Though Congressional Hall was charred and battle-scarred by the attack, most of the building and the park were decorated with enough American flags and bunting to hide a battleship behind, but that’s exactly the way Clarkson wanted it. He wanted this crowd to have no choice but to feel the American spirit, to know that the new American was being born this day…and also to hide the hundreds of police vehicles, security teams, and all the signs of the unpopular war as they patrolled around the city. No need to make the people too uncomfortable…just yet.
Finally after a good 30 minutes of nonsense, Francis brought his ramblings to a close and introduced the President of the United States with some failed attempt at a joke. Clarkson sighed under his breath at Francis’ stupidity, then stood up, adjusted his tie, and glanced back to Al Hakam and MacAnthony. Both the flag officers were dressed in their sharpest dress uniforms and siting close to the back row, and carefully watching the whole situation play out to the point of looking almost suspicious. Then there was his wife, who like usual didn’t even pretend to appreciate the Empire that Clarkson was building. All she did was spend HIS money and complain that he didn’t treat her right. It wasn’t Clarkson’s fault…he told her she was to be seen and not heard from the beginning. Ungrateful, like the rest of this damn country…
The crowd went wild with cheerful applause as Clarkson walked up to the stage, waving and smiling as much as he could force, then took his position behind the podium. He let the crowd continue to applaud for about a good minute before he raised his hand to silence them. That was a nice feeling, the little gesture of power. “Thank you… Thank you to Mayor Francis, those were very kind words from such a…selfless leader… Good morning America, it’s an honor to speak to you today. I know that these past few days have been difficult to say the least…we were attacked on our home soil, without warning and without reason. The European assassins, that attacked this very building at which we stand, murdered our beloved President McNeal and many more innocents caught up in the senseless aggression that took place… Since then our nation has stumbled badly as bands of raiders and insurgents have laid ruin upon scores of peaceful towns and outposts on the frontier…and destroyed the beautiful Crystal City in their wake of destruction…”
Clarkson paused for a moment to try to build up suspense, and took a sip of water. This was going well so far. The crowd was captivated and hanging on his words silently. He raised his voice slightly and injected some fictions passion in it. “We all know in such terrible times that each and every one of us must make sacrifices to ensure our way of life isn’t destroyed...! To ensure nations like the European Union are punished for flying the flag of peace and friendship, and then attacking their neighbors in the hope of conquest! I know all of you are upset at the drastic increase in back taxes we have seen over these past few days, and there’s been a baseless rumor of tax breaks for the wealthiest class, but I tell you now that such contributions are what ensure that we continue standing strong against the evil of this world!” He slammed his fist down on the podium, as if he were the judge passing sentence on the entire nation. There was a faint amount of clapping to accompany it, until he continued.
He lowered his voice back down, and once again took up the friendly neighborly tone. “I want to let you know now that because of your money… We can now afford to better equip, better train, and better deploy our forces with the latest weapons and technologies available! With that, I am proud to introduce the Navy’s new class of Martian built warships! The single most important addition to the fleet in over 10 years! Behold the Aeries Class Battle Carrier!”
On cue, the loud rumbling of a ships engine began to sound over the city, as the massive rounded rectangular hull of a warship slowly inched forward over Congressional hall miles above. The rectangular ship had to be a good two-thousand feet in length, but only about one-hundred fifty feet or so in width. The average Battle ship class was only about 500 feet in length as an example.
A huge interconnected fighter launch bay ran the center of the port and starboard sides, and all the other space aboard the ship was taken up by missile pods and artillery turrets, and topped off with two massive anti-ship rail guns mounted on the top and bottom centerline of the hull. The ship was literally brimming with weapons, and dwarfed the entire fleet in comparison…excessively so in fact. Everything about it was excessive.
The Aries took up a position near the stalk of the towering space elevator, and then set into a stable hover several thousand feet up. The air hummed from the ships massive quantum engines, and the faint electrostatic charge seemed to ripple away from it. The crowd looked on with a combination of wonder, grave concern, and borderline terror as Clarkson continued. “This ship requires half the crew of a traditional vessel, can carry several full companies of Marines, tanks, drop ships, and whatever else we need. It has the power of a dozen destroyers and is far superior to anything our enemies have even dreamt of! With this ship, we will hunt down our enemies where they cower and wipe them out!”
Clarkson took a breath and continued immediately. “Along with this ship, we have taken a long hard look at budgeting and spending costs to ensure not even a scent of your hard earned money is spent improperly… I am now pleased to announce-”
There was a loud shuffle of chairs behind Clarkson, which immediately drew his unwanted attention. Al Hakam was standing and speaking to one of his NSW Officers in the far side, and repeatedly holding his ear piece in as if listening to a radio conversation. MacAnthony turned to Clarkson from his seat and motioned that everything was fine. Clarkson rolled his eyes and continued. There was always something…
“Sorry about that….where was I? Oh yes, I am pleased to announce that the traditional military has been reformed into a new and effective fighting force! The United States Army, Marine Corps, and ground elements from the Air Force and Navy have been molded into a new and standalone branch…The United States Ground Forces! All air and space assets from all former branches have also been combined, and are now the United States Fleet! I know many of you didn’t approved of this merge, especially our veterans out there, but I assure you that the logistics and funding benefits of this will provide invaluable cost cuts that will allow us to modernize our entire military!” And be rid of unwanted officers and civilian employees who thought too damn much, he didn’t add.
There was another loud shuffle of chairs from behind, and Clarkson spun around with an annoyed glare. They had best be doing something important…even then, how dare they interrupt him! The NSW Officer saluted Al Hakam, only to be shoved into motion by him and directed to leave. On the other hand, MacAnthony and a group of secret service agents were in some sort of heated conversation Clarkson could quiet make out. Clarkson stared in anger toward both MacAnthony and Al Hakam, who glanced back as if they didn’t even care they were interrupting HIS speech. They had some fucking nerve… He’d deal with them later in private. Remind them who was in charge.
Just then the picture on the two massive video screens, currently projecting the whole event onto the sides of Congressional Hall for all to see, began to wobble with static until the Presidential Seal of the emergency broadcast network came onto screen. What was this now, another interruption? Someone better not have tripped over some cord or done something else carelessly! Clarkson watched on in absolute rage, and then turned to one of the television technicians on the balcony and began to threaten. “You’d better fix this right now or I will-”
“Good Morning Everyone…” An unfamiliar voice interrupted Clarkson, and echoed loudly over the entire speaker system, causing the people on the balcony and the crowd in the park to become hushed; the voice continued. “I’m a soldier of the United States Army. I’m a veteran of the third world war, the brush fire conflict, New Prim, and recently the survivor of an attempted execution of my entire team by traitors within the US Government… I’ve served my country faithfully for over eight years, and have seen all manner of terrible things done to those people who
have fought and died to protect this nation…but never in the manner that my team and I have seen in the past week. I know this all sounds outlandish…but…”
Another voice with a heavy Massachusetts accent grunted loudly. “Yo, just watch the video! And go Red Sox...!”
The entire audience was locked to the monitors in complete curiosity, as Clarkson began to throw a fit. “What the fuck is this? Someone fix this!”
The technicians in the background were busy switching circuits and trying every trick in the book to bypass the other signal, to no avail. “Mr. President, their signal is completely overriding ours. I can’t do anything from here.”
Clarkson’s face went pale as the incriminating video Sarah had recovered from the European Union Ball began to play, and the entire park became almost deafly silent. The crowd gasped in shock when the unknown man in the video mentioned making Vice President Clarkson a King and the obvious nod to being rid of President McNeal was spoken. By the end of the video, the crowd was standing as if in a daze. Oh shit…How could he spin this? Clarkson looked frantically around the balcony with an almost pleading expression, to which MacAnthony looked toward with disgust...but Al Hakam had completely disappeared… The original voice returned over the speakers.
“Now…to President Clarkson, Admiral Al Hakam, General MacAnthony, and all members of the Presidential staff and members of congress… You are hereby placed under arrest for treason against the United States! Do NOT attempt to leave Congressional Hall! All those involved in security, you are ordered to stand down and move out of our way as we bring these traitors to justice. We do this with the authority given to us to protect the Constitution of the United States…to defend it from all enemies foreign and domestic!”
The video feed went dead just as a member of the Secret Service walked over and whispered in Clarkson’s ear. “Mr. President, we traced the signal to the emergency conference room-”
“THEN FUCKING DEAL WITH IT!” Clarkson turned and pointed at MacAnthony with an angry finger. “AND YOU! You told me you took care of all our loose ends! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
MacAnthony walked directly up to the podium, stared at Clarkson with an uncaring expression, and then looked out at the now restless crowd. “You should probably know that-”
Clarkson shoved him violently back, prompting several shocked gasps from the guests. “GO DEAL WITH THIS SHIT! DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO!” Clarkson calmed himself down and glanced over at the technicians. “Put the microphone back on, I want to squash these rumors before these mindless fucks get the wrong idea…”
MacAnthony laughed and walked away. “Your microphone has been on the whole time… Mr. President…”
Clarkson’s face went pale as he glanced back toward the increasingly enraged crowd. His voice had lost all its authority. “Uh, my fellow Americans... This video was a complete fabrication and a lie! Uh…the people you saw in that video are liars! Uh, I mean…the voices lied!”
The crowd started booing and cursing loudly just as some of them attempted to shove past the police barricades, without too much direct resistance by the Police Officers, who were still trying to figure out what the actual hell was going on. Fuck this! He’d deal with it the way he’d planned to originally. Clarkson threw his hands up in frustration and turned to his secret service agents. “Put the whole city under lock down, set a curfew, and get these stupid fucks out of here before a riot starts!”
One of the secret service members hesitantly nodded and began to speak into his concealed shoulder microphone. Clarkson quickly brushed passed the probing words of the guests, left his wife behind on the balcony, and then barged into the second floor of Congressional Hall in an attempt to outrun whoever the hell was now coming after him... Just as he rounded the corner to move down the stairs, he bumped directly into a platoon sized group of Naval Special Warfighters, with Al Hakam at its head.
Al Hakam had the right idea, bringing his drones with him. Maybe he’d even had a drop ship called down? “Admiral, get my drop ship ready. I’m leaving-” Clarkson grunted loudly and attempted to walk through the group, but was clearly blocked.
“You aren’t going anywhere, Clarkson!” MacAnthony shouted as he came running up from behind. The NSWs began to encircle Clarkson, whose face went red in rage as he opened his mouth to speak, but was shushed loudly by Al Hakam. “Shhhhh…. not right now. Just be quiet for a few moments.”
Did he just shush him? Clarkson was completely surprised and enraged, but decided not to argue against the rifle barrel now pressed against the back of his head. MacAnthony shrugged and sighed loudly to Al Hakam. “This situation is going to get out of hand in a matter of minutes...We have to get out of here before-”
Al Hakam yawned loudly as if bored, interrupting MacAnthony mid-sentence. “No, I have a contingency plan…” Then he keyed his radio. “USS Aries, this is Admiral Al Hakam, initiate crowd control protocol. Secure the city.”
MacAnthony passed Al Hakam a peculiar look as the ship acknowledged the order. “Crowd control protocol?” He inquired.
Al Hakam waved him off, then turned to Clarkson. “I know you’re wondering what’s going on…don’t worry about, because in the end you did this to yourself.” Al Hakam drew his pistol and pointed directly at the President’s head. Clarkson eyes went wide with dread as he began to speak in an almost pleading tone. “What the fuck is this? You’re trying to cut ME out? I was the one who put this whole thing together in the first place!”
Al Hakam rolled his eyes. “Wow…I knew you were dense but…wow.”
MacAnthony cleared his throat and, was careful to keep his tone indifferent and logical, despite his own growing concerns. “Admiral, what are you doing? Killing him was never part of the plan.”
Al Hakam tilted his head, and looked back at him like he’d just spoken gibberish. “Actually, this was always part of it.”
Just then the telltale booms of artillery cannons began to sound overhead, followed closely by the explosive impact of ordnance right outside of Congressional Hall… In the middle of the crowded park! MacAnthony brushed past the NSWs and ran to the window in horror. “No… Jesus…!” The crowd began to flee in terror as the artillery fire of the Aries continued to rain down all throughout the city streets. MacAnthony turned back and glared at Al Hakam in disbelief. “What the fuck are you doing? YOU STOP THIS! NOW!”
Al Hakam nodded over to one of the NSWs, who immediately turned and shot MacAnthony with a burst gun fire to his chest, dropping him limp to the ground. Clarkson froze up for half a second, then began to protest again until he took a single bullet to his head.
Al Hakam holstered his pistol, walked over to a still breathing MacAnthony, and relieved him of his side arm. He smiled and spoke to MacAnthony as if he were child. “You should be proud of yourself, Mac. You helped make this all possible. This is the ‘Dawn’ of a new era…heh. Pity you won’t see it.”
MacAnthony struggled to speak, but his words came out as a bloody incoherent gurgle. Al Hakam smirked in response, and simply walked away.
***
“CAPTAIN ON THE BRIDGE!” The Officer of the Deck shouted out as Captain Palmeri briskly walked up the ladder well, and straight over to the command chair in the center of the room. The bridge was a rounded rectangle room about 20 yards in length and 8 in width. The entire front of the bridge was capped with a massive glass observation dome, and the rest of the deck was solid floor to ceiling workstations and display screens manned by an equal number of crewmembers. It had the faint stale aroma of the brass cleaning chemicals used by the previous watch to make the metal bits and pieces shine, and it also smelled like someone had just come back from smoking a cigarette. That was only allowed when in port though. Waste of oxygen otherwise.
The Captain took a glance around the bridge to orient himself with the situation, sat down in his chair, and nodded over to the Officer of the Deck. “Miss Shelley, what exactly is the emergency?”
Lieutenant Junior Grade S
helley was a plump young deck officer that didn’t seem like the military type, her or her friend the tall Miss Ensign Colbert. They were both were so joking and welcoming that it was sometimes hard to distinguish an order from a friendly request. The crew loved them though, and the Captain made sure to note that when it came time to the dreaded ‘Officer Evaluation Reports’. Good Naval Officers were well received by their peers and subordinates.
Miss Shelley moved next to the main view screen, engaged the long range camera, and then zoomed into the Congressional Hall area where the USS Aries could be clearly seen. There was a hint of concern to her normally spirited voice. “Captain, the Aries just started firing on New Denver, and we received a fleet wide message to aid the Aries in suppressing an apparent coup attempt... I don’t know how to interpret that Sir, but it came from headquarters…”
The Captain carefully studied the monitor as the Executive Officer, Commander Randolph, walked onto the bridge and took his seat next to him. “Sorry, I was in an ops and intel brief when they piped you. I got up here when I could.”
“Don’t worry about.” The Captain waved him off just as the encrypted communicator began to flash. Electronics Technician Third Class Christopher Mendez called out in response. “Ma’am we have a secured transmission coming in from…uh…Air Force Command?”
The Captain stroked the stubble of his chin. Military branches didn’t typically speak to each other unless it was an emergency. People had received Non-Judicial Punishments, and sometimes worse, for that sort of thing. If that was really Air Force Command, it must be damn important! “Hmm... open the channel, Petty Officer Mendez.” The Captain replied calmly.
The message began to play. “…automated message from the United States Air Force, Space Command. To all ships of the United States Navy and all forces in and around New Denver. We urge you to show restraint and disregard the orders of your command and control! I say again, do NOT follow the orders issued to you by your command and control! We have reason to believe that high ranking members of your command are planning a nationwide take over and will try to use all military assets in New Denver in order to do so. I say again, do NOT follow the orders of your command and control…! This is an automated message…”
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