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
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
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.