Chapter 2: Political Failures
December 11, 1963
The Pentagon, Washington D.C.
1706 (ET)
Two Days after the incident
Cyrus Sinclair could not comprehend why Americans were dead in China. Not just any Americans, but black ops specialists. He then checked the mission roster. All of the names he saw he knew from Xcom. Was Xcom involved with this scandal? He asked himself. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to ask President Lyndon B. Johnson himself.
"Sir, why are there dead American soldiers in China? Xcom operatives. Why?" Sinclair questioned Johnson.
President Johnson answered with the following. After the United States brought communications back up from the Outsider invasion, CIA operatives in the Soviet Union and China who saw Outsider related research sent back reports. According to these reports, the USSR was trying to utilize what remained Mosaic to supplement their previous psychic and telekinetic research. China was reported to have possibly enslaved some of the Zudjari that remained in their country. Xcom then sent a team to eliminate what research the Chinese had. This was called Operation Pseudo-Dragon.
Unfortunately, it was a tactical failure. When Agent Stefan Worrel broke radio silence to call for Medevac for a wounded teammate, he had unintentionally doomed the rest of his team. He had barely been able to call for the medic for his colleague, Henry Jackson, and mention something about Outsiders when the Chinese got the best of him. The mission squad, led by John Dixon, was all presumed to have been either dead or captured.
"It's a damn shame," LBJ continued.
"I see," Sinclair replied. After that explanation, he had found that the mission was justified. However, Mao Zedong, despite earlier cases of espionage going essentially off the books, had decided to publicize this. Of course, he did not realize that the US government had received only the words "Outsiders" and some more explaining to do.
The two of them walked back into the Pentagon's main conference room. LBJ had called for a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Zedong had threatened war, and the United States had to be ready.
Everyone in the room had the credentials to know about Xcom and the Outsiders. In fact, the room was sound-proofed and even some of the Secret Service and Pentagon security agents were outside of the room in the dark. Among the "guests" were Director Myron Faulke (Director of the Bureau of Special Defense Operations, dubbed "Xcom" when the Outsiders came), Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Director John McCone (Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, or C.I.A.), and the Joint Chiefs of Staff themselves.
President Johnson introduced those unfamiliar with the situation with a summary of what he told Sinclair. "Any more questions?" he concluded. No one answered.
Faulke began with an important comment, "We may not have received a lot of good intelligence from Operation Pseudo-Dragon, but we do know one thing: China is dangerous."
McCone commented and unintentionally changed the subject. "After the operation, China found and killed one of our double agents. We lost contact with another one of our spies in China. The Soviet Union has also been cracking down on spies. We've lost contact with two agents in Russia."
McNamara then mentioned, "The USSR had had a relevant request for a month now. They want us to transfer their agent, Piotr Zhedrev, for our agent, Gerald Kenway."
"No! Zhedrev knows too much!" Faulke replied. "He has been with Xcom for far too long! He knows too much! In fact, he was in Xcom before the Outsiders came!"
"Agent Kenway has been with a Soviet psychic research and development department since 1955," McCone commented.
"Mr. President?" McNamara asked Johnson, "The request has been on hold for far too long. We need to decide now! What do you think?"
President Johnson for a moment. He then surprised some of the Joint Chiefs, saying, "Get Kenway back as soon as possible, even if that means giving them Zhedrev. Then I need to organize a diplomatic meeting with the Chinese. War should be avoided as much as possible. That being said, let's return to talking about defense."
The Joint Chiefs of Staff bickered and debated for about an hour until they agreed upon a resolution. The entire military (including the reserve) would be deployed. Fortifications were to be erected in Alaska and Florida. More units were to be sent to Japan, South Korea, and West Germany. Despite some of the diplomatic tension between the Soviet Union and China, they worried that the USSR would still back up China when push came to shove.
On December 13, two days later, their suspicions were correct. China declared war and the Soviet Union did support them. All of the important government personnel went into secure bunkers and all of the United State's nuclear arsenal went to metropolitan areas in China and the Soviet Union within half an hour.
Warsaw Pact T-64 tanks were cruising the plains of the Federal Republic of Germany at approximately 40 miles an hour while North Korean infantry marched South of the Inchon once again. Chinese Paratroopers dropped west of Aomori, Japan while Soviet submarine patrols attacked an American fleet harassing Cuban vessels. It was official; World War III had started.