Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 4- Attack on the Home Front
Sitting on his dark throne, the Dark Lord Morgoth watches as one of the more senior Orcs under his command.
"My Lord. We have investigated the portal. It seems to lead to another world. A land beyond our imagining," the Orc says.
"Good. Another land to conquer. Prepare for an attack. If these breaches are opening, the Valar will attempt to reach out to them once they discover them. We must act swiftly," Morgoth says. His chilling laugh echoes through the throne room, echoing throughout Angband.
(March 17, 2017)
In the streets of the suburbs of Dallas, everything seems like a very normal day. Families are going about their everyday business. Most working people are already at work, so most of the people left in the area are stay at home parents, retirees, and children.
Near a shopping center surrounded by several subdivisions, everything is relatively calm. Not too many people are at the shopping center right now, and many of the employees are feeling a little bored from the lack of customers.
Outside, in the parking lot, several people are going about their day when, all of a sudden, a massive section of the air seems to wave and start to vibrate. Then, without warning, and to the shock of everyone around, a swarm of strange looking creatures wearing armor begin pouring out of what appears to be thin air. These are Orcs, part of a massive army sent by Morgoth to invade the new land his forces had discovered.
People begin to scream as Orcs start running in all directions, hacking away at anyone in their path with swords and axes or impaling them with spears. People race for their cars, some of them making it and driving away before they're caught, but many others being caught by the Orcs and cut down. One man who has his gun with him pulls it out and starts firing, managing to kill two Orcs before he is killed by several arrows.
As the Orcs start to head for the shops, one man who is standing outside the Walmart that sits in the shopping center dashes into the Walmart. As he does, he starts shouting as loud as he can, "Everyone hide! There are monsters out there and they're killing everyone!"
People look at him like he's crazy, and some even laugh. That is, until an Orc bursts through the doors.
People begin to scream as the Orc scurries into the store, sword at the ready. He cuts down an elderly man before the man can do anything, then races towards a young family. The family tries to escape, but the Orc cuts them down.
Four men rush the Orc, determined to stop it. The Orc kills two of them with a slash of his sword before the other two manage to jump on him and pin him to the ground. One of them draws the knife in the Orc's belt and drives it into the Orc's throat, killing it.
The two men stand up, shaken and covered in blood that is not their own. People now realize that the man who came in shouting a warning was right.
The manager, who had seen this on the security cameras, quickly gets on the store's PA system and says, "Everyone, make their way to the storage rooms in the back immediately. Associates, guide customers to the back. Those who are willing to fight, make their way to sports section."
Most of the customers head to the back, while 46 men and women make their way to the sports section. There, store associates hand out guns on sale, as well as a few bows, while others hand out ammunition for the guns and arrows for the bows.
With everyone armed, and associates pulling carts of more ammunition and arrows for the defenders to reload, they make their way to the two entrances into the Walmart, separating into two even groups.
As they get to the doors, more Orcs start pouring into the store, waving their weapons around. Immediately, the defending customers start firing their weapons. Orcs begin to fall as they takes bullets and arrows, but more keep coming.
As the fight is breaking out in the entrance of the Walmart, a police car pulls into the entrance, the first of a massive wave of police now descending on the area. As he pulls up, he sees Orcs now starting to run out of the parking lot, having killed almost every person in the shopping center except those in the Walmart, and are now running out of the parking lot to continue their attack on the city. By now, over two thousands Orcs have come through the breach, and more keep coming.
The officer skids to a stop outside the parking lot and gets out of his car, hardly able to believe what he's seeing. He quickly gets on his radio and says, "This is Officer Harker! There's thousands of these monsters and more keep coming! They're killing everything in sight! We need everything we can get! We need the military!"
The officer then notices Orcs rushing towards him. The officer draws his gun and fires into the approaching Orcs, successfully killing three more before an arrow hits him in the leg. Before he can recover, an Orc races in and beheads him.
At City Hall, the mayor has been informed of the attack. He is in a bit of a tizzy, feeling overwhelmed at the suddenness of the attack.
"Send a message to Governor Abbott. Tell him we are facing a massive attack by previously unknown adversaries. Request that he mobilize the National Guard, and that he request aid from Fort Hood and from Air Force stations," the mayor says.
His aides hurry to carry out his orders, wondering how they're going to get through this.
By now, the entire Dallas Police Department. Over 2,500 officers are now en route, with more officers on the way from surrounding communities. At the same time, almost 500 National Guard troops in the Dallas area head for the Dallas armory.
The request for help is flashed out across the state. Governor Abbott grants the mayor's request, and orders the entire National Guard to mobilize to Dallas.
Within 20 minutes of the mayor ordering a call for help, the call reaches Fort Hood. Immediately, the commanding general orders the entire 1st Cavalry Division to mobilize.
Alarms sound across the base, and men head for their stations to prepare for action. Men hurry to get the tanks ready, while air crews prep the helicopters.
At the same time, a warning reaches Dyess Air Force Base. The commander of the 7th Bomb Wing orders that six of his wing's B-1 bombers be armed with 500 pound bombs immediately.
(Two hours later)
Sergeant Fillmore, a sergeant in the Texas National Guard, ducks down to avoid a hail of arrows being fired by Orc archers. He then pops up and fires his assault rifle, killing two Orcs.
The battle to defend Dallas has been raging for almost two hours. It's estimated that there are almost 10,000 Orcs through the breach by now. Estimates of casualties among the inhabitants of Dallas range between 1,200 and 3,000.
However, their advance is stalling. A total of 3,200 police officers from the Dallas PD and neighboring departments, as well 500 National Guard troops, have assembled to launch a counterattack. Though drastically outnumbered, the advantage of their guns has helped. In addition, they've been joined by almost a thousand gun owners from across the city, with more trickling in.
Fillmore turns to one of his officers, a 1st lieutenant, and asks, "Where's our support?"
Word had reached the front line forces that the Army had scrambled the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, and the Air Force was sending some bombers from Dyess AFB. However, as of now, there's been no sign of them.
"They're close! That's all I know," the lieutenant responds.
Sergeant Fillmore sighs a bit before turning back to the marauding Orcs. He sees several Orcs about overrun several police officers, and empties his magazine into the Orcs, killing three, allowing several more police officers to kill the rest with shotguns.
An armored police vehicle rolls up, a gunner on the back firing a grenade launcher. The grenade explodes, killing three Orcs and wounding two more.
Several local gunowners race forward to help the men on the frontlines. Two of them fire several shots from their shotguns, killing a number of Orcs before another fires his AR-15, killing four Orcs. One of the men is then killed by an arrow, and the others duck for cover.
"We need some real reinforcements if we want to end this soon," Fillmore mutters to himself.
Right then, they hear something. The sound of a helicopter. At first, Fillmore thinks it may be one of the Dallas PD's few helicopters or one of the few civilian helicopters that have been serving as makeshift gunships. Then, he recognizes the rotor sound as something much different. Looking in the direction of the sound, he grins broadly as he sees six AH-64 Apache helicopters from the 1st Cavalry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade racing in.
"Apaches!" he yells at the top of his lungs. All around, men hear his call and turn to see the incoming Apaches, cheering loudly as they see the approaching helicopters.
In the cockpit of the lead helicopter, the lead pilot calls out, "All choppers, weapons free! Engage any targets at will!"
The Apaches separate somewhat to launch their attacks. In order to prevent excessive collateral damage to surrounding buildings, their hardpoints are occupied by Hydra 70 rockets.
The lead Apache noses over slightly to make his attack and fires his 30mm cannon at Orcs not far from the front lines. Several dozen Orcs are shredded into pieces, and more are killed by shrapnel. At the same time, another Apache notices a Troll in the midst of the Orcs, heading for the front lines, and fires four rockets in its directions. The explosions kill the Troll and about 15 Orcs in the immediate vicinity.
Away from the combat zone, more inhabitants of Dallas are quickly evacuating. The mayor had ordered that the city be evacuated so that no more civilians would be caught up in the fighting, and so that the defenders wouldn't have to worry about civilian casualties from any of their actions. As they are packing up their cars and heading out, they begin to hear a loud roar. Looking up, they cheer as they see the 6 B-1 bombers scrambled from Dyess now over the city.
Aware that they had both been requested to help, the commanders at Fort Hood and Dyess AFB had coordinated together, and had mutually decided that the helicopters from Fort Hood would provide close air support to the defenders at the front lines, while the B-1s would pound the Orcs well behind the front lines.
As the Apaches continue their attacks, with Chinook helicopters beginning to deposit troops from the 1st Cavalry on the ground to reinforce the defenders, the bombers begin their attacks. They are each armed with twenty-eight 500 lb bombs and 10 laser-equipped 500 lb JDAMs.
The lead bomber circles around the city and lines up to make his first run on the Orcs. He spots Orcs trying to head in the opposite direction of the main fight. Thanks to communications with ground controllers, the B-1 pilot knows that the area is empty of civilians, with all of the civilians either dead or evacuated.
The B-1 pilot descends to an altitude of about 1,000 feet above the ground, and he opens his bomb bay doors. The pilot holds the bomber steady as the Offensive Systems Officer preps the weapons. Then, on a cue from the pilot, the OSC punches out half a dozen 500 pound bombs.
The bombs all strike amidst the Orcs, exploding and tearing apart well over a hundred Orcs and wounding more. The bombers climbs into the air as the next bomber flies in and drops more bombs, killing almost 200 Orcs.
The bombers continue to circle the combat zone, occasionally flying in to drop bombs on the Orcs out in the open. At the same time, the Apaches continue their attacks with their cannons and rockets.
As the battle continues, more troops continue to arrive from Fort Hood on helicopters. Within an hour of the first troops landing, there are almost 750 men on the ground, with more on the way, and tanks from the 1st Cavalry speeding towards Dallas along the highway at high speed.
The defenders of Dallas continue to push back against the Orcs, supported by the Apaches and B-1s. The Orcs now begin to realize that reinforcements are contuing to arrive, and that this is a far more difficult task than they ever thought.
Finally, almost 6 hours after the battle began, the Orcs decide to retreat. The Orcs retreat back towards the breach. However, this gives the B-1s a perfect shot at the Orcs. The bombers swoop in and unload their bombs on the Orcs, killing hundreds of Orcs.
Finally, exactly 7 hours and 13 minutes after the first Orc stepped through the breach, the last surviving Orc retreats through the breach, pursued the whole way by police and troops from the 1st Cavalry.
As the fighting finally comes to an end, the people left in Dallas now confront the horrible effects the attack has caused on the city. Although it will take some time to make the final tallies, when they do come up, they reveal that the Orcs killed 4,489 people (4,317 civilians, 117 police officers, and 55 soldiers) and wounded 1,863 more. The battle had also caused upwards of 70 billion dollars in damage to the city. Although the cost of damage was lower than 9/11, the Orc attack on Dallas proved to the most costly attack on American soil in the nation's history, with over 1,500 more dead than the 9/11 attacks.
News of the disaster races across the nation. People are shocked when they see the footage and see Orcs for the first time. When news of the casualty counts and damage estimates begin to flash, people are horrified. While the first priority is to get answers, rage begins to sweep across the country at the deadliest attack on American soil in history.
And, I'll end there.
So, some of you may have been wondering how the US would support a massive war against Morgoth. Well, this is how.
As you can probably imagine, the reaction of the US is going to be similar to what gripped the nation after Pearl Harbor, and we're ultimately going to get a much bigger mobilization than Trump outlined last chapter.
Next chapter will cover the American response to the attack. It should be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review and stay tuned!