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Thaddeus Duke · (06-05-2017)

[duke]Present Day | 6:20 PM | Anderson Air Base | Naples, Italy [/duke]

Illuminatus One touches down on the runway at Anderson Air Base and ground personnel work quickly on this unscheduled visit. The typical two hour flight from Paris to Naples went as planned without so much as even a little turbulence to keep the young leader of the Illuminatus awake. Without really receiving many answers from his father, Thaddeus at least now knows what happened inside the wormhole. It must be enough, at least for the moment as the boy had his best two hours, give or take, of sleep in several weeks.

With Thaddeus in Europe, Commander Brunson, the Illuminatus Air Force leader departed from his base outside of Berlin and is currently en route to Naples to meet up with his General and is expected to arrive first thing in the morning. They’d presumably discuss potential battle plans, reinforce defenses, and shoot the breeze.

Thaddeus though, is not here for that, at least not as a primary goal. His jet is here. Flying his jet allows him to blow off some steam. Some people go to firing ranges. Some people hang out on a bar stool. Some people go for a drive. Some people go to the beach and see Thaddeus' face in everyone he sees. Thaddeus isn’t some people. He’s a powerful young man with a lot on his plate. Perhaps too much. And he hasn’t touched the controls of his jet in over a year. Far too long for a young man that loves to fly. That loves going full throttle. That loves pulling off stunts just because he can.

With the mobile stairs in place quickly, Thaddeus and his small entourage of Air Force Captain James Edwards, Thaddeus’ best friend, and Lincoln Tritter, the Illuminatus’ intelligence asset on loan from the Catholic Church descend the stairs to the tarmac. Once on the ground, Thaddeus is saluted and greeted warmly by the ground crew.

”General,” says a young man that was part of Thaddeus’ air group during the war in Poland. ”It’s a big surprise to see you! We heard you were in Europe meeting with ‘Redwood.’” Redwood is the code name the Illuminatus military has for Sebastian Duke. ”If you don’t mind my asking, was it some sort of meeting to ensure a continued peace?”

[duke]”It’s great to see you again Nikolai,”[/duke] Thaddeus says, shaking the sleep from his head. [duke]”No, it didn’t have anything to do with peace. It’s a kind of cold war at this point. Still no shots fired.”[/duke]

Nikolai, a born Russian, is very much aware of the implications as it pertains to a cold war.

[duke]”Is Commander Brunson here at the base?”[/duke] Thaddeus asks the young pilot, just a few years older than himself as they walk toward the officers quarters.

”No sir,” he replies quickly. ”He’s set to arrive from Berlin tomorrow.”

[duke]”Where’s my baby?”[/duke] Thaddeus asks.

Nikolai smiles. ”She’s right where you left her, sir.”

[duke]”Is she ready to fly?”[/duke]

”Uhhh, no sir. She’s cleaned and waxed regularly, but flight maintenance has not been performed on her in probably six months. Maybe more.”

[duke]”Alright, deliver my orders for me, would you?”[/duke]

”It’d be an honor sir.”

[duke]”I want every plane ready for flight by 1200 hours tomorrow. We’ll run some drills in the afternoon.”[/duke]

”Right away sir!” Nikolai says, then salutes his General. He begins to walk away but turns back. ”Sir, could I request to fly with you and Captain Edwards? Like old times?”

Thaddeus smiles, [duke]”Done.”[/duke] They exchange salutes and Nikolai Putin, no relation to Vladimir, marches off to deliver the orders. Thaddeus, Jim, and Lincoln Tritter retreat to the officers quarters to have some chow and retire for the evening.

...The Next Morning...

The military routine is easy for Thaddeus to fall back into seeing as it never really left him. Much in the way of Chris Chaos’s Jenny Myst induced herpes, it never really leaves you. Like clockwork, no matter the quality of his sleep or the quantity, he’s up by 0600. Today its breakfast with the men, a meeting with Tritter and Commander Brunson, and running drills in the afternoon.

With breakfast over and done with, its time for Brunson, Tritter and Duke along with his closest adviser, to retreat to the soundproof situation room to discuss plans.

[duke]”Gentlemen, what do we got?”[/duke] Thaddeus asks from the center of an oval shaped conference table.

”My ears are tingling… Thaddeus,” Lincoln Tritter begins.

Thaddeus, not one for subtleties, rolls his eyes and presses for more. [duke]”Give me what you got, Lincoln. I don’t have the patience for your idea of slow burn intelligence.”[/duke]

”I’m picking up a lot of chatter. So are my contacts… at the Vatican,” he explains.

[duke]”Chatter? What kind of chatter?”[/duke]

”Not long after we departed Paris… Your father… Mobilized his army.”

Thaddeus stands up and starts to pace a little bit. It’s his way of thinking as he speaks. [duke]”Is it a drill?”[/duke]

Slowly, Tritter shakes his head. ”We’re not sure, really,” Tritter answers, not particularly liking that answer himself. ”We’re monitoring the situation. As soon as I have something concrete, I’ll bring it to you.”

[duke]”Let me know the second anything changes. Find out what units are mobilized, and from where,”[/duke] he instructs. Tritter nods and makes his exit. [duke]”Commander, what’s our readiness level? Are we ready to strike if necessary?”[/duke]

”General,” Commander Brunson begins before standing up and walking to a map of Europe on the wall. ”Since the coup, these air units here…. Here…. Here… and here… have been ready to strike at the word ‘go,” Brunson points to different locations on the map. None of them within the Italian peninsula.

[duke]”Christ! Are you kidding me right now, Commander? I promised to defend the Vatican in exchange for Lincoln Tritter’s services and you’re telling me that the closest available support is 800 miles out!?”[/duke]

”Well, we really didn’t think...”

[duke]”No that’s right, Commander! You didn’t fucking think!”[/duke] Thaddeus shouts, having lost his cool. Rightfully so. [duke]”God dammit!”[/duke] he yells, placing his hands on his hips and kicking a chair across the room.

”Could I interrupt?”

Without answering, Thaddeus turns and looks at Jim.

”You’ve already begun getting this base ready for drills,” Jim begins. ”The men have been working around the clock in order to fulfill that order, sir. With those preparations, they’re also arming the planes.

“How far are we from Rome?” Jim asks.

[duke]”That’s a good point. I guess I’m out of practice here,”[/duke] Thaddeus begins, initially ignoring Jim’s question.

”Five or ten minutes, flight time from here to Rome,” Commander Brunson interjects, answering Jim’s question.

Thaddeus stares at the map, focusing on Italy. [duke]”We have just three bases here. Here at Anderson,”[/duke] he says, pointing to Naples. [duke]”Here at Lukas Air Base,”[/duke] pointing to Palermo on the Sicilian Island. [duke]”And here at Edwards,”[/duke] pointing to San Marino.

”Did you name a base after me?” Jim asks with a surprised smile.

[duke]”Not now, Jim.

“Commander, raise their preparedness level to Red. How long until they’re on line with strike capabilities?”[/duke]

”72 hours at most,” Brunson answers.

[duke]”Let’s cut that in half. Have them ready in 36 hours, no more. And they are to STAY at Red until I give express orders to the contrary. Is that understood?”[/duke]

”Clearly, sir,” Brunson responds, trying not to insight anger in his young leader again.

[duke]”Dismissed, Commander.”[/duke]

Commander Brunson exchanges salutes with Thaddeus and leaves the room, leaving Thaddeus and Jim alone.

[duke]”I kept myself out of the loop for far too long, Jim,”[/duke] he muses aloud, staring at the map of Europe. [duke]”I’m distracted and for all we know, my dad is marching his red army into Italy as we speak. I’m asleep at the wheel here Jim, and that son of a bitch is ready to strike.”[/duke]

”Well, we caught it early,” Jim replies, trying to squash his friends concerns.

[duke]”Did we?”[/duke] Thaddeus asks as he turns to face Jim. [duke]”Because as far as I can tell, we’re standing here with our dicks in the wind, not even slightly ready, and he’s on the march.

“I fucking underestimated him and I let my guard down.”[/duke]

”Maybe going to see him wasn’t a good idea after all,” Jim says, kicking himself in the ass for saying it immediately after concluding.

[duke]”Don’t worry about it,”[/duke] Thaddeus replies, noticing Jim’s regret. [duke]”You’re not telling me anything I didn’t already think myself.

“By going to him about my past, it told him I was distracted. As human as he tried to be, I knew he was salivating like a hungry dog staring at a fuckin’ steak.

“I mean really, if I were him, its exactly what I would do. Strike while your opponent has his head up his own ass. I’ve got the dreams, Dolly Waters...”[/duke]

”Same thiiiing.”

[duke]”Fuck off, I got the Universal title match at High Stakes. I got so much going on and he knows it.”[/duke]

”I guess the good thing is we don’t actually know for sure if he’s really doing anything. Maybe its just an exercise.”

[duke]”I guess we’ll find out one way or another,”[/duke] Thaddeus says as he starts toward the door.

”Where the hell are you going?”

Thaddeus stops and hangs his head to the side, a signal that he’s about to be light hearted as all hell. [duke]”I’m gonna get my flight suit. I gotta go dust off my wings.

“Duhhh.”[/duke]

With that, Thaddeus exits the room, excited and ready to go fly his plane.

The camera fades in to a close up of Thaddeus as he runs the treadmill deep in the belly of Illuminatus One. The camera zooms out revealing his blue The Kings™ t-shirt that he just recently purchased on XWF99shop.com. It definitely, yeah, definitely was NOT a free gift from his Uncle Theo. Sweat beads trickle down his forehead as the camera pans around and focuses on the wall in front of him where Chris Chaos' ever expanding head takes up his projection screen.

Stopping the treadmill, Thaddeus takes a swig of water from a bottle and wipes the sweat away with a towel.

[duke]Did you see what I was just doing right there?[/duke]

Thaddeus points behind him with his thumb, in the direction of the treadmill.

[duke]That was my impression of Chris Chaos running in place all the while, trying and failing to catch up with me.

Are we playing pretend, Chaos? Then let's pretend you're as good as you think you are and fuckin' do something creative. Come up with something different than "oh Thad's just delusional and making shit up." I mean, do you even listen to yourself talk? Of course you do, you don't become as big a narcissist as you are without loving to watch yourself, hear yourself, probably fuck yourself. Seriously Chris, calling who I am and what I do fake, is really not doing yourself any favors. Take a little professional advice from me would ya? Stop doing what you're doing because it won't work. It hasn't worked. And it never will work.

It's nice, ya know. Knowing I'm so deep into your head that you're seeing me in the faces of all those young people you're seeing in Florida. It's like literally watching you implode before our very eyes and I know a lot of people that are cheering your failures on. They cheer, Chris, because you rode so high for so long here, that its about time that someone extinguishes your star. It's about time you're brought back to Earth. You are not the big big star you think you are and I've already proved it. I've beat you and your bitch. I have nothing left to prove against you.

But I have no problem doing it again and you are losing this time too. You better start getting used to seeing my name ahead of yours from now on, Chris. Accept it, embrace it, because nothing you say, nothing you do is going to change the fact that I'm moving up, and you're taking on water. You're starting to slip beneath the surface.

You want to make unfunny jokes about what and why I did what I did against your girl. There are givers in this world, and there are takers. You're a taker and we all know that. I'm a giver. I give back to those I know I could squash. Is it the best thing to do personally? No probably not. But I'm a very unselfish man. You can continue to beat all those inferior opponents you want Chris if that makes you feel better. The fact is, you haven't beat anyone main event caliber in months and that's a trend that isn't going to end anytime soon. And certainly not at High Stakes.

You ask me what'd happen if my plan on Warfare had gone wrong. You ask what if Jenny pulled out the upset. She didn't and she wouldn't, but I will humor you. What if my plan to let Jenny do her thing had backfired, and she wound up beating me on Warfare? Then it would have been the last time I'd ever give back that much. It'd be the last time I let anyone take that much advantage of me. You know what I wouldn't do? I wouldn't belly up to the table with a sack full of excuses like "initially won the match but it was restarted and Thaddeus Duke got the upper hand."

Why?

Because I don't make excuses when I fall short. I don't try to soften the blow to my own ego by making up some bullshit, non-existent reason as to why I lost. Naw Chrith, thath for thumone elth.

You tour with this company 300 days a year and you haven't even been here 300 days, but that's.... childs play. You're bound to run into someone below your level and that's true. I'll give you that. But isn't funny, Chris, how those below you are getting fewer and further between? You comment on the state of this company when I'm considered the top dog challenger to Jim Caedus, but if you look around you and clear your own love of self from your fucking skull, you'd see what I see up and down this roster.

Constant.

Evolution.

That's why guys who at one time were complete laughing stocks like Cadryn Tiberius currently leads the fan vote for star of the month. He's evolving his game and getting better.

Chris.

Really?

You're comparing me to that ghetto ass cunt from Dr. Phil? I don't even have a comment. It's that fucking laughable that I am at a complete loss for words. Keep shooting for the stars, Chris, one day you might just beat one.

I'm so definitely shitting my pants, you're absolutely right Chris. The guy I've already beaten makes me so scared I can't even concentrate.

News flash asshole, I'm primed and ready. I'm confidant in my abilities and I am confidant I can beat you again. I fear no one. Not you. Not Caedus. Not the biggest and brightest stars this company has ever had to offer.

Not.

A.

Single.

One.

Ahhhh and just when I thought he'd move on from calling who and what I am fake, he's at it again. Now my military is fiction. I literally have no more to add to it. It's mind boggling, it truly is, how this man is even here anymore. Maybe you should work out your release from your contract and go to some inferior company where you can dominate again, because clearly, the XWF these days, is no longer working out for you. For you to constantly go on and on about another mans life being fake and you're not even joking when you say it, its literally the worst god damn thing you could say.

This is your former Universal Champion, people. This is the guy you used to pay your hard earned money to see. This is Y2Gay Chris Chaos.

An...[/duke]

Thaddeus is interrupted by the vibration of his cell inside the cup holder on the treadmill. After picking up the phone he bursts out in uncontrollable laughter. After several seconds of laughter and trying to regain his composure, he rejoins the camera.

[duke]Now, I wouldn't normally do this, but it's just hilarious to me. Luca Arzegotti, and I'm not even sure how the fuck he got my number, just sent me a text:

He says: "This is your fearless leader?"[/duke]

He holds his phone up to the camera.

[duke]He continues on, "Chaos tryna talk smack LMAO"

I'll have to give that man a gift because that shit is just too funny.

Caedus, get off your lazy ass and join this fucking party. Chaos sit back down bitch, you just ain't got it.[/duke]

Click. Fade.

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