Chapter One

Pacifica Presidential Palace – 24 hours later

A random canine patrol along the perimeter of the palace had alerted on a car.

Sirens blared as police cars raced to the presidential palace. The explosives ordnance detail truck in close pursuit.

The quick reaction force rolled out from its barracks a mile away. Their armored convoy and special operations troops ominous in black vehicles and uniforms.

Inside the palace the staff moved wide eyed, spurred on by the alarm followed by announcement. Their faces draped with concern. Practice made for quiet efficiency as they implemented their parts of the security response.

The NSB collected the president and moved her to the EOC emergency operations center along with key staff. The American unit they had been training with staged just outside the palace grounds at an NSB safe house. The vice president who had been in route for a meeting was diverted back to his residence and bunker.

The ministers who were to attend returned to their offices.

Helicopter gunships appeared overhead and assumed a racetrack pattern. The presidential helicopters landed three abreast at pad, their rotors spinning.

Unseen by the spectators who had been in the vicinity, the presidential aircraft was warmed up, its pilots ready to launch as soon as the president boarded.

The press secretary sent the media a message stating that a car bomb had been detected, but the president was safe. The brave men and women of the metropolitan police force were investigating.

Inside the EOC, the president took in the developing situation beyond the confines of the palace walls. It did not include the manufactured car bomb incident.

The last forty-eight hours had seen the Pacifica president, and her special operations staff respond to the pieces moved by her peer across the Strait.

The Chief of Staff likened the positive results from their “instrumentation” of the island nation to gaining early insight to a computer virus. As his friend Admiral Fury had said, “Early detection permits containment and a less radical response to eradicate the virus before it spreads across an enterprise.”

During the instrumentation process, they had also implemented zero trust technology and further segmented their traditional two network architecture to six based on the sensitivity of data. The COS, a political science major with computer science minor, understood the value of network segmentation and the Owl transfer guards and diodes that protected them.

“What are we missing?” The president asked.

“From a military perspective, Madam President, I am sure there are sleepers we have not detected. But given your actions—and those of our American partners—we’ve likely created enough complications to change a rational President Chu’s calculus on invasion.

“Our American partner operations are classified,” the COS said. “But I have been assured by their Commander of Pacific Forces that they have impacted the Weigon fleet operational status.”

The president sighed. “Once again, we find ourselves waiting to see if the bully wants a fight or goes home to resume their disinformation campaign.”

#

Code name Sam watched the response to the car bomb. He had analyzed every police and troop movement against the Weigon MSS, Ministry of State Security database of responses. This was not a drill.

He rubbed his forehead and rotated his shoulders to relieve the tension that had built up over the last several hours. He’d checked with his handler who was convinced that a separatist movement had selected an unfortunate time to execute an amateurish VBIED, vehicle borne IED attack.

Sam wasn’t so sure, something itched at the back of his mind. Why hasn’t the asset broken away and sent a message.

Their normal mode of communication was via the encrypted messaging that was part of the Domination Strategy online game. The code had been developed in Weigon, the servers and storage were there too.

What the MSS hadn’t expected was the game’s top ten worldwide standing for a multi-player game. The game more than paid for its development and ongoing maintenance. It made a profit that funded Weigon operations across the globe.

WhatsApp was the secondary means of communication, and it had been silent.

Sam sent his final report to his handler, letting him know he’d forward any message from the asset then went in search of some crispy skin Peking duck.

#

Sam’s handler, a sleeper agent, added some flare to his report. Palace activities indicate the president has turned the attempted VBIED attack in to an excuse to hold one of her quarterly command center exercises.

It was a safe play, given his knowledge that the asset would not be included. There was no one to refute his expert analysis. But as the saying goes, appearances can be deceiving.

#

Chapter Two

Carrier Strike Group 5 Flagship

USS Ronald Reagan

The effects of the gale blowing through the Pacifica Strait were significant. Even aboard the one-hundred-thousand-ton carrier. The aircraft were chained down and all off duty crew were ordered to their bunks.

The CIC combat information center crew and Admiral Hausner were belted into their chairs. The Admiral’s tablet pinged, a beat later it pinged again. He sat his coffee mug into the holder and lifted the device into his sightline.

INT – Car bomb found and removed from outside Pacifica President’s Palace. She’s using the event to exercise military and first responders.

OPS – The ROK Navy, destroyer Sejong the Great, and the amphibious warfare ship Marado with its battalion of ROK Marines are joining with the strike group.

He had been looking over his glasses at the COP display and the purple coalition partner icons indicating the Korean ships.

He turned to the watch officer, Jack Seward who had been promoted to 0-5 Commander while at INDOPACOM J3.

He had worked for Admiral Fury and was a proponent of AI use in decision making. His US Navy post graduate school thesis on Enhancing Real-Time Decision-Making with AI and Cross Domain Solutions in Bandwidth-Constrained Environments.

The Admiral was a former fighter pilot who had been interested in the ideas espoused by his recent addition to the crew. He had chuckled two days ago when his XO said he should read the paper as a prototype of a similar system had been installed in the CIC.

The admiral turned to the watch officer. He scanned the COP one more time before interrupting. “Commander Seward. I’d like an overview of the AI prototype.”

“Yes, sir. The monitor to your right is feed by an AI enabled system that selects data from the petabytes collected every day and only forwards the relevant bits. Thereby getting it to us without incurring the cost of time-consuming human interaction. It also reduces the consumption of our limited bandwidth to the data you and your staff need to make decisions and win the fight.”

“Speed is important indecision making, but so are the sources of the data that we rely on to make decisions. Has anything changed on the source side?”

“Great question, Admiral. Short answer, no it has not. If the system was deployed across the carrier strike group, each ship, including the sensors on the Reagan would be considered a low-side source,” Seward said. He opened his notebook to a blank page.

He drew a ship with several circles indicating sensors.

“The AI embedded on each ship would monitor the sensors, drone video, etc., and flag relevant data to be transferred.”

He added a box split down the center and labeled the sides low and high.

“An embedded cross domain transfer system would make sure the data is compliant as it crosses into the high-side network. That would mitigate risks such as data poisoning or accidental disclosure of sensitive sources. This ‘smart filtering’ enabled by AI and enforced by CDS reduces unnecessary traffic while preserving mission-critical insight.”

Seward drew an approximation of the carrier and labeled it flagship.

“In this case, the Reagan CIC would be considered the high side. AI models would correlate incoming prioritized data from multiple domains—including the ships, planes, and unmanned vehicles of the carrier strike group. To include our coalition partners, and unclassified networks—to generate decision recommendations. The models would aid you in decision making and could suggest target prioritization or risk assessments, but your staff would retain control over final actions.”

The admiral stared into the middle distance for a beat. “So, we get comms optimization that preserves precious bandwidth while maintaining situational awareness. The cross-domain transfer device enables real-time ingestion of multi-domain data to improve decision speed and accuracy. It also validates data provenance and protects us from corruption, spoofing, or un-vetted inputs. And, most importantly for me and my staff, it empowers us to act faster and smarter in situations where every second matters.”

“That’s it—,”

The blinking red icons indicating Admiral Jun’s battle group interrupted Commander Seward. Both men looked to the prototype display as the Weigon South Pacific fleet changed course.

Seward clicked on the icon for the Fujian. The metadata indicated the target’s change of course had been detected by a P-8 Poseidon flight he knew was testing quantum radar. Unlike traditional radar, its capabilities were not affected by the raging storm.

Hausner glanced at the COP. No change. Thirteen seconds later it updated.

“Interesting,” the admiral said nodding at Seward. What’s your intent Admiral Jun?

“Let me know if their destroyers and amphibious ships push out from the main body of the fleet,” he said as he headed for the bridge.

#

Chapter Three

Pacifica Oil & Gas Headquarters

Chih-ming Pang– a junior network administrator had been a target years before he had taken the position at the prime supplier to the Pacifica military. His stellar academic record and frequent play on the Dominion Strategy game had intersected with a need the Weigon MSS had planned for a future operation.

Layla, the queen of the second largest protectorate in the DS universe had used innuendo to taunt Pang and deny his requests to collaborate. She was in fact a Weigon MSS two-woman cell.

The hacker half of the duo played the game. Her elevated privileges all but ensuring she could win any confrontation and assign expensive resources to their real-world targets. The siren half of the duo, also called the honeypot in MSS terminology, managed their assigned target relationships. She sent the messages and enticing images.

Combined, their cover story had the mysterious Layla known as a bored, rich girl. The manufactured stories of parties and wild vacations all built by MSS operatives in a process similar to the world building of science fiction authors.

“Your wins have been against the weak and brainless. Destroy Sung’s outposts and I’ll consider collaboration and more,” her encrypted message said. “Open the image to see your reward.”

Attached to the message was a provocative image of a female body part that was angled away. The socially awkward Pang had glanced over his shoulder. His was in his room at his parents’ house. He opened the image, which downloaded the malware to his laptop.

The malware’s first operation, lateral movement to his cell phone via its Bluetooth connection to his laptop.

By ten that morning, the malware had infiltrated the Pacifica Oil & Gas enterprise IT system. It had called home and replicated itself. But not as many times as planned.

The hacker frowned. “It appears they have implemented zero trust and segmented their network architecture. It makes it harder to find the connection point to the OT infrastructure.”

“Firewalls are child’s play for you,” the siren said.

“True, but this is something more.”

Twenty-four minutes later, Siren shook her head. “Enticing these young men to play so we can infect their laptops and phones and get to useful targets though them is tiresome.”

“It’s,” the hacker said, pausing. She snapped a glance at her teammate. “I’m being hunted. The replicants are disappearing.”

The section leader who was nearby heard. “Make the jump,” he ordered.

“I need more time.”

“Follow my order,” he growled.

Idiot! The hacker thought. She nodded, what choice do I have, and brute forced the malware through the connection she hoped led to the OT network. She hadn’t been able to see into the other side.

“It’s done,” she announced.

Siren spun to face her, a tight-lipped frown and furrowed brow scrunching up her otherwise classic looks.

Behind her, the section leader nodded. “I am headed to the group meeting, message me when the code pings it is ready.”

#

The Weigon were not the only nation that played the long game. The Pacifica NSB had recruited Pang long before their adversary. Rumors had circulated about the Weigon developed Domain Strategy online game, and it’s use for intelligence gathering and recruiting.

The investigation into the death of an NSB covert agent uncovered his son had played the game. When the investigation looked for leaked sensitive data, they found his online presence. Further discovery found every cell phone and digital device on the family and in their home infected with malware.

When the Weigon operative had pushed the malware into what they thought was the OT infrastructure, it had been identified as it transversed the Owl diode.

The combined Pacifica Oil & Gas and NSB team was alerted.

“Here it is,” the NSB team leader said.

What the operative did not know was that the diode sat in front of an Owl transfer guard. It also identified the malware and shipped it off to the defensive cyber operations subnet for analysis.

From there, the code was moved via a diode protected path into a simulated version of the OT infrastructure that included an Internet connection for equipment provider maintenance updates.

Over the course of the next several hours they observed the malware’s behavior of replication then hibernation. Ninety minutes later it attempted its first call home.

The commercial side members of the team had ensured the outgoing communications ports were turned off. The code was analyzed and then the team modified it to include precursor code for ransomware developed by an eastern European contractor.

They opened the port and let the adjusted malware call home. Inside of an hour, the delivered code would itself call out to Europe and the ransomware process would start.

The team celebrated their achievement and the potential destruction of the Weigon MSS hacking infrastructure. They had no way of knowing the role they had just played in turning the MSS director’s thoughts against invasion.

#

Chapter Four

South Pacific Fleet Flagship Fujian

Admiral Su Jun had taken the storm as a sign and turned his fleet toward Pacifica. Waiting for the president to approve the invasion is a fool’s errand. We’ll hide our approach in the storm.

Three hours later, Jun had ordered the fleet to battle stations. He brought his senior leaders together in his flag bridge to ensure synchronization of efforts as H-hour approached. Several of the Army officers looked green around the gills, as the maritime saying went.

The carrier air group commander complained that the maintenance crew had not fixed whatever was causing the catapults to malfunction. Not that he was going to launch with wind speeds well beyond the pilots ability to get aloft, much less return and trap on the carrier.

Jun didn’t care. If they got invasion order he would launch. “You have an hour to get a catapult working or I will have the Marines launch you over the side!” he yelled at the senior officer tasked with maintaining the Fujian’s capabilities.

The officer and his aide scurried from the meeting.

General Xuefeng the ground force commander reported that the amphibious transport ships and their escorts were seventy-four kilometers from Pacifica’s international waters. The supporting airborne division that would drop on the east side of the capital city was en route. Their TOT time on target would be adjusted based on the wind speed. If the storm stalled over the island, the commander was prepared to air assault.

The MSS and Special Operations liaisons reported their teams were in place. The only exception, one team that had not reported. Its mission success important but not critical. A team to the north with a similar mission would ensure communications disruption and control.

“Colonel Ma, have the illustrious hackers of Unit 1954 achieved the objectives required for success?” Jun asked.

Ma wiped his brow. “We have Admiral. We are inside the island wide communications systems and the infrastructure that would replenish the Pacifica fleet in a protracted engagement.”

Jun huffed. “So, I can reassign the teams tasked to take over the telecom nodes?” he asked.

“Ah… no sir. They will be needed to disrupt the classified wide area network that supports their president and military.”

“But you’ve hacked the commercial system so housebound grandparents can’t call the police to report strange men with guns, is that it?” the admiral said, sneering. “What about your grand plan to insert malware at INDOPACOM and its subordinate units?”

Admiral Jun’s aide handed him a handwritten note.

Unit 1954 is offline. We are assigning a new cyber unit to your mission.

Admiral Ka

Jun crumpled the note and raised a finger. He whispered to his aide who stepped outside.

Ma was still talking. “—may have an opportunity via the lost cell phone of an American Air Force—”

When his aide stepped back into the room, it was with two Marines. Jun rose and leaned across the table. “Arrest Colonel Ma and throw him in the detention cell. His gross negligence may cost us our chance at reunification.”

When Ma protested, one of the Marines throat punched him, the other knocked him out when he fell choking to his knees. After Ma was removed, Jun strode to the front of the room.

“Colonel Ma’s unit let themselves be drawn into ransomware attack. MSS is replacing them, but they will not be affective by the time we launch. Is there anyone else that cannot or will not complete their assigned mission as part of Gray Swan? No? Good,” Jun growled.

“This is why you demanded we have redundant mission profiles,” General Xuefeng said. “Now it will be our special operations teams that pave the way for your success. It’s a clear warning of why it’s not smart to place your trust in what you can’t see, hold, or kill.”

The carrier air group commander shook his head. “I will admit, I was looking forward to the chaos and confusion the cyber team was to create through their disruptions of communications and critical infrastructure. In particular, the crashing of the power grid and its effect on Pacifica’s radar systems.”

“Does it change your mission profile?” Jun asked.

“No sir, but it would have reduced the losses we will incur.”

“Understood, and we planned for this, did we not?” Jun said. “I see no reason to abort, does anyone else?”

Jun took their silence as his staff’s readiness to move to the next phase of the operation, the pre-invasion sabotage.

The admiral pointed to his XO. “Send the execute order to the sabotage teams.”

“But sir, we have not gotten approval from the president to invade.”

Jun pounded a fist on the table. “We are not invading, XO. If the president does not approve the invasion, the sabotage missions will be attributed to a coordinated attack by a coalition of separatist groups. If he does, they will render the Pacifica president and her military useless in the face of our superior technology and numerical advantage.”

At the sound of the hollow boom, Admiral Jun and his staff glanced up. The XO spang to a handset and called the bridge. His face fell as his eyes widened.

“Two supersonic aircraft just flew over the Fujian,” the XO said.

“Did they identify them?”

The XO asked some rapid-fire questions. “No, sir. They were in the clouds and our radar could not get a lock. I suspect F-35’s from the Reagan,” the XO said, closing his eyes. “Update sir, the Hainan amphibious transport reports a similar event. It’s with the lead—.”

Admiral Jun’s shoulders slumped. “I know where it is, XO.”

How did they find us in the storm? We’ve hidden from them before.

A runner handed a note to the XO who passed it to Jun without looking.

Sabotage teams non-responsive.

The Theater Command orders us to return to base.

The airborne division has been recalled.

You are to report in person, soonest possible.

Admiral Su Jun straighten his uniform and scanned his team. “We have been ordered to return to base. Stand your people down and alter our course for home.”

“It may be the last time I see it,” Jun whispered to himself.

#

Chapter Five

INDOPACOM J3 Operations Center

The officer of the watch, Captain Thomas pointed a knife hand at the Common Operating Picture display. “The Fujian and it’s battle group have resumed its previous course for home.”

“Excellent, the boss will be happy to hear that.” I say.

“I am,” Admiral Parker said from over my shoulder a smile forming on his otherwise stoic visage. “You and your teammates have been busy,” he said referring to the people under my command and the units chopped to us; the military term for assigned.

“Yes sir. Let’s talk in my office while the staff keeps an eye on Admiral Jun and his southern fleet.”

Fleet Master Chief Martin leads the way and opens the door for the INDOPACOM Commander and I. When the door closes, we lose the hum of the operations center.

The boss sits on the edge of my desk. I can tell by his relaxed posture and interested eyes he ready for my recap of the last several days.

“The first lesson of this episode with the Weigon president and Admiral Jun’s fleet is linked to their shaping operations. It was a side operation that used a ransomware attack on our supplier of quantum radar CubeSats. It demonstrated that standard cyber security practices are not enough when you are a key vendor to the DOD. The use of diodes, cross domain systems, and data protection systems like Dell’s Cyber Recovery Vault are critical to their success and ours.”

“Was it quantum radar that detected Jun’s fleet and their course change in the storm?”

“Yes, sir. More on that later.”

“I’m putting the P-8 crew and prototype operators in for an air medal.”

“Well deserved, sir. That was a gutsy move to fly into a storm of that intensity.”

Admiral Parker’s eyes widened. “Indeed,” he said, his former time in fighter jets coming through. “What else did we learn?”

I suppressed a smile. It’s not good form to gloat in front of your boss. The J6 had been reluctant, based on the high level of the cross domain technology and his fear that our troops and contractors couldn’t maintain it a scale. That had proved false during the phased expansion.

“That your support for the implementation of cross domain at scale, made a difference. It’s embedded in our command, our subordinate units, and our partner commands and that once again made getting data to the right decision makers much easier, quicker, and secure. General Bennett has pushed CDS technology to his Special Operations Forces, in transportable PACSTAR packages like we saw demonstrated at the TechNet conference.”

Parker nodded. “It’s hard to believe what took a container’s worth of equipment is now hand carry kit that fits in the overhead bins of a commercial airliner.”

“American ingenuity and engineering are hard to beat. So, the two threads I want to mention were number one, our support of the Pacifica response to the Weigon social media disinformation campaign. And secondly, the instrumentation of the island of Pacifica. In concert with our partner’s office of communications, we reached down into the Internet and helped debunk the Weigon attempts at disinformation in real time. As concerned our instrumentation of their Internet of Things program, we coordinated with our Pacifica partners to securely collect and analyze Petabytes of data from sensors of all kinds. With that data we detected the first of the Weigon sabotage teams which sailed a mini sub by some environmental sensors. We detected fourteen suspected sabotage teams before they could act. Our partners captured several saboteurs and decided to foil the others plans to not give away their means of detection.”

“It’s mind-boggling how far we’ve come, in just a couple of years. I can report to the Joint Chiefs and Sec Def that we fought the first engagement short of all-out war using our Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control solution. I believe we have overachieved our return on our CDS investment.”

“Agreed, sir. The last lesson I’ll mention today is that the future is bright. The P-8 Poseidon with quantum radar shows great promise, as should the CubeSat version. But it’s useless if we can’t get its data to the right decision makers at the right time. As with Admiral Hausner aboard the Reagan. AI and CDS is a powerful combination. The prototype CDS provided security and containment. The AI models identified the input as top priority and adjusted the limited bandwidth to the Reagan to ensure the decision critical data was given precedence. Hausner’s sorties of the F-35’s proved to be another decisive action. From my point of view, it added to all the other issues we created for them and that changed the Weigon president’s calculus regarding invasion.”

Admiral Parker winked at Chief Martin. “This episode with the bully of the Pacific has driven home the point that we can’t stay in front of the Weigon OODA loop and win the fight without cross domain. Yes, I like you, believe bully is an appropriate description. I don’t get to use it much—it lacks a certain diplomatic quality,” he said a smile spreading across his face.

“The Weigon will never cease their probing, pushing, and provocations,” I say. “We need cross domain systems now more than ever.”

“Agreed. Let’s get back to work.”