J. Wesley McCullough was a veteran of Odaria's old army. The only reason he was alive was his luck: just a week before the disastrous battle with the dinosaurs he was discharged because he was deemed 'too unstable'. That was the only reason why he hadn't been slaughtered like everyone else. After that event, he had been reintegrated into the army by force of circumstances, since almost all the officers were dead, and from a simple captain he had been promoted to colonel. Since more than 90% of the army had disappeared, he had easily obtained a high-ranking position, also because he had very high-level acquaintances.

However, everything had recently changed. Householders had been eliminated and McCullough had lost his ties with the government with them. Then, the new nation began promoting peace with the dinosaurs. To which McCullough had firmly opposed. He had founded his own party, Defense Humanity, and had promoted a defense policy against the enemy. Much of the surviving army had supported him and since everyone called him that McCullough had finally decided to adopt the name of Colonel as his title.

Many thought that McCullough hated dinosaurs so much because he wanted justice for his comrades who fell in the battle a year earlier, a sentiment shared by many who followed him. In reality, the Colonel was not that sentimental. He didn't care that he had lost companions: after all, it was normal to die in wars. McCullough didn't hate dinosaurs for being stronger. However, unlike most people, he knew what a terrible danger the dinosaurs represented and what terrible consequences the surrender to them would have.

Coexistence was a farce, a pathetic ideal impossible to achieve. It was only a matter of time before a war broke out, and the Colonel knew that humans had to start it. If they waited too long, the dinosaurs would become too strong and numerous and wipe out their armies. Humanity would have taken the place of cattle.

The Colonel could not allow it. From his point of view, the NMWA's plan was perfect: once the dinosaurs were bombed from a distance, it would be enough to launch a massive attack on the confused survivors to eradicate this plague.

Those pathetic pacifists kept arguing that to stop the dinosaurs they would have to destroy the entire ecosystem. So? The Colonel did not see the problem. Humans had always destroyed ecosystems to make way for cities. What was wrong with continuing on this path? Environmentalists argued that this would destroy the world… what bullshit. Humanity would have survived. Maybe not all of them, but who cared about the weak at heart?

The Colonel saw that situation as an opportunity. They couldn't just eliminate the dinosaurs, but in the chaos that followed, all weak humans would also vanish. Humanity would be purified and would come back as strong as it once was, free from those parasites that masked their cowardice with virtue.

Unfortunately, however, he had lost the elections. She was in power, that pathetic girl who dared to proclaim that it was possible to live in peace. Ridiculous! Clever women just didn't exist. He did not understand how the nation could be convinced by that traitor of humanity. Jocelyne Jersey was one of those people who deserved nothing more than to be crushed. But she still had won.

But the Colonel was unwilling to let it go, and so he had begun to prepare a coup. His original plan was to seize all the weapons of the army and lead the members of his party to the conquest of the Eternal Palace, but he had been beaten by the new defense minister, Abe, who had started a real army reform and had also expelled McCullough and his followers from his ranks as 'too extremist'.

But the Colonel had not given up. However, he had begun to create a militia in great secrecy. After all, there were many people unhappy with the new regime: they just had to be found. With the right words, a person a little disappointed in politics could turn into a fanatic ready to die for his cause... or to kill.

All the Colonel still needed were weapons, and he knew how to get them. The dear president Jersey had antagonized the whole world at heart, and the NMWA was ready to offer aid to those who had remained loyal to humanity and had not sold themselves to the dinosaurs.

"I have over three thousand people under my command. Even if there are not many, we can launch an assault on the Perpetual Palace and take it in less than a day" he explained to the NMWA's envoy when she came to visit him.

This envoy was called Frank Chambers and was sent there almost immediately after the Colonel contacted the NMWA. "We can supply you with any type of weapon you wish" he said. "But we won't be able to give them all at once. To avoid being intercepted, we will have to divide the deliveries into multiple places and times"

"I am aware of that. It doesn't matter, I'm only interested in having those weapons"

"Are you sure you can really overthrow the government? The police and what remains of the army are now in the hands of Jocelyne Jersey"

"Don't worry, I have a plan. We will attack from multiple points at the same time, so the police and army can fight with only a few of us at a time. Even if by doing so some of my followers will be sacrificed, this is an acceptable price to be able to free the nation from the traitorous friends of the dinosaurs"

The Colonel's strategy was simple and perfect: attacking in several departments of several hundred men each would have undermined the police and the army enough to be able to conquer the Eternal Palace. Barricading himself inside the Eternal Palace would have been easy and would have prevented the police and the army from stopping him: from there he would have officially proclaimed his hegemony over the nation and would have declared himself an ally of the NMWA. If even the police and the army had not agreed, the NMWA's troops would have landed with submarines and descended on the cities with airplanes and parachutes. With their support, no one could do anything anymore and the people would have to recognize him as the new president.

"Can you promise me that when you are in charge of the country you will allow the deployment of high-powered weapons on your territory?" the envoy asked. Of course that was what really interested him.

The Colonel certainly had no problem accepting the request: it was what he really wanted. "Absolutely yes. You know how I think about dinosaurs, I have no doubt that it is imperative to attack first"

"Good. Then you will receive all our support" the envoy said, getting up. "I will let you know the dates and places of the various deliveries in the future. You concentrate on preparing the attack. Don't hesitate, you will have all the weapons you need"

"I'm sure of it" the Colonel said, then shaking hands with the envoy. From his point of view, now that he had obtained the support of the NMWA, there was no way that his plan could go wrong; however, he did not know that something, or rather someone, was watching him at that moment.

*********

Snock was inside a ruined building. Thanks to [Ambush] he had had no difficulty infiltrating the city and had chosen the first uninhabited place he had found as his new base.

He technically he should have rested, but he couldn't help but stay alert. He was still in enemy territory, even if he was in hiding.

Eventually a flutter of wings shook him. He looked up and saw Rambo enter the window. "What did you see?" he asked him.

The rhamphorhynchus landed in front of him. "I watched the Colonel for a while" he replied. "The pack leader was right: the NMWA wants to use that man to provoke a civil war. They made a deal. They will provide him with all the weapons he will need"

"All the rebels gathered in one place..." Snock smiled. Unbeknownst to them, the humans were giving the dinosaurs a big hand. "He is flattering to us. We will just have to eliminate them before they get the weapons"

"Unfortunately it won't be that simple" Rambo disillusioned him. "The Colonel plans to divide his army to launch a multi-pronged attack. The rebels will not be gathered in one place. And the delivery of the weapons will take place at alternate moments, so only a part of the rebels will be present at the delivery. We will not be able to take them by surprise there"

Snock frowned. This complicated things. However, it could also be an advantage. "A divided army, even if well armed, is still a weaker army. I can ask the pack leader to send enough dinosaurs here to defeat all the rebel groups even if they are divided, but before I can come up with any plans I need to know where the Colonel plans to create his outposts"

"That I can find out. My subordinates are watching every move of his men"

"If we play it well we can eliminate all the rebels and the NMWA spies in one night. At that point the humans will no longer be able to launch a missile attack, while we will be allowed to declare war on them" Snock mused. "The pack leader's plan can be successful. Go, my friend, and he finds outposts. I will contact the pack leader and ask him to send my subordinates here, and then I will start dividing them into teams"

The two animals nodded to each other, then Rambo took off and disappeared through the window. Snock in turn activated [Teleportation] and returned to Cartago, where he would report everything to Sobek. Unbeknownst to the humans who were preparing the Beleriard's fall, the dinosaurs were also preparing to defend it.

**********

Meanwhile, on the open sea, an immense fleet was forming. Ships from all parts of the world were joining into one gigantic army. Each ship carried hundreds of men, and more: there were also planes, high-powered weapons, provisions to withstand a siege. And it wasn't just the fleet that was immense: below them a second fleet, made up of thousands upon thousands of submarines, was sailing exactly under it.

Compared to any fleet ever seen on Earth, there was no comparison: the immense conglomeration of ships numbered over 800 aircraft carriers, 12,000 standard ships and 2,000 submarines. In total, the fleet carried more than seven million soldiers.

That was the NMWA's army. All the human nations of Eden had united to form the greatest army ever seen.

"As soon as all the boats are in position we will depart. Colonel Sully, you will take the equivalent of a million troops and head north. Await my orders as soon as you are in position"

On the deck of one of the carriers, two men were watching the fleet forming in front of them. One was a boy of about thirty, with an athletic physique and a shaved beard; the other, on the other hand, was a man of about forty, even more muscular and with a very angular and authoritative face.

The boy nodded. "Yes, general Quaritch"