The Arizona State Guard Trilogy

by Jeffrey M. Fortney

  Everyone chuckled at that thought. Liam W. Evanston was many things but good at keeping a story short was not one of those things. At least no one said, "Too late!" He winced, but carried on.

  "As I was saying, Hagar became 'with child', as they used to say, and had a son named Ishmael. Years later, Sarai, became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Isaac. Through these two young men the divide between Arabs, the children of Ishmael, and Jews, the children of Isaac, was born." Evanston paused to sip his drink again and look at the faces of his audience. "I know, I know...I've simplified the tale somewhat but that's the gist of it all. For millennia, both sides have vied for great-great-great-something Grandpa Abraham's blessings! But Tobias and Abe proved that Jews and Arabs can live together in peace and as brothers!"

  "I always wondered about that," Jenna Richards said. "Tobias, maybe you could tell me more about the history of your people?" she asked Cowen, looking into his eyes and touching the back of his hand. Evanston saw more than just intellectual curiosity in Richards' glance. Ah! Young love, he thought.

  The night wore on and some more of the group left. The governor excused herself claiming an early meeting the next morning. Teresa took her leave to put her son to bed and Marion left with her daughter-in-law and grandson.

  Cowen sat back in his chair and asked the group, "So...where does that leave us?"

  General Roman looked across the table at his son. Marcus took that as his cue. "Well, first I need to fill a vital position within the Legion. I need a new sergeant major to take care of the troops." He looked over at Cowen who was taking a long pull on his drink...and almost choked when he noticed Marcus and the others looking at him.

  "Me?" Cowen asked.

  "Yes...you, Tobias!" replied Marcus with a grin. "If you want the position, it's yours. Temp spoke highly of both you and Abe. He'd want you to take it!"

  Cowen looked at the other faces around the table, especially Jenna's, and realized they were all waiting for his answer. "Yessir, colonel! I'll take it...for Abe and Temp!"

  "Outstanding," said General Roman reaching over to shake Cowen's hand. When Cowen pulled his hand back, he found the general had slipped him a set of sergeant major stripes.

  "Thank you...sirs!"

  Congratulations from all quickly followed.

  Marcus cleared his throat. "So, Tobias's question remains...'where does that leave us?'"

  Kenneth Halsted responded first. "Well, we still need to track down Al Zahrani and Al-Fakeeh. The Bureau and the ASGuard must find them. First and foremost, to prevent future attacks. Second, to gather the intel they carry around in their heads. And, we need to find out how they slipped past us. I can guarantee the Bureau's full support!"

  General Titus Roman spoke next. "We were lucky this time. We had a lot of the clues available to us and still didn't put the puzzle pieces together until it was almost too late. We need to develop broader skill sets and abilities within our troops. Ken, we'll need your organization's help with that." Those present grew silent for a moment, thinking of how close they had come to disaster.

  Evanston chose that moment to speak. "You face yet another danger in the near future, my friends." The others waited for Evanston to continue, allowing him the pregnant pause he so enjoyed.

  "The old United States of America has been torn asunder and in its place are two diametrically opposite political entities," Evanston began. "The peoples of the so-called 'Flyover Country' have banded together to restore the Constitution and the Rule of Law, retaining the name 'United States of America' in doing so. Those who sought to violate that Constitution and break the promises made within it have created a new nation, the People's Socialist States of America. Both nations have been working to establish themselves and their economies." He paused to take a breath...and another drink.

  "But the PSSA are discovering that their policies and their economy are not working. They need more workers to support their ever growing population of leeches. And, they need to grow their population rapidly to gain those workers. Even now, they're opening their borders to any and all; letting them come to a land of plenty, or so they say. They are also openly recruiting...for an army."

  "An army?" asked General Roman, Halsted, and Marcus at the same time.

  Evanston smiled. "Yes...an army! When the old USA broke up, the Progressives who run the PSSA found themselves without the engine that drove the economy they used to fulfill their promises to the masses. They also found themselves bereft of those willing to serve in a military force. They are power hungry. They want to reunite the old country under their rule...once and for all. Mark my words, gentlemen...our cold little civil war is about to grow very hot!"

  Jenna looked at Evanston and asked, "How is that, Mr. Evanston?"

  Liam paused a moment to pet his Huskies then leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes for a moment and when they re-opened, he looked as if he was staring at something just beyond the horizon. He cleared his throat before he spoke.

  "It will start in the cities of the PSSA. Those cities are packed to overflowing with those dependent upon government for their very existence. Some of them came from cities here in the Heartland. When they learned that the Conservative states would insist they find employment, be drug-tested before receiving 'benefits', be limited in what could be purchased with those 'benefits'...they left the U.S. and move to cities in the PSSA where they didn't have to do those things." He took another sip from his glass without blinking.

  "In the 1960s, they used to say that 'no city was more than a few days from utter chaos'. Large quantities of supplies were shipped to each city pretty much on a weekly basis. A few days without new supplies of food and fuel, and there would be riots and utter chaos. That, my friends, is where we are now. Except, with modern real time delivery, those supplies are shipped almost daily...so the crunch factor is much shorter." Evanston paused, blinked, and seemed to return to the group.

  "The cities of the PSSA are hotbeds of racial tension, total dependence on government services, and desperately in need of regular supply deliveries. The reports coming out of the PSSA show that people in those cities are just beginning to realize their government will not be able to continue to meet their needs...or demands. Within weeks, maybe even days, the riots will begin. The Piss Ants will try to put down the riots but will only exacerbate the situation. The violence will escalate, spread outward, ultimately beyond the borders of the cities. They'll go into the countryside to find food...which they will steal and kill to get."

  "But, how will that affect us here in the USA, sir," Jenna asked.

  "Well, my dear," Evanston began, "when they are done razing their own cities and countryside...they will try to raze ours!"

  Jenna gasped. The others merely nodded.

  Evanston continued, "We were lucky this time that we stopped them from using radioactive materials smuggled into our country. Next time...it will be worse!"

  "Worse?" Jenna Richards asked.

  "Oh yes," replied Evanston. "Next time they will use the nuclear weapons they taken from the countries they've taken over and smuggled into our country!"

  ***

  BOOK THREE

  Freedom's Forge

  by

  Jeffrey M. Fortney

  Published by Jeffrey M. Fortney

  Copyright 2016 Jeffrey M. Fortney

  1st Edition License Notes:

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person or persons, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters and events portrayed in this book are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Acknowledgments

>   I want to thank my wonderful wife, Julie De Ann, for her continued support of my writing projects. She is always my greatest strength! To my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren, I say thank you for the inspiration to keep moving forward. And my thanks go out to my family, friends, and faithful readers who have spread the word about my books far and wide.

  Dedication

  This novel is dedicated to the memory of CWO4 Thomas W. Forbes, USMC (ret.), an outstanding Marine, a true leader, and a terrific friend. You were taken from us far too soon, Tom; and you will be missed, my friend.

  Prologue

  "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."

  --Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4 (1777)

  "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

  -- Edmund Burke

  Elections have consequences. If an un-informed electorate votes for someone who looks hot, sounds cool, and promises to give away lots of “free” stuff instead of considering the depth of each candidate's character AND qualifications, then you won't get the most qualified person for the office.

  A case in point was the 2000 Presidential Election in the United States of America. In some timelines, George W. Bush won the election by a landslide. In others, the Supreme Court had to validate the election results. In still others, Vice President Al Gore won that election. And in yet another reality, Vice President Harold Pierce, an avowed Liberal/Progressive, defeated Bush and became the 43rd President of the United States of America.

  Once in office, Pierce implemented a series of social engineering programs and pushed through his party's platform against Human Assisted Global Heating or HAGH (pronounced haf). Pierce was half right, the world was getting hotter...temporarily. But that was part of a natural cycle the world had experienced many times over its billions of years of existence. Pierce's climate policies proved extremely damaging to the U.S. economy and to support his ever growing social programs, he and the Liberal/Progressive-led Congress implemented a series of tax increases that further ravaged the economy.

  The September 11th, 2001 terror attacks upon the United States merely added to the problems the country was experiencing. Tens of thousands were killed in New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., Seattle, and Los Angeles through the use of hijacked aircraft turned into human-guided missiles. More could have died in the cities of Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, if Texas and Oklahoma Air National Guard units hadn't shot down the airliners targeting those cities.

  Pierce's next actions did little to further endear him to the American people. On September 12th, Pierce declared martial law and implemented a domestic spying program throughout the United States "to protect Muslims and other minorities within the country" from the “right wing elements within the United States”. He then barricaded himself and his cabinet in the NORAD Command Post under Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Next, he sent formal letters of apology to Muslim nations around the globe for all of the "heinous transgressions" perpetrated by the citizens and government of the United States. Step one in removing the United States from the world stage.

  In 2008, President Harold Pierce, with the help of a majority Liberal/Progressive Congress and a fawning media, accepted and "won" a third term in office, citing FDR's precedent of serving three terms during wartime. And wartime it was until 2010, when Islamic Fundamentalists finally stopped focusing so heavily on the United States and turned their attention to the many countries they had infiltrated through immigration and rapid population growth during the 20th and early 21st Centuries. For decades, the demographics of those nations had shifted in favor of the ever growing populations of Muslim immigrants.

  President Pierce died in the "Mountain White House" in 2011 and his Vice President, Henry Quill, assumed the Presidency. Quill's first act was to move back to Washington D.C. His second act was to choose Sherrill Carrington to serve as his Vice President. Step two in removing the U.S. from the world stage.

  By 2015, the economy of the United States was in ruins. The "official" unemployment rate was listed as 15% while in reality, the true number of unemployed and those no longer seeking employment was closer to 60%. Taxes were high on those who did work...and were going higher every year. The larger U.S. cities were riddled with crime, drugs, gangs, disease, and homeless people. When possible, conservative Americans moved away from the cities and returned to what was derisively called "Fly-over Country" in the heartland of the country. In those states, men and women could still find honest work and attempt to support their families.

  Quill used executive action to open the sovereign borders of the United States to any and all who wished to cross. The southern border-states were overwhelmed by lawlessness, burdened by people who refused to learn the common language and could not (or would not) find employment. These people soaked up benefits normally reserved for American citizens, brought in diseases long since vanquished from North America, and formed a growing army of those who wished to claim those states for themselves and their descendants. Hidden amongst the droves of illegal immigrants were the drug smugglers, violent criminals, and, in no small amount, Middle Eastern terrorists.

  When overwhelming proof finally came to light proving Afghanistan was harboring the terrorists who had planned the attacks upon the United States, Quill was forced to send U.S. military forces to hunt them down. More information was discovered proving that Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Army was supplying chemical weapons to the Taliban and other terrorist groups for future attacks around the world. More American forces were committed to stop the proliferation of chemical weapons. These forces were often given conflicting or, even suicidal, rules of engagement. These ROEs resulted in the deaths of many young Americans serving in U.S. military units overseas.

  After years of neglect by uncaring politicians and far too many years of holding the barbarians at the gates with limited support, the U.S. military services were in shambles. Most military personnel were still strongly conservative, driven by their love of their country to protect it from those who would attack the U.S. from the outside...and from within. One of these brave defenders of the United States of America was Major Marcus Aurelius Roman, U.S. Army Special Forces. For centuries, the Roman Family lived with two simple traditions: their sons were named after Roman emperors and those sons (and, occasionally, daughters) served in their nations' military forces.

  **********

  While serving with a Special Forces unit in Afghanistan, Major Roman's team was set up for an ambush by their Afghan counterparts. Roman and several of his personnel were wounded while others were killed in the attack. When an Afghan general came to visit Roman and his wounded friends in a field hospital, Roman struck the man with a bedpan, almost creating an international incident.

  Roman and Lieutenant Teresa Cortez, a U.S. Army medic who kicked the downed Afghan general in the groin, were immediately whisked away by their commanders to a nearby military airbase and evacuated from Afghanistan along with the other seriously wounded soldiers. Frustrated by the manner in which the military and its operations were being run, Roman and Cortez decided to leave the Army and return to their home state of Arizona.

  The State of Arizona was busy battling the criminal and economic problems created by decades of illegal immigration. When the United States Government refused to protect the citizens of the state from marauding raiders and drug cartels, Arizona Governor Eleanor "Ellie" Alvarez met with the governors of California, New Mexico, and Texas. The governments of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas began to work together to solve the border problem themselves. A massive construction project was started to build the Southern Border Defense System (SBDS), a massive ditch and a wall along the Southern Border to prevent people from illegally crossing into those states from Mexico. Governor Alvarez also invoked a little known article of the Arizona State Constitution and created the Arizona State Guard to protect her state and its citize
ns.

  General Titus Augustus Roman, Marcus’ father and a former U.S. Army Green Beret officer, was chosen to lead the ASGuard, as they were sometimes called. Marcus and Teresa also joined the ASGuard. Marcus formed a new unit, nicknamed Roman’s Legion after his old Army unit, within the ASGuard and filled it with military veterans and new enlistees. Roman’s Legion and other ASGuard units were successful in protecting the construction workers and the border communities from a massive attack by the combined forces of Mexican drug cartels, army, and international terrorists. Within months after the completion of the Southern Border Defense System, the ASGuard had almost eradicated the presence of the Mexican drug cartels within the state.

  Governor Alvarez soon ordered the expansion of the Arizona State Guard. In the months that followed new ASGuard facilities were constructed across the state and more personnel were added to the organization's roster. It was during this time of growth, reorganization, and training, that the ASGuard uncovered a terror plot growing within the Grand Canyon State.

  Colonel Marcus Roman and the members of Roman’s Legion led the investigation into the plot. They discovered that the terrorists were planning to use agricultural aircraft (crop dusters) to spray radioactive liquids upon the citizens of Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, and other large Arizona cities. Roman's Legion led the attack upon the terrorist compound outside of Kingman, Arizona, and prevented the launch of most of the crop dusters. However, three of the planes made it into the air! Roman and some of his ASGuard troopers took to the air in helicopters to intercept and stop the terrorists' crop dusters before they could reach heavily populated areas and scatter radioactive materials over innocent civilians!

  Thanks to the inventive actions of Marcus Roman and his troopers, the three terror planes were forced down without releasing their deadly cargo. Sadly, many brave members of the ASGuard attack force died during the assault upon the terror compound and the capture of the terrorists' aircraft.