Author: CdnJAGScribe
E-mail:
Rating: M
Classification: Angst
Spoilers:
Summary:
DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims-Roberts et al. belong (in concept and visual form) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC characters are the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Author’s Note: This is a Sims 3/JAG cross-over. Those who have played Sims 3 will recognize some of the Sims 3 characters that I have included in this story. Those of you who are familiar with JAG will recognize the characters from the TV Show and from my JAG fanfics.
“I can’t believe that this world can go on beyond our generation and on down to succeeding generations with this kind of weapon on both sides poised at each other without someday some fool or some maniac or some accident triggering the kind of war that is the end of the line for all of us. And I just think of what a sigh of relief would go up from everyone on this earth if someday–and this is what I have–my hope, way in the back of my head–is that if we start down the road to reduction, maybe one day in doing that, somebody will say, ‘Why not all the way? Let’s get rid of all these things’.” ~ Ronald Reagan, May 16, 1983
Prologue
From the viewpoint of FADM Toshio M. Nakamura
Well, it happened to be one of those days. I’ve never envied the Chief of Staff of the Joint Chiefs. He has a hell of a job to do. Wrangling a bunch of guys with chips on their shoulders determined to each get the best possible deal for their branch of service. I’d hoped to stay clear of the brouhaha, but as Chief of Naval Operations, I was stuck being the fall guy for the Naval Service. General of the Army William D. Hollister was the head guy in charge of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. I, as the equivalent five-star, was Deputy Chief of Staff which meant dodging barbs against the Navy by every other branch of service. After the meeting which pretty much went about as well as herding cats, I was asked to come down to the SECNAV’s office as she had something that she needed to tell me. SECNAV Porter was no-nonsense and very demanding, so it behooved me to make sure that I was well aware of what I needed to brief her about. But in this case, I was sure that she had the drop on me.
I strode in when she told me to enter and squared off in front of her desk, standing at the position of attention.
"At ease, Fleet Admiral, I have need to discuss matters with you of strategic importance."
"Yes, Ma'am?" I responded.
“Fleet Admiral, You’ve heard of Pinnacle right?”
It was at that very exact moment that a chill ran down my back. Pinnacle was a document much feared by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mention of this meant that things had gone to hell in a hand-basket. We’d been fighting a war on and off with terrorists. That also meant that we ended up having to fight along-side the Russians and the Chinese for supremacy in North Africa and the Middle East. If you know anything about foreign relations, we don’t like the Russians or the Chinese, military-wise. Let the others do the kissy-facey happy, happy joy joy; keep up good foreign relations with other countries. We trained to go to war with them; which meant that things were pretty frosty on all sides. “Yes, ma'am, I have...” I said. I’m confused at this point.
The SECNAV got out of her chair and stepped around the desk, “We had the Monaghan and the Douglas O’Keefe in the South China Sea.”
I was aware of that. “Yes, ma'am. Under BATGRP 6 off the Eisenhower.”
SECNAV nodded quietly. “While you were in with the JCS, this came through the dispatch, Your DCNO came to me with it since you were in a meeting.” She shoved over a sheet of paper. A trickle of sweat ran down my back as I read it.
CO USS John Quincy Adams CGN23
COMPACFLT, HONOLULU HI
ATT CNO Pentagon
REQ RECOVUNITS FF-954 HIT SILKWORMS – SUNK
.
ENG SURF EMPLC 0732ZULU MNGUN
AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS
Captain Henry Stapleton
CO USS JOHN QUINCY ADAMS CGN23
I looked over at SECNAV. “Chinese?”
“It appears that way. The Silkworm emplacements that fired on the USS Monaghan were on Chinese soil on one of those islands that they’re building in the South China Sea.”
“CO fired back and destroyed the missile emplacements.” I nodded. “Looks like we have a serious situation on our hands. We retaliate further, we’re going to escalate the situation.”
“I think we’ve already passed that point, Fleet Admiral, the Chinese have sent a blistering message down to COMPACFLT that they want our ships out of the South China Sea or they will escalate.” SECNAV looked grimly at me and I knew that the situation was dire. “The President wants to retaliate, but SECDEF has tried to reason with him. But we are not willing to concede the position. Our ships have every right to be in the South China Sea. We were well in international waters when we were hit. That is tantamount to a declaration of war.”
“And...you know what happens if we declare war on the Chinese. They’ll escalate to nuclear.” I stated eye to eye with SECNAV. “And...then the whole world goes up in flames. COMPACFLT is wanting to send two Aegis CGN into the hot-zone and rain Tomahawks on the Chinese coastal defenses and that's just going to make the whole situation ten times worse.”
“Yeah, the Russians will want in on this dance too.” SECNAV said with a look that said that she knew exactly what was going on. “And then we’ve got a steaming pile of shit-stew. I need someone to diffuse the tension out in Pearl, but you have other orders. Your blue button is sending you elsewhere. JCS wants to protect you because they'll need a tactician once everything stops blowing up.”
“So CiC is wanting to institute Pinnacle?” I asked as I broke from parade rest and SECNAV who nodded.
“DCNO is taking over your position, you and your staff are going to Canada.”
“Canada?”
“General Kelly, RCAF is the Chief of Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces and we’ve talked things over with him. You and he will coordinate in a bunker down in Sunset Valley...We’re hoping that it’s far enough away that they won’t get hit as badly as our US bases will.” SECNAV stated as she tossed me over a sheaf of papers; my orders. “I’ll leave the rest of it up to you.”
"Yes, ma'am!" I knew a dismissal when I heard one. She looked me square in the face and nodded. I came to the position of attention.
"Dismissed, Fleet Admiral..."
"Yes, Ma'am..."
...about faced and headed from the SECNAV's office.
As I stepped out of the SECNAV's office, I noted my Chief of Staff waiting patiently in the hallway.
"Captain, with me..." Captain Benton walked in lockstep with me towards the doors.
"We have people to round up..." I said as we walked towards the doors leading towards the center courtyard.
When we got out into the courtyard, Captain Benton asked, "Sir? What happened in there, you look rather pale."
"Walk with me, Captain." I said dourly, "In a few short days, we may be living out of a hole in the ground."
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