The lead Phantom noticed something in the distance but he did not know what it was.
“Charlie do you see that? Is that the enemy directly in front?”
“I see it Bobby… I’m not sure.”
The object got bigger very quickly, it was traveling at great speed and by the time the pilot realized what was happening; it was too late. He could not react in time as the ball of burning light smashed into his aircraft turning it to debris in a split second.
A second orb raced towards the Phantoms wingman but he had the time to break left and roll out of harm’s way.
“Air force one, get out of here now. Angel one is down. Repeat Angel one is down.”
Immediately the pilot of Air Force one pulled hard on the controls and the aircraft started to climb. It was a sudden change and most of the occupant’s ears popped uncomfortably. Two Phantoms climbed with it.
Angel two flew directly towards the two closing enemy fighters, as he got into view range he saw the Me 262’s closing fast but to his horror, there were four fighters and not two like the radar suggested.
“Holy shit, there are four of them, repeat four bogies.”
“Roger that Angel Two.” The other Phantoms said, they wanted to help but they could not leave the President.
The first two Me 262’s roared straight passed the outnumbered Phantom and pitched their noses almost vertically while the other two engaged.
“Two Phantoms on your six, climbing fast Angel three.”
Streams of plasma snaked out at the Phantom who managed to roll inverted and then loop around behind the Me 262’s in a smooth maneuver. Charlie Brady heard the familiar growl in his ear as the AIM-9 Sidewinder locked on to the target, he pulled the trigger and the missile streaked towards its target.
The Me 262 seemed to slow almost like it was drawing the missile in and then at the last moment it rolled right and dove towards the deck. Brady still had missile lock and pulled the trigger again as he dived after the target but this time the missile just fell from the bottom of the plane as the motor failed to ignite.
Brady swore but he was undeterred and continued to follow the fighter towards the ground. Brady’s radar operator checked their six was clear of the enemy. Angel two was just about ready to fire again when the Me 262 in front turned around completely to face him.
“That’s is impossible,” Brady said in disbelief.
The Me 262 opened up its canons and plasma washed over the Phantom, burning holes in the nose and canopy of the aircraft. Angel two was too close to avoid the fire and Brady was killed instantly; his radar operator tried in vain to eject but the Phantom smashed into the ocean below.
“Angel two is down.” The pilot of Air force one said glumly.
“What the hell is going on back there?” Nixon shouted but nobody responded.
Nixon looked out of the left-hand window just in time to see the Phantom escort turn into a ball of flames as it was struck by a bright orb of light.
“Dear God.” Was all the President managed to say.
The Phantom on the right-hand side managed to roll and invert to avoid the first orb but the second ball of plasma impacted right in the center of the plane, turning it into falling bits of metal.
“Shit, we have not protection. Repeat we have no defensive options left.” The pilot of Air Force one said. He pushed down on the controls and put the large plane into a steep dive; trying to gain speed.
The Passengers were pulled into their seats by the intense g-force and this only intensified as the pilot tried to force the aircraft to roll, thinking it was a nimble fighter. He was taking it passed its design limits and small pieces of the airframe peeled off.
As Air Force one tumbled from the sky it managed to avoid the plasma raining down after it but the pilot was taking a great risk and he was not sure if he could even recover the aircraft.
They tumbled through fifteen thousand feet and suddenly the pilot shouted to the copilot to pull on the controls with all his might; the two men struggled to pull the aircraft’s nose up as the continued to fall.
They smashed through ten thousand feet and then through eight when finally, Air force one responded, slowly the nose pulled up and they came out of the great dive. The plane was still in one piece but only just. The pilots noticed some vibrations in the foot pedals.
The pilots checked the radar for enemy contacts but they appeared to be clear. One of the stewardesses had thrown up all over the place and the smell spread through the plane.
Nixon tried to wipe tears away and his brow was extremely pale.
The Copilot turned to the Captain to discuss their next move when the color drained from his face. To the left of Air force one barely ten feet away sat two Me 262s. The pilots could clearly see the enemy pilot looking over at them.
“Shall we ram them?”
“Negative that is too dangerous.”
“What shall w…”
A great explosion rocked the aircraft, the shockwaves rippled through the fuselage as the cockpit was severed clean from the rest of the plane. The Stewardess sat in the front was ripped from the falling wreckages, still strapped into her seat.
Nixon barely managed to look up when another explosion hit the rear of the plane, a great fireball spread quickly through the enclosed area. Nobody could survive the inferno.
Unconditional Surrender
Stunned silence spread across the emergency bunker buried deep in the bowels of the White House. There were no further radio communications between Air force one and Angel flight and those in the control room could not raise anybody on Airforce one.
The people in the room looked at each other with disbelief, not one of them was prepared for this moment even though the sudden war had not been going well from the beginning.
The two men in black surveyed the room, Edgar Hoover the head of the FBI just looked straight ahead with a blank expression while the Vice President had his head in his hands; the two men unfolded their arms and walked forward in unison. One of them turned the battle net radio down.
“Listen up we have suffered another setback, that is true but until we have confirmation about the Presidents status we have to assume the worst.” They paused. “That means Mr. Vice President you are in command.”
Spiro Agnew took his head out of his hands and looked up with red eyes. He looked at the two unearthly men, “Shouldn’t we wait until the confirmation that Richard hasn’t made it?”
They shook their heads, “No we need to act now, the inevitable attack on the capital is coming and our forces need leadership.”
Spiro could not hide his fear, “What would be your suggested orders, how do we counter them and their seemingly untouchable technology?”
The men in black’s trademark sinister smile flashed across their faces, “We cannot have anybody retreat, everybody who remains in the city are taking up arms as we speak. We can only hope that the rest of the world realizes the enormity of the threat and sends their assistance. This is not a battle we are likely to win but it is one that we must fight it.”
The screens monitoring the news broadcasts flashed off and then flickered on again. A familiar German accent narrated over the blank broadcast screens.
“Welcome my fellow Americans.” He announced. “Your armed forces have been fighting and dying hard. Aryan troops have broken through this minor obstacle this morning and are splitting your country in two as we speak.”
The screens flicked on to show burnt out Patton tanks and dead soldiers where they had fallen in combat, and then the images changed to show warships bombarding a coastline. The film lasted for thirty seconds before changing again; this time it was showing Latin troops smashing through the Mexican border from Guatemala.
“As you can see the Argentinian navy is taking out targets in Mexico, our new allies from South and Central America are attacking strategic targets in Mexico. They will not be coming to your aid.”