The Fall of Moscow Part 2
Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
5:50 PM local time
June 10, 1991
"FUCK YOU!" Mouth open in a snarl, Morrell loosed a long burst. The KGB trooper fell over, blood spurting from his gut. Ducking behind a plush couch, the Texan gritted his teeth as more KGB assholes let loose with automatic fire. "Careful with the flag!" he yelled at a shaking private, Old Glory clutched in one hand. They were so close to the famous Kremlin tower.
Firing his .45 sidearm, Cpt. DeLay whooped when he hit a KGB asshole in the head. "Chuck a grenade!" he ordered.
Morrell pulled a pin on the orange-shaped sphere. "Frag out!" Tossing it down the hallway, the booming explosion was followed by crazed screams.
"CHARGE!" rushing forward, Morrell fired from the hip at the few remaining KGB honor guards fanatically resisting the American advance. They had defended the Kremlin like cornered rats, killing as many Texans as they could as the division poured into the black heart of the Evil Empire.
Hearing the click of an empty magazine, Morrell rushed out into the light at a Commie, bayonet glinting as the man fumbled with the bolt of his Kalashnikov. "Die Commie motherfucker!" Blood spilled from around the wound, Morrell stabbing the Russian in the throat.
"Hoo-ah!" The exultant shout brought his eyes to the scene - one that filled him with fervor. Old Glory, waving atop the walls of the Kremlin right to his side.
"HOO-AH!" It was as if the entire American Army roared.
The American capture of the Kremlin - an enterprising young
Time correspondent capturing the moment Old Glory flew over the iconic red tower - coincided with the unconditional surrender of the Western Front by Marshal Bobryshev. Marshal Gromov, from his headquarters in Nizhny Novgorod, unilaterally requested a ceasefire from General Powell. The Marshall knew that things were happening in Kuibyshev, but only after would he learn how close everything came to disaster.
Near Novosibirsk, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
5:48 PM Moscow time
June 10, 1991
Not even having time to throw his uniform jacket on, Colonel Artoym Golovko ran into the command vehicle. "What the fuck is going on?!" He had been napping when all of a sudden the missile launch vehicles were preparing to fire their missiles.
Major Maslov, the
Zampolit for the 637th Rocket Regiment, grinned at his - nominal - superior. "Wonderful news. We are to fire our missiles upon the imperialists."
Golovko's eyes widened. "Have they launched at us?" The regiment was one of the more important ones, its missiles aimed directly at targets on the American Eastern Seaboard.
"No, we are to strike them in preparation for an offensive against the American capitol." Maslov was filled with glee.
Only horror filled the Colonel. "Bozhmoi! What the cocksucking fuck is going on?!"
"Comrade Colonel," a pimply-faced private ran to him with a leaf of paper. "Orders from command. We are to stand down our missiles!"
Maslov reddened in fury. "Disregard that order!" he screamed at the controllers. "Launch all missiles!"
Making a split second judgement call, Golovko removed his sidearm and shot Maslov in the face. Wide eyes stared at him in wonder. Many had secretly fantasized about shooting the cunt, but their commander actually did it.
It took a moment for Golovko to realize he didn't give a shit. "Stand down all missiles."
"Sir! Three missiles are already being launched!"
"DEVIL'S MOTHER! SHOOT THEM DOWN!" Bursting out of the command vehicle, Golovko could already see the nearest missile truck almost ready to fire. Grabbing a belt of grenades that someone, somehow left near the truck - divine providence perhaps - Golovko ran at top speed towards the vehicle. The moments passed in a blur. Pumping his legs across the ground. Climbing onto the truck. The orange-yellow flame of the rocket motor shooting out in a cloud of smoke. Pulling the pins on the grenades just as he reached the base of the missile. And then a flash of pure yellow. And then nothing.
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Semichastny, Solzhenitsyn, Gromov, Georgy Razumovsky, Zateyev, Bobryshev, and Karpukhin had come to realize that the USSR was doomed as soon as Japan entered the war. Forward thinking, they began to act quickly to prevent the likely nuclear lashing out by the country's leadership once the Allies were close to victory. Gromov would later say it was shocking that it took so long. Using the pipeline to Chebrikov's ear that former Semichastny aide Vladimir Putin had, they used purges and demotions to simultaneously take out hardline officers within the Strategic Rocket Forces, replacing them with loyal allies of theirs. By June 1991, former Cosmonaut and first Soviet on the moon Aleksei Yeliseyev, the new commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, had total control of the Soviet arsenal. However, the order on June 10 came through the base political officers, and while military units were declaring for Solzhenitsyn's government, the missiles began to be fueled for launch.
Only 20% of the Soviet missile stockpile at the ready were even begun to be fueled. And the vast majority of those heeded Semichastny's stand down order - often going as far as executing their political officers. Only one, the Novosibirsk Delta site, launched their missiles. Of three that went into ignition stages, one was shot down by a flak battery while the other was taken out by the base commander (he would receive a posthumous Hero of Russia for his sacrifice). One missile with a single 3 megaton thermonuclear warhead made it airborne however. The missile's target: Washington D.C.
Washington D.C., United States of America
10:55 AM local time
June 10, 1991
Sipping the warm tea, Donald Rumsfeld lowered his book to peer at Joyce from across the few feet separating their armchairs. His wife smiled at him, calmly reading her own book. 'So serene, such a relief.' The stress of the war had aged Rumsfeld beyond his years. Any form of calm was welcome.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Secret Service agents flooded the room. Tea spilling on the carpet, the agents literally grabbed Rumsfeld's shoulders and manhandled him up. "MARCHING ORDER!"
"Falcon and Flower are secure," another barked.
"Don!" Joyce said, her voice loud and tinged with fear.
The fear and shock had hit the President as well. "What the hell is this?" The Agents were carrying the both of them towards the exit. He could hear the faint whirring of Marine One on the South Lawn.
"Sir," said William F. Garrison, the National Security Advisor. "NORAD spotted a Soviet Ballistic Missile launched from near Novosibirsk. We have to get you airborne immediately!" A pit formed in Rumsfeld's stomach, bile threatening to spew over his suit. 'Dear God, no. We were so close!' he thought as the agents threw him into the helicopter.
Fifteen minutes later - record time - Air Force One was soaring into the skies. "Are there any other missiles?" Rumsfeld asked, dreadfully eyeing the nuclear football held by the Air Force Major to his left. 'Please God, have mercy."
"No sir," Garrison replied. "There's only one."
"MR. PRESIDENT," shouted Mitch McConnell. "The red phone is ringing."
No one needed to elaborate. The Red Phone, the one way connection to the Soviet government. It hadn't been used since right after the 1987 coup. Shaking, Rumsfeld answered it. "President Rumsfeld."
"Mr. President..."
The voice was unfamiliar. "Who is this?" The call was being monitored by his staff.
"This is Acting General Secretary Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Forces loyal to me have taken over the government."
Looking at McConnell, the Chief of Staff had a file in hand. "Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, member of the Politburo since 1979 and Cultural Affairs Minister. Not a hardliner by any means and someone Stalin sent to a gulag."
"Acting General Secretary, I appreciate the call but your government has fired a nuclear missile at us!" Rumsfeld screamed into the phone.
"That was the former government's order that we had countermanded. One missile escaped that order and I'm sorry. We're trying to rectify this situation."
"With all due respect, if this missile does make it through both our attempts, your country will regret ever existing." Hanging up the phone, Rumsfeld turned to the monitors to await the coming fireworks.
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It was called Project Excalibur. Conceived by Edward Teller in the late 1960s, as Defense Secretary the physicist had used the ample funding given to him by President Reagan and the Republican congress to test and refine the theory - assistance was requested and provided by French scientists promoted by Premier Jacques Cousteau's science funding initiatives. Top secret testing was conducted throughout the mid and late eighties, and by 1990 a prototype Excalibur satellite was put into orbit.
Theoretically designed to shoot down multiple warheads, the X-ray laser system central to Excalibur was in place over the Great Plains in geosynchronous orbit when Missile Defense Command at Barksdale Air Base in Louisiana was notified by NORAD of the incoming Soviet missile. Determining it was headed to the Eastern Seaboard, tension ran high as what had previously been theory was now entering a sudden and high-stakes reality.
No one moved a muscle as the Excalibur One satellite rotated into position. Computers targeting the Soviet missile, the controllers at Barksdale ignited the lasers just as the warhead began its dissent into the atmosphere.
"Splash one! Splash one!"
Cheers broke out in Barksdale, Cheyenne Mountain, and Air Force One. Excalibur One had made the first ever missile kill by a spaced based weapon, successfully testing the technology at the worst possible opportunity. The world had avoided nuclear war... just.
Washington D.C., United States of America
3:45 PM local time
June 10, 1991
"My fellow Americans..." Rumsfeld straightened his tie, trying mightily to hide the fact that only hours earlier he had been filled with the impending terror of nuclear war. "There has been a coup in the Soviet Union. New forces have taken over after General Secretary Kryuchkov gave the order to commence nuclear war upon the Allied powers.
"Regrettably, one missile was launched after the new government ordered a stand down." Frightened panic started among the press corps. "But the American space weapon Excalibur One brought down the missile, averting the crisis. Now, I announce that the new leadership of the Soviet Union has requested a ceasefire and agreed to the deceleration of unconditional surrender to the United States of America and her allies."
Silence filling the hall, soon it was replaced by a wave of raucous cheers from everyone assembled.
President Rumsfeld at the famous VR Day Press Conference.
Immediately after the accepted ceasefire, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn would announce to the world the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In its stead was the Free Russian Republic, and its first action was to unconditionally surrender to the west.
The guns across the world fell silent for the first time in two and a half years. World War III, the most destructive conflict in human history, was over.
A/N: The credit for the wikiboxes go to @NotA_Potato. The reason Excalibur is much more advanced than OTL was due to more funding, an earlier start date, quicker scientific advancements, and sheer luck, though the prototype seen here was essentially an innefficient piece of junk compared to what was planned.
