The Chaos Mandate

Chapter One: Ground Zero

The launch somehow went unnoticed and the missiles were already airborne for several crucial minutes before being detected. They were now hurtling toward their targets with unwavering and deadly accuracy.

The salvo was projected to strike areas along the west coast, with at least three of the single-warhead, multimegaton weapons bearing directly down on Los Angeles.

The anti-missile batteries failed to intercept any of their incoming objectives, and several fighter aircraft wings scrambled in a desperate, last-ditch effort, to use electronic countermeasures against the missiles — to no avail.

The fear was palpable and its stench hung in the air, almost threatening to suffocate all those present in the room.

The men and women at the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado, who were charged with the defense of America, now sat horrified as they watched the traces moving across the computer screens on their paths toward destruction and there was nothing anyone could do. Something had gone terribly wrong this day.

“First missiles expected to reach their targets within five minutes,” a voice said, breaking through the chatter in the room. “Evac is already underway.”

Within seconds after the launches were detected, alerts went out, but it was already too late. Despite the best-laid evacuation plans, pandemonium and chaos were the rulers of the day.

Some people sheltered in place, while others tried to flee. Terrified onlookers panicked, seeing the contrails from missile defense systems being launched. There was confusion and disbelief, as bewildered citizens tried to grasp what was happening.

Meanwhile, a gridlock of vehicles formed on the roads and highways. People began abandoning their cars and setting out on foot, as air raid sirens started blaring, while some simply decided to accept their fate. Whatever decision they made, it quickly became clear there was no escape from the devastation that was now only moments away.

“Thirty seconds to impact,” said an unusually calm voice as the missiles made their final approach.

“Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Impact! God help us!” the voice said, cracking slightly.

And then… silence.

People craned their necks toward the sky, trying to get what was sure to be their first and last look at the destroyers, but all they saw was wispy clouds, a blue sky, and the occasional bird fly by.

Some still remained braced for whatever they thought was coming next, while others squinted, taxing their vision to its limits, trying to detect a faint trace of certain death, but there was nothing.

“Sir!” shouted an excited technician. “No impacts! No detonations! Repeat. No impacts! No detonations!”

“What are you talking about?” demanded Lieutenant Colonel David Thiessen, the officer of the watch.

“Eye in the sky detected no explosions, sir. USGS also reports no anomalous seismic events.”

“Impossible!” Thiessen barked. “There were more than ten bogeys in the air, and now you’re telling me no impacts and no explosions?”

“Affirmative sir. I don’t know how, but it’s all clear,” the technician said.

“We need to find out what happened ASAP. Get to it sergeant — on the double,” ordered Thiessen.

Thiessen turned and went into his office with a furrowed brow and a look of stark incredulity and concern on his face. He needed answers and he needed them soon because he knew it was only a matter of time before… too late. His half-formed thought gave way to reality as the general walked in through the open office door.

“Colonel. We need to talk,” said the general. Thiessen’s heart sank because he knew what was coming next.

“Billions of dollars worth of gadgets, designed solely for warning and protecting our population, and all we’ve managed to do is panic an entire state. How is that?” asked General Ronald James Lorenzo, commander of N.O.R.A.D.

“Anybody care to explain to me what the hell just happened here?” Lorenzo asked, walking back into the control room with Thiessen following.

“Anyone!?”

There was dead silence in the room, as most of the personnel continued staring straight ahead at their computer displays. The few who dared look in the direction the voice was coming from all had ashen, deer-in-the-headlights expressions on their faces.

General Lorenzo was not happy, as he scanned the assembled group looking for the one head he was about to chop off. Then he turned and fixed his gaze on Thiessen.

“Colonel Thiessen?”

“Sir!?” responded the colonel.

“I’m waiting for two things,” said Lorenzo. “An explanation, and your resignation, in that order,” he snapped.

“General, we followed protocol to the letter. There were confirmed missiles in the air sir.” stammered Thiessen.

“Submarine-launched?” Lorenzo asked.

“I would agree with your assessment sir, but…”

“But what man?” Lorenzo asked impatiently.

“They appeared to come from off the west coast.”

“Appeared, colonel?” asked the general, keying in on Thiessen’s choice of words.

“We got no detects until the bogeys were already in the air. None of the usual stuff we should have seen, but based on their speed and trajectories, we determined the launches were from well inside our submarine detection limits.”

“That would mean a sub made it all the way to our front porch, undetected, and launched on us,” Lorenzo interjected. “But what happened to the missiles?”

“General, we had confirmation from multiple satellites. Backup systems confirmed it too. We even ran diagnostic checks to make sure there were no malfunctions or glitches. They were there sir.”

“Then where the hell did the missiles go, colonel? It is a damn good thing that this wasn’t the real thing though, but I’m still going to have to explain to the president and the California governor how this shitshow went down.” Lorenzo said.

“Do you think it was hackers, trying to rattle our chain colonel?”

“Not a chance sir,” Thiessen responded.

“So you’re telling me that a dozen missiles simply appeared and then vanished without a trace? asked the general.

“I don’t know what happened sir, but I do know we did this by the book,” Thiessen said confidently. “We barely had time to sound the alert and attempt an intercept. We did all we could general,” Thiessen implored.

“We were damned lucky today colonel. Otherwise, we would have lost a lot of people and a huge chunk of real estate.”

“Sir, we will get to the bottom of this,” said Thiessen

“We’ll see. Get to it. Dismissed!”

There was a collective sigh of relief as people finally began realizing that it was apparently a false alarm. Soon the sighs of relief began to give way to grumblings and complaints about how all of this had ruined the day.

Others were just happy to still be among the living, and soon the annoyance started to fade as people made moves to salvage what was left of the day.

And then, it happened…

Amid a gridlock of traffic; among the fender benders and a snarl of humanity — in the middle of Los Angeles — a nondescript tractor-trailer rig erupted with a blinding flash of light.

In seconds, everything within several city blocks of the rig vaporized, as the unmistakable shape of a mushroom cloud rose over the area.

L.A. might be called the “City of Angels” but today it was consumed by fire from the depths of Hell itself — and the Devil had just made his presence known.