Summoning America

Chapter 13: Adem's Retreat

July 21, 1639

Washington D.C.

"Robert, please have a seat." President Lee gestured toward an empty couch.

The gruff-looking secretary nodded, his gray hair complementing his demeanor. "Glad to be here, Mister President."

"How's the progress with the Lourians?"

"The first part of Operation Shock was a success, and we were able to eliminate the Lourian army near Ejei. We even captured a few magicians — who we're now in the process of interrogating — and one of their nobles."

Lee nodded. "Nice. And the Marines?"

"Three of our Marine groups have successfully completed their assigned objectives; no casualties. The fourth is currently in the process of liberating a slave caravan, and they're expected to wrap up shortly. The footage from the missions are ready to go; we're transferring the data to your press teams right now."

"Excellent. And the special forces teams?"

Robert laid out a series of reports on the small coffee table between them. "DEVGRU is preparing for the assault on the Lourian capital. We have several Delta Force and Green Beret teams working with the CIA, assisting rebellious lords with local objectives. So far, the Lourian logistics have been scrambled to all hell. With the local lords starting to realize just how outmatched they are, they've been holding their troops. We won't have to worry about any full-scale invasion of Qua Toyne for the time being."

Lee sighed, "Whew. I was hoping we wouldn't have to wipe out their army. That would've been pretty detrimental for our future plans after Louria surrenders."

"No kidding, sir. I doubt the locals would've liked us after culling a significant percentage of their workforce, fathers, sons, and brothers."

"Yep. Makes Operation Awe all the more important. By the way, how's that coming along? When is Hawthorne scheduled to arrive at Jin Hark?"

Robert flipped through a few papers from the Navy. "Hmm... looks like they'll be getting there in about a week. They're restocking on munitions right now and expanding their amphibious assault units. I sure hope this'll work."

"It has to. I just hope we won't need to actually invade the city."

"Hmm, I think the chances of that being necessary are slim to none. The Lourians will be too worried about our beachhead and fleet of warships to even think about consolidating their forces at the castle. Don't worry about it, Mister President. This'll all be done in a week or two."

"Yep." Lee took a sip of water. "Say, did you get that file on the Ravernal Empire?"

"Ahh, I'm not sure. Who's it from?"

"Should be filed under a uh... 'Lieutenant Vasquez' with the Seventh Fleet. One of the observers sent from Qua Toyne brought it up during a conversation, and it turns out that we might not be the only advanced power on this planet."

"Oh? So I assume that's where all those radio waves and industrial pollutants are coming from," Robert suggested.

"Actually, no. Those radio waves and the World War 2 era vessels we saw on the satellite images are from the 'Gra Valkas Empire' and 'Mu'. We managed to pick up some of their radio waves and isolated a significant number of these references, along with a reference to the 'Holy Mirishial Empire' and 'Civilized Region'."

"Huh. Interesting. So then, who are these Ravernals?"

"Not sure; the report wasn't that informative, but we did get a gist of them. Turns out they're the big baddies of this world: genocide, enslavement, all that. I'm not sure how real these tales are, but the general consensus seems to be that the Ancient Sorcerous Empire is undeniably real. Honestly, I don't think we can just dismiss this as a fairy tale; I mean, look at us! We were transferred. It wouldn't be much of a stretch for someone else to have also been transferred before us."