Chapter 287
February 24th, 2021, 12:55 (U.S.T. 23rd 19:55)
The San Diego navy base in California, U.S.A.
The 4th and 6th fleets were standing by 8km away from the San Diego Port. The U.S. Navy’s central command’s 5th fleet and the other fleets all started to mobilize. 5 carrier strike groups in total launched their anti-air (ship-to-air) SM-7s (RIM-77 ESGM (Evolved Sea-Gull Missile)) into the air.
Each missile was worth 15 million dollars. The carrier strike groups’ destroyers all launched the expensive missiles without any hesitation. The 15th carrier strike group’s Douglas MacArthur (DDG-1006) and Thomas S. Gates (DDG-1007) Zumwalt class destroyers launched two rounds of the refurbished SM-7B missiles to attempt striking down the SD-SLBN Gungnir-II missiles.
Over 20 rounds of SM-7 ship-to-air missiles rose. They started to head towards the SD-SLBN Gungnir-II missiles that were cruising 10m above the ocean surface. Once the SM-7 missiles reached their maximum altitude, they started to crash towards the SD-SLBN Gungnir-II missiles.
The SM-7 missiles were equipped with a proximity fuse. Once they started closing in on their targets, they exploded and sent shrapnel flying everywhere.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The 20 missiles all exploded continuously in tandem and created a tight-knit net of shrapnel that wouldn’t allow even an ant to pass through. Unfortunately, the net was formed after the SD-SLBN Gungnir-II missiles had flown past.
The SM-7 missile’s interception performance was poor compared to expectations during the naval battle on February 5th. They only succeeded in intercepting 1 out of 7 rounds of the Avarice (SSM-1000K) hypersonic cruise missiles that boasted a speed of Mach 8. The missiles that the SM-7 was attempting to intercept were flying three times faster. Obviously, the interception rate was at 0%. The refurbished SM-7B was no exception and they failed as well.
The SD-SLBN Gungnir-II missiles exploded at the U.S. Navy’s location that had lost their only chance to intercept them. The tremendous explosive power crashed down on the ocean surface and the explosion turned into a pillar of water. Soon the pillar created a tsunami that was 20m high. The shockwave and heat swept through the U.S. Navy’s fleets.
A high-temperature firestorm sucked up the oxygen at the sea and started to spread. The first shockwave reached San Diego Port and broke every building’s windows. A third-degree firestorm reached the city within a minute.
The greatest damage was done to the U.S. Navy’s vessels docked 8km away from San Diego Port. The amphibious ships and transporting ships loading numerous equipment for the landing operation against Corea had all been exposed to the firestorm. The army and marines boarding the ships were severely injured as well.
The 20m high tsunami easily bypassed the San Diego Port’s breakwater and started to sweep through the entire city. The low-rise buildings all collapsed like candles in the wind. The citizens, who were caught off guard, were all swept away as well. The amphibious and transporting ships that weighed over 10,000 tons all crashed into the high-rise buildings. The force of the tsunami and the heavy ships crashing into the buildings caused them to collapse.
* * *
February 24th, 2021, 13:10 (U.S.T 00:10)
The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.
America’s MD system was painstakingly developed with an unbelievable sum of money. It was designed to defend against any sort of ballistic missile attacks and had been tested numerous times. It was considered to be close to perfect.
However, America’s near-perfect missile defense system was rendered useless to a few cruise missiles flying at Mach 20, 100m above the ocean surface. To be precise, they had detected the missiles but had no means to intercept them. No interception method could take down missiles flying at such low altitudes with a speed of Mach 20.
The air force and army bases in the western region of America were destroyed by the SD-SLBN Gungnir-II missile’s powerful explosions. The Edwards base which was the air force’s testing center, the Vandenburg air force base which was the space force’s command, and the Los Angeles air force base that had the space missile forces in California had all been wiped off the map.
The 20th fighter wing’s F.E. Warren base, the Minot base, and the Malmstrom base that had launched the ICBMs against Corea were covered by mushroom clouds of nuclear explosions also. The sky darkened, and a 10 Richter scale earthquake started to engulf the buildings on the surface. From the cracks of the earth, lava started to burst forth. It started to shoot up to the sky and light up the night.
The Pentagon’s command center was watching the progress of their missile launches. They thought launching their ICBMs in this great number would be the turning point for the war against Corea. As the military commanders and the Pentagon staff were watching the situation in a lax mood, the report of the enemy missile strikes came in. The entire room was in shock after hearing about what happened to the military bases on the west coast.
Damage reports continued to come in from the western region’s air force bases through the operable communication lines. In short, every air force base in the west had been struck by Corea’s submarine-to-surface missiles that rivaled the power of nuclear bombs. All of them were wiped out with a single strike.
Secretary of Defense John Wayne could not believe the reports pouring in. Each one was unbelievable and to him, it sounded as if the operators were making wild claims. No matter how much he wanted to be in denial, the footage of the Nellis base from the satellite above the U.S. mainland proved him wrong. The screen showed the entire base glowing in flames in the middle of the desert and there was nothing left in the area except for dirt and fire.
Secretary John Wayne tried to regain his composure and stood up, but his legs gave out. He ended up collapsing onto the floor. The aides-de-camp came to his side and attempted to help the secretary back to his feet.
Secretary John Wayne stroked his head with his hand and spoke feebly, “Are you- are you telling me that’s what remains of the Nellis base?”
“Yes, sir. This is what our satellites have sent in.”
“What?! Where is Nellis base in these footages then? It’s nowhere to be seen!”
As Secretary John Wayne spoke to the military commanders, no one could give him a clear answer and everyone was silent.
Another communications operator then gave the worst report of all to Secretary John Wayne, “The 4th and 6th fleets and the 15th carrier strike group under the 5th fleet near San Diego Port have sustained heavy damages, sir.”
The communications operator’s voice was full of despair while giving his report.
“How much exactly? Did the fleets sustain damages?” When reports about the naval forces at the west coast under attack came in for the first time, Commander John Richards, the chief of naval operations, pried the communications operator for more information.
“The- the thing is we don’t have the exact details, sir. The reports say a nuclear blast occurred near the pacific fleet’s location. It created a tsunami that engulfed San Diego.”
“More! Get us more details about our forces!”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
The pacific fleet being annihilated at San Diego caused the U.S. Navy’s forces to be reduced to 30% of their original power. Commander John Richards could not help but be anxious.
The communications operator who was in charge of receiving reports from the army’s space and missile defense command received a report from the forces in charge of the mainland’s missile defense system. He read out the report he got loudly so it carried throughout the entire room.
“They have detected an ICBM headed to the Pentagon, sir. There’s no guarantee that the interception attempt by our forces will be a success, so they are advising us to evacuate.”
The eyes of all military personnel in the room fell on the operator.
Then, the secretary of defense started shouting at the operator angrily, “What the hell does that mean? We spent an astronomical amount of money on our missile defense systems, and that’s what they have to say for themselves? Tell them to commence the interception, now!”
When Secretary John Wayne yelled at the communications operator, he panicked and did not respond.
Commander Andre Drummond, the army’s chief of staff, answered the secretary instead, “It seems that the western region’s MD systems have been taken out by the Corean submarine’s missile attacks. Therefore, our interception rate has been decreased, so they cannot guarantee a successful attempt, sir.”
“Goddamn it!”
Chairman Demarcus Dunford of the joint chief of staff came up to Secretary John Wayne and spoke to him quietly, “Sir! You must move to the Raven Rock Mountain Complex immediately.”
“Yes, yes. But the president...”
“I’m sure they reported it first to the White House and the president must have evacuated to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center.”
“All right, let’s go.”
* * *
February 24th, 2021, 13:00
Seoul, Kangnam-ku, the NIS cybersecurity department. The manager’s office.
After finding out about the Scorpion organization, Namgoong-won started to investigate everything about the organization with the help of Hocula. He was finally able to hack into the organization’s internal communication line.
The communication database had all the messages and call histories of every Scorpion agent under triple-layered security. Namgoong-won downloaded the information and started to unzip and view the compressed files. Without the help of Hocula, it would have taken him a month, but thanks to the A.I’s help, he was able to finish within a day.
Namgoong-won was only interested in the communication data of December 2015. His priority was to figure out the identity of the Scorpion agent who killed his family and friends.
Within the morning, he was able to decrypt the files from 2015. Namgoong-won started to type away at the keyboard to extract the contents from December.
After 30 minutes had passed, the pandora’s box that Namgoong-won wanted to see finally opened.
The first person on the file was an agent with the code name SD887. This was the man who killed Namgoong-won’s family. When he found out the code name of the agent, he started to look through the list of names who used the code name.
-Code name: SD887
-Name: Takada, Makoto
-Age: 40
-Nationality: Japanese American
-Experience: 12 years in the Japanese army’s SAT, 3 years in the prime minister’s bodyguard office
-Current residence: Unknown
-Major accomplishments: Afghanistan’s government agent Rutero and 22 other assassinations
Namgoong-won started to sob when he read the line about 22 other assassinations. He knew his family’s names were included in those 22 assassinations. Then, he saw information about a man using the code name FH225.
-Code name: FH225
-Name: Sergei Harinotov
-Age: 42
-Nationality: Russian American
-Experience: 10 years in Spetsnaz
-Current residence: Unknown
-Major accomplishments: S-class secret. Deleted.
Code name SD887 was the agent who killed Namgoong-won’s friend Kang Jung-ho after mistaking him as Namgoong-won. The issue was both of these men’s residence was unknown. Namgoong-won tried to find the latest communication data.
Namgoong-won hoped to find out their last known locations in the most recent communication.
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