Drone Wars 1: The Beginning

by Mike Whitworth

  "Who is that?” Sam asked.

  "It's a long story," Lowboy said.

  Sam leaned down and fiddled with the dead man. "That there is a government man, ain't he?"

  "Yeah, the son of a bitch was gonna kill me."

  "Why?” Sam asked.

  "Well it might have some to do with the fact that Larry and I shot two of those granny-fondling FTSP agents at the checkpoint."

  "What did you do that for?” Sam asked.

  "Aw, the bastards deserved it. They been grannie-groping and junk-fondling everybody that goes up and down Highway 17 for about a week now. Larry and I just thought we'd let them know how we felt."

  "Where's Larry?” Sam asked.

  "The bastards killed him with a drone."

  "With a drone?” Sam shook his head. "I thought the government just used those overseas."

  "Apparently not," Lowboy replied.

  "What are you gonna do?” Sam asked.

  "Well, I have a plan," Lowboy said. "And I could use some help."

  FTSP checkpoint, Highway 17, Alabama

  The two dead agents had been removed and replaced. The FTSP checkpoint was back to normal operation. "Step out of the car!” The FTSP agent shouted. You don't have a choice, you're gonna be searched."

  "What for?” The lady driver asked.

  "Because I said so, that's why," the surly FTSP agent said. He was enjoying his job immensely that day. The lady was white-haired, slight, and obviously past 70. He just loved abusing old people—and this one would be special to him. She reminded him of his grandmother. He had hated old people ever since he had gone to live with his grandmother after his parents had died when he was eight. She had been a strict disciplinarian and had never liked or tolerated his lying and stealing. He could sometimes still feel the pain from the belt she wielded at his all too frequent whippings.

  Just about then he heard a rumble and looked up to see two dump trucks quickly approaching the checkpoint from opposite directions. Both trucks were blasting their horns and forcing everyone to move through the checkpoint ahead of them. When the old lady in the car beside the FTSP agent saw the big truck coming up fast in her mirror, she stepped on the gas and left too. There was nothing the FTSP agent could do to stop her so he drew his pistol and fired three .40 caliber rounds at her car before turning and shooting at the approaching dump truck. His rounds had no effect on the dump truck. The bullets were bouncing off the dump truck window. The agent didn't notice that the car at which he had fired had now stopped. The lady who had been driving it spryly stepped out of her car and leveled a .380 auto at the FTSP agent and screamed.

  "You shot at me, you stupid son of a bitch!” The FTSP agent turned, and the old lady put four rounds into him while screaming "That will teach you not to shoot at me, you son of a bitch!” The agent staggered to the portable checkpoint building without firing another shot and dropped his pistol on the ground along the way.

  "Stupid moron!” The lady shouted after him before putting her pistol back in her purse, getting back in her car, and driving away.

  "That there bulletproof glass is pretty good, ain't it."

  "Yeah, you're right about that Lowboy," Sam smiled. "Look at those little shits run, will you?"

  "Yeah, Sam. They are running right where we want them to."

  All four FTSP agents ran back into the armored checkpoint as they saw the trucks coming. They asked the pilot to use his quad-copter drone, but he said he had been refueling it when the trucks came upon them, and it wasn't ready. Not that it would matter, he said, because it wasn't of any use against armored trucks.

  Lowboy drove the dump truck a little bit past the portable armored FTSP checkpoint. Then, he backed up and dumped a full load of gravel on top of the tiny building. The other dump truck did the same from the other direction. The portable checkpoint was almost covered. That wasn't a problem, Lowboy thought, because the other two dump trucks were almost there. When the first two dump trucks were out of the way, the last two dump trucks pulled up and finished burying the checkpoint.

  "That'll fix those sons of bitches," Sam said. "Let's get out of here."

  "You bet," Lowboy said. "Let's go.” All seven men in the four dump trucks left the cabs and ran into the woods. In less than five minutes, they had all piled into an old pickup truck on a nearby dirt road and were rapidly leaving the area.

  "I bet those sons of bitches will really be mad when they figure out that those were genuine U.S. government dump trucks that we used."

  "Yeah, I wonder if those idiots at the fed center in Mobile even realize they are missing yet?"

  "Well, it wasn't on the news this morning, so I doubt it," Lowboy chuckled.

  The pickup truck was only two miles away when they heard the explosion. "Damn, would you look at that?"

  "That was a big un, all right," Sam said.

  "Do you think they blew up their own people?” One of the men asked.

  "I think they did. I think they did," Lowboy said. "We had better make ourselves scarce for a while Gentlemen."

  Washington, D.C.

  "I think we got the bastards this time," the assistant secretary said to the secretary. "I called in a hellfire missile strike on the trucks that sealed our agents into that mobile FTSP checkpoint in Alabama. We lost some agents in the blast, though."

  "That was the same checkpoint that was sniped last week?” The secretary asked. "Right?"

  "Yes Sir, Mr. Secretary."

  "Oh, well. Agents are cheap. Blame the explosion on the damn constitutionalists, or whatever they are, when you talk to the news media."

  "Yes Sir.”

  "Have we had a problem at any of the other checkpoints?"

  "No Sir. We have not."

  "I hope this does not mean that other people will get the same idea and start attacking our checkpoints."

  "Sir, I doubt that. This appears to have been an isolated case."

  "Why do you think this particular checkpoint was attacked?"

  "Sir, perhaps our agents have been a little too aggressive?"

  "Nonsense. We cannot be too aggressive. We have to show the people we are in charge. Send out an order to all of our agents to ramp up the intensity of searches and interrogations. Pull the stops out. Let's show the people that we are in charge."

  "Yes Sir, Mr. Secretary, I will do so. You are right.” The assistant secretary left the secretary’s office. He had a fleeting thought that maybe this was a mistake, but it was only a fleeting thought. He was soon lost in his plans on how to make searches and interrogations even tougher on citizens everywhere."

  Chapter 17: UNDERGROUND

  "We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.” Thomas Jefferson

  Near Kansas City, Missouri

  Lorne strode into my office. "John, you have to see this.” He went over to the computer attached to the huge screen mounted on the wall, and slid a DVD into the slot. In a minute, he had a news clip playing.

  I got up from my desk, and walked over to the big screen. On the screen, a news announcer for one of the major networks was shuffling papers at his desk. He looked up at the camera with his flawless makeup and perfectly coiffed hair and said, "Today in Alabama, two hard working FTSP agents were murdered at a highway checkpoint by snipers. The snipers used assault rifles, illegal guns no citizen should be allowed to have, to murder these innocent federal workers. One of the snipers was killed in an exchange of gunfire, but the other managed to get away. Everywhere in America, we will mourn the loss of these two innocent federal agents.”

  "The president said today that he will soon issue an executive order banning sales and possession of absolutely all firearms by civilians. He said there will most-likely be a 30-day grace period for everyone to turn in their guns to the local police, and that there will be severe penalties for non-compliance. This announcer feels that this law is long overdue..."

  Lorne paused the DVD. "They didn't use what the press is calling assau
lt rifles, John. Our intel says that the agents were each simultaneously shot once though the head from about 300 yards. Witnesses also said that the other FTSP agents ran to their armored checkpoint without firing a single return shot. One even dropped his weapon on the way. The FTSP retaliated with a quad-copter drone. Apparently, it was already on site, and one of the FTSP agents was trained as a drone pilot. This one was full-auto, by the way. One witness saw the feds loading the body of one of the snipers into a truck. He also saw a scoped, bolt-action rifle loaded into the truck with the body. We think these agents were shot with plain old deer rifles."

  "Well," I said, "the government never lets a good crisis go to waste. I have been expecting a false flag attack by the federal government, probably a huge attack on children, which they would use to force a gun confiscation bill like this through Congress. I guess the president couldn't wait. Apparently, this was too good of an opportunity for him."

  "Executive orders do not have force of law," Lorne said. "My legal people tell me they are unconstitutional."

  "Like the bastard-in-chief and his ilk care about that," I said. "Murdering citizens with drones is unconstitutional as well, yet they are doing it. Laws don't stop them."

  "Apparently bullets can," Lorne smiled. "I don't think the attack on the checkpoint was a false flag attack."

  "I agree, but how many patriotic citizens, and innocent citizens as well, will die like that sniper if we encourage an all-out civil war? I think we will still be better off to turn the government's own technology on them, and deprive them of its use before we let too many citizens attack the government."

  "I agree, John. But, we don't have that capability yet. Until then, we need to implement the 'Doctrine of 100 Heads.'"

  "Do you think it is time for that?” I asked. "Before we have the capability to eliminate the feds drone attacks as retaliation against innocent citizens."

  "I don't think we have any choice, John," Lorne said.

  "Do you really think that killing 100 feds for every citizen killed is possible?"

  "Yes John. We already have a database of the name, job title, description, photo, workplace location, and home address of every single person who works for the federal government, except workers at some of the hush hush agencies. We also have a complete list of all of their relatives and their information as well. If we implement the Doctrine of 100 Heads against the feds, it will cause a mass exodus of people from government jobs."

  "Lorne, I can't condone killing innocents for any reason. That is immoral, and will turn the population against us. If you deliberately target innocents, then I will be against you as well."

  "I understand that," Lorne said. "However, we can search through the database and put together a list of drone pilots and..."

  "Lorne," I interrupted, "I doubt that the names of the drone operators killing civilians or the names of the ground hounds, etc. will be a matter of public record. Even the feds are unlikely to be that stupid."

  "OK," Lorne replied. "I just get carried away sometimes when I think about how crooked the feds are. These bastards make me so mad."

  "I hate them with deep passion, myself," I replied. "However, this war will be won by those with the coolest heads. Remember, we are up against psychopaths who have no emotions. They are coldly calculating monsters. It is this lack of emotion that will ultimately defeat them, but not if we act like hotheads and let them manipulate us to their advantage. This, in so many ways, is a game of chess with the lives and future of all the citizens of our country at stake. Only a few percent of the people, even among the feds, are actually monsters. Most are just being manipulated by their psychopathic masters," I paused.

  "As much as I hate the government for killing my Susan and all the other citizens they have killed, I know that, in reality, only a very small portion of people who work for the government are bad people. Stanley Milgram said:

  'Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.'"

  "Darn, John," Lorne said. "How do you remember that stuff."

  "I usually say it is just the professor in me, but actually I use a memory system. I have been using that system since I was a child."

  "Seems as if it works well," Lorne said.

  "It does, and we should teach all of our key people the memory system so we can reduce paper and digital trails."

  "Ok, I hope we can all learn the system. I hope we have time. The conflict seems to be escalating out of our control."

  "In war, control is only an illusion.” I paused. "I think everyone can learn the memory system. It isn't difficult."

  "OK," Lorne said. "What about the idea that if someone does evil following orders, they are still guilty of that evil?"

  "That has merit," I said. "I guess it will have to be figured out on a case by case basis."

  "Only with the survivors," Lorne muttered. "Only with the survivors."

  "Take it one step at a time, Lorne," I said putting my hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "You are the bravest man I have ever met. I don't want to lose you just because you are in too much of a hurry to fight."

  Lorne nodded, "That's why we need you John. You think things through."

  "Can we identify just the psychopaths?” I asked.

  Lorne grinned, "We may have enough information, or can get it, to identify some, maybe even most, of the monsters.”

  "That is excellent. Do we have any psychologists on our side?"

  "A very few, I suspect," Lorne said. "Most psychologists support the government."

  "And, thus easily manipulated by their psychopathic masters," I nodded.

  "Exactly."

  "Can we find enough people to put together a task force to identify the psychopaths in federal service?"

  "Yes, and on the federal police force as well.” I will get this started. I know just the person to head this up."

  "Great," I said. "I just hope we can bring everything together before we lose any more civilians."

  "Me too," Lorne agreed.

  "I need to ask Peggy how the drone hacking program is doing.”

  "I spoke with Peggy this morning about it," Lorne said. "She said that they have now assembled a team of over twenty experts, and they are negotiating with the premier hacker group to help us. Peggy said they are the best and brightest of the hackers.”

  "Unknown?” I asked.

  "No, apparently these guys are so secretive that they won't even allow a nickname for their organization. Peggy said they consider Unknown to be amateurs."

  "Wow," I said. "I have always considered Unknown to be the very best and the brightest. I think those folks in Unknown are absolutely incredible. I wish they were on our side."

  Lorne shrugged, "Those hacker folks can out-spook the spooks. We may never know just who is actually on our side."

  "Well," I said, "I guess you can say that average citizens beat us to the first strike."

  "Pretty cool, Huh?” Lorne replied.

  "Yes," I said. "But, if the president pushes through that executive order on gun confiscation, the people in this country will rebel, maybe sooner than we would like. I don't think we have very much time to get ready. We need to be able to strike hard against the government and disable their ability to extract revenge against regular citizens just as soon as we can. We need to do all we can to minimize civilian casualties."

  "You think they will strike against regular citizens as a result of this FTSP attack?” Lorne asked.

  "I know they will, and they will use extreme violence. Remember Waco and Ruby Ridge? Those were nothing compared to what this false government will do against patriotic citizens who defend the Constitution," I said. "These government psychopaths are
in love with violence. They are remorseless control freaks and actually get off on harming people. It is a game to them. The good news is that this administration is run by amateurs."

  "You really think so?"

  "Yes," I said. "Sun Tzu says that 'The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.' If the president issues that executive order and attempts to confiscate guns, he will get massive resistance from the citizenry. In effect, it will soon be a full-blown civil war. He will have single-handedly created a fight that will most likely end in him being hung from a tree for treason to the USA and our Constitution."

  "I want to see that," Lorne smiled.

  "So do I," I replied. "But, I don't want to see the bloodshed and loss of loyal patriot lives that will result."

  "Thomas Jefferson said, 'The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,' I agree."

  "Yes, so do I. Let's just work toward the majority of that blood being from the tyrants. Lorne, why are you against the government? I never asked you."

  Lorne paused a bit and said, "It all started with something my mother told me. She said. 'Son, doing what is right is the only real strength in this world. Sometimes you have to fight for what is right, and sometimes you have to sacrifice for what is right. Son, always do what is right, and you will have no regrets.' I remember what she said word for word."

  "She was wise," I said.

  "Yes, she was," Lorne nodded. "She had a quiet wisdom that I have always admired. Anyway, over the years I saw bad things done by our government. The thing that put me over the top was when they started killing children with drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. That is something that just makes me sick."

  "Me too," I said. "Even before they killed Susan, many actions of our government made me sick to my stomach. Did you know that they simply claim that any adult male killed is a terrorist just because they are of military age?"