by James Rosone
The guard at the gate spotted a police squad car driving a little too fast towards their entrance, and became alarmed that someone might have stolen the car to try to ram the front access point. He flashed a light at the car, and it slowed down mere milliseconds before he pushed the button to release the cement anti-ramming barriers. The cop car screeched to a halt, and the police officer inside started yelling frantically at the guard.
“I need to get to a UHF radio NOW! There is a foreign army invading Los Angeles!”
The guard was too stunned to respond for a moment. He started to mumble something about needing to see the officer’s ID, and the cop got a little agitated.
“--Look, I know you need to do your job. Here’s my badge, but you need to let me in!” He threw his badge at the guard.
The guard was practically in a trance, but hit the button to lift the divider so that the squad car could go through.
“Thank you. Now where can I find a UHF radio in here?” the officer bellowed.
“Umm, if you go to this first building on the right, someone there on the first floor should have one,” the guard stammered.
“Great,” said the officer, calming down. “You might want to call your boss. Pretty sure you guys are going to need back-up really soon.”
He sped off down the road, leaving a cloud of dust behind him. When he arrived at the outdated building in front of him, covered in peeling paint, the officer didn’t waste any time. He ran up to the first soldier he found. “Ma’am! Ma’am!” he yelled, waving his arms. “I need a UHF, as fast as you can get me to one! L.A. is under attack!”
She was startled, but ushered him to a room nearby where all the coms were. “What in the world is going on?” she asked as she messed with the buttons to get the UHF radio ready to go.
“I’m sorry, but there’s really just no time,” the cop shot back.
A loud explosion ripped through the air, coming from the direction of the gate. “Oh, for the love--are they really here already?” the officer quipped. “We don’t have much time. You might want to grab a weapon,” he directed, pulling his own gun from his holster.
“About that…most of us here on base aren’t armed,” the soldier responded. “You wouldn’t happen to have an extra, would you?” she asked.
The police officer grabbed the piece from his ankle holster and handed it to his newfound comrade-in-arms. The sound of gunfire increased in volume, filling the air like a bad garage drummer.
The conflict did not last long. The Japanese and Chinese forces overwhelmed the small base with several tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. They barely met any resistance. The police officer did manage to get out a short message to Camp Pendleton and Twenty-Nine Palms to let them know that the city and the ports were under attack by a foreign army, but he did not make it through the ensuing shootout.
Delayed Mobilization
24 December 2041
Twenty-Nine Palms, California
Third Army Headquarters
General Gardner’s helicopter was approaching Twenty-Nine Palms Marine base and all they could see was chaos on the ground. Several long lines of armored vehicles and tanks could be seen lining up along the main gate, getting ready to move out. Marines were running everywhere, checking equipment, loading water and other supplies they were going to need as they moved quickly to get their force on the road. As Gardner’s helicopter landed, a Marine Colonel walked forward snapping a quick salute, then guided the general towards a waiting vehicle that would take them to see Lieutenant General (LTG) Peeler, the Marine Commander on the West Coast and the Commanding General for the Third Marines.
As the vehicle moved throughout the base towards the command center, General Gardner still did not fully understand what was going on. The intelligence they were getting was spotty at best. One report said that the PLAN had snuck several container ships and roll-on roll-off ships into the Port of LA and Long Beach, while another said the soldiers appeared to be Japanese. A third report he received gave an account that Japanese naval task force that was attacking the PLAN fleet outside of Hawaii was mauled and retreating to LA for coastal protection. A fourth account relayed that PLA airborne troopers were heading to San Diego along with a large contingent of PLAAF fighters. He wasn’t sure what was true and what wasn’t at this point. All these conflicting reports had led to a delayed response time in going to San Diego--they had already sent the order to leave and then called everyone to stay twice.
“Sir!” a voice rang out. “You need to come to the operations center. I’ve just received word from the flight of F41s that went to Hawaii. Major Cruse says that they were ambushed by the Japanese. Four of their six aircraft were shot down!”
General Gardner was troubled; they were still only able to use the UHF radios and microwave systems while the tech guys tried to figure out how to bring their digital communications back online. He rushed over to see if he could gain anything more from a firsthand account.
As General Gardner walked into the operations center, the Marine guards snapped a salute and opened the sealed doors. LTG Peeler looked up and waved for General Gardner to come to him urgently. “Sir, I’m talking with Major Cruse from the F41 flight that was tasked with coming to the Japanese aid. You need to hear this. Major Cruse, General Gardner has just arrived. Can you relay what you saw again,” requested General Peeler.
General Gardner leaned towards the microphone as one of the communications NCOs switched it over to speakerphone, signaling for the general to speak towards it. “Major Cruse, this is General Gardner. I’m the Third Army Commander and the Commanding General in California. I need a frank assessment of what is going on,” Gardner said in his usual gruff tone.
Major Cruse was a bit taken back for a second. He was just talking to a Lieutenant General, and now he was talking directly to “the” General Gardner. Gardner was a living legend in the military--he was on the frontlines of defeating the IR, Chinese and Russians in the Middle East. He shrugged off this star struck moment to respond. “Yes, General. My flight had been coordinating our actions with the JDF task force. They told us that they had sent a squadron of F35s up to attack the PLAN fleet, and the PLAN had also sent aircraft up to meet them, so we thought everything was normal. As we were approaching, another flight of F35s took off from one of the carriers and maneuvered in behind us. Then without warning, they fired on us. Four of my fighters were blown up before they had a chance to respond. Only two of us got away. We would have stayed and attacked them, but we had no AWAC support to guide us to our targets or share their radar screens. If we activated our radars it would give away our positions to both fleets.”
“Major, you did the right thing; your aircraft are too valuable to lose in a futile effort like that. I am sorry your men were ambushed like that. From your firsthand account and some of the other reports we are getting, it would appear the Japanese have betrayed us and joined the Chinese. Any additional information you can provide us, Major?” asked General Gardner in a much softer tone.
Thinking for a minute, he responded, “Yes, Sir. Just prior to the attack and throughout the engagement, my aircraft recorded the events. I can’t transmit it because the digital communications system is still down, but we have the footage of the fleet and what transpired,” Cruse said with some optimism that they may still be able to help.
The intelligence officers (and, in particular, the navy liaison officer with Gardner’s staff) indicated that this would be extremely valuable. “Major Cruse, can your aircraft divert and land here at Twenty-Nine Palms? We need that video immediately!”
“Yes, Sir. We are about twenty minutes away.”
“Major, before we discontinue this call, I want you to fly over Catalina Island, the Port of LA and the rest of the way to Twenty-Nine Palms. Fly low and slow enough so we can get some good images, but do not let your aircraft get targeted or destroyed. Understand?” inquired Gardner. He was hoping to obtain as much visual intelligence as possible.
; “Yes, Sir. We’ll be at the base in less than twenty minutes with your images,” Cruse said, signing off.
He angled his aircraft to get a better vantage point for their cameras. The F41s’ cameras had been set up to record engagements for future training purposes and to help with identifying their kills; Major Cruse was very grateful in this moment that they existed. He broadened the camera view; they could see a wide view of the ground below as they flew a little lower and slower over the areas of interest to record what they were seeing. The images could be played back in slow motion or frame-by-frame. Once they were cleaned up, they would provide invaluable intelligence of what was going on.
Back on the ground, LTG Peeler was in the middle of stating the obvious. “General Gardner, if the Japanese have joined the Chinese, then we are in a lot of trouble on the West Coast.”
General Gardner was lost in thought for a moment. “The Japanese let the PLA hackers use their link with our defense communications to launch a cyber-attack on our systems. Then the Japanese docked dozens of freighters, carrying troops, tanks and other armored vehicles. The PLA is landing an airborne force near San Diego, and right now, we have no navy ships to stop any of it.”
Snapping out of this depressing moment, Gardner sprang into action. “General Peeler--first, what is the status of the Marines at Pendleton? Are they on the road to San Diego to meet that PLA airborne force? Second, how soon are your Marines here going to be able to move on LA and engage the Japanese and PLA forces?”
LTG Peeler looked at one of his logistics officers, who quickly brought up the blue force tracker showing the progress of the Pendleton Marines. “They are nearly ready to leave to their base. They will engage the paratroopers shortly, probably after they have landed; it’s taken some time for them to get everyone assembled and get their equipment ready. As to the Marines here, they are rolling out of here in twenty minutes. I already have eight scout platoons on their way to LA and the surrounding area to start gathering information. I’m not sure of enemy air defense capabilities yet, so I’m holding my Razorbacks in reserve to support my Marines when they need them,” Peeler said as other Marines brought in even more information reports from the scouts.
After a couple of quick minutes, LTG Peeler handed the reports over to General Gardner, saying, “The scouts identified a number of air defense vehicles and missile systems around the port area and moving to a couple of other strategic positions. An armored convoy was also spotted heading towards City Hall in the downtown area. We got a short message from the LA Barracks that they were under attack as well before the message cut out. The radio operator said they could hear a lot of shooting in the background. Another report spotted nearly a dozen attack helicopters moving to various positions along the coast and to Catalina Island. One of the scout platoons reported one of the helicopters attacking one of our anti-ship gun batteries.”
“This is not good, Peeler. We need to do what we can to protect those gun positions. If they all go down, it will leave the entire coast open to a seaborne invasion,” Gardner said as he waved a hand across the map of Southern California.
“Does anyone know when we are going to get our communications back again?” blurted out a frustrated colonel nearby to no one in particular.
A young-looking Marine sergeant sitting near a bank of computers overheard the remark and responded, “Colonel, I believe we may have the communications system up shortly. I am in contact with a hacker team at the NSA right now on my computer, and we are working on isolating the malware and rerouting some of the data links and ports. After we finish rerouting one more port, NSA is going to restart the system. It will take about twenty minutes to reboot, and maybe another thirty or so minutes to verify that the malware has been isolated and we should be back up and running.”
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a bit more optimistic about things. With communications back up and running, they would be able to coordinate the ground and air operations a lot more effectively. The older radio systems were still working, but they were a lot less effective. There was no way to send videos or other large packets of information, and they were more susceptible to jamming. Also, the newer military vehicles and aircraft did not come equipped with them. Still, right now, they were the only thing keeping the DOD up and running while the NSA and US Cyber Command worked to remove the malware that had taken down the digital system.
Reckoning
24 December 2041
Los Angeles, California
City Hall, Mayor’s Office
Jose was nervous. Cell phones were still down; he had no way to contact his wife. He peeked out the blinds; a group of squad cars was now parked outside his building, creating a blockade.
The mayor turned to Officer Jayko. “So, are our defenses here all set up then?” he asked.
“As best as they can be under the circumstances, yes Sir,” he replied.
Mayor Perez paced back and forth nervously. Minutes that seemed like hours melted along. Jose was lost in thought. “Is there anything else that I can do right now? What am I forgetting?” he wondered.
A loud pop broke the silence. To Jose it sounded like a car backfiring. He rushed to the window to see what it was. He was greeted by the unpleasant sight of Japanese and Chinese infantry fighting vehicles and tanks, rushing towards his position. That initial pop was followed by several more as each side began to open fire.
“Sir, get down!” yelled Officer Jayko, grabbing the mayor and pulling him to the floor.
Just as he was hitting the deck, the mayor saw a rocket being launched towards the police officers below. The building shook as the projectile exploded. Jose shuddered; the police were clearly outgunned.
The mayor was not a particularly religious person; he hadn’t been to church except for Christmas and Easter in a very long time. However, in that moment, he realized that it was very likely that his death was imminent, and he began to pray fervently for forgiveness. Then he grabbed a pen and wrote a quick note to his wife. “Querida, I know that I have not been the man that you deserve, but I do love you with my whole heart. I want for you to be happy in this life.” There was so much more to say, but he just couldn’t think of the words. This would have to do. He put the note in his pocket.
There was a long, raucous pause. The curiosity in Jose wanted to know what was going on, but at the same time, he was just trying to block everything out.
The noises got closer. It sounded like there might be gunfire down the hall. The mayor checked his surroundings; he was already situated behind a desk. He reached up and grabbed a lamp to use as a weapon. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. Everything else faded away for a moment.
The JDF had been outside the office door, unable to enter because of the barricade of furniture that Officer Jayko and his colleagues had put in front of the door. Finally, someone came up the stairs with a battering ram, and they were inside within mere seconds.
Officer Jayko managed to take out two of the Japanese soldiers immediately as they entered the door. He ducked lower behind the desk as they returned fire. One of the other police officers popped up from behind the mayor’s armchair long enough to get off a couple of shots; he managed to severely injure two Japanese soldiers, but he paid for it with his life. His limp body slumped down next to the mayor.
Adrenaline flooded through Mayor Perez’s veins, but he was strangely very focused. As the JDF soldiers suddenly surrounded him, guns pointed at him, he knew one thing--he wasn’t going down without a fight.
Jose grabbed the gun from the fallen police officer next to him and shot at the closest Japanese soldier. Somehow, even though he had never fired a gun in his life, he managed to hit the soldier in the head. It was his last and final act. The JDF opened fire, and he was gone.
Feel the Heat
24 December 2041
Pacific Ocean, approaching the West Coast
Admiral Kawano was about to rip someone a new one. He had made the order to launch those
cruise missiles at the Marines in Camp Pendleton hours ago, but clearly, they hadn’t been fired yet. He hated it when he had to repeat instructions. He stormed over to the room where the coordinates were inputted, and opened the door abruptly. Before he could yell at any of his men, one of his officers stepped forward, bowed hurriedly and then held out his hand in front of him as if to say, “Wait.”
“Sir, I know, the missiles have not been launched. However, your orders specifically stated that we were to wait until the Marines mobilized so that we could catch them out in the open, and all of our intelligence shows that they haven’t moved out yet. We don’t know why they are delayed. Do you want us to change the order?”
The admiral let out a deep breath. His rage had simmered down slightly, but he was still aggravated. Now that he was a little less irate, he pulled the officer aside and spoke to him quietly so that he could save face with his men.
“Why didn’t you come to give me an update on the status of the launch?”
“Sir, I am deeply sorry, and I humbly apologize. There was an error in the targeting system as well, and I was very focused on fixing that issue so that when our intelligence changed, we could launch the cruise missiles immediately. We had only gotten that system online recently. I admit that I lost track of time,” he said, hanging his head low.
The Admiral did not want to kick a wounded puppy. “Apology received. Next time, just keep me more up-to-date if there are delays.”
“Yes sir,” replied the officer, clearly relieved to have been spared humiliation in front of his men.
“Carry on,” responded the Admiral, more loudly so this time his fellow soldiers would hear. Then he walked out of the room and got back to other tasks at hand.
