The Glass House: Chapter Nine
Apr. 23rd, 2008 12:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfanficsTitle: The Glass House
Author: Sashataakheru
Beta: The wonderfulrana_narsilion <3
Fandom: The Chaser/AusComedy RPS
Starring: Adam Hills, Sepulchre (OC), Wil Anderson, Hamish Blake, Craig Reucassel, Tim Minchin, Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Charles Firth, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen, Caleb (OC), Dr Rachel Hardy (OC), Antoinette Laurent (OC), Dr Samantha Reddings (OC), Dominic Knight, Shane Cubis, Gregor Stronach, Tim Brunero, Andy Lee
Pairings: Andrew/Chris; Adam/Hamish; Jules/Chas; Rachel/Antoinette(/Samantha); Adam/Seb; Adam/Wil; Craig/Caleb; Adam/Wil/Tim; Andrew/Craig, Wil/Chas;
Word Count: 4,937
Chapter: 9/28 [Previous]
Warnings: language, snarky!Craig, lengthy discussions
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: I don’t know them, not associated with them, just a slashy fangirl admirer with a very active imagination.
Author’s Notes: FYI, fullwing = winged human capable of flight. Halfwing = fullwing/human halfbreed, usually unable to fly, sometimes have vestigial wings, but can be removed to pass as human and not as winged.
Summary: Kinda lacking in Chasers, this bit. Adam, Wil and Hamish kinda took over. But we do get some actual planning done for once. XD
Chapter Nine
Julian and Craig went to round people up, while Adam, Wil, Hamish, Rachel and Antoinette went to get coffee, and ten minutes later, everyone was crammed into meeting room 5, where Wil was getting ready to go over the plans for the attack. Adam, Wil, Tim, Hamish, Julian, Chas, Craig, Rachel, Antoinette, Dom, Chris and Andrew sat around the table, ready to go over the plans.
Julian cleared his through to get Chris and Andrew’s attention, as they seemed to be more engrossed in each other than they were in the meeting at hand. Chris turned to look at them, Andrew was still giggling, but Julian’s stern look quickly got them in order, although no one noticed Andrew resting his hand on Chris’ thigh the whole time.
“So this is the plan. We attack in eight weeks’ time. In that time, we need to get the other cities co-ordinated. They’ll play a vital role in our success or failure. November 29th is the day we attack. We start at midnight. We take out the main communications centres in each capital city to prevent them communicating what’s happened. We hopefully won’t need many for that, so we can call the majority of our fighters here in preparation for an all-out assault on Canberra. We take Canberra last. That’s the most important city. We should make sure we hit fuel depots and military compounds to slow them down, because once they realise what’s happened, they will follow us, and I’d like to have Canberra completely cut off before that happens so we can take the city without having to fight 50 million of them. When we get to Canberra, we storm Parliament House. It’ll be well guarded, but hopefully, the smaller force of troops that are kept there will be easy to get rid of. Remember we’re planning on sending a few missiles into Parliament first so it’ll be easier to get in. Remember to save your ammo for the main fight. We’ll need it. Those cops are far better equipped than us. Once inside Parliament, we storm the place and kill anyone we come across, but try to save the PM and his cronies til last. We can corner them and force them to hand the country over to us. Then kill them at the last minute,” Wil said.
“But wouldn’t it make more sense to kill them first and take the country that way? If we’re going to kill them anyway, why wait and make them hand it over? We go in, and kill anything that lives. That’s how we win,” Craig said. “Why keep them alive? We can’t let them have any small chance to kill us before we kill them.”
You really should learn to listen to me, you know. Didn’t you hear me saying that in your head? Oh, shut up. You’re really starting to shit me you know, now you’ve suddenly decided to start commenting again. What? It wasn’t right before. No one comments during torture scenes like that. Nice to know you’ve got some decency, then. And stop distracting me with ‘Pictures Of You’. Can we at least concentrate on one fic, please? Is that too much to ask? Fine. But you know I’ll get bored, and so will you. But I can’t just skip this part. How are my readers supposed to know what’s happening if I don’t bother explaining it, hmm? They can wait and find out in the end like everyone else. Hell, we don’t even know if we’re going to win. We’ll just strike and see what happens. Uh huh. So you’re all intent on keeping both me and my readers in the dark, huh? That’s the idea, yeah. That’d be right, hey? Just as I get to a point where I’m getting to a really important bit, you guys decided it’s too important to detail and go silent on me. I demand you all to speak! I need to know what you’re planning, even if no one else does at the moment. What, that little tidbit Wil gave you isn’t enough? You’re supposed to discuss it, not just give me three lines of dialogue and leave it at that. Bastards. Get on with it. Go write me fucking Chris. You’ll like that. No I won’t. Besides which Chris doesn’t want to fuck you. Yeah, I know he does. This little thing with Andrew is just a phase. He really wants me, you know. Of course he does, that’s why he’s so intent on remaining with Andrew. Now will you shut up so I can write?
“If we go in and kill everyone without discrimination, we’re as bad as they are. We want to get rid of that sort of Government, not replace it with one that’s identical to it,” Wil said.
“So you’re actually planning for us to run the country? I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Adam said.
“Why not? We can’t trust them to run the country themselves. We get rid of the PM and his corrupt Government, and run the country until we can have the people elect their own Government,” Wil said.
“Yeah, how can we trust they’ll even elect someone different? The great majority are still loyal to the State. That won’t be easy, to get them to vote for change without restricting the candidates, which is exactly what they did before. We’d be seen as no better than the State, and old prejudices die hard,” Adam said.
“So what do you propose we do then?” Wil said.
That was one question Adam couldn’t answer.
“Well, unless you’ve got a better idea, that’s the plan we stick to. Now, one new development is that we’ve had an offer of assistance from Japan, as well as from Indonesia. I’ve had some guys asking around the region, seeing if there’s anyone who wants to help, preferably with supplying weapons, but manpower is also appreciated. I’ve given word we’ll respond in a week. Japan said they can supply us with missiles and vehicles, as well as technology. Indonesia offered manpower and a safe haven if we need to flee the country should the coup fail. And yes, they know we’re winged humans, so that won’t be an issue. So we’re starting negotiations to see what we can garner from them,” Wil said.
“I’d be careful with the Indonesians. They could turn on us as easily as this Government has. Make sure to snoop around just in case they want this alliance for other reasons,” Julian said.
“We’re being careful with every offer of assistance, firstly so the State doesn’t pick up on it, and secondly because we don’t want to be betrayed again. We keep as quiet as we can so they don’t know what we’re planning,” Wil said.
“While making sure that our pattern of behaviour remains the same, so they don’t suspect anything,” Adam added.
“That too,” Wil said.
“When are we planning on having the other cities near-deserted so we can make ready our main assault? How long will it take to get from Perth to here? We don’t have anyone in Darwin, do we?” Adam said.
“No later than a week before the attack. Give them time to regroup and prepare to attack. I’ve got each city working on the max number of men they’ll need to take out their targets so we know how many will be left behind. I’m expecting those numbers in the next few days. We do have a small group of a couple hundred in Darwin. They’ve already volunteered to work with some of the northern Queensland mob to arrange for the weapons smuggling from Indonesia and West Papua. Old New Zealand is out of the question since we all remember the State invading them ten years ago and taking the country by force. God, that was a massacre. We’ve got the last few refugees from that war hidden here in Sydney. Everyone else was killed as they tried to get ashore all along the coast. It’s any wonder they bothered coming here and didn’t decide to head for all those outlying islands instead,” Wil said.
“Ah, yeah, I remember that war. They killed anything that moved. New Zealand was simply outnumbered, and even though they had tried to surrender, the Australian forces had far more fun killing them instead. Talk about rivalries, hey?” Adam said.
“Yeah. And remember how only a year before the Government had so much fun campaigning for the Indonesian Armed Forces to be brought up on war crimes for what they did in West Papua and pretty much all the other provinces that dared to rebel against the Indonesian Muslim state. They were so quick to come to their aid, weren’t they? Smuggling weapons to the West Papuans to help them fight, as opposed to sending troops themselves. That was what broke the few remaining diplomatic ties, especially when the Indonesians found out it was Australia sending weapons to them,” Wil said.
“Stupid decision, that was. This Government loves proving it has no ability to learn from its mistakes, and that it has no qualms in pissing off every country in the region,” Adam said.
“Yeah. Trying to replicate America, and look what happened to them,” Wil said.
“Their ‘empire’ collapsed in on them. That’s what you get for stretching yourself too far. They had 85% of their troops deployed overseas, and mainland America deteriorated into poverty and anarchy, neither of which look like abating any time soon, from what I’ve heard. What was surprising is how quickly it took to get to that stage. Most had given it thirty years, minimum,” Adam said.
“Yeah, true, that really did leave a gaping hole in world powers, didn’t it? They weren’t too happy when China emerged as one of the most powerful nations in the world, almost surpassing America. But what could they do about it? The American era was over,” Wil said.
“And now everyone hates us because we think we know what’s best for every country in the region. How arrogant, especially when you look at what’s happening here, within its own borders. Yes, let’s go and punish countries or regimes we don’t like, but let’s not have other countries criticise the way we do things. You know China’s been making noise about the state of our Government for a few years now. You know we’re fucked up when not even China agrees with what we’re doing, and we all know what they did to their people,” Adam said.
“Yeah, though I doubt anyone but the Government knows about that. They like silencing anything foreign countries have to say about us. It’s even harder with the web being so heavily policed. It’s only online between 8am and 6pm, and then that’s only the State sanctioned websites as well. Though if you know how to rig it up, you can get around the State censors and find out what’s really going on in the world,” Wil said.
“Yeah, we were lucky to get that organised for the haven. Otherwise, this rebellion wouldn’t be possible. I’ve heard rumours that China are secretly planning to take action against Australia if they don’t stop this oppression. How ironic would that be? China bombing the shit out of Australia in a bid to bring them democracy. Hey, that might be just the cover we need, you know. I wonder if we could goad China into invading Australia, and use their firepower to our advantage. That would free us up to attack Canberra alone while the army’s busy fighting off the Chinese troops. It’s risky, but it would work, you know,” Adam said.
“You serious? Get China fighting for us? That would take some work. How on earth would we make them invade?” Wil said.
“We need to get a small group of refugees together, have them make their way to China, and beg the Government for help. We tell them the truth about what’s really been going on, and hopefully, that’ll be enough to make them want to take action. You know they don’t have any idea how many of us there really are. We’ve got a count at around 20,000, but there could be many more halfwings masquerading as ‘normal’ humans. There’s no way to tell exactly how many of us there are,” Adam said.
“And that helps us how?” Wil said, not entirely convinced.
“Because we need to make a case strong enough for them to listen and realise it’s time to act now. We need to get the truth out about what’s really happening here, not just hope the State-approved line will fly. Find some of the few foreign journalists left in this country. We need footage of how things really are. We need to get this out to the world. We can’t do this without them. We’re going to be crushed into extinction if we don’t have some sort of back up. We need their firepower. This might be the only way we can succeed,” Adam said.
“How about trying to get hold of some of the State-sanctioned footage of the parades? We could always use the footage from Seb’s parade as ammunition. Use the Government’s own footage against them. We all know they broadcast it direct to everyone’s homes. It’s brutal propaganda. We could use that against them. Is there any way to get hold of that footage?” Hamish said.
“You’d have to break into the stations where they broadcast. No one has any recording devices in their homes anymore, and anyone with a video camera at the parades is usually arrested. That’s the only way to get hold of the footage now,” Julian said.
“They’re a heinously paranoid lot, aren’t they?” Hamish said.
“Big time. Anything that might let the truth out to the world is seriously clamped down on. They want to get away with everything, so the more secretive they are, and the more they prevent information getting out of the country, the safer they are. It’s just like China was before the last revolution. The few foreigners that are here are under heavy surveillance to make sure they’re not foreign spies leaking information out to the world. Even I have to be careful where I go. I’m certain a similar fate will be waiting for me if I get captured like Seb was. But I can’t just keep silent to save my own skin. There’s too much wrong with this country to just remain silent,” Adam said.
“Where do they broadcast from? How much force would we need to break in there?” Hamish said.
“It’d be easier for non-winged humans to get in there simply because they don’t have to worry about hiding their wings. We still haven’t been able to come up with a foolproof way of hiding full wings like these. It doesn’t help that they are like a third pair of limbs, so we have to be careful in not cutting off blood or oxygen, otherwise we won’t be able to fly. So until that happens, we’re going to be noticed, one way or another. If you don’t have wings, it’s easier to blend in. And you’re less likely to be instantly noticed by cops. I don’t want you to think I’m simply saying this to force non-winged humans to do our ‘dirty work’ for us. It’s nothing like that. You just stand a much better chance of getting in and out without wings. Having wings like these has its disadvantages, you know,” Adam said.
“Hey, it’s ok, Adam, I get it. We both have our strengths and weaknesses, yeah?” Hamish said, glancing at the others gathered in the room.
“Yeah. I know just the people to get that footage for us. I’ve had them smuggling news in the last couple of years from the outside world. I was able to get hold of a small collection of recording devices they nicked form the State. That’s been immensely useful for making our plight known and to get a handle on how the rest of the world is reacting to our descent into fascism. If the State knew what we had hidden away, we’d be killed for sure,” Julian said.
“So would you organise to get hold of that footage for us, Jules? Once we have that we should try and make as many copies of it as we can and get them out to China and other countries as soon as possible. Any way of posting them online?” Adam said.
“I’m sure there’s a way to get around the censors and upload them. Get it out to the wider world and all that,” Wil said.
“Oh there’s ways of doing that, don’t worry. Get the footage. Then we’ll deal with it,” Julian said.
“Anything else to discuss? Or are we done here?” Hamish said, trying not to sound bored.
“I think we’re done for the moment. Let me know when that footage comes in. We should try and get that out as soon as possible. They will notice the tapes are gone, so make sure we’re ready for that. They know about the Glass House, but they’ve mostly left it alone. Taking the tapes may be the trigger that pushes them over the edge. Increase training runs. We need to be prepared for anything now. Make sure everyone’s armed. Anyone who can use a weapon and fight, I want them training. Get word to the other cities to prepare as well. Make sure they know what’s going on,” Adam said.
Later that evening, Hamish was curled up next to Adam as he went over some papers Hamish wasn’t particularly interested in. Adam had a wing wrapped around him like a blanket. Hamish loved it when Adam did that. Hey, don’t you get too attached to those wings, Hamish. Adam’s not keeping them. And stop pouting, Adam. I mean it. I’ve made my mind up. You want the wings to stay, you stay in this world.
“Are we going to be alright, Adam?” Hamish said, breaking the silence between them.
Adam set the papers aside for a moment, looking down at him. He knew what Hamish meant, didn’t want to repeat his fears. “Yeah, of course we’ll be ok,” he said.
“You could die, you know. I could die. We could all die. Would anyone care?” Hamish said.
“A few would. I know people are going to die, on both sides. It’s inevitable in a war. I hate to think about it, but I have to be realistic. If we don’t give everything to this fight, we’ll never win. But I don’t waste time wondering who will die, because that’s more than I can cope with. If we manage to come out of this alive, free and victorious, then that’s the best we can hope for. I have to keep believing in that. I can’t lead if everyone can see I’ve given up,” Adam said.
“What if China invades, and we get caught up in that? We’ve seen what happened in other wars. Civilians are going to die. We’re going to die. How can we let China invade when we know the cost? This isn’t going to be a fair fight. How do we know they’ll support and protect us? Will they end up turning on us, just like our own people have? Are we doomed to be hunted down by everyone who’s in power?” Hamish said, almost forgetting for a moment that he doesn’t have wings.
“We won’t know. War is chaos. China has the military strength of numbers to completely overwhelm us. They can bomb every capital city, send their troops in and destroy everything. All the Army can do in defence is try and keep them at bay, especially when they learn China’s supporting us. When I get into talks with them, I want to negotiate for us to take Canberra. They can do what they must, but I want us to take Canberra. It’s not right for us to let China fight our own war for us. If necessary, we wait until China invades to get weapons from them. But we destroy Parliament House and kill anyone we find, because there’s no other way to survive. If we don’t kill, we die. That’s just how this world works,” Adam said.
“So what happens if we win? Do we take over running the country? Or are we to rely on democracy being installed just like it was in the Middle East? Can we really count on the people to forgive us for this and do what’s right for the country?” Hamish said.
“God, you’re cynical tonight, aren’t you?” Adam said.
“Sorry. Am I being too depressing? It’s just I can’t help thinking about this stuff. It’s one thing to fight back and win, but what happens afterwards? You remember how long it took to get Iraq and Afghanistan back to some semblance of normalcy, and just leave them to run their own country. What if this takes just as long? Can we count on China to really keep things in order? Or will they just take over and replace one fascist regime with another? Will this cause civil war? Will our country ever belong to us again? Will the people ever forgive us for starting this?” Hamish said.
“As I said, we won’t know any of this til it begins. Though you’re right. This won’t be over in a few weeks. This will take a long time, depending on how the people take to the chaos. We may have to get used to Chinese occupation for several years before we settle down again and can function on our own again. There’s a lot of ingrained stuff we need to get out of peoples’ heads before we can even come to resemble the society we were before. That won’t happen overnight. If anyone believes this will be easy, they’re sorely mistaken. Getting rid of the Government is just the catalyst for change, the first step in a long process. We have to take that first step if we want anything to change around here. Now enough of this talk. Don’t trouble yourself with this. You’ll drive yourself mad with worry if you do, and I need your support right now. I’m responsible for everyone who’s fighting for us. I have enough to worry about without having you go crazy on me as well. Cheer up, alright? Give me a smile,” Adam said.
Hamish managed a weak smile, but couldn’t help taking hope from Adam. There was a fire in his eyes, a determination that Hamish picked up on. With Adam, it was so easy to believe they would win. Hamish could forget his worries and relax if Adam kept believing they’d win. He hated that he was so constantly troubled by this, but he figured he was just taking some of Adam’s worries for him. It wasn’t helping him sleep though, and he wasn’t sure Adam had noticed he hadn’t been sleeping well. Maybe he’d worked it out after seeing him napping earlier in the day.
“We’ll be alright, you know. Whatever happens, we’ll make it. Do I need to be the one bringing you some comfort, hey?” Adam said, practically reading Hamish’s mind.
“Sorry. I don’t know how you do it,” Hamish said.
“Do what?” Adam said.
“Stay so fucking calm all the time. How do you manage to stay sane?” Hamish said, sitting up to be level with him.
“Some days I’m not sure myself. But, the meditation helps. I can’t afford to get carried away with worries. I need to stay sane, for everyone’s sake,” Adam said.
“Teach me. You said you would ages ago,” Hamish said, looking hopeful.
“I don’t know if I have time for that right now,” Adam said.
“You know you’ll be less worried if you know I’m not worried about things,” Hamish said, trying to convince him to agree.
“True, true. Alright then. Come with me,” Adam said, getting off the bed. Adam grabbed the shinza as a last minute thought and headed out to the corridor, waiting for Hamish to catch up.
Hamish followed Adam curiously through the cold dark building until they stopped outside a plain looking door. Adam opened the door and flicked on the light. Hamish followed him inside, closing the door behind him. Hamish stood back as Adam approached what looked like a shrine. There was black and red everywhere. Hamish watched Adam place the shinza on top of a beautifully made table, kneeling before it as he bowed his head. Hamish assumed he was praying, though to whom he didn’t know. Hamish watched him light some incense and set it to burn on the small ledge below the shrine. It was a scent Hamish couldn’t identify, but it was a nice scent.
“Kneel beside me. Name yourself before the shrine,” Adam said without turning to look at him.
Hamish hesitated a bit, not really knowing what to do.
“Just do what I did,” Adam said, without Hamish having to ask.
At that, Hamish knelt beside Adam, giving him a quick glance before copying his pose. He closed his eyes, and suddenly, he felt like he was somewhere else.
‘We meet at last,’ said Seb’s voice in his head.
‘Seb? Is that you?’ Hamish said, thinking the words.
‘The one my Anael would die for,’ Seb said.
‘Who? Me?’ Hamish said.
‘There is no one else here,’ Seb said.
Seb, stop sounding like Aslan. Or Teal’C. Or whoever it is you’re channelling. Just stop it.
‘Why do you say he’d die for me?’ Hamish said.
‘Because he would,’ Seb said simply.
‘What are you trying to say?’ Hamish said.
‘Nothing that doesn’t need to be said,’ Seb said.
‘Will you ever stop talking in riddles?’ Hamish said, annoyed at Seb’s constant cryptic words.
‘To speak the truth is most important,’ Seb said. ‘The Author is doing her best to translate.’
Hey, don’t blame this on me, Seb, darling. Yes, I’m making you hear my thoughts. Quit it. I don’t think you have time for riddles. Whatever it is you want to say to Hamish, just out and say it. And don’t try and pass it off as word padding. I think that’s a bit irrelevant now.
‘As you wish, my dear authoress,’ Seb said.
Quit with the charm. Get on with it. And no, that doesn’t need a reply.
‘I’m still here, you know,’ Hamish said. ‘What the hell did you want to tell me?’
‘Death is strong in the air. I can smell it. You have little time to sit around playing. Words must be vanquished in favour of action. Do not abandon my Anael. Together you will reign victorious,’ Seb said in his usual cryptic way.
‘Uh, thanks, I think,’ Hamish said.
‘Wake. I must speak with my Anael alone,’ Seb said.
Hamish found himself pulled back into consciousness. When his eyes opened, he found himself lying in Adam’s arms, staring up at him.
“Ok, what just happened?” Hamish said.
“You alright? I saw you close your eyes then you just keeled over. You remember anything?” Adam said, looking concerned.
“A voice… In my head… Talking… Talking nonsense… Fuck, I feel dizzy,” Hamish said, pieces of memory vaguely correlating in his mind.
“It’s ok. Just lie here. You’ll be fine. Was it Seb? I think that happened to me the first time he met me in meditation,” Adam said.
“Yeah, might’ve been him. Don’t really remember what he said… Something about… fucked if I know,” Hamish said.
“Yeah, that sounds like him. Never said anything in plain English if he can help it,” Adam said with a small laugh. “Just lie here until you feel better. The dizziness will wear off soon enough.”
“Thanks. I don’t suppose there’s-”
“Have some water. I keep it in shrine for instances such as this. Head hurting much?” Adam said, helping Hamish sit up before pouring him a glass of water.
“Oh, fuck. Yeah. Just a bit. Does he do this a lot?” Hamish said, pressing a palm against his temple in a bit to make the ache go away.
“Sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting him to visit you so soon. I thought he’d wait til I’d at least taught you the basics,” Adam said.
“Yeah, well, tell him to leave me alone for a while. I’m not used to being visited by dead guys,” Hamish said, sipping the water slowly as the ache in his head gradually lessened.
“Sorry, but you did want to learn meditation,” Adam said.
“That wasn’t meditation, that was my brain being hijacked by a dead guy!” Hamish said, mocking hysteria.
“I can’t help it if this room has that effect on people. I think Seb lives here now. That must be why it happened so quickly. I’ll have to tell him to hold back for a bit. You feeling any better?” Adam said.
“A little, yeah. Could we get out of here? I think I need to lie down for a while. Feeling sleepy and dizzy still,” Hamish said.
“Sure. Come on then,” Adam said, helping Hamish to his feet.
Hamish leant heavily against Adam as they made their way back to their room. Adam lay him down on the bed and cuddled up next to him. Adam contented himself with silence as he gently stroked Hamish’s hair, trying to lull him into sleep. It’d probably do him some good. He lay there and watched him sleep, his thoughts drifting off to Seb once more.
Author: Sashataakheru
Beta: The wonderful
rana_narsilion <3Fandom: The Chaser/AusComedy RPS
Starring: Adam Hills, Sepulchre (OC), Wil Anderson, Hamish Blake, Craig Reucassel, Tim Minchin, Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Charles Firth, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen, Caleb (OC), Dr Rachel Hardy (OC), Antoinette Laurent (OC), Dr Samantha Reddings (OC), Dominic Knight, Shane Cubis, Gregor Stronach, Tim Brunero, Andy Lee
Pairings: Andrew/Chris; Adam/Hamish; Jules/Chas; Rachel/Antoinette(/Samantha); Adam/Seb; Adam/Wil; Craig/Caleb; Adam/Wil/Tim; Andrew/Craig, Wil/Chas;
Word Count: 4,937
Chapter: 9/28 [Previous]
Warnings: language, snarky!Craig, lengthy discussions
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: I don’t know them, not associated with them, just a slashy fangirl admirer with a very active imagination.
Author’s Notes: FYI, fullwing = winged human capable of flight. Halfwing = fullwing/human halfbreed, usually unable to fly, sometimes have vestigial wings, but can be removed to pass as human and not as winged.
Summary: Kinda lacking in Chasers, this bit. Adam, Wil and Hamish kinda took over. But we do get some actual planning done for once. XD
Chapter Nine
Julian and Craig went to round people up, while Adam, Wil, Hamish, Rachel and Antoinette went to get coffee, and ten minutes later, everyone was crammed into meeting room 5, where Wil was getting ready to go over the plans for the attack. Adam, Wil, Tim, Hamish, Julian, Chas, Craig, Rachel, Antoinette, Dom, Chris and Andrew sat around the table, ready to go over the plans.
Julian cleared his through to get Chris and Andrew’s attention, as they seemed to be more engrossed in each other than they were in the meeting at hand. Chris turned to look at them, Andrew was still giggling, but Julian’s stern look quickly got them in order, although no one noticed Andrew resting his hand on Chris’ thigh the whole time.
“So this is the plan. We attack in eight weeks’ time. In that time, we need to get the other cities co-ordinated. They’ll play a vital role in our success or failure. November 29th is the day we attack. We start at midnight. We take out the main communications centres in each capital city to prevent them communicating what’s happened. We hopefully won’t need many for that, so we can call the majority of our fighters here in preparation for an all-out assault on Canberra. We take Canberra last. That’s the most important city. We should make sure we hit fuel depots and military compounds to slow them down, because once they realise what’s happened, they will follow us, and I’d like to have Canberra completely cut off before that happens so we can take the city without having to fight 50 million of them. When we get to Canberra, we storm Parliament House. It’ll be well guarded, but hopefully, the smaller force of troops that are kept there will be easy to get rid of. Remember we’re planning on sending a few missiles into Parliament first so it’ll be easier to get in. Remember to save your ammo for the main fight. We’ll need it. Those cops are far better equipped than us. Once inside Parliament, we storm the place and kill anyone we come across, but try to save the PM and his cronies til last. We can corner them and force them to hand the country over to us. Then kill them at the last minute,” Wil said.
“But wouldn’t it make more sense to kill them first and take the country that way? If we’re going to kill them anyway, why wait and make them hand it over? We go in, and kill anything that lives. That’s how we win,” Craig said. “Why keep them alive? We can’t let them have any small chance to kill us before we kill them.”
You really should learn to listen to me, you know. Didn’t you hear me saying that in your head? Oh, shut up. You’re really starting to shit me you know, now you’ve suddenly decided to start commenting again. What? It wasn’t right before. No one comments during torture scenes like that. Nice to know you’ve got some decency, then. And stop distracting me with ‘Pictures Of You’. Can we at least concentrate on one fic, please? Is that too much to ask? Fine. But you know I’ll get bored, and so will you. But I can’t just skip this part. How are my readers supposed to know what’s happening if I don’t bother explaining it, hmm? They can wait and find out in the end like everyone else. Hell, we don’t even know if we’re going to win. We’ll just strike and see what happens. Uh huh. So you’re all intent on keeping both me and my readers in the dark, huh? That’s the idea, yeah. That’d be right, hey? Just as I get to a point where I’m getting to a really important bit, you guys decided it’s too important to detail and go silent on me. I demand you all to speak! I need to know what you’re planning, even if no one else does at the moment. What, that little tidbit Wil gave you isn’t enough? You’re supposed to discuss it, not just give me three lines of dialogue and leave it at that. Bastards. Get on with it. Go write me fucking Chris. You’ll like that. No I won’t. Besides which Chris doesn’t want to fuck you. Yeah, I know he does. This little thing with Andrew is just a phase. He really wants me, you know. Of course he does, that’s why he’s so intent on remaining with Andrew. Now will you shut up so I can write?
“If we go in and kill everyone without discrimination, we’re as bad as they are. We want to get rid of that sort of Government, not replace it with one that’s identical to it,” Wil said.
“So you’re actually planning for us to run the country? I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Adam said.
“Why not? We can’t trust them to run the country themselves. We get rid of the PM and his corrupt Government, and run the country until we can have the people elect their own Government,” Wil said.
“Yeah, how can we trust they’ll even elect someone different? The great majority are still loyal to the State. That won’t be easy, to get them to vote for change without restricting the candidates, which is exactly what they did before. We’d be seen as no better than the State, and old prejudices die hard,” Adam said.
“So what do you propose we do then?” Wil said.
That was one question Adam couldn’t answer.
“Well, unless you’ve got a better idea, that’s the plan we stick to. Now, one new development is that we’ve had an offer of assistance from Japan, as well as from Indonesia. I’ve had some guys asking around the region, seeing if there’s anyone who wants to help, preferably with supplying weapons, but manpower is also appreciated. I’ve given word we’ll respond in a week. Japan said they can supply us with missiles and vehicles, as well as technology. Indonesia offered manpower and a safe haven if we need to flee the country should the coup fail. And yes, they know we’re winged humans, so that won’t be an issue. So we’re starting negotiations to see what we can garner from them,” Wil said.
“I’d be careful with the Indonesians. They could turn on us as easily as this Government has. Make sure to snoop around just in case they want this alliance for other reasons,” Julian said.
“We’re being careful with every offer of assistance, firstly so the State doesn’t pick up on it, and secondly because we don’t want to be betrayed again. We keep as quiet as we can so they don’t know what we’re planning,” Wil said.
“While making sure that our pattern of behaviour remains the same, so they don’t suspect anything,” Adam added.
“That too,” Wil said.
“When are we planning on having the other cities near-deserted so we can make ready our main assault? How long will it take to get from Perth to here? We don’t have anyone in Darwin, do we?” Adam said.
“No later than a week before the attack. Give them time to regroup and prepare to attack. I’ve got each city working on the max number of men they’ll need to take out their targets so we know how many will be left behind. I’m expecting those numbers in the next few days. We do have a small group of a couple hundred in Darwin. They’ve already volunteered to work with some of the northern Queensland mob to arrange for the weapons smuggling from Indonesia and West Papua. Old New Zealand is out of the question since we all remember the State invading them ten years ago and taking the country by force. God, that was a massacre. We’ve got the last few refugees from that war hidden here in Sydney. Everyone else was killed as they tried to get ashore all along the coast. It’s any wonder they bothered coming here and didn’t decide to head for all those outlying islands instead,” Wil said.
“Ah, yeah, I remember that war. They killed anything that moved. New Zealand was simply outnumbered, and even though they had tried to surrender, the Australian forces had far more fun killing them instead. Talk about rivalries, hey?” Adam said.
“Yeah. And remember how only a year before the Government had so much fun campaigning for the Indonesian Armed Forces to be brought up on war crimes for what they did in West Papua and pretty much all the other provinces that dared to rebel against the Indonesian Muslim state. They were so quick to come to their aid, weren’t they? Smuggling weapons to the West Papuans to help them fight, as opposed to sending troops themselves. That was what broke the few remaining diplomatic ties, especially when the Indonesians found out it was Australia sending weapons to them,” Wil said.
“Stupid decision, that was. This Government loves proving it has no ability to learn from its mistakes, and that it has no qualms in pissing off every country in the region,” Adam said.
“Yeah. Trying to replicate America, and look what happened to them,” Wil said.
“Their ‘empire’ collapsed in on them. That’s what you get for stretching yourself too far. They had 85% of their troops deployed overseas, and mainland America deteriorated into poverty and anarchy, neither of which look like abating any time soon, from what I’ve heard. What was surprising is how quickly it took to get to that stage. Most had given it thirty years, minimum,” Adam said.
“Yeah, true, that really did leave a gaping hole in world powers, didn’t it? They weren’t too happy when China emerged as one of the most powerful nations in the world, almost surpassing America. But what could they do about it? The American era was over,” Wil said.
“And now everyone hates us because we think we know what’s best for every country in the region. How arrogant, especially when you look at what’s happening here, within its own borders. Yes, let’s go and punish countries or regimes we don’t like, but let’s not have other countries criticise the way we do things. You know China’s been making noise about the state of our Government for a few years now. You know we’re fucked up when not even China agrees with what we’re doing, and we all know what they did to their people,” Adam said.
“Yeah, though I doubt anyone but the Government knows about that. They like silencing anything foreign countries have to say about us. It’s even harder with the web being so heavily policed. It’s only online between 8am and 6pm, and then that’s only the State sanctioned websites as well. Though if you know how to rig it up, you can get around the State censors and find out what’s really going on in the world,” Wil said.
“Yeah, we were lucky to get that organised for the haven. Otherwise, this rebellion wouldn’t be possible. I’ve heard rumours that China are secretly planning to take action against Australia if they don’t stop this oppression. How ironic would that be? China bombing the shit out of Australia in a bid to bring them democracy. Hey, that might be just the cover we need, you know. I wonder if we could goad China into invading Australia, and use their firepower to our advantage. That would free us up to attack Canberra alone while the army’s busy fighting off the Chinese troops. It’s risky, but it would work, you know,” Adam said.
“You serious? Get China fighting for us? That would take some work. How on earth would we make them invade?” Wil said.
“We need to get a small group of refugees together, have them make their way to China, and beg the Government for help. We tell them the truth about what’s really been going on, and hopefully, that’ll be enough to make them want to take action. You know they don’t have any idea how many of us there really are. We’ve got a count at around 20,000, but there could be many more halfwings masquerading as ‘normal’ humans. There’s no way to tell exactly how many of us there are,” Adam said.
“And that helps us how?” Wil said, not entirely convinced.
“Because we need to make a case strong enough for them to listen and realise it’s time to act now. We need to get the truth out about what’s really happening here, not just hope the State-approved line will fly. Find some of the few foreign journalists left in this country. We need footage of how things really are. We need to get this out to the world. We can’t do this without them. We’re going to be crushed into extinction if we don’t have some sort of back up. We need their firepower. This might be the only way we can succeed,” Adam said.
“How about trying to get hold of some of the State-sanctioned footage of the parades? We could always use the footage from Seb’s parade as ammunition. Use the Government’s own footage against them. We all know they broadcast it direct to everyone’s homes. It’s brutal propaganda. We could use that against them. Is there any way to get hold of that footage?” Hamish said.
“You’d have to break into the stations where they broadcast. No one has any recording devices in their homes anymore, and anyone with a video camera at the parades is usually arrested. That’s the only way to get hold of the footage now,” Julian said.
“They’re a heinously paranoid lot, aren’t they?” Hamish said.
“Big time. Anything that might let the truth out to the world is seriously clamped down on. They want to get away with everything, so the more secretive they are, and the more they prevent information getting out of the country, the safer they are. It’s just like China was before the last revolution. The few foreigners that are here are under heavy surveillance to make sure they’re not foreign spies leaking information out to the world. Even I have to be careful where I go. I’m certain a similar fate will be waiting for me if I get captured like Seb was. But I can’t just keep silent to save my own skin. There’s too much wrong with this country to just remain silent,” Adam said.
“Where do they broadcast from? How much force would we need to break in there?” Hamish said.
“It’d be easier for non-winged humans to get in there simply because they don’t have to worry about hiding their wings. We still haven’t been able to come up with a foolproof way of hiding full wings like these. It doesn’t help that they are like a third pair of limbs, so we have to be careful in not cutting off blood or oxygen, otherwise we won’t be able to fly. So until that happens, we’re going to be noticed, one way or another. If you don’t have wings, it’s easier to blend in. And you’re less likely to be instantly noticed by cops. I don’t want you to think I’m simply saying this to force non-winged humans to do our ‘dirty work’ for us. It’s nothing like that. You just stand a much better chance of getting in and out without wings. Having wings like these has its disadvantages, you know,” Adam said.
“Hey, it’s ok, Adam, I get it. We both have our strengths and weaknesses, yeah?” Hamish said, glancing at the others gathered in the room.
“Yeah. I know just the people to get that footage for us. I’ve had them smuggling news in the last couple of years from the outside world. I was able to get hold of a small collection of recording devices they nicked form the State. That’s been immensely useful for making our plight known and to get a handle on how the rest of the world is reacting to our descent into fascism. If the State knew what we had hidden away, we’d be killed for sure,” Julian said.
“So would you organise to get hold of that footage for us, Jules? Once we have that we should try and make as many copies of it as we can and get them out to China and other countries as soon as possible. Any way of posting them online?” Adam said.
“I’m sure there’s a way to get around the censors and upload them. Get it out to the wider world and all that,” Wil said.
“Oh there’s ways of doing that, don’t worry. Get the footage. Then we’ll deal with it,” Julian said.
“Anything else to discuss? Or are we done here?” Hamish said, trying not to sound bored.
“I think we’re done for the moment. Let me know when that footage comes in. We should try and get that out as soon as possible. They will notice the tapes are gone, so make sure we’re ready for that. They know about the Glass House, but they’ve mostly left it alone. Taking the tapes may be the trigger that pushes them over the edge. Increase training runs. We need to be prepared for anything now. Make sure everyone’s armed. Anyone who can use a weapon and fight, I want them training. Get word to the other cities to prepare as well. Make sure they know what’s going on,” Adam said.
Later that evening, Hamish was curled up next to Adam as he went over some papers Hamish wasn’t particularly interested in. Adam had a wing wrapped around him like a blanket. Hamish loved it when Adam did that. Hey, don’t you get too attached to those wings, Hamish. Adam’s not keeping them. And stop pouting, Adam. I mean it. I’ve made my mind up. You want the wings to stay, you stay in this world.
“Are we going to be alright, Adam?” Hamish said, breaking the silence between them.
Adam set the papers aside for a moment, looking down at him. He knew what Hamish meant, didn’t want to repeat his fears. “Yeah, of course we’ll be ok,” he said.
“You could die, you know. I could die. We could all die. Would anyone care?” Hamish said.
“A few would. I know people are going to die, on both sides. It’s inevitable in a war. I hate to think about it, but I have to be realistic. If we don’t give everything to this fight, we’ll never win. But I don’t waste time wondering who will die, because that’s more than I can cope with. If we manage to come out of this alive, free and victorious, then that’s the best we can hope for. I have to keep believing in that. I can’t lead if everyone can see I’ve given up,” Adam said.
“What if China invades, and we get caught up in that? We’ve seen what happened in other wars. Civilians are going to die. We’re going to die. How can we let China invade when we know the cost? This isn’t going to be a fair fight. How do we know they’ll support and protect us? Will they end up turning on us, just like our own people have? Are we doomed to be hunted down by everyone who’s in power?” Hamish said, almost forgetting for a moment that he doesn’t have wings.
“We won’t know. War is chaos. China has the military strength of numbers to completely overwhelm us. They can bomb every capital city, send their troops in and destroy everything. All the Army can do in defence is try and keep them at bay, especially when they learn China’s supporting us. When I get into talks with them, I want to negotiate for us to take Canberra. They can do what they must, but I want us to take Canberra. It’s not right for us to let China fight our own war for us. If necessary, we wait until China invades to get weapons from them. But we destroy Parliament House and kill anyone we find, because there’s no other way to survive. If we don’t kill, we die. That’s just how this world works,” Adam said.
“So what happens if we win? Do we take over running the country? Or are we to rely on democracy being installed just like it was in the Middle East? Can we really count on the people to forgive us for this and do what’s right for the country?” Hamish said.
“God, you’re cynical tonight, aren’t you?” Adam said.
“Sorry. Am I being too depressing? It’s just I can’t help thinking about this stuff. It’s one thing to fight back and win, but what happens afterwards? You remember how long it took to get Iraq and Afghanistan back to some semblance of normalcy, and just leave them to run their own country. What if this takes just as long? Can we count on China to really keep things in order? Or will they just take over and replace one fascist regime with another? Will this cause civil war? Will our country ever belong to us again? Will the people ever forgive us for starting this?” Hamish said.
“As I said, we won’t know any of this til it begins. Though you’re right. This won’t be over in a few weeks. This will take a long time, depending on how the people take to the chaos. We may have to get used to Chinese occupation for several years before we settle down again and can function on our own again. There’s a lot of ingrained stuff we need to get out of peoples’ heads before we can even come to resemble the society we were before. That won’t happen overnight. If anyone believes this will be easy, they’re sorely mistaken. Getting rid of the Government is just the catalyst for change, the first step in a long process. We have to take that first step if we want anything to change around here. Now enough of this talk. Don’t trouble yourself with this. You’ll drive yourself mad with worry if you do, and I need your support right now. I’m responsible for everyone who’s fighting for us. I have enough to worry about without having you go crazy on me as well. Cheer up, alright? Give me a smile,” Adam said.
Hamish managed a weak smile, but couldn’t help taking hope from Adam. There was a fire in his eyes, a determination that Hamish picked up on. With Adam, it was so easy to believe they would win. Hamish could forget his worries and relax if Adam kept believing they’d win. He hated that he was so constantly troubled by this, but he figured he was just taking some of Adam’s worries for him. It wasn’t helping him sleep though, and he wasn’t sure Adam had noticed he hadn’t been sleeping well. Maybe he’d worked it out after seeing him napping earlier in the day.
“We’ll be alright, you know. Whatever happens, we’ll make it. Do I need to be the one bringing you some comfort, hey?” Adam said, practically reading Hamish’s mind.
“Sorry. I don’t know how you do it,” Hamish said.
“Do what?” Adam said.
“Stay so fucking calm all the time. How do you manage to stay sane?” Hamish said, sitting up to be level with him.
“Some days I’m not sure myself. But, the meditation helps. I can’t afford to get carried away with worries. I need to stay sane, for everyone’s sake,” Adam said.
“Teach me. You said you would ages ago,” Hamish said, looking hopeful.
“I don’t know if I have time for that right now,” Adam said.
“You know you’ll be less worried if you know I’m not worried about things,” Hamish said, trying to convince him to agree.
“True, true. Alright then. Come with me,” Adam said, getting off the bed. Adam grabbed the shinza as a last minute thought and headed out to the corridor, waiting for Hamish to catch up.
Hamish followed Adam curiously through the cold dark building until they stopped outside a plain looking door. Adam opened the door and flicked on the light. Hamish followed him inside, closing the door behind him. Hamish stood back as Adam approached what looked like a shrine. There was black and red everywhere. Hamish watched Adam place the shinza on top of a beautifully made table, kneeling before it as he bowed his head. Hamish assumed he was praying, though to whom he didn’t know. Hamish watched him light some incense and set it to burn on the small ledge below the shrine. It was a scent Hamish couldn’t identify, but it was a nice scent.
“Kneel beside me. Name yourself before the shrine,” Adam said without turning to look at him.
Hamish hesitated a bit, not really knowing what to do.
“Just do what I did,” Adam said, without Hamish having to ask.
At that, Hamish knelt beside Adam, giving him a quick glance before copying his pose. He closed his eyes, and suddenly, he felt like he was somewhere else.
‘We meet at last,’ said Seb’s voice in his head.
‘Seb? Is that you?’ Hamish said, thinking the words.
‘The one my Anael would die for,’ Seb said.
‘Who? Me?’ Hamish said.
‘There is no one else here,’ Seb said.
Seb, stop sounding like Aslan. Or Teal’C. Or whoever it is you’re channelling. Just stop it.
‘Why do you say he’d die for me?’ Hamish said.
‘Because he would,’ Seb said simply.
‘What are you trying to say?’ Hamish said.
‘Nothing that doesn’t need to be said,’ Seb said.
‘Will you ever stop talking in riddles?’ Hamish said, annoyed at Seb’s constant cryptic words.
‘To speak the truth is most important,’ Seb said. ‘The Author is doing her best to translate.’
Hey, don’t blame this on me, Seb, darling. Yes, I’m making you hear my thoughts. Quit it. I don’t think you have time for riddles. Whatever it is you want to say to Hamish, just out and say it. And don’t try and pass it off as word padding. I think that’s a bit irrelevant now.
‘As you wish, my dear authoress,’ Seb said.
Quit with the charm. Get on with it. And no, that doesn’t need a reply.
‘I’m still here, you know,’ Hamish said. ‘What the hell did you want to tell me?’
‘Death is strong in the air. I can smell it. You have little time to sit around playing. Words must be vanquished in favour of action. Do not abandon my Anael. Together you will reign victorious,’ Seb said in his usual cryptic way.
‘Uh, thanks, I think,’ Hamish said.
‘Wake. I must speak with my Anael alone,’ Seb said.
Hamish found himself pulled back into consciousness. When his eyes opened, he found himself lying in Adam’s arms, staring up at him.
“Ok, what just happened?” Hamish said.
“You alright? I saw you close your eyes then you just keeled over. You remember anything?” Adam said, looking concerned.
“A voice… In my head… Talking… Talking nonsense… Fuck, I feel dizzy,” Hamish said, pieces of memory vaguely correlating in his mind.
“It’s ok. Just lie here. You’ll be fine. Was it Seb? I think that happened to me the first time he met me in meditation,” Adam said.
“Yeah, might’ve been him. Don’t really remember what he said… Something about… fucked if I know,” Hamish said.
“Yeah, that sounds like him. Never said anything in plain English if he can help it,” Adam said with a small laugh. “Just lie here until you feel better. The dizziness will wear off soon enough.”
“Thanks. I don’t suppose there’s-”
“Have some water. I keep it in shrine for instances such as this. Head hurting much?” Adam said, helping Hamish sit up before pouring him a glass of water.
“Oh, fuck. Yeah. Just a bit. Does he do this a lot?” Hamish said, pressing a palm against his temple in a bit to make the ache go away.
“Sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting him to visit you so soon. I thought he’d wait til I’d at least taught you the basics,” Adam said.
“Yeah, well, tell him to leave me alone for a while. I’m not used to being visited by dead guys,” Hamish said, sipping the water slowly as the ache in his head gradually lessened.
“Sorry, but you did want to learn meditation,” Adam said.
“That wasn’t meditation, that was my brain being hijacked by a dead guy!” Hamish said, mocking hysteria.
“I can’t help it if this room has that effect on people. I think Seb lives here now. That must be why it happened so quickly. I’ll have to tell him to hold back for a bit. You feeling any better?” Adam said.
“A little, yeah. Could we get out of here? I think I need to lie down for a while. Feeling sleepy and dizzy still,” Hamish said.
“Sure. Come on then,” Adam said, helping Hamish to his feet.
Hamish leant heavily against Adam as they made their way back to their room. Adam lay him down on the bed and cuddled up next to him. Adam contented himself with silence as he gently stroked Hamish’s hair, trying to lull him into sleep. It’d probably do him some good. He lay there and watched him sleep, his thoughts drifting off to Seb once more.