Chapter Five – Logistics

Chapter Five – Logistics

“A plan’s complexity is tied to a logarithmic increase in the difficulty to provide logistical support to the pawns involved in said plan.”

–Tin Man, professional RTS player, 2025

***

It was incredible how a meeting that would literally determine whether hundreds of millions of people lived or died could devolve into something so incredibly boring in the span of a couple of minutes.

Jolly Monarch and his AI had scanned the environment around the city and had plotted out the best locations for fortifications, outposts, defensive structures and rally points. The plan looked pretty sound to me, but a few of the generals and military sorts had questions about it.

The biggest problem was that the plan assumed that every available soldier, police officer, and hired gun in the city would be willing to man the walls. That was almost stupidly optimistic. Of the two dozen groups in the room, about a quarter were vocally reluctant to participate at all, another quarter would only work for good pay, and yet another quarter were being real quiet about their opinions, and I had the impression they were as likely to bolt as they were to stay and help.

Interestingly, the plan didn’t give any of the samurai present fixed locations. Instead, we were told that we’d be called in, as available, to handle any large surges in the oncoming incursion. Jolly Monarch had some sort of Family-based system that could predict who would be best where, more or less.

So, I could expect to either volunteer to stem the tide, or be called over to wherever things were at their worst to take some of the burden off the normal folk manning the walls.

The meeting was supposed to last an hour. By the third, I was practically nodding off in my seat.

Jolly Monarch knocked his knuckles onto the table. I wasn’t the only one to jump. “And that’ll be the end for the meeting today. We have nearly every construction crew in the city heading to the outskirts in the morning. If things go well, by the end of next month there should be a wall all the way around New Montreal. Payments, shifts, and deployment orders will be sent out from the offices of the Family. Feel free to email us any additional concerns and needs.”

The older samurai adjusted his crown, then with a nod to the lot of us, backed away from the table.

I was caught a bit flat-footed by the sudden end to the meeting.

Generals and PMC leaders stood up, some forming little cliques that whispered between each other. In the centre of the room, an AR hologram of New Montreal continued to circle around slowly.

It only took me a moment to spot the museum. It was clear that the projection was somewhat real-time. Half the upper floor was outright missing, and I could make out tiny pixel-wide figures moving around.

The museum wasn’t on the edges of New Montreal, but it wasn’t in the centre either. Jolly Monarch had highlighted areas of higher and lower risk, and we were bordering one of the higher risk parts.

That last incursion a few days ago had wrecked that part of the city, and any defences that might have been there were in bad need of replacement or repair.

“Cat?”

I glanced to the side and found Gomorrah standing next to me. “Hey,” I said.

“You alright?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, just a lot on my mind. Sorry. I think it’ll get easier in a few days, you know?”

“Once all we have to worry about is an unending tide of man-eating monsters pouring out of the countryside to eat us all?” Gomorrah asked.

“Yeah. That’s a lot easier to handle. Mentally, I mean. Just kill the aliens. No politics, no dealing with people, no making hard choices. Well, not super-hard choices, at least.”

Gomorrah tilted her head to the side, just a little bit. It was a gesture I’d caught her doing a few times, her thinking pose. “I guess so. There is some beauty in simplicity. I’m not sure if it’s okay to look forward to such a destructive event. But I’ll admit that I’m itching for a fight too.”

“More things to burn?” I asked.

She sniffed. “I’m not some barbarian.”

“You’re a burnbarian.”

Gomorrah stared at me. I could feel the judgement wafting off the mask.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I can say with rigorous certitude: that was terrible.

I chuckled and got to my feet. “Well, that lifted my spirits a little. So, you brought Franny along? Is this your idea of a date?”

“It’s nothing like that. I think she was as nervous about staying at the church as I was. Heavy as the conversations here are, they’re still less stressful than dealing with the people back home.”