The Last Crusade (30 page)

“Show them to me. I’ve found they all support their leaders and their Quran which teach them to kill the infidels; US! They killed our President and for the second time tried to push us into a war against each other. Show me the Muslims in your country who denounce the Caliphate, show me the Muslims in your country that support religious freedom.”

“I can’t, I’m sure there are some.”

“I haven’t seen any speak out against the Caliphate, I’ve only seen the results of their riots and protests supporting the Caliphate.”

“I’m going to sleep on it.”

“I know you spoke to Pope Joseph; why don’t you follow his advice?”

“Because it deals with US citizens. US citizens are entitled to due process.”

“What about those you killed in your drone program?”

“That wasn’t my government. Those decisions weren’t mine.”

“But they were decisions made by the US government. Remember, you don’t have to do anything, we can handle it for you. You can keep your hands clean.”

“Like Pontius Pilate washed his hands in the death of our Lord?”

“Sleep on it.”

“Thank you, my aides will show you to your rooms.”

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“Saladin, I’ve just been shown updated images of the Crusader camp, it’s larger than many of our cities, how many people and tanks are in their base?”

“Your Holiness, based on the number of tents and battalion flags, we estimate there are over three hundred thousand people and eight thousand tanks.”

“Will we be able to destroy their base?”

“My experts are currently working on an attack plan where our weapons are overlapped to ensure we destroy all of them. It will be another few days before I have the targeting maps. The number of ships heading to the Sinai is finally slowing down. I think they are getting close to finishing their base.”

“How can they feed so many people?”

“Your Holiness, the Great Satan almost invented the art of logistics, it’s one of the few things they’ve mastered. Damn them. Our security people are trying to ensure the images of their base don’t find their way to our people, it would cripple their high morale.”

“I’ll show you the attack map as soon as it’s completed.”

“I have one additional idea, is it correct that the infidels aren’t ready to attack us yet.”

“Your Holiness, that is correct, they are still building their forces, they haven’t started to train yet, they will need a lot of time to coordinate between their various units and countries. What are you thinking?”

“Allah has shown me a vision, I believe we can force them to move against us before they’re ready, it will make it easier for us to strike them.”

“How are you going to get them to move before they’re ready?”

“We’ll send the Mujahedeen to attack their schools again, this time with greater force than before. When the infidel news televises images of dead children the people will demand action, their people won’t allow their governments the time to train their militaries to work together. They will cross the border unorganized, they will make themselves an easier target for our nuclear weapons, we’ll be able to kill the Crusader army in one attack. We’ll blame the nuclear explosions on the Crusaders. We’ll say they planned to nuke us, their weapons weren’t cared for, in their eagerness to attack us, they did something to set off one of the weapons which daisy chained the others. There will be no survivors to say anything different. Not only will we rid ourselves of the Crusaders, but we'll also be able to have their own media demand an end to all nuclear weapons. The infidels will be stripped naked of their weapons enabling us time to build additional weapons without fear of us being hit by the infidel’s weapons.”

“Your Holiness, a brilliant plan. I’ll order our sleeper agents to attack their schools.”

“Make sure the Mujahedeen leave behind proof we were behind the attacks. The infidels normally have so many school shootings, we have to make sure we are blamed so their public demands quick action from their government.”

Saladin smiles thinking of the chaos they are about to create in the infidel countries.

“It will be my pleasure. I will keep you updated and send you images of the chaos.”

Allah Akbar.”

“Allah Akbar.”              

Chapter 16

President Bentley wakes in the middle of the night covered in sweat, he drinks a glass of water and decides he knows what he’s going to do. He makes some notes on a small notepad next to the bed. He also makes notes to remind himself to send an order to General Green that no matter what happens, he’s to move ahead as quickly as possible with the rearming of the country. He writes a note to remind him to cancel the F35 and find a way to restart the F22 and F15 production lines. He realizes after the final Crusade there’s only going to be so much money the country will spend on defense. Most will think there aren’t any more enemies, they’ll demand a massive peace dividend. Satisfied he wrote what he wanted to himself; he rolls over falling back asleep.

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Caliphate attack teams spread out across America, Great Britain, Germany, France, Israel, Egypt, and Russia. They’ve selected elementary schools as their targets. Each school selected is a gun free zone, so they know no one will be able to quickly attack them. Each attack team is carrying automatic weapons, shotguns, hand grenades, and Claymore-type mines. The night before, they set timed bombs in trash containers, mailboxes, and parked cars across the street from the schools.

The attack teams dress in black and cover their faces, one hour after the beginning of school, they breach the doors of the schools; they toss hand grenades down the halls, they kick open classroom doors, opening fire with their automatic weapons, they go door to door killing the teachers and small children. They quickly work their way from the front door of the school to the back, killing everyone they see. They set the school on fire. As quickly as they entered, they exit out of the schools’ back door. They leave hundreds of small dead bodies in their wake.

The European and Russian attacks go as smoothly as in America. Emergency vehicles and police quickly arrive at the schools. The shooters left behind chains of fireworks on a delay fuse, when the police arrive they hear the pops coming from inside of the schools, they believe the shooters are still in the schools, slowing down their entrance to help the wounded.

The police and EMS mill around outside the schools to the distress of the screaming and crying parents yelling at them to go in and save their children. The police tell the parents they’re waiting for the SWAT squads to arrive. Sirens are heard getting closer. Additional ambulances and police cars surround the schools. When the SWAT teams arrive they begin moving towards the front doors when the hidden bombs explode spreading nails and BBs into the collected crowds. Police officers, EMS teams, grieving parents are cut down by the bombs. Media helicopters hovering above the schools are speechless at the spectacle below them. The reporters bend over throwing up their last meal, they have trouble finding the words to explain what they’re seeing. The station managers hold the videos thinking the images are too gory to show to the public. Some stations which were broadcasting live quickly go black for a minute so the director can switch feeds.

As the sun sets nations are in a state of shock, rows of tiny bodies laid next to their parents line the lawn of the schools. It takes twenty-four hours before the final death toll is known. President Bentley is informed the American death toll is nineteen hundred and eight people. He falls into his desk chair shaking his head.

“Nineteen hundred people? NINETEEN HUNDRED? How the hell did this happen? How did these people gain access to schools carrying automatic weapons and bombs? Didn’t any of these schools have any security? Jesus, this is the worst disaster in the country’s history. The nuclear attack was limited to our military bases and missile silos, most who died were military, people who knew their job was to be in harm’s way, not children in school of all places.”

“Sir, each school had a large sign proclaiming they were gun free zones, anyone carrying a firearm into the school would be arrested.”

“How well did that stop the terrorists? I bet they selected these schools because they knew there wouldn’t be anyone armed in the buildings to stop them. The new trick of leaving timed explosives behind to take down the first responders is downright pure evil. I’m really pissed, I’m sure the people are too.”

“Mr. President, the people are demanding action to destroy the Caliphate. Muslim places of business are being torched, Mosques are being torched, some with the people still inside of them. Our people are taking action into their own hands. The police are standing aside and letting the attacks take place. We’re quickly losing control.”

“What do you suggest I do?”

“Declare martial law, put a curfew in place, the country needs to take a break to catch our breath.”

“I can’t do that. It will destroy us.”

“Mr. President, the people are screaming for vengeance, they want blood. This would be the perfect time to unleash the attack, the people will support you. No one will question the use of WMD if you use them now. By now, I mean right away, tonight if possible.”

“We’re not ready yet.”

“Use what we have ready now, you can follow up the attack with the next set of weapons when they’re ready. You have to act strongly. If you act tonight, the people will give you one hundred percent of their support.”

“I’ll call the Russian Minister. Place the military on DEFCON 2.”

“Yes, sir.”

President Bentley picks up the hotline which connects him to the Russian President, the Defense Minister.

“Minister, the American people’s prayers for your losses.”

“Mr. President, the Russian people send their prayers and sorrow for your losses too. I believe you’re calling to ask me to agree to launch the attack now.”

“That’s correct, what do you think?”

“The attack against our children was an act of the devil, I agree, we must move up the attack. I realize not all of our weapons are ready, we’ll use what we have for a phase one strike. I suggest our two strike planners coordinate the target list so we strike as many as possible, once the follow-up weapons are ready, we’ll launch a second strike.”

“Why don’t we reach out to the Prime Ministers of the UK, France, Germany, Egypt and Israel so everyone is on the same track. I wouldn’t want one of them to see the launch and think we’re attacking each other.”

“I agree, let’s see if we can patch them into this call.”

“I’ve placed my military on DEFCON 2 alert.”

“We saw that; we’ve too moved our forces to a war footing.”

Ten minutes later all of the grieving Prime Ministers are on the secure conference call. Each national leader agrees to the revised timetable. The Israeli Prime Minister interrupts the other leaders.

“My friends, I believe they struck our schools in order to push us into attacking them before we’re ready. They think the attack is going to come from the phony army we’ve built in the Sinai. I believe they’re watching the camp and when they see action, they’re going to strike the camp. We want them to strike it. We want them to hit that camp before we strike them. Anyone who isn’t moved by the attack on our schools and our most defenseless will be moved by them striking our military on our side of the border. I believe we need to send the order to begin moving the remote controlled mockup tanks and generate the sounds of the camp getting ready to attack. If we don’t, they’ll realize it’s a sham.”

The other Prime Ministers agree; the order is sent to the camp to prepare it for war. Loudspeakers are turned on, lights come on, kitchens fire up, remote controlled tanks begin moving. From a distance, it looks like the camp is preparing to attack the Caliphate. It’s what Saladin and the Mahdi are waiting for,