“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter XXII – The Homeland
Since the attacks occurred on American soil approximately nine months ago, the Department of Homeland Security has been working very aggressively to find the truth about what happened. During their investigation of the mass attacks on U.S. cities, the Homeland Security secretary has been keeping the president of the United States in the loop of what is going on. On a regular basis has the president been up to date on the status of the nation’s security threat level and possible connections. At the same time the F.B.I.’s Joint Terrorism Task Force team has been investigating leads on their end to find the group or groups responsible for this attack. Now, since no one really knows what’s going on and how this could have happened how would they know what lead to follow and who might be involved. Well, several weeks ago during an investigation in Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., the J.T.T.F. and federal agents from Homeland Security raided a townhome somewhere near historic Alexandria.
The lead that was given by an anonymous tip who said that a neighbor had numerous metal crates delivered to his home in the middle of the day. The metal crates were silver and had the markings on the sides and top of a skull head with cross bones colored in as black. The anonymous caller figured this looked suspicious along with the men who were delivering it. A courier dropped off the metal crates, approximately eight of them and about ten feet in length and three feet in width, and was not wearing a uniform. Two other men grabbed the metal crates and lifted them and took them inside the townhome. The anonymous caller listened to her inner judgment and contacted the F.B.I., who then coordinated a joint effort with Homeland Security. The search warrant was granted by a federal judge after she learned that those metal crates might have been stolen from a secured chemical depot located just outside of Richmond, Virginia.
As soon as the search warrant was granted the joint teams executed the warrant and raided the townhome. Once inside they were not able to locate the metal crates and attempt to find out how they were able to move them without anyone knowing. Since their search warrant was limited to spaces of where the metal crates could be hidden they couldn’t search the home for anything else. One federal agent took a step in the hallway of the home and fell through the ground floor into a hidden tunnel. The federal agent was not seriously injured and others followed by climbing down a ladder that was built into the tunnel. Once inside the tunnel it was dark and cool so all agents turned on their flashlights as they searched. The tunnel stands about twelve feet in height and about eight feet across and can feet two men side by side easily. They start to think that this is how the crates were smuggled out of the house. They followed the tunnel under the home that lead back underneath the street they drove on to get to the house. The tunnel led them to another entry point that was covered up. One agent was brave enough to uncover the entry point and attempted to clear the ground above. The tunnel was about one thousand feet long from point to point and ended in a warehouse. The warehouse was completely empty except for a piece of paper that was left behind. The piece of paper listed a few groups, which included some domestic terrorist and extremists groups, of who is to be paid, but nothing describes of any further plans after the attacks.
This piece of paper was logged into evidence and only shared with authorized personnel who were granted security clearances, such as the Joint Chiefs and the president himself. This is the clue that has been of help so far as to who might be involved, but it doesn’t help them to find out why this happened, what exactly happened, and what is the enemies sole purpose behind it. The current state of the nation is that different regions are experiencing different threats and face control change for the worse. The states in the west are attempting to form an alliance together to establish a territory that would still be part of the United States, but under another authority much like Puerto Rico. The southern states that include Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama to name a few, are contemplating going their separate ways all together, but have ran into a few major issues that have kept that from coming true. In the northeast of the Atlantic region from Pennsylvania to Main and parts of Nova Scotia immigrants have migrated and nearly quadrupled the population. Since this region is the furthest away from everything in the country all the foreigners along with some American citizens have fled here to settle down in a new life.
Law enforcement have been working around the clock in dealing with new arrival gangs that make up of some legal and illegal immigrants from Mexico and other cultures abroad. The food supply in the region has been strained in some cases that grocery stores were not able to stock their shelves with new items. Fuel for vehicles on the road and water are being stretched and the prices for those essentials continue to rise by the day. Some gas stations were forced to close either due to lack of sufficient fuel or vandalized to the point that the gas stations were rendered unusable. Street gangs have taken the opportunity in this stage of the game to launch attacks on rival gang members to take out their competition. Every gang that is eliminated about two more seem to rise up in their place. The violence in this region is around the clock and the local and state governments are struggling to keep up and running out of resources to do so. The National Guard units from every state have been activated to restore law and order and given arrest powers to assist the police. This has only slowed down the violence, but has not eliminated other issues that have risen. Since immigration is a huge issue in this country several marches and protest have occurred in the streets in historical proportions. Some police departments have their officers working in full riot gear twenty four/seven until further notice. Since the Posse Comitatus Act is in existence the federal troops are being used to assist the National Guard and the local police departments in equipment and shelter if needed.
In the south the state of Georgia seems to be the leader in this push for a separate unified union. A lot of major issues have risen to keep that from happening, but once those issues are worked out the process will be fast tracked. Other states that have remained with Washington, D.C. have been contacted by the rogue states to join their side. The only state at this current time that is in negotiation with the rogue states is Colorado. The state of Colorado also houses NORAD, which the main mission is to protect North America from any missile attack that is launched to eliminate their sovereignty. Even though NORAD is a federal unit and controlled by Canadian and American personnel, if the state of Colorado joins the Pacific West Territories that would change things drastically. The United States government would loose a ground hole in the race against time to stop this movement in its tracks. In the event that Colorado joins the Phoenix government the president of the United States is prepared to send in a team of specialized personnel to overthrow the leaders behind this master mind plot to establish a separate territory. Although the Pacific West Territories are not officially a separate nation most government offices in the region are still under U.S. control. This however, is part of the reason the process has been slowed down and the president is trying to take advantage of the situation.
This has turned into a power struggle between several states and the integrity of the U.S. Constitution that the federal government is sworn to protect. The news of this plan that the west is attempting to establish its own democracy has ignited controversy among the citizens in the region and are calling for the states legislatures to intervene. Many people have been arrested in attempting to cease city hall and making threats on government officials. Many people have been charged with felonies in the courts and are awaiting the death penalty for their crimes. With no official constitution to make up the laws of the Pacific West Territories many law makers and lawyers were able to draft up a temporary bill explaining the new government that is to take place and the new laws that will be implemented immediately. This bill was first signed by Arizona then California and later followed by Nevada, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and now awaiting the signature of Colorado. NORAD understands the situation that is happening and is preparing their personnel for the worse case scenario if the agreement happens. The high authority of NORAD have been ordered by the Air Force Joint Chief of Staff to protect all missile silos throughout the country, while they still have complete control.
NORAD nearly lost complete control of its operations shortly after the attacks happened. A missile silo located in the mountains of western Maryland near the West Virginia border was under the control of another authority. When that happened the ICBM housed in the silo was launched in the air minutes away from its target being somewhere in Europe. A U.S. submarine on patrol in the Atlantic Ocean was notified of the incident immediately after the ICBM was fired and ordered to shoot it down. Although the task of this seems nearly impossible it had to be coordinated very carefully and without hesitation from the commander’s crew on the sub. The ICBM was crossing over the Atlantic Ocean several miles up into the atmosphere and being tracked by an AWAC plane hundreds of miles away. When it was the appropriate time to fire a missile to knock it out of the sky the commander gave the order to do so and within minutes the ICBM was destroyed and fell harmlessly in the ocean. During the preliminary investigation of the incident it was determined that the location of the ICBM was Berlin, Germany. The German government was not aware of this and nor did the president of the United States notify them or any members of NATO. A nuclear war was diverted for the time being, but they are not out of the woods yet.
With tensions rising throughout the country and the stress spreading throughout the global community, solutions are not quickly in order. Whatever the solution is to one problem another issue has the potential of getting worse because another situation was resolved. It is spoken among NATO countries that if one nation is attacked that means all nations under the NATO agreement were attacked as well. The only issue is that the statement is pertaining to another rogue nation or an enemy state. That statement was not intended for domestic and international terrorism groups that maybe housed and residence of such countries. So since the United States might have been attacked by international and domestic terrorism they can not just attack another nation who may have their citizens on U.S. soil carrying out such attacks. If the citizens are in the U.S. carrying out such attacks, it is possible that their own government is not aware of such plot. So things have shifted more so on a global scale then becoming a national security issue, it is a global security issue. Several nations have offered aid to the U.S. and have prepared themselves to commit to such an organized effort for many weeks. For many governments across the globe, include the U.S., have questions of when is the next attack and how will this effect relations throughout the world among many allies today.
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