I did an essay on that speech once.


29/10/16: The Arsenal of Democracy

The President had spared no expense.

An aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, plus it's escorting cruisers and destroyers had been deployed to the Alaskan coast. Alongside them were the transport and assault ships that carried a full Marine Expeditionary Unit. High above them, the massive shape of the SHIELD helicarrier hovered towards its destination, serving as a command headquarters for the entire operation.

Nick Fury stood on the bridge of the helicarrier, looking at a holographic projection of the Marine force commander - a man named General Wilder. The grizzled old marine did not look pleased at his partner.

"The Pentagon has made their orders very clear, Fury," snarled Wilder, "We are to engage the PURITY troops with all assets available. The risk of civilian casualties is worth their destruction."

"The President has ordered..."

"What the President doesn't know won't hurt him, Fury," shrugged Wilder, "Besides, he'll thank us. We're putting him in the history books at the man who finally finished the Nazis."

"I understand it might be difficult to get this through your thick-ass skull," replied Fury, "But our orders are to extract their hostages alive!"

"My duty is to my men, sir, not your freaks," snapped Wilder, "Superior firepower will get them through alive. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

The hologram vanished as the communication ended. Fury rubbed his temples.

"Son of a..." he grunted.

"Do we go forward anyway?" asked Maria Hill, walking up the bridge.

"Damn right we do," replied Fury, "Tell Stark to move as soon as the airspace is clear."


"Are you sure about this, boss?"

"Sure, when're we ever gonna get to do this again? Play the song."

The transport planes soared over Alaska, heading to the coordinates of the PURITY base, a SHIELD Quinjet at their head. The doors at the back began to open as the men and women of the 101st Airborne prepared to jump. As they did this, the Quinjet began to play a song.

"Uh, Angel-Two, this is Angel-Two Actual, what is that?"

"Uh, this is Angel-Two, that seems to be Stark. He's...uh...setting the mood, over."

"Oh for the love of..."

Across every transport, a red light turned green. One by one, paratroopers jumped out of the planes, flying down towards the concrete base complex below them. As they did so, Tony Stark leapt out of the Quinjet, repulsers firing off as he flew downwards.

"Alright, here we go," he said to himself.

He turned on the suit's speakers.

It's rainin' men! Hallelujah it's rainin' men!

He landed hard on one of the PURITY base's guard towers, punching the PURITY guard manning over the side. As the paratroopers began to land around him, he launched himself forward towards a line of anti-shipping guns, firing tankbuster rockets at them one-by-one.

"Stark, this is Rogers, do you copy?"

"Yeah," said Stark, casually ripping a surface-to-air missile out of its entrenchment and throwing it at its own operators.

"Pentagon are planning to bomb out the base if we don't get this done in half-an-hour, we're gonna need to pick up the pace," Steve Rogers replied, "Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," shrugged Stark, "Get yourself down here."

"I'm about a minute out, stand by."


Landing craft crashed into the rocky beach outside the base. The doors opened, and the marines poured out - at their head was Steve Rogers, far better known as Captain America.

"Spread out!" he yelled, "Don't bunch up!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

As the troops stormed up the beach, Steve began to charge against the main entrance to the installation. As he did so, there was a mighty crash, and some of the walls fell down.

The tanks that emerged from the smoke reminded Steve of old German Panthers - although it was clear that PURITY had heavily upgraded them. They were covered in explosive reactive armour and their guns had been replaced with guided missile launchers. The five tanks roared towards the landing craft, firing their missiles into vessels that hadn't yet unloaded their marines.

"Armour at twelve o'clock!" Steve called into his radio.

"I got it, Cap."

In quick succession, a volley of arrows soared into the frontal armour of the tanks, sticking to the front of the hulls. They stayed there for a few seconds before the tips detonated with a thunderous boom - the tanks exploded, their turrets flying into the air.

"Oo-rah!" somebody yelled.

"Good job, Clint," nodded Steve.

"No problem, Cap."

The marines charged through the gates of the base, screaming and yelling as they did.


"This all seems to easy," muttered the President.

He, the Vice-President, the Secretary of State and several military officers had gathered in the situation room. Abercrombie was standing next to a laptop, which was connected to a feed showing the status of the ongoing operation.

"I hope it ain't," he grunted, "If we win too quickly, we won't get to use our bombers. I wanna give 'em a full taste of the arsenal of democracy."

"Discretion is the better part of valour, General," grunted the Secretary of State.

"You want discretion, stay out of the military," muttered Abercrombie.

"What's this about bombers?" demanded the President.

The Secretary of State and Abercrombie glanced at each other.

"...it's a Pentagon contingency, we...uh...we...we were gonna ask if the time came..." said the Secretary of State, scratching the back of his head.

The President narrowed his eyes.


Jimmy paced in his lab, which was a bit fuller than he might have liked. The Shack crew had joined his other friends - they were trying to use VOX' tracking equipment to find PURITY's hostages, with little in the way of luck.

"Come on, Jim, the government's gonna find 'em," shrugged Timmy, "The President said they were in Alaska, right?"

"Half the army's been moved there to cordon the area off," added Sandy, "They ain't going anywhere."

"We can't rely on other people, Turner, it's not what we do," grunted Jimmy, "Come on, where's there base..."

The map pinged.

Jimmy tilted his head.

"That can't be right..."


The marines and paratroopers had swarmed PURITY's defences, smashing into the complex and following the internal signs to the prison cells. It was all going very well - which made Steve half expect he was walking into an ambush.

"Rogers, this is Wilder. President wants your camera feed."

"Understood. Good afternoon, Mr. President."

He crept forward, shield at the ready. Two marines followed, carefully aiming their rifles at the door to the prison area. They reached the door - Steve turned the handle gingerly.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Sir," nodded the marines.

Steve nodded back. He kicked open the door.

Major Wilkus stood at the end of the corridor, smirking as he held his gun.

There were no guards. There were no prisoners.

"The hell?" whispered a marine.

"Ah, Captain America," sneered Wilkus, "You're a bit late, aren't you - and so naive! A perfect embodiment of the United States, really."

"Where are the hostages, Wilkus?" demanded Steve.

"They're long gone," replied Wilkus, "Along with our best troops. What you've fought today was merely a sacrificial rear-guard. You were never intended to lose."

"You took them somewhere else," nodded Steve, "You tell us where, we can make it easy for you."

"I had no intention of walking out of this alive, Captain," snarled Wilkus, "My death will serve something far greater - greater than you, greater than me, greater even than Rausseman. The only people who truly know what happens next are myself and the General."

He raised the gun to his temple.

"And I will never talk," he snarled.

"Don't do it, Wilkus!" shouted Steve, "Whatever it is, it's not worth-"

"This is only the beginning," said Wilkus.

BANG.


The President recoiled as he watched Wilkus shoot himself.

"So they were never there?" said the Vice-President, "Dammit, they knew we were gonna follow them home, they were ready for that!"

"But if they're not in the complex, where the hell are they?" asked the President.

"Well, I think-"

There was a loud bang, and the situation room suddenly shook as if hit by an earthquake.

"What the Sam Heck was that?" demanded Abercrombie.

The President looked warily at the ceiling, hearing a noise from far above.

"That's them," he said, "They're here."


Pearl stopped Greg's van (which he had allowed them to borrow while away) on the side of the avenue, glancing at Garnet as she did so.

"Garnet, are you sure about this?" she asked, "I mean, I know you have the Future Vision, but why would you think here would..."

The ground shook suddenly. Steven, Connie and the Gems jumped quickly out of the van, looking out into the distance.

As if rippling into existence from nothing, a giant airship appeared over the near-distant shape of the White House. It was long and covered in armour, and a giant word, 'PURITY', was emblazoned upon the side. It lowered down, the massive steel gondola on the bottom crashing into the roof of the building.

"What're they doing?" demanded Connie.

Garnet crossed her arms.

"They're coming for the President," she replied.


AN: future vision op plz nerf