I chuckled. I could feel the rage easing off after I was back with the two of them. They were my friends, and both knew me as well as any other person in the world, except maybe Lyrica. She'd spent a lot of time traipsing around in my head when I was in the Source coma. She hadn't talked to me much about what she'd seen in my head, and I hadn't asked. The things in my head are not for the light of heart. I don't even think what she did would have been possible without the telepathic abilities I had gained from my Demon ancestry. That telepathic link had allowed her truly into my mind.

"Let's get the hell outta here," I said. "When we get back to Kansas, Paige is gonna rip me a new one for that outburst. I keep telling her she shouldn't let me out in public. It's her own fault."

"Oh, so now you're blaming the Archmage for that catastrophic interview on live television? It must be a man thing. He blames you for the circumstance where he throws me out of a plane, and now you blame the Archmage for this interview."

She shook her head, sadly, "Men."

"That was live television?"

"Yeah," she answered, "We watched it as you called him a sniveling shit. The whole damn country saw it. Of course, that's exactly what he is. But you probably shouldn't have called him one on live TV."

"So who we gonna go insult next, Boss?" Rictor asked.

"Probably be safer to just head back to Kansas,wait-" I said and turned my head to the right, "-is that a Checkers?"

It was one of my favorite hamburger joints. They were in the South, and we were in Georgia.

"That's all you ever think about," Prada said.

"That's not all I think about-I think about pizza a lot, too."

"So sad," she mumbled as she pulled into the drive through, "How many do you want?"

"Ten."

"You're joking."

"Nope," I answered, "and get whatever you guys want, too. I'm buying."

"You seriously want ten burgers?"

"I need some for the flight home."

"I'll take two," Rictor said, "and see if they have that Cajun burger. If they still have that I want two of them."

"I forgot the Cajun burger," I said, "so get me five of each. The Checker burger and the Cajun burger."

She shook her head and started ordering.

I ate three before we reached the airport, and took the rest with me on the plane. There were still a couple left when we got off the plane in Hillsboro. There hadn't been an airstrip in Hillsboro until we pretty much took over the abandoned town and made a Soulguard base out of it. It was one of the first things we had added after we got established.

"You got another of those Cajun burgers in that sack?" Rictor asked.

"Yep, you want it?"

"I think I do," he said with a grin.

"I got another one in here too," I said to Prada, "You want it?"

"Yeah," she muttered.

"See, I told ya ten was about right," I said as I crumpled the empty bag up into a ball after giving the last burger to her.

"In the last five hours you've eaten eight hamburgers?"

"I guess I did," I shrugged. "I can't face the wrath of the Archmage on an empty stomach."

"You were right about one thing," she said, "these are definitely the best hamburgers I've ever eaten."

"True," I agreed. "I'll meet you guys later to work off all of 'em. Gotta meet with Paige and then Marco and Polo."

"Did you just call our two National Guard Generals Marco and Polo?" the voice came from behind me and it was a bit frosty.

"Hi Paige," I said and smiled broadly as I turned around, "how are things on the home front?"

"Just once," she said, "I would love for you to just do what you're supposed to. There's a place for this sort of thing, and it is not on live television. Everyone wants to say that sort of thing, but they don't do it. You cannot be calling people sniveling shits on TV. Or sanctimonious prick, for that matter."

"Ma'am, in Knoxville, we didn't let him out much," Rictor said.

Her glare turned to him and I winced, "Don't you even start. You're as bad as he is."

"I thought you might reign him in just a little bit," she turned to Andrea, "but I guess not."

She turned and stomped away.

"She's so cute when she's angry," I muttered.

"Oh my God!" Prada exclaimed. "That woman could blow up half of the state, and you think it's cute when she gets mad? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Well, she is cute when she's mad," Ric agreed.

Prada followed after Paige muttering things I don't think I want to repeat.

"Guess I get to go meet Marco and Polo earlier than I was planning," I said.

Chapter 43.

"There are two thousand Guards in the four facilities out near the Gate. We have five thousand more here in Hillsboro. Some of those are instructors for the trainees, but the majority of those are troops ready for any action taken. If they hit more cities, we will lose some of those numbers as reinforcements for the local garrisons."

Marco nodded, "How many Mages do we have stationed here?"

"Three hundred, but just like the Guard numbers, strikes in cities will decrease the amount here."

"And are we situated with this Code Alpha thing you've been talking about?" Polo asked.

"Everyone is familiar with the Code Alpha scenario," I said. "It may be hard to actually get a situation where we can use it, but we'll all be ready for it if the chance to use it arrives."

"We need a command staff for this," Polo said. "We can supply Staffers for the campaign, but we need to establish who will be the head of the whole thing. I assume that you intend to be out in the thick of it."

"Yes, and I have someone in mind for that position if you don't have any qualms about your men under the command of a Soulguard. We need the flow of orders to be as smooth as possible. The guy I have in mind has fought more campaigns than any other human being alive."

"You're talking about Jaegher, aren't you?" Marco asked.

"He's truly six hundred years old?" Polo asked.

"Six hundred and forty five," I said. "I'd say there ain't much the man hasn't seen. I'll send him to you after this meeting. You'll need to work with him some to get things flowing smoothly."

"We have seventeen thousand National Guardsmen here, as well, Colin," Polo returned. "They'll be thinner, too, if the Kresh hit more cities. But, at this moment our numbers are close to that. We'll be backing your forces up, and we'll pull out injured as we can."

"I just hope we can hold them in. We've never really had this sort of battle before us. First Kansas was pure luck. If the closing of the Gate hadn't killed them, we would have been bled much worse than we were already. I've never heard of calling the loss of a quarter of your command good leadership qualities."

"From all that we've seen and heard from those of you that were here, Colin, it was amazing that four hundred of you could do as much as you did," Polo said. "I saw footage of the thing in New York as well. I saw one of your Mages in both sets of footage. I was under the impression that you guys are limited in the amount of power available to your Mages."

"Most of us are," I chuckled, "but you must be talking about the Kid."

He looked at me with one eyebrow raised.

"He was sent to Knoxville when I was the Mage Captain there. He was young and untried. We came to an understanding, and he learned to use skills that most of us just don't have. We've called him the Kid ever since. He's a machine, and we keep him protected as he plows a hole in their ranks. But even the Kid can only do so much."

"The footage is pretty amazing," Marco said, "I saw what the two of you Soullords did in New York as well, and it was pretty spectacular."

"They weren't there in the sort of numbers we'll see here," I said. "I think there were just several thousand in New York. The problem was that they were in the most densely populated area in the city. Just the massive numbers will make this hard as hell to hold."

"Have you figured out how to shield the planes yet?" Marco asked. "I hate to think those boys are completely unprotected as they circle up there."

"I've experimented on some small planes," I said, "but I'm having an issue with tying a shield around the moving parts of the plane. I think the best I'm going to accomplish will be to shield the main fuselage and wings. The various moveable parts will have to remain unshielded, unless I figure something out. I may be able to build shields into each piece, but the amount of time will be immense so I may not get the sort of protection on them I want. I'll certainly get as much as I can."

"Just the fuselage and wings will be an immense amount more than they had, Colin," Marco said. "If we get more, it will be welcome, but we all know there's only one of you, and you're doing your best."

"We wouldn't dream of complaining too much anyway," Polo chuckled, "cause you might call us sniveling shits."

"Or sanctimonious pricks," Marco said.

"On live Television or something," Polo returned.

"I didn't know it was a live broadcast," I said, "and I figured it would get censored out of it."

"Really? The show is called Samson Forrest Live."

I shrugged.

I stood to leave, "I'll send you Jaegher. You try picking on him, and see what it gets you."

Both of them were chuckling as I left the conference room. I really liked them. I'm glad the government had done things the way they did. The National Guard was just a little bit more laid back than the other military branches, and they were much more like the Soulguard in that. A lot of us come from military backgrounds but the Soulguard isn't as formal as their previous careers. We were more like a family of sorts.

That was something that was changing now, and I can't say I liked the idea too much, but it comes with the amount of growth we were going through. Much like the National Guard, we were having some growing pains, and we were sacrificing some of that laid back attitude. But it was expected as well, so I have to just deal with it.

I headed out of the Headquarters building, and headed over toward where several trainee squads were practicing maneuvers. Kyra was watching them, and I could see the disappointment in her aura.

"Not going so well?" I asked.

"They don't like taking orders," she said, "I was afraid it was going to be difficult to deal with these fellows you brought back from New York."

"How bad is it?"

"They're born fighters, but they won't work with others. We have to be able to mesh with any squad or company we end up in. They aren't meshing worth a damn."

"Mom, these guys are from a totally different culture than most of the trainees. It may take some time to get them to the point where we need them. Can I make a suggestion?"

"By all means."

"How's Khalib doing?"

"He's the damndest thing I've ever seen. The man is a master of nearly every weapon known to man. Now he's got the speed and power of a Guard. He's nearly unbeatable in a fight of any kind by anyone even close to him in power. It takes a Mage to get to him."

"He killed at least two Demons with a damn knife before that Soldier showed up," I said, "I knew he'd be good."

"He'll be leading a squad before long," she said.

"My suggestion would be to put Fortraine and his boys under Khalib. They'll be afraid not to do what he says, and it will get them into the habit of taking orders. It may take some time to get the effect we want but I think Khalib will pull it out of them."

"Why him and not someone else?"

"They have been raised with the fear that Mr. Khalib would come after them, Mom. He's the boogeyman. I just about guarantee they'll follow that man's orders. They may actually make quite a squad."

"I'll try that," she said.

"If it doesn't work, at least Paige can tell me 'I told you so'. She's just dying to tell me that most of the time, anyway."

"I could always have you go out there and call them sniveling shits or something."

"Et tu Brute'," I said acting as if I had been stabbed.

"Hehe, I always hated that bastard anyway."

Chapter 44.