I followed Blaze’s beige Prius into the convention center parking lot and pulled in behind her. Ingrid and Bhaarrt stood by the entrance.

  When we reached them, I said, “Half the crowd control,” I joked, pointing toward Bhaarrt, “and the Army will be the other half.”

  Turned out, he actually was helping the military and State Patrol with crowd control. So…maybe a third.

  They both laughed, and Ingrid and I headed back to my van. We followed a sheriff’s cruiser with lights and siren clearing the way. They knew the destination where the President and army troops were waiting. We didn’t.

  It ended up being one of the county spawning sites I’d used before.

  Ingrid wore the autographed Presidential Patch she’d gotten the night before. P-46 hadn’t given me one, and I hadn’t asked why.

  “Sticky-back Velcro,” Ingrid explained when I noticed. “Leftover from an old project. I’ve got more in my bag if you want a strip.”

  “Thanks. I’ll grab it when we stop.”

  We rounded a curve and saw two desert-brown Strykers blocking the road. Armed soldiers waved us over. We parked behind a Fox TV Station 3 car.

  The woods pressed in on both sides, a stream trickled through a shallow gully nearby on the other side of the road. It looked like you could wade across it at the deepest parts and not get your knees wet.

  I heard a few bird songs in the distance after we got out. It was a long, long time since I was in scouting and I never was that great at identification, except for poison ivy. I knew it the hard way. That I could identify on sight.

  A soldier recognized us. “We’ll watch your van, sir,” He said.

  The other motioned for us to follow her. When we got there, I spotted Matt Bledsoe with Tarcheski, Kevin, and a combat-geared lieutenant and waived.

  Matt waved back and shouted, “Will! We’ve got the Hobgoblin spawn.”

  “What else?” I asked when we reached them.

  “Three Goblins, five Kobolds. All fighters, no casters. How do we play it?”

  “Depends on your party. What’ve you got besides a Healer?”

  The lieutenant, clipboard in hand, rattled off the roster: one Level-3 tank (new as of yesterday), another one Level-2, plus melee and rifle warriors. Oddly, one of them was using a polearm. Found his own somewhere, the Lieutenant told us.

  As he shifted his clipboard, I saw his name tag. “What about casters, Lieutenant...Marmari?” I asked.

  Four fire mages, two ice, and one each of wood, water, air, and mana. Three backup healers too.

  “This is a tank-and-spank,” I told him. “Fighters hold them, mages burn them down. No need to double-team if you can keep them pinned.”

  Ingrid cut in. “Make P-46 the party leader. Let her pick who she wants. It’s good for her…and the video. And better for the country.”

  “How do people watching know that those are her choices, not Will’s or someone else?” Matt asked.

  Tarcheski answered. “You can’t convince everyone. It’ll look better if she does it. I’ll film the setup and shape the message. ‘Let her lead.’ Does that ring any bells from last night?”

  Matt hesitated. “Will whoever’s in charge allow it?"

  "I don't think any sitting president has ever commanded troops in combat.” I said. “Have we had a President since Eisenhower, Kennedy, or maybe back to Grant who actually led men into battle”

  “It was after Grant, Sir,” a soldier near the lieutenant spoke up. “Eisenhower was a staff officer, Kennedy had his PT boat crew., Bush Sr. was a WWII Navy pilot.” He looked thoughtful for a moment then added. “To answer your question, no sitting president has ever commanded troops, Sir.”

  The soldier who had led us had been listening to him with a smile on her face. “That means she’ll be the first one to lead soldiers in combat.”

  “Thank you, private.” I hesitated, looking for the history loving soldier’s name tag. “Private Grant. Any relation?” I asked, grinning.

  “Not that I know of, sir. Maybe someone further generations back. I want to teach military history someday.”

  “Thank you. With what you know, you’ll make a great teacher.”

  “Get that in the story,” I told Tarcheski. “Truth makes the best narrative.”

  [William of Brinsford:] [P-46] [We’re here. We need to talk to you about how you want to do this. Do you come to us or do we come to you?]

  [P-46:] [William of Brinsford] [I’ll come to you. You’re with the reporter?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [P-46] [Yes. Do you want your face visible while she films this discussion?]

  [P-46:] [William of Brinsford] [Doesn’t matter at this point. Be right there.]

  “Vaneski, start recording. You can delete it if necessary. Add your commentary later about why we’re doing this.” I said.

  “I understand.” She said, then turned back to her cameraman. “Kevin. She’s coming,” Vaneski pointed. “Start recording and stay back for a wide shot at first. I’ll get close to her with the mic.”

  “Got it. Ready,” he replied and shifted position so he could get a better view.

  Almost a minute later, the President joined us. “What’s up?”

  “It was your idea, Ingrid. You tell her.” I said.

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  “We were talking about the composition of the first spawn group,” Ingrid told her. “I said you should lead the party and decide who you want in it for both fights. Everyone else agreed. You can ask for advice, but you make all the decisions and run the fights.”

  “How should I know how to do this? I’ve only been in one real fight. I just did what I was told to do.” The President told her, not liking the idea.

  “You’ve had good teachers,” Ingrid said. “If you don’t know what to do, make it up and fix it when it goes south. You’ll make history.”

  “History? How?” She looked puzzled.

  Matt broke in. “You’ll be the first sitting president ever to lead a military unit in battle. You’re our leader Madame President. Lead.”

  The color drained from her face. “Will? Do you think I can do this?”

  “Yes. You earned everyone’s trust with what you did last night. Now earn experience as a leader.”

  She nodded. “They said that last night. They said it before I revealed myself. I thought they were just being nice.”

  “I’m sure they were. I’m also certain they told the truth. You need more experience. We all know that. You also need experience as a leader. You’re our leader. Are you going to lead?”

  I wasn’t trying to be harsh, but she couldn’t meet my eyes for a few moments.

  She took a deep breath before standing almost at attention. “You’re right. Brief me again on what the types do and what troops what I have to work with. I’ll do it.”

  “Lieutenant Marmari has the list. He also has what the various spawns can do.”

  He nodded in agreement. “Yes sir. I do.” They started talking, and I withdrew out of camera range.

  There’s one thing I can say for our President, she can be decisive when she needs to.

  When she finished, she’d chosen the Level-3 tank and three casters. They all had a full combat kit, not including their rifle, plus whatever game weapon they would be using. I approved. Except for two soldiers I saw carrying grenades.

  “Your choice on the people. A one-three-one group. Fine with me.” I told her.

  46 smiled. She had a pleasant smile when she wanted to use it. “Thank you.”

  “For those mobs, you could use just about anything. There’s no one right answer. There’s just one problem.”

  Her smile dropped like a brick. “What problem?”

  “Grenades blow through one-way shields. Take them down in one shot.” I warned. “You could kill your own people if they use them.”

  Her smile vanished. “Shit! Lieutenant! No grenades. Anywhere.”

  “Yes Ma’am,” he replied, barking orders before he finished turning towards the soldiers who’d followed her.

  I’ll say this for the army. They follow orders. They follow them even faster when they know the reason.

  The Army moved us toward the first spawn. Dry leaves crunched underfoot; you could hear us at least quarter-mile away.

  The fight was pure textbook 19th & Fox: the tank taunted, fire and ice shields funneled enemies, spells burned them down. The Hobgoblin dropped last. She healed people as fast as they got hit. They were done in just over two minutes.

  I told Tarcheski to get post-battle reactions from the soldiers and the President.

  The second group was a little more than a quarter hour walk away through the woods. We followed a pair of waiting soldiers to it.

  “Will?” Tarcheski asked. “Will you explain what she’s planning with this fight?”

  “I think you’ve seen and heard enough to do it on your own. I’m only here to answer questions and provide moral support. The President is the one in charge. Concentrate on her. You’re telling her story, not mine,” I said to the camera which was filming us.

  “Do you think she’s ready for this?” Tarcheski asked.

  “Do you think any officer is ready the first time they lead a unit into battle?”

  “Good point. She’s not ready, but she’s doing it,” she answered.

  “Exactly. Our being here helps her confidence, but this fight is all her, no one else.”

  “Do you think she can do it?”

  “I’m sure of it. It looks like they’re ready. The spawns see them.”

  “Right,” Tarcheski said.

  From there on, she narrated what happened.

  It was the usual. The Tank TAUNTed them. They rushed towards the Tank through the clearing with walls of FIRE SHIELD popping up on each side of them and an ICE shield in front of the tank. The back ICE wall was in place just as the FIRE BALLS started hitting them. The Tank’s TAUNTs pulled them against the front ICE SHIELD.

  A bit short of two minutes later, they were all dead. The Hobgoblin was the last to go.

  [William of Brinsford:] [Vaneski] [Go talk to her and her party. Get how everyone feels.]

  Tarcheski nodded and even smiled at me before rushing over to them. I noticed Airmann wasn’t making any sound. I looked at his feet, and they weren’t touching the ground.

  REVEAL STATS showed he had the spell AIR WALKING. He was an inch or two above the surface but not touching it. He also had AIR STEPS. He can make his own staircase to get higher. He hadn’t taken combat spells except AIR BOLT. They were all utility spells.

  Finally, I understood why he took Air Mage. Now he could get higher-angle shots and he wouldn’t be heard in the background. That was a pro move, if I ever saw one.

  The lieutenant got everyone moving. He left one squad behind to clean everything up after the President divided the loot among the party. She kept her share of the coins, but no items. There wasn’t that much in drops from this spawn.

  The rest of us returned to our vehicles and headed to the second spawn site. P-46 rode with her troops in a Stryker. We rode in another one with two soldiers.

  Twenty minutes later, we’d offloaded again, and the President had chosen her team on the way there. She was using her second party this time. She was double teaming them.

  I think she planned the whole thing on the way here. This time she went with the same grouping from last night. Two fighters, two mages and her. Plus, a secondary party of four mages and a Healer. She didn’t bring me her party configuration for us to approve.

  More soldiers were waiting to guide us to the spawns. Vaneski, Airmann, Matt, Ingrid, the Lieutenant, and I all followed. Airmann was getting shots of them, us and the woods as we went through and around the trees. The last fight was in a small clearing. This time there were trees everywhere and no large open areas.

  I’d fought some spawns in this area, so I sort of knew the terrain. The woods were dense enough Fire Mages could easily set the woods ablaze.

  It looked like she thought of that. There were no Fire Mages were in her two groups.

  [William of Brinsford:] [Vaneski] [She’s using two groups and no Fire Mages. She’s trying to prevent forest fires. Maybe she needs a Smokey the Bear hat?]

  [Vaneski:] [William of Brinsford] [Ha ha ha. I’ll use that. Thanks.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [Vaneski] [You’re welcome.]

  It didn’t quite go like it had last night. ICE SHIELDS and MANA SHIELDS surrounded the spawns. Her Tank and Polearm Warrior took on the Hobgoblin. The rest used their spells on the other spawns until they were gone. It looked to me like the soldier with the polearm was in the second group.

  That made sense. She only had one person to heal. The Hobgoblin only lasted two volleys of spells from both groups after that before he went down too. P-46 never used her mace for more than a focus. There were a few gold flashes of people leveling when the fight was over.

  “Good job!” I called out to them. “Gratz to all of you and the ones who leveled.”

  Tarcheski hurried over to interview the President again and then her parties. I could see P-46 glowing with pride from where I was. It was almost nine, and they’d told me she had a speech at ten. I hoped they could get the videos of the fights ready in time.

  The army took us back through the woods and drove us straight back to my van, Matt and Vaneski’s cars. The Lieutenant told us where to get ready for what came next at the convention center. He said she’d be part of the convoy back into town.

  “The President has some things she wants to do.” Marmari said. She said she’s been learning from you and you damn well better be there and ready. Quote, unquote.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant. I’ll be there,” I promised him, worried about what she might be planning. Or plotting.

  “Good. See you there,” he said and left.

  I was sure the Lieutenant could smile, but I never saw him do it.

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