Offensive Operations

Chapter 2

2

“Is 188 really dead or is the government just doing their best to trick us again?” one host asked another on television. Cody was flipping through the channels to see what the general mood of the country was. The mood was the same, one of distrust, misery and anger. Providence was still a disaster despite being a victory and the rest of the world was in much worse shape.

Every single channel that had anything to do with the news was reporting burning cities, ruined landscapes and fields of dead bodies. 188 might have lost the war, but he had several victories all over the world. Every country on earth had been touched by his insane brand of violence. It made Cody cringe to see it all like this. On one hand, he was happy that him and the team was able to do what they did, on the other, he wished he could have done so much more.

The general state of the world was just waiting for the next 188 signal hack to unleash yet another global terror on the world. Cody switched off the television and knew that the world was going to need more than lies. Even if 188 and his people were gone, the world was still threatening to blow itself into pieces at any moment. He looked out his window and from here, everything felt peaceful. It was night now.

A full twelve hours had passed since 188 was beaten and he still wasn’t used to the idea that tomorrow wouldn’t involve an ocean of blood and dead people. Freaks with chainsaws and illusions. Life was, with any luck, about to get back to some kind of normalcy.

He also knew the country didn’t have a president anymore, Cody knew that he wasn’t the man for the job and he also knew that the one who was supposed to be here was still scared out of his mind, hiding in some bunker somewhere until it was safe to come out. He turned off the lights and the television as he made a choice. He couldn’t allow this lie to continue on any longer.

These nice White house beds were a far cry from the hard beds in the cramped quarters on Blackfire Island. He was having trouble getting used to them, sleep, once again would be elusive.

Hours past, how many Cody didn’t know but he woke up with a start. A nightmare fading from his memories, something he did, a thousand things he did all meshed together. It wasn’t important right now. What was important was getting ready for the day, getting ready to reveal one of the biggest historical events that he could think of.

Cody took a shower and got dressed in his suit. He made his way to the Oval Office and sat down. The sun was just beginning to stream through the windows. He couldn’t imagine that the c*****e of the war reached all the way here. He was only told about all of it, that was enough.

Cody was ready to get to work, do something and not quite sure what when the doors of the office swung open. Bill Mcraven walked through the doors and put a paper on his desk. Cody looked up at him trying to act as if he’d never seen this guy before.

“Now that the war is over, do you think I can get back to working out plans again?” Cody asked him as he leaned back in his chair.

“No, what plans did you have in mind?” Bill asked him and Cody sighed.

“A press conference. I have something I need to tell the public today, something important,” Cody replied to him and Bill narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to let us in on the secret or keep us hanging?” Bill asked in response.

Cody smiled. “You’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll set it up for about three this afternoon,” Cody replied to him.

“In the meantime, let’s try to keep the world running smoothly,” Bill said and Cody just raised an eyebrow. This was all very uncomfortable to him, he had no idea what to do. Bill left the office and Cody looked at the paper.

It was a report on something called Talos armor. And according to this they were weak replicas of their own armor. Did Bill know more than he was letting on? Cody didn’t like the way they looked and put the paper down, it was going to be a long, boring day if it kept up like this.

The day passed just as slowly as he had predicted. He was more stressed out about the meaningless squabbling of people he didn’t even know coming to his office. Issues he didn’t care about or understand completely, it was all a blur.

He was not meant to be a politician and up until now he was playing the part he was meant to play. Quiet, a placeholder. The most powerful nobody in the whole world. But it was time to change everything. It was time to reveal to the world that nothing was as it seemed. The hour was close at hand and he mentally prepared himself for that was coming next, stood up and was glad to finally leave this office. Despite how important it was, right now it was feeling more like a prison cell.

Cody wondered if other presidents felt the same way in the past about this place after a while. He had no intentions of staying here for long, however.

Cody stood on the podium once more it was a Thursday about three in the afternoon. The sun was shining, a slight breeze from the north. It was a good and peaceful day. He was surrounded by reporters who once again had no idea what to expect. He knew more than just reporters were watching, but he didn’t care.

“Hello again everyone, I have something of an announcement to make,” he said and took a deep breath.

“I am not the man you think I am. The day I reported 188’s death, the American people suffered a tragedy that was kept hidden from you. The President was assassinated right here, just feet away from where we stand now. In order to avoid panic the government decided that a proxy would be needed to take the Vice President’s place until security can be confirmed.

“My name is Cody, I am, for now at least, the President of the United States,” he said as he lifted up his arm to reveal a silver wrist band. He grabbed and tore it off to reveal a very different looking person before them as the image shifted.

“This is not a takeover. Taxes won’t be raised or lowered. Guns won’t be taken away. Elections will be held when they are meant to be held and I will step down as soon as it is safe for me to do so. I know, this is a tough time for everyone involved,” Cody said and everyone was too shocked to even ask any questions right now, reality was still settling in.

“I will do the best I can. We will rebuild and we will thrive. I will do everything I can to make this a better time for all of us,” Cody said to the reporters and the rest of the country.

“Sir, how can anyone trust you, you covered up the death of the president?” A reporter asked without being called on.

Cody thought about this for a minute.

“Well, I don’t know. I wouldn’t trust me either I guess. I will just have to prove it one day at a time starting with this,” Cody said, sighed and stared into the cameras. “I know some of you out there supported the ideals of 188. The man was a maniac, completely insane. He wanted to kill everyone. He was a genocidal monster. Change your ways now. If you keep insisting on following his insane path we will find you and stop you. This is your chance to walk away I insist you take it,” Cody said directly into the cameras, slipping back into full on Delta Squad commander mode for a moment, briefly showing the potential brutality that lay beneath

There was not a single person in the room who didn’t get a chill from that tone of voice. Cody noticed this in an instant and dropped it.

“America has always been at its best when it has been united. We will stand united again and rebuild what we have lost, mourn those who died and heal what has been broken,” Cody said to them and the rest of the country. He knew nothing would ever be the same but didn’t care about the results of this.

He could only imagine the look on Heath’s face right now, he was also sure he was going to get a phone call on the subject too but right now he didn’t care either way. The reporters looked at one another for a moment, but then they all erupted in a cacophony of noise and questions. Cody’s eyes widened, he didn’t have any answers. He’d told them everything he knew.

“Sorry, guys. There won’t be any more questions today. Right now, I need to get to work on ridding this country of the last remnants of 188’s insane cult following. Until we do this, none of us are truly safe,” Cody said to them, and that last part was true. Anyone who might believe in 188’s path would be a threat to anyone else. With that, he left the podium and stepped into history forever.

The country immediately exploded.

Riots broke out on both coasts. Some were angry they were tricked, others calling for civil war because this wasn’t their president, they didn’t even know who this was. Civil unrest, protests, both peaceful and violent was the flavor of the day.

Cody watched America fall apart almost overnight.

Talk shows on every television station, news programs and even late night shock fests immediately erupted into a furious debate, all asking the same questions. How did the president get replaced and was this even legal at all?

Congress flew into a rabid state, arguing constantly demanding to know what party was responsible for this travesty, without a body, some even believed the President wasn’t dead at all and this was some kind of scheme to take over the country.

There were public protests in the streets with people holding up various signs that said things like ‘Not My President’ and ‘Cody is a Phony.’ The country had never been so divided and united by one single issue at the same time.

Cody was watching the small television in the office, flipping through the networks.

“Damn, they really don’t like me,” he said to himself, wondering what the others were doing at the time wishing he could be just about anywhere else. He figured this would have gone better than this but it appeared that.

“Well, it’s still a few months until the election. I’d better do something to make this situation a bit less tense. A bunch of crybabies can’t handle. Makes me wonder if 188 didn’t have a point after all,” Cody continued to talk to himself; it was something he did quite a bit under stress.

It was time to talk to the public again, this time he had a plan. Cody picked up the phone on his desk.

“Yeah, I am going to need to talk to the country again. These people don’t seem to get the message and I think it’s for the best I clear things up before they start killing one another over nothing,” he said, waited a moment.

“I don’t care what you think. This debate needs to end yesterday. We have bigger problems than me,” Cody said, smiled.

“Excellent. I’ll see you in about two hours,” Cody said, but had no idea what it was he was going to tell the country and quickly came up with a plan that he was sure to be foolproof.

In the meantime, news channels all over the country broke into their regular programming with the announcement.