Meeting of the Chiefs (Teo)

[Sasaeru J. Kaeru (Lind Herut)]

OOC: This is set close after Teo was elected President.

The sun was coming up as Lind walked down the pathways in this city. He was outside the main building of the government. A new President had been elected and his organization was to be told to the President, along with the giving of their files. Which is why Lind carried a information carrying device, that only he could use, or anyone with the proper identification.

His job was to introduce the use of Preventers to the President, in the Strategy Room. The place where the President would meet with all the top military leaders that he got appointed for the nation.

The walk was short as he entered the building, flashing his identification card, and continued on his way down flights of stairs to the Strategy Room. The area was full of intelligence officers and other soldiers. Lind took a seat outside of the main briefing room as he waited to be called in. Of course he was in his normal garb of a dress shirt and pants, with his military over coat on. His Webley revolver was on his hip and a Mk.23 semi-automatic pistol was in a shoulder holster.

The security did not take those away because he had proper identification and papers for carrying weapons anywhere. He closed his eyes as he waited for this meeting to get started.

[Teodosio del Olmo]

Time went by slowly as the joint Chiefs-of-Staff gave their reports on the state of military affairs of the American Free State. It was not pleasing. Technology was hardly anything, numbers were less than ever before, and morale was at its lowest point yet. This was not the news that he wanted to hear. He knew it too well and it had been one of his campaign promises to rebuild the military.

Now was the time, the military, much to their liking, was to receive a large injection of funds and recruits from the homeless. as the meeting closed he stood up and spoke to the generals and admirals who stood up just as he did, a show of respect. "Well, men," he grinned a bit with the officers; it had been a long time since they had been 'men.' "I am, of course, as disappointed as all of you that our fighting forces have been allowed to deteriorate to this level and I assure you it will be solved. If you have something you want, with good reason, I will attempt to gain it for you. Dismissed."

The generals and admirals filed out of the room and shook the president's hand, congratulating him on his ascent to power. Soon the room was empty, and the large map of the AFS on the wall went out.

It was then that the new contact walked in. Lind Herute. He was the commander of a top secret unit that the president had never heard before he found the briefing on his schedule. He also looked at the budget sheet and found that the number had been blacked out form previous years and that the current year was represented as a dash. He was sure it would be an interesting conversation.

[Sasaeru J. Kaeru (Lind Herut)]

The group of military chiefs walked out of the briefing room, which let Lind know it was his turn to go in. the President knew what was happening. Lind walked into the room, the soldiers on guard closing the doors behind him.

"Mr. President. Nice to finally meet you. I am Sasaeru J. Kaeru. The leader of Preventers." Lind said as he walked towards the man shaking his hand. The President might be wondering why he wasn't acting militarily, or why he wasn't dressed in uniform.

"Mr. President. I am here to explain what Preventers is." Lind said as he walked towards a system computer that would project images onto the screen in front of the President. Lind clicked his information device into it.

An image appeared, it was a P encircled by flames in a diamond. The main image of Preventers. "Mr. President, Preventers is what we call the Special Forces of the Special Forces. They are the best of various military units here in the AFS. I was selected to be the leader due to it being my idea of creating the unit. The basic mission of Preventers is to prevent military disasters around the world, that in some way would effect the AFS. Now you may ask me any questions you like." Lind said. Of course the President would have to take time to process what this was and such. So he waited.

[Teodosio del Olmo]

Well, this was a welcome change from the degraded state of Free American military affairs. Numerous questions flew from the back of Teo's mind and he quickly made a mental list of them. Leaning back in his chair and grinning, he spoke, "Well, sir. That was certainly pleasing to the ear. As you know, our military affairs are not in the best of shape. You can imagine why your statement has been music to my ears.

So, what is the size and effectiveness of this unit and how much does it cost to keep it in working order?

He continued to grin a bit as he lifted his coffee up and took a sip before setting it down again and thinking of ways to use the unit effectively in the field with current military worries. Already his mind wandered to the forests of Brazil and the lands to the north, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. Soon enough all of South America would come under the control of the American Free State. The little fascist in Brazil had been pissing Teo off since he was the Minister of State. He would like nothing better than to kick the bastard out.

He quickly pulled himself back to the real world. Personal grudges were not a reason for a war. He would wait for the bastard to try to take back the Amazon.

[Sasaeru J. Kaeru (Lind Herut)]

"Sir, how we budget for Preventers is whenever we need something, money will be moved to get us what we want and need. Our size is small, but well trained. And our combat effectiveness is about equal to a full battalion in battle. With our small amount of members we can do either more, or equal damage to the enemy as a battalion of soldiers." Lind said to the President as he clicked through slides, showing the information of Preventers, and pictures from some missions they had done for the last office.

Lind continued standing as he paced through the room. It seems as though this man actually likes the idea of Preventers, which means we can get some new equipment. Lind thought as he continued on. "Also Mr. President, my unit is not to be used for government purposes. Meaning we will not suppress the people unless we have reason. Nor will we fight for grudges. All our members fight for the people, meaning that they choose how we act. We fight to keep the people safe, not the government. So, in war, let us have our room to protect our people." Lind said as he put his hands down on the table and looked at the President for any more questions.

[Teodosio del Olmo]

Well, he did have some spunk about him. He would suggest that the president's government would not serve the will and needs of the people. You've got a lot of guts, to imply my government might do something that wasn't good for my people. This is a socialist government, sir. I was elected with 80% of the votes...and you know that those numbers were accurate. The opposition party made sure that unaffiliated observers were in every god-damn voting booth. Everything this government will do will be for the good of the people. Killing fascists within or without is not a problem for me. He looked at the man a bit. He would test him.

Teo stood up from his seat and began to pace around the meeting table as he took in the appearance of the special forces commander. His scruffiness was enough to tell the President that he had little respect for authority, a good sign actually, probably an anarchist at heart. He began to speak. Tell me, commander, what you would do if the United States tried to assassinate me? Would you consider that a crime against the people of this great nation? If I then ordered you to stage an assault on the White House, would you agree to do it, ignoring, for this hypothetical question, the risks of such an action?

He looked straight into the commander's eyes as if to read every image that went through and was interpreted. This man could not refuse to take a mission as retaliation for a crime against the people of the American Free State, at least not if he was honest about his policy.

[Sasaeru J. Kaeru (Lind Herut)]

It seems as though Lind had hit a spot with the President, especially about how Preventers would not be a unit to be toyed around with by the government. "Mr. President, I do not doubt that you were elected legally. I am stating that my organization is here to prevent national disasters, not monkey around to show the government's dominance over people." Lind stated as he watched the President stand up and asked him about what he and Preventers would do in a national emergency in which the President was assassinated by the US Government.

"Mr. President, if you were to be assassinated by the US, then you would probably be dead, thus you would not be able to give the order for us to attack the White House. If you were to live through and encounter, we Preventers would take this as an act of war. The killing of a President to change our government without the peoples' consent is wrong. We would start Plan Gamma 89, or the public attack against the United States. We would show how are people reacted to their action and then have Preventers stage a show of an assault on the President as he is giving his next speech. At this time we will show the President that we could have killed him, but we won't." Lind stated. That was a mouthful, but he was used to it. He didn't like these scenarios, really how some politicians believe themselves to be the people. They think if they are shot at that the people are being assaulted.

"Also, Mr. President, the reasoning of this is that if we were to kill another world leader, what would that make us, exactly the same as them. No different. If we were to continue on that cycle of killing, more death would come of it, and if that happened the cycle would not end until either side won. And I don't want to put the people in harms way just because a childish world leader thought that you can change a government by killing the leader. And another thing you should know about Preventers, depending on the situation, we will deem missions unworthy to have us as the soldiers performing it." Lind stated as he looked at the President, looking into his eyes.

[Teodosio del Olmo]

This commander certainly had a lot to say about violence and world peace. He was, of course, flawed in much of his reasoning. President del Olmo smiled a bit as he listened to the man. Little could be done bring peace in a situation where an act of war had been propagated. Commander, I think you misjudge me. I am the elected representative of the people on the international stage. What gives you the right to decide war or peace for the people when you were not elected, yourself? This was hypocrisy, to claim that he would do what the people wanted in comparison to an elected leader.

He looked the commander in the eye once more and spoke calmly and firmly. Commander, I am no fool. I am not a puppet of anyone and I will not stand to be accused of such corruption without evidence. If you have none, then you can drop your act and cooperate with me. I would also remind you that you feed of Free American resources and yet remain outside the field of transparency. The reason I command your unit is because the people what accountability, which means you are accountable to me, just as I am accountable to them. In my government, that's the way it's going to work, or it won't work at all.

He took a deep breath and paced once along the meeting table before coming back up to the screen with a map of the American Free State. The green rainforest was a blotch of life on the continent, lined by the grey and white mountains throughout Chile, Peru and Ecuador. It was his homeland, and he would do anything possible to preserve it. I understand, Commander, he said once again calmly, that you do not trust me. Nevertheless, our goals are the same: to have peace, defend our nation from oppressors, and to build a dominance on the continent great enough to keep the eternal security of this nation. You will learn to trust me, just as I will you. That was the end of his small speech. He had been deadly honest about everything. His ascent to power had brought about a new feeling in him, an honor once unknown. His spoken values had become more real in the short time he had sat in the capital.