Standpoint pt 1 - The American Revolution

Standpoint


October 12th 2005
D-12

It started out as a warm day in D.C., the usual traffic jams and the stench of pollution almost made people choke as they hurriedly commuted to their jobs. This was a city of politicians, graduates and lawyers, it made the mind boggle as to how it all tied in with each other. As an expert in logistics, she knew this was going to be tough, speed was paramount. Nothing else would matter if the pieces were not in place. It was now just a game of chess with human players.
As General Lakisha Delatte stood on the mall, she began to wonder just how she would be remembered in the future. The state did not treat traitors well but the victors wrote history. If she triumphed today then she and her colleagues would be remembered as heroes, taking back the Government for the people of the United States. They would be written about in the same light as Washington or Lincoln, but if they failed, they would be hung for all to see as traitors. It all depended on timing. Timing and a little bit of skill, she had plenty of that. With the ringing of her STU or Secure Telephone Unit she smiled and answered�

�Alpha Maiden, We�re at D-12, Arrowhead is sharp. Good to go�
�Copy Henhouse�

She snapped the dainty looking device closed and proceeded to her destination, in front of her stood her place of work and her objective. The White House stood for all to see looking stark in its white light, almost like a temple. Her crusade would lead her into its heart to capture its contents like in days gone past.
Dawn broke over the Potomac framing the city in an almost Orange Glow. It was sad that the residents and workers had no idea; it was just under 12 hours until Operation Cowboy swung into action, in six or so hours it would all kick off. Keeping the situation a secret had been like nailing jell-o to the wall. However, recruiting from left wing and right wing extreme groups and supplementing them with the army regulars who felt betrayed after the string of base closures kept the group tight. Sweeping cuts introduced by President Nader in his shock victory had torn the country apart. The gloves were off and people were sick of his policies. Cuts had enraged the armed forces who were about to be financially castrated leading the higher ranks to plot a violent Coup. Operation Cowboy was to be the starting point in a nationwide revolution designed to restore the Federal Government to a moderate status unseen since the times of Roosevelt.
The audacious plan cooked up in the Pentagons National Military Command Centre on the orders of the Secretary of Defence. Staffers, adjutants and military brass knew from the start this was no plan, books noted objections and those objectors later became mentally unfit for duty. Transferred to a nice holding facility in Alaska they would be bothering nobody anytime soon. So the plan was set and recruitment began amongst the nations forces, troops were handpicked and in turn they hand picked others to serve in a new force known as Arrowhead. They would use Arrowhead to pierce the heart of the nation and restore its democratic life, through a series of events the plan would stop at nothing short of complete victory and elimination of the current system of government.
Obstacles were met at every point; the plans had to be constructed craftily with the touch of a surgeon in order to remain secret. It was to be known as a training exercise in urban warfare, using a city in similar size and geography of Washington D.C. Many thought nothing of it and those with the clearance and intelligence to see through it were incapacitated through various means. It was dirty and it was nasty, but the ends would justify the means�
As his alarm clock hit 7am and buzzed violently Cody Bennington wished he had never chosen Journalism as a profession. His employment at CNN was a dream come true and integrated news into his lifestyle, 24 hours a day he was on call as part of a newly formed breaking team who responded to news as fast as possible in the eastern USA. He got up and did his morning essentials settling for coffee and toast to get him going. Leaving his upscale house in Georgetown, he wandered down to his new BMW X5, the house he had inherited from his parents faded into the distance as he crawled down the roads to CNN�s HQ, both Professors at GWU, until their demise in a car accident on the notorious beltway just 2 years ago. As he crawled down Massachusetts Avenue to Dupont circle, he thought of the news this morning and how he would be assigned.
It was shaping up to a be a slow morning in the newsrooms of New York, just some reports about bombings in the middle east and a car bomb in Saudi Arabia, nothing special that would merit some live coverage. And then it all changed, inside CNN�s new building on Columbus circle a refuse truck sped into the lobby, detonating 5 tons of explosives tearing the building apart. Similar scenes erupted around New York. The public were in the dark� well that was the case until 08:11AM when reports of massive truck bombs detonating outside of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CNN�s New York headquarters. Screens went blank all across the nation and the Special Report graphics began to appear. Network news coverage, crippled for the time being had backup plans to deal with the situation. Stations began moving to backup broadcast locations as soon as they could with ABC and CBS broadcasting from Chicago, NBC from Burbank, CA. CNN�s Headquarters in Atlanta managed to pick up the broadcasting and alerted the public. Perhaps the most poignant moment was the frame stuck on ABC�s coverage in the New York area of a massive car bomb exploding outside ABC�s Times Square studio and the fireball outside the Good Morning America studio.

D-9
These events had the desired effect; news coverage crippled throughout the entire northeast. As of now, the stations would have to rely on DC affiliates to provide news and those could be dispatched easy enough with some troops. Besides, the roads were blocked with traffic anyway. With the time approaching 9am, many were glued to TV�s watching the rescue and recovery efforts. DC affiliates had dispatched their own helicopters to help cover New York from the air. Such was the devastation that people immediately knew the death tolls would be in the thousands. New York was declared a disaster area and a state of emergency was put into effect by executive decree. President Nader was meeting in the White House situation room with his key advisors, it was nothing more than a show, nothing could be done for now.
National Security Advisor Dr Ted Mae stood in a corner with Secretary of Defence Edward Blackwelder discussing the ins and outs of the situation at hand. Both men had been key architects of Operation Cowboy after recognising the rocky road about to be treaded by Nader and his Green Party. The time had come to make the stand and they approached him together with Generals Delatte & Jackson. Dr Mae advised the President to put troops on alert all over the eastern seaboard which he readily agreed to for fear of being victims of further attack, Admiral Chesterton who notified him that the Atlantic fleets had been mobilised and sent along the eastern seaboard to aid rescue efforts then joined them. The stage was now being set for the invasion; the troops had been on alert for days and were ready to go complete with orders, if anyone asked then it was just a hypothetical scenario that troops had to be mentally prepared for.
It would be no walk in the park; things had to be done very quickly in order to secure the key centres necessary for victory. Troops would have to be in their correct positions within 18 hours or it would all be useless. Key command centres in the heart of DC would have to be paralysed within minutes; troops landing on the mall would immediately have to seize road junctions and bridges to paralyse DC traffic then race off to demolish bridges. This first wave coupled with a detachment of 300 paratroopers landing on the white house lawn and surrounding parks would ensure a foothold in the executive mansion and west wing. It would be their job to paralyse the White House and capture President Nader alive. A second wave of troops would seize the capitol and round up as many Senators and Representatives as possible and detain them in the D.C. conference centre. Resistors would be shot on sight as well as police officers and other uniformed officials. Plans made to deal with law enforcement headquarters and other trouble spots opened swiftly in anticipation of events. Every problem carefully plotted and countered� It all looked so good on paper.

D-7

It was necessary to trap people inside Washington so flights diverted away from it and all outgoings were cancelled, leaving the three major airports near empty. The geography was favourable. Dulles to the West of the city, BWI to the northeast and National (Reagan) to the immediate south. Andrews AFB operated normally but at increased threat level. The terrorist actions in New York had given Arrowheads forces a slight disadvantage, troops perceived to be loyal were now on alert and were arming themselves for support. A small unit from the Marine Barracks on 8th street were deployed to guard key sites in the city from truck bombs and other perceived threats. This reaction by commanders in the area was thought about and planned for; there was no other option� they would have to be fought.
At this stage the troops were making final preparations and objectives were being opened, this set would have to be completed within 36 hours. Victory would come swift or not at all.
- Secure Washington D.C. and surrounding area.
- Take the White House, Executive buildings and Capitol Building.
- Capture POTUS & House + Senate members alive. Detain.
- Neutralise law enforcement and resistance
- Use disinformation to keep public inside homes
- Establish air perimeter with use of carrier borne aircraft
- Capture everything within D.C. Beltway and establish bridgeheads into VA & MD
- Deny territory to hostiles, Demolish beltway to use as a barrier.
- Proceed to Phase 2 once objections have been met

As the clock ticked down there was nervous waiting in the Arrowhead command centre, a fortified bunker outside of Washington. They were waiting for reports to come in of an event in New York; anxiously they stayed close to their TV�s and wire services. It had not been picked up yet, but when it did then all hell would break loose. This was meant to be a period of calm but unexpected events had complicated things.

�We�re just receiving reports here at CNN that troops in cities are beginning to don biological and chemical weapons gear, these are unconfirmed reports and we are trying to verify this, we don�t know if this is tied into the explosions that rocked New York earlier but we�re working on this. Now back to our continuing coverage of the Attack on Freedom�

I wrote this today, its not one of my best i know but i enjoy writing, battle scenes will come later and they'll be gooood. Blood and fiery fiery death! Plus lots of cameo's!

Constructive criticism is welcome.

Nerdling.

Great story!
You got the geography straight on the DC area.
Thank god I live outside the beltway. I have often thought that if something like martial law were instated here that the beltway would serve as some kind of barrier or "no mans zone" that would be patrolled by hum-v's and and other vehicles. There is a number of storm drains (some big enough to drive a cer thru) that travel under the beltway that we use to play in as kids. It would be rather easy to sneak back and fourth between the inside and outside. here is a link to the area traffic cams if you want a visual of the area.
www.trafficland.com...

Originally posted by baked
Great story!
You got the geography straight on the DC area.

Yeah, he got a little help with that.

Good story, Nerd!! Looking forward to the rest!!

Why thank you for the compliments! new part tomorrow!

oh and thanks for the local geography tips from banshee and baked

Nerdling....other than the high-classed "new BMW X5", I like the story thus far.

I also look forward to your next installment.



seekerof

Okay, Nerdling, I decided to read your story...it's really good.
Looking forwrd to the next installment!

Great story so far, I must say!

Just some advice, though. Paragraph more, that way it is easier to read. Other than that, you can't go wrong.


Mr. M

Originally posted by StarChild
Paragraph more, that way it is easier to read

Will do, I wrote it in word so you tend not to see the effects until you paste it over.

Originally posted by Seekerof
Nerdling....other than the high-classed "new BMW X5", I like the story

A porsche or something is a bit too cliche and fits in with the white brat stereotype.

Ty for all the compliments!

Wow!! This is a great story Nerdling. Write more fast! I can't wait to read the next sections.

Hey great story Nerdling I loove it! Hope the seond one will come sooner!