Brezhnev sighed heavily, “We have been through this, they won’t. Most if not all of their leadership will be killed in this attack, which will leave them in disarray. The American’s can then surround the cut off nuclear facilities and regain them.” He paused a smiled, “If a few more nuclear missiles are set loose against them from their own facilities then so be it.”
Andropov looked worried, “But what if they do launch against us?”
Brezhnev waved a dismissive hand, “You worry too much.”
Marshal of the Soviet Union Matvei Zakharov stood, he was in command of the Soviet armed forces, “Even if they do strike against us I am confident that signal will work, maybe we should activate it now as a precaution?”
Andropov now looked horrified, he thought carefully. ‘Signal was a system that could be used to create thirty pre-made orders from headquarters to missile units; these could then be used to start retaliatory strikes against predetermined targets. It was an attempt at mutually assured destruction.’
Before Andropov could say anything Brezhnev had agreed with Marshal Zakharov, “Do it, turn Signal on!”
Yuri Andropov sank into his chair.
The orders were given and the Signal system was activated but it had never been tested properly so nobody knew for sure if it was online or even if it would work at all.
As the Soviets finalized their plans for a swift and decisive end to this war prying eyes and ears listened with interest from within the control room at Wright Patterson.
“That boast of power emanating from the Soviet nuclear facilities confirms they have activated their mutually assured destruction device, our satellite is passing overhead now. From our calculations, we don’t believe the system is working as intended.”
Sporrenberg, who had his feet crossed up casually on the desk smiled, “This technology really does amaze me, we can watch and listen to events happening in real time. “ He shook his head, “If only we had this back in the 1940’s the world would have been ours.”
The tall Advisor interrupted Sporrenberg’s musings, “Sir I advise we strike first, the weapon is ready to go on your orders.”
Sporrenberg nodded, “Do it, I am looking forward to seeing this weapon in action for the first time.”
The technician who had been monitoring the Russian communications was given the go-ahead, he began typing commands away furiously into his computer terminal.
Sporrenberg was directed to the window of the control tower by his advisor to watch the launch. The view over the base was magnificent, most of the new buildings were up and running now; with only a few still being constructed by the captives in the labor camps.
‘It isn’t right that the Aryan descendants are being worked to death like this, we should be the ruling class!’ Sporrenberg thought; he almost brought it up again with his advisor but he decided to leave it for the time being.
The doors of the newly rebuilt hanger one opened to reveal a large vehicle that drove slowly out to the outer edge of the base, once it came to a stop the tall frame of the mobile missile launcher slowly raised skywards; the frame gleamed in the late morning sunshine. Attached to the frame was a long thin missile. It was jet black apart from the very tip of the warhead that glowed brightly with a menacing violet.
It took roughly five minutes for launch platform to reach the fully vertical position, once it had eight metal legs descended from the front, middle and rear of the vehicle until they hit the ground; then they raised the vehicle and launch platform off of the ground and locked into place about six foot clear of the tarmac runway.
A quick automated systems check went through and sent the all-clear message to the futuristic computers in the Aryan control room.
“That’s it, the missile is ready to go. You just need to select the target Commander and then scan your fingerprints and the missile will be armed.”
Sporrenberg raised an eyebrow quizzically, “That was quick?”
“Ten minutes exactly Sir.”
“Very good.” Sporrenberg smiled, “Where are the scum leadership having their meeting?”
“The Kremlin, Commander.” Advisor A said.
“That is our target.”
The technician nodded as he added the coordinates for Moscow into the targeting computer.
“Please place your hand on the left-hand terminal Sir.” The technician said to Sporrenberg.
The former SS man did as instructed, he placed his open palm flat onto the small screen, immediately the device light up with a warm orange glow as it scanned his fingerprints and indentations on his hand.
Approximately ten seconds later the device beeped once and then switched off.
“Missile armed Sir, please step away from the console.”
“Why has it not fired?” Sporrenberg said alarmed.
“The missile is only armed Sir, now the firing button needs to be pressed to confirm the order. Advisor A is poised to do this on your command.”
Sporrenberg’s face wrinkled and flashed a bright red for a split second, “And how come I am not the one to fire the weapon?”
The advisor jumped in, “Well Commander you are the only one who can arm the missile but we need a safety system in place where if you were captured, for example then the missile couldn’t be used against our own forces as it would need another person in authority to actually fire the weapon.”
Sporrenberg folded his arms, “Makes sense, ok permission to fire.”
“Thank you Sir.” The advisor replied as he punched in a code on the touchscreen pad, then without a second thought he pushed the enter button.
A vibrant indigo flame burst from the bottom of the missile which immediately broke free of its restraints, it hung in the air for a millisecond before it rocketed vertically skyward. There was no smoke trail as it flew ever higher. Soon they could no longer see the bright light emanating from the engines.
“How long until it hits?” Sporrenberg asked.
“About two minutes.”
“That is very quick.” Sporrenberg said as he turned and smiled to his aid, “They will never know it is coming.”
Advisor A gestured to the viewing screen, “The satellite will give you a front-row seat Commander.”
No early warning system that was in place was sophisticated enough to detect the incoming threat. No warning was delivered to Moscow as the missile plunged through the outer atmosphere and fell vertically downwards at some speed towards the unsuspecting politicians.
The missile sliced through the evening sky and the sporadic cloud cover, it reached just under ten thousand feet when the tip suddenly separated from the rest of the body.
“What happened?” demanded Sporrenberg with concern.
“Just watch.” His advisor responded.
The tip continued to plunge towards the target but from the body, a violet-colored mist started to disperse into the air, it drifted slowly outwards to the ground.
The tip fell ever faster until it penetrated the roof of the State Kremlin Palace. It smashed through the floors, taking concrete, brick, and mortar with it; The large panels of glass on the exterior cracked and splintered.
The Soviet leadership cast who were inside the building as it began to fall apart did not know what to do. They dived for cover as the roof above them caved in.
Leonid Brezhnev gingerly picked himself off of the floor; he coughed painfully as he cleared the dust from his lungs. He surveyed the carnage. The large wooden table in the middle had completely collapsed under the weight of the large conical object that was stuck vertically out of the floor; the two people who had dived for cover underneath it were dead but surprisingly everyone else was unscathed.
“Matvei, what the hell is that thing?” Brezhnev said to the commander of all the Russian army.