The camera returned back to Nina Short as she continued, “Upon leaving the mall, the individuals then sped away in their vehicle. The FBI and police told us they have issued a BOLO for the suspects’ vehicle and are asking the public for help or video footage of the event.”
“—Enough. Turn it off. Do we know how many people were killed and do we have any idea who they are?”
“I just received an update from the agent in charge at scene right now,” said the Director of the FBI as she looked up from her tablet. “She is reporting 87 people killed and 107 people injured. The suspect who was shot by the security guard has been transported to a local hospital to be treated for his wounds.”
“She said they plan on questioning him as soon as he is out of surgery. We should have an ID on the suspect shortly as they run his prints and facial image against our databases,” Jane Smart said.
“Jane, I want answers soon. Find out who this person is and if this is a lone wolf attack or if this is related to our operation in Mexico or something else.”
“Yes, Mr. President. I believe I should excuse myself and work on this with my people right away, if I may leave?”
“Yes, please get us an update as soon as possible. Keep Jorge and James apprised of any changes; I want the NSA cross-checking this as well. A chorus of “Yes, Mr. President,” echoed throughout the room.
The President turned towards his National Security Advisor and said, “Mike, can you please give us a shorter version of your brief so we can be ready to handle this new situation as we receive more information?”
“Yes, Mr. President. The intercepts from the Middle East indicate something is going on. We have seen a lot of military orders and activity within the IR. They appear to be moving a lot of forces to the provinces of Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Some of these movements appear to coincide with a major military exercise that they are holding towards the end of the November; others appear to be new unit assignments to bases in those areas.”
“The cause for concern is that most of these units are their Tier 1 frontline units. The best equipped and trained units are all moving to within striking range of Israel, with the majority of these forces and support units being in position around the time of the exercise.”
“Why is this important, Mike?” asked the President.
“At first we did not think anything of this; however, the Chinese are conducting a massive naval and amphibious exercise throughout December, and the Russians are conducting a similar size exercise in Eastern Europe in the middle to the end of January. This is a lot of military activity by these three nations, all within a very close timeframe, suggesting this might be a coordinated effort of a much larger plan,” said Jim.
“Not to discount the information or your group’s analysis — are we sure this is not a legitimate exercise as opposed to something more sinister?” asked Monty, the President’s Chief of Staff.
“Perhaps. Right now there are several alternatives other than something more sinister. I’ve re-tasked a lot of our Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (or ISR and HUMINT assets) to find more information. We will continue to monitor it and ensure nothing else is going on.”
“All right gentlemen. Let’s table this for the moment and focus on the immediate tasks at hand, stabilizing Mexico and reestablishing law and order. And let’s identify who these men are that perpetrated this dastardly terrorist attack today.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” chorused the whole room.
The IR had initiated the Mexican coup in mid-September, anticipating that the Americans would intervene in a month or two — not immediately. They had not anticipated the swiftness of the American military, or their ability to destroy the Mexican Army and occupy the country so quickly.
Nearly all past American interventions had been in the Middle East, Asia and Europe, far from America’s home bases. Unlike past interventions, Mexico shared a thousand-mile border with the US; nearly all of the military units involved were located within a thousand miles of Mexico City, meaning there was very little in the way of logistical problems or far distances for their forces to travel.
“The Americans have secured Mexico faster than we originally thought they could. Our advisors were unfortunately not able to prevent the Mexican army from collapsing as quickly as it did either,” said Huseen, the Director of Intelligence.
“The MANPADS did bring down a number of helicopters, drones and aircraft; they should continue to destroy aircraft as the occupation continues. Some of the Mexican military units were smart and faded away quickly as soon as it became clear that the Americans had taken out the military leadership. They are now carrying out guerilla attacks as often as they can,” General Hamza said, ensuring that the Caliph knew that not everything had failed in the operation.
“Our operatives in the country are currently working to establish a grassroots level insurgency as we speak. It will take time, but they are confident attacks against the Americans will start to increase in the weeks and months to come,” said General Rafi, the IR Special Operations Commander.
“Excellent, General. Please continue the good work and keep us informed. I am disappointed in how fast Mexico was taken; I take solace in knowing that our Special Forces and military advisors have inflicted a lot of casualties and will continue to do so. For the rest of our plan to work, we need the level of violence to continue to increase in Mexico in order to tie down the American troops,” commanded the Caliph.
“On another note — have the Americans figured out our involvement in the Philadelphia attack?” the Caliph inquired, hoping the answer was no.
“Not yet. They captured one of the attackers, but he did not know anything that would lead them back to us. I ordered the next group to begin their attack; they should begin tonight. The first group will begin their second attack in two days — they had to lay low and regroup after the mall attack. I’ll initiate the third group right away. By the time we have all eight groups active, the Americans are going to be going crazy,” Huseen said with a devilish grin.
Escalation
The Chinese had been preparing for a confrontation with the US for nearly fifty years. Decades of cyber-attacks and theft of intellectual property had given the Chinese the advantage they needed to not just catch up to the Americans, but advance beyond them in multiple areas. For nearly thirty years, the Chinese had infiltrated various aspects of the American industrial control systems’ manufacturing base and embedded viruses and malware that were just waiting to be activated. The Chinese planned on not just dominating the Pacific, but replacing the US as the world’s leading Superpower.
“What is the status of the situation with the Americans? How are things progressing?” asked Jinping.
“Premier, the terrorist attacks in America continue to increase. The assaults against American forces in Mexico are also increasing as well. The IR was right — as this continues and their attack against Israel starts, it will draw forces away from the Pacific and limit the Americans’ options when Operation Red Dragon begins,” said Xi Lee, the Director for State Intelligence.