Battlefield Pacific

Asian Rivals

General John Bennet grabbed his backpack from the overhead bin and headed toward the baggage claim. He was feeling a bit disoriented after his long flight from South Korea. Even though he had mastered the skill of sleeping anywhere, anytime — a necessity in the military — the time change was throwing him off. He wasn’t sure if it was day or nighttime anymore. It didn’t help that he still didn’t know why he had been called to meet with the President. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy or frightened about losing his job.

When he arrived at Carousel 3, he heard a familiar voice call to him, “John!”

He turned around. His wife, Stacy, and three youngest sons were standing there, waving to get his attention.

A flood of emotions washed over him. Bennet hadn’t seen his family for months, and he hadn’t been expecting to see them during this trip. Despite the tough guy persona, he shed a few tears as they all hugged each other.

General Bennet relaxed a bit as they all rode together in the black Chevy Suburban that had been sent to pick them up.

“They sent my family — this has to bode well for my meeting with Gates,” he thought.

Bennet allowed himself to chat with his sons about school, girls, and their sports teams. He held his wife’s hand and shot her a few smiles in between his sons’ chattiness; she never got a word in edgewise when they got together after a long break.

Meanwhile, he kept mulling over what he would possibly be discussing with the President. He secretly hoped that maybe this meeting might result in him finally getting what he really wanted, which was to get General Cutter’s Marines assigned to him for the invasion of China. They had already succeeded in securing the Russian Far East, pushing the Russian forces all the way back to Khabarovsk; he was certain that if he had been able to keep them in the fight for a few more months, they would have been able to reinvade China and push through to Shenyang. Maybe they could have even threatened Beijing… but his multiple requests to the SecDef had not gone in his favor. So far, General Cutter’s forces were being consolidated in the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam to retake the Philippines and Taiwan before the Chinese could turn them into island fortresses.

The Suburban pulled through the security check point in front of the White House, and he was startled out of his sea of swirling thoughts.

“Dad, this is so cool!” exclaimed Tyrone, his youngest son.

General Bennet remembered the first time he had seen 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. — it was pretty awe-inspiring.

“I’m excited to share your first White House trip with you, son,” he said with a smile.

Once they made it through the security checks to the inside of the building, Bennet’s family was brought around the facility with a very comprehensive tour. Finally, they ended up in the Oval Office. At that point, even his sixteen-year-old son, Elijah, who was rarely impressed by anything, was basically awestruck.

“Dad, you just earned me some serious points with the girls at school,” he commented.

“Glad I could help,” Bennet answered with a smirk.

“Dad, Dad, can I sit in the President’s chair and get Mom to take a picture?” he asked.

Just then, President Gates walked in.

“Sure,” Gates answered, smiling.

“Mr. President, it’s an honor to meet you, Sir,” said Tyrone in awe.

“It’s an honor to meet you, too, Tyrone,” he responded cheerfully. He greeted the whole family with handshakes and kissed Stacy Bennet on the cheek. Then he posed with Tyrone at the desk, pretending to hand him an important document, as if Bennet’s son were the President and not the other way around.

“It’s just so surreal watching the President interact so naturally with my family,” thought General Bennet. Gates happily did selfies with Elijah and his thirteen-year-old, Isaac, as well.

The SecDef walked over to Bennet. He leaned in. “I’ll bet you’re wondering what in the heck is going on, aren’t you?” he asked with a crooked smile.

“Um, yeah, I think you could say that,” he responded, not sure what else to say.

“We are shifting to your theater,” Secretary Castle explained. “You’ve been in charge of operations in Korea — and by the way, the President has been impressed with your work there — but we need a new commander to take over as overall commander of Asia. The President asked me to nominate you.”

General Bennet didn’t respond. He was a bit stunned.

“You’re going to be given your fifth star,” said the SecDef, half punching him in the shoulder. “You’re going to be only the seventh person in American military history to be a five-star general, and the first of African-American decent. If I weren’t the Secretary of Defense and your boss, I’d be really jealous of you right now.”

A White House photographer came in and took some official photographs of Bennet’s family with the President before his wife and sons were escorted to an anteroom and asked to wait while Gates spoke with Bennet privately.

The room was suddenly quiet with just the four of them there: the President, his Chief of Staff, the Secretary of Defense, and General Bennet. They all took a seat.

“General Bennet, I’m sure the SecDef here gave you a little heads-up as to why you are here,” said Gates.

Bennet nodded.

“I’ve been supremely impressed with your ability to handle what’s been thrown at you,” the President continued. “You’ve had to liaise and coordinate with the Japanese and South Korean governments, something that I know has not been easy, considering the two countries’ past histories. With your assistance, these two nations are fighting side-by-side to defeat the Russians and the Chinese. You helped orchestrate the defeat of the North Korean regime, and you held things together against all odds while our focus had been on Europe.”

Bennet held up his hand, ready to protest and say something about it being a “team effort,” but the President spoke before he could object.

“I don’t know that many other people who could have handled that the way you did, General Bennet. Therefore, I am going to promote you to be America’s seventh five-star general, and you will become the Pacific theater supreme commander. All US and Allied forces will now be under your command.” The President paused for effect before he continued. “I’m hereby ordering you to defeat the People’s Republic of China and the Eastern Alliance. You’re charged with liberating the Philippines and Taiwan in addition to your objectives in the Russian Far East and the Koreas. Do you accept this promotion and position?” he asked.

Bennet didn’t skip a beat. “Absolutely, I accept, Mr. President. It’s been an honor to serve under you as our Commander-in-Chief. I won’t let you or the country down, Sir. Of that you can be assured.”

“Excellent,” responded the President. “Be warned, though, Bennet, I hold my commanders to a high standard, and I never hesitate to replace commanders that are not up to the task. I expect you to hold that same stance with your own command. I want you to think about who you need to promote or move to a different position and utilize your people to the best of their abilities.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Bennet, already mulling over how he would form up his new command.

“As you know, I’m not a military man,” conceded Gates. “That’s why I have Castle, and now you, to implement the execution of this war. Remember, we need to apply maximum pressure on the Chinese at all times. I know you wanted to keep General Cutter’s Marines in the Russian Far East, but right now, we need his Marines in the South Pacific. I need you to do whatever is necessary to make sure he’s successful in liberating the Philippines and Taiwan.”

The President paused for a moment, clearly giving some thought as to what to say next. “Cutter’s success is your success, and his failure is your failure as well. You two need to work together on this. He’s a good commander — use him and his skill set to meet your goals. Understood?” he asked, in a tone that was more of a warning.

General Bennet smiled. “I understand, Mr. President. I see you’ve heard of the rivalry between me and General Cutter. We have had a bit of a competition between us, to be sure, but we are also good friends.” He thought about his eldest son, Isaiah, who had joined the Marines against his advice. Cutter had moved him to be his aide as a personal favor; it wouldn’t keep him entirely out of danger, but he wouldn’t be an infantry platoon commander on the front lines, either. Bennet definitely owed him one. “The two of us will win Asia for you, Mr. President. You can count on that,” he asserted.

“Excellent,” replied Gates, clearly relieved by the response he had received. “Then I believe we have a press announcement to make, and my wife has arranged for a special dinner for all of us — well, Jim and his wife, Liam Greeson and his better half, and our families.” He smiled and stood up. The other men followed suit.

When General Bennet entered the room to reunite with his family, he found his sons chatting excitedly with the President’s son, Connor Gates. They were all comparing notes about their favorite computer games.

He walked over to his wife and chuckled. “I guess we can catch up now,” he joked.