Civil War

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

(July 4, 2026)

As the sun over the United States, it rises on a country that is not much in the mood for celebrating. Nowhere is that felt more than in Texas.

At Joint Base San Antonio, a flight of F-16s from the 182nd Fighter Squadron, the main combat squadron of the Texas Air National Guard, is preparing to fly a training mission. The pilots are already out on the flightline, inspecting their aircraft. However, none of them feel much like flying today.

Among them is one of the more experienced pilots in the squadron, Major Collin Smith, callsign Forge. Smith has served in the Air National Guard for over a decade, and has seen a combat deployment to the Middle East with 182nd. He's one of the best pilots the squadron has, and is often one of the people younger pilots turn to for tips. He will be leading the flight today. However, as he inspects the flaps on his jet, his mind is only half on the pre-flight inspection. The other half is reflecting on the sorry state of the country at the moment, which has led to his unit actually cancelling their 4th of July celebrations out of disgust for the current situation.

The last two months have seen the country spiralling further and further as not have the aftermath of the trials of Nikki Haley and the other arrested candidates played out, but President Davidson had also enacted sweeping changes, all of them with severe opposition.

To nobody's surprise, all three candidates who had been arrested and tried had been convicted and sent to prison, and multiple protestors and activisits protesting the results have also been charged and imprisoned. In addition, backlash against protests have gotten so bad that at least one prominent activist protesting against the president and the trials has disappeared from social media and from their home, with people divided on whether this meant that they had been secretly "dealt with" by the government, or had gone under the radar to avoid being arrested.

At the same time, the president had begun enacting some drastic changes to the government and federal law. He had begun passing strict gun control laws that outlawed any gun classified as an assault weapon and posing serious restrictions on other guns, all done in the name of trying to prevent the growing civil unrest from costing more lives. He had downsized the FBI, cutting multiple divisions of the organization completely and restricting some of their uses, while at the same time expanding the Secret Service and the roles it was assigned to fulfill. However, most alarming of all, he had begun lifting certain restrictions on the CIA, allowing them conduct intelligence gathering or surveillance on US citizens under certain circumstances. This last one had been particularly divisive, with many seeing it as necessary to prevent extremism from breaking out, and many others seeing it as another move by the government to exert more control over the country.

The changes to the CIA had been particularly anger-inducing for Major Smith. Between that and the other changes, Smith had almost resigned from the Air National Guard. His fellow pilots had persuaded him to stay, but the sentiment of wanting to resign was growing in the squadron. Some of them had even joked about them taking advantage of one of their training flights and trying to defect away to one of America's allies where they could be more free than they now were in America. However, it never went beyond jokes.

Smith finally completes his flight check and turns around to look at the other three pilots who'll be joining him for the flight. "Alright, men. Let's fly!" he calls out, trying to sound cheerful.

(That evening)

In his home at Fort Cavazos, Captain Rollings is settling down in front of the TV after dinner while his wife is getting their kids ready for bed. Today had been a long day as his battalion had been conducting gunnery drills, and he just wants to relax for the night.

As he turns on the news, his attention is immediately grabbed as he sees the program switch from the studio to a reporter in the field as a headline comes up at the bottom of the screen. A headline that reads "Justice Clarence Thomas Dies At Age 78".

"Yes, we have just received confirmation that as of an hour ago, Judge Clarence Thomas, the longest serving member of the US Supreme Court, has died of a second heart attack. Despite recent hopes that Thomas would make a full recovery, it seems that fate has had other ideas."

As the reporter reflects on Thomas' service and expresses opinions on how he will be missed, Rollings reflects sadly on this. Judge Thomas had been admitted to the hospital several weeks ago after suffering a mild heart attack. Although he had been struggling, doctors had said they expected him to make a full recovery and be out of the hospital in another week or so. Rollings momentarily allows himself a moment to say a prayer for his family.

However, as he returns his attention to the news, a thought occurs to him that the timing of his death is a little too convenient. Of course, it's not easy to pass off a murder as a heart attack, and he had already had a heart not long ago, so it's not unlikely for him to have another one. Still, something nags Rollings in the back of his mind that there may be more to this than it seems.

(August 13, 2026)

In the kitchen of the Rollings home, a crumpled newspaper goes flying across the kitchen and hits a wall, while Captain Rollings is standing with his hands on the counter, trying to calm himself down.

Rollings' slight nagging worry when he heard of Clarence Thomas' death had begun to grow into something he now thought was true. In a surprisingly short timespan after Thomas' death, President Davidson had announced his nomination to fill Thomas' place. The judge in question was relatively inexperienced compared to what was normal. While unusual, it hadn't caused too much trouble with the public. What did cause trouble was when, just a week ago, another Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh, had been killed while out at a restaurant with his wife when a drunk driver crashed through the front of the restaurant. Although at first nothing seemed off besides the timing, suspicion arrived when a close friend of the driver in question came forward to say he couldn't even remember the last time his friend had touched alcohol. Although bloodwork had confirmed the driver was intoxicated, the statement by the friend, and a similar statement by another friend to confirm the claim, had caused serious suspicion to arise. Now, in his daily newspaper, Rollings has just read that President Davidson has already announced his candidate to take Kavanaugh's place...just five days after his death.

Rollings is feeling angry. His gut tells him that the President wouldn't have announced a candidate so soon unless he had him picked out in advance of Kavanaugh's death. And if that was the case...

(The White House)

"Not taking care of that friend of his, or not choosing someone who was known to drink, has caused us too much trouble! People are now saying that I had Thomas and Kavanaugh killed!" Davidson almost shouts.

Before him, a member of the NSRP that is in charge of a group of members that has basically become the president's secret, underground enforcers is trying to remain visibly calm despite the fear now going through him. "I apologize for not further vetting the selection, nor ensuring no statements from friends or relatives reached the public. I assure you, sir, it will not happen again," he says.

"You had better not. Our slip-ups so far have endangered everything we've been fighting for. And I will not let the incompetence of the NSRP destroy me!" Davidson snarls.

The man simply nods, while internally, he is starting to wonder if Davidson is really doing all of this for the NSRP and their cause, or if it is only about him now. However, he quickly pushes those thoughts aside, knowing the consequences that could befall him should he allow such thoughts to affect him.