Neocons would fall head over skates for Beyond the Lost Assault’s antagonist
Beyond the Lost Assault’s antagonist was a surefire cheerleader for the Great Middle Eastern War. One that’s eerily similar to the one in our own world.
As I write this, I’m starting on the last edit of Beyond the Lost Assault before I hand Book II in my dystopian survival trilogy to ARC readers. This one is over twice as long as Beyond the Lost Horizon, featuring two point of view characters, and an antagonist who isn’t one of the terrorists that overran and ended America and the West.
An antagonist I based on a real-life person. One who’d claim to follow the Bible to a T, then celebrate relentless bombing campaigns in Iran and across the Middle East — convinced that God chose America to stabilize and lead the world.
This antagonist, like the person they’re based on, wouldn’t just go for regime change, however. They’d shoot to spill every last particle of Islam in both Iran and across most of the Middle East — since they’d find an excuse to spare allied nations like Saudi Arabia, regardless of its human rights record.
Beyond the Lost Assault’s antagonist operates behind the scenes
This individual rarely puts themselves on the front lines, instead forging connections with and putting those who’ve seen and been in wars ahead of them. Nearly every one of their henchmen holding a gun has seen action overseas, with one particular character watching their boyfriend leave to fight in and never return from the Great Middle Eastern War.
This conflict eerily mirrors what we’re seeing in Iran, and I’d rather not become Nostradamus here. Still, you can’t ignore how many countries have been hit or targeted by strikes, including Iran, Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, and Palestine.
Despite the world falling into a complete hellhole — one they saw coming and prepared for long before the trilogy’s events started — it was Phase 1. They knew an attack of a massive magnitude was on the horizon, killing millions worldwide in one cataclysmic moment.
Initially, you would think that they were trying to save lives. That’s what it looked like when Quinn Cozens mentioned their name dozens of times in Book I, Beyond the Lost Horizon. Then, when you meet them formally toward the end of that book, a sense of unease develops. And it doesn’t stop from there.
What is this individual’s endgame, anyway?
They see themselves saving the world — or at least the West — from this sheer madness. That may separate them from the contingent of neocons who want to use war to bring about Biblical prophecy.
Or, maybe that’s exactly their endgame. It’s something I don’t elaborate much on throughout the trilogy, but it makes sense: Let America create chaos on a global scale, watch nations around the world retaliate in the worst-possible ways, then create more chaos and wind up on top of the food chain.
Turn America into a nation that embraces Christianity as a de facto state religion. But this isn’t the same kind of Christianity you may have come to know and love. No, this is their version of Christianity, and that’s what makes it dangerous.
If one individual is completely fine with the deaths of millions worldwide if it means restoring America as the undisputed global superpower that goes unchallenged, and it’s somehow stuck in their head that they’re fulfilling prophecy, then this isn’t the kind of Christianity most people would want to live under and embrace.
They have justified violence on every single scale
Regardless of the situation, they crave violence. If someone vocally disagrees with them too often, that person gets killed — or released — a term I borrowed from Lois Lowry’s The Giver.
They embrace torture and justify it as “saving lives,” or “protecting the colony.” Even worse, those subjected to torture’s only crime involved politely disagreeing with them, but has yet to escalate toward full-on release. But if they deem their dissenters threatening to “delay” the endgame, they will use any means necessary — even inhumane means.
So who is this person? You’ll meet them just before Beyond the Lost Horizon’s bombshell ending. If you haven’t read the book yet but you’re craving a dystopian survival novella that reads differently and embraces its libertarian and revisionist themes every bit as much as it embraces genre, you’re in luck.
👉 Get Beyond the Lost Horizon at The Rebel Lore Vault
This article first appeared on The Rogue Scribe
