Chapter 45 – The Trees are Speaking Ancient Greek

In the sparsely populated vast plains and rolling hills of Montana, an FBI raid was about to take place.

The Dodona Sanctuary was being targeted. At this point, the brass knew the first FBI raid on Apollonia had failed, and the Texas National Guard was called up. Taking precautions, 2,000 members of the Montana National Guard were organized.

Joining the 500 FBI agents conducting the raid, the force made their way down the only dirt road available. The road was so thin that vehicles could only traverse in a single file.

In the 69th car was Colonel Sharp. His second in command, Major Jackson, was next to him. Both sat in silence as their car moved along, both thinking about their recent briefing.

In the meeting, Sharp and Jackson had a heated disagreement with General Brown. They both came from ranching families in Montana and didn't agree with the government sending the military to bust down doors. General Brown, a man born and raised in Washington D.C., told them to shut up and do as they were told.

As the car came to a sudden halt, Sharp and Jackson both looked up. "We shouldn't be there yet," Jackson muttered.

The Colonel and Major got out of their vehicle, to see everyone else doing the same. A sergeant from one of the lead vehicles ran towards them.

"Colonel Sharp, Major Jackson!" the sergeant exclaimed while gasping for breath. "The road has been blocked sirs!"

"Blocked?" Colonel Sharp questioned, "by whom?"

"Sirs, we don't know who they are," the sergeant stated, "but they wear military uniforms and have barricaded the road with logs and set up machine guns!"

Both officers pondered the information they've just been told. Then Colonel Sharp started walking forward.

"With me, Major," Sharp said sharply, "let us see who blocks our way."

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At the front, Sharp could see what the sergeant had said was true. There were logs blocking the path. From the top, he could see guns pointed in his direction. And if his eyes weren't failing him, he would have sworn he saw multiple M2 Browning Machine Guns, a weapon used in World War II for anti-aircraft and anti-vehicle purposes. Something that could easily tear through the cars that they had ridden for the raid.

Taking a few steps closer, he waved away Major Jackson, who was trying to stop him from getting too close. "Alright y'all!" Sharp shouted, "We have an official warrant from a district court judge giving us the rightful purpose to search the property known as the 'Dodona Sanctuary.' So if y'all will kindly step aside, and let us through, we'd be ever grateful."

There was some movement from the barricade. Then a man in American military uniform jumped over. Sharp couldn't believe who he was seeing.

"General Jones?!" Sharp whispered. Sharp and Jones both walked towards each other before saluting, just as they had done in Vietnam. Then they gave each other a massive hug before separating.

"General Jones," Sharp started, "what are you doing here? The last time I saw you, you were on a plane to D.C. for an interview for Army Chief of Staff."

Jones gave Sharp a sour face before answering, "I didn't get the Chief of Staff job, Sharp. I failed the political test. They didn't want hicks like us in there. After that, I gave the geezers a piece of my mind and got discharged. Luckily Apollo Enterprises' Security Forces was hiring. And now I'm in charge of securing the Dodona Sanctuary with strict orders to not let anyone in."

"Oh," Sharp stated numbly. "Why're you wearing your uniform General?"

"Oh this?" Jones said, patting the stars on his shoulder, "they said there was a mandatory costume party today. I was too lazy to actually get a costume, so I decided to wear my uniform." Jones looked back towards the barricade, "a lot of the other boys had the same thing in mind."

Major Sharp nodded before changing the topic to the reason he was here. "General Jones, no, Liam. We've always been friends. I need to get past you and search the Dodona property. I promise I'll be fair, and my boys won't linger longer than necessary. Will you let us pass?"

General Jones looked over towards the convoy of cars in front of him, before turning back to look at the barricade. "You know what Samuel, you're not a bad guy. You're just used by bad people. So, when you chewed up and spit out by the machine, be sure to apply to Apollo Enterprises, we could use a guy like you."

"So, I'm guessing that's a no?" Sharp cheekily asked. "You know if I leave, they'll send someone else. Someone a lot meaner with heavier guns."

"Let them come," Jones responded. "We're not moving an inch."

Sharp sighed. The two of them saluted each other and headed back to their respective sides.

From the barricade Jones continued to watch. He wondered what his friend would do. After half an hour of waiting, the cars started moving in reverse as they rolled down the dirt road they had come from.

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Time skip to the evening of the same day

[3rd POV]

Colonel Sharp and Major Jackson were both dismissed. General Brown decided to take personal command, along with his aide, Colonel Miller.

"Alright, here's the plan," General Brown explained. "Miller, take the 500 FBI agents back and try to negotiate your way through the barricade. You have my full permission to threaten, scream, and beg. I'll take the National Guard and flank them through this forest," he said pointing to the location on the map.

"Understood sir," Miller saluted before heading to his post.

General Brown smiled. He would succeed. With luck, the barricade would be cleared without any blood shed on either side. This would look good on his resume. Maybe he'd even get to be the next Army Chief of Staff.

Brown walked onto a small stage he had set up, mostly made of wooden crates filled with equipment and supplies.

"Alright men! Today we will crush this insurrection and mark a new founding of America! We will send the rebels fleeing and capture the lot of them. Our names will be sung in the history books, we will be remembered as the liberators of this land!"

It was fair to say that General Brown thought a lot of himself. The soldiers listening whispered among themselves. Some thought he had gone mad. Some thought he was trying to hype them up. Some had correctly guessed he was just LARPing.

But they still saluted him as he passed, and followed him through a field, over a wooden fence, through another field, over a stream, then into a forest.

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The forest was dark. It was like a totally different world. The sounds of chirping insects and rustling leaves created an eerie backdrop to their march, heightening the sense of tension among the troops.

There was no official path to walk in, so as they encountered various obstacles (trees, bushes, large rocks, streams), the formation started disintegrating as the soldiers became more and more spread out.

General Brown turned behind him and cursed. In an effort to continuously strive forward, the 50-year-old general had forgotten about the soldiers behind him. Now, they were spread thin.

"Alright you lot!" Brown's voice rang out, "Get back together! Quickly! Quickly now!"

The soldiers of the Montana National Guard started coming together, frustrating Brown with how long they were taking. As he furiously waved his hands and looking around, he swore he saw a dash of red in the corner of his eye. Turning to the right, he saw nothing. Shaking his head, he concluded it must've been a squirrel.

Then he heard something rustling to his left. Something decently large, like a bear. Once again, he saw nothing.

Then he heard it. More rustling, but also chanting. In some strange language. And it sounded strangely unnatural. As if it were echoing all around him.

"What is that?" Brown heard a junior officer shout.

"Sounds like Latin, no, Greek," one of Brown's aides said.

"I speak Greek," another one of his aides said, "and something sounds off?"

"Like the accent?"

"No," the aide continued, "like I can only understand a word here and there, but not the whole thing."

Brown stumbled to the ground. His eyes widened, and his mind shook with fear.

"NOT AGAIN!" Brown yelled, drawing everyone's attention towards him. But the chanting continued. Brown rushed over to his aide who knew Greek. He grabbed him and brought him face to face.

"WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?" Brown yelled wildly, covering his aide with spit.

The aide was stunned. Taking a second to collect himself, he told Brown, "I don't understand all the words sir, only some words, 'tree,' 'goddess,' and 'food.'

At that moment both the chanting and rustling stopped. Brown released his aide, dropping him like a sack of potatoes as everyone looked around, ready for an attack.

Lieutenant Taylor was with his platoon which had formed a square. Taylor was in the center, gun raised, ready to fire. As they all waited for the impending attack, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Turning, the last thing he saw was a tree branch that wrapped itself around his neck before pulling him straight into a tree. The tree trunk opened for Taylor like a Venus flytrap before shutting, crushing his body in a satisfying crunch. The only sign that Taylor existed was his hat that he dropped, and the pool of blood oozing from the tree.

All around, men screamed as they were grabbed by trees and crushed within them. General Brown fell to his knees, watching the entire expedition crumble before his eyes.

Pulling out his revolver, he leveled it with his head, preparing to end himself. Just before he could pull the trigger, a silver arrow hit his wrist, severing his hand.

All Brown could do was chuckle as saw the redheaded devil that doomed him. Her silver eyes bore into him as he was pulled into a tree trunk, crushed like his soldiers.

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Time skip to the next day

Upon not hearing anything from his superior and benefactor, Colonel Miller could do nothing.

His whole career was built by being General Brown's second in command. As an independent commander, he was useless.

Miller had purposefully avoided contacting the higher ups, after all, how could someone say that they lost 2,000 soldiers, along with the General, and they had no idea how?

So, Miller simply delayed. He kept the FBI agents back at the headquarters General Brown had set up in a nearby town. And he avoided phone calls from Washington.

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AN: Two down, one to go!

Drop f's for General Brown.

Also, drop some Power Stones if you can, thanks!