The Last Crusade

by Ira Tabankin

  Pope Francis II thanks the messenger for coming to see him,

  “My son, the timetable has been set, I can’t change what’s going to happen, it’s in God’s hands now. Waiting sixty days or more will cause us to lose the Holy Crusade. Waiting sixty days will allow the terrorists to strike and kill thousands of additional innocents. The blood of those innocents will be on the governor’s hands. I want to stop the attacks from harming innocents.”

  “Your Holiness, I’m not sure you understand. The American people have suffered enough tragedy in this war. They don’t want another Mid-Eastern War. You’re quickly losing their support. They want our boys and girls to come home. They want an end to the war before the next phase begins. Surely, being a man of peace, you can understand their suffering and desire for peace. Even your own Cardinals are saying this war is foolish, we can make peace with the Mahdi. Most believe there is no need for a large land war. Your Holiness, I’m sorry, but the majority of Americans don’t want a Crusade. They want to be left alone and be able to rebuild their homes. I carry with me a letter signed by twenty of the governors, they ask you to release the American troops and equipment. We have need of our military people back home to help us rebuild and to protect our people from Caliphate terror attacks.”

  “The letter from your governors has no legal weight, they speak for states, not the nation. When you have a new President and he and your Senate wish to withdraw from the Holy Crusade, then I will obey their request. At such time, I will also turn my back on the American nation as I’m sure God will too. America was founded on religious freedom, with God in your founding documents, it will be a shame when he turns his back on your once great nation.”

  “You can’t be serious! You’re really going to ignore a plea from the American Government?”

  “No son, I will review a proper plea from the new legal American Federal Government, this letter you carry isn’t a legal letter. Your civilian government doesn’t exist yet. I thought one of your generals was acting President.”

  “The governors have decided to take that position away from him. They have formed a ruling council of governors to ensure a safe and honest election.”

  “That, I would be most interested in seeing. I don’t believe you’ve had an honest election in some time. I’m not sure you're capable of holding an honest election. The governors themselves have too much to lose if a truly honest election were held.”

  “Your Holiness, that isn’t something for you to say. How America holds her elections is something to be decided by the American people. Would you like a day to think about your response? I can wait.”

  “You’ll have your response in the morning. I fear you won’t like it, but you will have a formal written response to take back to your ruling council. I want you to know that I plan to address the American people.”

  “Thank you, Holy See.”

  Pope Francis II knows if the initial Crusade land battles are successful, the people will quickly turn around and support the war against Islam. He kneels praying for success on the battlefield so he can destroy Satan’s evil.

  Chapter 7

  Troop carrying cruise ships, RO/RO (roll on/roll off) ships, tankers, supply ships and cargo ships dock in Israel and a new temporary port complex built in the Sinai. Thousands of troops meet up with their vehicles, each crew quickly follows road signs, printed in English/Russian/Hebrew and Arabic. Each language is color coded, all the troops have to do is follow the corresponding color that matches their language to their staging areas.

  Additional ships dock in Egypt where they follow the same procedures. In Russia, four tank armies move into position along the border of Turkmenistan and Iran. India surprises the world when their Prime Minister announces their going to join the Crusade. Their army forms along their long border with Pakistan. Pakistan begs China for help to block India from invading.

  China responds they have decided to sit on the sidelines and not get involved in the latest battle between the world’s religions. The Pakistani new Prime Minister smiles holding the Chinese message. He picks up the phone which connects him to his Commanding General,

  “I think we should teach China a lesson. You have permission to send special operations troops into China. Stir up their Muslims, blow their bridges and block the food shipments from their farms. Send some of your men, dressed in Russian uniforms to blow bridges along the border. Maybe we can tie up millions of Russians along their border with China.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  @@@@@

  Crusade AWACS planes fill the air with their strong radar signals searching the skies for any Caliphate planes or drones trying to attack the docks and assembly areas. Crusade fighters fly CAP over the ports waiting on instructions from the AWACS. In space, recon satellites are taking images of every square millimeter of the Caliphate looking for thermal blooms indicating a missile has been launched.

  The Mahdi watches the video feed from ultra-small, almost impossible to see drones, he frowns seeing the roads jammed with tanks and armored vehicles.

  “I thought the Americans and Russians struck each other’s military bases, where the hell did all these tanks come from? There must be thousands of them. The lines stretch over the horizon.”

  “Your Holiness, most of the explosions were air bursts unless the tanks were right under the bomb they are designed to survive on a nuclear battlefield. Their electronics may have been damaged, but their main armament would be unaffected.”

  “Do you have any more good news?”

  “Sir, we need to strike their assembly points before they’re organized to launch their attacks.”

  “Field Marshal, can you tell where they’re going to invade us?”

  “Your Holiness, their Israeli group, will most likely cross into the Golan Heights, they’ll follow the main road into what’s left of Damascus. I’m not sure where the groups forming in Egypt are going, they’re not going to strike Libya because they’re grouping in the Sinai. They might be planning on breaking into Saudi Arabia. We keep losing drones over Russia so we don’t know where they’re going. India’s announcement was expected. They’re going to try to grab Pakistan’s nuclear faculties, they don’t realize we’ve moved them.”

  “What can we do to stop the invasion?”

  “Sir, are using nuclear weapons off the table?”

  “Yes, I believe the Pope is serious about his threat to respond ten to one. We can’t absorb that ratio. No WMDs are to be used. Use our hackers to cripple their networks, don’t let them send or receive information. Bring their vaulted computer networks down. Interject false information into their systems, crack their IFF codes, issue false firing instructions to their artillery, we can stop them in their tracks if we can block their ability to rely on their networks. Without their networks, they won’t be able to communicate with each other.”

  “Sir, do we have permission to use the EMP weapons we purchased from China?”

  The Mahdi smiles,

  “Yes, an excellent idea. They won’t be expecting them. Fire the cruise missiles over their assembly and headquarter areas.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “General, I suggest after they’ve crossed the border and think they’re winning, we strike them with thousands of anti-tank missiles. As a backup, we’ll arm our population with thousands of RPGs, we’ll amass our people in large ambushes, no matter how well their tanks are armored, they won’t be able to shake off thousands of RPGs.”

  “Holy One, we armed every male over the age of ten. We will give the Crusaders a very warm welcome.”

  “Good, I’m sure Allah will welcome the faithful, they will enter paradise as heroes. Remind the men they will be met and serviced by 72 virgins when they enter paradise. When do you think they will start the invasion?”

  “Soon, they’re not going to want their people milling around. They’ll know we’re watching them, so they’ll strike as soon as they get organized. I expect the initial units to hit us within a few d
ays.”

  “Let’s ask Allah for his guidance.”

  All of the men pray for divine guidance and they pray to Allah to strike down the invaders as the Chinese special cruise missiles fly fifty feet over the desert sands to explode over the Crusader locations. The warheads aren’t filled with high explosives, they don’t shower the area with shrapnel, they fill the sky with strong RF pulses which overload and burn out computer networks.

  @@@@@

  General Green looks around the table; he throws the memo he’s been holding on the table.

  “What the hell do you mean, none of you knew about this? Didn’t he discuss his plans with anyone? Doesn’t he know he’s the number one target on the Caliphate’s hit list? We can’t allow him to issue this!”

  Yuri looks straight ahead,

  “General, my friend, he’s already issued it. You’re holding the copy he issued.”

  “He WHAT?”

  “Yes, sir. He’s announced he’s going to hold an open mass in the Old City. It happens to correspond to our kick off time. He hopes to have over one million people show up.”

  “He’s crazy! We can’t protect him from a million people. We’re going to need all of our people for the invasion. Does anyone know why he’s doing this?”

  “General Richman, you spoke with him less than an hour ago, what did he say?”

  “He’s asked us to provide him with our armed reservists to protect everyone who attends his mass, after the mass he’s going to ask the people to cross into Jordan as a people’s crusade.”

  “Doesn’t he realize he’s going to get most of the people killed? This is crazy.”

  “Sir, he won’t be talked out of it.”

  “Where the hell is he getting the weapons to arm a million people?”

  General Richman looks at the table,

  “You didn’t! My God! You’re as crazy as he is. Israel gave him a million rifles?”

  “You originally gave them to us. We had them stored, we agreed to give two-hundred-thousand rifles to the Pope. Each rifle will also have bag holding eight thirty round magazines. He believes the press will focus on his mass and not our invasion, they’ll see a million people cross the border, forcing the media to report this is a battle of the average man.”

  Green sits bent over holding his head, speaking in a low voice,

  “You’ve both signed a million death certificates. He’s mad, we’re following a crazy man. The media will report we killed a million people. Let me guess, he’s going to arm men and women?”

  “He’s trying to arm anyone over the age of thirteen who attends the Mass and wish to be armed.”

  “Who’s going to say no to an M16 and a bag of ammo? This is getting worse and worse. I hope to hell he’s telling them who the enemy is. I’d hate for our armor to be attacked by the very people we’re supposed to be defending. My God, why me?”

  “My son, you need to have faith in our Lord.” Says Pope Francis II entering the conference room.

  Everyone jumps to their feet, General Green snaps to attention,

  “Your Holiness. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you enter. Is there something we can do for you?”

  “I came to explain my plans. I knew you’d be upset. I didn’t inform you because I knew you’d try to talk me out of it. I have made up my mind. This has to be a Crusade supported by the people. The best way to show support for the Crusade is for the people to arm themselves and fight in the name of God.”

  “Your Holiness, you’re the Caliphate’s number one target, they will use anything they have in order to kill you, maybe even use weapons of mass destruction. There’s no way we can protect you in an open mass of a million people, let alone, hundreds of thousands of armed people. Sir, please change your mind. You’re committing suicide.”

  “General, if it’s my time to be called by our Lord, then it will be my time. If it is, I expect you to continue the Crusade and win. You’re not to pause to mourn for me.”

  General Green lowers his voice,

  “You’re setting yourself up to become a martyr. I think you want to be killed, you believe if the Caliphate kills you it will galvanize the free world to fully support the Crusade. You’ve read the press; you’ve seen the news reports. Sir, I can’t allow you to kill yourself. The Lord doesn’t approve of suicide. Before you say you’re not killing yourself, we all know you are. Our Lord knows what’s in your heart. He won’t be happy with your decision.”

  “We each have our roles we’ve been assigned in this life. You have yours, I have mine. We’re both serving the same purpose. I’m prepared to meet my fate. I’m not afraid to die, I know there’s another plane of existence, one where we’ll all be judged. I’m prepared to be judged for my sins. Your assigned role is to manage the attack; my assigned task is to be a spark plug to ignite the rest of the world to support us.”

  Both men embrace trying to hold back the tears that are welling in their eyes.

  “Your Holiness, isn’t there anything I can say to change your mind?”

  “My son. Nothing. I know you believe in the Bible, I’m sure you know we’re fulfilling the prophecy for the end of days. Both armies are getting ready to meet in the Holy Land.”

  “Sir, the prophecy hasn’t been lost on me. I’ve been thinking about it for the previous three months. Is there anything you suggest?”

  “Yes, remember our Lord’s words.”

  “You’re Holiness, take care of yourself. May God bless you.”

  “You too General.”

  Pope Francis II leaves the silent conference room. General Green looks at his staff,

  “I want two security platoons sent to try to protect his Holiness.”

  Yuri looks up at his friend, “Frank, do you think he’ll survive the mass?”

  “No, and he knows it. He’s right in that when he’s killed, it will force the media to report he was murdered. Some may try to report it was his fault for launching the Crusade. I’m hoping most people don’t fall for their bullshit. We’re going to move forward per our plans.”

  @@@@@

  As the hour of the attack nears, the Caliphate cruise missiles explode over the Crusader’s bases. Instantly the Crusader’s computer networks blank out and die. Cell phones are dead, satcom phones die. Laptops won’t turn on. Officers become frustrated and they're confused what happened. Orbiting AWACS planes are surprised when their radar displays flash, two-thirds of them don’t reset.

  General Green looks at the hand written messages runners brought him. His fist pounds the conference table,

  “Damn it! The bastards must have struck us with EMP weapons. The results are very similar to our own experimental weapons. Where the hell did they get them? How bad is the damage?”

  “Sir, all of our server farms are burned out. In order to save time, we built them with enterprise, not mil spec servers. We’ve lost most of our networks. Our AWACs lost some cards, we have spares for them when the planes land.”

  “How long to replace the server farms?”

  “Sir, a couple of weeks.”

  “NO. We need our networks back now. I don’t care where you find the servers, just get them. The Mahdi most likely thinks he hurt us very badly, he may be getting ready to strike us while we regroup. We can’t allow him to move his people into position. Tell the MLRS to launch across the border now. If the Caliphate is trying to sneak up on us, we’ll stop them in their tracks.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Before General Green finishes giving instructions the Caliphate’s rockets begin landing at the Crusader assembly areas. Hundreds of rockets fall on the assembled troops. Most of the attacking missiles are brought down with Crusader interceptor missiles. Most of the anti-battery radars survived the EMP attack. They lost some computer cards, so their ability to track multiple incoming flights of rockets is reduced. They still have the ability to engage most and to backtrack the attacking missiles. Coordinates are sent to the Crusaders MLRS batteries to return fire. The MLRS rockets ha
ve better range and accuracy than the Caliphate’s. They destroy the launching sites. The Crusader wounded are quickly treated; the local commanders update their organizations to fill the slots left empty by the incoming rockets. Commanders quickly adapt to the lack of their networks, they rely on wired telephones and runners to pass orders.

  General Green and staff review the reports of the spoiling attack; he orders the local commanders to attack as soon as they’re ready. Since the Caliphate knows they’re coming, there’s no need for them to wait. As soon as the local commanders receive the updated orders, they issue the attack orders. The tanks on the front line cross the border entering the Caliphate.

  Miles away in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, Pope Francis II, takes the stage to a million cheering, ardent believers. He holds his hands up to the heavens to recite a prayer for the assembled masses when a single shot rings out, it strikes Pope Frances II in his heart. His white robe is turned red from his blood. The crowd’s silence is broken by the scream of “ALLAH AKBAR.” The Pope is dead before his body touches the platform. The crowd screams in shock. People watching around the world cover their eyes, they cross themselves with tears streaming down their faces. General Green, watching on the monitor, shakes his head, he whispers to himself a silent prayer, “He got what he wanted. He just united the non-Muslim world behind the Crusade.”