The Phoenix Reborn Series. Book 1. The World Burns to Ashes

The Attack Happens

Lincoln jumped into the passenger compartment just before the chopper powered up and launched into the air before they were hooked up to a load of cargo. He slid the headphones over his ears, and could now hear the operations speaking to the pilot telling them to depart for the rendezvous point.

He watched 30 trucks pull out of the base, and knew that they would only be the first ones to leave this night. The entire base was a hive of activity, the men running every which way. He could only hope that some of his men got the alert, and was surprised when the channel started pinging with activity.

Most of them were within 20 minutes of the location, as they had been preparing to deploy later that very day. They had been spending their few remaining hours with loved ones, and most had been awake when his first alert went out.

"Colonel, we have a civilian authority wishing to speak with you." the pilot said.

"Patch them in." he ordered before he heard a click. "This is Colonel Lincoln Masters, with whom do I have the pleasure?" he asked.

"This is Governor James Whitmyre, why has the National Guard been activated so thoroughly?" he demanded.

"Classified Operations authorized under the National Defense Act, General Howard will be holding a briefing as soon as he is able." Lincoln answered without missing a beat. The shocked gasp was his cue that answer had not been expected.

"That answer does little to inspire trust Colonel, and the state of Indiana could be a great benefit to your future Operations." Governor Whitmyre said.

"Governor, I deploy for the Ukrainian Front Lines later today, should I return, I will keep that in mind. However at this time I am conducting classified operations under the National Defense Act authorized by General Howard of Fort Indianapolis. If there is nothing further, please discontinue harassing my assets as they carry out the orders authorized by General Grant." Lincoln said before terminating the connection. "Inform the other pilots they are not to respond to any communication attempts outside authorized communication channels." he ordered as the lights from the city below started diminishing and he could see the forest as they flew on.

It did not take him very long, and they were setting the cargo on the ground before the entrance and than landed at an area they had cleared to wheel the equipment in.

Before the blades stopped Lincoln exited the chopper, and moved to where the other choppers were now dropping their loads before landing and the crews going to work on breaking them down so they could be wheeled into the cave bunker.

"Sir, we have 3 Battalions on site, along with their families. Battalion 127 was first to arrive, and have been coordinating the unloading, arrival and assignment if sleeping berths to those that have arrived since." A Captain informed him as they walked.

"Captain, at the moment who is doing what is not important. We need every able bodied worker moving these supplies to where they are needed. Have as many family members help as are willing, and hopefully this will turn out to be nothing more than a drill. So long as families and members are sorted by Battalion, I do not care at the moment of specific arrangements. What we do over the course of this day will be only to establish and survive what I fear is coming." Lincoln replied as the Captain was a little shocked he would allow the chaos to continue.

"Sir, we need to better organize the arrival-" Captain Long began before Lincoln glared at him.

"Captain, we have 8 more Battalions arriving, consisting of 40,000 men, their families, equipment and supplies needed to sustain them all for a year. This will all be arriving withing the next 30 minutes, how do you plan to organize it better?" Lincoln demanded.

Captain Jared Long was taken back a bit, as he had not been expected to have a solution demanded of him. "I do not know sir." he admitted.

"Until you do we have work that must be accomplished in a very short amount of time. Inform the families I will address them later, but we need every hand at the moment to move and store supplies wherever room can be found. We will have plenty of time to organize and redistribute if we are forced to lock down. Dismissed." Lincoln ordered him before 3 of the cargo Masters approached him.

"Sir, we will run into issues soon if we do not get more manpower here to move these supplies indoors." Master Sergeant Timms informed him.

"Understood Sergeant, we will have more troops arriving in short order, until than any able bodied person can be put to work under your command. Rank and type matter not today, and any civilians that give you issues refer to me." Lincoln told him as most of the men, women and their families formed a line and began moving the supplies into the bunker.

The arriving troops even had to pass on their luggage, and some of the elderly who could not easily assist were set to watching the children who were in the same position.

"Yes sir, is this a drill?" Sergeant Timms asked.

"I only wish it were Sergeant, there is a very real chance we will be sealing this bunker within the next few hours. This is real life as it is suspected that the Russians are preparing to launch their ICBMs." Lincoln informed the man who nodded before the three of them ran off to coordinate what got unloaded first and sent inside.

Lincoln had helped and commanded the efforts for an hour when his phone sent a shrill alarm that was shared by a number of phones from those around him and in the line moving the supplies. He looked and knew his prayers had gone unanswered as another message was delivered through his secure comms app.

The civilian alert read: Missile Launch detected. Multiple ICBM from multiple countries had been detected. Expected targets include Continental United States and other allied countries, seek shelter as first impacts are expected within the hour.

The military one told him that 9,000 Missiles had been launched, and that retaliatory strikes numbering 7,000 from the United States alone had been launched. Other Nuclear Capable Countries would respond as they felt was appropriate, but because of the acts of 5 Nations they were at a state of war.

"Colonel West, sound the alarm for 10 minutes. Muster the troops necessary to respond as needed, and issue the order to deal the bunker in 18 minutes." Lincoln Masters ordered into his radio so all of the men equipped with one could hear.

A moment later the siren blared, and it was clear that it got everyones attention. "Missile Launch detected. All response troops are to assemble at the bunker entrance for assignments, all supplies must be loaded in 10 minutes. Blast door will be sealed in 17 minutes 30 seconds." Colonel West said over the loud speakers and the activity increased if it were possible.

They no longer cared where the items got stacked, and the family members that had been helping moved to close the gaps caused by their loved ones moving to be reassigned.

Lincoln made his way quickly to the Command Bunker, deep inside of the cave system. It had taken 10 minutes, and as he looked at the cameras, one side of the corridor was being used by civilians and unassigned soldiers to re-enter the bunker. The supplies had all been set to the side of the entryway, just inside where the blast doors were.

The radar screen showed tens of thousands of missiles airborne, and it was expected to be another 15 minutes before they entered range of the US. It also showed that over a dozen nations had launched anywhere from a few dozen missiles, to several thousand like the United States had.

"All stations are manned and on standby for target acquisition." one of the officers Manning the stations informed him.

"Understood, be on the lookout for missiles that are going to detonate and cause EMPs." Lincoln told them and they aknowledged the order.

They all watched with baited breath as the incoming missiles began diverging more and more as they neared their targets. He knew that there was not likely a way to counteract them all, and saw the screens flicker as the expected EMP weapons were detonated above the atmosphere.

The Power Grid had been shut down in an effort to protect it, all of the stations taken offline so that the wires would have a chance to survive the pulse.

Within a minute of the first weapons exploding the rest entered range of the laser defense system.

"First targets acquired and lasers firing. Patriot systems will have range in 30 seconds and are acquiring targets." Captain Long reported after he had told his men to fire.

"Do not wait for my orders, as soon as you destroy a target move on to the next and fire." Lincoln said as the first detonated while it was still in space setting off yet another EMP. Each one they took out this way triggered EMPs of various strengths, and he knew for several minutes this would be the result.

It took the lasers 30 seconds to destroy each warhead, as they were shielded heavily against the heat that was used to melt their casings. Most of them were of older designs, so that when they reached critical temperature the explosives detonated setting off the nuclear blast.

Lincoln saw dozens of Patriot Missiles suddenly fill the sky, each base having launched to intercept as many of the missiles as they could. 6,000 Nuclear Missiles had targeted the US, and it would be a miracle if they stopped them all.

"Get those launchers reloaded as quickly as possible, we have 50 warheads threatening our area. Range 180 miles." Captain Long reported as the Patriot Missiles began intercepting the warheads in the atmosphere.

The 3 dozen they launched managed to intercept half of the missiles that were deploying to their area. "Captain, we have about 3 minutes before those missiles begin impacting. How many can the lasers handle?" he demanded.

"Half of what remains sir." He answered as 3 Patriot systems turned green. As soon as they did they were assigned targets and the missile turned yellow just before it turned red again.

Lincoln knew that they did not have enough time to intercept them all, but would manage to take out all but 5 of them before they entered range to affect the land below them. "Captain, inform General Howard that we will have multiple detonations." he said as they both realized that they just did not have enough time.

"Yes sir." Captain Long said before picking up the red phone.

"Let us hope that reentry speeds this up a bit. Can we increase the output of Lasers?" he asked.

"No sir, we are having to pair them up and rest for 10 seconds between emgagments. If we do not they will begin to burn out." A Corporal told him. "Range 150."

Lincoln knew it would be a risk, but he knew it had to be taken. "Push them to the limits Corporal, if not we will have multiple detonations that could potentially kill millions." he told the man.

"Understood sir, but we are already operating them at critical. Changing our approach in any way will result in catastrophic failure that will increase the number of detonations we must deal with. I wish there were another answer sir, however there is not. This amount of weaponry was never expected, and we will likely have detonations in each zone." Captain Long said as he held the phone. He was informing both Lincoln and General Howard.

Lincoln was surprised at this, and knew it was a frank assessment of what they could do.

"These cannot be loaded any faster either, and we have enough time to load 4 more each system before we are out of time. Colonel, prepare for the worst. Should we be impacted you will be in command of the Battalions. Good luck and hope for the best." General Howard said knowing he was on speaker.

"Understood sir." Lincoln replied before Captain Long hung up.

They knew it was a losing battle, as the warheads entered the atmosphere and detonations would now have a direct impact on the ground below. He watched as they continued taking them out at a steady pace, between the Lasers and Patriot Missiles they intercepted 43 of 50 warheads. The entirety of Indianapolis was taken out by 5 brilliant flashes as the Nuclear Warheads detonated. The other 2 detonated over farmland in the direction opposite of the caves.

The radiation meters spiked drastically and Lincoln looked at the map. Out of the 6,000 warheads launched, they had taken out 5,750 of them. Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Indianapolis, Boston, and numerous bases had been struck by massive Nuclear blasts. Each weapon had been atleast 5 Megaton, and most had been 20 plus Megaton each.

Waves of radiation being carried on the wind was affecting large swaths of the Continental United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Russia. The retaliatory strikes launched by the allies bad obliterated North Korea and Iran, their entire territories covered in ground strikes to make the entire nations Nuclear Wastelands.

Russia had been in the same position as America had, as well as China. The sheer number of weapons launched meant that their defensive systems had been overwhelmed. Unlike the preemptive strike that had been meant to leave as little radiation as possible, the American weapons had been meant to leave large swaths of territory uninhabitable for years.

The United States had launched a total of 7,000 warheads, most of them at China and Russia. Moscow had been leveled by 20 warheads that had blasted through, the 50 Megaton each blast had launched radioactive debris for nearly 500 miles on the prevailing winds. Each Major City in Russia and China had been targeted, the objective to leave them so destroyed that they would never dream of waging war immediately after this attack.

Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong had all been similarly destroyed, and the death till from this day alone would be responsible for nearly a third of all human life. No continent had been left untouched by the first day alone, and the leadership of 8 Nations would never be heard from again.

The radioactive wave would take weeks to settle across the globe, and Lincoln knew no matter where you lived it would impact you. Russia and China had lost 1.3 Billion people on this day alone, and America added another 100 million. Worldwide 3.5 Billion people were killed, and unknown to everyone yet, another 2 Billion would eventually perish from the blasts.

They waited for nearly an hour after the bombs stopped falling, and Bases all over the country reported in. The US Armed Forces had been reduced by half, and all of the civilian leadership was either confirmed dead, or suspected lost.

"Captain Long, assemble everyone in the mess cavern. I will be addressing them all shortly." Lincoln said as he continued reviewing the maps.

Half an hour later Lincoln walked to an improvised stage to address the people that were in the bunker with him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Civilians and Military alike, today will be the first of many days that lead to challenge us. Just over 90 minutes ago several hundred Nuclear Warheads detonated across the United States, and in retaliation, several thousand detonated across the globe. For atleast the next two weeks we will be alone, sealed inside of this bunker together. We must work together if we are to endure, and it does not matter if you are civilian or military anymore.

"Just before communication was lost with the Presidential Bunker, orders declaring a state of war with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and India exists. We have been in contact with other bases that have also gone on lockdown, and for two weeks it will require we monitor the radiation levels outside. In that time we will keep you informed as best as we can, and we will assess each of our skills.

"No matter what happens, know we will strive to inform you of what we can. If we work together, we will persevere through this challenging time. We will ensure each of us survives, and that as many others as we can support will be welcome to join us. Officers, you will be the primary contacts for those under your commands, and we will be having a Command Staff meeting in 2 hours. Civilians and soldiers alike, we need to know any skills you have, inside your MOS or out. If we do not work together we will fall, and we cannot allow that to happen. Wish us all luck, and pray for those less fortunate than us." Lincoln said before stepping down.