Cyber Warfare and the New World Order

Geepers, Reapers

Captain Elizabeth Mann had been the Commanding officer of the newest Reagan Class Supercarrier, USS Donald J. Trump, for the past year. Before that, she had spent a year as the executive officer on the USS William Clinton before she was promoted and given command of one of the new supercarriers. It had been a great honor; she had beaten out a lot of other officers for such an important command.

Captain Mann was nervous about this particular mission. Her carrier (along with her sister carrier, the USS Barrack Obama) were escorting the 32^nd Infantry Division to invade the Kola Peninsula and the critical Russian naval base of Murmansk. The fleet was going to be sailing deep into Russian territory, and would be attacking what was perhaps their most important naval base in Russia. If the 32^nd Infantry could secure the facility and the Peninsula, it might bring the war that much closer to being won. In addition to transporting the 32^nd Infantry, she had been told they were also escorting 1,000 of these new humanoid Reaper combat drones. The senior captains were not given a lot of information about them during the pre-deployment brief, other than being told that they were going to change the way ground wars were going to be fought.

The fleet had three attack submarines running about 100 miles ahead of their position, and another two SUDs shadowing them in case any Russian subs managed to slip through their anti-submarine screen. Subs were her greatest concern. The USS Seawolf had managed to sink one of the enemy carrier ships in the decisive battle of Hawaii. She did not want to lose her ship or any other ship in the fleet to a sneak attack from below.

As the fleet continued to move further north into Russian waters, the weather remained cool and the water became choppier. Thus far, they had encountered little resistance from the Russians. The submarine screen had sunk two subs a couple of days earlier, and one of the fleet’s destroyers had also sunk an enemy submarine.

Unfortunately, three coastal raider ships had managed to slip past one of the American destroyer’s surface radars and fired off a volley of anti-ship missiles, sinking one of the destroyers and damaged another frigate. Some of the intelligence officers thought that the Russians had used some sort of new anti-ship radar technology that allowed the small ships to slip past them.

While the fleet continued to move closer to Murmansk, the ground forces that would be operating the new Reaper drones continued to train on them, trying to become as proficient with them as possible before their first big test.

Captain Paul Allen was still getting used to being on a ship. Of course, operating in a virtual reality simulator all day was not making it any easier. Once the Russian and Chinese began pulling the bulk of their forces out of Alaska, the 32^nd Infantry Division had been pulled from the line and redeployed to the East Coast. Captain Allen’s brigade had been selected as operators for the new enhanced humanoid drone program. Seeing the Bodarks for the first time at the start of the New Year had been scary; however, the reality of the Reaper drones was nothing short of terrifying. Their flat silver grayish exteriors, menacing looking faces and glowing red eyes were unnerving. These new killing machines were truly science fiction nightmares.

After being selected for the EHD program, his company had spent a week in a classroom learning about the Reaper drones’ functions, how they worked, and what they could do. They spent another week learning basic maintenance of the drone, though the technicians assigned to each drone would handle the day-to-day maintenance. Following the familiarization of the drone, they were introduced to the equipment that would allow them to operate the machines.

The operation of the EHDs was similar in function to other virtual reality systems; there was a circular three-foot round platform that you stood on while wearing a special suit, shoes, gloves and headset. The shoes were frictionless, which essentially allowed the operators to walk or run in place on the platform. The users’ gestures and movements would be matched by the Reaper the soldier was paired to. If the soldier walked, the Reaper walked, if it ran, then the drone ran. When the soldier raised his simulated rifle, the drone would raise its rifle and engage whatever the soldier had placed in his or her sights. The drone was essentially a surrogate, doing the bidding of the soldier without risking the life of the soldier.

Allen’s soldiers had spent three weeks learning to operate in a virtual reality environment: conducting patrols, storming a beach, conducting house-to-house searches and any other combat scenarios that the trainers threw at them. They were given a week of leave to enjoy some downtime before their brigade boarded the USS America and head to Russia. The USS America was a massive amphibious assault ship that could transport 2,000 soldiers and their combat equipment anywhere in the world. Paul had never been on a naval ship before; as he approached the ship, he was amazed at how utterly enormous it was.

After boarding the ship, they were introduced to their new surroundings; the vessel would become their home for the next several months. Unlike the rest of the soldiers in their division, they would not be going ashore. They would be staying aboard the America, operating the suite of virtual reality stations that had been installed throughout the belly of the ship where the landing craft and vehicles used to be stored. Those areas had been converted into a space large enough to hold up to 600 virtual reality stations. The bays had been broken down by battalions and then companies. The aircraft bay was currently filled with the Reaper drones and the maintenance crews assigned to support them.

Because each of the drones were being operated by human beings with biological needs, the army created drone teams. Each team would consist of three drone pilots and three maintenance technicians. The plan was simple; one soldier would operate the drone in four hour intervals and then swap out with a team member. This would enable the drone to be operated twenty-four hours a day while in combat, and give the operators time to rest.

When the pods got dropped off out in the field, there was a whole system set up out there. Several Reaper drones would be activated in sentry mode to guard spare drones and drone parts. In that cluster of pods, there were also be a few that were designated maintenance pods, filled with spare parts and staffed with technicians to repair the Reapers as needed (these soldiers were not there to fight, but solely to support the EHDs in their mission). As drones became damaged or needed repair, a spare drone would be activated until the original was fully functional again. If the technicians were not able to fix one of the Reapers with the spare parts and tools on hand, then it would be flown back to the USS America for a more advanced maintenance crew to work on.

Between the rest of the division using the Raptor combat suits and the Reaper drones, the Russians would have no idea what hit them. It was hoped that the Army would be able to secure this northernmost Russian base and provide the Allies with a platform from which to launch further attacks deeper into the Russian mainland, pulling additional resources away from the frontlines in Eastern Europe.

After nearly two weeks at sea, the invasion force was nearing their launch position. As Captain Allen sat in the briefing room with the other battalion and company commanders, looking over their objectives, he couldn’t help but wonder if they were finally nearing the end of this bloody war. After nearly three years of combat, he was ready to be done with fighting.

The plan for the invasion was simple; the Reapers would be flown in via the Razorbacks to assault the Severomorsk naval base along with regular troops who had been equipped with the Raptor exoskeleton suits. Once they landed, the first wave of EHD pods would be delivered and the Reapers would then begin to fan out and secure the facility. The same process would be replicated all throughout the peninsula as small units in Raptor suits secured various landing sites for the Reaper pods and then let the drones go do the dangerous and dirty work of securing the broader area. Once the port facilities were fully secured, the transport ships would move down the channel to offload the armored vehicles. The Air Force would work on getting the nearby airfields up and running while several squadrons of fighter drones and additional Razorbacks were flown into the area.

With a forward operating base situated deep behind enemy lines, the allies would be able to launch any number of raids against the Russians, and they would have virtually no defense against them. Paul thought the plan sounded simple, but maybe it was too simple. “Typical higher ups,” he thought, “Always making these grandiose plans. I wonder if they realize that the Russians get a vote in the matter, too.”

As Paul walked through the rows of virtual reality pods on his way to brief his company, he couldn’t help but think to himself how detached war was becoming. When World War III had first started, he was a rifleman, a soldier with the first railgun to be used as an infantry rifle. Two years later, he was outfitted with an exoskeleton combat suit. Now he was commanding a company of soldiers who would operate the latest mechanical killing machine, the enhanced humanoid drone, a mechanical clone that would enable his soldiers to throw themselves at the enemy without fear of death. It was strange to think how fast the business of killing had advanced and what the next evolution would entail. While talking with one of the computer technicians, he had heard the military was developing an Artificial Intelligence version of the Reaper drone that would enable the military to drop the drones behind enemy lines and let them operate autonomously, on their own without human involvement. That was truly a scary idea to him and he wondered, “What if the machine decides not to listen to its human masters? What if it becomes ‘self-aware’?”

“Room, Attention!” yelled the Company First Sergeant as Captain Allen walked in.

Paul was still not used to the formality and attention every time he entered a room. He had been an NCO most of his military career. As he surveyed the men and women of his command, he could see the apprehension written all over their faces. This was the first time they would be using the Reapers in combat, and they were carrying a heavy burden; the men and women of the division would be counting on them to successfully secure their objectives. If they did their jobs right, a lot of lives would be saved by not using live soldiers in Raptor suits.

“Listen up, everyone. I know there is a lot riding on our success, but I don’t want you to concentrate on that. I want you to focus on the tasks assigned to each platoon and squad. You worry about doing your specific job, and let others worry about doing theirs. I want you to fixate every thought you have on operating your Reaper… don’t get bogged down by the bigger picture. If you run into a problem, get your squad leader’s attention quickly so we can address it. I spoke with our support company, and they have several computer technicians assigned to our company to help address any problems that may come up.”

Pulling up a holographic map of the area, Captain Allen began to highlight the individual platoon and company objectives. “Things are going to move quickly once we are on the ground. Once our initial mission has been completed, there is a chance we will be given new orders and expected to capture more ground.”

Showing some areas highlighted in red, Captain Allen pulled up more information showing the enemy unit composition. “As you can see, the Russians have moved a brigade of their own soldiers (who are equipped with exoskeleton suits) to the area as well. You can expect these guys to be ready for a fight. The Russians know that if we capture this peninsula, the war is that much closer to being won, so expect them to fight like cats backed into a corner.”

“Remember, just because we are tied to virtual reality simulator equipment does not make what you are about to see, hear, and be a part of any less real. Keep your wits about you, and your head on a swivel. Do not take unnecessary risks, and do what you can to protect your EHD. Oh, and before we leave, I want you to remember one very important thing…we are going to crush them!” he roared to the delight of his men.

With that, he dismissed the troops to their individual commanders and they quickly exited the briefing room to head to their simulator pods. As the soldiers got themselves strapped in, Paul walked over to his own simulation pod and began the process of hooking himself up.

He changed into the skin-hugging jumpsuit that would mimic his every move and allow him to feel what the EHD felt. He put on his gloves and frictionless boots, then stepped onto the simulation platform and began to attach his helmet. Once the power had been activated, he immediately began a quick system check, just as they had been taught.

Shortly after completing his system check, a message was sent across the battalion net, letting them know the helicopters would be lifting off shortly to begin the assault. As Paul looked from left to right, his EHD mimicked his move, and he could see the others in his transport pod doing similar checks. It was strange looking at the other Reapers, each had a name and rank written on its right chest area just as it would have if it were a regular soldier or Raptor suit. What he never got used to seeing was the soft glowing red eyes of the EHD. The lights for the eyes could be dimmed or turned off all together, and typically were darkened when operating at night. However, the physiological warfare folks believed that the soldiers should leave them on all the time, even if it gave away their positions at night. Their reasoning was simple; the strange sight was a powerful cause of intimidation and fear.

A few minutes later, the transport pod began to lift off the deck of the America, carrying the Reapers towards their drop point. Paul couldn’t see that much while the EHD was in the transport pod. Switching channels on his visual input, Allen was able to see what the pilot saw as the helicopter travelled quickly at treetop level. In the distance, Paul saw anti-aircraft fire emanating from the direction of the Russian base and city nearby. Several missiles streaked towards some of the helicopters. He saw a Razorback take a direct hit — it exploded violently.

A few minutes later, Paul saw the airfield his company had been assigned to secure. They were going to be landing towards the tail end of the runway, where the area was cleared of trees. There were no buildings nearby, which is why they had chosen this area to land the EHD pods. It would allow the helicopters enough time to drop the pods and then run back to the America to pick up the next load of EHDs.

In seconds, the transport pod was on the ground, and Paul and his soldiers began to detach the restraints holding their Reapers in place. They quickly began to exit the transport and began to move as squads towards their objectives. Paul was moving with the second squad from first platoon towards what had been identified as the command building for the airfield. The targeting system on the EHD quickly identified several enemy soldiers, who immediately opened fire on the Reapers with their machine guns.

Green tracers could be seen heading towards their position. Paul saw one of his fellow soldier’s EHD get hit with several rounds and fall to the ground. As he ran past the drone, he saw it get back up and continue to fire its rifle; soon it was running towards the enemy position with the rest of his squad. While Allen was sprinting towards his objective, he raised his rifle and shot at a small cluster of soldiers he saw emerging from the building in front of him.

The targeting system on the EHD was amazing. Despite running across rough terrain, the Reaper could keep the rifle stable while tracking whatever target it had identified. Paul found himself awestruck at the integration of the virtual reality technology; the digital and physical world had blurred together in the EHD.

The Russians began to pour more and more soldiers out of the surrounding buildings to attack the Americans. The Russians were truly caught off guard; they had been expecting the Americans to attack them, but had anticipated soldiers in Raptor combat suits. They did not know how to respond to this new threat.

A Russian officer observing the attack from the window of one of the buildings a little farther away from the base headquarters would later write that in his memoirs of the war that when the Americans attacked with their new weapon, it looked like something out of a Sci-Fi novel. He saw a small cluster of soldiers’ attack one of the EHDs and hit it with at least a dozen rounds, only to see the drone get back up and continue to attack. Another drone had been hit by a heavy machine gun, ripping one of its arms off. The drone continued to fight on with it’s one good arm, until the heavy machine gunner hit it with a stream of rounds that eventually disabled the drone.

Within an hour, Paul’s company had secured the airfield and their objectives. Of the 132 EHDs that participated in the attack, they had lost nineteen. Three of the soldiers from their maintenance platoon had been injured when a mortar round landed nearby their maintenance pod; however, aside from their injuries, his company had captured the enemy airfield with no casualties at all. This was a feat that would have cost his company dozens of dead or injured soldiers if they had carried out the attack with only the Raptor suits.

The success of Captain Allen’s company was repeated throughout the peninsula as they continued to take control of each objective the EHDs had been given. By the end of the first day of the operation, they had secured half a dozen enemy airfields, and several small cities and port facilities. The 32^nd Infantry Division immediately began to unload the rest of their armored vehicles and tanks as they began the task of turning the peninsula into a forward operating base and launch pad for further deep penetration operations into the Russian heartland. By the end of the first week, they had secured all their objectives with very few casualties. The division had 2,600 EHDs at the start of the operation and had lost 431 to enemy action and 214 to maintenance issues. The first combat test of the EHDs had proven successful and now their implementation across the rest of the army would begin in earnest.