Doomsday Pillars

Alex is trying to convince this group of strangers that a real threat is coming, but not too much that would turn them into despair. Alex tells them only what is necessary. The date which is on the 31st of December, and what would they expect to happen.

"The first scenario will be some sort of disease outbreak. It will create panic to the people, so we will need to create containment, protection and finally developing a cure."

"Second scenario. There is evidence to believe that on the same date, a global electromagnetic pulse will fry out all the world\'s electronic equipment. Airplanes will fall, transportation will be in chaos and there will be no way to communicate as the satellites will be down. The human civilization will regress back to the 19th century. Combine that with the first scenario, it will be the biggest catastrophe the world has ever had since the black death outbreaks that killed more than 200 million people in the 13th century."

"The third is the Doomsday scenario. Consider the second scenario, then multiply it by ten with the emergence of monsters! Yes monsters, we have reason to believe that the disease would create mutations to animals which would make them stronger and more aggressive.. It also would affect the people who died from disease to rise and become an undead monster. In the Doomsday scenario, the world would never return back to its original self."

When Alex started to talk about the second scenario, the group started to tense up, but the Doomsday scenario made them stunned. This sort of scenario only shows up in fantasy novels. Massive global diseases, monsters, and zombies. Only crazy people would believe him. The group suddenly became silent. None have any response.

Alex continues, "But of course, there is also the last scenario where it\'s all just some sort of misinterpretation and nothing is going to happen and this gathering would end with Bali beach party."

The group suddenly ease up a bit.

"But nevertheless we are being trusted upon to prepare for the worst, that means security and supplies, before I continue for planning, please raise your hand if any of you have any questions."

Lieutenants Russel raise his hand, "I am a soldier, we normally just follow orders and never ask questions, but seeing the nature of this mission. Can you please elaborate where the evidence came from?"

Alex answered, "We found the evidence from multiple relics sites that have been hidden for more than 8000 years. Professor John, from Harvard, has the same conclusion."

Alex then continues by showing his storage ring. He pulled out some items from his ring and pulled it back. Most of the groups in this hall has never seen such things before. Aria and Cindy were still amazed when they saw it again.

Alex continues, "Again, we can only prepare for the worst, it\'s better to be ready than sorry."

"Do you know the nature of the disease? Do you know whether if it is airborne or by physical contact? Can\'t we probably prepare lots of hazmat suits?" Doctor Andy asked.

"Honestly, I am not sure about the nature of the disease. I only know that it will be sudden and deadly. As for the hazmat suits, it could probably be beneficial. We can prepare a few hundred of them."

Benny, the mayor\'s assistant, is probably the one most agitated right now. This is the first time he heard something as crazy as this. He was probably the only one in the hall that has no responsibility to follow Alex plans at all. Alex thought that it\'s a good idea to start involving the local authority. It could be useful but it could also backfire. Nevertheless, Alex needs to take the risk.

"Mr. Alex if this catastrophe is really true, then the people need to know. There are at least 15,000 people in this Bay city itself. What do you plan to do about this?"

"Mr. Benny, we don\'t want to create panic too soon. At the moment, there are many local workers who are working day and night to create this survival base. We don\'t want them to be in panic risking our preparation. I assure you, what we are preparing here, will be for the good of Bali local people. I do agree with you and in a few days we will also tell the details to the locals."

"If there are no more questions, I will then start the meeting. I hope all of you can contribute for our preparation."

Alex starts with coordinating with Nina, she gives a report about the total supplies that have already been stocked; food which is enough for 20,000 people for one year, the medical supplies, gardening tools and seeds, the general necessities and the weapons such as axes, knives, etc. Alex designated Nina as the supplies manager, she will coordinate with the medical team and Jerry\'s team for the weapon purchase and safely stock it in one of the warehouses. Alex also tasked Nina to stock lots of fuels.

Next, are the vehicles that have been upgraded by Eka and the mechanics. Apparently, they are quite successful in modifying the solar panels and other small equipment to be resistant to the effects of EMP. As for the vehicles, the small cars and trucks also are manageable. But for the ships and boats, Eka and his men need help. Alex called one of the Navy officers. They were introduced to Barry, the chief in engineering, to help. But it seemed that it won\'t be as easy as he thought. Alex called Rina to search and hire a few specialists for the ships immediately. Their target is the full modification to be resistant against the EMP for all of the vehicles including the ships and of course, the destroyer ship.

Indonesia is an island country, having reliable ships is very important for Alex. Captain Donnie added that the APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) and the cannon that he requested from the Regent would also arrive in a few days.

Alex asks Jerry about the weapon trade, he\'s more quiet than usual. Alex guesses that either he\'s uncomfortable on talking about weapons in front of much military personnel or there might be some news about his sister that he doesn\'t want to talk about. Jerry gave Alex a list of items he got from the trade: 1500 pieces of AK47 assault rifle, 500 pieces of 9mm side arms pistol, 5 pieces of machine gun M60, 5 RPGs and about 1 million ammo. All of these firearms and bullets will be stored by Nina.

Alex introduces Jerry\'s people as the local mercenaries. Although they might not be as highly trained as the soldiers, they are the locals of Bali, so they know the terrain, the people and the language. Alex asked them to train together with captain Donnie, and Aria\'s platoon soldier for the next 10 days. As for the other four platoons, they will survey around the Bali island to understand the landscape better. Alex asks a few of Benny\'s assistants to be their guide.

Once this meeting is done, Alex plans to go to the main base. Alex orders the relocation of all the medical and research personnel to the main base. The black snake gang will also be relocated together with Aria\'s Deathsquad platoon and Russel\'s Frog commando platoon.

The meeting in the villa is over. The soldiers and Jerry\'s team does not find it too difficult to receive the news. These people are used to getting by life through missions. The others still don\'t know how to handle this. Some people are just being optimistic about it. Some are hoping that this will be the same case as the Mayan\'s prophecy. Alex saw his wife next to him, she seemed to be in deep thought.

"Halooo.. You must be Devita, I am Cindy nice to meet you."

Alex introduces Cindy to his wife, she\'s very friendly, so it\'s easy for people to like her. Aria is behind her, she introduces herself as well. Alex somehow feels weird about this. He felt that Aria\'s a bit too friendly than usual...