The Red Hand

Chapter 60 – The American Reaction.

President Rosewood was currently meeting with congressional leaders at the White House. The budget had stalled, and she was attempting to provide a compromise that would satisfy both parties. As the first independent President of the United States, her outsider perspective and lack of party loyalty actually gave her a great deal of respect from the two parties' leadership as she was a skillful mediator.

"Alright, I think we're making some headway. As it stands, I have no issue with signing a budget that contains what we've discussed today. However, I would ask that you return to the rest of Congress and explain to them my refusal to cut any military spending at the current time." President Rosewood had finally made some headway in drafting some of the budget. She called this meeting primarily to halt Congressional efforts to reduce military spending. U.S. Military budget was always subject to ridicule for the ridiculous amount spent each year, but President Rosewood understood just why it was necessary.

"Of course, madam president." The two representatives were unsure if they could convince their respective caucuses with the President's logic, but they would try.

"Ok, so then let's move on to the-" President Rosewood was stopped mid-sentence by the sudden entrance of her Chief of Staff, Abigail Lincoln.

"Excuse me madam president, but we have a situation." her stern expression told President Rosewood everything we need to know. "I'm glad that the representatives from Congress are still here. Can the two of you please quickly inform Speaker McMillan and Senate Majority Leader Anderson that we will need to speak with them immediately?” Hearing the need for the two highest-ranking members of Congress, they immediately started sending communications. It wasn't every day that something like this happened, and they knew something had gone wrong.

President Rosewood followed Abigal into the Oval Office where the Secretary of Defense Jamie Nowak was already waiting. "Madam President." she greeted President Rosewood.

"No time for formalities. What happened?" President Rosewood looked at them. "You look like death Abigail, and if Jamie is here..." The Secretary of Defense is here and looking agitated could only mean one thing.

"Approximately twenty minutes ago, the 7th Fleet's base at Yokosuka was attacked by a member of Libra." Nowak's words caused the temperature in the room to plummet.

"Casualties?" President Rosewood asked.

"As of right now, we have 145 confirmed dead and over three hundred injured." Nowak looked at her AR screen. "We are expecting both those numbers to rise.

President Rosewood walked over to the Resolute desk and slammed her fist down on it causing a large bang.

"What about the attacker? Did we at least get them?" President Rosewood's words were laced with anger.

"A group of marines aided by one of the Japanese government's returnees managed to defeat the attacker, an Elf woman named Elna." Nowak looked at her. "However, before she was killed or captured, another member of Libra, a man named Herlex, arrived and escaped with her."

"Dammit." President Rosewood had hoped that they at least took down the perpetrator of this attack. "What are the Japanese doing about this?"

Abigal spoke up. "They've assembled a counter-terrorism task force and have been combating Libra across the country. However, with only four combatants, they've been struggling." They were outnumbered over 2:1 at this point, as a few more had joined Libra over the last few weeks.

"I want Ambassador Kumuoka here, NOW!" President Rosewood was both angry and exasperated. She had been trying to keep the public's mind away from the returnees and their potential danger, and she was assured by the Japanese government that they had everything under control. But, with an attack on a major U.S. military installation, she'd been placed in an unenviable position.

"And get me Agent Nariyuki on the phone." She's supposed to be meeting with one of those returnees soon." President Rosewood covered her face with her hands.

{What the hell is this world coming to?} (President Rosewood)

Frantic phone calls were made, and in record time, the Situation Room was soon filled with the Secretary of Defense, Ambassador Kumuoka, Speaker McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Anderson, Vice President Jacob Smith and several top U.S. generals and admirals. Vice Admiral Charles C. Barkley was also brought in on video call. As the highest-ranking officer on the ground, there would be many questions for him.

"Alright, let's get straight to the point." President Rosewood glared at the Japanese Ambassador. "We were just attacked, and latest estimates say that over 150 servicemen and women were killed at Yokosuka Naval Base.” The congressional leaders and military brass were already brought up to speed. Footage of the attack and the damage was already circulating on social media and the public outcry was already building.

"Ambassador Kumuoka, you assured me that our military personnel in Japan were in no danger from any of the returnees, but today's attack flies in the face of your prior statements." She was thoroughly upset with the man.

"I am truly sorry for this tragedy and the loss of life and I extend our most humble apologies for allowing this to happen." He gave a deep bow. "We didn't think that Libra would engage a U.S. military installation, all our intelligence on them suggested their foreign backers were dissuading them from doing something so drastic." The U.S. was fully aware the Russians and Chinese were behind the appearance of Libra, but they could do nothing about it.

Vice Admiral Barkley spoke over the video feed. "One of the marines that engaged that woman overheard a conversation between her and the young man who saved her. Apparently, this attack was unauthorized, and she acted of her own volition."

"Well, I don't really care if this was a lone wolf attack or coordinated." President Rosewood didn't care about such a distinction. "What matters now is how we respond." She looked at the Japanese ambassador. "If your government cannot handle these terrorists. I will have no choice but to take drastic actions." She was threatening a military intervention of some kind in Japan or at the very least, a "peacekeeping" mission. The Japanese Ambassador was horrified at the prospect of American soldiers occupying parts of Japan but didn't try to rebuke her.

"The footage we are seeing reminds me of a similar sight from just over 100 years ago. And I imagine the new media will have a field day with such comparisons." President Rosewood knew that this attack would get compared to Pearl Harbor. "So I need you to go back to your superiors and tell them this. If they don't get this under control immediately they will not like what comes next.”

With her threat and a spine-chilling glare, the Japanese Ambassador quickly exited the room.

"Well, at least that lit a fire under his ass." Nowak laughed.

"Yeah, well, I really don't want it to come to it, but we might need to send our own personnel into Japan to handle this, with or without Japanese approval." Her eyes showed a mixture of irritation and sorrow. "I need realistic option. What can we actually do?" Short of a full-scale invasion and occupation of Japan, something that no one would like, the U.S.'s options were limited.

One of the generals spoke up. "At present, I'm not entirely sure." The older man looked irritated. "From what I've seen and read, our weapons only have limited effects on these returnees. Small arms seem to be little more than distractions." He looked at Vice Admiral Barkley for confirmation.

"Indeed. My marines used everything from rifles to APC cannons, and nothing left as much of a scratch on her. The best they were able to do, was stun and or blind her with grenades." He'd spoken to the marines who fought Elna on the carrier's deck himself.

"How bad was the damage to the fleet?" President Rosewood asked. "Has our readiness in the far east been compromised?"

"It pains me to admit it, but yes." The admiral confirmed her worst fears. "While none of the ships are permanently lost, damage was significant. Thankfully the dockyard was shallow enough that we can raise the ships that sunk. However, the damage to the ships, including the John F. Kennedy was quite extensive. It will take months, if not years to get the 7th Fleet back to full strength."

"And the Chinese are gonna love hearing that." one of the admirals commented. They'd been building up a navy to rival the U.S. over the last fifty years, so seeing so much damage to a large part of the U.S. Pacific fleet was likely great news to them.

"Do we really not have anything that can hurt these people?" President Rosewood asked her military brass. "You cannot tell me that the world's most powerful military with the best technology cannot find any way to even scratch these people. I don't believe for a second that they're invincible." She looked to the others in the room, but they had no answer. {I'd like to think we can stop short of using nuclear weapons to kill less than twenty people} (President Rosewood)

"They're not invincible. I can tell you that." A dog-eared girl appeared in the corner of the room, literally walking out of the wall, causing panic among the meeting's participants. The Secret Service immediately put themselves between the girl and the President and trained their guns on her.

"Woah, Woah, Woah." She threw up her hands. "No need to get all jumpy. I'm not here for a fight."

"Why did you just appear like that?" President Rosewood spoke to the girl. "I thought I told you that just appearing at random will cause this kind of panic to happen."

"I know, but I didn't really have much of a choice. You guys were looking kinda stuck." She gave a cheeky smile.

"Madam President." The secret service agent spoke to her. "Do you know this woman?"

"Just a little bit. She's not a threat, so please put down your weapons." She'd met this girl once before when she scared her in her private room in the White House.

The Secret Service reluctantly agreed, but still kept themselves between the girl and the rest of the room.

"Who the hell are you?" Secretary Nowak asked. "And how the hell did you get in here?!?"

"Ah yes, sorry about that." She scratched the back of her head and gave a toothy smile. "My name is Hikari, and I was sent over to the United States on behalf of my Lord, Akagi."

"Akagi?!?" Secretary Nowak. "You mean that returnee?"

"Re-tur-nee?" The girl pieced together the world. "Ah, yes. Sorry, your language is still new to me, so forgive me if I have some problems." Hikari was quite good at learning languages, a trait that caused Akagi to rely on her for infiltration of the U.S. government. "As for how I got in? I just kinda walked through the front door. Your security is really bad at handling shadow magic." Her comment made the secret service men angry.

"Regardless, why have you shown yourself? I thought you were just sent to collect intel and monitor us?" President Rosewood spoke with her not long after the whole debacle with the CIA. Apparently, Hikari was sent to spy on the U.S. as Akagi wasn't quite sure of American intentions.

"Well, that is why I'm here. But with the craziness happening, my Lord said it was ok to give you some pointers." She said.

"She wants to give us information that could be used against her?" President Rosewood couldn't understand Akagi's intentions and was skeptical of the help being offered.

"Against my Lord? No." Hikari shook her head. "Your weapons are of no concern to her." Her statement caused grumbling among the generals. "The other re-tur-nees, are not as resilient as she is to your weapons, besides Hishya. Some of your more advanced weapons would likely harm them. Though, I suspect it would still take quite a bit of force to bring many of them down." she chuckled.

She pulled a small notebook out of a shadow portal. “In here is some good information for how to take down some of the re-tur-nees as you call them. Just think of this as a kind of good will gesture.” She handed it to the secret service agent.

"I see. Well, I'll take whatever information I can get." President Rosewood didn't exactly trust the dog girl but wasn't about to be picky about her information sources.

"Good, now I've got to go. I have some other meetings to attend." Hikari backed into the wall behind her and phased into it. Once she was gone, the tension in the room disappeared, and President Rosewood let out a big sigh.

"Can you see why I was so opposed to pissing that woman off?" She covered her face with her hands, and the rest of the room went silent. If Hikari wanted, all of them would be dead. Not to mention that she casually admitted that she could sneak into any government facility. The Situation Room of the White House was one of the most secure locations in the world, and that dog-eared ninja just waltzed in without a care in the world.

{We need to watch our step. I would rather not have a knife pointed at my throat in the middle of the night.} The next few days would be some of the toughest of President Rosewood's time in office.

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