The War of the Future

Chapter Fifth teen Operation Endgame

March 2nd 2050

The crowd was gazing at the image of the Atomic warhead like moths to a flame. They had all just learned that the Free People's Army had been so desperate to end the war that they used an actual Atomic Warhead. President Myers then asked General Padlock "What the hell did you do with the nuke?" General Padlock scratched his eyepatch and said "We fired the nuke at War-Net Central about a week later in operation Endgame and the results were glorious". Mary looked puzzled and asked "What do you mean?" Hunter the 2nd cleared his throat and said "When the nuke landed, it destroyed War-Nets communications array and it lost contact with all of its War-Robots, worldwide, causing them to shut down". One of the people in the crowd then placed his arms up in the air and shouted "HURRAY!" Some of the soldiers then burst out laughing. General Padlock chuckled and said "After War-Nets tin cans were shut of, a strike team was sent inside to make sure it was dead and they confirmed that the nuke had shorted out War-Nets system, causing it to be deleted". The crowd then exploded into applaud as he said that War-Net had been deleted. Lana Valine, who had so far gotten everything on camera, asked "What happened after War-Net was deleted?" General Padlock stared at the camera and said into the microphone "The people rejoiced that the War of Annihilation was finally over, but the cost was dear". A sad look came on the people's face as he said "Over 12 billion lives were lost in the war, for over four decades, we had been fighting an Artificial Intelligence that was determined to cause our species extinction and we had barely won". Footage then played on the holographic projector, showing a huge group of people, united in mourning of those lost in the war. As this footage played, the people of 2050 realised it was a news broadcast, dated 2145. The people had candles in hand and there were mementos laid around a war memorial. It was an actual tank! A stone slab had been placed on the ground in front of it and it said "In honour of those who fought and died in the War of Annihilation, they were our best, we are forever in debt, lest we forget". A voice suddenly said "Tonight, thousands of New San Franciscans have gathered in Liberation Park, to mourn the loss of those who thought in the war, five years have passed and only now is the economy beginning to recover. The lesson learnt by everyone in our great city, is war brings no good, only misery and death".

President Myers placed his robotic hand on his head and after he took it of he said "This is why I often donate to the Society for Remembrance". General Padlock then bought out a bank check and asked "Is the head of the Society for Remembrance here?" Alfred Rattle then appeared from the crowd and said "That would be me". He was a man at the age of 55 and had often raised money for war memorials. General Padlock gave him the bank check and said "Please use this for that wall your building that has the names of every soldier who died in war". Mr Rattle nodded and said "Of course, it will hopefully help educate people about the cost of war". Mary then said "That's nice of you". "Thank you" said General Padlock. Myers then asked "Would you mind showing the world the day War-Net was defeated?" General Padlock smiled and said "I remember the day". He then turned on the Memory Displayer and the memories began to appear.

September 10th 2140

Forty years had passed since the beginning of the War of Annihilation, humanity was fighting War-Net, the machine that was meant to protect them, but chose to annihilate them. The Free People's Army, had liberated all of California and were besieging War-Net Central. The Siege of Carson City had gone on for 4 years, 8 months, 3 weeks and 10 days. It was so far the longest siege in human history. Thousands of F.P.A soldiers were trying to destroy the city's defences and thousands of machines were trying to protect the city.......neither side was winning. The Free People's Army had erected huge trenches at their lines and War-Net had erected a huge wall. Every day artillery rained down from both sides to the other and there were so many they blotted out the sun! Very few artillery shells hit either side, because both sides had spectacular defences. The trenches were a difficult place for the soldiers to live, they had to sleep in large holes dug into the walls of the trenches and if they placed their hand above the trench, well, lets just say their wouldn't have to worry about washing it. The soldiers waded through the mud of the trenches like hikers in mountains, careful not to slip up on the mud and made sure to never look over the trench, unless it was with a special kind of telescope that stuck over it. The soldiers also had to be equipped with gas masks, because War-Net sometimes launched mustard gas at the trenches. The soldiers clothes were dirty and it was not uncommon to see a soldier with an eyepatch, or a robotic limb.