down his drink suddenly. “How do you mean?”

            “Well, my thinking was, if you can make that GPS system that can drive you anywhere in one month… couldn’t we make weapons like that? Attach the system to the weapons, like heat seeking missiles.”

            “But Fred,” Nas said, “those took a month at the least to make. We don’t have that much time.”

            “But we have all of Anera here to help. We have to at least try.”

            Nas and Fred stared at each other for a brief moment. Nas lost the staring contest and gave in. “Fine,” he said. “What can I do?”

            “Switch over all the places working to make the systems. Just make the same type of system and we’ll attach it to a weapon and see what happens.”

            Nas ran off and production began.

 

•••

 

            A day passed, and Fred was walking into the town square the next day to a marvelous site. At least 20 GPS systems were lying in the square with Anerians starting to attach them to guns.

            “Hey Nas,” he called.

            Nas turned to greet him. “Hey Fred. Look at this, they worked through the night. 25 done already!”

            “Toss me one,” Fred said.

            Nas attached the system to a gun and tossed it to Fred. “Set up a can of that juice over there,” Fred said, pointing to a small brick wall. Nas walked over and set the can down.

            Fred was no good with a gun. He wasn’t sure even a GPS system attached to it would help him. But he cocked it, aimed, and fired.

            Way left.

            But that’s when the GPS kicked in. A red light flashed and swerved back right toward the can.

            Impact.

            Fred was amazed. It actually worked.

            “Do you guys have a bow and arrow?” he asked.

            One of the soldiers present handed him his. Nas tossed him a GPS system and he attached it to the arrowhead. It was so small that it didn’t throw off the weight at all.

            Again, Fred aimed and fired. He missed left of purpose from about 50 yards out.

            Another red light flashed and the arrow changed course. Impact again.

            “How far can this thing detect an object?” Fred asked Nas.

            “Uh, well… if my calculations are correct…” he closed his eyes and counted in his head. “A mile, maybe slightly less.”

            Perfect, Fred thought. Those Sneilians won’t know what hit them.

            “Keep producing. I’m sure the Sneilians won’t wait too much longer to attack.”

            A soldier ran into the square, red faced. “Fred… sir… the foxholes… they’re working. Shall we continue?”

            A smirk crossed Fred’s face. “Of course,” he said.

 

•••

 

            Ty was sure he would be killed.

            He would either die on Esab, not obeying the orders of the Sneilian King, or die when he returned to Anera for helping the Sneilian king.

            He decided he’d rather die here than back home and be called a traitor.

            Ultio did not like that idea when he stood before him in the throne room.

            “So,” Ultio said, “you will not comply with my wishes. Very well…” he went back to the throne and sat down. “Fraus!” A Sneilian in a long black robe strode into the throne room, the tail of his robe dragging on the ground behind him. His robe was decorated with stars and crescent moons, completing Ty’s perception of a cliché magician.

            “Fraus is a skilled Magician, the best this side of the Ecaps Galaxy. Fraus, do what needs to be done.”

            Two Sneilian guards were restraining Ty, so he couldn’t move. Fraus strode up to him until their faces were inches apart. “Ty…”

            Then everything happened quickly.

            Ty stared into the magician’s face, though his long snout was in the way. After he said Ty’s name, his eyes changed colors from black to green. Then blue. Then red. Then white. Ty flinched.

            “Good,” Fraus said. He had him. “Now… who is your king?”

            Ty was lost in a trance, staring at Fraus. “Ultio,” he said, pale and straight-faced.

            Fraus straightened up and looked at Ultio, who was leaning forward, listening and watching intently. “He’s all yours. Key word: Regem.” And with that, Fraus simply vanished.

            Ultio sat back in his throne, smiling intently at what just happened. He realized that Ty was still staring straight ahead. “Hey,” Ultio said.

            “Um, sir,” Vir whispered. “Use the key word.”

            “Oh…” He looked back to Ty. “Regem.”

            Ty stood up, turned toward Ultio, and bowed. “Yes, king.”

            Ultio laughed haughtily. “Help Vir prepare the army. Tell him how the blueprints work. We attack tomorrow.”

            “Yessir,” Ty said, bowing his head. They both left the throne room to prepare.

King Ultio laughed. “Prepare yourselves, Anerians. There’s a storm coming that cannot be stopped. If you think that your precious King Fred can protect you… Think again.”