Benefactor of the World

Benefactor of the World
By Joseph Rubas



The war started on a Monday in August. A Chinese submarine torpedoed an American destroyer off the coast of South Korea, and the United States responded by launching a missile into Tiananmen Square. Despite initial rumors, it was not nuclear.

Fifteen minutes after the attack on Beijing, North Korean troops pushed into the DMZ and then into South Korea. The fighting was intense. By 1pm EST, thousands of bodies littered the Korean countryside.

At the same time that this was happening, Russia swept into Eastern Europe, breaking the Non-Expansion Pact of 2019. By nightfall, Russian troops were halfway across Poland, their way lit by dazzling explosions. Jet fighters streaked overhead, screaming like harbingers of the apocalypse. The Polish government was in disarray, and fled west, establishing a temporary headquarters in the village of Kazli. United Nations peacekeepers, many of them German, marched east, meeting the invaders several hundred kilometers west of Warsaw.

In America, the President met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at 4pm. Washington was abuzz with activity. Everyone moved quickly, fear in their eyes. Chinese warships were sailing east, and the Pacific fleet was moving west to meet them.

The President listened intently to his advisers. He was certain he affected a calm air, but inside, he was petrified. Before him lie the possibility of all-out war on two fronts. Reports from Europe had the Russians reaching the German border by daybreak unless he mobilized his forces now. On the other hand, China was the most immediate threat.

The Chief of Staff of the Army, a large man with a perfect crewcut whom the President had always been intimidated by, believed that China should come first. The Secretary of Defense agreed, but voiced concern that the Russians would take Europe within days, and would then use France, or maybe even Britain as base of operations for a trans-Atlantic invasion of the U.S. At the outbreak of the war, Homeland Security agents had raided the Russian embassy, taking the ambassador and his staff into custody. It was he who informed the government that diplomatic ties had been officially broken at 12:01pm.

“China is actively coming,” the Chief of Staff of the Army said, pounding the table with his fist after each word, “Russia can wait.”

Sighing, the President agreed, and ordered all available resources sent west. At Midnight, he addressed a nation on edge. Standing behind an oaken podium, he appeared frigidity and nervous.

“...times such as these, but I am confident that peace will prevail, and that America will prevail.”

At 1am, he signed an Executive Order closing the interstate highway system to all non-military traffic.

At 3am, the USS Barack Obama engaged a Chinese battleship 250 miles southwest of the Marshall Islands. Bright plumes of fire filled the night. Within an hour, the Chinese ship had gone to the bottom, and the Barack Obama was filling with water, its hulls mangled and its power dimming. Fifty survivors were picked up by the USS Condor at dawn. Wreckage littered the sea, including bodies.

The main thrust of the Chinese fleet was aimed at Hawaii. A U.S. submarine stalked the fleet for over an hour, top secret hardware allowing it to avoid detection. At 8:15am, despite the President’s order that no nuclear weapons be used unless nuclear weapons were first used against the U.S., the sub launched a torpedo tipped with a nuclear warhead. Fire and brimstone filled the sky: The majority of the fleet was sunk, while many outlying ships were heavily damaged.

In Europe, Russian troops reached the German border at noon. The United Nations had ordered its member states (Russia had withdrawn in July) to not use nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, the German Chancellor, after meeting with his cabinet, ordered a nuclear strike on Moscow. Factions within the government, however, conspired against him, and he was arrested and removed. The new Chancellor, Arik Shultz, immediately addressed the nation.

“...that is why, at this juncture, we ally with Russia.”

As soon as the news was announced that Shultz had taken over, Russian guns fell silent. After the address, so, too, did the German guns. In Moscow, the leader of Russia called Shultz, whom he knew and loved, and congratulated him.

In Washington, the President listened as intelligence reports came in from China. They were launching nuclear missiles.

“Launch ours,” the President said with a heavy sigh. He hadn’t slept, and he looked as though he had aged a full decade overnight.

Nuclear missiles were launched from silos in Kansas and California, and by 1pm EST, they were en route to Beijing and Pyongyang.

The first missile to land was Chinese: It fell short of its target and splashed down in San Francisco Bay, the might of its blast spreading in all directions. The blast was muffled, though, and the only major damage was to The Golden Gate Bridge and to Fisherman’s Wharf.

The second landed in the middle of downtown Los Angeles ten minutes later.

For much of the day, bombs fell across the western half of the U.S. None reached farther east than Kansas. By dusk, Beijing was utterly destroyed, and with it, the Chinese Government. The head of the Chinese military, Yong-Hu, finding himself perhaps the highest ranking member of the government and certainly the leader of what remained a giant army, immediately sued for peace. Yong-Hu had once been a proud Communist, but had become disillusioned with the party over many recent policies. He loved his country, however, and resolved to do whatever it took to defend it. Yesterday it meant war with America. Today it meant peace with America.

In Europe, Germany was expelled from the UN. World leaders weighed in, some for war, many for peace. The Canadian Prime Minister, a young man named Jason LePage, headed the charge for peace.

“We cannot allow what happened to America and China to happen to us all. I, for one, will not stand idly by as the world goes up in a mushroom cloud. Russian aggression must be checked, but this is the year 2020. War is decidedly not the answer.”

Despite the absence of America, a formidable ally, the UN gave the Russians an ultimatum: Retreat to its original borders or face war.

On August 28, Arik Shultz stepped down as Chancellor, conceding the position to a sweaty Russian man named Boris Szysef. Germany was officially a Russian territory. Shultz, whose father had been a second generation Russian immigrant, and who had always had a combative relationship with the rest of Europe, retired a wealthy man in favor with the government.

On September 1, UN troops marched on Germany. Russian jetfighters armed with nuclear missiles lifted off from Berlin. Russian subs launched warheads. France and the UK retailiated. For ten minutes the sky was dark with streaking bombs.

At noon, they landed,

But none detonated.

UN troops and Russian troops met along the German border.

But their guns would not fire.

In Paris, Jason LePage held a press conference. “I’ve said several times over the last few weeks that I would not sit idly by as the world went up in flames. I have kept that promise.”

The twilight filling the city drew back, and the sun rose in reverse. People looked on it astonishment.

“I am who I am,” LePage said. “And I am the benefactor of the world. This is the year 2020. War is not the answer. Peace is. Unity is.”