Cyber Warfare and the New World Order

Negotiator in Chief

The sudden death of President Fradkov and the change of leadership within the Russian Federation sent shock waves throughout the world. The Russian government requested a ceasefire and direct talks between the man who had emerged as the new leader of Russia, Petr Gromley, and President Stein. The key questions being asked in Washington were — who is Petr Gromley, and how did he become the President? No one seemed to know the answers, and this concerned President Stein and his senior staff. How did a seemingly unknown individual suddenly become the President of Russia?

President Stein did ultimately decide to agree to a 48-hour ceasefire and direct talks with President Gromley. As the intelligence community scrambled to learn as much as they could about Petr Gromley, an appointed time for a holographic telecom was set. Twenty-three hours after the ceasefire went into effect, the two leaders would have their first discussion.

As the President sat on one of the two couches in the Oval Office, he stared out the window for a second, collecting some of his thoughts. The President nervously asked Director Rubio, “Have we learned anything more about who Petr Gromley is? I’d like to know a bit more about the man I will be speaking with in a few hours.”

Director Rubio gestured towards a middle-aged analyst he had brought with him to this meeting. “Mr. President, this is Dr. Jason Strom. He’s from our Russian division, and had studied and worked for many years in Russia for us before returning to the US and official cover with the Agency. I will let Dr. Strom brief you on what he has been able to dig up.”

Dr. Strom was clearly anxious about briefing the President. He stammered at first before clearing his throat to start over. “Mr. President, while I was in Russia, I came across the name Petr Gromley only once. I learned that he was a successful businessman, but also had deep ties with the SVR, part of the FSB foreign intelligence arm. There was relatively little information I could compile while in Russia and through my subsequent dive back into his history these past 23 hours; however, we were able to link him to several the major oligarchs that run the various industrial sectors in Russia. We also linked him to several senior military and intelligence officials who are also now in charge of the government. What we found interesting about his connections was how diverse they are. He is well-connected both with Russian power brokers and military leaders, and also with members of the financial sector, both domestic and abroad. For instance, his wife is an active member of the Rothschild family.”

The President digested the information and sat silently thinking about what it meant before asking a follow up question. “So, what you are saying is, this guy is a very well-connected man both in Russia and outside of Russia. He has money, influence and contacts in critical areas within the government. Yet he also appears to have some sort of connection, a deep connection, with the SVR. What was his connection with Fradkov before he died?”

Glancing at his notes for just a second, “Gromley knew Fradkov; they had attended the same military school and college, and they worked in the FSB together for a short period. I have not had enough time with my sources still in Russia to really gain a full understanding of their relationship, but it is safe to say they knew each other for a very long time.” Dr. Strom spoke with increasing confidence as he started to feel more comfortable with briefing the President.

President Stein took a sip of coffee; he was in the process of cutting out his steady diet of Red Bulls. His physician had said they were partly to blame for his headaches, so he had to find another source of caffeine. As the President placed his mug down on the table between his guests, he looked at Director Rubio and asked, “Do you believe there is a bit more to Gromley than we may think? Looking at what I’ve read and now heard from Dr. Strom, Gromley seems to be more of the spy master or chess master, moving players around the board. I find it strange that most of the individuals with whom we know he had strong connections prior to the death of Fradkov, suddenly find themselves in critical positions within the Army. Not to mention the very suspicious sudden deaths of nearly a dozen other figure heads within the government right around the time of Fradkov’s death — it almost seems like his death was planned, but that’s just me speculating.”

Director Rubio nodded in agreement. “I believe you may be right, Mr. President. This could have been an internal well thought out plan. The question then, is if this is, then what is their end state?”

Dr. Strom knew he should probably not say anything since it was clear his section of the brief had concluded, but he could not help himself. “Mr. President, if I could, I believe Gromley’s intensions will be to bring some sort of honorable end to the war. If he truly represents the oligarchs and elites within the country, then they know the war is no longer winnable, at least not without destroying Russia in the process. They have too much to lose in that scenario, and they must have believed that Fradkov would probably never pursue peace.”

The President thought about this for a moment. “You may be right, though I think their decision probably had more to do with the likelihood that Fradkov was going to move forward with the Pan Asian Alliance. Joining the alliance was probably the only way to save his war. Our capture of Murmansk has shaken them to their core, and we are now positioned to strike deep behind their European lines.”

CIA Director Rubio responded, “I think that is a safe assumption, Mr. President. From the intercepts we have from China, they were not going to provide Fradkov with reinforcements or additional military equipment unless he agreed to join the alliance. They had promised him one million PLA soldiers if he agreed to join, and it looks like he was probably going to get Russia to accept the agreement.”

The President let out a soft sigh and looked out the window again, drifting away to a far-away world before returning. “Gentlemen, you both have given me a lot to think about. If you will excuse me, I am going to spend the next hour thinking about this meeting and formulating some questions and potential responses to them.” With that, the President indicated that it was time for them to leave the Oval Office and allow him some time alone.

As President Stein sat at his desk, he began to pen several scenarios out, and wrote some goals he wanted to achieve during the meeting. He also put together a list of demands, if the Russians did want an end to the war.

Two hours later, President Stein walked down to the PEOC to have his virtual meeting with President Gromley. As the President walked into the communications room, he sat down at the center of the table. Just out of sight was General Branson, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Jim Wise, the Secretary of State, Eric Clarke, the Secretary of Defense and Patrick Rubio, the Director of the CIA. Monty, the President’s Chief of Staff and senior advisor was seated next to the President with a pad of paper and a pen. The President signaled that he was ready to receive the call. In seconds, a message was sent to the Russians to let them know President Stein was ready to start the meeting.

A minute later, the holographic screen came to life, and a life-size image of President Petr Gromley appeared opposite of President Stein at the table. President Gromley spoke perfect English, and initiated the discussion saying, “Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to meet with me and for the immediate ceasefire. As you know, President Fradkov suffered a massive heart attack. I was asked to step in as interim President until a new election can be held in two years. One of my goals as the new President is to work with you to find a way to bring this war between our nations to an end.”

With the ball now in his court, President Stein now had to decide; did he want to pursue an end to the war then? Or did he want to fight on and end the war on their terms, as an unconditional surrender?

“Thank you for reaching out to me, President Gromley. Congratulations to you on becoming President. I am glad to hear that your government would like to pursue an end to this war. I must tell you; I am not sure Russia is willing to agree to our terms. We have been committed to nothing less than an unconditional surrender of Russia,” Stein said, laying out his initial starting point for these talks. He wanted the new Russian leader to know that America was committed to continuing this war out to its conclusion; they did not need to agree to a peace just yet.

Gromley knew President Stein would want to set his terms. From everything he had read about Henry Stein, he knew he was a shrewd negotiator…tough, but fair. Russia had inflicted some serious wounds on America, and President Stein was going to want America’s pound of Russian flesh in return.

“I am sure you understand, Mr. President; the Russian Federation cannot accept those terms as they are presently laid out. We have suffered some battlefield defeats, but we are far from defeated as a nation. My government’s goal is to end this war and the bloodshed. As you are aware, the reinforcements from our Indian allies have arrived. Their forces have not been committed yet, but their introduction to the European front will have an impact. I would like to negotiate an honorable end to the war and not have to commit them to the defeat of NATO.”

The President shifted slightly in his chair before responding, “Thank you, President Gromley, for being open and more importantly direct. So, let me be direct with you as well, so we can save each other a lot of time and remove any confusion. The Russian Federation, in coordination with the Islamic Republic and the People’s Republic of China, launched a massive surprise attack against the United States, Israel and our NATO allies. This was an unprovoked attack that has claimed the lives of tens of millions of people in the United States and our allied nations. I would like to find a way to end this war with your nation, but it will be on favorable terms to the United States and our allies, or we can continue this war until my forces have either captured or killed you and your government.” Stein spoke forcefully but respectfully.

Gromley shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Mr. President, what terms would you find acceptable?”

“For starters, Russia would need to withdraw all military forces from NATO member territories. Russia would also need to begin an immediate demobilization of your military force, allowing no more than 330,000 active duty soldiers. This number is consistent with your force structure from ten years ago, prior to your military buildup.”

President Stein glanced at his notes very briefly before he continued, “Next, the Russian government would have to take responsibility for any war crimes your forces may have committed in the occupied territories, and pay reparations to the families. The exact amount would be determined by an international tribunal. Russia would also have to agree to an end of the ongoing cyber-attacks, cyber-espionage and cyber warfare being conducted against the United States and our allies. Finally, Russia would have to agree to a ten-year moratorium on any space exploration or space activities.”

Gromley had figured that the President would most likely ask for everything he had just mentioned, with the exception of the space exploration moratorium. That was one area the oligarchs wanted to pursue since the advent of the EmDrive. Once the news had been made public about the American Pegasus project, space exploration and mining had become a top priority of the oligarchs. The mining and exploration possibilities were endless, and the war was the inhibiting factor in allowing Russia to pursue them.

“Mr. President, I can agree to most of these terms. What Russia will not give up is our possession of our former satellite nations, including the Caucus region and the ‘Stan’ countries. We can agree to withdraw our forces from the Scandinavian countries, Eastern Europe and Turkey. Would this return of territory be acceptable?”

Looking to his advisors for guidance, the President saw General Branson, Secretary Wise, and Director Rubio nod their heads. Stein summoned a bit of acting to make himself appear very reluctant as he replied, “We can agree to those terms; Russia can keep the Caucus region and the Stans.”

Gromley continued, “I am not sure I can agree to the force reduction to 330,000 soldiers. We have more than four million men and women in uniform right now. I cannot simply release that many millions of soldiers without experiencing severe unemployment and civil unrest. We can work towards that number over a multiple year period, but I cannot cut that many soldiers overnight.” Petr said as he offered his first bit of resistance to the American President.

President Stein’s advisors just shrugged their shoulders and nodded. “Thank you for that clarification and justification. Let’s agree to a force reduction down to two million soldiers over the next six months, one million soldiers in eighteen months and five hundred thousand soldiers in two years and we leave it at that level,” Stein said, trying to offer a concession.

Gromley and Stein continued to negotiate for an hour about other details of the peace agreement, hammering out the major sticking points leaving the smaller points to their advisors and assistants who would pick it back up later.

Finally, things seemed more or less settled, until Gromley interjected, “Mr. President — about the space moratorium — the Russian Federation cannot agree to a ten-year moratorium on space exploration and activities. Our government has done many years of research on the EmDrive technology Just as America is now establishing space mining operations, with the war concluded, Russia would like to pursue this opportunity as well. It would be a boon to our economy, and help aid Russia in recovering from this devastating conflict. It would also create a lot of employment opportunities for our citizens in the domestic economy as opposed to in the defense industry,” Gromley explained.

Stein felt caught off guard. “Humph,” he grunted. “My concern with allowing Russia unfettered access into this new frontier is that Russia would use these new-found resources and capabilities to rearm, and once again threaten the free world.” Stein had felt optimistic up to this point, but he was concerned that this might by the sticking point that would kill the whole negotiation.

Gromley assumed President Stein would fight him on this area; he also knew that he needed to assure President Stein that Gromley’s government was not interested in fighting America again. His benefactors wanted to return to making money, and they ultimately just looked forward to not having to constantly watch their backs because of the risk that they might possibly get killed by an American airstrike or Special Forces unit.

“This is a point I cannot negotiate away, Mr. President. I understand your concern and your unwillingness to trust or take my word that Russia will not look to find a way to restart the war. To give you a more steadfast assurance, what if we offered to have American or NATO observers work within our civilian space program? We are not asking for a joint venture, but allowing NATO to observe our civilian program would ensure that we are not militarizing our space industry. We can agree to a ten-year observation regimen. Would that be an acceptable outcome?” Gromley was truly hoping that they could come to an agreement on this area; if Russia was going to turn away from its military economy, then it was going to need to have a new sector of the economy to turn to and the space industry represented that opportunity.

President Stein hated the idea of letting Russia benefit from establishing a civilian space economy and industry. Russia had cost the lives of millions of people, and now they wanted to be rewarded with this new lucrative industry. However, Henry also understood that if an equitable peace was not achieved, it would only lead to further animosity and conflict. The US could continue the war until they had thoroughly defeated the Russians. The challenge was, if they did persist in the conflict, it would probably drag on for another year; hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be killed, and eventually, America and NATO would have to occupy Russia, which would bring its own unique challenges.

President Stein contemplated his options until he made a firm decision; he realized that not everyone would agree with his choice, but he hoped to be able to bring them around after logical explanations. Resolute, he responded, “President Gromley, this is going to be a tough sell. I need to consult with my fellow allied leaders before I give a definitive answer. If we do agree, we would want to have an observation group for at least fifteen years, not ten.”

Knowing that this was probably the best deal he was going to get while still accomplishing his benefactor’s goals, Gromley nodded in acceptance of President Stein’s terms. “If the other allied leaders will agree to these terms, then the Russian Federation will accept them. I understand a lot of other details need to be worked out, and you need to discuss things with the other allied leaders. I would like to request that we extend the ceasefire for the duration of these talks. The fighting can resume if the talks break down, but I would like to put a stop to the killing while there is hope that the war may finally be over.” Gromley hoped to gain his forces a bit of a reprieve. His forces could use the time to shift units around and prepare to restart operations, should the negotiations not progress.

“I am not willing to extend the ceasefire indefinitely. We will prolong the ceasefire for another five more days while I consult with our allies. If we are able to come to a consensus in that time, then we can move to formally end the war at that point. If all parties cannot come to acceptable terms over the next five days, then hostilities will continue,” Stein said forcefully. The two leaders agreed, and the meeting was terminated.

Everyone in the room let out a collective sigh, and then the excitement emerged. The thought of ending the war with Russia in less than five days was something that none of them had thought possible just two days ago. America had been planning for at least another year of conflict with Russia. American factories were now using a nearly unlimited supply of Tritium4; this allowed them to produce nearly 1,000 Pershing tanks a month, and close to 200 of the F41 Archangel fighters. As new fighters were completed, they were quickly being formed into new squadrons and deployed to Europe. With the Chinese defeated in Alaska and California, and Japan having surrendered and now fighting China, the US had moved the bulk of their forces to Europe; not having to fight Russia would allow America to consolidate their forces against the Pan Asian Alliance, and possibly end this war once and for all.

The next five days were a flurry of negotiations between the allied leaders and military advisors as they collectively discussed the terms of ending the war. Most of the leaders agreed that an end of the war should be pursued. Most of Europe had suffered horrendous damage to their infrastructure and economy. Refugees had also become a serious problem as countries scrambled to find enough suitable places to house them; there was also a significant economic strain as many of the refugees required at least some government assistance. As the fighting continued and intensified in Eastern Germany, Poland and southern Europe, more and more people had been displaced from their homes. The idea of stopping this mass humanitarian crisis was very appealing.

The one aspect of the peace terms that the allied leaders were having a hard time agreeing to was allowing Russia to pursue a space program. The EU and UK were reluctant to allow the Russians into the space industry, partially because they also wanted to participate in space exploration and mining, and they did not want the additional competition in the market. President Stein lobbied hard for the proposed international monitoring force that could keep tabs on the Russian program. He also reminded the British and the Europeans that this was a necessary evil if they were to end the war. Stein also reminded everyone of the lessons of World War I; implementing punitive policies against the vanquished foe did not end well then, and no one was eager for a new world conflict.

After three days of intense negotiations, the allied leaders agreed to the terms after adding several provisions to the stipulation about the NATO monitoring group of the Russian space program. With the final details hashed out, President Stein met one last time with President Gromley and laid out the minutiae of the agreement. After many hours of reviewing the document, which surprisingly was only 24 pages in length, President Gromley approved the terms and signed the document. They had effectively just ended the war.

The following day, a news conference was held, announcing to the world that the war between NATO and Russia had officially concluded. While not all the terms of the surrender were revealed, enough of the details were showcased to demonstrate that America and NATO had the upper hand in the negotiations.

The news, of course, was met with harsh rhetoric by the Chinese and the member states of the Pan Asian Alliance, who vowed to fight on despite the Russian treachery. China immediately cut off any ties they had with the Russians, and began to shift large numbers of troops to their northern border with Russia. As the intelligence community continued to monitor the troop movements, it was becoming clear that the Chinese were considering options to attack the Russian eastern territories since the Russian military had little in the way of forces in the area to defend against a possible Chinese invasion. The Allies had also devastated the Trans-Siberian Railway and road network that connected western Russia with their eastern provinces; this would make countering a Chinese move nearly impossible.

The Russians had anticipated something like this happening, and had begun to airlift thousands of soldiers to their military bases in the east. They also had several of their armored divisions withdraw from Poland and the Ukraine, moving these fighters towards their eastern provinces via the road network. As they would encounter a destroyed portion of the railroad, they would repair as they went. The Allies began to be grateful that they had agreed to delaying the drawdown of the Russian military by six months; hopefully, this would allow them time to resolve the situation with China.

The US also began to shift forces back from Europe to the West Coast of America, and all of the EHD Reaper drones were also brought back to domestic territory. New plans for occupying Japan (and assisting them in removing the Chinese) began in earnest. The US would need to use Japan as a base of operations if they were going to consider a ground invasion of China. Secretary of State, Jim Wise, also began secretive talks with Korea. The Koreans had stayed neutral throughout the war, per their agreement with China. Secretary Wise hoped to change that decision once they saw that China was going to be invaded. His hope was to gain approval from the Koreans to allow the US to use their land as another invasion point into northern China.

As hostilities in Europe concluded, Israel, the EU, and the UK began to move soldiers and aircraft to the West Coast of America. They would also participate in the occupation of Japan and the eventual invasion of China. It had been decided nearly a year ago, at the Saint Mary Islands Conference, that China would need to be broken up. No permanent end to the war could be achieved unless China became a less powerful entity.