WAR (34 page)

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Bev, Kathy, and Brad are following Ron as he runs entering the lobby of the Encore. Ron looks around motioning his wife and friends to join him. “We’re close to blowing the Wynn. When we do that’ll be the end of the Russians. Their commander is still inside the Wynn. When we take their commander out, it should hurt their morale. If we hit their other locations at the same time, we may catch them in between commanders. Their troops may not know what to do.”

Brad frowns saying, “Old buddy, you’re going to bring the Wynn down? What about all of the people in it? How many innocents are you going to kill?”

“We’re hoping not many. However we have to get the Russian commander before he issues orders to bring down all of the hotels. Need I remind you, all of them are loaded with innocents? We may kill some, to save tens of thousands. Do we have any other choice?”

“Ron, what’s come over you? I’ve known you for years. You never before would have even thought about taking innocent lives. What’s changed in you?”

“Brad, do you remember when the terrorists attacked the mall? Do you remember taking your rifle to try to shoot them down? How many did you kill? When you shot them, were you sure they were all terrorists? Would you have continued shooting if there’d been an innocent in the way of your shooting?”

“Well, I think so. It would have come down to one innocent versus thousands of innocents. I would have hated myself in the morning, but I would have done what I had to do to save the most lives.”

“Same thing here. Instead of terrorists, we were invaded by Russian troops. In order to bring it to a close, I’ll do what we have to so we can save the tens of thousands of innocents. Are you going to help us or fight us?”

“Ron, you know I’ll help. We have to do anything we can to bring the invasion to an end. Where’s our military?”

“They are surrounding the city. The Marines from Pendleton are in the area. Troops from the National Training Center are moving in from the north. The Air Force has control of the air. We are going to kick them out of Vegas.  We’re going to kick red Russian ass. The question to you is, are you going to help us or not?”

“Of course I’ll help. What do you want me to do?”

“Brad, I trust you like the brother I never had, I want you to take Bev and Kathy to safety.”

“Where’s a safe area?”

“Get them to our troops outside of the city.”

Ron hugs Brad with tears in his eyes. “Thank you, my friend. Take my love to safety, take her to the Marine position to the southwest of the city.”

“Ron, meet us there. We’ll stay there until you come to us.”

The two nod and separate, Brad says, “Bev, Kath please follow me. We’re leaving the city. We’re going to find the US Marines.”

Chapter 24

Former President Ted Cruise lands at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport in a government T 43A, the military version of Boeing’s 737. First off the plane is a secret service agent, followed by President Cruise. Three additional agents follow the former President, one grabs the President’s overnight bag. Ted stops in the terminal to shake hands and take selfies with passengers waiting for their flights. While President Cruise is shaking hands, sixty African-Americans run into the terminal, overturning and breaking everything in sight. They rob the passengers who are waiting in the TSA security screening line. They rob the stores in the terminal while placing large banners on the walls that say “Black Lives Matter.” People in the terminal scatter, others get knocked over by those who are fleeing. Alarms sound in the terminal, the public announcement loudspeakers come alive asking everyone to quickly and peacefully leave the terminal. President Cruise looks at his security detail, “Are we in danger?”

“Sir, there’s some sort of disturbance in the main terminal. I think we should leave ASAP.”

“I have a board meeting to attend. I never ran from anything in my life. I don’t want to run from a little disturbance. You guys can handle it correct?”

“Sir, there are four of us, while we are armed, the intel says there are fifty to sixty of them. We can’t handle that large of a group.”

“Are they here for me?”

“I don’t think so. I think it’s another demonstration, nothing more. I doubt they even know you’re here. We didn’t announce it in advance.”

“Where do you want me to go?”

“Mr. President, I think we ought to go back to the plane.”

“I’m coming.”

As President Cruise and his protective details start to turn around, the mob breaks through security. They beat and kick the TSA agents into unconsciousness. They see President Cruise in the mid terminal, they yell, “There he is, let’s get him!”

The mob starts running towards the President, one starts firing a MAC 10 in full auto, another a GLOCK 19 and two fire 12 gauge shotguns towards the President whose staff is already returning fire at the mob. The mob increases their yelling as more of them pull guns out and open fire at President Cruise. Local police enter the terminal running towards the sound of gunfire. Passengers are running towards the police begging for protection. President Cruise’s four secret service agents pull out silenced HK MP 5 submachine guns. They begin firing on full auto spraying 9MM rounds towards the advancing mob. Four mob members stop in mid-step, they slide behind chairs in the terminal pulling out AK 47s which they fire back at the secret service on full auto. The large 7.62mm rounds from the AKs easily go right through the chairs and tables in the terminal. Two of the four agents get hit by the AK fire. Five members of the mob toss Molotov Cocktails at the secret service agents. One of the gasoline bombs explodes in a small snack shop where the flames reach the propane tanks. The tanks explode, blowing the wall out of the terminal, every glass window in the terminal shatters. Passengers caught in the terminal are covered in shattered glass and debris from the explosion. The area where the snack shop was is burning out of control, the flames are licking at the outside walls of the terminal moving towards the parked planes and a fuel truck whose driver panicked when the bomb blew out the wall of the terminal. The escaping driver left the fuel truck right under the terminal. The spreading flames found it from a small puddle of oil and fuel that had leaked from the truck. The flames followed the spill like a hungry dog follows food. The flames licked the spill until the flames reached the back of the truck where the fueling connectors were located; the fuel truck exploded with the force that exceeded a 2,000 pound bomb. The explosion rips apart the plane parked next to it which is full of fuel; it explodes destroying the balance of the terminal, killing everyone still in the terminal. Over a thousand people die when the terminal collapses and burns. Among the thousands are four secret service agents and one former US President, President Ted Cruise.

The USA is shocked and filled with grief over the death of one of the most loved former Presidents. President Rand declares a thirty day period of national grieving, he orders flags flown at half-staff for the thirty days. President Rand calls President Brownstone, “Rod, you heard?”

“Yes. I don’t believe he’s gone. I can’t believe they went to such an extreme to take him out. They took out an entire airport terminal to get him. In the process, they killed a thousand innocents and caused millions of dollars in damage. Paul, I’ve had enough of these attacks and the LSA sitting behind the scenes pushing others to do their dirty work.”

“Rod, two of the dead were agents of the LSA DepLIES. This is a declaration of war against us.”

“I agree. How far are you going to escalate the war?”

“I have a couple of ideas which may bring it to a close quickly, or at least scare the shit out of the average LSA citizen. The executives of the LSA wanted a war, now they are going to get a taste of what a real war looks and feels like.”

“Paul, in the end, their people are still our people, we can’t nuke them, we’d be nuking American soil. In the end, we’ll be paying the price of winning.”

“Rod, I fully realize this. Neither our people nor I, can accept the LSA putting a contract on a US President. Who’s next? You, me or my successor? We can’t allow them to get away with the attack.”

“What are you planning?”

“My options are limited, they declared war on us, you of all people know we have to respond and do so in a manner that this doesn’t happen again.”

“Paul, I’d like to come back to the House so we can chat face to face about our options.”

“Agreed, is the Colonel back?”

“Yes, he just returned with his team.”

“Have him bring you in. We all trust him to protect you.”

“I’ll let him get some rest before we make the short trip to the House.”

“Sounds good, let the secret service know when you’re coming in so there’s no problems at the gate.”

“Do you think that they are going to give Grover any problems?”

Laughing, President Rand says, “No, I don’t want to be on the Colonel’s shit list, I don’t know of anyone who’s alive and still on his list.”

Unknown to both Presidents, another front has opened in the North. Quebec honored their treaty with the LSA and personal demand from President Booker to attack the soft Northern area of the USA. An army composed of 50,000 troops invade the USA, their initial target is Toronto. The city isn’t expecting an attack. The 2,800,000 people of Toronto wake to discover armed troops in the downtown area, police stations are quickly captured by the heavily armed invading troops. HAM radio operators are able to send out a warning and request for help. Police on duty have a short fatal shoot-out with the Quebec troops who fought police cars with RPGs, the invaders caught the city unprepared. The first invading wave was able to capture the city with minimal loss of life. Local news helicopters are shot out of the sky by Quebec fighter aircraft. The French Quebecois fly the French Eurofighter, Tranche V advanced fighters with advanced stealth, Active Electronically Scanning Array Radar, and new ASRAAM (Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile) a missile that can fire off bore sight and even can fire at targets behind the fighter. Within ten minutes of launching the attack, the French have control of the air over the city; every road leading into or out of Toronto is closed and held by the invaders. The 2,800,000 people outnumber the invaders. However most of the people are unarmed since Canada didn’t allow private ownership of weapons. When Canada broke apart, with more than half of it joining the USA, some people purchased firearms, the majority didn’t figuring the powerful US military was now protecting them. Toronto was a city blessed with low crime, its people didn’t worry about home invasions or violent crime. Very few owned a firearm. The invaders used the element of surprise to their best advantage. They parachuted and drove into the city center in the early hours when most of the city was sleeping, before most knew what was happening, they were captured, being quickly overwhelmed by the invaders. The residents are led out of their homes to their local schools where they are held under armed guard. They are told as long as they do what they’re told the invaders won’t split their families up. If, on the other hand, the city people don’t listen, their families will be split and they won’t be told where their families are being taken to. The townspeople hang their heads in shame. They didn’t even put up a fight for their city. The invaders couldn’t believe they’d taken the city so quickly and without a major firefight. They planned to use the city as a new base of operations to launch an attack on Erie, Pennsylvania, and from Erie they planned to attack Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Their third target was Washington, D.C. where they hoped to capture the government leaders forcing the USA to agree to terms with the LSA.

The US Military wasn’t looking to the North when the alarms sounded in the Pentagon. General Watson, the CJCS asked, “Where is the attack? From where did it come from? How many people? Come on people we’re under attack. I want AWACS coverage of the entire country. I want to know options now.”

President Rand asked his military advisor the same questions; as did President Brownstone.

While in Los Angeles, President Booker was laughing to himself thinking
the attack surprised the crap out of them. They were looking to their coasts, and their southern border, they left the northern border unguarded and open for our allies to walk in and take over Toronto. They are confused and off balance, now is the time to hit them hard enough to rock them backward. It’s time to turn up the heat in all of their cities.

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President Brownstone and Colonel Grover enter the armored car inside the garage so no one potentially watching the house will see which car they entered for the trip to the White House. Colonel Grover’s plan was to send four identical cars on four different routes to the White House. Sitting in a tree on the edge of Brownstone’s property line are three people watching for anyone leaving the house. They radio, “Four cars, all identical. Black Tahoes with black tinted windows. I have no idea who’s in them or where they’re going.”

“Roger, keep watching.”

When the four black Tahoes reach the end of the driveway, two turn to the left and two turn to the right. One of the men in the trees fires an RFG at one of the black Tahoes. The RPG misses the SUV. President Brownstone’s protective detail didn’t miss. They used IR scopes to clearly see the people in the trees. All of the spotters fell dead out of the trees. Grover turns to President Brownstone, “Sir, they had spotters in the trees, we got them all.”