To be honest, I don’t know what I’m doing. What I do know is that there’s nothing I won’t do for Thad and the kids, his kids… our kids. I don’t care about rules, about protocols, about power structures or hierarchies. The only thing I’m concerned about is making sure my husband makes It back and the way it’s looking right now, without the air force involved, it’s not gonna happen.
”Dad,” Brandon says as he gets to his feet. A thin trickle of blood runs down his forehead. I can’t help but think that it’s probably the only time in his life that pretty boy Brandon Small ever felt physical pain.
Dick looks at his son.
”She did what you should’ve done,” he tells his father.
”You two are unbelievable,” he says with a scoff. ”I didn’t send them, because we were waiting to get permission from the United States government to violate their air space!”
”I really don’t give a damn,” I interrupt his chest beating. ”You said it yourself they were dragging their feet...”
”You don’t understand the risks!” he interrupts. ”Violating their air space with our war planes is an invasion! It’s an act of fucking war against the United States!
“Godddd Daaaamn!”
”What the hell else was I supposed to do, Dick!?” I fire back at him. ”That man is starting a war with the New York mafia for me. If you think for one second I’m about to let those fucking assholes burn my baby alive, then maybe you weren’t equipped to have this job anyway.”
”Mrs. Duke,” Lincoln Tritter says from the doorway. The three of us look toward him. ”You have a phone call.”
”I’m a little busy. Tell them I’ll call them back.”
The stoic giant of a man shakes his head slowly. ”You need to take this one ma’am,” he advises. ”It’s the President of the United States.”
Silently, I consider what I just heard. Some prank, for sure.
”She’ll take it in the Situation Room,” Dick says to Tritter before turning to me.
”Like it’s really Joe fuckin’ Biden,” I say to him.
”It most assuredly is, Lauren,” he says as he starts for the door. ”You just invaded the United States.”
Somewhere Over Nevada
For this first time in any battle I’ve ever been in, I have no plan. I’m out of ideas and these fuckers are roasting us alive. A few minutes ago, I found out that before these planes started dumping fire on us, they hit the supply convoy. Smart strategy, really. If I wasn’t constantly hiding from the flames, I’d applaud their increased intelligence. Normally, the supply convoys would be protected from above by the Air Force. That’s not happening, because it can’t happen.
I’m not too proud to admit defeat. Not in life, not in wrestling, not anywhere. We’re beat here in this battle, there’s no two ways about it. The Ares Project had sound strategy and the will to see it through. Snipers in the mountains to stop the Northern advance. Thousands upon thousands of land mines surrounding the facility, stalling us out and wearing us down while simultaneously running down our ammunition supply. Now these planes they call dragons, dumping fire on us with well timed defensive tactics.
Fact is, I should’ve waited. We should have set camp a couple miles back. We should have stayed off the mountains. We should have waited to advance toward the facility until approval came back from the U.S. to use their air space for this operation. I should have been patient, but I wasn’t and it cost us… a lot more than I can really put into words. Time, money, equipment… most importantly, human lives. I’ve been in a hurry to end this thing. We’ve fought so long and so hard and we were so close that we could taste it… I just couldn’t wait to get this done. I couldn’t wait to leave this forsaken wasteland. I couldn’t wait to go home. To Lauren, to the kids, to a regular life… or, whatever a regular life would look like for me.
I’m not sure anyone understands that at all. And they shouldn’t really. I’ve lived an exceptional life in my 23 years and change on this rock. I don’t mean ‘exceptional’ as an elite member of society, what I mean is unique. No one knows the pressures that weigh upon you at my age, and far younger too. I’ve desired nothing more than a normal life since the moment I took power. Ever increasing, since the day Frankie came to live with me. My version of normal will probably be a hell of a lot different than normal normal, but since the day the twins were born it has increasingly weighed on my mind to end this shit once and for all.
I was too anxious.
And it might’ve cost us this entire war.
I broke the cardinal rule, I acted on heart, not my brain.
It’s been a few minutes since the last wave of flames from their stupid dragon planes. That means we have about a half hour of downtime before they’re refueled and back above us trying to roast us like thousands of rotisserie chickens. Sliding out from under the burned out hulk of a tank, which has surprisingly been very good cover from the fire breathing stealth bombers, I survey the damage.
It’s hard to see what I see right now, and still see victory. Further, I don’t see a way out of this. If we advance toward the facility, the minefield will get us. We can’t retreat because we don’t have the equipment to fight off those fucking planes.
So we sit here just waiting to die.
Dick walks beside me with Brandon and Lincoln Tritter following close behind on our way back to the Situation Room. He keeps talking, trying to coach me before I get on the phone with the President. Me? I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that I’m about to get on the phone with the fucking President. As a result, I really don’t listen to a word he says.
Entering the room, I freeze in the doorway. Ahead of me is the long mahogany conference table. At the head of that table is the big chair.
Thad’s chair.
It’s hard for me to reconcile in my head just what it is I’m doing and why I’m doing it. Was I wrong for sending out the air force? I just know that if I didn’t, it was only a matter of time before those planes killed everyone, including my husband. Now that I’ve done it, I can’t help but worry that I might have started a conflict between my husband and the U.S.
”Problem?” Dick asks of me, noticing I’m still at the doorway.
”Shut up, Dick,” I reply to him and make my way through the room. Spinning the chair around, I hesitate to take a seat. This is big. For the first time I think I feel the pressure that Thaddeus has on him every second of every day. And I don’t envy him. If he doesn’t make it… all of this is on me. And it’s all way too big for me.
Taking a deep breath, I take a seat in the chair and stare at Dick. I probably look like a deer in the headlights because that’s exactly how I feel at the moment.
”Be strong and assertive,” Dick advises me and I nod my head. ”But don’t be an asshole.”
”Okay,” I reply.
”Don’t call him Joe. Don’t call him Biden,” he continues his coaching. ”Address him as Mr. President.”
I nod my acknowledgment.
”He might sound angry,” he continues on. ”But he should because as I’ve stated repeatedly… you invaded his fucking country.”
”Yeah I get it,” I fire back at him.
”Yeah, I don’t think you do,” he says as he accepts the call on the phone and gives me a nod.
”Umm… hello?” I say aloud, but quietly. I’m still mixed with disbelief and the daunting feelings I have on me now that I ‘fired’ Dick. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.
”Mrs. Duke,” greets the President. Holy shit it’s really Joe freakin’ Biden. ”You mind tellin’ me why you’ve invaded my country?”
Dick leans into me, bringing his mouth almost right on my ear. I can feel his hot breath and it’s really uncomfortable.
”Stay calm. Try to reassure him that it’s not an invasion.”
I nod my understanding. ”Mr. President, we’re not invading the United States,” I say back to him. ”I am an American and I love this country.”
”Honey, maybe you don’t realize this,” he begins and I can’t help but imagine that if this was happening in person, he’d probably have his hands on my shoulders and he’d be creepily sniffing my hair. ”By sending your war planes off of your bases and your carriers without approval from my government, that it’s an act of war upon the United States of America.”
”Reaffirm it’s not an invasion, but we couldn’t wait any longer to receive that approval or the Ares Project...” he whispers before I wave him off.
”Yeah I got it,” I whisper back to Dick before returning my attention to Biden. ”Mr. President, the Ares Project is holed up in the Mojave Desert but using weapons no one knew they had. As such, they’re destroying our military and without the support of our air force, we were going to lose this war.
“Your government sir, has been dragging their feet in approving the use of American air space and as second in command to Thaddeus Duke, I deeply apologize for the confusion. But I can assure you, violating your air space is not an invasion of the United States by the Illuminatus State.”
”Ma’am, the United States has been very kind to the Illuminatus State,” he continues his incessant and needless protesting. ”We’ve supported your war with the Ares Project, we’ve practically given you a Naval Fleet, we’ve previously given you the green light to conduct air operations against those terrorists and this time you couldn’t wait?
“I find that very hard to believe.”
”This is where...” Dick begins, but I wave him off again. I got this now.
”Mr. President, I know my husband appreciates everything the United States has done for him and the Illuminatus State,” I begin my rebuttal. ”But I’m gonna level with you Joe.”
Dick face palms himself and backs away as I say Joe’s name.
”These terrorists are located within your borders sir,” I continue on. ”It’s seems a betrayal to me for you and your government, our staunchest ally, to publicly support us while remaining silent in our time of greatest need.
“I can only tell you so many times in so many ways that this is not an invasion of the United States and now you’re boring me while my husband and his men are fighting for their lives right now.”
”Mrs. Duke I can respect that,” he continues his argument. Inside, I can feel my frustration with this old bastard bubbling to the surface, threatening to boil over. ”But you need to understand the current political climate in my country. I have the Republicans breathing down my neck demanding me to fight this aggression against us, with aggression.”
”Forgive me Joe, but I really don’t give a fuck about your politics,” I fire back to him. ”There are tens of thousands of lives being destroyed and burned alive because your politics dictate who you help and when you help them.
“I’m not sorry I gave our air force the green light. What I am sorry for, is that no matter what political party holds your office, your citizens still remain fucked.”
”I’ve already scrambled our jets out of Edwards,” he informs me. ”What is it you expect me to do ma’am?”
”Call off your planes and avoid another senseless war,” I strongly advise him. ”If you’re not gonna help, Mr. President, then stay the fuck out of the way and let my husband win this damn war.
“Because if he doesn’t, sir… then the Ares Project becomes your problem.”
CLICK
After ending the call, I look up at those in the room. Dick, Brandon and Lincoln Tritter.
”How’d I do?” I ask. To be honest, I’m not sure if I care. I want to be good at this for Thad’s sake. But at the same time, I’m not about to let an empty suit stop me from helping him win this thing.
Dick stares at me for a few seconds before answering. ”Better than I expected, if I’m being honest,” he admits. ”But you did basically just tell the President of the United States to fuck off.”
”The red phone,” Tritter interrupts before nodding toward the direct link to the air force.
The light is blinking, which means a call is coming from the Commander. For a moment, I just stare at it, not wanting to deal with any of this anymore.
”You chose to be the leader Lauren,” Dick reminds me. ”You’re expected to pick that up no matter the time of day. Any delays can be the difference between life and death, peacetime and wartime.”
I don’t want to.
But I won’t let Dick win, so I answer the call.
”Commander?” I greet him.
”Do you mind telling me why I have American F-16’s escorting my planes?” he asks angrily. ”I thought this shit was already figured out!”
”It is figured out, they just didn’t get their orders yet,” I bluff him. Really, I have no idea whether Biden called off his planes or not.
”You can’t lie to him,” Dick whispers in my ear. ”He has to know the truth so that his boys can be ready if things go south.”
”Commander I’ll level with you,” I begin to change course. ”I just hung up on the President and I don’t know if he’ll call off his planes or not.”
”Ma’am, you realize they’re threatening to shoot us down and we’re about five minutes from the war zone!?”
”Commander,” I begin but stop. I don’t know what to tell him. Looking to Dick, he leans in again.
”What’s done is done, and we’re not turning back,” he whispers to me.
”Ma’am?” the Commander replies to my silence.
”His mission remains the same regardless of the American presence,” Dick advises. ”Protect the King.”
”Commander, I apologize for the confusion,” I begin. ”Your mission is clear. Protect the King. If they engage… I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Somewhere Over California
This is embarrassing. Not once in my years of military service have I ever fucked up this badly. Mistakes happen all the time and no mission is ever entirely flawless. I’ve led my men and women into a death trap and I’m lost.
We’ve lost.
”Sir,” a female Major interrupts my self sulking. ”We’re out of surface to air with this wave.”
In response, I say nothing. I just nod, acknowledging that I’ve heard her before walking through the burned up wreckage of my military convoy.
”Sir!” she hurries to catch up to me. ”Permission to speak freely?”
”Granted,” whatever.
”Don’t you think it’s time to start falling back?” she asks. ”We’re sitting ducks without a means to protect ourselves.”
”It was time to fall back a day ago,” I say to her as we stroll through the desert, advancing toward the well protected facility where all my enemies are holed up.
”Retreat isn’t weakness sir,” she says. ”Sometimes, it’s a necessity in order to regroup and bring in fresh soldiers.”
”I’m not afraid of retreating looking like weakness,” I snap at her. ”Fact is, we can’t fucking retreat.”
”Sir, I think we take these opportunities while they’re refueling, to start back,” she suggests. ”When they start up again, we bail and take cover.”
I scoff and shake my head in reaction. Really, I’m not trying to be a dick to her but this is why I am who I am and she is who she is.
”Major,” I stop my stride and turn toward her. ”On the way here, how much cover did you see?”
”Virtually none, sir,” she answers.
”The equipment they’ve burned out is serving as great cover right now, wouldn’t you agree?” I ask of her while electing to use this as a teachable moment.
”Yes sir, it is,” she agrees. ”Without it, a lot more of would’ve died.”
”And we still might,” I remind her. ”We can’t take all that cover with us. If we go into full retreat, we have next to no cover at all. How many of us do you think survive this without cover from their fucking flames?”
”I didn’t think of that sir,” she says as I start walking back toward my troops. ”They’re on their way back sir!”
Turning my head toward her, I look up in the sky. Stepping forward, defiant of them, defiant of the flames, defiant of death, I almost beg them to just take me now.
Death Valley
As their planes come closer and closer, my troops fire the last of our missiles. We know its a waste of time and missiles, but at the same time, what the hell else are we gonna do? Cersei Lannister was right. In war, you fight and live or fight and die. There is no other choice.
Not unexpected, they fire their defensive shells and all our missiles track toward the bursts of intense heat, failing to hit their targets. Above my head, I see a streak of light and a missile from the sky behind us strikes the lead dragon head on, exploding it into a thousand pieces, raining fire and debris onto the minefield ahead of us. Looking up, my air force flies overhead as the dragon planes swing around in retreat.
Behind me, thousands of men and women hoot, holler and cheer the arrival of the deadly effective Illuminatus Air Force. In my head, I’m confused. There’s American war planes too.
My knees are weak, my arms shake with nervousness, my heart races with anticipation as we watch the screen quietly in the Situation Room. While waiting for the air force to arrive in Death Valley, I took another call from President Biden. He quickly had a change of heart which I can only assume was more political nonsense. My husband and his air force are going to win this war and Biden wants the political clout of helping destroy the Ares Project.
Even still, they hadn’t yet arrived and those dragon planes were on their way back. I know this because Thad’s stupid ass is standing at the front of it all waiting on them. What’s worse, is he hasn’t turned his communications on in quite awhile.
”Take cover baby,” I say aloud but to myself. ”Help is on the way.”
The dragon planes come closer and closer. We can see Thad mouth the order to fire their missiles. Like all the rest, they fail to hit their target and the dragons keep on coming. I’ve said before that I don’t know much of anything about battle strategy and tactics but I hope he’s communicating with someone. We have reports of a tank regiment coming up behind them and so far, Thaddeus hasn’t acknowledged any of our pings. I made the decision to not engage the tank regiment just yet because I didn’t want them to give their leaders any advance warning that we were on our way.
A second later, a streak of light flashes across the screen as a jet fired missile strikes one of the dragons, exploding it on impact. Thad looks up in the sky at the combined appearance of Illuminatus and American war planes as the scream by him. In the distance, the dragons change course in retreat.
The room erupts with cheers and applause at the first sign of the tide turning in Thad’s favor. Our favor.
”THANK FUCKING GOD!” he shouts out jubilantly after switching his comms device on.
”You’re welcome,” I reply to him, admittedly with a tear in my eye and a sniffle. ”And start listening to your pings!”
”You did this?” he asks with a laugh.
”Oh honey, we got a lot to talk about,” I inform him. ”Most importantly, there’s a tank regiment about to try and fuck you in the ass.”
”Aww man!” he replies. ”Just when I thought I could relax.
“Dick, why are the Americans helping?”
”Sir, you’ll have to ask Mrs. Duke that question,” Dick replies quickly.
”Ohhhhhhhhhhkay,” he says back. ”Give me a minute.”
Switching off his comms unit, Thad starts barking out orders to get his troops turned around to face the threat from the south. In anticipation of this, the American sent out a supply plane to rearm them all. Fresh ammunition, tanks shells, missiles. You name it, they sent it. Even food. There’s also a convoy fast approaching the backside of the Ares Projects northern advance toward my husband.
Honestly, I feel like with enough training, I’d be really good at this stuff. Dick thinks you can’t think with your heart and still win. I did. And we’re gonna win.
”Okay, I’m back,” Thad states. ”So what’s going on?”
”Well, I fired Dick...” I pause, awaiting some reaction. On the screen I see him stop walking as another of the dragon planes is blown out of the sky. ”Riiight after I gave the air force a green light and right before I told Biden to fuck off.”
He laughs.
”You told the President to fuck off?”
”I did.”
”That’s what Dick should’ve done,” he says. ”But he was right not to do it.”
”You needed that Air Supply,” I protest.
”My Air Supply? Baby,” he starts to laugh. ”Really showin’ your age, here.”
”Oh fuck! Off!” I say with a laugh. ”So the Americans,” I change the subject. ”They decided it looks better for them politically if they’re a part of the victory rather than a bystander that did nothing when they should have.”
”Well, thank you babydoll. I have to go for now because we’re gonna start bombing the minefield.”
He wants me with fatigues on. That’s what he says.
You just got a thing for guys in uniform?
To each their own I guess.
Jokes aside, Alias wants the fatigues. He wants the coldest, most ruthless Thaddeus Duke that exists in this, or any other, timeline. What he doesn’t realize, or maybe he does since he operates on an entirely different wavelength than pretty much everyone, is that I don’t need the fatigues and the war paint and the weapons to be cold and ruthless. I don’t need them to beat him because I’ve done it before, without them.
But… maybe I’m just done being cold and ruthless for awhile.
See, this match is very important to him. It’s been living in the back of his mind for eighteen months. And yeah, I might have an ego. Stay in this business long enough and it just becomes part of the game. But there’s few ego’s bigger than Alias. He’s earned the right to have it, I’ll never deny it. He’s beaten everyone that’s ever been placed in front of him. He can sit and oversell the Blue Woman if he wants, that doesn’t bother me. He can undersell the battle royal if he wants, that doesn’t bother me either. The fact is, I’d love to say that I’ve lived in his head for a year and a half and while that’s partially true, it’s also partially true that he’s lived in mine and he’s already gone on record telling everyone how that’s been the case.
His inclination is to tear me down. His inclination is to make all of you watching these promos think that I’m less of a competitor, less of an athlete than I am in order to continue on sucking his own dick like no one else can. Case in point, using the Star of the Year against me. An award, yes, 100% given to both of us by a magazine but what he fails to mention, is that magazine didn’t pull two names out of thin air. They didn’t just spin a wheel and land on Alias and Thaddeus Duke.
They came up with those two names… because the powers that be here in the XWF… put forth those two names and whether you want to accept that or not Alias, it’s not my problem, but it is a fact.
It is not my inclination to tear him down. I have no desire to try and undercut his success as he has done with mine. If anything, I’ve gone on record reinforcing his successes because I’m such a horrible human being.
The man wants to excoriate me for letting the clock run out on my XWF contract citing a lack of competition while reminding me that Raion Kido beat me not that long ago. That’s on me. Both the fact that Kido beat me and my slight misspeak. Only citing that as my reason for letting the clock run out though, that’s on him.
First and foremost, unless your name is Alias, sometimes someone just gets the better of you and I’ve gone on record multiple times on multiple platforms congratulating Kido on getting the job done that so few can actually accomplish. Secondly, its not a lack of competition, it’s a lack of new competition. I don’t want to be on television every week facing the same folks of already faced.
It bores me.
Boredom is a career killer in this business and my goal, is to not grow bored. That’s why you see me outside these halls from time to time. That’s why you see me teaming with Chris Page elsewhere. That’s why you see me carrying tag team gold elsewhere. That’s why on June 1st, my name and the XWF are no longer joined at the hip.
Lastly, I want new mountains to climb. I want new goals to achieve. I currently do not have the desire to re-conquer the same mountains I’ve already planted my flag on. That just isn’t enough to convince me to leave my family for days at a time.
For those wondering, there will come a time when I return to the XWF. I don’t know when, but it will happen eventually. No one ever truly leaves home.
He wants to rip into me for physically removing any reminder of my father from the Hall of Legends, citing that as some ego trip. I’ve spelled out all the why’s previously. In promo’s, in segments, in my actual fucking life. I’d explain it to you all over again Alias, but I’m not doing your homework for you and I’m not about to explain to you that it isn’t even me that decides whether I one day enter the Hall or not. I’m not about to explain to you that I have no power over whether Vinnie Lane and Theo Pryce one day deem me worthy of the Hall or not. I won’t explain to you that I don’t have the power to literally remove my father from the Hall. I mean, he’s still on the website and everything.
Oh, I guess I explained it anyways.
Do I think I’ve done enough? Do I think I’ve earned the right to one day be considered? Absolutely I do. Is that ego? Or is that recognizing myself and the body of work that I’ve put forth here since the day I stepped foot back in the halls of the XWF?
You can undercut me all you like man. You can call me a bad person if that’s what you think. You can take your subtle jabs at my philandering if that’s what makes your dick hard. It doesn’t matter to me. Not anymore. What matters more to me than this silly bullshit that’s been goin’ on between us for a year and a half is my wife and my kids.
Nothing else matters.
No one else matters.
You wanted this. But to be entirely honest, Alias, I just don’t care. I respect the hell out of you as a competitor. You’re not the best at anything, between those ropes. Yet, you have this super human will to just not lose. As hard as it is to beat me, you’ve proven time and again that it’s even harder to beat you. It’s hard for me, as a man, as an athlete, as a world class kind of wrestler, to not respect that. And why shouldn’t I respect it?
I don’t need this match like you very clearly think you do. If you win, what happens? If you lose, aside from giving Charlie a crack in the Alias Armor that he’ll most assuredly blow his load on before you make him look like a huge dumbass, what happens?
Nothing changes.
The clock continues to tick, the world continues to spin, the champion remains Alias, my time in the XWF still comes to an end.
Whether I win or lose, it won’t change anything either. The Universal title isn’t even on the line and yeah, I realize that was my own doing, but nothing changes.
It’s just bragging rights and nothing more. I’ll continue being me. You’ll continue being you.
83-31-1
1x XWF Universal Champion || 3x XWF Xtreme Champion || 1x XWF Supercontinental Champion (First)
1x XWF Hart Champion (Last) || 2x XWF Television Champion || 1x XWF Tag Team Champion
1x OCW Savage Champion || 1x IIW Tag Team Champion || 1x AAW United States Champion
2x SOTM (9/20, 7/21) || 2021 Male Wrestler of the Year || XWF Hall of Legends
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