Alternate Soul

Chapter 14

"Ladies and Gentlemen! 30 Seconds to Mars!"

The Struggle
A military force established by deception of sense
That you deceive enemies so that they do not know your real condition
And that they can establish supremacy
It is mobilized by a game in a sense that it goes into action
When it sees an advantage
Dividing and recombining is done to confuse opponents
And observe how they react to you
So that they adapt and situate and seize victory
Therefore, when it moves swiftly it is like the ramp
When it goes slowly it is like the force
It is rapacious as fire and immovable as mountains
And as swift as the wind in that it goes without a trace and withdraws
Like lightning
And it is like a force in that it's whirling
And is rapacious as fire across a plain
Not leaving a single blade of grass
But as immovable as a mountain, and it is dark all around
It is hard to know as the dark ends up killing thunder
To ponder a locality to line up your troops
To expand your territory divide the spoils
The rule for military operations is to feed off the enemy as much as possible
However
The localities where people do not have very much it is necessary to divide up the troops into smaller groups to take what they need here and there
For when and there
There will be enough

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"He's doing it, Shannon. That's the first part. Now he just has to play Vox Populi." Jessie held Shannon's hand.
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"Hi," Jared said smiling at the crowd. Everyone screams. "Everyone having a good time?!" More screams.
"Where's Shannon?" Someone yelled.
"Where's Shannon?" Jared repeated looking down at the young woman. So young. God, Could he do this? Can I ask these kids to possibly die? He thought. Some of the Echelon were his age but others were truly young enough to be his children. Regardless, all of them were his family.
"Where's Shannon?" He repeated again softly.

Looking over at Tomo. Tomo mouthed, "It's up to you."

Jared looked out at the crowd.
"I wasn't going to tell you guys the whole truth about Shannon. But then I realized that most of you here tonight are family and you deserve to know the truth." He looked out over the crowd gathering his courage. "So fuck it, I'm going to tell you exactly what happened to Shannon."

A silence fell over the crowd. He had everyone's attention. It amazed him because not everyone here was their fan.
"10 days ago I almost lost my brother. My best friend." His voice cracked. "He was on vacation with his girlfriend. They were spending time on a friends island when they were attacked. They beat Shannon." Again his voice cracked as tears ran down his face. It really hit him for the first time how close he had come to losing Shannon. "They beat him to the point of breaking ribs, causing a concussion, not to mention countless bruises." He raised his voice some. "He did all he could to defend her but the attackers took her. We haven't been able to find her yet, but we will. Make no mistake. And when we do, well..." As Jared walked over to the drum set he wiped the tears off his face and drank some water. "This is a friend of ours. His name is Cobus. He has graciously offered to fill in for Shannon tonight. Everyone welcome him to the family." The crowd came back to life.
"After hearing everything that has happened I'm sure you all will understand why we have made the song choices we have. So let's go! 1 2 3 4"

They played;
Vox Populi
R-Evolve
Night of the Hunter

"Thank you, everyone! Love each other you never know what's waiting around the corner. We love you!" He paused for a second. "This last song is for a special friend of ours. It's one of her favorites. She swears it has nothing to do with one certain scene in the video." He laughed. "I'll let you figure that one out." Piano music starts. "Goodnight everyone."