Rise and Fall

[cbraund]

Rise and Fall

Britain and America stand side by side in a new war - the war on terror. Since September 11th 2001, they have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq in order to remove the bases and finances that help terrorists so much.

But one target is much more important. And so is stopping him getting a much more important weapon. But even then the war may not be over…

* * * * *

Captain Nick Windsor of the SAS watched from the undergrowth as the Russian mafia gangsters talked calmly with the disguised terrorist and his cronies.

Osama Bin Laden, finally tracked down to a remote Russian forest near Novgorod.

He had shaved his beard off, and wore his hair short - he looked just like any other good Muslim businessman in his suit - but the aura of hatred still hung around him, reflected mostly in his eyes, which Nick could see through his binoculars. He could see Osama hated the Russian capitalists, but had to meet them himself since for such a valuable item, only his presence would satisfy the Russians.

It definitely seemed that Osama was putting up with these lowly capitalists to get to the bigger fish - which this prize would allow him to do - big time.

And there it was. Nick, caught up in his thoughts of hatred towards Osama shuddered as it came into view. The rumours were true. Russia had created a suitcase nuclear bomb as a weapon against the West just before it collapsed. The story was just one prototype was ever made, and this was it.

Now it was time to go. He signalled to the trooper next to him and they knelt, brought their weapons to their shoulders and looked down the sights. Nick clicked his throat mike twice, and knew that now the two SAS men on the other side of the clearing would be getting into the same positions.

Nick lined up the sight with Osama’s head, and fired.

The terrorist leader just stood there for a few seconds after blood and brains burst out the other side of his head. Then he crumpled to the floor, never again to terrorise the world.

The other troopers were firing. The gangster holding the suitcase fell with a bullet in his heart, and so did men around him. One terrorist ran for the suitcase, and Nick fired, catching him in his leg. The man stumbled to get back up, as Nick took the opportunity to aim steadily at his head. One more shot, and the terrorist didn’t get up again.

Then the troopers burst into the open, switching their weapons to full auto, and filling the clearing with a hail of bullets. Some of the Russian gangsters tried to run back to their bullet proof limo, but just like the terrorist one, the driver was an agent for the British Secret Service, and locked the doors.

It was all over in a matter of minutes. Nick surveyed the scene, satisfied, until he realised something was seriously wrong.

The suitcase had gone.

* * * * *

More to come soon! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and comments are appreciated.

Nemesis

[Paddy]

Well done, great opening.

Hope you write more soon.

[Metaliturtle]

cbraund is even back, cool!

[vovan]

Lookin' good cbraund. You got me eagerly waiting for more.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Me too

[cbraund]

Queen Elizabeth II listened to the reports coming in from the Secret Service chiefs. Before even the Prime Minister, she was the first to learn of intelligence failures and successes, and was the only person in the country to be told everything by all the intelligence services - not even the Prime Minister or the Director of one of the Services had as much information as she did.

“It must be tracked down immediately. If that nuclear weapon is used, it could destroy New York and bring about a world economic collapse, or could destroy Washington DC and all of America’s government. If used here, it could destroy our historic capital, and our government, and send Britain into anarchy.” Elizabeth spoke urgently, knowing that Britain would survive, despite what she said, due to the fact that all the Royals were never together, and that would mean that even if she died, one Royal would ascend the throne and have the authority to hold Britain together. In fact, she would make sure all the Royals were never in one place together.

“We don’t know which side took it. If it’s the Russian Mafia - alls well and good, they’ll hold onto it until they can sell it again, and our sources will let us know and we can capture it. But if it was Al Qaeda got hold of it, we have no idea where it’s gone or where it is going. We know that the suitcase it is in is actually part of the device, so they can’t remove that, so we will be on the lookout for such cases in airports, ports and the Channel Tunnel entrances, since it is pretty distinctive, being made completely of aluminium, and being bigger than a briefcase but smaller than a normal suitcase.” The Director of MI6 replied.

“And if we didn’t find it?” Her Majesty asked.

“Then the attack would dwarf September 11th.”

* * * * *

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain tried on her state crown and paced her bedroom for a while before finally going to bed. Tomorrow was the state opening of Parliament, and she had to wear the crown, which was quite heavy.

She slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of happier times, and completely forgetting the suitcase nuke, that incident having been many months ago, and the nuke having not been found. Most now assumed the Russian Mafia still had it.

Her Majesty passed away peacefully a couple of hours later.

* * * * *

Just a small update today, hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading, and comments are appreciated.

Thanks for the comments already btw!

Chris AKA Nemesis

[Paddy]

well from a Dwarfs perspective, I am enjoying this.

[SKILORD]

You've done better in the past chris.

But its still damn good.

[cbraund]

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s reign had been the longest in the age of global communications, and her funeral was the largest in Britain’s living memory.

President George Bush had survived an assassination attempt the day that the Queen died, and the Secret Service men had sent him flying to escape the bullet. He had banged his head and received concussion, and was unable to fly. **** Cheney, Vice President, instead represented the US at the funeral, while Donald Rumsfeld stayed in the USA covering some of the President’s schedule.

The entire Parliament turned out to say farewell to the Queen at a Westminster Abbey service, as did all the Royal Family.

* * * * *

Nick Windsor had sighed with relief when the assignment came through. Intelligence had come through that the suitcase nuke was in a derelict house in Moscow, not yet moved by the terrorists, but due to be moved tomorrow morning, so they had to go in tonight.

Now he was looking at that house through his binoculars, only a few minutes before they would be entering. It was dark enough now, and he checked the night vision goggles he would probably need, knowing that the house would likely have no electricity.

Instead of the usual SAS entry, clearing rooms with flashbangs and then assaulting it and killing everyone inside, this attack would have to be quiet right up to the last point to make sure that the terrorists didn’t set off the nuke.

Nick slowly led the team round the back of the big pre-Soviet Union house. The garden was overgrown and the wooden fence rotted, so they were able to slip into the shadows near the back door without being seen.

They were inside two minutes later, with the old lock proving no problem for Sergeant Adams and his lock-picking kit. They barred the door shut to make sure no one came in behind them.

It was deathly quiet inside, and Nick saw no movement through his goggles. He hated night sight, but it would give him a big advantage over anyone in this godforsaken place.

He crept quietly through the kitchen, into a hall, where there were two doorways. One door was shut, at the end of the hall; leading into what he guessed was the living room, and the other was an open doorway leading into a dining room with a door to the living room - which was also shut.

Nick signalled to Perkins, one of the two troopers on this mission, to come with him to the end of the hallway, and for Adams and the other trooper, Smith, to take up position at the other door.

Nick took position, ready to charge into the room, with Perkins taking position behind him to give covering fire if needed. One click on the throat mike, and Nick slowly opened the door.

No shots. No glint of a knife. No terrorists willing to give their lives for Allah.

He saw Adams entering at the other end too, and they both scanned the room.

But they found nothing.

They searched all the upstairs rooms too, leaving the big master bedroom till last. It was most likely the place all the terrorists were settled down in sleeping bags, suffering in order to remain undetected - anonymity was good, but not existing by living in a derelict house was the best cover of all.

Two took positions either side of the door, and Nick took position to charge in, with Adams ready to provide covering fire. They would go quietly if they could - hopefully the occupants were still asleep.

Nick slowly pushed the door open, and crept inside, Adams right behind him. Perkins followed Adams, looking in the opposite direction to him. Smith was facing backwards as he walked in, relying on Perkins for a danger warning - his job was to make sure no one crept up on them from behind.

Once again, Nick couldn’t see anything there. He was partially relieved, since no-one enjoyed combat, but he was terrified on the possibilities of where the nuke could be.

Then he saw the glint of something sticking out from beneath the only bed in the room. He led his team over towards it.

It was an aluminium case, bigger than a briefcase but smaller than a suitcase.

* * * * *

The door slammed shut behind them and the light clicked on.

The light was magnified massively by the goggles, and Nick and his team were rendered blind until they removed them, and even then they still had to refocus and get rid of the stars that the light and goggles left in front of their eyes.

Nick saw the man behind the door - the one place they hadn’t yet checked due to their attention being drawn by the case. He glanced around and also saw through his bleary eyes two terrorists come out of the walk in wardrobe and one roll out from the opposite side of the bed.

“Take cover!” he yelled to his still-recovering team.

They dived to find cover, or present smaller targets, but Smith was hit straight in the head before he even moved - the terrorist by the door having had time to line up a perfect shot.

Nick fired back at the terrorist by the door, who had now taken cover like the rest.

Nick knew his team were cornered, but then thought quickly of a plan. He pointed at his night vision goggles, and Adams looked questioningly, before Nick pointed at the light.

Nick shot the light bulb, and the room was plunged into darkness. The SAS men with their night vision goggles now had the advantage, and the terrorists eventually were defeated.

Nick then lifted the case onto the bed, and opened it.

And let out a barrage of curses.

* * * * *

About twenty seconds after Nick’s discovery of the fake case, London was vaporised by a suitcase nuke in a flat only a block from Westminster Abbey - the suitcase nuke having been smuggled into Britain in the back of a lorry with five illegal immigrants.

* * * * *

Cheers for reading, more to come soon, hope you enjoyed it!

Chris

PS: SKILORD, this one starts poorly I admit, but it will get onto levels much better than previous ones, I hope, I just have to set the scene

[SKILORD]

It does tend to skim over these opportunities for action.

Well, I'm game, what've you got up your sleeve?

[Paddy]

hahhhahahahaha thanks for the chuckle....

more please sir ....

[ChrisiusMaximus]

So the smoke,s gone up in smoke then. looking forward to some more

[Paddy]

Hi Cbraund,

hope all is well.

looking forward to some more of this soon

[cbraund]

“We seem to have lost the connection to London there.” Sir Trevor McDonald spoke to the nation as he glanced nervously around at his camera crew. They were filming in Portsmouth, where the Royal Navy were putting a display on after the funeral to honour the passing of Her Majesty, and to welcome the new King Charles III to the throne.

Then it came in over his earpiece.

“We have reports that London has been hit by a nuclear weapon! I repeat, London has been hit by a nuclear weapon!” He spoke excitedly, knowing he was leading the news story of the millennium, but also with fear - many would be dead, even if it was only a small explosion. “Reports indicate that a nuclear device has exploded right near the funeral. If this is true, it would be the biggest disaster ever to befall Britain -
The Royal Family and Parliament may all be dead or at the least critically injured.”

He thought about it, then quickly wrote something on a piece of paper and passed it to part of his crew.

It said “Find out who in the line of succession wasn’t at the funeral.”

* * * * *

Nick got off the plane, and walked down the steps. He had a sense of doom - the plane had been diverted from Heathrow to RAF Northolt, with no reason why. His worst fears and been almost completely confirmed by the appearance of not just a couple of RAF planes escorting them in, but an entire Squadron.

The Deputy Director of MI6 was there to meet him.

That wasn’t good. It meant it was damn important, but that the Director was very busy - or dead.

Nick nodded, walked past the two MI6 bodyguards and shook hands with the Deputy Director. He suspected he knew what the other passengers on the plane were about to be told - a suitcase nuke had gone off, Britain was in anarchy, and worst of all to them - Heathrow was destroyed and most of the relatives that were coming to welcome them home would likely be dead. He wanted to get away before they were told - he was SAS, he wasn’t used to emotions.

Nick gestured at the limo, and the Deputy Director nodded. They got in the limo, and pulled away from Northolt.

Nick didn’t look back.

* * * * *

“Your Highness.” The Deputy Director finally spoke.

“London was destroyed, wasn’t it?” Nick asked, the MI6 man’s phrase not registering.

“Yes. All of the Royal Family, including the King, was caught in the blast. Parliament is destroyed, as are all the MPs and Lords that sat in it. Britain is in anarchy, myself and the other senior figures in the system that survived have ordered the Armed Forces to mobilise and protect the realm, the Territorial Army to be prepared to assist the police in martial law, and have already begun investigations into the blast, as well as anti-radiation measures. However, we desperately need legality and authority - we need a government. But since a democratic government will take a long time to form once more, and would be useless at passing laws quickly enough to deal with this crisis, myself and the Emergency Council as we are calling it have decided for now to support the new King in ruling alone for the foreseeable future.”

“Who is the King?”

“We’ve studied the line of succession. After the direct Royal Family, not that many after that really know if they’re in the line of succession, or if they are, how far they are up it. But we’ve studied it, and it is you, Your Highness.”

Nick stared at the Director, and then slumped down in his seat.

* * * * *

Thanks for reading, sorry for so long between posts, more to come soon and comments appreciated!

Chris AKA Nemesis

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Nice twist looking forward to more