Weapon – Petals unfurled
#5 of Weapon
Ok, yes, I understand this is a fairly simplistic view of world politics. I am taking the stand that once the nuke was detonated in USA a lot of things would have changed in the worlds scene. I know some of what I am saying will be incorrect.
But you know what, its halfway believeable, its fiction, leave the political debates aside and post what you think.
"But Sir! All of this, these plans, they are a stop gap measure, simply swatting at the flies won't make them leave, you need to-" I tried again, we had been through two hours of this so far.
"No! I told you, you can use any armament BUT nukes, we are not going to war with countries, we are trying to stamp out the major terrorist camps. And that is final, do I make myself clear Brigadier General?" He told me.
I sighed, "Ok Sir, as you asked, I completed all the plans you wanted for your review, these others, were in addition. I thought you might want a strategy to remove the threat, so I made these, as always its your call."
"Damn right Walters, I truly hope I never have to look at those extra plans you made ever again. I want this ended with as little bloodshed as possible so the new administration can step up and have a clean slate to work on." He told me, sounding tired.
"A noble cause Sir, I will get the 'sweep and clear' plans out, expect the preliminary stages to be executed within twenty four hours." I Saluted and, after waiting for his dismissing salute, left the room.
The last month had been insane, NATO had been all over us condemning what the terrorists had done yet slamming us for the stance we had taken. The two major political parties were begging us for more time to campaign while also publicly deriding us for having seized control in the first place.
Frying pan, fire. With a grin I started to sing quietly under my breath, ".. and here I am, stuck in the middle with you..."
"Sir?" My aide barked. I nearly hit the roof, I still could not get used to having someone follow me around just to help me keep my thoughts in order. There would not be a person on the earth that could do that, and I count myself in that list.
Taking advantage of the situation and trying to avoid looking silly, "Take these to dispatch, I need them sent via encrypted link to the five task forces we have on the ground. And get hold of that NATO representative, tell them I need a meeting, within the next twenty minutes would be- wait, scratch that. Just dispatch the papers, file them afterwards." I said, spotting the very person I needed.
Marching quickly I caught up with the middle aged man in a suit, "Excuse me sir?".
He turned, "To what do I owe this pleasure General?"
I spotted an unlit planning room and pointed, "I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time?"
"I am sorry general, I am a bus-" He began.
"Sir, with all due respect, if you business is not with General Ruggers then I would have to insist." I said sweetly.
Grumbling to himself, "Very well then, lead on."
Once inside I detailed to him what was about to begin, in rough terms of course.
"But, but, these are acts of war General, these countries will not stand for it!" He exclaimed.
"Sir, the countries have pledged their support to us in 'our time of need', even Iran has expressed a wish to help 'in any way possible'. I plan to take advantage of that."
"Sending armed troops over their border is not what they would have had in mind. You are all but invading them!" He seemed to be turning a little red, "I am sorry but I can't allow you to continue on this path!"
"That's a shame, the orders are in the field as we speak, General Ruggers has been closeted with ambassadors from the three countries for half the day. This is already happening. I was merely letting you know so you could pass it on to your NATO superiors." I said, his jaw was nearly on the floor.
"But.... you can't... this..." He paused and seemed to get back a measure of composure, "I will contact my superiors, they will not see this in a good light, we may have to recommend trade sanctions at the next bi-yearly meeting.".
It was all I could do to not laugh as he stormed out of the room and tried to slam the door behind him, but thankfully its gas assisted mechanism saved it from a man in a real hissy fit.
Lieutenant Howard glanced in just as the door was swinging fully shut, "Come in Lieutenant." I called, he did so.
Despite my comments to the contrary, the Lieutenant continued to be a help, even after that first cup of coffee, leaving me to handle what I did best without having to deal with things like comms and organising meetings. Gah, that reminded me.
"Sir, you have a mee-" He began, he must be sensing my thoughts.
"I know, I know, Lieutenant, my two pm appointment with the previous assistant to the under-secretary of the army. Damned if I know what he wants, he isn't qualified for his previous bosses job and I already have a good aide." I sighed, noting how the Lieutenant seemed to get a lift out of the complement, "Have him meet me- wait, its almost two? Is there any chance of fitting in some lu-" I began, as a knock to the door, followed by Howard's call, admitted one of the caterers with a trolley of lunch. The man left it with us and ducked out, letting us know he would swing past in an hour to retrieve the tray. "Damn it Harold, if I wasn't married to this job you would be the first man on my list." I said earnestly.
"You have fifteen minutes, that's all I can delay him for. Enjoy Sir." He said, leaving the room.
"I need to promote that man." I mumbled between mouthfuls.
The next month and a half passed in a blur, I was dimly aware of the political parties throwing ads all over the place, both being very careful not to take a stand either way in regards to the actions the military are taking, that is, in the actions I am taking.
The operations went well, some of the countries were not happy with us moving over their borders, but they didn't want to be seen as 'supporting the terrorists' so they let us do our thing. They however would be quick to pounce on any misdeeds of our troops, so I made sure the soldiers were well aware of the situation.
That day General Ruggers was out meeting with the political members on a talk show, his job had become quite a bit quieter with me effectively doing what he was previously handling, mostly he was trying to keep PR good and make sure the election was going as planned.
I happened to be in the mess hall as he was giving a speech in the memorial park that had been dedicated to the previous men and women who had lost their lives during the attack, the camera was zoomed in on The General, he was giving a pretty good speech, one he likely hadn't written of course, to the people when the left side of his head exploded, felling the main-stay of my world.
My eyes were wide, as the whole room fell silent. Secret service men were running around, trying to secure what little they could, more people started falling. The tv station cut back to the reporter.
"Words cannon describe this scene, General Ruggers was just gunned dow-" I didn't hear any more, I was on my feet and running, Lieutenant Harold nearly ran me down coming from the other direction.
"Sir, we are trying to find out what's going on, this-" He started, he was talking sense, he was cutting the situation up into things we could do and marking the rest for further examination, smart kid, he was picking up on how I worked, but something more primal took hold of me.
"Lieutenant." I interrupted him, "Get me a direct, heavily encrypted line to our forces in and around the middle east, everything, if it has a star or bird on its shoulder, I want it listening to me. Following that, get me the commanders of all allied forces in the same area, same deal there. I then want a direct line to President Zardari of Pakistan. That's for a start, base is to be on full alert, I want you back at my side as soon as a task is finished."
"Sir!" Good soldier, damn good soldier. He ran to the first of my tasks, I ran to my office.
When I arrived there was already a line of people, at my appearance they all started asking for my time. "Organise a press conference in two hours please gentlemen, all will be made clear then, it is to be a presidential address style affair." I glared at them appropriately, they got the inference.
"Yes Ma'am" and "Yes Sir" were added by various parties and they wandered off.
My display lit as I typed in my password, Howard's line rang on my intercom, I pressed the speaker.
"Sir, the first call you asked for will begin in ten seconds on your computer."
And it did, a grid of faces and some just blank rank insignias, for those without a video uplink, greeted me. "Soldiers, in case you missed the news, General Ruggers was assassinated this afternoon, about" I checked the time, "five minutes ago, until further notice I will be taking command." I paused a little, this would be a 'moment' when things would either flow, or not. All the heads nodded, and a few 'Sir.'s were uttered. "You will pull all troops out of the middle east at once, I want all embassies emptied, don't bother destroying any documents or equipment, just leave it on the ground. Just.... get our soldiers out of there." The faces turned very hard now, they had guessed what would come after such an order.
One man, a three star general, General Fisk was his name, spoke up then, "I may not agree with your assessment, I know The General didn't, but someone has to be in charge, someone has to make such a call and" The man saluted the camera, "I am glad that someone is you General."
The rest nodded and the connection closed.
"Next one is coming through, the people on the other end are the senior officers of each of the allied forces we have in that theatre." Harold came over the intercom.
The screen cascaded into the grid again. Rugged faces of Australian commanders, Canadian, English and more looked at me. They knew who the 'strategy general' was, they knew what I looked like. They likely knew the news already.
"Gentlemen." I noted our allies had no senior female staff, pity, "If you have a news feed you will likely know our leader, General Ruggers has been killed." There were some shocked looks, some of these men had probably been in scrapes with The General when he was a member of the special forces, likely on joint ops, "I have taken temporary command of things here, and I will give you the same order I just gave all my troops, get out of the middle east, clear your embassies, clear your camps, get every one of your people off the ground and out of there within two hours. You can likely extrapolate what is going to happen, I expect you to contact your superiors, that is to be expected. All I ask is keep any such communications encrypted. Thank you for your time."
A few of them 'Sir'ed before cutting the link, some didn't. Can't really blame any of them.
"The President is up next Sir." Harold came back again.
This time the image took up the whole screen, it was of a man who I had only seen pictures of so far, never talked to him directly. "Why is your Lieutenant demanding my attention at this hour? Can't this wait until the morning?" The man said.
"Sir, with all due respect, I would have to say no, it can't. General Ruggers was assassinated this hour just gone, preliminary reports suggest a terrorist strike, so far" I scanned the latest feeds quickly on my second screen, "four different Islamic terrorist groups have come forward claiming to have been a part of it, as well as the nuclear strike nearly three months ago. I have called you, due to your countries unwavering devotion to the cause of freedom and support of our Nation, to offer to any and all of your citizens asylum, you are also hereby warned that I plan to launch a very thorough nuclear strike against those countries known to be covertly supporting or covering terrorist activities."
The man was speechless.
"General, uh, Walters. You have to understand, this is a very troubling thing to say. You are telling me you will be deploying nuclear weapons against my neighbours... The fallout alone, if it travels in this direction, will be devastating to my people it-"
I interrupted, "Then you will understand why I offered to open our border to all your people, it may not be needed, I pray that it isn't, but if the wind turns bad you could have a large fallout cloud moving your way in around fourteen hours. You will also understand you are the only person, excluding military personnel, that knows of this plan. You will I trust exercise prudence as to who you notify. The next two hours will be telling."
"Yes, yes your right, thank you for the warning, and the generous offer, I will begin evacuation of the western half of my country, if things go well, how long will they be expected to have to wait to return?" He said.
"Weather willing, the cloud should have settled within a month."
"We may need assistance with aid." He asked.
"That is a possibility, others may present themselves in the future, until then, Sir, I have some plans to set." I begged off.
"Of course, of course. Good luck General, if its possible, I hope Alah guides you in this, for the sake of my people if nothing else."
"Any help, particularly divine, is always welcome, Sir."
I tapped the intercom, "Harold?" I asked.
"Sir?" Was his call from the other side of the door. He entered.
"I was met by the press liaison, among others, on my way here, they are establishing a conference at fifteen hundred, make sure its for that time on the dot, not a minute later, or earlier. At fourteen forty, I want you to start getting me calls to the leaders of every nation with a nuclear weapon, baring those targeted of course, one at a time, might as well make them on a 'first come first served' basis." I told him.
"Sir! Do you want your formal uniform laid out?" He asked.
"Yes, all the medals, everything. Even the sabre. The people need to know what they are getting here." I replied.
It was almost fifteen hundred, I glanced around from the podium, the small desk with a metal suitcase was beside me, to the other side a flag, I was still staring at it, I felt a tear come to my eye at the thought of what I would have to do, when the light lit on the camera at exactly fifteen hundred.
"Ahem." Someone behind all the lights said, "General, you're on"
I held a slight moment, and turned to the camera.
"Citizens of this United States, we have suffered for nearly a decade in fear, feeling every loss, every death, be it those innocent souls in the towers, or our soldiers fighting overseas, dying in foreign lands to try and bring us a measure of safety.
In that time, men of peace worked, they worked hard to understand the threat, they worked to handle it with as little blood shed as they could, and though they were great men, they failed.
General Ruggers was not a man of peace, he was a man of war, but he reinvented himself, working as hard as he could to make the situation better for those who would follow him, through negotiations and careful, exacting cuts of the military knife, trying to excise the cancer of terrorism from this world.
He failed, to his detriment, this very afternoon.
I am not a peace maker.
I do not have a 'live and let live' mentality.
I am a soldier, I was trained to be the best at war that my country could make me, and my country wrought well.
When General Ruggers had me draw up plans for the surgical work in the middle east, he was working on the assumption the cancer could be cut out, but ladies and gentlemen, we know that such surgeries have a low success rate, particularly if the cancer has been left to take hold for too long.
When a person has a dangerous cancer in their leg, it is amputated.
When a person has a dangerous cancer in their arm, it is amputated.
All for the greater good of the person.
In this case, I do this for the people of America, who I want to no longer have to live in fear, for the people of the world, who I want to no longer be bullied by this filth.
People of America, what I do here today is not for all those who have died, revenge is not a way forward.
What I do here today, is for you, and for your children, may they never have to fear again."
I leaned down to the table, opened the case, typed in the one-use code to arm the pre-set launch pattern.
I pressed the button.
And wept.
Yes, I almost had a tear when I was working through what sort of emotions our foxy general would be going though. I can scarcely imagine how horrible it would be to have to make that call. I can only pray that such things are never required of any man or woman.
Oh, and who thinks I should start using 'shit hits the fan' tags in some of my stories? Or should I give that on a sliding scale of the amount, the angle of the impact and the rotational velocity of the spinning blades? :)
It might help some people when they jump the gun with the 'holy shit's ;)