![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
GWOT VI: His Brother's Keeper
GWOT VI - His Brother's Keeper
As always happens when the news is so bad, there is an initial hard shock, and the bad news keeps piling up.
The Californicators had taken Midland, and burned it. Killed the militia officers.
And reports were coming in from all over Iowa.
The Californicators were _everywhere_. Fires, explosions, snipers. Motorcyclists with machine pistols. IEDs on the roads. Shot down aircraft.
They were NOT going to do this to his town and to his parish.
"Immediate mobilization. Draw all weapons and equipment and report to the following locations. Defensive Plan Three."
DP-3 called for a series of roadblocks controlling the roads all around town for a five mile radius. Patrols in between. Frequent checks on everyone and everything within. All persons to show papers. Any unauthorized persons to be detained, interrogated and expelled. But they'd already run over the last day, so that wasn't a problem.
Three churches. Four hundred militia and another two hundred unarmed auxiliaries. Plus the sheriffs and their posse.
It was barely enough. But they did it.
###
"Sir," the driver said.
"I see it."
The third roadblock. If there were three, they had all the routes cut off.
"Bypass this target. We can't get close enough."
There were plenty more towns to bombard.
They could skip one.
###
"Colonel, I am *ordering* your parish to contribute troops to the levy."
"General, I have no troops to contribute."
"You have over four hundred troops on roster."
"And I need every single one for area defense."
"We will be taking note. Do you want to be a Colonel much longer? You personally will assemble one hundred of your best and report to your designated staging area. You have four hours."
His response only felt like it took forever.
"No, General."
"You are relieved. Put on your executive."
"I'll tell him you called. But no one is coming from South Bend."
The -click- felt very final.
But for the first time in a long time, something felt -right- too.
###
Had they known it, both Major 18 and the General of the Church of God thought exactly the same thing.
"Fucking South Bend. Every man jack of them is out of it just as surely as if the enemy had shot them all in the head."
As always happens when the news is so bad, there is an initial hard shock, and the bad news keeps piling up.
The Californicators had taken Midland, and burned it. Killed the militia officers.
And reports were coming in from all over Iowa.
The Californicators were _everywhere_. Fires, explosions, snipers. Motorcyclists with machine pistols. IEDs on the roads. Shot down aircraft.
They were NOT going to do this to his town and to his parish.
"Immediate mobilization. Draw all weapons and equipment and report to the following locations. Defensive Plan Three."
DP-3 called for a series of roadblocks controlling the roads all around town for a five mile radius. Patrols in between. Frequent checks on everyone and everything within. All persons to show papers. Any unauthorized persons to be detained, interrogated and expelled. But they'd already run over the last day, so that wasn't a problem.
Three churches. Four hundred militia and another two hundred unarmed auxiliaries. Plus the sheriffs and their posse.
It was barely enough. But they did it.
###
"Sir," the driver said.
"I see it."
The third roadblock. If there were three, they had all the routes cut off.
"Bypass this target. We can't get close enough."
There were plenty more towns to bombard.
They could skip one.
###
"Colonel, I am *ordering* your parish to contribute troops to the levy."
"General, I have no troops to contribute."
"You have over four hundred troops on roster."
"And I need every single one for area defense."
"We will be taking note. Do you want to be a Colonel much longer? You personally will assemble one hundred of your best and report to your designated staging area. You have four hours."
His response only felt like it took forever.
"No, General."
"You are relieved. Put on your executive."
"I'll tell him you called. But no one is coming from South Bend."
The -click- felt very final.
But for the first time in a long time, something felt -right- too.
###
Had they known it, both Major 18 and the General of the Church of God thought exactly the same thing.
"Fucking South Bend. Every man jack of them is out of it just as surely as if the enemy had shot them all in the head."