NEWORD

Time was running out. The Middle East had fallen to terrorists who now controlled the entire region except a small strip of northern Iran as far east and south as Tehran. In an almost straight line south of the city to Kish, allied forces were strained to hold the eastern half of Iran, just as the forces in Egypt worked to prevent the terrorists from moving west.

The native peoples had fled as local governments fell and now the middle east was united under one group of heavily armed people calling themselves NEWORD (new-ord), and acronym for New World Order. No longer was terrorism conducted under the beliefs of religion or race, as if it ever really was. No, it always was about power and yet another attempt at total world control.

As terrorist cells disrupted economies and weakened governments, more and more people joined the group, believing the lies told to them. By using racism and religious differences, they had most of the world fighting each other. Soon, the entire globe was poised on the brink of yet another world war. World powers flooded the middle east with arms to protect their own interests in petroleum; crude oil was the fuel of war and whoever controlled the oil would undoubtedly win the war.

Continued terrorist strikes had the world living in fear, the global economy in havoc, and the world went into the greatest depression in history. On the brink of the largest war in history and with no money to fund it, the world leaders arranged to meet and try and resolve the conflict peacefully. Since oil was the key to the war, it was decided to meet in the Middle East, in Kuwait, to discuss terms for peace and distribution of petroleum equally to all nations. Too late did the world learn that this meeting was yet another façade to the terrorist threat upon the world.

Without knowing the actual strength of the terrorists, still thinking that there were multiple terroristic groups, the world leaders gathered. During the first day of meetings, the groups exercised a united attack throughout the Middle East. Military bases were overrun, local governments were toppled, and the world leaders killed. In twenty-four hours, most of the arms sent to the Middle East had fallen to the terrorists, most world leaders were dead, and one group claimed to be responsible, NEWORD.

In the days following, united attacks were launched around the world by organized cells of NEWORD, hitting military and government installations. No country was spared and people learned too late how powerful NEWORD really was. Local governments tried to retaliate, but the terrorists plan was strike and run. In a well-organized retreat plan, most of the terrorist cells fled to the Middle East and joined their brethren who now had control of sophisticated weapons form various countries. They organized quickly and instead of small bands of terrorists, they now were a well-armed military and soon had control of the Middle East and even more weapons, including tactical nuclear warheads and biological weapons.

In televised broadcasts, NEWORD showed the world their military might and their desire to overthrow national governments by means of war, nuclear attacks, biological agents, and continued use of hidden NEWORD cells around the world.

Too late, the world new the truth and too late, the set aside differences and united against a common threat. Joint military units secured Egypt and the Mediterranean coast. Israel had survived and provided support and aid to a common cause. More military units held fast in Turkey and along the northern Iranian border, stopping NEWORD from taking Tehran. An allied line ran south of the city to Kish, holding eastern Iran, but the rest of the Middle East was now under the control of NEWORD. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fled into Turkey, Egypt, and eastern Iran. Hundreds of thousands more joined forces with NEWORD.

Allied forces new they could not hold out long if outright war broke out, they were spread too thin. Hidden cells continued to hit key military targets around the world, and it was just a matter of time before NEWORD began advancing. Europe was the most likely target, but no one could be certain and it was too great a risk to thin any of the meager lines of defense.

There was one chance to neutralize the NEWORD forces, an untested nuclear fusion device that had been developed before the world crisis. No one was sure just how powerful the new weapon was, but it was known that the detonation would create a chain reaction with hydrogen in the atmosphere and spread the destruction even further than the original blast site. Estimates were total destruction for a fifty-mile radius from ground zero, fusion fires in the atmosphere would spread another fifty to one hundred miles, depending on weather and winds.

The fusion weapon, named Starfire, did not create harmful radiation, so ground troops would be able to advance as soon as the fires diminished. As ground attacks were launched simultaneously from eastern Iran, Egypt, Israel, and Turkey, naval vessels from the world’s fleet would begin launching attacks from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian sea. It was a long shot, and the only one left. If Starfire worked, it would destroy most of the nuclear and biological weapons held by NEWORD, as well as most of their stored weapons and military reserves.

The key was the simple fact that NEWORD did not have a navy and was forced to hold most of their military reserves and weapons far inland to protect them from naval assault. By selecting key areas to detonate the fusion war-heads, most of the interior forces would be destroyed. The plan called for five Starfire war-heads mounted on modified intercontinental ballistic missiles, ICBMs, guided by ground radar units.

While the war-heads were being hastily built, Marine units were landed on remote areas of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Aden. Their objective was to set the guiding units at locations by Hail, Rayda, Sharorah,, Ardah, and Bagdad. Meanwhile, to buy time, peace talks were started with NEWORD including terms of surrender of the world’s military and governments.
In seventy-two hours, everything was set. Four of the five guiding systems were active, the war-heads were armed and ready to launch, and the order to attack was pending the detonation of the five missiles. The problem was, the one guiding system that was key to knocking out NEWORDs nuclear and biological arsenal was not sending! Something had gone wrong with the team by Hail.

Five choppers were launched from the aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan in the Red Sea to try and locate the missing Marine unit and activate the laser guidance system so the missiles could be launched. Time was the biggest enemy; NEWORD would know the choppers had invaded their airspace and it would alert them to the pending attack. If the Marine unit could be located quickly and the device set, the attack could still work before NEWORD had a chance to mobilize forces and counter attack.

Three of the choppers were shot down shortly after being launched, two raced across the desert in search of the missing unit. One hour later, NEWORD began mobilizing forces, arming missiles, and called for a complete surrender or they would launch nuclear weapons at key targets around the world. They gave the world three hours before it would face nuclear and biological devastation.

With two hours remaining on the clock, the fourth chopper was shot down. With one hour and forty minutes left, the fifth chopper spotted three Marines on the ground and landed. One Marine was dead, another was unconscious, the third badly wounded. Their unit had been attacked and they had managed to retreat with the guidance system, hoping to be able to activate it were they were, but the unit had been hit by a bullet and would not turn on.

The chopper team loaded up the fallen soldiers and began to work on the unit. With one hour and fifteen minutes left, the unit was repaired and working. The chopper sped across the sand, flying mere feet above the ground to get as close to Hail as they could without being spotted by radar or ground forces. With one hour and five minutes left they set down ten miles west of Hail, set the device and radioed back to the Reagan that the guidance system was in place. They lifted off and hoped they would be able to reach the coast before the missiles hit.

Minutes after radio confirmation on the fifth guidance system, the missiles were launched at their five targets. All hit their mark with fifty minutes left on the clock and the order was handed down for naval assaults along the coasts and a full attack by all ground forces. As the chopper flew east, a white hot flash formed behind them, then fire began to spread across the desert. They veered to the south as another detonation went off in Bagdad and seconds later seen the blasts at Rayda, Ardah, and Sharorah. At full speed the chopper flew before the advancing flames as the air itself burned white hot behind them.

As they neared the Gulf Coast, the brightness began to diminish and the spread slowed, allowing them to escape the infernal and reach the aircraft carrier Nimitz and safety. The plan worked, the weapons worked, and within a week, NEWORD was annihilated. All that was left was to mop up the cells scattered without leadership around the globe and to begin the long task of rebuilding the Middle East.