Notes:
Anybody who hires somebody to do a job for them and then goes out of their way to have that person followed, monitored and reported on when they could have done the job themselves is an inept, incompetent, and an untrusting supervisor. Why have this person hired in the first place when they could have done it themselves with the resources they have in monitoring the hired person?
Because Hondo and I were able to show that there are towns that are thriving and growing, despite slowly, that you want the Spirits to expand to Mexico and Canada? No. Like I stated, as you stated, they are the Texas Spirits, and as Texas Spirits, they are within the border area of the state of Texas. I would give it that they expanded their reconstructed railroad to the nearest towns outside of Texas, but you do have a habit that once you get something, you want more. Case in point - Canada. What does Canada have what the Spirits want? Much of the Canadian government would have been destroyed along with NYC when as you stated an asteroid hit the earth and created a 300ft tidal wave in the Atlantic as the seat of the Canadian Parliament is on the east coast of Canada. Except for the Royal Mounted Police, and a few towns, like in the USA, there is not much up in Canada except for their natural reserves, which the remaining Canadians will protect from any outside influence - including the Spirits. There is nothing there, and they should be left alone.
The same with the towns. Their recovery is not from help of the Spirits. They did it on their own with what resources they found and now exploit. This took years to start, starting with border wars and village raiding. But once resources begin to be shared and people became cooperative, then recovery came about faster through the organizations they had created. It is not perfect, but it works and it is improved on when and where they can improve it. Here the Spirits can learn a lesson - the business of trade. They want something from these outer towns and villages, they need to barter with them. Using gold and silver will only devalue the currency in the long run. But somebody needs a vehicle part, they can trade such a part for a refurbished or rebuilt one. They need to know the market for as it stands. But this is out of their range as they are working around Texas; this they need to do so with the towns and villages around Texas.
The Texas Spirits have very little to do with global recovery of humanity and are only responsible for areas alike Texas, Japan and Arendelle. Nothing more.
As Fernando stated, they need to fix by undoing everything the Spirits did on earth. Why are they here in the first place? Planetary colonization? With past races (even within ourselves) this is the case. From colonization to conquest. From Conquest to Global expansion. As far as Fernando sees it, how do we know that the asteroid was pushed by the Spirits to target the Earth to eliminate as many humans as possible and send them back to the stone-age to make such a conquest easier for them? You cannot answer that even as their writer, because as Fernando stated, "The more it is said, the more of a cover up it looks like."
So let’s just leave it be. If anything. Moro should be taking notes and asking why these towns and villages are thriving. And then see if she can interact with them peacefully in the name of Business. In short, the Spirits need to become
Star Trek's Ferengi Race and deal with others as how a business would. But to get there, that is another story and not part of this one. If anything, this is why the Spirits would want Jeanette's Journal. And this is why they should go to Sturgess where many such deals can be made through the largest gathering convention of road gangs and merchants are heading too.
That's my points. The Spirits told us we got a job to do, we should be left alone to do it. If they are to follow us, report on us and "Protect us" then they could have done it on their own without us.
Trying not to lose the others behind him, Fernando pushes the SUV well over 75mph where he can. At the same time he has Hondo build several gunpowder pipe bombs from the pieces of pipe, fuses and gunpowder Fernando had gathered. After the pipe bombs were created, Hondo takes care of the firearms and prepare them for action, before looking over the LAWS Missile systems. As he thought, the primers had went bad. Looking over the left-over gunpowder, Hondo gets an idea to pull out the old primers and stuff them with gunpowder as a new primer. At best it is a 50/50 chance that it would work if the gunpowder burned hot enough to ignite the missile's propellant. He gets to work on that right away, finishing the 8 or so missiles in the metal box very quickly.
At their speed they managed to make a 3 hour trip in less than 2 hours when suddenly the electric device in Fernando’s bag begins clicking. He slows down to a stop, picking up the CB Radio, "It has begun clicking!"
They pull over to the side of the road on top of the hill before the Slavers fort and get out of their vehicles. Fernando and Hondo light up couple of the pipe bombs, throwing them ahead of the side of the road before taking cover behind their vehicle. The pipe bombs exploded loudly with a mushroom cloud of smoke. The device stops clicking.
"Alright boys, lets cover up here!" General Jastrey yells out. The soldiers step out of their vehicles and begin to cover them up in camouflage netting, including the Slavers truck Fernando and Hondo rode in on.
Fernando, General Jastrey and a few others look over the area through their binoculars. The Slaver's fort was still at least 10 miles away. Despite the distance, several vehicles leave the fort along with a blimp, but they had to travel as slow as the blimp itself - a pokey 20 miles per hour.
General Jastrey orders her men into position for a firefight. Fernando takes the LAWS Missile cases along with Hondo with the M1 rifles and hide in the brush further up ahead from the rest of the group by a hundred yards. If the new primers fail, they are going to try to shoot at the Gondola of the blimp.
The wait was a hard 1/2 hour on the nerves. Some 30 vehicles are coming with one blimp above them though another blimp was behind it and cannot be seen. In the least there were 2 to 3 passengers per vehicle. The drone of the vehicle engines can be heard as they approached the hill.
"Now!" Fernando says to Hondo. They roll on the ground out of their hiding place behind the shrubbery, taking aim at the blimp forward and above them. The triggers on the LAWS Launch Tubes are pressed, and though delayed, the missiles are launched! Fernando shot hits the air bag and Hondo's shot hits the gondola, igniting the blimp into a huge fireball as it is using Hydrogen as its lifting agent. The explosives and ammo stored in the gondola add to the fireworks display.
The vehicles stop in their tracks, as their mighty gun air-ship falls from the sky in a ball of flames. General Jastrey gives the orders to commence firing, taking the front and rear vehicles first to box the others in. But as the blimp falls, another comes into view from behind the shadow of the first. Fernando and Hondo reload the LAWS Launch tubes and fire at the second blimp, hitting it as it tries to turn around and head back to base. The problem with this was that it made the blimp a larger target to hit and it too goes up in a giant ball of flames as it falls out of the sky in such a grand display as the first for the same reasons. The battle ended a lot faster than anticipated.
A couple of vehicles managed to escape but the majority were shot up and riddled with bullet holes though most of them were still drivable. Fernando and Hondo arrive at one of the larger vehicles, an SUV like theirs with several dead and dying men inside. Fernando opens the driver’s door and throws out the dead driver from inside. General Jastrey's men go about disarming the self destruct mechanisms from the vehicles as fast as they could, including the SUV Fernando and Hondo was at, and drive away with their spoils of war to the top of the hill.
Fernando takes the CB Radio microphone from the vehicle's dashboard, putting it to his lips and presses the Talk button. Hondo, General Jastrey and a couple of her men stand by them to listen in.
"This is Fernando and I have a message for Biggus Dickus. You are to come to town with the slaves you have and release them within 24 hours or else this attack will be small compared to what I will do next!" Fernando says to them.
The CB receive light blinks a couple of times but no audio came out of it. Then it turns on brightly and a voice replies.
"I shall destroy you all!" the voice is heard saying.
"Set me up another missile." Fernando tells Hondo as he looks at the town ahead of them in the distance. A control tower can be seen as it sticks out as its highest point in the town. Fernando makes his calculations in his head, before resting the LAWS Tube on his shoulder and angles it upwards aimed toward the town. He then presses the launch button. The missile flies upwards to several thousand feet for most of its travel for several long seconds before it arcs downward when it runs out of fuel and glides the rest of the way as Fernando takes the Microphone and presses the Talk Button. "My reply is on its way... in 5... 4... 3... 2... "
The side of the control tower explodes, though Fernando missed his mark as the missile hits the floor below his intended target.
Fernando presses the talk button, "Slavery is over. Anyone who thinks they can do this again, will get the same treatment as you just did! Report to town in 24 hours to release the slaves you have and discuss terms of your surrender! Do I Make My Self Clear?!!"
For a long while there is silence.
A different voice comes on, female voice on a weaker radio signal, "We will be there to discuss terms of surrender tonight if you can guarantee safe passage to come and go, and once we agree to surrender, we will release the slaves we have the next day."
Fernando presses the talk button, "You have it. Be there at 9o’clock tonight. Come alone in a single vehicle - with your driver and body guard tonight to the Merchant Center of town as we will discuss the terms of your surrender peacefully. You will be allowed to go home afterwards and return the next day to release the slaves."
A few seconds pass before the female voice answers, "We accept."
Fernando puts down the microphone and steps away from the vehicle.
General Jastrey walks up behind Fernando, "I thought I would never see this day."
"You should prepare yourselves as others will try to take over and fill in the gap that they had." Fernando tells her.
General Jastrey hands him the keys from the SUV, "It's yours. You more than earned it."
"Hondo!" Fernando calls to him and tosses him the keys, "Clean it out and drive it home."
"What about the remote self destruct?" Hondo asks.
"My men took care of it, it is safe to drive!" General Jastrey tells him. Then she orders her men, "Clean up this vehicle for our allies to take home!" They make short work of the bloody mess that was inside. The bodies were piled up with the others along the side of the road.
They gather to their vehicles and begin the long drive home, though they did had to stop 1/2 way to refuel with the storage tanks they brought with them. What could not be driven was towed back to town.
Fernando and Hondo were treated to a free large lunch as they discussed preparations for tonight's surrender talks with the remains of the Slaver's Leadership. They were also asked about how they repaired dud missiles, to which General Jastrey tells the others, "We can discuss technology another time. For now and later tonight we celebrate our victory for tomorrow is not guaranteed."
"I have not heard that in a long time." Fernando says.
"Leave the truck's keys with us and we will have it fixed up for you by tonight. Anything else you two would like?" General Jastrey asks.
"We'll think of something later but I seriously doubt it. We are not here for rewards, we are just here to rescue people. Saving a life is a reward within itself." Fernando says.
"What about you, cowboy? You seem to be the quiet partner of you two." General Jastrey says.
"I'm with Fernando on this one. Saving people is its own rewards." Hondo says.
"Wait." Fernando interjects, "Maybe you can help out with an adoption of a couple of children we found on the highway. They say that their parents were killed and they have no family to speak off. Having papers for them would be easy for certain things to happen."
"We can set that up for you." General Jastrey says, adding "Anything else?"
"I think that would be it." Fernando says, "Let’s enjoy this meal so we can head back. We will return let’s say about 8o'clock to discuss terms of their surrender."
"Good enough..." General Jastrey replies as they continue with their meal.