Chapter 4
Bring Me to Your Leader
24 December 2041
Los Angeles, California
City Hall, Mayor’s Office
Mayor Jose Perez had been the mayor of LA for nearly twenty years. He was not a fan of President Stein; however, he did have to agree that the President had really turned the country’s economy around and that newfound prosperity had greatly benefited his city. In addition, despite the fact that Perez was a lifelong Democrat, the President had been nothing but professional and courteous when dealing with him. He had made many critical infrastructures projects in L.A. a key priority, and had agreed to include several high-speed rail projects in Southern California, with several of them running through LA.
Where he and the President diverged was their opinions concerning the direction of the war and the choice to annex Mexico. L.A. had been the victim of several large terrorist attacks: there was the one that destroyed the police headquarters, the attack against the Universal Studios complex, and several wildfires in and around L.A. county that were most likely arson. Mayor Perez agreed something needed to be done, but was utterly appalled by the President’s nuclear response to the destruction of New York and Baltimore. He was concerned the President’s aggressive actions would bring more countries into the war (and not on America’s side). As the casualty reports began to roll in, the invasion in Alaska began to really frighten him. Tens of thousands of young men and women were being killed each month and it appeared America was losing. He feared the Freedom Party was going to be the death of America.
On this particular day, Jose was frantically trying to finish up some urgent business at the office before he could leave and go home to be with his family for the rest of the holiday. He was doing his best to speed things up so that he could get home to his wife and his German Shepherd, but then his computer started acting up. While he waited for it to restart, he sighed, grabbed his cup of coffee, and flipped on the local news channel. “We are receiving reports of a massive cyber-attack underway against the Pentagon--”
Suddenly, the TV program cut off. It was nothing but static. “Huh, that’s strange,” he thought. “Let me check another channel.”
Before he could hit the menu button on the remote, someone knocked on his door. “Come in,” he said, and placed his coffee back on his desk.
In walked one of his security guards, his police liaison officer and a Homeland Security rep. that he barely knew, Agent Quick. They wasted no time on chit-chat; Agent Quick blurted out, “Mr. Mayor, I have just received a warning from Washington that the Department of Defense communication system has been temporarily disabled. Just before our communications were cut off, I was told a Chinese airborne force was heading towards San Diego.” He fidgeted while he spoke, like someone who has had one too many cups of coffee.
Police Liaison Officer Jayko didn’t wait for a response to Agent Quick’s information; he knew that the mayor would be very concerned with his intel as well, so he just jumped right in, “Mr. Mayor, we have received confirmation from local officers of gunfire taking place at the ports and at LAX International.
Mayor Perez felt his brainwaves overloading as he tried to process everything he had just been told. For a moment, he looked from one man to the other, then he held up his hand. “Obviously, this all needs prompt attention, but right now, I’d really like to hear more from Officer Jayko about what is going on at the ports.”
“Yes, Sir. One of our officers reported seeing dozens of military vehicles and soldiers being offloaded from numerous cargo container ships at the Port of L.A. and the Port of Long Beach. Another officer reported seeing dozens of what appeared to be tanks being driven off a large vehicle transport ship.”
“Do we have any intel on what they appear to be doing now? Can we tell whose troops they are?” asked the mayor, wringing his hands.
Officer Jayko was distracted; he had cocked his head to one side and appeared to be listening in his earbuds to one of his police units talking on the radio. All the color suddenly left Officer Jayko’s face. “Sir, the group of armored vehicles just left the port and attacked several police officers in the area. They opened fire with machine guns and tank cannons--it is unknown if any of them survived.”
The room was deadly silent as the reality of the situation sunk in. The mayor was the first to speak. “We need to find out where those vehicles are going. We also need to get the police assembled to respond to this threat. Agent Quick, are there any government troops or forces in the area that can assist us?”
The DHS Agent instinctively grabbed his phone to try to place a call and quickly realized that the phone systems were still down. “Sir, it would appear the phone system is not in operation. I’m not sure we can let anyone know what is going on right now.”
Mayor Perez felt that the agent had not adequately answered his question so he asked again. “Agent, are there any government forces in the area that can help us right now?” His voice grew louder and more agitated as he spoke.
Agent Quick looked up at the mayor as if this was the first time he had heard the question. “Um, yes sir, there are troops in the area,” he replied. Turning to Officer Jayko, Quick continued, “If one of your officers can get a message to the base commander at the LA Barracks, he can alert the Air Force base there. They can send an emergency message via the UHF radios to other military bases in the area. We also have some Marines and Navy Seabees at Port Hueneme and Point Magu, near Ventura,” Quick explained, regaining his composure.
Mayor Perez seized on this glimpse of hope. “Officer Jayko, get a message to the Police Command Center to send a messenger over to the base and request assistance. Also, ask if they can send any forces to the mayor’s office while we try to coordinate some sort of defense,” he directed.
“Yes, Sir,” he replied. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said as he began talking to his counterparts in the police through his radio earpiece, turning his body to the side to concentrate on the conversation.
While Officer Jayko was talking, Jose paused for just a few seconds, wading through the sea of thousands of conflicting thoughts. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he signaled to get Jayko’s attention. “We also need to send an emergency message throughout the city, telling people to stay indoors,” he ordered.
“Copy that,” Officer Jayko responded, then continued talking on the radio.
When he had completed his exchange, he turned back towards the mayor. “Sir, I was able to speak with the police chief; he said they are calling in every available officer they have and are sending them to City Hall and try to organize some sort of defense.”
As the mayor and the various law enforcement officials in the city scrambled to organize some sort of defense of the city, the Japanese and Chinese soldiers and their armored convoy continued to head towards City Hall, shooting and killing anyone that got in their way.
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