Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Rise and Fall of an Empire
Exploring the ruins of London, the defense of Taiwan and a new space station...
0OOC
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The ashes from the Furnace
The outskirts of London, the United Kingdom
0627 GMT, 1 December 2001
The first post-detonation excursions into the ruins of London occurred from within eight M93A1 Fox NBCRS (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Reconnaissance System) vehicles on loan from the US Army. Even when the vehicles were more then fifteen miles from ground zero, Geiger counters were picking up over 130 rads of radiation, a lethal dose. Looking out at the destruction by means of periscopes, the eight scouting crews could see the total devastation of what were once suburbs filled with people. Now the only things left were burning shells of houses, businesses, and schools. Even in this radioactive desert, people had survived, and as they saw the nearest M93, they stormed it attempting to get in for a temporary respite from the awful heat. The outside temperature gauges showed the outside air to be 162 degrees Fahrenheit (72.22°C). The very air clogged in the nose and lungs with a poisonous ash, and all around there were the charred vestiges of bodies.
As the vehicles got closer to ground zero, the number of survivors dropped stridently. The eight six-wheeled armored vehicles made their way through the city streets, and as they did, they saw whole buildings still standing, but just as dead as the surroundings. As the passed, the spot where London General Hospital once stood the recon crews saw through their periscopes the remains of doctors, nurses and patients who had tried in vain to escape. The bricks that had once made the buildings around them had shattered from the high temperatures directly after detonation, almost 6000 °F (3315.5 °C), no doubt spraying the interiors with molten brick fragments. When they reached the spot where, according to the wizards they had their hospital, they discovered it not only standing but also practically unharmed. As they passed, they could see people in the windows waving frenetically, but moreover they saw the bodies of the minority who determined to hightail it out the major doorway. They would be sure to tell their commanding officers to send in modified LAV-A (Light Armored Vehicle, Ambulance) vehicles and evacuate the hospital.
When they reached the spot, where the pub called the Leaky Cauldron should have been, they saw a huge five-mile long, five-mile wide depression with a gigantic bump at the far end. According to the rough schematics they had been given, that bump was purportedly their bank. Two of the M93s went to check for any survivors, but all they found was blood, radioactive debris and burnt skeletons. The spot where the Ministry of Magic was expected to be at, looked like hardened lava flows and it was perfectly and completely evident that there would be no survivors to be found here. Buckingham Palace was not much better, and the Parliament building was simply vanished, wiped from the face of the earth. The area in the region of the Thames been hammered and was now unrecognizable. By now, the Geiger counters were recording almost 950 rads, well over ninety times the lethal dose, and the ambient air temperature was almost 400°F (ca. 204.44°C). The substance the armored vehicles were moving on was no longer asphalt, but a six-inch think layer of nuclear made glass. The city of London beyond all doubt had been shattered both in body and in spirit.
Near Taipei, Taiwan, the island of Formosa
0715 GMT (3:15 PM), 1 December 2001
As the first Chinese amphibious assault, vehicles were making their landings on the far side of the island, an AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) picked up J-11 Flanker fighter-bombers coming in from the mainland. The hazel-eyed Brigadier General ordered his flight to activate their ECM consoles and to go nose-hot. The ten B-2 bombers hiding in the high cloud banks started searching for their first targets, and while this was happening, Taiwanese F-16 fighters flew up from Xi Kolhung AB to defend the American bomber force. As the assault force drew ever closer to the mainland, the B-2s let loose the first salvo of AGM-54 Mavericks. While the TV guided missiles flew on swift wings to their targets, some of the J-11 fighters on CAP snuck past the F-16 defensive screen and got within firing range of the B-2s. Since the radar returns on the bombers were so weak, the fighters made a quick strafing run at them. Three of the bombers were hit but the Chinese pilots did not get a chance for a second run, for just then SM-3 missiles from the /USS Cowpens/, a Ticonderoga class cruiser based out of Yokosura, Japan, slammed into the fuselages of the five fighters.
On the ground, the situation was not improving much for when the strafing run hit the bomber force most of the Mavericks were accidentally guided off-course and only one of them hit the assault ships. As the Chinese invaders landed, they met with stiff resistance, with 155mm artillery blasting away at the beaches. When the Type 85-II tanks got on the beach things became much more difficult, as the Taiwanese had no heavy armor of their own with which to defend themselves. Then coming from Xi Chiang AB on Taiwan came an AC-130 Spectre, an aircraft that had not seen combat since Vietnam. It circled around the beachfront, blasting away at the Chinese armor with its 120mm cannon. Unfortunately, a Stinger missile from one of the Chinese transports brought it down right on top of one of the bottleneck bunkers, thus opening a way off the beach to the Chinese forces. The Type 85s rumbled down the highway towards the port city of Tsoying, and it looked like only a miracle could stop them.
As the B-2 formation circled over the island, they began warming up the CHIMERA drones for the combat debut. The hazel-eyed general released his drone and took direct control of it, steering it hastily towards the main highway. As the CHIMERA flew over the armored column, the first set of bomb bay doors opened and out fell dozens of Anti-Tank mines. The effect was almost instantaneous, as the first three tanks in the column went up in flames as the hot shrapnel pierced the thinly armored underbelly of the battle tanks and ignited the ammunition. The highway had been effectively blocked from all travel by motor vehicle, but the infantry still moved quickly down the freeway. However, the CHIMERA was not finished yet, as it turned around and lined up for the second run. The second set of bomb bay doors opened and out came napalm canisters that exploded mid-flight, and rained hellfire on the advancing infantry. Finally, to stop the advance along the highway the drone activated its suicide protocol and blew a 30-foot long section of the road into instant gravel.
By this time, the Chinese attack force had secured the beaches and as the B-2 formation flew overhead, lucky shots from hastily established AA sites fatally wounded two of the bombers. Before bailing out, the crews of the two bombers programmed the computers to fly the mortally wounded bombers into Allied held ocean so as not give any intelligence away to the Chinese. As the crews bailed out, they got a birds-eye-view of the battlefield, and a perfect view of where they were going to land, directly among the burning Chinese main battle tanks. When they landed infantry quickly captured them, and they were told that soon they would beg to have their captors shoot them. As they were taken away one of the pilots activated an emergency GPS transponder that had been sewn into the fabric of his flight suit. The most he could hope for at this point was that he would be rescued before he died in the POW camp, which was surely his destination.
Mission Control, Houston Space Command Center, Houston, Texas, the United States
0947 GMT (3:47 AM CST), 1 December 2001
The mission to bring the new space station Micheal Collins on-line had been delayed several times, as the administration was very uneasy about breaking two international treaties, one that forbid space-borne weapons, and the ABM treaty of 1972. In order to completely avoid these political problems the station was to be disguised as the first true space-borne observatory. However, now the need for an effective anti-ballistic missile system that could defend an entire third of the earth had become clear with the recent nuclear attacks. The weapons and targeting modules for the Collins would have gone up in early to mid 2002 after extensive testing but that option was no longer viable. The /Collins/, when it was finally completed, would be a work of art; it would be able to defend hundreds of millions of cubic miles of airspace against ballistic missiles and even aircraft. Now pressed into service for the US Air Force and Space Command, it would orbit above the Asian continent and help defend America's in the war to follow. As the state-of-the-art targeting module was connected, the faces of the mission controllers showed a severe determination about how the focus of their missions had changed from civilian to military in application.
When the final bolts on the weapons module locked in, the small nuclear reactor onboard the station remotely activated and powered up all the systems for a final systems check. When the results came in they showed all systems were ready for action of any type. The long-term crew got back in the station and began the procedures to break the hard-lock with the shuttle. When the shuttle was safely away, they began inputting instructions for the maneuvering rockets to begin a series of polar orbits that would put them in a geosynchronous orbit over the South China Sea in four days. As the computers began firing the ion thrust rockets; the twelve-person crew deployed the huge radar system employed by the targeting module so that they could scan the globe as they glided over it. Almost instantly, they picked up dozens of military aircraft and all types of naval vessals around both American continents. Moreover, they knew that they were in this war for the long haul, and in the end whether for good or evil, they would do their duty.
The ashes from the Furnace
The outskirts of London, the United Kingdom
0627 GMT, 1 December 2001
The first post-detonation excursions into the ruins of London occurred from within eight M93A1 Fox NBCRS (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Reconnaissance System) vehicles on loan from the US Army. Even when the vehicles were more then fifteen miles from ground zero, Geiger counters were picking up over 130 rads of radiation, a lethal dose. Looking out at the destruction by means of periscopes, the eight scouting crews could see the total devastation of what were once suburbs filled with people. Now the only things left were burning shells of houses, businesses, and schools. Even in this radioactive desert, people had survived, and as they saw the nearest M93, they stormed it attempting to get in for a temporary respite from the awful heat. The outside temperature gauges showed the outside air to be 162 degrees Fahrenheit (72.22°C). The very air clogged in the nose and lungs with a poisonous ash, and all around there were the charred vestiges of bodies.
As the vehicles got closer to ground zero, the number of survivors dropped stridently. The eight six-wheeled armored vehicles made their way through the city streets, and as they did, they saw whole buildings still standing, but just as dead as the surroundings. As the passed, the spot where London General Hospital once stood the recon crews saw through their periscopes the remains of doctors, nurses and patients who had tried in vain to escape. The bricks that had once made the buildings around them had shattered from the high temperatures directly after detonation, almost 6000 °F (3315.5 °C), no doubt spraying the interiors with molten brick fragments. When they reached the spot where, according to the wizards they had their hospital, they discovered it not only standing but also practically unharmed. As they passed, they could see people in the windows waving frenetically, but moreover they saw the bodies of the minority who determined to hightail it out the major doorway. They would be sure to tell their commanding officers to send in modified LAV-A (Light Armored Vehicle, Ambulance) vehicles and evacuate the hospital.
When they reached the spot, where the pub called the Leaky Cauldron should have been, they saw a huge five-mile long, five-mile wide depression with a gigantic bump at the far end. According to the rough schematics they had been given, that bump was purportedly their bank. Two of the M93s went to check for any survivors, but all they found was blood, radioactive debris and burnt skeletons. The spot where the Ministry of Magic was expected to be at, looked like hardened lava flows and it was perfectly and completely evident that there would be no survivors to be found here. Buckingham Palace was not much better, and the Parliament building was simply vanished, wiped from the face of the earth. The area in the region of the Thames been hammered and was now unrecognizable. By now, the Geiger counters were recording almost 950 rads, well over ninety times the lethal dose, and the ambient air temperature was almost 400°F (ca. 204.44°C). The substance the armored vehicles were moving on was no longer asphalt, but a six-inch think layer of nuclear made glass. The city of London beyond all doubt had been shattered both in body and in spirit.
Near Taipei, Taiwan, the island of Formosa
0715 GMT (3:15 PM), 1 December 2001
As the first Chinese amphibious assault, vehicles were making their landings on the far side of the island, an AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) picked up J-11 Flanker fighter-bombers coming in from the mainland. The hazel-eyed Brigadier General ordered his flight to activate their ECM consoles and to go nose-hot. The ten B-2 bombers hiding in the high cloud banks started searching for their first targets, and while this was happening, Taiwanese F-16 fighters flew up from Xi Kolhung AB to defend the American bomber force. As the assault force drew ever closer to the mainland, the B-2s let loose the first salvo of AGM-54 Mavericks. While the TV guided missiles flew on swift wings to their targets, some of the J-11 fighters on CAP snuck past the F-16 defensive screen and got within firing range of the B-2s. Since the radar returns on the bombers were so weak, the fighters made a quick strafing run at them. Three of the bombers were hit but the Chinese pilots did not get a chance for a second run, for just then SM-3 missiles from the /USS Cowpens/, a Ticonderoga class cruiser based out of Yokosura, Japan, slammed into the fuselages of the five fighters.
On the ground, the situation was not improving much for when the strafing run hit the bomber force most of the Mavericks were accidentally guided off-course and only one of them hit the assault ships. As the Chinese invaders landed, they met with stiff resistance, with 155mm artillery blasting away at the beaches. When the Type 85-II tanks got on the beach things became much more difficult, as the Taiwanese had no heavy armor of their own with which to defend themselves. Then coming from Xi Chiang AB on Taiwan came an AC-130 Spectre, an aircraft that had not seen combat since Vietnam. It circled around the beachfront, blasting away at the Chinese armor with its 120mm cannon. Unfortunately, a Stinger missile from one of the Chinese transports brought it down right on top of one of the bottleneck bunkers, thus opening a way off the beach to the Chinese forces. The Type 85s rumbled down the highway towards the port city of Tsoying, and it looked like only a miracle could stop them.
As the B-2 formation circled over the island, they began warming up the CHIMERA drones for the combat debut. The hazel-eyed general released his drone and took direct control of it, steering it hastily towards the main highway. As the CHIMERA flew over the armored column, the first set of bomb bay doors opened and out fell dozens of Anti-Tank mines. The effect was almost instantaneous, as the first three tanks in the column went up in flames as the hot shrapnel pierced the thinly armored underbelly of the battle tanks and ignited the ammunition. The highway had been effectively blocked from all travel by motor vehicle, but the infantry still moved quickly down the freeway. However, the CHIMERA was not finished yet, as it turned around and lined up for the second run. The second set of bomb bay doors opened and out came napalm canisters that exploded mid-flight, and rained hellfire on the advancing infantry. Finally, to stop the advance along the highway the drone activated its suicide protocol and blew a 30-foot long section of the road into instant gravel.
By this time, the Chinese attack force had secured the beaches and as the B-2 formation flew overhead, lucky shots from hastily established AA sites fatally wounded two of the bombers. Before bailing out, the crews of the two bombers programmed the computers to fly the mortally wounded bombers into Allied held ocean so as not give any intelligence away to the Chinese. As the crews bailed out, they got a birds-eye-view of the battlefield, and a perfect view of where they were going to land, directly among the burning Chinese main battle tanks. When they landed infantry quickly captured them, and they were told that soon they would beg to have their captors shoot them. As they were taken away one of the pilots activated an emergency GPS transponder that had been sewn into the fabric of his flight suit. The most he could hope for at this point was that he would be rescued before he died in the POW camp, which was surely his destination.
Mission Control, Houston Space Command Center, Houston, Texas, the United States
0947 GMT (3:47 AM CST), 1 December 2001
The mission to bring the new space station Micheal Collins on-line had been delayed several times, as the administration was very uneasy about breaking two international treaties, one that forbid space-borne weapons, and the ABM treaty of 1972. In order to completely avoid these political problems the station was to be disguised as the first true space-borne observatory. However, now the need for an effective anti-ballistic missile system that could defend an entire third of the earth had become clear with the recent nuclear attacks. The weapons and targeting modules for the Collins would have gone up in early to mid 2002 after extensive testing but that option was no longer viable. The /Collins/, when it was finally completed, would be a work of art; it would be able to defend hundreds of millions of cubic miles of airspace against ballistic missiles and even aircraft. Now pressed into service for the US Air Force and Space Command, it would orbit above the Asian continent and help defend America's in the war to follow. As the state-of-the-art targeting module was connected, the faces of the mission controllers showed a severe determination about how the focus of their missions had changed from civilian to military in application.
When the final bolts on the weapons module locked in, the small nuclear reactor onboard the station remotely activated and powered up all the systems for a final systems check. When the results came in they showed all systems were ready for action of any type. The long-term crew got back in the station and began the procedures to break the hard-lock with the shuttle. When the shuttle was safely away, they began inputting instructions for the maneuvering rockets to begin a series of polar orbits that would put them in a geosynchronous orbit over the South China Sea in four days. As the computers began firing the ion thrust rockets; the twelve-person crew deployed the huge radar system employed by the targeting module so that they could scan the globe as they glided over it. Almost instantly, they picked up dozens of military aircraft and all types of naval vessals around both American continents. Moreover, they knew that they were in this war for the long haul, and in the end whether for good or evil, they would do their duty.
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