"So, I think you should tell me the reason for your sudden visit!" Merlene took her time to think about what Airon planned and many of her personal deductions.
As the leader of the Fireflies, she had seen all kinds of people but none that resembled Airon in the slightest. She knew that the man in front of her would not risk a situation where his life was in danger, so she knew she had to be very careful.
"I want to know everything about the Fireflies, but before that I want to tell you everything about me and the people I lead!" Airon placed his hands on his legs and said, "My organization is called S.C.T. and we could say that we have many members, our little refuge is located in Alabama."
Maintaining the conversation's pace, Airon got to the point he wanted, so he just looked at Merlene without any apparent meaning on his face.
"We fight day by day with our limited efforts to care for human life, we want to restore the world to how it was before, and that's what we're doing before a group of evil men attacked a good group that was just trying to obtain information."
"A group that, by the way, is dead!" Merlene squeezed the armrests tightly, she knew she was being provoked, but Airon's open and simple words made her look like the villain of the story.
She didn't expect the man in front of her to be so clever. Obviously, he was leading the conversation where he wanted it to go, and they had fallen into a trap, but no matter how helpless he was, Airon never showed a fearful expression.
Maybe it was because she was too impatient, but sweat quickly soaked Merlene's cheeks, many things were going through her mind.
Manny was the clearest about what Merlene was thinking at this moment; he was also aware of everything they had been through and couldn't help feeling angry.
But thinking about the opponent's behavior, he decided to reserve his behavior until the situation proved otherwise.
Even so, no matter how they thought about it, everything seemed to indicate that this person had no intention of hurting them, not to mention that doing so could start a bigger conflict.
Thinking about this, Merlene planned to try to negotiate first and said slowly, "We have no malicious intentions, we just need to clarify our situations!"
"Let me think, ma'am..." Airon leaned his arms on the chair and said, "They kill, destroy communities of survivors, and extort people to become their fucking soldiers and fight a war that, by the way, they are destined to lose!"
"How dare you!" Manny shouted, about to attack Airon, but Tommy stopped him quickly.
"Am I wrong?" Airon lowered his gaze and saw his hands tied, then looked at Merlene, "Prove me wrong!"
"You killed a lot of my people, and you're still looking for trust, are you stupid?" Merlene didn't know what to think right now, so she just said the obvious.
But before she could respond properly, Airon said to himself, "I'm not looking for your trust, I'm looking for a fucking reason not to blow this place to pieces..."
"What did you say?" Manny asked with a deep voice.
"Let me make it clear... As far as I know, you and I have a common enemy, the CRM." Airon fixed his gaze on the window and looked at the fields of crops, "But you fight in a way that disgusts me, and I'm pretty sure you can kill each other over simple complications."
"The CRM has a much greater power than the Fireflies, who hide like rats while soldiers chase them. They think they fight for something they believe is right when they only cause problems for those fighting to survive even in a difficult system like the CRM."
The room soon fell into a cold silence, no one could speak to contradict Airon's words as they were more than the truth. Tommy looked at the man standing next to his brother in surprise, and from his personal experience, he could say that everything he said was nothing but the truth.
"I am in this place because I need to stop the Fireflies' activities in my territory. To be honest, I am interested in having everyone who opposes the CRM become a part of my people, but that decision is not mine to make..."
Merlene's eyes grew cold as she interrupted Airon's words: "Who the hell are you and why do you know so much about the CRM?"
Airon showed an innocent expression and said, "Me? I'm Airon, leader of the organization S.C.T. Alabama, Georgia, and my next great dominion, which will be South Carolina, will be my great territories..."
"What?" Manny was stunned and shouted, "Is your people the one who runs that big community on the outskirts of Atlanta?"
"Eh? Oh, that's just the border..."
Airon looked at Merlene and warned, "I have a fucking plan that will soon be put into action, so I cannot afford to overlook what is happening in this place..."
"You're completely crazy if you think you can do that in this place." But at that moment, Merlene pointed a gun at Airon and said, "I don't trust you, and we're not going to give you this territory."
Airon smiled and said, "Even if you kill me, you would only be condemning your life and the lives of all these people, and even the future of the entire country if you manage to survive..."
"It's called Operation Cobowner, and in short, it means death for everyone, a new future for some. As soon as my heart stops beating, a signal will be sent to the central base of my organization, and nuclear warheads will flood every place imaginable..."
After saying that, Airon stood up and approached the window. "But I know we're looking for the same thing, so if you surrender now, no one has to die, I'm serious."
Merlene silently looked at Airon, still not believing what this man was saying. But just then, a loud explosion was heard in a building, and a white drone could be seen flying at high speed over the stadium.
Boom!
After that, a chain explosion was heard in the surroundings that made everything shake slightly, and by the time this happened, Airon looked at Tommy and said under his breath, "Make a decision!"
Tommy, who saw Merlene at the window, knew what to do, so he immediately attacked Manny with force, took away his gun, and left him unconscious.
"Is he military?" Airon looked at Joel calmly.
"Tommy was in the military. If it weren't for him, I would have been dead a long time ago..." Joel smiled after seeing how someone so dangerous was surprised by his brother's skills.
"Well, then release me, and in return, I'll give you a safe world to live in." Airon looked at Joel, and they both smiled.
…
Beavers Base.
At this moment, Reginald was looking at all the mess that the rebellion caused by the Fireflies had left behind. Hundreds of dead bodies were nothing compared to the scene that was now being cleaned up by his people.
"We were able to eliminate everyone who wanted to join the Fireflies!" A soldier approached and looked at his leader.
"If it weren't for that drone that wiped out the entire group at once, we wouldn't have survived." Reginald thought to himself.
At the last moment, he witnessed an explosion that ended all the rebels and gave him the opportunity to regain control of the situation.
"Who are these people really?"
By the time he asked this question, a large convoy approached slowly while a white flag waved from the first armored car and large trucks full of soldiers could be seen behind it.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!" Reginald shouted with a powerful voice.
However, just at that moment, a loud voice came. "We are the S.C.T., we are here to support those who want to live and eliminate those who oppose our plans."
Just as Reginald was about to reject those words, a very distinctive sound of an aircraft was heard passing over his head at high speed escorted by two drones.
Further back, he could see more planes of the same size and combat helicopters. In no time, they all dropped their weapons as they watched tanks and armored cars fall from the sky followed by people in parachutes.
"What was this?"