Cyber Warfare and the New World Order: World War III Series: Book IV

by James Rosone

  Captain Thornton was sitting at his Tactical Operations Center (TOC), which was one of his Wolverine armored vehicles that had been converted into a command center. He was watching some drone footage of one of his platoons circling around a small group of enemy soldiers. They had finally cornered this group of fighters after they had ambushed and destroyed one of the Army’s tanks. As the platoon encircled the enemy, he radioed to the lieutenant in charge of the platoon, “LT, hold your men back, we are going to call in a couple of artillery rounds and flatten that building. Once the dust settles, send your men in and make sure they are dead,” he directed.

  “Roger that, Captain,” replied the platoon leader.

  Several minutes later, multiple artillery rounds flew in and hit the small apartment building, flattening it. The shell of the edifice was still there, although the roof and most of the walls had been blown out. Slowly, he could see his Marines moving forward, sifting through the rubble, making sure the enemy soldiers had been killed. After a few more days of cleaning out the enemy holdouts, the city was largely declared secured. There had been several engagements between the Marines and the enemy soldiers in the sewers, and though most of the enemy had been killed, it was suspected that some may survive and continue to fight sporadically. As far as Thornton was concerned, the city was effectively locked down. The few holdouts would be found and dealt with in time.

  Launch

  17 March 2042

  London, Kentucky

  Despite the war raging on, plans for Operation Pegasus continued to progress and move forward. The minerals and resources of the Moon were greatly needed to create the necessary tools of destruction to win the war. Technology had so dramatically changed the way modern warfare was being fought; the need to stay one step ahead of an enemy was paramount to winning, especially when the odds were heavily stacked against you. The United States and her allies were facing a war against an enemy that had a population of 4.5 Billion people and a manufacturing capability of 63% of the global GDP; trying to win on sheer manpower alone would have been lunacy.

  While Dr. Karl Bergstrom and Dr. Peter Gorka walked through the HULK on their final inspection, they could not help but be in awe of what they had helped to build. The HULK had been a secret DARPA project for many decades; it was not until the development of the EmDrive and the Angelic power source that the venture had suddenly become a reality. Working with numerous private entities, NASA, DARPA and the DOD collaborated to build the HULK and the two transport ships that would move between Earth and the mining colony on the Moon. After nearly fifteen months of construction, around the clock building and fabrication by hundreds of thousands of workers, 3D printers and robotics, the HULK had been completed and was ready to expand man’s footprint in the universe.

  As they walked through the hallways leading from one room to another, they saw dozens of engineers fastening bundles of wires to various sections of the inner wall, while others came behind them attaching the outer wall, sealing the wire bundles and the other guts of the ship together. It was a mad dash to the finish as the engineers and contractors completed the last details of the ship before the big test the following day.

  Dr. Gorka could not contain his glee; the ship he had dreamed of building as a young child had finally come to fruition. In a couple of days, mankind was going to land on the Moon to establish the first of many off-world colonies. He attempted to contain his excitement as he began to examine the equipment that would be used for the mining operations.

  That evening, the crew was going to be joined by several VIPs, including President Stein, for a celebratory dinner. In an unexpected move, the President asked to speak. “Some of you here in this room may not know, but when I was the governor of Florida, I took a flight into orbit with the CEO of SpaceX. From that moment on, I told myself that if I ever became President, I would do everything in my power to establish the first off-world colony and advance the exploration of space. You brave men and women that are here tonight are about to embark on a mission that will change the course of humanity. You will also be carrying with you the hope of the nation as we continue to fight for our survival. I have made a great gamble in dedicating so many resources on this project; please do everything in your power to make it pay off. I wish you all safe travels and Godspeed.”

  The following week, the crew boarded the ship to begin their final examinations and preparations. The crew had successfully tested the engines and systems a couple of days ago; now that the equipment had been fully loaded up and the known bugs worked out of the system, it was time to launch.

  Captain Luke Rogers still could not believe that he was about to lead the first human effort to colonize the Moon. He had been selected to be a part of this mission four years ago, prior to the start of World War III. He had almost given up his position on the project so that he could join his fellow comrades as they fought in the skies across the world. Many of his lifelong pilot buddies had died during the battles over the Middle East, Europe and Alaska. It had been difficult for him to stay focused on the Pegasus project while his friends were fighting and dying for their country. He had to keep telling himself that his mission was important as well; the country desperately needed the Tritium4 they were going to mine from the Moon if America was going to be able to win.

  Captain Rogers had started his career as a pilot in the US Navy nearly 26 years ago; at that time, he had been selected to be an F35C fighter pilot, and excelled at it. He rose through the ranks quickly, until a car accident injured him and killed his wife. He and his wife had never had any children; after her death, he chose not to pursue any other relationships, and instead recommitted his life to the Navy. Due to his injuries, it was determined that he could no longer fly the F35, so he was transferred to the drone program instead. After a month of flying drones, he realized the capabilities of drones was going to eclipse that of manned aircraft, and did whatever he could to stay on the cutting edge of this new field. He quickly transferred to the DARPA Drone X project, and before he knew it, he found himself working on the Pegasus project. As someone who was both a drone operator and ex-fighter pilot, he had the skills DARPA was looking for when they began to search for the flight crew to pilot the HULK.

  As Captain Rogers fastened his harness, he looked out the windshield and could see the TV cameras set up, and hundreds of observers outside. It was so strange to him after being sworn to secrecy for so long, but once the HULK launched into space, there would be no way to hide the program’s existence. President Stein hoped that by maintaining the silence for so long, their enemies would not be in a position to attack them or to make any sincere move to stop them. Their clandestine life had now served its purpose; now it was time for openness and celebration to play a role.

  America had been through a lot these past two and a half years of war. Millions of Americans had been killed, and the end of the war still seemed years away from conclusion. The fate of Europe continued to hang in the balance and America was now beginning the process of assessing the damage in California and rebuilding the West Coast. President Stein wanted to give the American people and the Allies a sense of hope, of optimism, and a desire to see the war through to its successful conclusion no matter the cost. Captain Rogers and the crew of the Pegasus knew they were going to do exactly that.

  The next thirty minutes were going to change the mood and hopes of America and the world. People had suspected that America was pursuing space-based weapons, but the secret of their project had been well kept. President Stein unclassified Operation Pegasus beginning on the day of the launch, and would allow the public to watch the launch as the HULK went into the sky. For security purposes, the video feed of the launch had a ten-minute delay and so did any news of what was happening. The launch of Operation Pegasus was also only announced thirty minutes before it happened, and only a select few were being told where the launch was taking place. This was done largely to minimize the possibility of the Axis powers trying a last-ditch effort to hinder t
he launch or try to intercept the HULK as it flew into space.

  The greatest threat to the launch was from Russia and China, who might attempt to launch missile interceptors or aircraft to try and interdict the HULK as it clawed for altitude and the depths of space. To minimize the likelihood of this happening, the US had moved the battleship USS Iowa to Baffin Bay, between Canada and Greenland. The USS Wisconsin had been moved to Midway Island; both ships had missile interceptors and laser platforms to engage any Russian or Chinese missiles that may try to reach out and hit the HULK as it entered orbit. To counter the possibility of ground-based lasers from Russia or China, the HULK had been built with a modulated armor that would nullify the enemy’s lasers as long as they knew the wavelength the enemy lasers were using. The wavelength information had been stolen, costing many lives to obtain, but they had finally captured the information, just prior to the launch.

  Captain Rogers gave the order to the crew, “Prepare for lift off.”

  A few moments passed as everyone performed their final checks. Finally, the word came back, “Cross check complete, Captain.”

  Rogers looked down at the throttle lever and slowly began to move it forward, applying more and more power to the EmDrive. In seconds, the ship began to lift off the ground and slowly started to gain altitude. As he continued applying more power, the ship began to accelerate forward; then the captain pulled back on the flight controls, pointing the ship at a 75-degree angle towards the heavens above. In less than a minute, the ship had passed Mach 10 and was approaching the outer reaches of the atmosphere.

  In less than seven minutes, the HULK had broken free of Earth’s orbit and began to enter deep space in their journey to the lunar surface. They had not encountered any resistance or attempts by Russia or China to stop their journey. Now they had a 22-hour journey to the Moon, where they would make several circles in orbit as they conducted a few surveys and scans of the surface to ensure the pre-identified location was in fact the best location for them to establish their base of operation and begin mining.

  As they approached the Moon and began their orbit, Captain Rogers marveled at the sight of the lunar surface; he still could not believe they were about to establish the first extraterrestrial colony. Karl Bergstrom, the geology officer onboard interrupted his thoughts when he came over the radio, telling him, “Captain, during our second pass of the Moon, we found a new location that had a higher concentration of minerals. It has an adequate landing zone.”

  “And the surrounding surface?” asked Rogers.

  “Sir, it’s flat enough to establish the mining base camp.”

  “Well, we knew this was a possibility. Thank you, Karl. I’m going to contact ground command now.”

  “Control, this is Captain Rogers. Our geology officer has identified a new location that appears to be more advantageous. I plan on moving forward with changing the landing location of the ship unless we receive a negative response from you in the next four hours.”

  There was a moment of static before the reply came in, “HULK, this is Control. You are cleared to adjust your landing, and we want to commend you for finding a better location. Please send the new coordinates for our tracking purposes.”

  Once Captain Rogers completed the necessary communications with ground command, he began to address his own crew. “Attention everyone, we have received permission from mission control to proceed with our landing at the new location. Good catch Dr. Bergstrom. We are going to begin our descent now. Prepare for landing. As Rogers began the descent, the crew became both nervous and excited. This was one of the most dangerous parts of their mission.

  Of course, everyone was also excited; this was mankind’s first attempt at establishing a permanent base camp in space. As the HULK descended to the lunar surface, they encountered no significant problems. The ship slowly settled on to the surface of the Moon. Once the ship’s engines had been powered down, it was safe for the crew to move about the ship; they began to get their individual stations set up and collected the various gear into the vehicles in the outer storage bay. There was a moment of realization as they stood there before the door opened; this was not just an adventure, this was going to be their new home.

  When the HULK was built, it was designed with multiple storage bays and access points to both the lunar surface and the storage bays themselves. It was a modular design that allowed the crew to reconfigure the openings to be small or large, depending on the need.

  The mining equipment consisted of a rock crusher, which would reduce the larger rubble and rocks down to smaller rocks, and a small conveyor belt that would move the debris into large containers that would later be moved to one of the loading bays on the HULK for further processing. There were several additional pieces of mining equipment that would allow the miners to scrape the surface of the Moon for the minerals they were in search of, and excavators to build a mining pit like the ones used on Earth, only they were adjusted to be able to accomplish this with very little gravity. There was also a boring device, which would be used to begin the process of digging out various caverns, tunnels and rooms inside one of the mountain ranges near the camp. The goal of this crew was to prepare a location that would later be developed into a permanent structure and command post.

  Once the equipment had been transferred to the lunar surface, the miners and base builders would begin their separate operations. The miners were obviously focused on getting the Tritium4 collected and prepared for transport back to Earth. Once the smaller base product was collected into one of the bays, they would use electricity to smelt it down; this would drastically reduce the amount of space needed to store the unrefined Tritium4. The base builders would immediately begin construction of five temporary biodomes that would be responsible for growing the food that the colony would begin to consume. Several botanists were part of the crew, and their goal was to begin establishing the three garden biodomes that would grow about 60% of the colony’s vegetables, fruits and nuts through hydroponics. Growing food in a low gravity environment was largely an experiment, but it was one that needed to be conducted to determine if a sustainable colony could be built. Another dome would be set up for the purposes of raising chickens; it was unknown whether or not they would be able to thrive and continue to lay eggs in a low gravity environment, but if they were successful in this experiment, it would provide a protein source for the colony’s diet, and also produce a source of fertilizer to assist with farming.

  People back on Earth were amazed when they could see live video updates of the what the astronauts were doing daily. They saw the construction of the biodomes, the movement of soil and the cultivation of the hydroponic gardens, chicken coops being built and then chickens being moved into them. They witnessed the beginning of the mining operation, though they were unaware of what specific material was being mined. Watching these awe-inspiring experiences unfold began to revitalize the Allies, and gave hope to a people who were becoming war-weary. It was also a sobering moment for the enemy, because it made the Axis powers realize that America no longer viewed itself as being on the verge of defeat. As big a boon as Operation Pegasus was for the Allies’ industrial centers and people, it was an equally potent propaganda tool against the Axis leadership, people and their military forces.

  ******

  A month after the colony had been established, SpaceX’s transport ship successfully left Earth and made the sixteen-hour flight to the base camp. The transport craft SpaceX had developed was faster than the DARPA-designed HULK; it was also much smaller and sleeker-looking in nature. The ship was designed with the pure intent of transporting cargo and material from Earth to the Moon and back. Upon landing at the colony, the smelted-down Tritium4 was loaded up for the return trip back to Earth.

  The very first load of unrefined Tritium4 would produce more pure material than scientists had synthesized up to that point in the war. This first load would enable the US to build 200 new F41 Arch Angels and several thousand Pershing battle tanks. Th
e era of limited production of mission critical aircraft and tanks was over. Now the US manufacturing capability would be running at full speed, producing the most advanced weapons ever developed. The tide of the war would now shift in favor of the Allies.

  Back from Vacation

  11 August 2042

  Washington, DC

  Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC)

  Michael Montgomery (“Monty,” the Presidents Chief of Staff) had been busier than usual. After a lot of persuasion and insistence by the President’s doctor, President Stein had agreed to take a short vacation. The President’s health was starting to become a genuine concern as his migraines continued to get worse, often forcing him to have to take time to sleep them off or take some heavy medication while sitting in a dark room with no noise or distractions. The doctors insisted they were stress-induced and not something more severe; it was determined that the President needed to take some down time for the sake of his health. Henry decided to head to his home in Florida, where he could lounge around the pool in his backyard and leisurely read a book. It was hard for President Stein to take time off; the war was still going, and he felt guilty taking a break while the country needed him.

  Monty and the Vice President had been handling the day-to-day affairs of the country; the President only inserted himself if something major came up. Fortunately, the week had passed quietly, and now Stein had returned to the capitol. As Monty got everything ready for the afternoon briefing with the President, he couldn’t help but be excited. After years of war, the end was finally in sight.

  Admiral Casey walked into the room and made a beeline towards the coffee, making sure to get his fill before the others got to it and drained its content. He was still not 100% sure why the President had invited him and some of the other military leaders to what appeared to be a standard weekly cabinet update. However, like a true man of the military, he thought to himself, “Ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do or die.” He grabbed a seat along the back row of chairs and prepared to do his best to listen.