A Falling Power

[johncmcleod]

Well, it’s been a real long time. I have not been to the stories forum since the beginning of the school year. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t stand to be there anymore. I was writing Times of War and Diplomacy or whatever it was called but I couldn’t make progress in the story and I never even came close to finishing it. That really frustrated me I guess and it made me just not want to go back to the forum. I’ve decided it’s time to go back because I got an idea for story. Forgive me if a story just like this has been written, for I haven’t read any civ stories written in the last 8 months or so, so at least in my mind this story is original. (: This story was inspired by a game one of my friends played in Play the World. He told me about it, and I wrote a story about it. Of course this doesn’t happen in a civ game, but in a way the story could be an explanation for what happened. I don’t have play the world, but I should be able to write about it.

One more thing. I read somewhere that Turkey is like other eastern countries and the surname comes before the first name, so when I say General Ergun (not a real character) I am correctly referring to General Ergun Korkmaz. And, after you have read this story give me feedback! I don't think this is my best story yet, but I want to know what the critics have to say. And, if you’re reading this just as this thread has been posted remember to refresh it because this story will be a couple of posts.

A Falling Power
By John McLeod

SORU BRIEFING ROOM, NORTHERN ENGLAND
MAY 28
1830 HOURS

Desmond Watson walked towards the briefing room. Other operatives were filing in to the room. One could easily tell there was much tension in the air. SORU (Special Operations and Reconnaissance Unit) was rarely called to do missions, but when there was a mission it was a very important operation and always had a very high risk. Desmond walked into the mostly filled up room. He was one of the last to get in.

“Let’s get moving people!” Charles Foster, the commander of SORU barked to the stragglers. The last of the operatives sat down and the room went quiet. He began the briefing. “Tonight is the type of mission that you all have been training for since you joined this unit. It will be the most important operation in the history of this great country. Our future depends on this mission.”

“Our problem: The Ottoman Empire. As you all know, they hold 51% of the world’s land, and the land they own is some of the most rich and full of resources on earth. Their military is bigger as all of the other nations on earth combined. And they own about 54% percent of the earth’s nuclear stockpile. Today they have begun an invasion of Corlovado. They already have taken some of its border cities and are headed for its biggest city, Narlado. Spanish forces have been overwhelmed, and the colony will not last long. The fields of Corlovado contain much oil, and it is a great blow to the countries of the free world. What was once theory is now becoming fact. The Ottomans do not trade with anyone, they are communists. The more land and resources they take, the stronger they become and the weaker the rest of the world and the free market is, so it makes them more powerful. It is like the domino effect. This has gone on for a long time and it is how they have gotten so powerful. They can now destroy who they want to. We all watched on television as Carthage was swallowed up in only months. And now, we have reason to suspect that they are planning on invading the Iroquois after they are finished with Corlovado. Something must be done to stop this.”

“We believe we may have a solution. We have talked with the other nations of the world and they agree that our plan is a good one. It is to send you in on a mission. Your mission is to capture General Alpay Recber alive.” Nervous talking filled the room. “Silence. This mission is not as hard as you think, and when you succeed we will have the most powerful empire in earth’s history on their knees. They are a totalitarian state, without their leader they will be nothing and there will be much confusion. They will beg to get him back. We will hold him ransom. We will force the Turks to fire off their ICBMs harmlessly into space. If they refuse, we will kill Recber. That should persuade them.”

“We captured a Turkish transport helicopter. It is due to leave to carry supplies to the eastern border. It is supposed to take off near the border and it will fly over Istanbul on its way. You will be loaded onto the helicopter. Ground control will see it on RADAR and ask for clearance codes etc., for it is obviously the government’s, there is no private ownership. Our spies have gotten the clearance codes. And by the time ground control sees that we are hovering over Istanbul, we will already have the general.”

“When we fly over Istanbul we will land on the roof of the Presidential Palace. The reason this is possible is because we have the element of surprise. They’d never expect this to happen. Things might get tricky for the Palace Guards are very well trained. Once we land you will unload immediately onto the roof and neutralize all guards you encounter. You will break down the door of the building’s roof exit, or in this case entrance, and run down the stairs. There will be border guards patrolling the halls, but we do not think they will suspect anything. Transport helicopters frequently fly over the skies of Istanbul and the guards will think it is just another normal one. You will engage them immediately. Alpay’s room is just to the right of the where the stairs lead to. You will get into his bedroom, seize him, lead him back up the stairs and onto the roof, and take him into the helicopter. If this happens very quickly this mission could be a cakewalk. Red Team will stand on guard on the roof. Green Team will lead the assault into the building and capture Recber.” Desmond gulped. He was the leader of Green Team. “Blue and Gold Team will be right behind Green and will cover for them. Any questions?”

No one said anything. “Ok, let’s go!” The detachment of SORU arose from their seats and headed out the doors to the armory. The personnel handed the men their weapons. They were given Yorkshire D3D5 Assault Rifles. They took magazines and loaded them into the weapons. The whole process got their adrenaline going. They were ready to change the world. All 24 of them headed out towards the transport helicopter. Two by two they stepped in and filled it, and then closed the door. The helicopter took off, and they stared out the small windows of it. They looked at their home land, realizing it would be a while before they’d be on the ground safely if that ever even happened.

Desmond felt very uneasy. He doubted the mission. “What if the guards get Alpay out of his room and get him away before we can get him?” he thought to himself. “We would be caught in a firefight with some of the most well trained men in the world. We’d all perish.” He pushed the thoughts out of his mind. The officers would not send them on a mission like this if there wasn’t a good chance of success, he assured himself. He looked out the windows to get his thoughts off the op. The hours went by, and Desmond stared out at the country below him.

All of the land of the Ottoman Empire had the same dreary aura to it. The people of former countries were oppressed to say the least. They had many unanswered prayers, hopes, and dreams, trying to escape from a prison with invisible walls. They were waiting for the day to come when they would be liberated, for the day when they would have freedom. They always seemed to get their hopes up, and then they’d hear of another victory for the empire, and they’d sink into utter despair. Desmond realized that freedom in the world was on a decline, and the places where people were free were becoming less numbered. Desmond planned on moving either Rome or Germany soon, for because of the location of those countries they’d probably be the last to be conquered by the Ottoman Empire. He believed, along with many other people, that during his lifetime those two nations would be the last free nations.

Once they flew over the originally Turkish areas, despair turned into zeal. The people were ‘good’ communists. They turned in anyone expected of treason, talked and acted as if they were propaganda, and worked very hard to help the nation achieve the goal of world domination. It was the ideal totalitarian state.

Desmond began to feel much more nervous as they came closer to Istanbul. The talking among the operatives had ceased. They were seeing the elephant. The pilot then started naming off intervals of their estimated time of arrival. It started at a half an hour and they got closer and closer to Istanbul. “ETA thirty seconds,” the pilot said. Desmond’s heart started to pound. A few seconds later he looked out the window and saw the palace. It was white with a simple rectangular yet appealing design. It had a golden dome, and was the building was an example of traditional Eastern architecture. The helicopter got closer and closer to the building. The roof had a short parapet that looked like a white banister. It had columns side by side. He could make out a few figures on the roof. They were guards. The helicopter changed direction, now heading straight for the palace. Their altitude was hardly above the palace’s, and they only dropped a little. The helicopter turned, and the doors slid open. “Move! Move! Move!” The commander of the operation yelled.

The operatives jumped out of the helicopter. Red Team jumped out first. The guards had stopped their patrol and were facing the helicopter. Most of the guards patrolled the perimeter of the palace, not expecting an airborne attack, and there were only 4 on the roof. They did not know what was happening. And then Red Team opened fire on them. They all were hit without having time to fire back. Desmond’s team jumped out next. He lead the way, and motioned for them to follow right behind them. Time was of the essence.

He sprinted towards to door leading to the inside. He didn’t stop running when he got to it and just kicked it. The kick, fueled by adrenaline, was very powerful and knocked over the door. He sprinted down the stairs, his fellow operatives right behind. He immediately fired at a nearby guard patrolling the hallway. The bullets tore right through the guard’s brown uniform. The guard fell to his knees, and then to the ground. The operatives behind him shot at the guards across the balcony looking over the main floor. There were two of them, and they both were hit and fell almost instantly. Desmond then opened fire at a guard guarding Recber’s bedroom. The guard almost had time to fire back, but he was hit in the stomach several times and then in the neck. He slumped over and fell to the ground. His team sprinted towards Recber’s bedroom. Another guard from across the balcony peaked out from behind the corner of a wall and fired at them, but he missed and stepped back for cover.

“THEY’RE GOING FOR THE GENERAL!! THEY’RE GOING AFTER THE GENERAL!! RUN!! RUN!! QUICK!!” He screamed at the tops of his lungs in Turkish. There was more alarmed yelling from the guards and they sprinted towards the stairs from the main floor. The first few to get up were immediately taken out by the members of Blue and Gold teams. Every time a guard came into view he fell.

Desmond got to the bedroom. He pushed open the door and stormed into the room. He grabbed and threw General Alpay out of his bed. He was big and strong but almost fell over, being very groggy and not understanding what was happening. Desmond pushed him forward and the team ran out the room pushing Alpay along. They sprinted for the stairs. More alarmed, yelling guards were coming, running up the stairs yelling and firing on the SORU operatives. Then a large group of them ran up the stairs all at once. The operatives covering fired upon them. A few were hit, but the others fired back. The soldier operative behind Desmond was hit several times. He was dead. Desmond grabbed him and carried him. The English never leave their dead behind. Another one of the guards stepped out from behind his cover and fired at the operatives covering Green Team. He hit one of them in several places. The operative still hung on and shot back and killed the guard.

Desmond ran his team up the stairs under heavy fire. The covering teams fired a little bit more and then sprinted after Green Team. They ran out into the open night sky. They were sprinting despite a couple of them carrying dead or wounded. Desmond dragged the dead one towards the helicopter, running as fast as he could. He saw Red Team operatives in front of him firing back at packs of guards chasing after the general. Desmond pushed Alpay and his wounded fellow soldier into the helicopter and jumped in himself. More operatives began jumping into the helicopter. In a few seconds they were all in except for Red Team. One by one the members of that team jumped into the helicopter, the others firing at the guards. One was hit, but he was thrown into the helicopter. The last one finally jumped in. The helicopter elevated. The doors were kept open so the operatives could fire at the guards. Once the helicopter was in the air, the doors were closed. The guards stopped firing. One raised up his weapon, but another one put it down and explained to him it wasn’t a good idea to cause the helicopter that the General was in to crash.

The whole thing happened so fast. It may have been less than 25 seconds. Desmond thought about it, and he realized how lucky he was not to get shot. He had gotten very close to being killed, and the thought of it made him feel sick.

OTTOMAN CRISIS CENTER, ISTANBUL
MAY 29
0045 HOURS

The Tayfur Haydar, the Chief Advisor, was by law in command when General Alpay was absent or unable to perform his duties. He had just been woken up and told of what had happened merely minutes ago. He stormed into the Crisis Center. It was a very large room full of aides, advisors, military officers, and other officials working at phone lines, trying to bring order to the situation. It was full of chaos and frantic people. “Could somebody tell me how this could possibly happen?” Tayfur demanded.

One of his aides answered. “English special forces landed on the rooftop, took out the guards, stormed into the palace, took the General, and ran out.”

“I know what happened, you d**ned fool, I want to know why and how it happened.” The captain of the Palace Guards, Nihat Mustafa, walked by, and Tayfur furiously questioned him. “How could you be stupid enough to let this happen?! The General is the most important man in the world, and you have such little security for him that a few English captured him without much of a fight!”

“Sir, we never expected this to happen. The air traffic is very regulated, and it is almost impossible for an aircraft to somehow get by and get to the palace by air. So most of our guards patrol the yards and perimeter of the palace grounds. The guards on the top floor where outnumbered and overwhelmed. They got Alpay away just seconds before several large groups of guards got to them.”

“Never in the history of the Empire has anything so terrible happened!” Tayfur bellowed. Several people shamefully looked up, and then went back to their work.

“Calm down, comrade,” Alpay Kerimoglu haughtily replied. “Yelling won’t get us anywhere,” he corrected. He was the General’s only son, and very arrogant. Tayfur could not stand him. He would have taken Kerimoglu out with Turkish (formerly Korean) martial arts if he wasn’t the General’s relative.

“Sir, the Prime Minister of England is on the phone,” his aide told him. Tayfur went into the conference room, closed the door, and picked up the red phone. It was a fairly decent size room with a large round table in it. The wall between it and the crisis room was glass.

[johncmcleod]

“You will never get away with us,” he spat over the phone.

“All we are getting away with is a better shot at freedom,” John Thompson replied.

“If you do not do exactly what I say, England will be crushed!” Tayfur bellowed.

“I suggest you act rationally, for right now you are not in the position to be making demands.”

“Fools waste time with talking nonsense, proceed with something useful.” Tayfur replied, very annoyed.

“As you know, we have your leader. If you move a single possession of yours across the border, General Alpay will be shot immediately. We have some demands of you.”

“What must we do?” Tayfur grumbled.

“First, you shall do exactly what I tell you to. There will be no delay in you carrying out my orders, or Alpay will pay the price. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes.”

“Good. First, you shall fire off 15 of your ICBMs, and 10 of your tactical nukes harmlessly into space, obviously without them coming down again.”

“Nonsense! This is ridiculous! Do you believe we’ll make ourselves defenseless just because you said so?! We will not allow you to destroy us so you can have our land!”

“Very well. I will order my men to shoot Alpay,” Thompson replied cruelly.

“Fine! I will carry out with your request, but you must give me time. It takes access codes and paperwork to fire off nuclear weapons.”

“That is alright. I can wait.”

Tayfur went into the main room. “Ok people, John Thompson and I have been talking, and he is demanding that we fire off some of our nuclear weapons out into space. We need to start the process of firing nuclear weapons. Davala, get over here. And I need three witnesses.” Basturk Davala, the carrier of the briefcase of access codes, went over to Tayfur. Three aides came over to witness the event.

Tayfur opened the lock to the briefcase. He pulled it open. He had to fill out forms about his identification and intentions. The next step was a fingerprint authorization. He stuck his thumb on a computer screen inside the briefcase. “Access allowed,” A recorded voice announced. The voice spoke again. “Select the missiles to be fired,” it commanded.

He selected 15 ICBMs from various silos around the country, and then selected 10 tactical nukes from submarines in various parts of the ocean. He then selected the target for each of them, telling them just to fire out into space. The computer then gave him a firing code for the first missile, after that he could do everything automatically. He had to make video contact with the commander the silo and announce what he was doing, and then type in the code. After he had made video contact and he typed in the code, the red ‘FIRE’ button next to the screen glowed, showing that he was cleared to fire the missile.

He moved his finger towards the button. What he was doing was greatly destroying the Empire‘s power. They only had 100 ICBMs and 60 tactical nukes that could be fired from submarines or converted to a nuclear bomb dropped from planes. He closed his eyes and forced himself to press the button. A beeping noise went off, and the missile was fired. He then fired off the other 24 missiles. He went back to the conference room.

“I have done as you wish,” Tayfur announced.

“Good. We’re making much progress.” At that moment an aide rushed into the room.

“Sir! The 85th Bomber Squadron is headed for England! They’re armed with nuclear weapons, and they’re due to cross over the border in 35 minutes!” Tayfur remembered John Thompson’s words.

“If you move a single possession of yours across the border, General Alpay will be shot immediately,” he had said. Tayfur ran into the Crisis Center.

There was a large video screen on one side of the room showing the location of air and army units on a map. He saw a group of bombers heading towards England. “Get me radio contact with those bombers!” An air force officer typed some numbers into his computer.

“Sir, they’ve blocked out all radio contact. We can’t get to them,” he replied nervously. Tayfur stood there in deep thought. He stood there for a while, until a saddened look came to his face.

He spoke to the whole room. “We only have one option. We must shoot them down.” Everyone began murmuring nervously. Tayfur saw the General’s military advisor, Hakan Unsal, standing near him. “Hakan, what’s the most loyal fighter unit you know of that’s in the air and close to where those bombers are now, one that will listen to my orders,” he frantically asked.

“I’d say the 49th Fighter Squadron.” He pointed to a fighter group on the screen.

“Put them on the speaker phone.”

A man spoke over the speakers. “This is Bear 2 niner zero, ready for orders.”

“This is General Alpay’s Chief Advisor, Tayfur Hayday. A bomber squadron north of you has betrayed us and is headed for England. They will not listen to us, and if nothing is done a nuclear war will begin. You must put on the afterburners, intercept, and destroy the bombers. Their coordinates are 0307D2B Green. You must destroy them before they cross the border.”

“You can count on us sir,” the pilot replied nervously.

He was giving orders that no one would ever want to give. He had to destroy his own men, his comrades. It was like cutting your own arm. What made it worse was the fighting was useless. The bomber pilots didn’t need to die, but their poor decision was making Tayfur kill them. He was destroying some of the Empire’s power again.

Tayfur watched the video screen. The group of fighters turned and started to head for the bombers. They were going very fast, but the bombers were pretty close to the border. He paced back and forth, watching the screen and praying to Allah that the fighters shoot down the bombers.

The fighters had now gotten very close to the bombers, but all the planes were almost to the border. The video screen zoomed in on the planes as a missile was fired. The missile shot towards the bomber and hit it, and the bomber went down. This caused the entire room to cheer. They all watched as the fighters headed for the next bomber and shot that down also. The room cheered again. This happened for the next few bombers, with the same thing happening. Then, the second to the last one was shot down, and the room went silent.

It was all up to the fighters to get the last one. The bomber was very close to the border now. “Border ETA: 7 seconds.” A voice announced. The entire room stood up and started yelling and cheering for the fighters, sounding like a crowd in the stands of a football match when a player for the home team is on a breakaway in extra time. The first missile fired. It zoomed towards the bomber, getting closer and closer, and then when it was close it broke away. Everyone all swore at once.

“The bomber set off a chaff and the missile went for it,” someone grumbled.

“ETA: 5 seconds.” The voice announced again. Another missile shot out from the jet. It seemed to go in slow-motion, and then it finally hit the bomber. The entire room erupted in cheers and people began hugging one another. The fighters turned around so fast that they did not fly over the border.

An aide came up to Tayfur. “Sir, the Prime Minister of England is on the phone again,” she said, pointing towards the conference room. Tayfur went back into the conference room and picked up the red phone.

“So, when do we get Alpay back?” Tayfur asked.

Thompson chuckled. “You think we’ll let him back just after you lose a few missiles? Nonsense! We still have much work to do. But don’t worry, you’ll get Alpay back in good time, as long as you are smart and make the right decisions. Now for my next demand. You shall deliver us 1100 gold, and I don‘t care whether you use trucks, planes, or automobiles I just want it. And you shall also fire off 20 ICBMs and 12 tactical nukes harmlessly into space as you did last time.”

“1100 gold is more than half our treasury you fool!”

“I know.”

“I’ll settle for 900 gold, 16 ICBMs and 8 tactical nukes, and that is final!”

Thompson chuckled again. “There are some things that you Turks just don’t understand. Right now, we have your leader. We could torture him to death anytime we want to. You are not in the situation to bargain at all.”

“I won’t do it then!”

Thompson was getting annoyed. “Tayfur, maybe it is just because you’re tired, but you do not seem to have your head on straight. Go out to and tell the Turkish military that Alpay is dead because you didn’t want to pay us. You’ve seen their disloyalty already, even when Alpay is alive and you are by the law in control. Think of how they’ll react once Alpay is dead. You kill Alpay, and the entire Turkish military will be against you.”

“Fine! I’ll send over the gold and set off the missiles.”

Tayfur went out of the conference room and into the main room. He stood up in front of everyone. “Thompson has more demands. They are very harsh. We must send 1100 gold out on trucks into the English border for them to take. Then we shall fire off as we did before 20 ICBMs and 16 tactical nukes. Rustu! Send over transport trucks to the bank here in Istanbul. They’ll pick up as much gold as they can. Then they’ll go to Ankara, Izmir, Tokara, and Erzurum and that should get them enough gold. Once they’re in Erzurum have them go to the port and dump the gold onto ships, which will travel to Conventry and deliver the gold there. And I must fire off more nuclear weapons.”

Tayfur went through the same, tedious yet painful process and fired off the nukes. He couldn’t stand doing these things for Thompson. He was forced to greatly weaken himself, and he knew that in the end of this he would not come out a winner. The Ottoman Empire was a falling power.

He sat there, deep in thought, until he noticed that there was extra commotion in the room. An aide ran up to him. “Sir, the 2nd Army Division is headed for England!” They’re coming close to the Izmir river, and they don’t have orders to head out that direction!” It was a division over 20,000 strong not including equipment made up of artillery, mechanized infantry, and tanks.

“Someone get me radio contact with General Izzet Erdem, the commander of that unit.”

“Here he is sir. I’ve turned him on the speakerphone,” an aide said.

“General Izzet! You must stop this advance at once! You do not understand. If you cross the border, the English will murder Alpay. You must listen to me, comrade!”

Izzet’s voice came out over the speakerphone. “Do you know what I think? I believe that you have conspired with the English to get rid of the General so you could have the power! I will destroy the English, and then come for you!” He cut off radio contact with the Crisis Center. Several gasps went around the room.

“Do not worry!” Tayfur spoke to the people in the room. “They have not crossed the Izmir river yet. They are headed for one of the crossings but have not reached it yet. There are several other crossing along this river that are farther away. We simply send fighter-bombers to bomb the crossing and we will have stopped the 2nd Army Division without hurting anyone. Hakan, are there any loyal fighter-bomber units near the area?”

“Yes sir, I’ll send the 29th Fighter-Bomber Squadron to destroy the bridges.” Tayfur was very pleased. This was much easier than having to deal with the last rogues. Everyone in the room turned their eyes to watch the video screen. It showed where the 2nd Army Division was, and they watched the symbols of the fighter-bombers move closer. After a few minutes they were almost there, they were flying over Izmir.

All of the sudden beeping noises came from the screen. Everyone sat up, their eyes wide with horror. “It’s SAMs!” Someone yelled. Sure enough, little blue dots came from Izmir and started knocking out some of the planes.

“----! The missile battery must be part of this rebellion!” Tayfur yelled. “Get me radio contact with them!”

“I can’t! They’ve blocked it all out!” An officer said after trying to make contact with them. One by one the planes were shot down. The entire room was in a pandemonium.

“Are there any other units we can send?!” Tayfur asked, his voice loud yet brittle with fear.

“None that will make it in time, sir.” The officer replied. Tayfur swore. He went to the conference room, sat down, and thought.

There was no way to stop the division from going to England. There were no more rivers or mountain passes. And they were close already. Tayfur couldn’t negotiate with the General of the unit, the unit was in full rebellion. He tried to think of solutions, and he thought so hard he was sweating. But nothing came up. Except for one thing.

Tayfur heavily walked into the room and walked up to Hakan Unsal. “Hakan, we only have one option. The division must be wiped out. Order the 19th Bomber Squadron to arm themselves with napalm and on top of that incendienary bombs. It’ll create a firestorm that should be big enough to kill them all. It is the only way. And once they’re in the air let me speak to the commander personally.”

Tayfur’s sadness and despair was incomprehendible. It would be the worst thing he had ever done by far. 20,000 of his own men would be annihilated. They were all for one cause, worldwide communism, but now they had to fight each other. 20,000 husbands, fathers, sons, who wanted to make the world a better place by eliminating capitalism, would now be gone. The loss of these men would greatly sadden the millions of people who’s lives were connected to those soldiers. All he could think about was how he was one of the greatest murderers in the history of the world. It did not matter to him that he may have been saving lives by going through this. Tayfur asked Allah why he had to live through such times.

The bombers were armed and took off, heading for the 2nd Army Division. Tayfur addressed the commander, whom he knew personally. “Lieutenant Ilhan Akyel, this is Tayfur Haydar. I am in command now that the General is absent. Your mission is for you and your men to drop napalm and then incendienary bombs on the men of the 2nd Army Division. The firestorm created by this should wipe out the division. I know the grief this must cause, it has made my life miserable, but it must be done. If those men cross the border, the General will be shot and the world might enter a nuclear war. Remember, you are saving lives.” Tayfur’s voice shook in the last sentence, and he ended the transmission. He fell to his knees and wept.

[johncmcleod]

THE SKIES OF THE NORTHWEST OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
MAY 30
0300 HOURS

Lieutenant Ilhan Akyel and his squadron were very close to the 2nd Army Division now. He was struggling to fight his feelings. His brother and his best friend were down there. There is nothing worse than to murder your own kinsman. His family was very close. How could he explain to his parents he had murdered his brother? A voice came from the computer. “ETA: 30 seconds.” Oh, how horrible it was. In thirty seconds he’d be responsible for the death of so many of his comrades. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind. He was doing a good job of shutting off his feelings. One must do that to make these decisions. The bombardier opened the bomb bay doors. The men of the 2nd Army Division were probably hearing the planes and looking up at them now. The planes were going very slow so the bombs would hit their target without passing over it. A beeping noise came from the HUD. It was a signal for the bombardier to drop the bombs. He released them.

First the napalm came out. As it hit the ground it made strange noises. WOOMPF! WOOMPF! Now many started to fall from the other planes and the 2nd Army Division was getting blasted.

Then, the incendienaries came out. They were ignited by the fires that the napalm made. Huge clouds of fire were created. The fire then started to turn into a gigantic billowy fireball. It grew bigger and bigger and the airmen from the 19th Bomber Squadron could see it from the windows. The last bombs were dropped, but the fire still got bigger and bigger. Air from the surrounding area was sucked into it, which caused heavy winds to rip across the countryside. And then, as soon as it started, it suffocated itself and died down, leaving only grass fires. An eerie silence filled the air, the silence of 20,000 murders committed.

One by one, the other crew members on Akyel’s plane pulled out their suicide kits and killed themselves. The co-pilot was the last to do so. “I trust that you’ll bring us home, chief,” he said before he slumped forward in his seat.

Akyel thought of the death of his brother. His brother was a human being. He had his own story, his own living biography. He had touched many lives. He had many friends and family that were waiting for him to get back home. He had a life.

And then, Akyel realized what he had done. He realized than more than 20,000 other people had their own story just like his brother and were now dead. He thought of the grief the death of his brother would cause, and he multiplied it to 20,000 to realize the magnitude of what he had done. He flew his plane down towards the ground and pulled out his suicide kit. It was a bottle of poison with a needle coming out. He stuck it in his arm and squeezed the bottle hard. Whether his plane hit the ground before he died he did not know. He did not care.

OTTOMAN CRISIS CENTER, ISTANBUL
MAY 29
0330 HOURS

Tayfur Haydar sat in the conference room, reflecting on what he had just done. He could not put what he had done out of his mind. But the phone could. The red phone rang again, and it was John Thompson.

“Tayfur, we have been making progress. I have some more demands now.”

“I have done enough already, have mercy!” Tayfur begged. The last few hours had been the worst of his life.

“I suggest you spare your leader’s life and listen. Do not be a fool.”

“Get on with it.” Tayfur said angrily.

“I would like you to send us your scientists’ reports on Genetics and the Laser. And, I’d like you to fire off 10 ICBMs and 6 tactical nukes. We do not have many more demands. At the rate we’re going, you’ll have Alpay in no time.”

“I‘m not doing anything until you give me what I want. I would like you to set up a video conference with Alpay and me.”

“Very well, I’ll give you something this time. But no more. I know that if you give a dictator a finger, he’ll then ask for a hand. I will contact the crew of the helicopter and they’ll set it up. It’ll be about 5 minutes.”

Tayfur unfortunately had to wait 5 minutes. This was torture for him. Every time he was idle, he thought about what he had done. He had to find something that would distract him. He turned on his television. He changed the channels until he found the only football match. It was being played in Zululand, which is 7 hours behind Istanbul time. It was between the English and Zulu national teams. He watched them play for a minute or two, and then a Zulu player scored in extra time to win the game. The whole crowd began celebrating. It seemed ironic to Tayfur. Here they were, playing football, having no idea that during the past couple of hours Alpay had been taken hostage, the Ottoman Empire had given more than half its treasury to England, and had been disarming itself gradually.

He went to the main room and announced the news. “We are setting up a video conference with the General. I will plug it into this room and we‘ll send it to national television and to all the troops, but I would like to speak to him personally first.”

He went back to the conference room. As soon as he walked in the TV picture changed to that of General Alpay in a helicopter with some soldiers in the background. He looked like he had gone mad.

“Haydar! They have taken me hostage! They’re going to kill me! All is lost! All is lost!”

“Calm down, Alpay, everything is all right,” Tayfur assured him, rather alarmed at the General’s condition. They’re not going to kill you. We’ll have you back real soon.” Tayfur wondered by Alpay was so crazy. He had a theory. Alpay had the most powerful man in the world for years, and now all of the sudden he was powerless. This shock could be enough to make him go temporarily crazy, Tayfur guessed. “Alpay, I’m going to set up a video conference with you and all of the forces that are part of the Ottoman Empire. You must address them. They need to hear from you. But whatever you do, tell them that they should listen to me and that I’m in power right now.”

Alpay, in his delusional state, said, “Whatever you say!” Tayfur went to the main Crisis Room. He motioned to the technicians and it appeared on the screen. It was sent out over the airwaves to all the channels on television and to Turkish troops all over the world. Tayfur looked up at the screen.

Alpay looked much more calm. Tayfur thought that he had comforted him and now Alpay would tell the troops that they shouldn’t rebel. “Don’t any of you see? They won’t give me back to you. They’ll kill me, but I will not let them kill me,” Alpay said to the world. He turned around and pushed over one of the SORU operatives and took a sidearm from the operative. He stuck it to his head and pulled the trigger.

Gasps and screams went throughout the world. Tayfur eyes widened with horror. People in the Crisis Center were screaming, “He’s dead! He’s dead! He’s dead!” The terrible last couple of hours for the Ottoman Empire had gotten much worse.

PRIME MINISTER’S ESTATE IN LONDON
MAY 29
0345 HOURS

John Thompson breathed a sigh of relief. He spoke to his Chief Advisor. “That was a brilliant acting job. He looked just like the real Alpay. I just had to do it. It looked like Tayfur wasn’t going to go for any more of the demands, and he’d just tell everyone that we shot Alpay. It would get Tayfur power and he’d invade us. But since we followed through with our plan, the world will think we didn’t kill Alpay. Tayfur obviously isn’t a psychologist. I thought he wouldn’t buy that Alpay would be crazy. But with Alpay acting crazy only in front of Tayfur it gave him an explanation. All that the rest of the people needed to know was that Alpay committed suicide.”

“Yes, it was a brilliant plan. But for the operatives who we had actually kill Alpay, what if they tell what the real story was?”

“Don’t worry. Our scientists have made some recent discoveries and they made some pills that cause amnesia. We’ll give the pills to the operatives and they’ll forget what happened in the last day. Of course the scientists don’t know what they’re being used for.”


OTTOMAN CRISIS CENTER IN ISTANBUL
MAY 29
0430 HOURS

The Crisis Center was pretty much empty. Alpay Kerimoglu and a couple of his aides still remained, with everyone else gone. But Tayfur Haydar still sat there. This was the worst day in the history of the Ottoman Empire. England now had become much richer, the Ottomans now much poorer. And the Ottomans had lost a great deal of their nuclear stockpile. The Ottomans had also lost a division with over 20,000 men in it with much equipment, and to cap it off they had lost their leader. Tayfur was too stunned to think. Kerimoglu approached him. He pulled out a pistol.

Tayfur backed away. “You see Tayfur,” Kerimoglu said, “I should be in power. It was supposed to be passed down to me when my father died. But he never got around to telling it to anyone because his life ended so soon. So because of a law, you’re in the way.”

“Kerimoglu, you will be put back into power. You are young and have many years ahead of you. I am old. I’ll only be in power for a short while, and then you’ll be in power.”

“I don’t feel like waiting that long,” Kerimoglu replied menacingly.

“Kerigmoglu, don’t do this. You do not know what you are doing. You won’t get away. You’ll be caught for shooting me and you’ll be shot yourself.” Tayfur was now backing towards the wall, very frightened.

“Who’s going to stop me? These people in here are loyal. They won’t tell. The guards are gone and the security cameras are off. I’ll say that you committed suicide and everyone in here will testify to that. But that’s enough talk. Goodbye.”

Tayfur shouted his last words. “LONG LIVE THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE!” The shot rang out.





The End

[Jeremy 2.0]

Dude, you totally ripped off one of my stories!

Just kidding. Now I'll go and read it.

EDIT:

I haven't seen your idea before so I think you're safe.

Lies, deceit, treachery, murder, suicide, napalm! A story for guys who like stories. (TM)

[johncmcleod]

What I meant was are there any stories where they capture the leader of another country?

BTW, I came across Dinner with Xerxes. It's the first civ story I've read for a very long time. I must say that I absolutley enjoyed it! It is in the top 5 best civ stories I've ever read, I mean close to the Chronicles of Imhotep and the Epic Tale of Navelon. I'll go read some more of you works.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

That was excellent

[unscratchedfoot]

Good story johnmcleod. I think the ottomans may still have enough goods to punish england with Kerlymogul in charge.

[johncmcleod]

Yes Kerimoglu did have plenty of stuff left but if he invaded England the rest of the world would stand up and it'd be a big nuclear war, so he wouldn't invade.

I have been thinking of writing a sort of sequel. It takes 30 years later. What happened was there was a void in power and instead of Kerimoglu taking over, several generals tried to take over the government themselves. The Ottoman Empire then gets divided into sort of states ruled by warlords. Many of the top leaders tried to get power but couldn't so they took over a section of the Ottoman empire. The whole country is split up into these and it becomes a feudal life style. The General owns it, they have soldiers, and the people there a peasant farmers. The warlords fight one another for farmland. All of them posess some nukes but they won't use them against one another because that would ruin the farmland and the invaders wouldn't be able to use it.

[unscratchedfoot]

Write it up dude.

[johncmcleod]

I will as longas no one steals the idea.

[steamthunk]

At first I thought this would be fairly straight forward military kind of story, but it ended different than I thought. One thing I didn't get a good sense for was how powerful England was at the beginning. It took me a while to realize that they had nuclear deterrence capability. Anyway, a fine post.

[steamthunk]

At first I thought this would be fairly straight forward military kind of story, but it ended different than I thought. One thing I didn't get a good sense for was how powerful England was at the beginning. It took me a while to realize that they had nuclear deterrence capability. Anyway, a fine post.

[SKILORD]

pretty sweet dude. Rock on!