June17, 2027
Mogadishu, African Union
It all started, as most such things do, with assassins in the night. A group of young men, non-descript and clean-cut, approached the Diktat’s Palace in the wee hours of the morning and were passed without incident through the outer security by like-minded guards that had been subverted or replaced over the last several years.
Once inside the young men, their numbers bolstered by some of the turned guards, equipped themselves with the guard’s own equipment from a Palace armory opened to them by a sympathetic officer. The men were uneasy, though. The operation was rushed and last minute, and while they didn’t know the reason it had been launched so hastily, they knew that it wasn’t supposed to happen for months yet, until the inner security of the Palace had been breached. All of the participants were intelligent young men, for all that they were fanatics, and they knew that without the preparation that hadn’t been completed yet they had little chance of succeeding. They were still willing to try, though.
Armored and equipped, the grim-faced men filtered through the Palace complex’s out-buildings until they reached the inner wall that was the complex’s final bastion. The thirty men crouched down and waited as one of their number set up a portable security breacher and patched it into the Palace’s security system. The young man running the breacher was sweating. He was only seventeen, but he was intelligent and had been chosen for the mission by the leaders of the rebellion themselves. Unfortunately, he was only partially trained on the equipment, and while setting up the breacher he fumbled the insertion phase and set off the Palace’s security alarms.
The Palace Guard was composed of the men and officers most loyal to the Diktat, and they had proved resistant to subversion, so when the alarm went off they responded with commendable alacrity. Still, it was four in the morning, and most of them were asleep in their barracks, so it took some time for them to suit up.
While the Guard was still trying to figure out the cause of the alert, the leader of the assault force signaled for his demo team to take the lead, brushing aside the demoralized breacher. In seconds the team had laid out their charges and the others had retreated from the access portal. After ensuring that everyone was out of the way, the assault leader triggered the charges and a massive blast sounded throughout the complex as the heavy portal was dismounted from its hinges.
Every alarm in the complex was now ringing and the Guard had no trouble determining the location of the threat. The Guard Commander began organizing his reserves as he threw the troops he had available at the threat.
The attackers cut down the first guards to arrive without too much trouble, but it took them time to do so, and by the time the last of the first group of guards was down the assault leader knew that they had lost. The Guard had had more than enough time to whisk the Diktat away to his bunker.
Even as the overwhelming reserve guard force closed on the attackers, the assault commander made his decision. Turning to his second he nodded. The other man, seeing his death and knowing that there was no other alternative, saluted and then activated the device he carried in his pack. A second later a massive explosion swept the Palace complex, leaving nothing of the attackers but a crater.
Safe in the bunker fifty feet down, Diktat Anen felt the earth move when the attackers blew themselves up. Activating the surveillance system, he saw that his palace, and indeed most of the complex, was ravaged by the explosion. The sensors said that the explosion wasn’t nuclear, which made sense, the attackers could never have gotten nuclear material that close, but whatever the bomb was made of it had done a number on the palace grounds.
It took a while, but eventually Anen’s personal security detail established contact with the outside world. Anen immediately ordered the military be put on alert and instituted emergency orders. That was when things got worse.
Fifty minutes later…
Diktat Anen had insisted on setting up his command post in the remnants of his Palace. Rumors were circulating as to his reasoning for abandoning the HQ buried beneath the Palace, ranging from a fear of hidden bombs to using the ruins as a reminder of the perfidy of their enemies. The truth was that Anen couldn’t stand caves or other similar situations, and hated being in the buried bunker.
At any rate, as the sun was coming up Anen’s aides and support staff were busily setting up a hasty command center just south of the ruined Palace, in what used to be the Palace’s flower garden. That was where High Stalker Ankhsheshonq found him.
Diktat Anen looked up from the report he had just been handed as Anksheshonq approached. “What is going on, High Stalker Ankhsheshonq?”
The highest ranking military officer in the Union came to attention and saluted. “Sir, this appears to be more widespread than we originally thought. I have received confirmation of the emergency orders from only 20% of the divisions.”
“What!” Anen leapt to his feet. “How can that be? Are we being jammed or are they under attack?”
Ankhsheshonq stood his ground in the face of the Diktat’s fury. “The communications lines are open, and there is no report of a large scale attack. There are, however, reports from orbital surveillance of widespread small-scale fighting going on throughout the country. There have been fourteen confirmed assassinations here in the capital. I have put the police and the militia on alert and dispatched them to all critical areas.”
The fury had drained out of Anen’s face as the officer talked. Now he just looked thoughtful. “This is a coup, it has to be.”
Ankhsheshonq nodded. “That is our evaluation as well.”
“Who?”
“Unknown at this time, however, several individuals have been caught handing out extremist literature to the troops at the bivouacs for the 29th Heavy Armor Division.”
“lu-Anon!” Anen slumped as if uttering the name had drained him. “It must be.”
Ankhsheshonq opened his mouth to point out all of the intelligence briefs that had pointed to the fact that the leader of the northern fanatics had taken the aide offered by the government and used it to extend his networks within the Union rather than in the Reich, but then stopped. It was not the time for recriminations. Those would undoubtedly come later, depending on who survived this night. “I have my people sending alerts out to trustworthy officers; however, we are not able to get to them in all cases. This situation appears chaotic.”
Emphasizing the military leader’s point, an explosion blossomed in downtown Mogadishu, at the administrative headquarters for the Union’s military. Anen looked at Ankhsheshonq. “Get out to the 29th and put them on alert. Once you have secured their bivouac area, contact the 47th and get them into the streets. I want a show of force here in the capital, and I can’t think of a better show than a heavy armor division rolling down the streets. The 47th is to secure all government offices, radio and TV stations, and critical infrastructure. Once you have done that report back to me!”
Ankhsheshonq saluted and turned to leave. Before he could, Anen called him back.
Diktat Anen pounded the table in front of him. “We must gain control of the situation. High Stalker, deploy loyal units of the Army to regain control of units with uncertain loyalties. High Stalker, you must secure the strategic missile and defense centers. I will give you operational control of all of Internal Security’s Rapid Response Units for this purpose. You must not fail.”
Ankhsheshonq saluted and left the Diktat to his communications people. Both had calls to make and loyalties to either firm up or reveal. Watching his commander leave, Anen’s brow furrowed. This was going to get ugly, and the first few hours of confusion were going to be critical.
Ninety minutes later…
High Stalker Ankhsheshonq returned to the Diktat’s command post in the ruins of the formerly opulent Palace. His face was grim when he saluted. “Diktat, I bear bad news. The 39th Armored has gone over to lu-Amon, and has taken the Anti-Ship missile complex at Luxor with it.”
Anen was staggered and fell into a seat which an aide had fortunately placed behind him. “The fanatics now have control of forty-five missile launchers and over three hundred missiles? What have we done?”
Ankhsheshonq’s face grew harder, if that was possible. “It gets worse, sir. Twenty-eight infantry divisions have declared for lu-Amon, along with five of the nine shock infantry divisions. In addition, there have been attacks on officers, and I’ve confirmed the death of over forty officers of all ranks.”
Diktat Anen’s face paled at the magnitude of the disaster. “That’s over half of the Army!” The leader, staggered at the news, put his head in his hands for a second, then looked at his military leader. “What else?”
“There is good news. The 29th, 47th, and 65th Armored are all loyal, and will continue to be so. Fourteen infantry divisions are responding to the emergency orders, as are four shock infantry, two engineer, and six military police divisions. In addition, all six strategic missile sites and three of the four meson defense sites have been secured by Rapid Response Units and military commando teams.”
“And the fourth meson defense center?”
Ankhsheshonq faced his commander squarely. “There are confused reports of heavy fighting, and the troops I sent to secure the site have been ambushed short of the center. I fear we have lost control of the site.”
Anen sat silently, apparently staring at the ruins of his palace. “And the Orbital Defense Network and Lunar installations?”
“Both are secure. The commanders of the orbital bases are reporting only limited unrest among the crews, and it has been dealt with. The forces deployed to the Moon are among our most loyal, and I have no doubts that they remain ours.” After a few seconds Ankhsheshonq ventured a question. “Sir, what of the situation in the cities and the state governments? I have only been getting confused reports from my subordinates, but the situation on the civil side seems to be…confused at best.”
Anen shook his head. “They took us completely by surprise. As best I can tell there has been a wave of assassinations of leading citizens loyal to me and the government, and lu-Amon is even now moving his people into place, or revealing those that have supported him all along. Eight of the Union’s northwestern administrative areas have declared for lu-Amon and his religious fanatics, which means he controls approximately two thirds of the Union’s population. We retain control of approximately two thirds of the Union’s industry, though, so we have an advantage in that area, if nowhere else.”
Anksheshonq shook his head. “An advantage in industry is all well and good, if lu-Amon gives us enough to time exploit that advantage, but I fear he will launch an immediate attack, before we can regroup. He doesn’t want half of Africa, he wants the entire continent.”
Anen stood and walked to the map of Africa that had been tacked to the remnants of a wall. He began marking the map with a colored marker. After he finished the north-western portion of the continent was a lurid red, denoting those states declaring for lu-Amon, while the south-eastern to north eastern portion remained white. After he finished coloring Anen made a large X in the center of the red portion of the map. He pointed at the X. “Luxor is the key. We must take those launchers from lu-Amon now, as quickly as possible. He will use them against us and god knows who else if he is losing, and we cannot allow that. The Reich, in particular, will not stand for those weapons in lu-Amon’s hands, whatever that fool things. We must strike now, immediately!”
Anksheshonq stood to attention and saluted. “Agreed, Excellency! I will…”
“No. You will remain here, coordinating the movements of the rest of the Army and ensuring the loyalty of the units not with me. I will personally lead the strike into lu-Amon’s stronghold. The people must see me responding to this betrayal, or I will never rest, even if we defeat this rebellion.”
With the Anen left the command post for his transport, leaving his shocked staff behind. They quickly got back to work under High Stalker Ankhsheshonq, trying to find out who was still loyal, who had died, and which leaders had betrayed the Diktat and their oaths.
Berlin, Imperial Palace
The Kaiserin sat blinking sleep out of her eyes as the magnitude of the potential disaster unfurled before her. “Those barbarians have nuclear weapons? We cannot allow this! What is the Diktat going to do?”
Vizeadmiral Stauffer rubbed his eyes. “Your majesty, right now Diktat Anen is undoubtedly attempting to determine who is still loyal to his government. He is likely planning a military campaign to retake the territory he lost to lu-Amon, but it isn’t clear right now whether he can. We must plan for the eventuality that lu-Amon and his people may win this civil war and be left in uncontested control of the Union and all of its bases and weapons.”
The Kaiserin rose and paced for a few minutes while her advisors remained silent, recognizing the signs that she did not want to be interrupted while she thought the situation through. Finally, turning to her science advisor, she spoke. “What are the likely ecological consequences of widespread war with modern weapons on the African continent?”
The senior and respected scientist cleared her throat. “Your Majesty, based on the figures Vizeadmiral Stauffer has presented me we are looking at significant world wide effects. Modern armored and infantry divisions use relatively clean weapons, but they are still going to kick up radiation and dust, and that will be bad. However, if the fighting is limited to less than a month the effects should be limited to a drop of a degree or maybe two worldwide, and will clear fairly quickly. All bets are off they use strategic nuclear weapons, though.”
“As I thought. Very well. Vizeadmiral Stauffer, you have my authorization to begin preliminary deployments for Operation Thunderbolt. In the meantime, institute fallback procedures for the fleet and all civilian ships in orbit. I will be contacting the leaders of both sides of the conflict and informing them that we will not allow nuclear weapons to be used on Earth, and that the consequences will be grave and final if they do. After that I intend to contact the President of the Alliance and discuss the situation with them. Perhaps we can coordinate our response to this disaster.” She paused for a minute, then shook her head. “Vizeadmiral, as of now I am authorizing retaliation protocols. If the Union or the rebels strike at us in the confusion, I want missiles in the air seconds later. I don’t want them to have a second chance. Understood?”
Stauffer stood and saluted. “Understood, majesty.”
City of Luxor, provisional Capital of the United Islamic States of Africa
Lu-Amon sat on his throne as official after official bowed before him, swearing fealty to him personally and the new government he had declared. Finally, as the stream of officials thinned out he rose, raised his hands to the cheers of those present, and left the audience room for a conference room at the rear of the complex. There he met with his closest advisors, most of whom had been with him from the days of the desert, when they had first been forced out of Egypt by the evil Reich.
“What news?” He was expansive now that they were finally moving forward.
Sutymose rose and bowed. “It is confirmed, we have taken the missile complex outside the city. The 39th Armored is praising the name of god even now, and has moved to secure our base of operations. The bulk of the unbeliever’s army has raised our standard and is even now moving as we direct.”
Again lu-Amon smiled. “Very good. It is only a matter of time until the infidels fall beneath our righteous might.” Lu-Amon’s face stiffened. “What of the strategic missile bases?”
Sutymose shook his head. “They remain with the pretender. Our teams were slaughtered to a man. They…” He fell to the ground in shock as lu-Amon stood over him, his eyes blazing and his hand raised to deliver another blow. For a brief second he began to explain that lu-Amon’s own orders to move the assault date up by months had led them to this pass, but he saw his death in lu-Amon’s eyes and wisely refrained from speaking.
“Fool, you have failed me, and worse, god himself! Begone from my sight! Retire to your command post and await my decision as to your continued existence!”
The chastened military leader fled the tent pursued by lu-Amon’s curses. Pausing for a second after Sutymose left, lu-Amon turned to his subordinates, apparently in command of himself once again. “All must bow before the will of god. In his arrogance he thought to place blame on me, and by extension god himself, for the less than successful completion of the plan.” Seeing the look on the faces of his other advisors he shook his head. “Oh, he did not voice his criticism, but it was plain on his face. If I did not confront it, who knows where such disloyalty would lead?” Turning to the map on the wall he swept his arms grandiosely across the expanse of the continent. “We will sweep the pretender’s forces from the field, and once we have secured our own home, we will move on to the other territories that are rightfully ours.” His eyes rested lovingly on the Reich Territory of Egypt.
Twenty-four hours later, 100 miles west of Mogadishu…
Anen sat in his command tank, staring at the tiny hologram of Anksheshonq. “We are preparing to advance into territory controlled by the rebels. What of the plans to reinforce our forces by getting the units on the Moon back here?”
The tiny figure of Ankhsheshonq shook its head. “Excellency, the rebels have promised to attack any Union ship that moves out of orbit. We have been unable to determine if they actually have the capability to do so or if they are bluffing. In addition, both the Alliance and the Reich have issued strongly worded warnings to us and the rebels warning against any missile launches. While the warnings clearly apply to launches against earth-bound targets, it isn’t clear how they would respond to launches against orbital targets. They might intervene, and they might not. They may take it as proof of our instability and launch their own attack. We just don’t know.”
Anen thought furiously. The forces on the Moon consisted of one infantry division, two shock infantry divisions, and twelve engineer divisions. The three combat divisions would be invaluable to his offensive, but…after a few seconds Anen shook his head. “Hold off for now. We cannot risk forcing the other nations to become involved. God only knows that they would do. We’ll have to move forward with what we have.” He deactivated the communications system and stood, poking his head through the open hatch above him. The weather was clear and warm, and he reveled in being in the field again. Around him stood arrayed the might of three armored divisions, and he couldn’t help but be impressed by the sight. One hundred ton Mameluke heavy tanks, low and squat on their tracks, pointed their heavy mass driver cannon west towards the threat. Smaller Sentry scout tanks flitted around the perimeter, fleet and swift on their cushions of air. Behind him were the armored heavy artillery units that would devastate the rebels if they gave them half a chance. Although he couldn’t see them, he knew that the armored infantry in their Hoplite armored personnel carriers were stationed nearby, ready to support the armor in its rush for the enemy’s heart. All was in readiness. Now it was time for him to prove that he still deserved to rule the Union. He waved to the commanders of the tanks nearest to him, and then repeated the order to the other commanders. Forward!
Meanwhile…
As the African continent was engulfed in war the vast swirl of ships that orbited Earth at all times began to break up. The Reich was the first to respond. Most of its cargo and colony ships were away on runs to other systems, but the Reich generally maintained a squadron of warships in orbit. The Earth Flotilla was a minor component of the Raumarine, given the Reich ship’s vulnerability to close combat, a mere three cruisers and three missile frigates. Those ships now moved into Lunar orbit, where they could evaluate any threat that might approach. Reich unarmed ships left orbit bound for Venus, where they would be safe from events on the Earth. Even as the Reich ships left Earth orbit, the main Reich Fleet left Venus en route for Luna, to rendezvous with the Earth Flotilla.
The exodus of Reich ships began a general flight of ships from Earth orbit. Twenty Japanese ships left next, headed for their mining colony on Titan. The Japanese also recalled their warships on training missions and put their fleet in Earth orbit on alert. Shortly thereafter thirteen Soviet ships lifted out for their asteroid mining base, followed by eleven Alliance ships, all headed for Mars.
The Alliance Earth Squadron, composed of two battlecruisers, eleven cruisers, and eleven destroyers, went into high alert but stayed in orbit where their lasers would be of use in defending Alliance territory. The Alliance Mars Fleet left orbit at approximately the same time as the Reich Venus Fleet.
The four Novaran ships watched the movements of the various human fleets with concern. Their representatives on Earth had been reassured that the movements had nothing to do with them, but still, they couldn’t help but wonder. Their concern grew twelve hours later when ninety four warships belonging to the Alliance and the Reich went into Lunar orbit. Many of the warships were larger than the largest Novaran ship, and the display of might awed the Novaran officers who were watching as the glittering ships of the major powers settled into orbit.
July 1-5, 2027
Diktat Anen’s forces drove west from Mogadishu towards Lake Chad and the city of Luxor. The rebels threw nearly everything they had at Anen’s forces, attempting to stop him cold. The remaining rebel units were sent on what amounted to spoiler attacks, trying to force Anen to divert forces from his main attack to stop the pinpricks on his flank. Five days of heavy fighting had worn down both forces. Diktat Anen’s officers estimated that they had lost nearly a quarter of their starting force, mostly in a huge swirling set-piece battle the day before. The rebels had lost a similar percentage of their divisions, however, most of their losses were infantry, while Anen’s force had lost nearly a third of its armored striking strength trying to batter through the rebel infantry.
The fighting caused widespread devastating in a countryside that hadn’t seen a war in decades. Nearly three million African citizens were killed and many more were displaced in the various battles that took place between the two sides. The rebels, in particular, showed no mercy to civilians that had remained loyal to the central government, and atrocities were too numerous to count.
July 6-10, 2027
The second week of fighting was, if anything, worse than the first because both sides had become desperate after the heavy losses in the first week. Diktat Anen’s forces continued to forge forward, however, early in the week Anen decided to reconsider his original decision to not recall the divisions on the Moon. Loss rates were far above original calculations and the rebels were fighting as if possessed, throwing themselves at tanks and armored personnel carriers as if they were demons. Late in the day on the 6th, Diktat Anen issued orders for the two Union troop transports in orbit to transport all troops now on the Moon to the Earth to reinforce in his campaign.
One hour later the two AU troop transports broke orbit bound for the moon. Almost immediately the rebel missile bases activated their sensors and targeted the transports.
Reacting quickly, Alliance and Indian warships in orbit activated their sensors as well, and a reiteration of their warning against launches on Earth-bound targets went out to both sides.
A few seconds passed, and then two of the three rebel ground bases launched a total of thirty missiles as the two transports and at the single AU survey ship in orbit. Twenty missiles were intercepted by AU meson defense emplacements, three missed, and the other seven hit one of the transports, damaging it.
The other nations were caught by surprise, not having specifically banned attacks against orbital ships. After conferring, the governments of the Alliance and India contacted both African governments and forbade any further missile launches, stating that they would engage any missiles launched against any target. Lu-Anon protested this stance as defacto support of the Union, but the two nations stood firm. After a few more minutes the rebel missile bases deactivated their sensors without launching any further missiles.
The African Union transports proceeded to the Moon and began loading troops. The three combat divisions there were rushed directly to the front in central Africa. The transports also landed nine engineering divisions, which were pressed into duty as garrison units.
The reinforcements tipped the scales. The three divisions, composed of fresh troops outraged by the atrocities the rebels had been inflicting on innocent civilians, slammed into the center of the rebel line, fixing their attention. While fierce combat raged around the center, Anen’s shock infantry and armored divisions struck the flank of the rebel position and cut through their lines, which had been thinned out to reinforce the center. Anen’s forces caused heavy losses among the rebel units before they were able to retreat and establish a new line.
All told the second week was disastrous for the rebels, costing them seven divisions, compared to two of Diktat Anen’s divisions, both of which had just been transferred from the Moon. In addition to the divisional losses suffered on the field of battle, the UISA also lost its supreme military commander, Sutymose, who contracted a severe case of perforated brain when lu-Amon lost his temper over the Union’s penetration of their defenses.
July 11-15, 2027
During this week Diktat Anen was forced to regroup and reorganize after the dramatic breakthrough last week. The defenders had withdrawn and established a tough new defensive line, and when the Union shock infantry and armored units slammed into this line they were disorganized and suffered heavy losses. Estimates had both sides losing approximately three infantry divisions each.
In spite of his successes in the main area of operations, Anen was growing concerned about the peripheral strikes from UISA forces, which to date had cost the Union four military police divisions and five engineering divisions. The most destructive strike had been at the Union’s primary shipyard and resulted in the loss of a slipway. Responding to the fears of his supporters, Anen was forced to redeploy some of his frontline units to deal with these threats.
July 16-20, 2027
Rested Union forces led by the two surviving armored divisions attempted to batter through rebel defenses this week. As a result losses were very high on both sides. Anen was becoming desperate the finish the destructive conflict before the rebels did something that made the situation irretrievable.
The climax of the fighting came late in the week when Union forces finally forced a breakthrough in rebel lines. Anen rushed every unit he had into the breach, including his headquarters, only to find that the rebels had laid a trap when his units ran headlong into the rebel reserves. Anen managed to extricate his forces, barely, but lost most of his headquarters group to the ambush.
July 21-25, 2027
Resistance from rebel forces collapsed this week. Unknown to Diktat Anen, the ambush that cost him his HQ was the rebel’s last gasp, their last reserves. When Union forces renewed their push this week the rebels had very little to oppose them, and the front lines collapsed almost immediately. Union forces suffered very little in the way of casualties, while the rebels lost four divisions during their confused retreat.
July 26-30, 2027
Union forces continued to push forward towards Luxor and the PDC’s that the rebels had captured on the first day of the rebellion. After ‘disciplining’ his new supreme commander, lu-Anon appointed an even newer commander and ordered him to stop the Union’s Army any way he could. The new commander launched a massive counterattack using the rebel’s only armored division and nearly all of their remaining infantry. Union forces were initially forced back, but in the end numbers wore the rebels down. By the end of the week all of the rebel’s armor was gone and most of the infantry involved in the attack was either destroyed or scattered. The rebel’s army was broken, and their latest commander was lost in the battle, either killed, captured, or in hiding. The route to Luxor was now open, and the rebels no longer had an army to oppose his advance.
August 1, 2027
Lu-Anon, self-styled supreme Imam of the soon to be defeated Union of Islamic States of Africa, sat in his new command post in the deeply buried command center of Meson Defense Center #4 and toyed with his pistol. The thought of his capture and trial by Anen’s government forces didn’t bother him, but the implied defilement of god’s movement did bother him intensely. Taking his own life to prevent that possibility was a small cost.
He looked around the room again, noting for the first time that he was alone. His face twisted into a snarl. All of his supporters, even the oldest of them who had been with him from the first, had left over the last few days. Even the people, who had greeted him with cheers when his forces first rose, now had turned on him and his few remaining supporters, forcing them to retreat to this bunker and the command centers for the other PDC’s that he still controlled.
His eyes drifted, as if of their own accord, to the map display showing the current locations of Anen’s troops. After a few seconds he realized that it was time. Anen’s leading armored units were just over 100 kilometers away, and his own loyalist forces had failed him. There was only one thing left to do. Rising, he activated his communicator. “This is lu-Amon. Activate Plan Phoenix immediately. Glory be to god!”
Lu-Amon waited just long enough to be sure that his orders were being followed and then he ended his rebellion with the 9mm pistol that he had been toying with for the last two days. Even in its death throes the rebellion wasn’t finished.
Obedient to the last, lu-Amon’s most loyal troops received their leader’s final orders and carried them out to the letter. Rebel commanders in all three PDC’s controlled by lu-Anon’s forces activated the missile launch sequence. The AI’s that actually controlled the automated sequence activated the PDC’s sensors and began spinning up their launchers.
Zero seconds…
Seconds after the rebel bases activated their sensors the status change was detected by PDC’s belonging to the other powers. In the Reich the AI coordinating the nation’s strategic defense forces noted the change and, pursuant to its standing orders, activated its own sensors and notified its human counterparts. In addition, the AI began activation procedures at a very special, and very secret, base buried deep in the Alps. This base was considered a test-bed for new technology and a new concept for the Reich, and was very definitely a treaty violation, as it was an active missile defense station. The Alliance and the Reich had signed a treaty years ago prohibiting defenses on or in orbit over Earth that could be used to defend against attacks launched by other nations. On the surface these treaties didn’t make much sense, but at the time the two major nations were primarily interested in avoiding a costly and potentially destabilizing arms race. Over the last few years, though, the Reich government had developed intelligence that several of the other nations had built meson missile defense stations within their territory, and the Reich government had no wish to be left behind. Unfortunately, the Reich had invested heavily in missile technology over the years, completely avoiding beam and beam related technology. In order to determine what would be needed to remedy that situation the government had authorized the construction of a very secret prototype defense station. That station now was the only defense the Reich had.
Five seconds…
Seconds after the initial order was given two African bases launched a total of thirty missiles at ground targets within the Reich. The third PDC was slow off the mark and was still 10-15 seconds away from launching. The Reich strategic defense AI had mere seconds to respond, but for an AI that was plenty of time. Acting within the bounds of the authorization issued by the Kaiserin at the start of the conflict, the AI ordered Reich National Defense Missile Centers to respond to the attack, and issued a standby launch order to the Raumarine fleet in orbit around the Moon.
The missiles launched by the rebel bases were smaller than standard ICBM’s in use by the other powers because the bases seized by the rebels in the early days of the war weren’t actually strategic defense bases but rather anti-ship bases built to engage enemy ships in orbit. This meant that the missiles launched by the bases were smaller and less powerful than the city-busting missiles launched by strategic defense centers used by the other powers, but this actually worked to the advantage of the rebels in this case. The Reich defense AI employed its one meson defense base to the limit of its capacity, but the Reich’s beam weaponry was several generations behind that of everyone else and that proved fatal in this case. Eight out of the thirty missiles were destroyed and then the remaining twenty-two hit their targets. Nuclear fireballs blossomed across Europe and Egypt, wiping away thirteen million people in an instant.
The Reich defense AI now had to make a decision. It had eleven strategic defense PDC’s under its control, with a total of 110 launchers. In addition, it had one special PDC equipped to launch Ancient missiles recovered on Venus and two anti-missile missile stations. In all it had direct control of one hundred and twenty ICBM launchers and thirty five anti-missile missile launchers. It had taken the AI microseconds to allocate the launchers to the three hostile bases, including the anti-missile missiles as decoys, but then it had to attempt a damage calculation. Based on its programming it knew that it must stop the missile launches by the enemy as soon as possible, to limit the damage to the Fatherland, but it also knew that massive overkill would damage the environment and would also damage the Fatherland. After some consideration the AI issued a launch order to portions of the Raumarine fleet, giving them a target just outside of the atmosphere. The Raumarine missiles would be available to strike at the enemy PDC’s if the initial missile launch from the Reich bases failed.
Ten Seconds…
Sixteen Scharnhorst class missile frigates orbiting the Moon launched a total of three hundred and twenty anti-ship missiles that race away towards the Earth. In addition, the Reich PDC’s launch their missiles, meaning that one hundred and fifty-five missiles were now streaking towards the rebel bases from locations in Europe.
Fifteen seconds…
The lone rebel meson defense center went into action, striking out at the missiles now closing on the rebel PDC’s. The rebel base actually had better technology than the Reich installation, and it was shooting at slower targets, but it was completely overwhelmed by the incoming missiles. The lone defense base destroyed ten incoming missiles and then new nuclear explosions began pounding at the rebel PDC’s. The rebel PDC’s were tough. They were buried deep and had the best armor protection the AU could provide. All of that mattered little when the Reich city-busting missiles began slamming into the ground above them. Incredibly, each base survived at least ten hits before the explosions began to eat at their insides, but in the end each base succumbed to the repeated pounding. Almost half of the strike’s ICBM’s remained after the last PDC was destroyed and the Reich AI was forced to destroy them as they were almost out of fuel and could not be retargeted.
Correctly evaluating the results of its initial strike, the Reich AI retargets its remaining missiles on the rebel meson defense base, which had revealed itself when it went active.
Twenty seconds…
The rebel meson defense base incorrectly decided that the smaller and more illusive Reich anti-missile missiles are the more dangerous target and engaged them, destroying eight. The remaining anti-missile missiles began exploding over the meson defense base. Each had a tiny warhead, but each explosion wore away a little more of the base’s armor. The anti-missile missiles were closely followed by the ten Ancient missiles launched by the special Reich PDC. Like the rebel missiles these were intended to engage ships and so they had a relatively small warhead. The base survived the missile strike, for now.
Thirty five seconds…
The second salvo of ICBM’s from two Reich PDC’s homed in on the rebel meson defense base. The base’s AI valiantly attempted to defend itself but is overwhelmed and fresh nuclear fusion explosions bloomed near Lake Chad. When the explosions cleared the base was gone.
Forty seconds…
The Reich AI determines that the threat has been neutralized and issues stand-down orders to the PDC’s under its control and to the Raumarine. At this point the human authorities are still struggling to understand what has happened as less than a minute has elapsed since the rebel bases first launched.
Five minutes…
Unlike Cairo and Paris, Berlin survived the nuclear strike. Berlin’s survival was by mere chance, as the three missiles targeted on it were among those shot down by the top secret defense base. Although much would be made of the coincidence in the coming years, which many claiming that the defense computers had been programmed to give Berlin priority, there was never any proof. Thus the Kaiserin and her family survived, along with most of the Reich government.
After a quick briefing the Kaiserin issued a surrender demand to the rebels, and ordered Reich ground forces assembled in the Reich Territory of Egypt to initiate Operation Thunderbolt.
Over the next several days…
Several hours after the Kaiserin gave the order eighteen Wehrmacht divisions, including six armored and six assault infantry divisions, crossed the border into UISA territory. The Reich never received a response to its demand for surrender. Lu-Anon was dead by his own hand and his remaining loyal followers were all killed when their PDC redoubts were destroyed by Reich missiles.
In any case, the few UISA troops that remained were no match for the crack Wehrmacht divisions and were swept aside in hours.
After a month of hard campaigning Diktat Anen was faced with the reality that the Reich had stolen his prize out from under him. His initial impulse was to continue his attack, however, his aides finally brought him around. Even in its heyday the AU’s Army was no match for the Wehrmacht, and in its current depleted state the Reich forces would overrun them in hours, not days.
Diktat Anen next tried political means to regain his lost territory but the Kaiserin and the Reich were in no mood to listen to what they openly referred to as whining from the Union’s ruler. The Reich had suffered massive losses at the hands of fanatics that Diktat Anen and the Union had sheltered and the Kaiserin had no intention of allowing anything like this to happen again. The former rebel territories would be administered by the Reich as a Reich Territory and that was that. Discussion over.
Finally, Diktat Anen attempted to go to the other nations and request their intervention with the Reich. He found the other nations remarkably uninterested in his problems. Their view was that as a result of his incompetence the average temperature of the Earth had dropped over twenty degrees and the higher radiation levels meant that industry was going to be much less efficient for the near future. They were in no mood to cater to the Union in this matter.
Unknown to Diktat Anen the only reason the Alliance didn’t launch an attack of their own into Union territory was that their military leaders couldn’t guarantee that they could neutralize the Union’s strategic defense centers before they could launch.
The after effects of the war were bad for every nation on the Earth, but particularly bad for the Reich and the African Union. The Earth’s radiation level was now 2204 on the standard scale, meaning that industry was going to be only 78% as productive as before due to protective measures needed to ensure the safety of the workers. In addition, a significant amount of dust had been kicked up into the upper atmosphere, cooling the planet by an average of just over 21 degrees. Fortunately that was still well within the range tolerable for humanity, but it would be very cold for a while.
The rebel missile strike caused severe damage in twelve major Reich cities, including Paris and Cairo, and killed thirteen point two million Reich citizens outright. In all eighty industrial installations of various types were destroyed. Two research centers were also destroyed, and the Raumarine’s Paris Academy was damaged, as was the Wehrmacht’s Egyptian training facility. On the other hand, the Reich’s conquest of the UISA brought over three hundred and fifty industrial installations of various types under its control, along with four hundred and thirty seven million people.
The African Union suffered crippling losses from the rebellion. Two thirds of its population ended up conquered and under the control of the Reich, and it lost sixty-six divisions, between those that went over to the rebels and those lost in the subsequent battles. In addition, over eleven million African people were killed in the fighting and seventy three industrial installations were destroyed.
Throughout the entire month the four Novaran ships watched and recorded, and their crews were quietly appalled at the savagery of humanity. Nuclear weapons had never been used in anger on Novara, and here they had just watched over a hundred used by one faction of humanity against another.
The world before the Union Civil War
[attachment=1:1ert2pvj]World Map Before.gif[/attachment:1ert2pvj]
The world after the Union Civil War
[attachment=0:1ert2pvj]World Map After.gif[/attachment:1ert2pvj]
