Worst Case Scenario II: Out of the Frying Pan
by J.T. Tate

2003

April - Deposed President Gore comes out of hiding in New York. He declares a state of martial law and that he and the American people will "defeat this illegal coup and restore the rule of law and the people." Governor Pataki attempts to have Gore arrested but is himself deposed by the Lieutenant Governor, who offers President Gore the New York National Guard. President Hastert meanwhile states that he will not begin a new civil war and will attempt to solve the matter with the least amount of bloodshed possible. The media covers the coup and its aftermath nonstop. Rush Limbaugh declares that this was sad but necessary to restore constitutional government to America. Michael Savage is elated and calls for the new government to "track down and take care of those pro-sodomy Anti-American socialist fascist pigs." Pat Robertson states that this is God's judgment on a wicked nation and that He may be giving America one last chance with the new government.

Debate shows such as Hannity and Colmes and Crossfire become far more heated than ever imagined, e.g. when Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson get into a shouting match and then a fistfight live on the air. Within two weeks, the states start siding with the two factions, who soon become known as the Loyalists (supporters of the President) and the Patriots (supporters of Congress). In states where the governor is of one side and the people are another, the government occasionally declares its neutrality. Tensions especially flare in deeply divided states such as California, Florida, New York, and Virginia. The nations of the world begin lining up as well - Canada and most of Western Europe supports the Loyalists, while Eastern Europe generally supports the Patriots. Russia and Britain call for negotiation between the two sides, while China is in the midst of its own serious internal problems. In general, the older allies fall in line with the Loyalists and the newer ones with the Patriots.

May - No one knew who fired the first shot. No one cared. On 2 May a Patriot demonstration against Virginia's Loyalist Governor Warner turned violent as a group of protestors became a mob demanding his resignation. Someone - either a protester or one of the Virginia National Guard - fired a shot which starts a firefight. After several hours, a few Patriots escape into hiding. Governor Warner declares a state of emergency and invokes martial law. Pockets of resistance begin to form within the state. In Florida, the opposite: several counties in South Florida call for Governor Jeb Bush's deposition and begin forming their own militia. In response, Bush activates the National Guard and institutes a draft from the northern counties to be ready to fight the South. President Gore consolidates his power in the Northeast and New England while forming a Loyalist army out of the various national guard units. New Hampshire, a patriot stronghold, surrenders due to being surrounded. Around the nation, people begin preparing for war; recruitment offices are flooded with enlistees eager to defend what they consider to be the legitimate government of the United States. Already there was talk of a second civil war being a reality. The rest of the world pleads for the two sides to talk, but to no avail.

In China, the PLA is able to recapture most of Xinjiang, but while it is a short war it is costly; nearly a million dead and much of East Turkestan devastated.

June - The Florida Civil War began on June 1, with a force of Loyalists in Tallahassee attempting to seize the state capitol. Governor Bush is only slightly wounded, but several legislators and the lieutenant governor are killed by the time reinforcements from the national guard arrive. Bush and the rest of the legislature escape to Pensacola and set up the civic center as the provisional capital of Florida. Throughout the state Loyalist and Patriot forces clash in the streets, especially in Tallahassee, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Miami. The Cuban population arms in support of the Patriots, while others in the South join Loyalist forces. President Hastert calls on the military to begin moving into places where the fighting is minimal and prepare their positions in case their intervention is needed in parts of the country - he refuses to just send them in to takeover Loyalist-held territory in the hopes that a non-bloody solution can be found.

In the Southwest, most of the immigrant population are behind the Loyalist cause and have been receiving weapons from the Mexican government. By Mid-June, they control much of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Western Texas. Several units of Virginia's NG near the capitol revolt and make a quick capture of Richmond. Governor Warner is shot while trying to escape, and the NG calls on the US military to come in and restore order. Retired General Norman Schwarzkopf is declared military governor of Virginia.

China sees more problems as the Communist government tries to reassert itself over the land. Students protest against the tightening of freedoms, and many Chinese people desire more liberties as the price for their support of the Communist government in the Xinjiang uprising.

July - America's most dreary birthday in nearly a century and a half sees many parts of the nation at war, plus a new twist; Alaska, tired of the fighting and not wishing to be involved, declares itself independent as the Republic of Alaska. Hawaii follows suit two days later and by the end of the month has a new King. Mexican-backed guerillas in the Southwest abandon the Loyalist cause and proclaim the independent “Republica de Aztlan” and move to drive all the Anglos out of their newly captured land. This pushes the government in Washington to the limit and President Hastert orders an all-out invasion of the Southwest. US forces pour into the breakaway republic in droves. Fighting is intense, bloody, and almost nonstop. Fighting also breaks out in the Great Lakes area, as Loyalist NG units from Illinois begin to skirmish with Patriot units from Indiana. Gore ally John Kerry meets with several world leaders to try to bring them in while Hastert's Secretary of State John McCain attempts to do the same. The neutral Colin Powell also has several top-level meetings with the UN and world leaders to bring about a negotiated end to the crisis.

Russian-armed rebels in Iran stage a coup against the mullahs, capping the protests which have been going on there for some time. In the first rollback of the Islamic fundamentalist tide, pro-Islamic republic loyalists are overwhelmed by students, professionals, and common people who now have weapons. The Second Revolution lasts a week; A secular government - allied with Russia - is now installed in Teheran, not only fearing a return to fundamentalist government but also by invasion from the Sunni-held areas to the east and west. China meanwhile experiences more civil unrest from those who desire a loosening of the Communists' grip on power. Communist headquarters in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Guangzhou are pelted with rocks. Beijing orders the PLA to fire on the crowds, but many in the crowds are soldiers who have not been paid for their service in the west. Many PLA units disobey their orders and demand that Beijing loosen its grip on the nation or else face consequences.



August - The long hot summer becomes even hotter as radical Patriots detonate a large bomb in the California capitol at Sacramento, killing Loyalist Governor Davis and dozens of legislators. Radical Loyalists in Nevada respond with the murder of the governor and one of Nevada's US Senators two days later. US troops slowly retake the territory of Aztlan, often in street-to-street guerilla warfare. Canada begins to allow its troops to join the Loyalists forces in America in secret. The entire Northeast is in Loyalist hands, as is the West Coast; the Deep South, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain states are in Patriot hands. The rest of the nation is neutral or hot with internal war. Governor Bush, with help from Alabama and Georgia, begins to reassert his control over the state, taking Tampa early in the month and then outflanking Loyalist forces in the swamps west of Lake Okeechobee and meeting up with the Cuban exiles, who fight the Castro-friendly Loyalists. By the end of August effective Loyalist resistance in Florida is ended, but with ghastly results.

China is now also in a burgeoning civil war. The remnants of the Islamic groups in the West begin to regroup. Tibetans also push for more reforms and freedoms. The Chicom government, as an example to those who oppose them, drop nuclear bombs on two small cities whose leaders have been linked to the growing rebellion. They then see two suburbs of Beijing hit with low-yield nukes - from other Chinese silos. Chinese people begin to be armed by dissident PLA forces as well as by India. Hong Kong's entire PLA force becomes the first to openly side with the rebellion. For the first time in a half century, Taiwan's Nationalist government moves agents onto the mainland to foment revolt...

September - Patriot forces intercept a communication that reveals Gore's desire to bring a United Nations force into the US to restore him to power...

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