Penguins of Anarchy IV: Endgame

Six

General Brazen sat alone in the war room, swigging a beer. An annoyed look grew on his face as Sleeson entered the room. "It's twenty-three hundred hours, Colonel," Brazen said sternly. "What brings you back here?"

"You know Project Homefront will fail," Sleeson said straightforwardly. "It's as Sgt. Dreemo said—" Brazen was about to reprimand Sleeson for mentioning a Penguin of Anarchy, but Sleeson abruptly pointed out, "This is no meeting, sir, and I'm allowed to speak freely in a private conversation." Brazen resentfully nodded, and Sleeson continued, "Sgt. Dreemo knew that any improvements we made on our defenses would still be no match for the Alliance, especially now, since they can concentrate nearly all their resources on us if need be. You're not blind or ignorant like Waff was, General. Why are you going through with Homefront when our resources could be much better spent abroad?"

Brazen grinned sideways. "You don't seem to see how much like Waff you are, Sleeson." The colonel was clearly taken aback. Pleased with this result, Brazen continued, "Just like Waff, you believe in putting all our cards in one deck. You're an extremist like our deceased General of the Army, only you're on the other side of the spectrum when it comes to how you think we can win this war. Waff knew he had been too complacent and had worried too much about his public image, so he decided that the only thing he could do was batten down the hatches before the storm tore everything down. Meanwhile, you think we can only succeed by expending all our energy into supporting the countries trying to hold off the Alliance's inevitable invasion. The problem is that in either case, if the plan you've poured all your time and effort into fails, you have nothing to fall back on. I am not an extremist, Col. Sleeson. I'm one of the few officers remaining who believes we actually have a chance of surviving this."

Sleeson was quiet. He began to understand, and let the general continue.

Brazen sipped his beer and cleared his throat. "We're going to do our best to push back the Alliance forces abroad, and we're also going to prepare our own land for invasion to the best of our abilities, because as hopeless as it may seem for us to survive another attack by the Alliance, there's always a chance, so we might as well make ourselves as prepared as possible."

Sleeson nodded. "I understand, General. Maybe your plan isn't so bad after all." His conscience still bothered him, though, so he couldn't help adding, "But couldn't dividing up our resources among two agendas give us a better chance of failing in both areas?"

Brazen stared at him thoughtfully. "There's no failsafe strategy in war, Colonel. If there were, I'd immediately pool all my resources into it. The fact is, I have no way of knowing what will work best, so all I can do is make an educated guess and hope I don't completely screw everything up."

Sleeson nodded. "Well, while I still don't completely agree with you on every level, I understand your decision a bit more."

"Good. Now, if there's nothing else, I'd like to enjoy the rest of the night in peace," Brazen said as he leaned back and finished his beer.

But Sleeson wasn't quite done yet. He considered leaving, but knew that another, more pressing issue had to be addressed. "Sir, would you ever consider...not executing the Penguins of—"

"No!" Brazen shouted angrily. He breathed deeply and said in a calmer voice, "There is no amount of forgiveness in the whole country that can make up for what those renegades have done to Antarctica. They've gone from saving us from the Alliance to betraying each other to betraying and killing the leader of Antarctica. How could you possibly ask something that absurd?"

"You hated Waff just as much as I did—just as much as almost everyone did by the time his end came. The only reason we're not treating the Penguins of Anarchy as heroes is because it would make us feel like we were betraying our country; but if anyone betrayed their country, it was Waff himself."