Cyber Warfare and the New World Order

Feel the Heat

Admiral Kawano was about to rip someone a new one. He had made the order to launch those cruise missiles at the Marines in Camp Pendleton hours ago, but clearly, they hadn’t been fired yet. He hated it when he had to repeat instructions. He stormed over to the room where the coordinates were inputted, and opened the door abruptly. Before he could yell at any of his men, one of his officers stepped forward, bowed hurriedly and then held out his hand in front of him as if to say, “Wait.”

“Sir, I know, the missiles have not been launched. However, your orders specifically stated that we were to wait until the Marines mobilized so that we could catch them out in the open, and all of our intelligence shows that they haven’t moved out yet. We don’t know why they are delayed. Do you want us to change the order?”

The admiral let out a deep breath. His rage had simmered down slightly, but he was still aggravated. Now that he was a little less irate, he pulled the officer aside and spoke to him quietly so that he could save face with his men.

“Why didn’t you come to give me an update on the status of the launch?”

“Sir, I am deeply sorry, and I humbly apologize. There was an error in the targeting system as well, and I was very focused on fixing that issue so that when our intelligence changed, we could launch the cruise missiles immediately. We had only gotten that system online recently. I admit that I lost track of time,” he said, hanging his head low.

The Admiral did not want to kick a wounded puppy. “Apology received. Next time, just keep me more up-to-date if there are delays.”

“Yes sir,” replied the officer, clearly relieved to have been spared humiliation in front of his men.

“Carry on,” responded the Admiral, more loudly so this time his fellow soldiers would hear. Then he walked out of the room and got back to other tasks at hand.