[Earth II] Ajax Rising

[Layarteb]

SIOP14/001-57

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTATION: STSEC
MOD: 4298CDMMZ:27-9

Date:                   

To:                         

From:                         

Subject: Single Integrated Operational Plan Enactment

The Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) is the Empire of Layarteb's general plan for nuclear war. It was enacted in          and has recently been revised in         . This document serves to give the individual a brief overview on the enactment of SIOP in the event of a catastrophic, war scenario.

The Single Integrated Operational Plan requires the assent of three men (three-man rule) versus traditional two  man systems. This three-man rule requires the assent of the                                       , the                                         , and the                                                  before it can be put in place. SIOP is a strategic-level and global-oriented plan for use in war scenarios of a total nature.

SIOP is designed to be used offensive or defensively, depending on the scenario. It includes a total of            options for coordinated nuclear strikes against civilian, military, and industrial targets. Every nation in the world is included in the SIOP and there are a total of            potential scenarios whereby SIOP may be enacted. Each one requires numerous checks to prevent against accidental enactment of SIOP.

SIOP is multifunctional and includes all          of the Empire of Layarteb's nuclear warheads. SIOP utilizes         ,       , and        based systems.

SIOP is a robust plan that is meant to survive first  strike, counterforce, and sneak attack scenarios. In the event of a sneak attack whereby one or two of individuals required to assent are incapacitated, killed, captured, or otherwise compromised, there exists a single set of override codes unique to that particular individual. It coincides with the individual's personal,     -digit                            authorization code. Both are required. In the event that the override code is needed, it must be given in conjunction with personal authorization code. Each override code is unique to that individual. In the event that this override code is required numerous other safeguards are enacted to prevent unauthorized implementation of the SIOP. Those safeguards are listed herein.

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTATION: STSEC
MOD: 4298CDMMZ:27-9

[Layarteb]

Monday, June 9

June 9, 2015 - 01:09 hrs [UTC-5]
Saddle River, New Jersey
Residence of Ryan F. Wright (Minister of the Interior)
(41° 1' 50" N, 74° 6' 13" W)

Minister Ryan F. Wright hadn't set his head on the pillow for more than thirty seconds before sleep came over his fifty-seven year old body. He'd had an exhausting week, burning the candle at both ends, working mostly from his office in the Ministry of the Interior, which was on the New Jersey side of the Upper New York Bay, where it overlooked the entire bay and Governors Island, where the Fortress of Comhghall and the seat of the Layartebian government rested. Minister Wright, not able to take the weekend and relax, opted instead to work from his home office on Saturday and Sunday, which rolled into today as well. Things were in a state of nervous flux within the Layartebian government all of a sudden.

For the past seven days, the Layartebian government had functioned and operated without any input whatsoever from the Emperor, who'd neither been seen nor heard from since Sunday, May 31. He'd been holed up in the Fortress of Comhghall, denying all calls and running the building on a skeleton crew, something which unnerved the entire Cabinet. However, there were contingencies for this sort of thing and while Minister Timothy M. Fisher of Foreign Affairs was busy handling all international matters, Minister Wright was handling all domestic matters. Just as Minister Wright was exhausted and overworked, so too was Minister Fisher who was due in the Kingdom of Libya in the next fourteen hours to discuss widening the Empire's already established trade deal.

The Ministries of the Layartebian government were all functioning and humming along and they'd done fine for the week. Things had been rocky, sudden, and unexpected at the start. The Cabinet members weren't sure what to make of the phone calls each and every one of them received from the Emperor's receptionist telling them that all meetings for the week were canceled, no calls would be taken, and the Emperor would not be entertaining any guests whatsoever. Everyone worried that something catastrophic had happened and the Emperor had fallen ill. For thirty-five years, the man worked perilously at the helm of the Empire taking no time for himself, dedicating his every waking moment to the Layartebian Empire, its government, its people, and its raison d'être.

Still, despite the hum of activity, the assurances that the Emperor was neither ill nor away, nothing sat right with the Cabinet, especially Minister Wright, who'd known the Emperor on a professional and even a personal level for longer than anyone else in the Cabinet had. A policeman of one form or another for eighteen years with the Layarteb City Police Department (LCPD), Minister Wright still had those instincts. They'd first been developed in his four-year stint with the Layartebian Army where he rose to the rank of staff sergeant (E-6) in the infantry. When the Second Layartebian Civil War broke out, he'd deserted with so many others and joined the rebel forces. In his four years with the military he'd been awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars with "V" devices, and a Purple Heart. The Silver Star and the Purple Heart had been awarded for the same act, when he was a private first class.

Minister Wright still had nightmares about those harrowing nine hours in the Venezuelan jungle when his platoon had been ambushed by East Venezuelan regulars. The platoon lieutenant was dead instantly, the senior sergeant bled out ninety minutes later, and PFC Wright's squad leader was split in half by an RPG round. Rallying his men to the defense, PFC Wright managed to prevent his position from being overrun a total of eleven times during the nine hour battle. He'd been wounded in the process but that didn't stop him from directing air support and calling medevac choppers. When the battle was over, the entire platoon suffered a casualty rate of 96% but they reduced an enemy company to nothing, killing all but nine hostiles over the course of the battle. The two Bronze Stars came in 1978 and 1980, respectively, during the Second Layartebian Civil War. It was something unique that the future Emperor made sure to decorate the men fighting under him. It was a major morale booster.

After the army, after the revolution, after Layarteb became something more than a shoddy, corrupt republic, Wright joined the police. As a mere patrolman, he received an Honorable Mention for foiling a bank robbery. As a sergeant, he received the Police Combat Cross for heroism during a gunfight at a drug deal gone bad. As a captain, he received a Unit Citation and then from March 1996 to December 1998, he served as the police commissioner. He only left because he was tapped to be the Deputy Minister of the Interior by the Emperor himself. He assumed the post of Minister of the Interior on May 2, 2006, the day after the sitting Minister of the Interior passed away in his sleep of a massive stroke. He was sixty-three years old and mourned throughout the Empire for the customary thirty days. Minister Wright was then only forty-nine years old, among the younger generation of officials.

Minister Wright was a favorite among the people of Layarteb and for good reason. He'd done nothing but serve them his entire adult life, whether as a soldier, a cop, or as a government official and despite being fifty-seven years old, he wasn't ready to quit yet. He had plenty of years left in him and though he was only eight years the Emperor's junior, he felt as if he were twenty years younger than the Emperor, who despite his middle-aged appearance, garnered a source of wisdom and experience that was unfathomable and entire unquantifiable.

So indeed it worried the Minister that the Emperor, who'd never taken a day off for personal time or sickness should suddenly disappear for an entire week. Fleet Week had only just ended, the Emperor had been present and nothing looked or seemed out of place. Now all of a sudden something had changed and drastically so, Minister Wright just wish he knew. Nothing sat comfortably with him, not that it did with any other Cabinet Minister but he knew he had experiences they didn't have; after all, he was the only one who'd served in the police force. His gut told him that something was very askew and though he'd tried to find out through backchannels, the fact that he couldn't find out anything about the Emperor whatsoever concerned him deeply enough that he was working extra diligently to keep his mind off of the gorilla in his head.

Though on this early June morning, Minister Wright's anxieties did not prevent him from falling asleep and quite the contrary, they swirled now in his head as he lay on his left side, inches from his wife of thirty years, already drifting off into la-la land when suddenly, with a start, his body jumped him back to awake. He lurched out of bed and to the source of his statement, a ringing phone in his office, which was adjacent to his bedroom. The ringer was loud enough that it could wake him up from a coma and that was the worrisome sign because only one phone was that loud, and only one phone specifically went into his office and not his bedroom. He sat down, put on his glasses, and picked up the phone. "This is Minister Wright, please identify yourself."

"Minister Wright, this is Captain Jeffrey Wynne at the National Military Command Center. Identification code 'Papa-Bravo-Juliet-Whiskey-One-One-Nine-Nine," Minister Wright looked down at the pencil in his hand and the paper below it. He didn't even remember picking up the pencil or a small piece of paper and yet he'd written down the letters, numbers, and the man's name. He logged into his desktop computer, accessed a special program, authenticated into the system, and then plugged in the details. Captain Wynne was who he said he was.

"Captain, you may speak freely now."

"Minister we have a situation at the NMCC that requires your immediate verification," Minister Wright listened and he could hear strain in the young captain's voice. He could heard a lot of things in his voice and chief among them was fear.

"What situation is that Captain?"

"Sir, twenty-nine minutes ago we received a general order from the Emperor to initiate SNAPCOUNT status. The Emperor used his three-man override. Sir, the gravity of the situation led us to break protocol and confirm this order with the Minister of Defense. Upon reaching the Minister of Defense, he ordered us to stand down SNAPCOUNT status. As you may be aware sir in the event of conflicting orders such as these, generally we go with the first order received. However, because this is related to SIOP, the protocols are much different. According to our SOPs we are to hold all further changes to SNAPCOUNT status for thirty minutes from issue of contravening order.

"Sir that was nineteen minutes ago. Thirteen minutes ago we attempted to reach the Minister of Defense again; however, we are unable to at this time. Nine minutes ago we received a second order from the Emperor to reinitiate SNAPCOUNT status, again he used his override code. The SOPs cannot be changed; we are system locked out to prevent a SNAPCOUNT status from initiating during a crisis.

"Because of the gravity of the situation, the SOPs, and the override codes, we at the NMCC believe that this order requires further verification. Minister Wright, would you please advise."

Sweat immediately beaded up around Minister Wright's neck. He'd heard every word that Captain Wynne had told him and yet he couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Emperor had singlehandedly broken SIOP protocol and initiated SNAPCOUNT, which would raise the military's readiness level - across the board - to its maximum readiness and commence SIOP enactment procedures to begin. It was a coveted and highly classified piece of knowledge that the Empire's strategic forces were not on immediate alert all of the time. They could be brought up to alert through one of two pathways. The fastest as to initiate SNAPCOUNT, which would bring up the weapons to pre-launch readiness in less than ten minutes, and that included every missile there was to fire, including those on submarines. It was also highly classified that none of the Empire's missiles were pre-targeted against any specific country. In fact, they were all targeted to crash down onto nine or so locations in the world's three main oceans. This would prevent an accidental launch from starting a nuclear holocaust. Target coordinates were loaded into the missiles prior to launch based on the SIOP package chosen. Generally SNAPCOUNT was only to be used if missiles were incoming and about to strike the Layartebian Empire.

"Captain, are we under attack?"

"No sir, not that we can ascertain. The threat board remains quiet. We have no launch detections, no close coastline contacts, and none of our forces worldwide are under attack sir."

"Is this a drill Captain?"

"Sir, this is not a drill. What are your orders sir?"

"I must concur with the Minister of Defense. Hold until confirmation can be ascertained."

"Sir I need your override code and your personal authorization code."

"PAC is 'X-Ray, Zulu, Yankee, X-Ray, X-Ray, Bravo, Charlie, Four, Four, One, Nine, Three.' My override code is 'Ajax Rising' Captain."

"It confirms sir, because we are unable to contact the Minister of Defense or the Deputy Minister of Defense at this time, I must ask you to stay on this line."

"Captain, that is something…" Suddenly there was a crash through the house, a deafening echo that filled the quiet house with a thunder that could only mean someone had just crashed through the front door with a level of force equivalent to that of a charging rhino on steroids with a rocket engine up its ass. "Captain are you there?"

"Yes I am sir."

"My house has just been invaded Captain!"

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 01:13 hrs [UTC-5]
Saddle River, New Jersey
Residence of Ryan F. Wright (Minister of the Interior)
(41° 1' 50" N, 74° 6' 13" W)

"Minister Wright!" Yelled a loud, authoritative voice from downstairs and from his home office, Minister Wright tensed up and instinctively reached down to his hip, where his sidearm would have been only there was no sidearm. His pistol was locked in a small safe on the other side of the room and time was passing too quickly. To get up to retrieve his pistol, a SIG Sauer P229 chambered in .40SW would have required him to put down the phone and he just didn't think he had enough time.

"Captain, I will not be repeating this," he began, his heartrate elevated and his instincts kicking into high mode now. "My home has just been invaded and I may be killed in the next few seconds; my override remains in effect. If we are not under attack we cannot initiate SIOP. Something is very wrong right now. Do not launch those missiles Captain! No one but the NMCC can launch our missiles, no one Captain! Do you hear me?"

"I do sir," footsteps echoed outside of his office now and there were a few pairs of them. It was impossible to decipher how many men were in his bedroom but the frightened screech of his wife told him that they had guns drawn and it was only seconds before they burst through his door, which he hadn't locked upon entry.

"Minister Wright," the voice called again.

"Captain I am not under duress right now but I very well may be shortly. If I commence any coded sequence with 'Alpha' you will know that I am compromised, do you understand? Repeat it back to me now."

"Sir, you are not under duress but if you commence any coded," in the midst of Captain Wynne's repeat, the voice burst into the office, a tall blonde man with a suit and a pistol held in outstretched hands. Captain Wynne heard the commotion but he continued to repeat the phrase. At the end he added, "Say the word 'November' if that is not correct sir." He said everything correctly so Minister Wright let his voice stay silent.

"Minister Wright, are you and your wife alone in this house?" The large blonde man asked.

"Who are you?"

"Sir, I am Agent Randal Poole with the DPG, is there anyone else in this house besides you and your wife?"

"Sir, I am looking up his information right now," said Captain Wynne on the other end of the line, "stall him for a few seconds if you can sir."

"We're alone Agent Poole. Why have you invaded my home?" Agent Poole had already assessed that Minister Wright wasn't a threat, one hand was on a phone, he was seated, the other hand was empty, and now with confirmation that no one else was in the house, he holstered his pistol.

"Sir, you and your wife are coming with us. There has been a major security situation and we're taking you to a secure location. We have to be out of here in less than five minutes sir. You need to get dressed and come with us."

"I'm not going anywhere Agent Poole."

"Sir, your life and the life of your wife are in mortal danger if we do not get out of here immediately."

"Sir," it was Captain Wynne, "ask him to authenticate 'Vixen' please. We have tapes running and his voice is passing through the analyzer but it's hard to tell if he's who he says he is sir. The man we want is tall, six-foot-two, blonde, with brown eyes. He has a square jaw."

"Agent Poole authenticate 'Vixen'." Minister Wright said and that immediately startled Agent Poole who had no idea who was on the other line.

"Sir the authentication is 'albacore' but we do not have time for this. We have to go now."

"Sir he passes."

"Agent Poole, give me one minute in here longer, this conversation I am having is classified."

"Sir you have thirty seconds, then I am coming in here."

"Fine," Minister Wright waved him out and when he was out of earshot, the door shut, he returned to the call. "Captain you heard that and there is something very fishy going on here. Do not initiate SIOP Captain, do not at all. You have my cellular phone and if you use my personal authorization code, which you have, you can activate the GPS tracker. Watch where we go Captain, if we're not on our way to a COOP facility then you call me right away. If we are, the nearest ones are within thirty to sixty minutes. You hold all further action until that time. Is that clear Captain?"

"Yes sir it is but sir, what is going on?"

"I don't know Captain but assume that a coup or like situation has taken place and that the entire National Command Authority is compromised." The words were sobering and scary as Minister Wright said them, scary enough that Captain Wynne had no answer. He merely wished good luck and the call was dropped as Agent Poole returned to the office.

"Sir, right now."

"Agent Poole, how many men do you have?" Minister Wright stood.

"A dozen sir."

"Then you can protect us for one more minute. Close the door, now!"

"Yes sir," Agent Poole gritted his teeth and did as he was told. In the brief moment in time, Minister Wright retrieved his semi-automatic and the concealed holster and shoved it into his pants as well as two spare magazines. Those went into his pocket. He covered up the holster with his shirt and walked into the bedroom where his wife was already dressed. Clothes were lying on the bed.

"Honey, my wallet and my phone please," he grabbed the clothes and moved quickly into the adjacent bathroom, giving only Spartan attention to the three men and one woman standing in the bedroom with locked, loaded, and readied submachine guns. What made this whole situation sketchy to Minister Wright was that though the DPG did escort and protect government officials, they protected and escorted embassies and diplomats, not internal ministers. That was done by an outfit in the Ministry of Justice. When dressed, Minister Wright returned back into the bedroom. His pistol was safely concealed inside of his pants and his shirt he left untucked to cover the holster that was clipped to his belt. "Agent Poole there is sensitive information here that cannot fall into anyone's hands."

"Sir we're handling it right now," Agent Poole was adamant that they leave. Minister Wright's wife grabbed two small suitcases that had been sitting in their closet for the better part of the last sixteen years and began to follow the agents out, who formed a protective ring around Minister Wright and his wife.

"Agent Poole what is happening here?"

"Sir we'll explain on the way, right now we have to get out of here and fast." They walked down the steps and through the foyer where Minister Wright saw that his front door was lying to the side askew. "Sorry about your door sir."

"You know you tripped a dozen alarms when you did that."

"That's why we need to move quickly sir," Agent Poole said as they stopped at the door. "All clear?"

"Velcro sir!" Came the response and that was all the men needed. Men with weapons were arrayed everywhere, some carrying submachine guns for close quarters combat and others carrying assault rifles. There were twelve men and four black, government-owned, armored Suburbans sitting in the driveway, all of them pointed away from the house, ready to go. Drivers were behind each wheel and Minister Wright and his wife were separated and placed into two of the vehicles along with four agents per vehicle. Agent Poole went with Minister Wright and the moment the doors were shut, the vehicles speed off down the driveway with no care for anything but getting out of Dodge immediately.

---

• • •

[Cotland]

Embassy of the Realm of Cotland
Layarteb City, Layarteb
9 June, 2015

The Cottish Ambassador to Layarteb was worried. Not worried to the extent that he would start raising an alarm, but worried nonetheless. The meeting he was scheduled to have with the Emperor on 1 June had been rescheduled for 5 June, which in itself was not a big worry – rescheduling happened from time to time. However, the meeting was rescheduled yet again from 5 June to 9 June, then outright cancelled just moments ago, the Ambassador started worrying. Cancelling a scheduled meeting with the ambassador to arguably the closest ally the Empire had was a serious deal, especially since the meeting was to discuss the final details around the scheduled royal visit to the Empire that King Sverre II had planned for late June.

An encrypted email with his worries had been typed up and sent to the Foreign Ministry in Oslo. Also included in the email was an inquiry into whether the Ministry knew if anything was amiss with the Emperor or his health, anything that could explain the unusual treatment given to the Ambassador.

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 01:23 hrs [UTC-5]
Saddle River, New Jersey
NJ-17 Southbound
(41° 0' 26" N, 74° 6' 13" W)

The four-vehicle convoy reached NJ-17 less than three minutes later, owing largely to their blowing down the empty, residential roads at over 60 mph, twice over the posted speed limit. The vehicles could move faster and still maintain stability but to go faster could invite a collision that much easier. As they turned onto the southbound ramp, sped around the cloverleaf and onto the highway, Minister Wright perked up in his seat and tapped Agent Poole, who was sitting in front of him, on the shoulder. "Now do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"Sir, at zero-dark-forty hours, a general order was issued to the National Military Command Center to initiate SNAPCOUNT status and activate SIOP," Minister Wright knew this from his conversation with Captain Wynne but he played dumb for now. "The SNAPCOUNT status was activated by the Emperor using his override code, which breaks all protocol and assumes that the National Command Authority is fully compromised. The NMCC, baffled by the order, immediately set out to verify with the Minister of Defense. Minister Sanders issued a contravening order to the NMCC using his override code to stand down SNAPCOUNT status.

"It was at this time that the NMCC activated the emergency distress network. That network sends out three teams of twelve agents from the DPG, one to each of the National Command Authorities' locations. You being the furthest away were the last to be reached sir. You are my responsibility.

"The team that reached the Minister of Defense did so at oh-one-hundred. The team made entry to the house and found the Minister of Defense and his wife dead sir." That hit Minister Wright like a ton of bricks. "The Minister of Defense was shot and killed at close range with a pistol, two very tight rounds to his head, both from behind. His wife was killed in the bed, also by two rounds. There was no sign of forced entry. That team surmised that this was a very professional assassination carried out by elite agents sir. We feared, rolling up to your location, that you were compromised as well.

"Within sixty seconds of our agents' arrival, the Emperor used his override again to reinitiate SNAPCOUNT; however, due to protocols, the system is on hold for thirty minutes from the moment the Emperor issued his second request at oh-one-hundred. We're rapidly running out of time for that."

"Is the Emperor compromised?"

"We don't know that sir. Our team that was sent to Governors Island has not reported in and we believe that they have been killed or captured sir. They would have made contact within five minutes of the issuance of the SNAPCOUNT order."

"I didn't even know these units existed Agent Poole."

"Sir, none of the NCA does. It is part of a covert element within SIOP directed by the NMCC. We are routed through the DPG but it is merely a cover sir."

"What's the plan then Agent Poole?"

"We're running this one by the hip sir, just to be square. Our protocols demand that we take you to Site R in Pennsylvania via helicopter out of Teterboro but I am not doing that Minister."

"Why is that Agent?"

"Sir I believe that whomever executed the Minister of Defense and his wife likely knows about this unit and likely is aware of the SOPs. I believe they will be waiting at Teterboro to kill you and your wife sir."

"Where are we headed then?"

"Kinzua Dam sir."

"Where is that?"

"Near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border sir. It's an auxiliary site that isn't even on our manifest. It's not even our backup site so I believe that we can utilize it as a safe haven. It's fully functional but it is three hundred and fifty miles away from here. It will take too long to get there by car."

"How are we getting there then?"

"The NMCC is directing a pair of helicopters to put down at the Picatinny Arsenal, that's forty miles away. We should be there in under thirty minutes sir. The helicopters will take us to Kinzua Dam where the NMCC is having an advance crew prepare the facility."

"For?"

"Sir, I don't know who you were speaking to on the phone but I presume it was the NMCC. They have their protocols and they cannot break them. If SNAPCOUNT status resumes, our missiles will be ready to launch by oh-one-forty sir. It takes five minutes to load targeting data and verify it is accurate. Once that happens sir the NMCC can issue the launch orders.

"Kinzua Dam is a top secret facility. Its location is hidden from all but a very small group of people sir; and for that reason, it is not on anyone's targeting list. It is not near any major military facilities or minor installations. The facility is hardened and built to withstand nuclear strikes within the regional area and survive. That's where we are going sir."

"We have to prevent the NMCC from issuing a launch. What more do you know about the status and state of the Emperor?"

"Information is sketchy at best sir. The Emperor may very well be compromised and a coup of sorts could have occurred. We have been trying to liaise with the Emperor's Chief of Security but we cannot get in touch with anyone at the Fortress of Comhghall. As near as we can tell, all communications have been cut off save for one line, which runs direct to the NMCC. We are unable to reach anyone on radio or by cellular phone either and we fully believe that some sort of jamming is in place. Our agents cannot even be tracked by their GPS."

"If the Emperor is compromised we have to stop SIOP from being enacted Agent Poole. That means we need to get to Kinzua faster than fast. What is our current ETA?"

"Sir we're not going to make it in time but we're going to try. We're tracking to be at Picatinny by oh-one-forty-five sir. We're moving at one-twenty now and that's about as fast as we can 'safely' push these things. From there to Kinzua is two hundred and forty miles sir. We won't arrive until just after oh-three-hundred sir. If SNAPCOUNT goes back into effect sir, our missiles will be on their way to targets by the time we reach Picatinny. Within thirty minutes sir, we'll have inbounds landing in our country."

"Our helicopters?"

"Shielded against EMP sir. They'll be moving fast but there's only so fast we can move. If you have any special plays I would suggest using them to buy us some time." Agent Poole's phone rang and he excused himself, picked it up, and hit the CALL button. "This is Poole. Roger that. Confirmed? Shit. All right get out of Dodge fast. Move to a fallback point and regroup. We need to find out what happened to Alpha Team." He hung up the phone, "Sir the Deputy Minister of Defense and his wife are dead too. Whatever team hit them was just as professional. It's likely that your successor, Deputy Minister Spears is already dead sir."

"All right I need to make a call then," Minister Wright picked up his phone and dialed the number to the NMCC. "This is Minister Wright, 'Bravo, Charlie, Four, Four,' this is FLASH priority. I need to speak to Captain Wynne immediately and yes I'll hold." Minister Wright waited all of thirty seconds before Captain Wynne answered the phone.

"Sir, I have you on GPS moving quite fast."

"Thank you Captain, now I have more information on the situation. It is likely that the Emperor is fully compromised. I want you to disregard any and all orders issued by him or anyone using his personal authorization code or his override status. That is not protocol but that's what we need to do right now."

"Sir we can't do that."

"You can," Minister Wright said, closing his eyes and searching his mind, "in the SIOP manual there is a scenario for this situation. You need to reference it and enact those steps. Effective immediately, I am assuming the position of the Office of the Emperor of Layarteb," he checked his watch, "at oh-one-thirty, June the ninth, two thousand and fifteen. Make the log entry Captain and issue the change of command orders throughout the NMCC."

"Sir…"

"Captain, there are no inbound missiles correct? No threats? Nothing makes sense right?"

"No sir."

"There's been a coup Captain. The National Command Authority is broken. The Minister of Defense is KIA and so is the Deputy Minister of Defense. My successor may be dead. The Emperor is not acting rationally and SIOP cannot be implemented."

"Sir, it's just I have no authority here for that."

"Who does?"

"I do sir," replied another voice on the line, a voice that Captain Wynne knew to be very familiar.

"General Ross, thank God you're on the line."

"Sir, what's going on here?"

"I haven't the slightest clue General but I need your help on this to prevent a nuclear holocaust."

"Minister I can do everything I can do but I'm still bound by orders."

"I understand that General," Minister Wright said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "All right what's the protocol?"

"There aren't any Minister, this is something completely off of the beaten path. We have SOPs in SIOP for this and I'm looking at them now but they don't make sense."

"What do you mean General?"

"Sir, these haven't been updated since we instituted the SIOP back in 1981. We have to verify that the Emperor is compromised and that the Minister of Defense is dead."

"Wait one on that front," Minister Wright held the phone now to his chest. "Agent Poole, the NMCC needs confirmation that Minister Sanders is dead."

"Local police are on the scene sir, they can contact the Manhasset Police Department."

"General, local police are on scene at the Minister of Defense's house. Contact the Manhasset Police Department for confirmation and use every trick you can use."

"One moment Minister," General Ross issued the orders in the background and then returned to the phone, "now for the hard part Minister."

"There's only one way to know for sure General. We have to send a unit there to get eyes on the situation."

"That could be a suicide order sir."

"Then we'd know?" Minister Wright said, unhappy about asking the General to send men to die. "We have to hold the SIOP until we can ascertain. Is that in the SOPs?"

"Sir even if it weren't; I would want to verify. I know what SIOP entails."

"General, was a targeting package selected when the SNAPCOUNT order was initiated?"

"It was not Minister."

"Then we have time. We have time and we need to utilize it. How long until we can verify?" General Carlos Ross went quiet. As the head of the Imperial Layartebian Strategic Force, he and his men were the tip of the spear when it came to SIOP. It was his men who would turn the launch keys and his men who would send the emergency action messages to the SSBNs operating in the world's oceans, and it was his men who would be tasked with finding a way to survive Armageddon so that a second strike could be launched and, depending on the scenario, a third even, as if two full rounds of nuclear exchanges weren't enough…

"Minister, we can launch a support team out of Stewart in a few minutes but they're not infantrymen, they're support soldiers. They're the closest we have."

"Then you'd better be ready to write up some citations and medal reports General. Send them in and let's find out what's really going on there but make sure we have a backup plan. What's their ETA?"

"From Stewart to Governors Island is," General Ross consulted with someone in his office and then came back, "fifty-five miles Minister."

"That won't take a helicopter more than twenty minutes or so, correct?"

"That is correct Minister."

"Very well, send in more than one and hold one back. If one helicopter gets attacked we'll know and we'll know right away that the Emperor is compromised. You'd better send them armed with someone who knows how to shoot."

"Roger that Minister…"

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 01:29 hrs [UTC-5]
Paterson, New Jersey
I-80 Westbound
(40° 54' 29" N, 74° 10' 22" W)

In the past six minutes, Minister Wright's convoy had covered nearly twelve miles of highway. They'd kept going south on NJ-17 where they merged onto the Garden State Parkway, still heading southbound. Ultimately, that led them to Interstate 80, which they would take all the way to the Picatinny Arsenal to their west. Blowing down the road at 120 mph was harrowing but the drivers were trained to do it in thicker, heavier traffic than existed on the highways this early, Tuesday morning. They had their lights on and the vehicles screamed government and thus, when they blew past a New Jersey State Trooper on the Garden State Parkway, he took one look at the vehicles and went back to his paperwork, though he did call it into dispatch, just in case. The gig was up though; anyone tracking Minister Wright would now know that they weren't going for Teterboro.

It was then that Agent Samuel Winder, sitting behind Minister Wright, heard his phone beep. "All right that's what I wanted to hear," he said, putting it to his ear. "Give me the bad news. We are? That's not what I wanted to hear. Thanks."

"Winder what's up?" Agent Poole called from the front seat, looking in the rearview mirror.

"We're transmitting Poole. Something is transmitting our location actively."

"GPS?"

"GPS," Agent Winder said. "They'll know we aren't heading to Teterboro anymore."

"Shit!" Screamed Minister Wright, he quickly yanked the battery out of his phone. He'd done it so rapidly that the battery flew out of his hand and flew into the backseat. "I need a light right now!" He yelled and quickly, the agent sitting next to him, Agent Donald Spaeth quickly yanked out a small flashlight from his belt and turned it on, hitting Minister Wright's phone with a very powerful 1000 lumen beam of LED white light. In his hand, he yanked off a cover underneath the battery and using his thumb nail pulled out a small CR2032 flat battery from inside of the phone. This one fumbled out of his hands just as quickly.

"You want to tell me what that's about sir?"

"They were tracking me. I asked the NMCC to keep a track on me." Agent Poole turned in his seat to look into the eyes of the Minister of the Interior and his look said it all. "I didn't know if you were friend or foe so I had the NMCC keeping tabs on me in case."

"That wasn't smart sir but under the circumstances…No I'm sorry sir it was not smart. They know we're heading west now."

"That's not a problem," called the driver, Agent Arthur Stonebraker. "If we were going to Site R we would be going this precise route until we reached Mahwah then we'd turn onto I-287 southbound. We're okay so long as we aren't transmitting anymore."

"Winder."

"On it," Agent Winder picked up his phone and redialed the number. Before he'd sent a text message to be discrete about the tracking but now it didn't matter. "Roy are we still transmitting? No? Okay. You're sure. One hundred…Yes I know I am being thorough."

"No?"

"Nope," Winder said as he ended the call. Agent Poole was relieved but they were in a bit of a jam now. They needed a phone to confer with the NMCC and Minister Wright's was no good.

"I need a phone Agent Poole," Minister Wright said. "It's half passed the hour. SNAPCOUNT just came off of its automatic hold. I need to be in contact with the NMCC right away."

"Stonebraker where is your phone?"

"Right inside pocket, be careful we've got some cars ahead and we've got to slow it down some." In his left ear was an ear piece connected to the team's secure radio. He was listening to the driver of the lead car making calls of what was up ahead. Because they were moving so fast they needed to all be in sync with one another.

Carefully, Agent Poole retrieved the cell phone and handed it back to Minister Wright. They were just as secure as the Minister's phone but unlike his, they didn't have any possibility for GPS tracking. That was something the agents in this special protection group purposely fought for and won. Dialing the number to the NMCC, Minister Wright waited until Captain Wynne came online, "Captain kill the tracking now!"

"Sir it went offline is everything okay?"

"It's fine but kill it now and lock it out," Minister Wright said, exasperated.

"Done sir. Sir, SNAPCOUNT is off of hold and active."

"How long?"

"Approximately nine and a half minutes until we're ready to receive the target package data sir."

"General are you on?"

"He isn't sir; do you want me to transfer?"

"Yes…Wait…" Minister Wright quickly got the number to the phone and repeated it back. "No tracking but this is how you reach me. Now transfer."

"Yes sir."

"Minister, SNAPCOUNT is active."

"Yes I am aware General. You've confirmed with Manhasset Police?"

"I spoke to a Detective Charlie Aimes on scene. He said it was a very professional job. What's going on here Minister?"

"I cannot say for sure but our country is in danger. Someone has taken control of the Emperor's island and his office and whomever is in control has enacted SIOP."

"Minister, I think we're in disagreement there."

"What are you saying General?"

"Sir, I'm saying I don't believe the Emperor is being forced into this." Silence clung to the air. That was a bold and ruinous statement, treasonous even. It was so bold that Minister Wright didn't know what to say in response. "Sir allow me to explain. We run voice analysis on all calls. We've run it on you sir. You can tell a lot from a person's voice. The Emperor's voice checked out to a 'T' and he is the one to make that call. He did not give any duress code and his voice analysis does not indicate distress."

"General, I'm not fully certain he isn't being held hostage."

"Then why not give the duress signal sir? Why is his voice normal?"

"General, the Emperor is an old hand. He's been at war before as you and I have but beyond anything you or I have experienced, he ran special operations way behind enemy lines. I think the least frightening thing to the man is a gun to his head. Wouldn't you General?"

"Sir I am still inclined to trust the equipment we have here." GEN Ross said from the other end of the line.

"Did you order the helicopters to go General?"

"Yes sir, they'll be on their way in about ten minutes," Minister Wright checked his watch. It was 01:32 and SNAPCOUNT had been running for two minutes now. He couldn't initiate another stop and he knew it. The only men who could do that was the man who initiated it in the first place or…

"General, I need you to put an indefinite hold on SNAPCOUNT but I need you to do it quietly. If you announce it to the principles something will change. The National Command Authority is broken right now."

"Minister…"

"General, look at the threat board. There isn't a single threat out there, correct?"

"Correct sir."

"Put the hold in place."

"Why am I doing it secretly sir?"

"I want to know what the targets are. That will help us understand what is going on, at least more than we know now."

"Minister…"

"General, we cannot initiate SIOP. We have no threats. Either one of two scenarios is playing out right now. Either, to your side, the Emperor has gone mad and initiated Armageddon, which is unlikely in my book; or, to my side, highly skilled and professional forces have taken control over Governors Island and the Emperor in the process. Most countries operate on a two-man rule, we're one of the few that I am aware of that operate on a three-man rule. We've always kept the third man, in this instance me, completely in the dark. No one outside of my protection detail, whom I didn't even know existed until this incident, the NMCC, and the other principles in the NCA knows the existence of the third-man or who his identity is. Until 2009 it wasn't even me General."

"I am aware sir. It sat with the Minister of Foreign Affairs."

"It did but that has been rotated accordingly. Now if I can be trusted to initiate Armageddon then I need to be trusted not to initiate it. The Emperor is compromised one way or another. Put a hold on SNAPCOUNT General. An indefinite hold General. We need this sorted out fully." Silence existed on the other end of the line for a few more seconds.

"Sir, I'll give the order…" It was 01:34 and SNAPCOUNT was less than six minutes away from being completed, at which point the targeting details would come into the NMCC. Picatinny Arsenal was getting closer and the flight crew on standby was going through a hasty preflight check of their Black Hawks. There were two of them spinning up at Picatinny Arsenal, fully fueled and ready to go. They had the range to get to Kinzua Dam and back but they weren't going to be coming back. The pilots and their aircraft would be staying with Minister Wright and his detail. The Black Hawks were the best chance he could have to get safely away from any spot before military action was initiated against it.

---

• • •

[Terra Reborn]

Charles W. Allen, 1st Viscount Allen GCG KAE
Embassy of the Empire of Apilonia to the Empire of Layarteb
Layarteb City, the Empire of Layarteb
Monday 8th June 2015, 2330hrs Local Time (1930hrs Imperial Capital Time, 0330hrs Zulu Time (9/6/15))

Charles W. Allen was not the sort of man to be easily unnerved.

A long-serving veteran of the Imperial Diplomatic Service, the recently ennobled 1st Viscount Allen of Anchorage, who also happened to be a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of Saint Gabriel, the award generally given for diplomatic service,, and a Knight Commander of the Most Noble Order of the Apilonian Empire, a high award given for distinguished service to the Empire as a whole, was a very competent and highly respected diplomat. He had been instrumental in negotiating the Allen Agreement with the Dutch in 2012, following the stand-off as a result of the Empire’s of the Dutch’s heavy-handedness during their occupation of the islands. He had also been instrumental in bringing South India into the Empire, if only for a little while whilst it got back on its feet, indeed there was an South Indian Carrier in construction at the Imperial Shipyards that would be called the Charles W. Allen. He had ascended rapidly through the ranks of the Diplomatic Service and had been awarded plum position after plum position and was widely agreed to be the most likely person to succeed the Countess of Thurston as the Imperial Foreign Secretary, when she eventually stepped down, a fact that made his ascension to the nobility awfully fortuitous.

It had hardly been surprising that, following the Assassination of King Walker and the recall of the Duke of the Yukon to help advise the young King Arthur, Allen had been chosen to replace the Duke as the Imperial Ambassador to the Empire of Layarteb, which the Duke had held for many years. It had been intended that Lord Allen would remain as the Ambassador until such time as Countess Thurston stood down, it was deemed to be a positive influence for the Empire’s highest representative to its closest ally to have a long-term appointment. Being in a much safer and more stable country had allowed him to bring his family, his wife and youngest daughter, to the residence at the Embassy, something which he had not been able to enjoy before. For the months that had passed since his assignment things had been relatively quiet.

Unfortunately over the past week or so, all that had changed.

The Emperor of Layarteb had not been seen in public, or at all for that matter, in over a week, and the word was that the Layartebian Government was working without any real input from the Emperor. Although this could be an indication of illness this would be unusual, and in any event it was being denied anyway, but in any event it was totally out of character for the Emperor and that alone was disturbing. Lord Allen had exchanged a number of phone calls, emails and various other messages with the Foreign Office in Karin regarding the situation, and dropped several diplomatic notes requesting informally to know if anything was wrong with the Emperor, as a concerned ally. As the time since last sighting of the Emperor had passed to a week the Imperial Foreign Office had made a formal request for information regarding the Emperors’ status, and had received no response beyond that he was apparently okay. It went without saying that the Apilonians were concerned, both on a personal and political level, for the Emperors well-being and safety.

It was for that reason that, this morning, the Imperial Intelligence Community had, for the first time since the entrance of the Empire into the October Alliance proactively attempted to gain information on the state of affairs in the Empire of Layarteb, rather than the mainly passive efforts that had occurred since. It wasn’t anything particularly invasive, much less anything actually hostile, rather they were just making an actual proactive effort, and GCHQ was monitoring non-secured chatter for anything of interest. Unfortunately there was only so much they could do and Allen, the Diplomatic Staff, the Foreign Officer and His Majesty’s Government as a whole were as much in the dark as anyone else about what was going on, and there was a degree of unease that no one particularly liked feeling.

All of which had Lord Allen unnerved, and whilst he did his best to keep a positive attitude for the sake of his staff, all of whom looked to him for guidance, deep down he was worried about what was going to happen next. Perhaps the Emperor would suddenly reappear, but in his experience an absence like this was never a good sign, whether short term or long term, there were usually consequences. He just hadn’t thought he’d ever seen one in the likes of the Empire of Layarteb.

Which raised the question on everyone’s lips:

What the hell was going on in the Empire of Layarteb?

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 01:40 hrs [UTC-5]
Paterson, New Jersey
I-80 Westbound
(40° 53' 22" N, 74° 28' 33" W)

"How far away are we?" Agent Poole asked as he held the phone to his ear, the men at Picatinny Arsenal on the other line.

"Six miles," responded Agent Stonebraker, "tell them we're about eight or so minutes out and it's time to get the rotors spinning if they need to," he didn't look away from the road. They'd lost some time, having to brake down to an average speed of only 96 mph versus the 120 mph they had been at before. The thicker traffic pretty much guaranteed that 120 mph wasn't going to cut it. Their objective was to keep Minister Wright - and by proxy his wife and themselves - alive. It did no one any good if they crashed en route.

"Six miles, eight minutes, give or take," Agent Poole responded. In the backseat, Minister Wright's phone - well technically Agent Stonebraker's phone - chirped.

Minister Wright lifted the phone to his ear, "Wright here."

"Sir," responded GEN Ross. His voice was strained and clearly he didn't know how else to break some sort of terrible news. "The targeting package came in just now."

"What is it General?"

"Are you familiar with OPPLAN-42A sir?"

"No I'm not."

"Are you familiar with all of the attack plans sir?"

"No I'm not General, there are too many of them."

"There are tens of thousands of scenarios sir," GEN Ross said, trying to avoid saying what he had to say. "OPPLAN-42A is a relative new one sir and it is very volatile. It isn't in our SIOP briefings yet. It's a scenario worked out by NMCC planners. It isn't even fully approved by the NMCC yet sir."

"So why is it available General?"

"It's an 'unofficial' scenario sir. It's yellow gated but that's as far as it has gone. That's enough to get it into the book."

"Who knows about this?"

"Only two people sir. The Emperor and Minister Sanders."

"General you're telling me that the only people who know about whatever this plan is are compromised or dead?"

"Yes sir."

"General what's the plan?" Silenced filed the car. The agents were eavesdropping because they knew the gravity of the situation and they needed to know it fully. Minister Wright saw this and opted to just put the phone on speaker. One way or another, everyone was in this mess. "General you're on speaker with the protection team. I want them to understand what is at stake here."

"Yes sir. OPPLAN-42A is a fictional, 'World War' scenario involving the organization known as Virtue and an alliance between the Soviets, the Chinese, and the Hi No Motons. It envisions encroachment by Virtue members along with an offensive against Hainan by China. In the midst of this, the Soviets make a move on the Cottish and Hi No Moto, taking advantage of the confusion moves against our islands in the Pacific. It specifically targets the Republic of Khorsuni Nation, the Republic of La Plata, the pro-Virtue parts of Rome, Puerto Saulo where Virtue is headquartered, China, Hi No Moto, and the Soviet Union.

"It is a very involved plan that aims at devastation beyond what has so far been imagined." Everyone held their breath in the car. They didn't know what to say to this and General Ross wasn't done speaking. "It is not a quick scenario by any means. It includes all assets of our nuclear triad. Primarily it takes twenty-four hours to get all of our assets into place. The first are the submarines, which must move into various launch boxes. This takes the most amount of time. Next our stealth bombers, our cruise missile carriers, and even our stealth fighters are loaded with nuclear weapons and flown to first strike targets in these countries. Their aim is a coordinated, simultaneous strike against command and control and launch response targets. It aims to cripple our enemy's ability to launch strategic nuclear weapons at us.

"The third phase involves a full launch of our SLBMs against missile fields and airfields. The missiles will arrive within minutes of their target denying our enemy the ability to launch an effective counterattack against us. It is unlikely that our enemies would be able to learn the true source of the attack in the time between the aircraft strikes and our SLBM strikes. We then use our ICBMs to take out whatever remaining counterforce targets still exist as well as civilian population centers that were not struck in the initial strikes. Our mobile ballistic missiles are kept in reserve along with tactical nuclear bombs and half of our SLBM force for follow on strikes, should they be required."

"General are you telling me that someone in the NMCC has devised a plan using nuclear weapons to completely eliminate the ability of our biggest enemies to use their own weapons and in doing so kill over a billion people?"

"Sir, it's what we do in the NMCC." The comment hung there. "It's our job function."

"That's a terrible job function General. Can we stop it?"

"Technically sir, we cannot. Not unless the Emperor rescinds the order. It's specifically designed to override the three-man rule. It's the only plan that involves that metric, which is why it isn't official yet sir. Though it's meant to be used in a scenario of hostilities, it is most effective as a surprise attack."

"How would we even achieve that as a surprise General?"

"Sir, with the extensive satellite mapping and reconnaissance we've conducted we know our targets. Our stealth aircraft generally operate from airfields with underground or buried hangars. Aircraft would take off before or after satellite passes and assume civilian air traffic routes. Fighters would penetrate enemy airspace at low level using terrain masking. It's largely dependent on stealth aircraft. Ballistic missile submarines, as you know, move very stealthily and quietly in the oceans. Any SSBN with a potential tail immediately sends a message noting as such and its targets are given to a different submarine."

"General how many ballistic missile submarines do we have deployed right now?"

"Sixteen sir, which translates to four hundred and eighty missiles. Based on the warhead loads that gives us sixty-four missiles with nine megaton warheads and four hundred and sixteen missiles with eight warheads a piece. That's thirty-three hundred and twenty-eight warheads sir with five hundred and fifty kilotons a piece."

"General, I hate nuclear weapons," Minister Wright said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. At the same time as he said this, Agent Poole's phone chirped and he answered it right away. Minister Wright aimed to block out that conversation and focus on General Ross. "General, I want a way to stop this."

"Sir, the orders are on hold because I put SNAPCOUNT on hold."

"Wait a minute," Minister Wright's brain cycled through things. He took the phone off of speaker and put it back up to his right ear. "You said this is a twenty-four hour plan. Why are the missiles being run up at the fastest possible rate?"

"Sir I cannot answer that, it is how the orders came in, the plan isn't meant to be rushed."

"Counter detection," Minister Wright said. "Whoever's pushing the Emperor to order it is afraid of counter detection."

"That means they're unfamiliar with OPPLAN-42A sir. It's designed to avoid detection because it isn't rapid."

"Whoever is pushing the buttons knows of its existence but not of its context. That works to our favor General because that means the Emperor isn't the one making the decisions. Something's gone down on Governors Island. Where are you helicopters?"

"Sir they just launched two minutes ago," Minister Wright checked his watch. It was 01:44 and Picatinny Arsenal was getting closer.

"General, how long until the bombers launch?"

"Four to six hours, it depends. Some of the furthest targets require very long flights from our B-4 Magnums. The majority of the cruise missiles are launched from B-3 Zeus' but there are some B-1 Lancers involved. There are various windows we will exploit to avoid counter detection from satellites. Preparations are conducted inside of hangars and shelters and communications blackouts go into effect at all strategic bases. No one can so much as send a text message that something is up, sir it's foolproof."

"It's going to get us all killed like fools General."

"Yes sir it is. Establishing control on Governors Island is crucial."

"It is General but for now we're on hold. We have a four to six hour window before whoever is doing this knows that the plan is stopped. Can it be overridden?" General Ross didn't answer right away and not because he'd stepped away from the phone. "General, can your order to hold SNAPCOUNT be overridden?"

"Yes sir…"

"How?" Minister Wright was furious and he was showing it. His voice boomed in the car, interrupting Agent Poole's own conversation.

"There are two terminals that can directly issue orders to the NMCC. One is in the Ministry of Defense, guarded at all times by men from the same unit that is protecting you right now."

"And the other General?"

"Governors Island in a secure room buried deeply underneath the island sir, likewise guarded."

"General I'll call you back in a few moments." Minister Wright put down the phone as he ended the call. "Agent Poole do you have contact with those agents?"

"Not directly Minister," he ended his conversation and put the phone down. "Bad news sir."

"More bad news?"

"Yes sir, Team Two, assigned to the Minister of Defense and his deputy have made contact at your deputy's residence. They didn't find any bodies but they found evidence of a struggle and a kidnapping. Deputy Minister Spears is likely being held hostage sir."

"This just gets better. Agent Poole we need to be in contact with those agents. They may very well be the only people on Governors Island who can tell us what is going on, especially if they're buried in some closet. How many will there be?"

"Four at most sir."

"Get them on the phone. We don't have a lot of time."

"Picatinny coming up boys," Agent Stonebraker said as the convoy came around the last bend. The exit was up ahead and the sign said as much.

---

• • •

[Amigard]

Cathedral of Saint Michael
Baghdad, Iraq Diocese
June 6, 2015-09:15hrs

Deputy Minister Allen Cartwright stormed past the stage crew as he left the press conference, the young male aid fumbling behind him trying to keep up with the mans angry strides through the corridors of the Cathedral.

“Sounds unprecedented to me” Cartwright mumbled angrily in a mocking tone as he pounded on the button to the elevator that would take him down to the lower levels of the complex. The elevator doors opened and the deputy minister entered in followed by his aid.

The doors closed and the elevator lurched downward “Have we got anything back from the ambassador’s office?” Cartwright asked the aid as he ran his hand through his greying black hair.

“No sir” the aid replied meekly “we have been informed by the Ministry of Defense, however, that the Salvation Carrier Battle Group left port approximately a half hour ago and the Righteous Fury Carrier Strike Group is due to leave port within the hour.”

“Fuckin knee jerk reaction didn’t help matters any” Cartwright fumed “Emperor ducks under the radar for a few days and we respond by putting the military on alert status and scrambling our naval assets?! That was fun trying to explain.”

The news about the Emperor of Layarteb fading from the public eye broke a little more than twenty four hours ago but the Theocracy’s National Security Service had been aware of it for couple of days prior as assets within the Empire had noted that something was going on, specifically the notice of various cancellations in the Emperors schedule all at once. Most of what they were going on was rumor but it was fairly obvious after a fairly short amount of time that the Emperor’s visible activity had decreased significantly and this raised some alarms for the ANSS.

When this information was passed onto the Ministry of Defense the response was one of anxiety and concern. If the Emperor of Layarteb had “gone underground” as it were, perhaps the Empire was anticipating something very big and very bad was about to happen. If the MOD had it their way, Cardinal Rasheed would already be in a secured bunker but the Cardinal was not about to have that. It was hardly a situation that called for panic. Still, they had convinced him to authorize a heightened alert status for the military which meant military assets were being activated and put into pre-designated positions throughout the Theocracy and the Theocracy’s covert assets were also being called up and put into play.

Amigard satellites were being directed to monitor major Layartebian military bases and outposts and attempting to track any significant military deployments largely in an attempt to determine if the Empire was in fact responding to some form of crisis or threat.

“Fuckin reporters” Cartwright spat “let’s make a mountain out of a mole hill! I’m trying to give them some information and all they want to do is make us look stupid, like we have no idea what the hell is going on! Did you hear that one guy ‘So the administration is in the dark then?’ what a piece of crap!”

The aid looked down at the floor and tried to restrain the small smile that was attempting to form on his lips. Odds were good; most people in Amigard wouldn’t even see the press conference. The Amigard News Network was not likely to run it any more than the government told them to and the other networks were generally fighting over scraps in terms of ratings and actual number of viewers. ANN was not going to emphasize the increased military alert status and even if it did the network was likely to accept and propagate the official reasoning offered by the administration.

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 01:48 hrs [UTC-5]
Wharton, New Jersey
Picatinny Arsenal
(40° 55' 0" N, 74° 34' 50" W)

Pulling through the gates at Picatinny Arsenal was easier than Minister Wright expected. He had to hand it to his security detail, they left no stone unturned and as the four vehicles pulled through the gate, soldiers in full combat gear snapped to attention and saluted. It was a surreal feeling for, as the Minister of the Interior, his position did not warrant a salute. It was a sobering thought, I am the Commander-in-Chief - acting or not… He thought to himself as the vehicles passed a pair of lightly armored trucks with manned heavy machine guns and more soldiers standing around. "Agent Poole is that a platoon of soldiers?"

"Yes sir, the arsenal is protected by a battalion of men. They're all on alert. We're not staying for long though sir. Just beyond the trees are the ball fields. We have two Black Hawks spinning up right now sir."

"Thank you," was all Minister Wright could muster as he looked at the darkness around Picatinny Arsenal's main entrance. The whole complex was 6,400 acres and they would only see a small portion of the army's premier research and development facility. Every new toy classified under "small arms" that soldiers got to use on the battlefield came out of Picatinny Arsenal's thorough development and testing program. It was here that the Layartebian Defense Corporation trialed the 6.8x51mm rifle round, the M25A1 Punisher, and many others here, all successfully. Minister Wright had only brief moments to contemplate this as the vehicles sped along the road, covering all of 600 meters from the gate to the further Black Hawk in a matter of thirty seconds.

With the screeching of tires, the four SUVs came to a halt on the right side of the ballfields. The two Black Hawks to their left already had their rotors spinning. The noise was deafening, even inside of the vehicles and Agent Poole quickly turned around, "Not yet sir," ordering Minister Wright to stay in the vehicle. "Spaeth, Winder, check it out," he ordered and both men quickly got out of the vehicle and moved in a low crouch to the two separate Black Hawks, their weapons shouldered but lowered towards the ground. If they had to raise and shoot it would be a matter of milliseconds, for that was what their training dictated.

Minister Wright noticed that not only was his vehicle still running but that Agent Stonebraker's foot was on the brake pedal. If they needed to get out in a hurry, they could; though, for Minister Wright, that seemed foolish. Both Black Hawks carried light machine guns that could pepper the armored vehicles with 7.62-millimeter ammunition at a high rate of fire, enough to ruin both vehicles and kill everyone inside in just seconds. It wasn't a comforting thought, especially since Minister Wright's wife was only one car - and about 100 meters - behind them. She and six agents would go into the first Black Hawk while he and six agents went into the second Black Hawk. Minister Wright objected to the split but he knew the tactical necessities of it and thus his opposition to the plan was more muted than it was vocal.

With a thumb's up sign from both Agent Spaeth and Agent Winder, Agent Poole nodded to Agent Stonebraker and the vehicle was put in park and turned off, "All right Minister, we're going to move quickly. You get in first and the rest of us will follow."

"My wife?"

"She'll be fine sir." Minister Wright slid over to the left side of the vehicle and before he finished the maneuver, Agent Stonebraker already had the door open and he was yelling to go.

The sprint was all of twenty meters but it felt like two hundred against the rotor wash of the idling Black Hawk. Keeping his head down, Minister Wright wasn't able to look at the pilots but they did watch him cross and approach the cabin doors where Agent Spaeth was ready to help him aboard. Both door gunners stood at their weapons, eyeing the area around them for hostile threats. These Black Hawks didn't mount a Gatling gun but instead mounted only a pair of M35A1 Light Machine Guns, formidable but not the punisher than the Gatling gun was. "Buckle in sir," yelled Agent Spaeth as the rest of the protective detail hopped aboard. Two agents would remain at the open doors during the ascent with assault rifles in their hands, in case additional firepower was needed. Once they cleared out of the area and gained enough altitude and speed, the doors would be shut.

Once aboard and strapped in, Minister Wright was surprised to see that within fifteen seconds, the helicopter's engine pitch changed and the ground was falling away from them. The helicopters were airborne rapidly and climbing up to about one hundred feet in altitude before tilting forward and accelerating. Speed picked up and the ground rushed past them and then the doors were shut. Both agents by the door - who had come from the lead vehicle - relaxed and found empty seats. The doors gunners, on the other hand, remained vigilant at their stations.

The surreal experience lasted only seconds more before Agent Poole slapped a headset onto Minister Wright, which was connected to the aircraft's internal intercom system. "Sir, I am Chief Warrant Officer Young and my co-pilot is WO4 Morado. We're looking to arrive at Kinzua Dam in approximately ninety minutes sir. We're going to stay low to the ground to avoid radar detection; the NMCC has informed us that airborne early warning is up and searching the skies but that they're focused mainly on our south. We should be able to avoid them sir."

"And if we're not Young?"

"Sir there's nothing we can do against fighter aircraft, I'm sorry to report. We'll do our best but we cannot beat them."

"I understand. Are we connected to the NMCC on a secure frequency?"

"We are sir; General Ross is looking to speak to you in fact. It won't be a private conversation though sir. We're all connected to the same frequencies."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Myself, Morado, our two gunners, Agent Poole, the second aircraft, and yourself of course sir."

"Is my wife on intercom?"

"No sir," came a reply from a third voice that Minister Wright did not recognize. "Sir this is Agent John Davis."

"Thank you Davis, all right let me speak to General Ross." Minister Wright didn't much care for the agents hearing his conversation; he assumed that they knew anyway given their very presence. They seemed to have a near limitless amount of resources and he had to trust them because it was through them that he was still alive.

"Sir," came General Ross' voice, "I trust that you're safe and airborne?"

"I am General, what can you tell me about the military situation right now?"

"It's not good sir, I don't want to sugarcoat it. Governors Island remains blacked out but our helicopters are inbound. ETA is in six minutes," Minister Wright checked his watch; it was 01:54.

"General can we get that conversation here? I need to listen live."

"We can sir. Additional information for you, the air force has one airborne early warning up right now focusing on the routes to Site R. Based on ELINT though sir, they're focusing their search on ground vehicles, not airborne threats. The helicopters will register but they're moving too fast to be ground vehicles. We don't know if they were tracking your vehicles prior though sir but nothing indicates that they are focusing on your helicopters."

"Good General, what are the chances they can penetrate our comms?"

"None sir, we're using special frequencies that only the NMCC can coordinate. We're aware of jamming on certain other frequencies though."

"General, we need to know who is doing this and we need them alive. We need to know what capabilities these people have. They're in control of the Emperor General and through him, our nuclear arsenal. When they realize that the bombers are not yet airborne, they're going to react General. They may switch the plan and move to something else. We need to be prepared also that individuals within the NMCC may be compromised as well."

"I understand sir; I am running tight protocols right now. No one who isn't supposed to be here is and those people who are will be watched sir."

"Who has access to our comms?"

"Only myself and Captain Wynne sir and I trust him fully sir. He's on our side."

"Good General, I just hope he is."

"I will personally vouch for him. I saved the man's life one time sir. He wouldn't betray me." Minister Wright was somewhat hopeful to hear this but in truth, he didn't know Captain Wynne from a hole in the wall. He'd never met the man, never looked into his eyes, and never shook his hand.

"All right General, keep me attuned to the situation then. Let's get comms to the helicopters."

"Yes sir." Minister Wright felt the tension in his muscles and he tried to relax about the vibrating helicopter around him. It wasn't as comfortable as the Suburban had been but the prospect of airborne early warning up and looking for a high-speed ground convoy was something worrisome.

"Agent Poole, do you have a decoy convoy running right now?" Minister Wright asked.

Agent Poole shook his head though as he spoke, "No sir, we didn't have enough time to get them in place to carry on the route. I'm sorry sir."

"If we come through this then we're going to make sure we do that Agent Poole."

"Yes sir."

"Sir," it was General Ross again, "we have Mike-1 and Mike-2 online. We're connected to Second Lieutenant George English sir, commanding officer of the unit."

"Sir," it was 2LT English, "we're about four mikes away right now, we're coming in low. Our plan is to circle the island first and see if we draw anti-aircraft fire and to conduct reconnaissance. Mike-2 will make the circle while Mike-1 holds back. If it's all clear we'll put down on the island sir and move to secure the target."

"Thank you Lieutenant, you may very well be outnumbered and outgunned from the immediate. I don't want you to take unnecessary risks and lose your entire platoon but I cannot press the importance of your mission."

"Sir, I'm fully aware of the gravity of the situation. The way I see it sir, if we don't do it someone else has to and we're here now. Time is of the essence, is that right?"

"It is Lieutenant."

"Then we're pressing on sir." 2LT English didn't mention that he and his men had no combat experience, that they didn't have enough ammunition to sustain a long firefight, that two of his men had rushed out to the helicopters without his body armor because he couldn't find it, or that his platoon sergeant had a 101°F fever. They were about as combat ready as a bunch of private's right out of boot camp. They weren't even security personnel from Stewart Air Force Base, they weren't even infantrymen but General Ross didn't command the base defense personnel and he didn't trust anyone other than the men in his own command.

Minutes of quiet continued as the Black Hawks pressed on towards Kinzua and Mike flight pressed on to Governors Island. "Sir, we're eight miles out now," came 2LT English's voice. "We're going to come in low sir; Mike-2 is taking the lead." Minister Wright could only listen to 2LT English narrate the events. As he listened, Mike-2 approached Governors Island from the south side, the flight coming in at only 20 feet above the water after crossing over the Bayonne Bridge connecting Staten Island and New Jersey. Coming in that low, Minister Wright was sure that they could easily see the ships lined up on either side of the narrow waterway before they burst into Upper New York Bay. The helicopters likely kept low with Mike-1 hanging back about six miles from Mike-2, far enough away that surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns - not that the latter was available to the security team at Governors Island - wouldn't be able to track or engage them. Mike-2, on the other hand, was literally flying into the lion's den, coming over the island at 200 feet. The doors would be open and the troops inside praying that a missile wasn't locked in on them.

After a few circles, 2LT English reported that it was all clear; they could see no activity down below. Wary that they could be walking into an ambush, the helicopter made some very low-level passes around the island, low enough to see into the entrance doors and lower-floor windows. Still reporting nothing after the third pass, Mike-2 reformed over the bay and 2LT English ordered both helicopters down. They would land right in front of the building, one at a time, while the other's door gunners covered the building. They were sitting ducks but to 2LT English, it was the only way to make sure he and his men got on the ground. Four hundred meters from the entrance was close, too close even but it was worth the risk to 2LT English, whose helicopter was first to land. Seconds later, Mike-2 came down and deposited its men.

"All right sir, we're making our way to the entrance, all looks quiet." 2LT English said as he and his men moved towards the entranceway. 2LT English's signal was now being sent from his personal radio to the helicopters, which were bouncing them off to the NMCC. The frequency was separate from the one that General Ross was using but he was able to tie the two together so the operation channel could be heard over secure. It was 02:03 when they reached the entranceway to the building, finding the doors unlocked. Tense and on the edge of his seat, Minister Wright listened for a brief few seconds before, all of a sudden, and intense burst of noise filled his earphones, causing him to nearly throw the headset off of his skull. The burst of noise was high pitched, designed to hurt one's ears, and as quickly as the burst of noise erupted on the channel it was gone…

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 02:05 hrs [UTC-5]
Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania
50 mi from Picatinny Arsenal
(41° 7' 24" N, 75° 26' 58" W)

"Give me the bad news General, is it what I think it is?" Minister Wright asked after about thirty seconds of awkward, uneasy silence.

"I'm afraid so sir. We have to assume Mike-1 and Mike-2 are now lost. The enemy in control of Governors Island has full control of the island's electronic and communications jamming systems, which means they are in full and total control of Governors Island."

"General you know how impossible this is?"

"I am aware sir," General Ross' voice was labored and taxed. It was obvious that he was facing the worst situation of his lifetime. "Minister, I think it is prudent at this point to determine just what shape the Layartebian government lays."

"I agree General. Unfortunately, I have to assume that there is no one in the Layartebian government that I can trust…" He waited a few moments before completing his thought, knowing that there was someone, one person, "Well that's not necessarily true General. There is one, Minister Fisher."

"Foreign Affairs sir?"

"Yes General. The job requirement for the Minister of Foreign Affairs mandates that the candidate be a dove, not a hawk General. He and Deputy Minister Raines would be the only two people in our government who would vehemently oppose this situation more than I would. The worry is making contact with them without compromising them. Minister Fisher is due in Tripoli in less than thirteen hours. His flight will be leaving shortly," and knowing that Agent Poole was listening into the conversation, Minister Wright changed gears. "Agent Poole, it is imperative that Minister Fisher and Deputy Minister Raines be moved to secure points."

"Minister that is not part of the protocol, it will take time to arrange."

"Agent Poole," Minister Wright was only inches from snapping. "The protocol is blown to bits! However many men you have in Layarteb City need to move to this task. We cannot assume anyone else is viable. The entire Cabinet is very well compromised but these are the only two individuals we can know - for certain - would never be onboard with whatever is going on, meaning that they are useless alive. They must be reached immediately."

"I'll make the call sir."

"Good," Minister Wright turned back to General Ross now. Minister Fisher lived in southwestern Connecticut and Deputy Minister Raines lived in eastern Long Island. That would split the resources of the protection detail; and for that reason, Minister Fisher was the primary target. Overhearing Agent Poole next to him, Minister Wright could hear that SPD-2 was being sent to Minister Fisher immediately and they would figure out Deputy Minister Raines in the interim. "General, I need to know what are our capabilities right now, militarily speaking?"

"Sir that's difficult to say right now with certainty."

"Guess for me General."

"Sir, the military is viable and functional and they're taking orders from the chain of command. We have to assume that the Joint Chiefs are co-opted as well." General Ross left out, "Except for me," but he needed to make the statement as he couldn't be fully positive about his fellow generals.

"Which ultimately leaves only the resources that," Minister Wright thought for a second. "Agent Poole what is your outfit even called?"

"Sir, it's easy just to call us the 'Special Protective Detail' as our official title is meant to be a line item on a budget sheet."

"Understood. General, we only have the resources of the SPD then and whatever resources you still control. Is it safe to assume that potentially some aspects of the Strategic Force is not under your control?"

It was a hard question for General Ross to face. For certain, the NMCC was fully under his control - and with it - the keys to launch the Empire's strategic nuclear arsenal. Granted the ILSF was largely the Empire's strategic force, they did have a conventional role. Battalions of tactical missile launchers containing Thor II and Vesta missiles armed with conventional warheads did exist under the ILSF's command. General Ross didn't want to imagine a Vesta battalion with even conventional warheads involved in a coup, if this even was a coup. It was impossible to know what was going on only that it was not an exercise. "No Minister," General Ross said, throwing truth and potentiality to the wind, "the entirety of the ILSF is under my command sir."

"You're positive General? I'm not holding this one against you and I need an honest answer. The ILSF may be the only branch of the Layartebian military preventing full-scale Armageddon and I need to be absolutely certain what I have to work with here."

"Sir, I stand by my comment," General Ross said, thinking To hell with truth. They're my men, as he spoke. He didn't give thought to the small amounts of men positions at naval and air bases where tactical nuclear warheads were deployed. His men had the keys to the weapons but there might have been a squad or two at most, not nearly enough to hold out against a larger force. The entire Layartebian nuclear arsenal was at risk but the tactical weapons deployed at airfields were at even more risk. He wondered if they were already being loaded onto aircraft without his knowledge. It was possible for a coordinated effort of soldiers to overpower a squad of men quickly and with no time for a distress signal, especially if it were planned. Everyone was on the same side; his men wouldn't think to expect it. They'd been trained to resist hostile external enemies, not internal ones. The idea of a coup, while rehearsed on paper and included into SOPs wasn't the kind of scenario anyone took seriously. Damn us all to Hell, he thought again on the other end of the line.

"All right General then it's time to brainstorm. Our objective is Governors Island and we need to get control of it. It's held by a capable and dug-in enemy of unknown size and capability. We have to assume that the entire security department is dead. We have to assume that the Empire is a hostage to whatever force controls Governors Island. We have to assume they have full and total control of the island's defense mechanisms, which gives them access to heavy weaponry, electronic jamming, and surface-to-air systems. We have to assume they will be regularly patrolling the island looking for swimmers.

"We need eyes on this island General. Please tell me you have men capable of this task."

"Sir," General Ross said. "We have men specially trained for these kinds of situations."

"Tell me about them General."

"The 6th Special Operations Group is a JSOC unit but they are subordinate to me. The 6th SOG is our military SWAT unit sir and they are based out of Plattsburgh. One of their missions is to assault bases and facilities and recover them from hostile forces. They train for both foreign and domestic threats. If we activate a unit, they would be all we have on our side."

"How many men are we talking General?"

"A group has eighty-five men with forty shooters and their own air assets sir. There are sixteen groups and the closest ones are at Plattsburgh, Covington, and Groton. We have ones at Kings Bay and Norfolk too. Presumably these are out of range."

"Vet them General and get back to me ASAP. We need them all, as many as we can get."

"Sir, there is a drawback here. If we remove them from these posts we leave ourselves unable to respond in the event of an attack."

"Command and control is centralized, is it not General?"

"That's correct sir."

"And if someone were to gain nuclear weapons at any of these arsenals could they activate or use them without your input General?"

"They could but it would be difficult and it would take time. Eventually they would be able to gain access to them. Our weapons are secure and we use multiple safety systems but the individuals trained to deploy these weapons would be able to be co-opted to activate them."

"Even without the codes General?"

"Sir, they have the codes there. They're secured but they have the codes. It's part of our doctrine. If the NMCC takes a hit, our bases can deploy their weapons."

"So you're telling me that our strategic arsenal isn't as secure as we believe it to be?"

"Sir, I'm saying that we have limited time before we lose full and total control of our entire nuclear arsenal…"

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 02:15 hrs [UTC-5]
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
78 mi from Picatinny Arsenal
(41° 14' 31" N, 75° 58' 35" W)

"General, can you explain this to me," Minister Wright said, feeling his heartbeat flutter in his chest as anxiety took a hold of him. The concept that the Empire's nuclear forces weren't secured so greatly that not even the best comic book supervillain could get them was no longer true. It was all a shabby lie and Minister Wright wasn't comfortable with the idea anymore. He'd always been told that the Empire's strategic forces were impossible to steal, sabotage, or use without authorization and he'd believed into that lie because he didn't know better. Now that he did, things were falling apart all around him.

"Sir, OPPLAN-5A deals with this scenario but let me explain just how our system works. Based on theories of dispersal and standard warfighter, the strategic and tactical arsenal of the Empire is spread out in such a way that to neutralize it all in a single, first-strike is impossible. To neutralize it would require a full blown nuclear strike against each and every one of our military bases at the same time. No single country in the world has this capability. An alliance of our enemies might not even have the necessary warheads to accomplish such a task. Furthermore, to make matters more difficult, each silo would require a direct hit and every one of our mobile launchers and SSBNs would have to be neutralized.

"OPPLAN-5 and its subsets deal with this scenario sir. Under OPPLAN-5A, the assumption is that the enemies of the Empire combine forces and launch a single, coordinated strike against us. For purposes of this plan, we have taken known, published, or estimated figures for warheads, accuracy, and systems and doubled them. We are assuming that our enemies are as tightlipped and deceiving about their arsenals as we are sir.

"OPPLAN-5A assumes a massive, coordinated, and accurate first strike by our enemies utilizing SSBNs and air-launched missiles as the primary strike as these afford the shortest warning time. Under OPPLAN-5A, we assume that our command and control is completely wiped out, that all targets are military and no warheads are wasted on civilian or industrial targets. As with all 'A' plans sir this assumes worst-case scenario.

"SLBMs offer less than ten minutes warning time and the sheer number of them required exceeds what our enemies have. We assume that if we can fight against more than what exists, we can fight against what exists, standard military doctrine of making training much harder than real life.

"OPPLAN-5A would still afford us a significant retaliatory strike capability assuming only a ten percent failure rate on enemy warheads and missiles. This is beyond what any actual system has ever demonstrated. Our own weapons may have a failure rate of twenty to forty percent but we've been gradually improving that from where it was in the 1970s, which was fifty to sixty percent.

"In order to successfully fight a nuclear war under OPPLAN-5A, we have a significant early warning system in place around the country and the world. The first phase of detection is through early warning radars and EO satellites, which are designed to spot ballistic missiles. Sir, we can detect, type and classify, and track any manner of ballistic missile launched throughout the world and our satellites are sensitive enough to detect medium-sized surface-to-air missiles as well.

"These are complementary systems. If our satellites detect a launch, radar is required as a backup to ensure that we do not launch on a technical glitch. We've had scares before sir where things as simple as light refraction off of snow have caused our satellites to erroneously report a launch. Even our radars have malfunctioned sir, these things happen. This is why we have two systems to detect and work together. We have thirty minutes before any ICBM reaches us from around the world, not enough time to do anything but determine who is fighting us and counterattack. It is impossible to neutralize our strategic assets with ICBMs alone and OPPLAN-5A assumes that ICBMs are for a second-strike, not a first-strike since their launch would immediately trigger our launch and with plenty of time to respond properly. SLBMs and air-launched missiles, affording much less warning time would cripple us severely.

"Because of that, we have a series of post-attack tier systems. These include sensors designed to detect the radiological, photic, and seismic effects of a nuclear explosion. Radiation is self-explanatory. Photic refers to the bright flash associated with a nuclear detonation. Seismic refers mostly to the seismic waves caused by ground-launched weapons, which register on the Richter and other seismic scales sir.

"These sensors are placed at ground-level in all major cities, all military bases, and in many other locations around the Empire that are not directly in the blast-wave but which would receive secondary effects of a nuclear strike. Our early warning satellites can also detect the photic and thermal effects of a nuclear explosion.

"If our early warning systems are knocked out, and they could be sir through a coordinated and massive conventional strike, these sensors would allow us to determine that a nuclear strike has occurred. If the NMCC - and likely it would be sir - is neutralized and cannot affect proper command and control, there are thirty-five satellite stations of the NMCC around the Empire. None of them are in major cities or near blast zones. I don't even know where they all are sir but suffice it to say that many are located in towns of hundreds of people. You could walk past them and not know their function sir. The men who report to them give no indication of a military target.

"Each of these facilities is linked through our central net and they can monitor each substation as well as the main NMCC and all of our facilities. Any one of these can order a retaliatory strike. To neutralize these would require surgical strikes on each facility as well as neutralizing a mobile command center."

"Mobile?" Minster Wright interrupted.

"Sir, we have two trains operating at all times on our nation's rail lines with a limited command center. The trains can launch our weapons sir."

"Jesus General, this is madness."

"I would agree sir but the SIOP system is designed to withstand a decapitation strike and still launch effectively enough to neutralize our enemies. Sir we don't know the true capabilities of each nation in the world but suffice it to say sir that we have more warheads, more missiles, and more launch systems than any one nation on Earth. It would require an alliance of our enemies and the willpower of several nations at once, including the political clout to do so, to neutralize our strategic forces. The likelihood of this is remote, just as is the likelihood of our initiating a nuclear war. We bank on the natural survival instinct of mankind to prevent nuclear Armageddon sir.

"Because of this, we have dispersed our weapons and the command and control accordingly. Each facility contains the codes required to activate tactical and strategic bombs. They are locked in safes and only a few men have the combinations to them, usually both the CO and the XO and two designates. Safes cannot be opened by one man, two are required. While we have a three-man rule, we operate our military on a two-man rule. It is universally observed that the average soldier detests nuclear weaponry sir and we don't give these codes out to people who like nuclear weapons. We run strict psychological and background evaluations on everyone assuming command positions at nuclear facilities. No one who does not meet strict criteria is given the post."

"General, what you're telling me is that a Doctor Strangelove scenario could occur. Could one man order a wing of bombers into the air with nuclear weapons to strike our enemy?"

There was silence, palpable silence, and it persisted for nine seconds, an eternity to both men. "It is possible sir."

"Jesus Christ you're kidding me."

"No sir. Aside from the codes are predesignated targets. The only job of the NMCC in a nuclear scenario is to issue the orders to direct a strike. In the event that the NMCC is neutralized, we default to OPPLAN-1A sir, which would launch all of our tactical and strategic assets against the largest enemies. We would neutralize most of their command and control, civilian population centers above 500,000 persons, and military bases."

"So if the NMCC gets cut off and cannot issue orders, we have a default scenario that simply destroys everyone."

"Yes sir."

"Who devised this?"

"Men just like us sir, our predecessors, the Emperor, and other scientists. I'm afraid to tell you sir that our weapons, while secure, are not nearly as secure as we lead the world to believe. We do this to tell the world not to try anything and everyone country does the same thing. In the event of nuclear war, the only thing the NMCC transmits are the orders to launch and at what target. Our satellite facilities can do the same thing but they would likely be unable to determine just who struck us so the assumption is that each and every one of our enemies did so."

"What if our allies did?"

"The NMCC would know and be able to determine it but not our satellite stations. Simply put, time is the limiting factor. By wasting time on a retaliation we run the risk of having no missiles left to retaliate with, thus we would be forced into making a snap judgement. It's the way this works sir. That is why SSBNs are such a threat. You cannot determine the identity of an SSBN or if it is acting alone or under orders from a central government. The same goes for air-launched weaponry. You can tell who fires ICBMs, MRBMs, and IRBMs sir to the point that you can see where they are launched from and we know who has what capabilities there."

"I assume we have the same capabilities as the rest of the world, if not more?"

"We do sir and the rest of the world assumes this. It's a game to all of us. No one in position around the world - I would hope - dreams of pushing the button. If anyone professes even 'comfort' with nuclear weapons here sir, we don't put them anywhere near them. We want the people in charge of our weapons to be scared shitless of them sir, forgive my language. We want them so scared that they wouldn't dare think to act unless they were ordered to do so and they all know that if that order came it's because the world has ended. It's not like in the movies sir. No one in a launch facility has a gun to coerce someone else to fire, it's to protect against intruders. What point is holding a gun to someone's head telling them to launch, they're dead either way. They know it and that realization keeps us where we stand."

"This is shaky General."

"It is sir and any outside observer would call it ridiculous to make these assumptions sir but psychology plays such a massive role. It's why we've kept nuclear war from happening sir."

"And now? What do we have now?"

"Sir, we have someone with full knowledge of our command and control systems and exploiting them. Only a madman incapable of rational thought or reason could be behind this."

"General, that's why I don't believe the Emperor is acting on this one."

"Sir, I cannot assume anything. All that I can assume is that in the next few hours our bombers will need to be getting airborne and whoever is controlling this will see that they aren't and they'll come against the NMCC, if they aren't already. They may order airbases to take control of the weapons and thus get the weaponry in the air. It's possible to subvert the NMCC sir because that's how our command and control system works. It's highly centralized but in the event that the NMCC is neutralized, we can still fight."

"What would it take to neutralize the NMCC General?"

"No conventional weapon on Earth could do it sir."

"I don't mean with bombs General, I mean with men."

"Someone on the inside and a battalion or more of men willing to fight against their own comrades."

"What if those men exist General?"

"Then God help us all Minister."

"General, we can take nothing for granted. Is your facility locked down?"

"It is Minister but if someone is on the inside, and I must assume that there is at least one, that lockdown could be removed. There are limits to our capabilities, even here sir."

"Well boost what you need to General. You have my order as acting head of state and government that if any military force approaches the NMCC to regard them as hostile. You are the Alamo in a way General. If the NMCC falls, though OPPLAN-42A might not go into effect, others will. If OPPLAN-42A goes into effect we can neutralize a large portion of our enemy's nuclear fighting abilities but of course they'll have enough to retaliate on us. That will spark global thermonuclear war. If they go for OPPLAN-5A, there would be an immediate retaliation and the end is the same. So you see General, we have the odds heavily against us."

"Sir, we'll make all of the preparations we can immediately."

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 02:30 hrs [UTC-5]
Proctor, Pennsylvania
100 mi from Bradford Regional Airport
(41° 25' 27" N, 76° 48' 5" W)

"Sir, General, if I may interrupt," said Agent Poole over the intercom. "Would the substations act if the NMCC came under ground attack?"

"No," General Ross said. "The substations would determine that a nuclear attack was not in progress and act accordingly but it would not involve the launch of strategic assets."

"Some sort of nuclear event would need to happen then?"

"Yes Agent Poole and for that to happen we would need to track the incoming missiles or bombers."

"What if the attack came from within?" Silence…palpable silence returned.

"Agent Poole are you suggesting that a Layartebian aircraft for example attacks the NMCC with a nuclear weapon?"

"Yes General I am. What if that occurred?"

"The NMCC would be able to withstand a direct strike from any air dropped weapon."

"What about two or three or four General? What if a squadron of fighters took off, each with a single nuclear bomb and dropped them on the NMCC, not all at once because as I understand it one detonation would neutralize the rest but in a coordinated time over say thirty minutes, what would happen?"

"General?" Minister Wright asked after more silence. "General would the substations react?"

"My God they would," General Ross said on the other end of the line, his voice shaking with literal fear. "They could start a war that way."

"General it is imperative that we wrest control of Governors Island from whomever controls it and we secure every tactical nuclear device that exists. Am I correct in assuming that a ballistic missile launch from within our country against the NMCC would be detected and seen that way to the substations?"

"Yes sir."

"Then it's the tactical nukes we have to worry about then. General what's the biggest nuclear device we have that is air droppable?"

"The B101 Mod 3 with a yield of 1.2 megatons."

"How many exist?"

"Five hundred."

"Are they stationed within this theater?"

"Yes sir they are."

"General, everything that can be used without alerting early warning systems must be secured at once. Do your security teams have protocols to evacuate the devices from airfields?"

"Only abroad sir."

"General I think it's time we brought those protocols over; it's going to tip our hand but I'd rather tip our hand than let a few hundred nuclear bombs get into the hands of whatever madman have plotted and planned this scheme."

"I'll have to call you back in a short while Minister. We'll keep the line open so that you know the NMCC remains safe but I have work to tend to," General Ross said.

"Good luck and Godspeed General," said Minister Wright as he exhaled and leaned back in his seat. "This is a goddamn nightmare," he said over the aircraft intercom. "Young where are we now?"

"We've just passed Proctor sir, it's a small hamlet with a couple of dozen or so houses and a research farm. I grew up just south of here in a place called Barbours."

"What's it like?"

"Boring and quiet sir. There's a creek that runs through it, nice in the summer but once the sun goes down there isn't a thing to do but get into trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Sir, the kind that has a judge giving you two choices, jail or military."

"I'm glad you chose the military then."

"Me too sir, I don't particularly like the color orange." A laugh went out over the intercom from the door gunners and the copilot. "We're about one hundred miles from Kinzua Dam. We'll put down at a small regional airport to the east of the dam. We'll have a pair of vehicles ready there for your transport to the dam, it's about nineteen miles away from the airport."

"Does the facility have a heliport?"

"It does sir but we'll attract a lot less attention if we go to the regional airport. We use it as a training base when we do sorties in the area. The presence of two Black Hawks on the ground won't be very suspicious and the area is used to nighttime helicopter activity."

"All right that sounds optimal given the circumstances."

"Sir," it was Agent Poole. "There is an access point in a campground just on the east side of the river feeding the dam. There's a tunnel to access it that goes underneath the river. It's about a two and a half mile long tunnel. There will be a few motorized carts for us to use."

"Carts? Like golf carts?"

"Something similar sir."

"Good, I don't feel much like walking two and a half miles."

"Sir, it's all about speed." Agent Poole responded. "The facility is online and waiting for our arrival sir."

"Good, once we get there we're going to need to go over a lot of information. I want to make sure we can summarize what's happened over the past two hours and what else will have transpired by then. Agent Poole I also want us to be in direct communication with whatever team General Ross is able to muster to get down to Governors Islands. They'll have to reconnoiter the place and I doubt they'll have enough time before sunup to do anything."

"I concur and a daylight assault on Governors Island would be suicidal. We may have to ride this out for the day."

"I don't know that we have that kind of time Agent Poole. You brought up a frightening scenario and with what General Ross has confirmed about the security of our nuclear weapons, time is of the essence. We have to assume that the individuals responsible for this are also in possession of that knowledge. By nuking the NMCC, its satellite stations may assume that a single, surgical strike has hit the Empire and perhaps they'll take out a few other cities in the process to confirm that an event is underway. Faced with uncertainty, the substations will launch according to their default protocols."

"It's simply not possible sir, to secure every aircraft and every tactical weapon."

"A grim reality Agent Poole but a reality nonetheless. However, I'm not one to resign my fate. If I'm going to be hiding out in a bunker I'm not going to be there waiting for doomsday to hit us, I'm going to be doing everything I can to prevent it. You and your men are instrumental. Where are we in getting to Minister Fisher?"

"SPD-2 is approximately fifteen minutes out from Minister Fisher's residence. He's been alerted ahead of time by the team and he and his wife are preparing to get out of there as soon as possible. Deputy Minister Raines has been alerted too but she is too far for SPD-2 to reach. SPD-1 is out of commission and SPD-4 is already at Kinzua Dam. We do not have any additional personnel to get Deputy Minister Raines sir."

"Four teams is what we have sir, one for each principle and one for backup. We're small for a reason sir."

"You said three teams earlier Agent Poole?"

"I left the fourth one out purposely sir. I apologize for misleading you but I could not compromise our destination so early."

"All right Agent Poole what's the plan then for Minister Fisher? He's crucial to this."

"We could move him to the Bear Mountain facility but that is risky sir. We're going to move him instead to Stewart where we can put him aboard an aircraft and get him airborne. There are several E-13C Swans and some E-9A Watchmen there, any of which could serve as a transport for him. If he's airborne he'll be harder to neutralize sir."

"Not if the air force comes for him."

"It's our only chance sir."

"Noted Agent Poole, noted…"

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 02:45 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Leetonia, Pennsylvania
58 mi from Bradford Regional Airport
(41° 35' 25" N, 77° 34' 44" W)

All had been quiet in the helicopter for the past six minutes while the pilots navigated over the rough terrain of Central Pennsylvania, keeping low to the ground to avoid radar. Airborne early warning hadn't paid them any attention, instead continuing to focus on the area to their east and for the men inside of both helicopters that was preferable. Thus far, their dash westward to Kinzua Dam hadn't been noticed and neither had anyone been able to vector in on the communications between them and the NMCC. Despite the striking capabilities of the Empire's intelligence-gathering network, it did have its limitations, like those of all manmade systems throughout the world. It would catch on eventually - or so everyone assumed and worried - but for now they were in the clear.

GEN Ross was working plenty on his end and Minister Wright saw no reason to disturb the man, he would call back when he had information. Agent Poole was liaising with SPD-2 as they rushed towards Minister Fisher's house in Greenwich, Connecticut. Minister Wright's wife had settled down past her initial fright and was trying to rest, though the vibrations of the helicopter were making that extremely difficult. For his part, Minister Wright had managed to lean back, shut his eyes, and find some solace in the vibrations of the helicopter. Despite having long since been out of military service, flying in a Black Hawk felt something akin to his first days in Venezuela, before the exodus back to Layarteb to fight in the civil war. Hueys, of course, were much different animals than were Black Hawks but they still felt the same.

"Sir," Agent Poole's voice said over the intercom.

"Yes Agent Poole?"

"SPD-2 has reached Minister Fisher. He is alive and they're getting him and his wife out now sir."

"Good, what's his ETA at Stewart?"

"Less than an hour sir, SPD-2 can get onto I95 fast and then it's a straight shot down I95, across 287, and up the Thruway sir. They should encounter little - if any - traffic. They'll be able to make high speed across the interstates."

"Good, keep me posted and once SPD-2 is mobile, I want to talk to Minister Fisher."

"Roger that sir, they'll be leaving momentarily." Agent Poole said as Minister Wright checked his watch. It was 02:46 and Minister Wright could only hope that his compatriot would be on the road in less than two minutes. More quiet fell upon the helicopter's intercom system until 02:50, four minutes later, when Agent Poole announced that the convoy was on the move and making a mad dash for Interstate 95. They would only have to go three miles until they reached the exit for Interstate 287. From there the only exit would be the one to get off for Stewart Air Force Base. Already, the aircraft was being rapidly run through its preflight checks to ensure that the Minister, his wife, and SPD-2 could get airborne immediately.

A minute later, Minister Wright was directed to the intercom, "Timothy, you're safe?"

"Ryan, what the hell is going on, these guys say there's been something akin to a coup in the government? Allen is dead, David is dead, and Diane is missing?"

"That's right Timothy, something major has gone down and we don't know what it is. Nuclear SIOP protocols have been engaged by someone directing the Emperor."

"The Emperor is compromised?"

"He is."

"That would make you?"

"It does."

"Sir," Minister Fisher bucked up immediately, knowing that he was no longer speaking to a colleague but rather a superior. "What's next?"

"You and your wife are getting airborne and somewhere safe. I don't know who I can trust in our government anymore except for a handful of people and you're among them."

"I have no part in whatever is going on; in fact, I need to cancel my meeting with the Kingdom of Libya."

"We'll take care of that sir," said a voice in the background. That would be Agent Paul Saulter, the head of SPD-2 and Agent Poole's equal on that convoy.

"Sir can you stop it?"

"I'm trying everything in my arsenal," Minister Wright answered Minister Fisher. "Keep in contact, if anything goes wrong let us known immediately. We'll liaise in a few minutes or when I get more information."

"Sir, what about Maria?"

"Unfortunately sir," this was Agent Poole, "we're stretching too thin for Deputy Minister Raines. We'll alert her and provide her with a safe place to go but right now we cannot split off another team."

"I understand Agent, thank you," Minister Fisher responded. That end of the line was dropped and Minister Wright relaxed back into the seat. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep but he also knew that once he got to Kinzua Dam, it would be information overload. He needed to relax now, while he had the opportunity and while he couldn't do anything other than sit back, enjoy the ride, and wait for GEN Ross to get back to him and for Minister Fisher to reach Stewart.

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 03:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Crosby, Pennsylvania
14 mi from Bradford Regional Airport
(41° 45' 4" N, 78° 23' 44" W)

"Sir, we're about six minutes out right now," said CWO Young over the intercom. It was the dead of morning and there was zero activity anywhere, even at the airport where the civilian facilities were closed and would remain closed until 07:00 when the first personnel arrived. The airport officially opened at 08:00 and the first flight came in at 08:10, one of four flights for the day. That flight would depart at 08:35. The next bout of flights would have a twenty-five minute window starting at 15:30. "Sir we have General Ross patching through now."

"Good, General what have you got for me?"

"Sir, the situation has gotten worse."

"General?"

"Sir, elements of the army and the navy are now beginning to spin up their alert orders. The entirety of I Corps and V Corps just got the word to conduct an emergency readiness drill but I've seen the other side of the orders sir. This is no drill." These two corps represented the main army formations in the Province of Layarteb, eight divisions with a total of 176,200 men. They could do major damage to anything and if these units were going on alert, so were others.

"What about the other provinces and republics?"

"Them too sir, by noon we'll have every short order unit at full readiness and in twenty-four hours everyone else. The navy looks like they've begun preparations to sortie part of the Atlantic and most - if not all sir - of the Pacific Fleets. We cannot control these units."

"This doesn't make sense."

"Sir?"

"No…" Minister Wright thought for a moment, "It actually makes perfect sense. Whatever units sortie and put to sea or get into the air won't be hit by the counterattack. This is too much…" Minister Wright held his head in his hands. "All right how long now until the bombers get airborne?" He said after a few moments of silence.

"Under three hours sir."

"We don't have a lot of time. Did you get in contact with the TRF unit?"

"Sir I did, TRG-1 is spinning up and getting down to Layarteb City on the double sir. We're moving one team down via C-130. They're wheels up in twenty minutes with an ETA into Layarteb City IAP of 04:15 and they'll move via vehicle to an observation point near the Governors Island Causeway sir. The second team will take longer; we're moving them down with their helicopters. They won't be there until 06:00 sir."

"That gives us something before the bombers get airborne, not much but something. What else do we have at our disposal?"

"Little else sir, I'm sorry to say."

"General, we may have to launch the bombers as a ruse. If the bombers take off and go to their fail-safe points what is required to send them further?"

"The NMCC has to issue the order sir."

"Can that order be given by anyone else?"

"No sir. It has to come directly from the NMCC."

"Good General, that may just be what we have to do to buy us time. No bomber will go past its failsafe point without the order, correct?"

"Yes sir, the failsafe points are meant for two purposes, to allow us the option to recall and to allow us the ability to marshal our forces and get them all at a point where we can coordinate the strike. It will take hours for them to get to this point sir. We have multiple failsafe points, some quite far out and some rather close."

"Once they get the order to go, we can recall them, correct?"

"We can sir but it's never been done. The pilots are trained to respond to all but specific codes to prevent enemy subterfuge. It's too risky and we've never trained for it sir."

"Who has those codes?"

"The NMCC does sir."

"Get them handy, we might just need them. How are preparations there? Is the NMCC secure?"

"It is sir, I'm running specialized personnel to try to locate any spies but it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Keep at it General, we're landing now, we'll contact you when we're inside of Kinzua Dam."

"Yes sir." The helicopter flared for landing and came down on an empty section of the airport. From the window, Minister Wright saw that a four-vehicle convoy was waiting for them and for Agent Poole the moment of relief came when he saw that the drivers were all part of SPD-4. They'd been sent ahead via helicopter and they'd arrived quickly, seizing four Dingoes from the army section to use as transport. The Dingo wasn't as fast as the Suburbans were but it was armored and capable of traversing even the most rugged terrain. "Armored" was what made Agent Poole happy.

With a gentle thump, the two helicopters came down and the SPD agents rushed out, meeting their colleagues and scanning the area for trouble. After thirty seconds, Minister Wright and his wife were rushed out to two of the awaiting vehicles and the entire convoy took off for the nineteen mile drive to Kinzua Dam. It would take them another thirty minutes or so to get there during which time a reconnaissance satellite was making its way across the globe for a pass over Layarteb City. It would be in range at 03:38 and commence a short but extremely important walk over the region lasting only a few minutes over the city but enough to get detailed reconnaissance on the status of the island. That information would be fed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister Wright, the NMCC, and the 6th SOG teams.

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 03:30 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Warren, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Dam Secure Facility
(41° 51' 18" N, 79° 0' 23" W)

Minister Wright had never been to the Kinzua Dam Secure Facility and by and large he didn't even know it existed, few people did. The four vehicles had pulled up to a scenic overlook point along State Route 59. Because of the ungodly hour, the place was closed, locked up, and otherwise abandoned. The four vehicles pulled into four parking spots and the four agents of SPD-4 who'd driven them led the way into an abandoned tourist center where it was in surprisingly clean order. No one would be breaking into this facility lest they wanted federal trouble. Signs outside clearly identified that trespassing here would be a federal offense and the motion sensors and cameras hidden throughout the building would make sure no one escaped justice. "We've got a few stairs to descend before we get to an elevator, keep close, it's dark in here," said one of the SPD-4 agents after they passed through the main lobby area.

There was a single flight to descend and then, standing at attention with a submachine gun each were two SPD-4 guards. "Sir," the one on the right said, snapping into a salute. The other followed, "It's eighty-five feet down before we get into the carts. We'll be there fast sir." Minister Wright saluted back and said nothing further. It was too surreal of an evening so far that when the elevator rocketed downward with nearly twenty people in it - the two SPD-4 agents remained atop - he only noticed the rapid acceleration and not the massive bodyguard force around him. His wife stood firm but the Minister noticed that she was visibly shaking, the scope of the night wearing heavily on her. She wasn't made for this sort of drama, Minister Wright had to tell himself and he put his arm around her in the elevator, a small action but one that helped to settle her shaking body.

The elevator thumped to a halt and before them were five Cushman carts, each able to hold four people. The SPD-3 and SPD-4 men filed into seats and Minister Wright and his wife got onto one together. Agent Poole almost resisted but a single look from Minister Wright ended all of his objections there. The Cushman carts were all electrically powered - fumes in an underground tunnel were never advisable - and they took off with a lurch as the SPD agents sped towards the secure facility. They were in a reinforced concrete tunnel now, about eight feet wide on all four sides and the tunnel sloped downward as it headed for the river, pass underneath it along its 3.5 kilometer journey to the facility's entrance, a single, steel, blast door that weighed 25 tons. It was open as they approached and easily moved freely by the SPD agents as Minister Wright, his wife, and the whole procession moved through. Thereafter it was mechanically sealed, a process that took a minute start to finish. The Cushman carts were left outside, they having no further purpose.

By the time Minister Wright got to the main command hub of the bunker it was 03:36 and nearly three hours had elapsed since the events of the night began. He'd been on the move for two and a half hours, having traveled first by car and then by helicopter to this location, far away from the Layartebian capital where someone was in control of Governors Island and the Emperor, forcing him to make specific calls that were jeopardizing global security. Minister Wright wanted to know who'd staged the coup against the Emperor, who was assassinating government ministers, and who was willing to kill hundreds of millions of innocent civilians by ordering the NMCC to launch its nuclear force. Grateful that General Ross wasn't a fool, Minister Wright realized just how close the world was to nuclear annihilation and few men stood ready to resist it.

"Sir, I am Agent Louis Connell, lead of SPD-4. Welcome to Kinzua Dam, I wish it were under different circumstances but we're faced with this situation. From this command console," and here he pointed to console area that wasn't necessarily state-of-the-art but it was in good working order, "you can be in full control of the situation. The video screens before you are a little dated, they haven't been updated since the 1990s but they will do the task just fine sir. They have a quick reference rate and we can pull up just about any information you need. Since Kinzua Dam isn't a staffed facility my men and I, along with the SPD-3 team will be working the consoles. I have two men topside and two more at the entrance to this facility. There is only one way in and one way out sir."

"Thank you Agent Connell, what are the names of the men topside?"

"Sir, Cedrick Frost and Matthew Thompson, both good men sir; their job up there is to report interlopers and to give us time to get ready. They'll give us as much time as necessary and they'll hold out until they die sir. That's their mission."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that Agent Connell."

"No sir. Over here we have General Ross on the line, we have a satellite routing over Layarteb City right now."

"Can we bring it up on the video screen?"

"Yes sir," with a snap of the fingers from Agent Connell, one of the other agents manning a console just a few feet in front of them brought up the display. The video screen was state of the art when it was put in but now with high definition, 4K, and LCD/LED technology, it was like watching an old television. It didn't matter though, it was clear enough.

"Sir, Minister Wright?" It was General Ross over the intercom.

"I'm here General, what do you have for us," Minister Wright asked. At this, his wife came over to his side and bent down, whispering something in his ear. "Agent Poole," Minister Wright turned, "is there a place my wife can lie down?"

"Yes sir," Agent Poole said, "this way ma'am," and he led her away. This was indeed too much for her and she wanted to get away, so that she could sob and crash inside some sort of private quarters.

"Sir, the city is coming into view now. We'll zoom in on Governors Island," he said. The satellite zoomed in on the island now, using thermal sensors to watch the island. There was surprisingly little to see though save for one thing, "The two Hueys are in the parking lot area. No thermal signatures around them. They were forced down it appears but they weren't shot down."

"No one is manning the Causeway either General."

"Not that it appears sir. There are no active patrols either."

"They don't need any," Minister Wright commented, "the island has enough passive defense systems that you don't need a single patrolman. They're there inside of the Fortress though. They'll be watching. Do we have any indication on what size the presence is?"

"None sir, we need actual people on the ground for that assessment."

"How long do we have the satellite for?"

"Another ten minutes sir."

"Keep an eye on it," Minister Wright said, leaning back in the chair and exhaling. Next to him, Agent Poole announced that Minister Fisher had made it to Stewart Air Force Base at 03:38 and that he was getting airborne aboard an E-9A Watchman airborne command and control post. The E-9 was used by the NMCC to communicate with SSBNs. It could do so whether they were on the surface or deep and though it was unarmed, it carried a defensive electronics suite that was one of the most powerful units on any Layartebian aircraft. For an aircraft, it was the safest place for Minister Fisher to be. When Agent Poole was done explaining this, Minister Wright nodded his head in approval, "I want to be in constant contact with Minister Fisher. We may need to defray a lot of international trouble."

"General, how long until the rest of the world finds out?"

"Within the next six to ten hours sir and our bet is on the Russians. The KGB is the best at agent recruitment and we have no illusions that individuals within our country spy for them, just the same as individuals within their country. They'll know the military went to a high state of alert and they may even know that the bombers are getting airborne. Our failsafe points are not tremendously static and they're not near enemy territory so they won't be within radar coverage from ground stations.

"The first satellite passes won't show much but by the end of the morning sir the navy will begin to sortie their vessels. That's not something we can hide. The Chinese, the Khorsunis, the Russians, the Hi No Motons, they all have satellites that pass over our army and navy bases regularly. There's no way to get the navy out without someone noticing. We've gotten a strike group out in less than four hours but that's a single strike group, with preparation, not what is going on here."

"So General what will the world think when they find out?"

"Sir it'll take them some time to put things together. They'll have a lot of pieces but not necessarily the glue that goes to it all. Our best bet is to call the situation as an exercise sir."

"An exercise?"

"Yes sir, for all intents and purposes it will look like an exercise to the world. The best hope is to regain control of Governors Island before it's time for our bombers to leave their failsafe points."

"That's a lot of hope General. I want assurances."

"Sir, right now," there was a long pause, "I cannot give you any. I'm sorry sir I just don't want to lie to you this morning."

"It's appreciated General," Minister Wright looked around the room at the faces of the SPD agents. "General this is all that stands in the way of nuclear annihilation. If we don't get a handle on this and stop it, it's going to happen."

"Yes sir, we'll do everything we can," General Ross waited, "and then some."

"Good General, now we need to collect what we have, make sense of what we can, and wait out the arrival of the 6th SOG, is that correct?"

"For now it is sir."

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 04:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Warren, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Dam Secure Facility
(41° 51' 18" N, 79° 0' 23" W)

Left to think - more to worry - about what would happen next, Minister Wright had taken to pacing around the command deck at Kinzua Dam. He did so to think, he said, but in truth he was just trying to burn off the moments between when knowledge got to him and when it originated. The E-9 Watchman carrying Minister Fisher was airborne and flying eastward, heading essentially for Africa. It was decided that flying over the North Atlantic Ocean was preferable to the integrated surface-to-air network that guarded Layartebian territory. There was only one carrier battle group in the North Atlantic, the 3rd CVBG and it was operating near the Gulf of Guinea, far from the aircraft's flight path. Of course, they would pass close to the Azores and Cape Verde, both of which contained fighters and SAMs but the pilots would deal with that when they got there.

"Timothy, we are in a big pickle," Minister Wright said into his headset. He'd taken a wireless headset and put it on his head to better facilitate his pacing. "We don't know who is and who isn't compromised. We need someone in the MoD who can put a stop to this. General Ross is only one man and the ILSF is the big arm but they're not the only arm."

"Sir," Minister Fisher said on the other end, seated in the aircraft's battlestaff area with several generals and admirals from the NMCC. "If Minister Sanders and Deputy Minister Davis are both gone we can assume that whoever is standing in will not be favorable to our cause. The problem is we don't know what's going on over there. The battlestaff here has been unable to get a clear answer on just who is directing the military and we can only prod so far."

"General Ross believes that it is the Emperor Timothy."

"That's impossible sir you know it."

"I do know it but voiceprint analysis confirms that all orders given were done so by the Emperor." Silence invaded the line for a few moments while the two men hashed out the thought in their head.

"Sir, I may have an alternative theory."

"Go ahead."

"What if it really is the Emperor's voice but he isn't the one speaking it. What if it's a digital recording? Whoever is in control of Governors Island has resources that neither one of us can quantify right now. To be able to take full control over the island and to be able to then hold it requires a tremendous amount of resources. It stands to reason that whatever crime is being committed was planned a long, long time ago."

"Then how did they know his override code?" That was unexplainable for the moment but the digital voice theory could hold weight. "General Ross said the voiceprint recorded no stress whatsoever. If the Emperor were speaking, even in his usual calm demeanor, this would bring apart some stress."

"I'd like to think so sir."

"I have an idea, call you back," Minister Wright quickly ran back to his console, killed the call and redialed General Ross. "General, I need you to run a comparison."

"On what sir?"

"Voiceprint analysis of the Emperor ordering other military campaigns, get as many as you can and compare them to the orders given this morning."

"What are you looking for sir?"

"Whether or not the person speaking is in fact the Emperor or a digital recording."

"I'll work on it sir. We may have access to that information."

"Good, General one other question. Do we know who is in charge at the Ministry of Defense?"

"Based on the chain of command it should be Ernest Henderson sir."

"The name isn't necessarily familiar General."

"Henderson is civilian oversight of the H-3 department, operations sir."

"Agent Poole," Minister Wright said aloud with his hand covering the microphone on his headset. "Get me everything we can on Ernest Henderson, civilian oversight of the H-3 department. He's third in line of command."

"Yes sir."

"General we'll get what we can on him. Let me know what the voiceprint comes back with then."

"Yes sir," the line was cut again and Minister Wright looked down at his chair. He wouldn't sit down but he could see the appeal. Fatigue was beginning to weigh on him and soon it would begin to affect his decision making. He'd need to combat that somehow and his course of action would be to make sure that General Ross, Minister Fisher, and the battlestaff aboard the E-9 were all clued into the decision-making process.

"Agent Connell," Minister Wright said walking up to the leader of SPD-4. "How versed are you with the defensive capabilities of Governors Island?"

"Sir, fully, we're trained to be able to know every minute detail about the island."

"Take one of your men and go brainstorm for me how you would take over the island. Assume resources are limitless, assume you've had enough time to plan out every detail, and assume that you have knowledge from men on the island - including potential double agents."

"Sir?"

"Agent, I need to know just what capabilities these people have. We have an entire platoon of ILSF men neutralized in seconds, both helicopters forced down, no indication that they were shot down, and on top of it all they are fully capable of utilizing the island's electronic defensive systems."

"Yes sir." Agent Connell looked over at the men by the consoles. He selected his best, "Cook, on me, we have a special project."

"Yes sir." Both agents left the command deck and moved to a secure conference room just behind it. They could see everything but the room was soundproof so that they could discuss everything in a bubble.

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 04:15 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Warren, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Dam Secure Facility
(41° 51' 18" N, 79° 0' 23" W)

The phone echoed in the cavernous control room and in an instant Agent Poole picked up the phone. "Yes General?" A moment passed while he listened, "Sir, the 6th SOG has just landed and taxied over to the secure section. They are reporting that it appears all clear."

"It's a critical time now Agent Poole, hand me that phone," Minister Wright said as he came up to the console. He put the phone to his ear, wishing he was in the War Room in the Fortress of Comhghall or in his own office, where he would have had live video from the team. "General, are you watching this live?"

"I am sir. The aircraft just put down and taxied over to the secure section. The team is formed up now preparing to exit the aircraft."

"Locked and loaded General?"

"Yes sir, if there's an ambush they'll be ready for it. So far no indication that there is one, the flight was announced from Plattsburgh to McGuire in Jersey and they routed to Layarteb City IAP at last moment."

"Good General, that's the best we can hope for right now," Minister Wright turned to Agent Poole who was still seated. "What's the travel time from the airport to Governors Island?"

"Thirty minutes, maybe less, there's no traffic at this hour of the morning."

Minister Wright nodded as he listened to the other end of the telephone, "How are they doing General?"

"Egress successful, they're moving now sir."

"What do they have for vehicles?"

"Motor pool sir, they're commandeering whatever they can. They'll move around on the Belt Parkway sir up to Red Hook. They'll set up an OP on the docks sir."

"Good, get me in touch with them General once they're on the move. Then we'll coordinate with them. We need good eyes on Governors Island and we've got to make sure that whatever we do, we can neutralize the opposition quickly, before they can do further damage."

"Yes sir. We'll get you comms in a minute. I'll relay from here."

"Thank you General, call me back when you have it." Minister Wright put down the phone and moved over to his console. The satellite loop was on the main screen and he watched it again, hoping to see something useful. In the meantime, agents Connell and Cook were working on the plan in a nearby room. Smoke clouded the room in a lingering haze near the ceiling and Minister Wright gave it a short glance before turning back to the satellite loop. "Agent Poole, do you see anything worthwhile here?"

"Sir?"

"On the satellite pass, anything at all?"

"No sir, the island appears - for all intents and purposes - to be abandoned. We know that is not true but there's nothing for us to see sir."

"Then take off the loop, I'm sick of watching it."

"Yes sir," the screen went blank. "They may have been aware of the satellite pass sir."

"They may have," Minister Wright agreed. "Can we get any ISR element over the city?"

"None that would escape detection sir, the island is equipped for that manner of defense."

"Elaborate for me Agent Poole."

"Sir, the island has short-range radar that runs from the surface up to 50,000 feet. Using information from the regular air traffic radars, the software system cancels out all known contacts and then gives a picture of just what's around. It's meant to spot drones and other small UAVs and to give personnel a chance to engage them."

"What do you mean 'engage them' Agent?"

"Shoot them down if need be sir. Counter-UAV equipment is capable of bringing down a military Predator or a kid's quadcopter sir."

"Get me General Ross, I think I have an idea."

"Yes sir," Agent Poole went to work and then a few moments later came back, "I have him sir."

"General Ross, is it possible that the individuals in control of Governors Island were aware of the satellite pass?"

"Yes sir it is."

"The 6th SOG will only have a limited view of the island and they'll have some blind spots. We can't get an ISR over there but I have an idea."

"I'm listening sir."

"Can we get some sort of recce aircraft to overfly Layarteb City squawking a civilian transponder code and flying through a commercial lane?"

"Sir we have RC-46s in New Hampshire. They're for ELINT and SIGINT sir but they have camera equipment."

"Is it possible?"

"It is sir. The RC-46 looks like a Boeing 767 on any other form of radar because that's what it is sir. We use that profile to trick our enemies when we need to sir."

"Good, how long?"

"I'll inquire sir. They might have one preflighted already and on standby. If that's the case about half an hour after takeoff sir, maybe more, we'll have to route it in such a way that it spoofs as a civilian flight. They could fly down to Falcon City and mimic a flight out of Logan."

"Make it happen if you can General."

"Roger wilco sir," responded General Ross as Minister Wright returned the phone to its cradle and leaned back in his chair.

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 04:50 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Warren, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Dam Secure Facility
(41° 51' 18" N, 79° 0' 23" W)

Minister Wright shut the bathroom door behind him and walked back into the main operations area to see Agent Poole holding a phone to his ear saying, "One moment, he just walked in," then he looked up to Agent Poole, "Sir, TRG-T1 is at their overwatch position."

"Good, patch it over the speaker Agent."

"Yes sir." A moment passed before Agent Poole put down his phone, "It's patched sir."

"Sir, this is Lieutenant Steve Williams here," the voice echoed in the room. "We're in our overwatch position and I'm afraid to say sir there isn't much to see. We have both helicopters on the ground but neither one appears to have been brought down forcibly. There are no personnel sights, not even lookouts sir. The guard booth at the end of the causeway is unmanned at present and there are no blocks or hindrances to prevent vehicles from getting to the island."

"No activity inside of the Fortress then?"

"None sir, there are lights on in certain windows, we are trying to ascertain what rooms those are. We have not seen any activity though. We suspect that it is a ruse."

"It could be Lieutenant, sit tight and wait for orders."

"Yes sir." The line was cut, by the other side, and Minister Wright paced around back to his seat.

"What else do we have Agent Poole?"

"General Ross called a few minutes ago and said that the RC-46 is getting airborne. It should be in the air as of now sir."

"The plan will retain it flying as a fake out of Logan?"

"It is sir. It's fifty miles to Logan and they'll round past it in a few minutes. They're staying at very low altitude for that trip. It's another two hundred miles from Logan to Governors Island. We expect the first past around 06:10 sir."

"So much waiting," Minister Wright said, taking a seat. "Do we have a coffee machine here?"

"Yes sir," piped up one of the agents from SPD-4, Chad Jackson. "I'll get a pot going."

"What's your name?"

"Jackson sir, Chad Jackson."

"Did you serve?"

"Yes sir, the army."

"Anyone here served in the navy?"

"I did sir, Kenny Campbell."

"You make it." A laugh went around the room, "I might have been army too but no one makes coffee like the navy does."

"Roger that sir," replied Agent Campbell. As he walked off, Minister Wright stood back up and resumed his pacing.

"Agent Poole, let's get Minister Fisher back on the line."

"Yes sir."

"Timothy, I've got an update for us."

"Go ahead sir, the battlestaff is listening."

"No activity on Governors Island has been seen. There are no personnel outside or on lookout and both helicopters are down, landed, with no sign of hostile action. Forces inside cannot be ascertained. We've got a team on overwatch and another one inbound, both part of the 6th SOG subordinate to General Ross. We've got an RC-46 overflight scheduled in a little over an hour to get us real-time Intel on the island."

"Understood sir, the battlestaff and I have been running some of the reports here. We're seeing what is happening with the army and the navy and time isn't on our side. The first bombers are expected to be in the air in less than an hour; is that correct?"

"That's what I am told Timothy."

"What's the plan sir?"

"General Ross will get back to me with that shortly. We don't want to tip our hand so we're likely going to launch the initial bombers to make their long treks to their failsafe points. Once they get there we can prevent them from going further. That will buy us plenty of time. The bomber crews will be under the impression that it's another exercise, at least until they get the 'Go' codes."

"Those 'Go' codes come directly from the NMCC, correct sir?"

"They do."

"How secure is the NMCC sir?"

"Not as secure as I would like it. I and General Ross both believe that agents of the conspiracy are within its confines. It's likely that those agents are very close to General Ross as well. He is preparing for that eventuality."

"Sir, is it true that we have absolutely no authority over the military right now?"

Minister Wright didn't answer right away. He didn't know how to and so silence pervaded the line. Minister Fisher would have repeated the question but he knew he'd been heard. "That is partly correct. We're in control of the strategic forces."

"Is this a coup sir?"

"I don't know what this is," Minister Wright said, truthfully. "What I do know is that someone with a lot of money, a lot of influence, and a lot of power has gained control of Governors Island, of the Emperor, and of our military and no one knows it but us. The sheer amount of reach they have is unfathomable."

"Sir, the last time anyone with those kinds of connections appeared Grenada got nuked."

"I'm well aware Timothy. The problem this time is that the entire world is vulnerable…"

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 05:30 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Warren, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Dam Secure Facility
(41° 51' 18" N, 79° 0' 23" W)

The sun would be rising soon, and with it the expectation that a squadron of bombers would get airborne. General Ross hung on the line as he, Minister Wright, and Minister Fisher debated how to proceed further. "General if those bombers don't take off, whomever is running the show on Governors Island will know that they've been busted. They could enact a different plan."

"Yes sir that is true but my concern is that if we allow the bombers to go to their failsafe points something could happen, some glitch, some spike in power, something, anything sir, and it could transmit go-codes. The last thing we want is to run the risk. Keeping the bombers on the ground plays our hand here but it prevents them from getting to the point of no return."

"General that I understand delicately, I do," Minister Wright plead. "But we need more time. The men on the ground have zero Intel to conduct an assault on Governors Island and the second team is still thirty minutes away from landing. We need more time General and unless you have a better idea to buy time I'm all ears. We have ten minutes to decide and in the next ten minutes we need to know." The problem here was that no one had a better idea. Minister Fisher and the battlestaff aboard the E-9 agreed with the plan to send the bombers to their failsafe points and withhold the go-code indefinitely. The bombers could remain on station for hours upon hours and it would be a while before the rest of the bombers got into the air. They would phase it over the rest of the day until suddenly, anyone paying attention and keeping score would suddenly see three-quarters of the Imperial Layartebian Air Force airborne.

"I don't sir," General Ross answered finally after a moment's hesitation. "It's the best bad idea that we have but it is a truly terrible idea sir."

"No one is debating that General; I think we're all unanimous in that assessment General. This is a terrible idea, a flat out terrible idea. However, in light of the situation, it's all we have at the moment. The last thing I want are bombers with nuclear weapons orbiting failsafe points where one flick of a switch could send them to their targets."

"I'll make the order sir." General Ross said, conceding defeat because the man had no better idea. He knew that the bombers would take hours to get there and he hoped that they could get the situation under control before they reached the points. In the minutes that passed, the order reached the 1504th Bomb Squadron and the 1505th Bomb Squadron based out of Bolívar Air Force Base in Venezuela. Both squadrons consisted of twelve B-3C Zeus strategic bombers and those bombers had targets in the Far East, necessitating their earlier deployment. Their points would put them three hours away from their targets and require flying over the Caribbean and then taking a northwesterly course across North America starting in Louisiana and entering the Pacific Ocean over northern Oregon. They would pass over Portland and Denver and Oklahoma City and Biloxi, all of them large population centers with a lot of innocent people. Should something go wrong, they would be in harm's way. Though the bombs wouldn't be armed and wouldn't explode in a crash, they could spew radioactive elements that would require extensive cleanup.

"Timothy, what have you and the battlestaff come up with?" Minister Wright asked while General Ross made the order happen.

"Nothing yet sir, we all agree that an assault on Governors Island would be suicide. No one has yet to ask us what's going on and the rest of the world is happy in their ignorance of these events but they won't be forever. The Zeus squadrons getting aloft will arouse some suspicion. We might time these launches to exploit gaps in satellite coverage but you cannot prevent a man with binoculars and a cell phone from seeing twenty-four bombers get aloft in rapid succession."

"I guess it's a good thing we're not at war with anyone at the moment."

"Perhaps sir, perhaps not, if the world were tense with our military actions somewhere they might see the surge of bombers as related rather than something unthinkable."

"Well when it comes down to the diplomacy Timothy, it's up to you to keep us alive."

"I'll do my best sir but we have to take control of the strategic authority now."

"Keep hammering away, we'll do what we can here."

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 06:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Warren, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Dam Secure Facility
(41° 51' 18" N, 79° 0' 23" W)

"Sir," spoke up Agent Poole from his console, "the rest of the 6th SOG has just landed at the airport. They should be on scene within the next thirty minutes. They're going to set up the command center at the OP, it's more secure than the airport or Floyd Bennett sir."

"Good, what's the ETA on the RC-46?"

"Within the next ten minutes sir, General Ross is monitoring the flight right now. The aircraft is on a civilian flight level, squawking a civilian transponder code, and flying within the designated civilian air route. It should not appear to be hostile to the defenses of Governors Island sir."

"All right, I want to know the moment they have something, if anything, no matter how insignificant. I'm going to check in with Agent Connell." From there, Minister Wright left the command deck and walked into the soundproof conference room behind the area. He saw both men with their jackets off, their ties loosened, standing hunched over the table looking at maps of the island. A pair of legal notepads contained pages of scribble, notes from their sessions so far. "Gentlemen, what do you have?"

"Sir," Agent Connell said, startled almost. "We've identified two potential landing points for frogmen sir but that's about it."

"The full 6th SOG team is on the ground now, the second half just landed at the airport and they'll be on scene within the next thirty minutes. They'll set up the command center at the OP. It's more secure than the airport or Floyd Bennett."

"That's a good choice by them sir," responded Agent Cook as he looked up from the map. "We've run out of darkness now so anything that's going to happen will have to wait until dusk. The waiting will be the worst part sir."

"We've got another situation though. We released the first bombers to their failsafe points. It is our best hope to avoid alerting our enemy."

"Tough call sir," answered Agent Connell after a minute or so of silence. "General Ross has full control of the failsafe points. Only his men can transmit the go-codes sir."

"I'd prefer it doesn't come to that so we need a solution before they get to their failsafe points."

"When is that sir?"

"Twenty-two hundred, give or take and by then we'll have most of the bombers aloft."

"Roger that sir," Agent Connell said as he turned back to the map. "We'll have something more by noon sir."

"Keep on it," Minister Wright walked out and returned to the command deck. He checked his watch to see that it was 06:08 and Agent Poole was glued to the telephone.

"Sir, the RC-46 is in range."

"All right, is General Ross on?"

"I am sir," answered General Ross over the intercom. "We have the aircraft's channel as well."

"Sir, this is Captain James Daugherty, I'm the mission commander."

"Good to have you Captain Daugherty, what do you have?"

"We're focusing our intelligence collection on Governors Island and known frequencies sir. I'm afraid to admit that it's utterly dead." Minister Wright expressed his frustration visually rather than verbally, for the benefit of all on the line. They couldn't see that he was frustrated on the line and that was beneficial to everyone's morale.

"Keep trying Captain. They know satellite schedules but they can't know this. They have to be communicating on the island."

"Roger that sir." Minister Wright returned to his console and bent over, looking at the floor. Agent Poole muted the line and leaned back in his chair. No one would hear was being discussed on the command deck and he took advantage of that now.

"Sir, it's possible they know of the flight."

"How?"

"Someone within General Ross' outfit sir; we've been saying that there are likely spies within the NMCC. It's entirely likely that there are multiple and that one is presently near to General Ross."

"We can't cut him out of the loop; he's the most important ally we have right now."

"I would agree sir but we have to flush this person out immediately. Whoever it is would have alerted the conspirators that the reconnaissance flight is underway and that General Ross has been spending a lot of time on the phone. He cannot know that we launched the bombers as a ruse though. We would have seen immediate counter-activity."

"What do you propose Agent Poole?"

"General Ross can limit his possibilities to anyone directly in earshot and anyone who walked off of the area, perhaps to use the bathroom or get a drink, anything is suspicious."

"All right, get General Ross on a private line and tell him to flush out whoever by whatever means and when the finds them to isolate that person and utilize him for disinformation. He's more important as a source of disinformation than as a source of interrogation."

"I would agree sir, that is a strategic game plan," Agent Poole said as he went to contacting General Ross on a separate, private, secure, direct line, the kind of line that you could not intercept unless you had a physical tap on it.

---

• • •

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 07:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Warren, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Dam Secure Facility
(41° 51' 18" N, 79° 0' 23" W)

"Where do we go from here?" Minister Wright asked as the headset sat uncomfortably in his right ear, prompting him to quickly shift it to his left, "We have hours of daylight that afford us nothing. Our bombers are airborne and more will be getting into the air every hour. Air defense fighters and interceptors will start to establish patrols. Ships will put to sea, army divisions will move to their secondary points. Everything is going to become very noticeable to the world and Minister Fisher is going to start getting questions. General, when will the world take note that what we're doing is more than an exercise?"

"Mid-afternoon sir," General Ross answered. "Right now this is small business."

"Sir, I have statements prepared for questions," Minister Fisher said. "We're going to downplay everything as a readiness exercise."

"How long will the cover last us?"

"Until the missiles leave their silos sir," Minister Fisher said. "The world will ask and ask, militaries will go on alert but with no overt hostilities around the world and our carrier groups not lingering off of any one nation's coastline it will be hard to believe that we're starting Armageddon sir."

"What about the more hostile nations?"

"They'll be the first to go to alert sir, followed by our allies in Karin City and Oslo."

"I truly want this situation handled before we get to that point. We have next to nothing on Governors Island and we have next to nothing on the rest of the Cabinet, is that correct Agent Poole?"

"That is correct sir, as far as we can ascertain you, Minister Fisher, and Deputy Minister Raines are the only Cabinet members we have made successful contact with, the rest are either confirmed dead or their whereabouts are unknown."

"We have to know who launched this coup and we have to know fast!" Minister Wright said, getting up in frustration. "Don't we have anyone over at Intelligence or Justice who we can trust?"

"We may sir," said a voice from the other end of the room. It was Agent Winder and urged to go on by the silence, he continued, "My brother works counterintelligence in the Domestic Intelligence Directorate sir." There wasn't a lot to say here. Agent Winder had offered someone and as far as Minister Wright knew, all of Agent Poole's people were trustworthy but something struck him as problematic such as why he was just mentioning it now.

"Thank you Agent Winder; Agent Poole we'll work with this lead. In the meantime, I am going to see where we stand with Governors Island." The call ended and Minister Wright gave Agent Poole a look that said, "Be careful" and Agent Poole understood it perfectly. Minister Wright disappeared into the conference room behind and looked over the plans, sipping at a fresh cup of coffee as he did.

---

• • •

[Puerto Saulo]

June 9th, 2014 - 06:00
Puerto Saulo, Puerto Saulo
Princely Palace - Offices of the Secret Police

“Hey Septimio!” Arán said to the other analyst on duty “It looks like Virtue sent us something interesting.” Septimio and Arán worked the night shift together. Working the night shift as a Secret Police analyst for Puerto Saulo meant that you watched 24 hour news channels streaming from other countries or you fed intelligence to the police so they could deal with internal threats that didn't warrant a military solution for a twelve hour shift. However, while the Puerto Saulo Secret Police were great at finding and dealing with internal threats, they were a joke on the international stage. They relied heavily on their allies in Virtue, who were all too happy to help out a nation holding large sums of money they could borrow almost interest free when they needed.

“Oh man, I'm downloading the message onto my computer, it looks to be highly encrypted.” Arán narrated. He was beyond excited to be staring at something other than mybook.com and watching the news. “Now I am uploading it onto the decryption software Virtue sent us specifically for their messages, the suspense is killing me.” Septimio rolled his eyes, he was much more relaxed, and every time Virtue send messages that he decrypted, they were all useless and pertained to someone else. “Look, could you calm down and stop reciting all your doings? Just wait for the useless message to finish before blowing a gasket.”

The software made a beeping noise and flashed green; the message decryption was successful. Arán opened it up and gasped as he read the contents. “Um, this might not be as useless as you initially thought. Come take a look.” Septimio rolled himself over, and turned white as he read it, the implications of the message were pretty huge. “Do you know what this means Septimio? It means war somewhere is about to take place, and with the troop activity taking place in the areas this message says, I bet we'll see some combat thanks to our location. I need to send this off to command and the Princess.”

June 9th, 2014 - 07:00
Puerto Saulo, Puerto Saulo
Monte Hatcho Fortress

The Puerto Saulo Civil Guard, stationed at Monte Hatcho Fortress, knew that sitting around waiting for a well placed missile to take ninety percent of their forces out was piss poor defense plan if someone needed a strategic port and wasn't keen on take on the Apilonian Empire in Gibraltar. So the easiest way to preserve their minuscule but capable force of a few hundred men was to initiate defense plan alpha. Defense plan alpha was very simple, disperse throughout the city in designated kill zones, occupy an old Third Spanish State bunker defense grid outside the city, and make sure any victory the enemy has becomes a Pyrrhic one.

“Gentlemen, we have a few empires in the world deploying their armies in response to something.” Lieutenant Colonel Maciel Lira Salas said to his masked and unnamed company commanders. “I know that is vague, but the intelligence we received wasn't too specific on why anyone was raising their force levels, but we need to be ready if that potential war comes to us.” His subordinates in the military stayed silent, emotionless, and stood completely still at ease. It wasn't their place to talk to their leader; just to follow orders in whatever way they saw fit. “Your orders are now loaded onto your situational awareness computers, but I want you to dictate how you set up your kill zones...just make sure everyone is in place and ready to go in three hours.” Maciel's subordinates continued to stare at him, and he dismissed them by waving them off.

Maciel started his stop watch when the first company rolled away from the fortress in their armored vehicles. He wanted the deployment to be as efficient and quick as possible just in case others were already preparing to knock at their doorstep. Thanks to implementing martial law for the second time in a year, the convoys wouldn't have to worry about citizens getting in the way. This shit show may ruin my plans to reemerge onto the world stage Maciel thought to himself, but he shook the thought off and went inside the command center to watching troop movements from his own situational awareness computer. He wasn't going to worry too much about something that might be nothing but a misunderstanding and a computer glitch.

[Khorsun]

June 9, 2015, 5:45 AM
Santa Elena de Uairén
Venezuela, Empire of Layarteb

Lisander Cisneros Delgado had a very simple job, and one that paid very well; the unusual hours were the only real catch. Cisneros was employed by a small consulting firm, on paper at least. But it had been months since the middle-aged Venezuelan had even seen the inside of an office. Instead, four days a week Cisneros would take a hike up into the hills with his cell phone, a small notepad, and a pair of binoculars, which he'd point in the direction of the Empire's Bolívar Air Force Base. The firm that employed him was a fiction, a front company for a cell of Sharokh Force's operations within the Empire of Layarteb. Cisneros knew there had to be others doing the same thing he did if the base was being watched 24/7, but he'd never met any of his 'colleagues' and never would, and that was just fine by him. Keeping the stakeout was a struggle against boredom, bugs, and of course, the sun, which beat down relentlessly and left him sweating even in the shade. But it did pay better than any real job he'd ever held, and he got a one week break for leisure after every three weeks of work.

The RKN could not compete with its Layartebian and Apilonian rivals on the technological level, and that had burned it twice already, with a Layartebian missile barrage in 2013 and an Apilonian airstrike in 2014 both penetrating Khorsuni airspace and hitting their targets, unseen and unscathed. Human intelligence operations were therefore of vital importance, and on-the-ground surveillance networks like the one Cisneros was a part of had become a particular priority for Sharokh Force in order for the RKN to have some early warning the next time it tangled with one of its superpower enemies.

Bolívar Air Force Base was home to the Layartebian B-3 Zeus, a lumbering behemoth that could haul more than two hundred tons of ordinance and make it from Venezuela to Verela and back in one go. Though top priority went to monitoring stealth bomber takeoffs, Sharokh Force still kept an eye on the activities of the Zeus, whose presence at Bolívar posed a no less than existential threat to Khorsun. The Zeus was slow and not the least bit stealthy, but it could launch nuclear-armed cruise missiles from hundreds of miles away. Early warning would be vital in order for interceptors to be ready to meet it before it was inside missile range.

What Cisneros saw on the morning of the 9th was no less than two dozen of the colossal bombers lifting off one after the other. "Ay carajo," he swore in a whisper at eight and counting, repeating it as more and more of them continued to fill the sky. He had never seen so many of them taking off all at once. He took his phone out, found the number for his 'manager,' and dialed, watching the giant war machines shrink into the distance.

[Layarteb]

June 9, 2015 - 08:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Near Warren, Pennsylvania
Kinzua Dam Secure Facility
(41° 51' 18" N, 79° 0' 23" W)

"Sir," it was the voice of General Ross and a tired, fatigued Minister Wright perked up his ears to his headset.

"Go ahead General."

"We have to launch the next wave of bombers in thirty minutes."

"Where and what squadrons?"

"The 2503rd and the 2504th, both Zeus squadrons based on Diego Garcia. They have to get into orbit position as well sir."

"Where are their targets General?"

"China sir."

"This is madness," Minister Wright barked. "We are sitting here, twiddling our thumbs while we let this go ahead! I want solutions!"

"Sir, we need to buy more time."

"The more time we buy the more bombers we put aloft." Minister Wright held silence for the next few moments before he gritted his teeth and said, in a much lower volume of voice, "Send them up General."

"Yes sir. We have more waves in two hours. After that sir it's going to get a lot more aggressive."

"Thank you General," and Minister Wright killed the call. There would be forty-eight B-3C Zeus bombers aloft now, all heading to their failsafe points for strikes into the Empire of Hi No Moto and the People's Republic of China. Once the next waves began, the rest of the B-3 force, which numbered 180 bombs in total, along with the B-1 force, which numbered 144 bombers would be getting into the skies. The B-3s were the main cruise missile carriers and so that was their primary mission. They would join 168 B-6 Dementors eventually, which would bring more cruise missiles into the skies followed lastly by the 108 B-4 Magnums, which were the stealth bombers, flying from secretive airfields in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Tennessee. They would carry cruise missiles and or gravity bombs into enemy airspace and drop them on the most heavily defended of targets, the kinds of targets that only an aircraft like the B-4 Magnum could effectively reach. They would be used primarily against Russia, China, and Khorsun.

Pacing the room after the call, Minister Wright looked at the men around him. Recognizing his fatigue, he knew that he needed to find some excuse to rest, even if for just a short amount of time. "Agent Poole, I am going to lie down for one hour. In that time I am to be disturbed if anything changes, otherwise continue to work with everyone on a plan to get control of Governors Island."

"Yes sir," and with that the weary Minister of the Interior, who was acting executive of the Empire, trudged off to the small personal quarters adjacent to the war room. There, he found his wife resting on the bed and fell in next to her, his clothes still on but his shoes and jacket off and within seconds, the man, despite all of the weight on his shoulders, was asleep.

---

• • •