Anthony DeCosmo - Schism

The next day, the garrison at Callahan surrendered without a shot to a small force from General McAllister's Mechanized division. Many of those Cooperative turncoats accepted advisory positions in Stonewall's ranks while the rest simply went home.

More Californians followed the Callahan example. Over the next ten days, coastal defenses along the northwest shoreline at Crescent City and Trinidad Head either sat out the balance of the war or actively assisted The Empire's advance from the north.

Without the advantage of the stealth field, Cooperative jets lost control of the skies north of San Francisco. Two dreadnoughts-the Chrysaor and the Excalibur — with their compliment of air superiority fighters, fighter-bombers, and support craft cut in from Oregon and Nevada. Witiko Stingray cruisers engaged in hit and run attacks but failed to stem the advance.

On April 5 ^ th, after enduring constant air bombardment and facing the threat of two inbound dreadnoughts, the defenders at Weed slipped away on Interstate 5, hoping to re-form to the south at Shasta Lake.

Imperial Apaches and A-10s chased the retreating columns, finding and destroying almost every ground vehicle. That destruction came at a high price as Stingrays knocked four choppers and two Warthogs from the sky.

On April 12 ^ th elements of General Tom Prescott's 2 ^ nd Corp., crossed from Arizona into Southern California along Interstates 40 and 10 covered by General William Hoth's Philippan.

A massive air battle inside the dead zone of The Cooperative's southern Stealth Field Generator just outside of Barstow ensued a day after the new front opened. The Philippan suffered nearly fifty crew killed when a California F-16 scored a direct hit on a crowded flight deck. However, the stoic General Hoth-serving as Captain aboard the ship-showed his customary resolve and pushed forward despite holes in the Philippan's superstructure and shrinking reserves of heat-seeking anti-air missiles.

His fortitude bore fruit on April 15 ^ th when the Pennsylvania 1 ^ st Armored Division blasted through well-manned ramparts east of Newberry Springs and rushed the Stealth Generator at the old Marine Corp Logistics base.

On that same day, the Excalibur obliterated the heavy artillery, well-dug entrenchments, and Witiko officers of two hundred stubborn hold outs barricaded inside government buildings in Sacramento. Brewer used the ship's 'belly boppers'; powerful energy weapons based on technology stolen from the Redcoats.

At that point-with three of the mighty ships moving with near-impunity over the state's skies-garrisons south of San Francisco reconsidered their allegiance.

Still, the Witiko used what cruisers still functioned to cover retreating loyal soldiers and managed to mount local counter-attacks to buy time. Time for what, however, became a question because unlike The Empire, no relief force waited in the wings and their war stocks dwindled.

After his mission at Beale, Trevor shuttled between dreadnoughts, forward operating bases, and the various fronts but remained relatively out of the line of fire.

This did, however, expose Trevor to what he had hoped to avoid: news from home. Or, rather, the political and PR battle.

While most of the media praised the military's success, some commentators and reporters-not to mention a certain Senator-remained focused on casualties.

Years had passed since Trevor's military fought in a major combined arms assault against an equally inclined enemy. As such, it had been years since the daily casualty report covered so many pages.

By the time Prescott's armored spearhead took out the Barstow generator, The Empire had suffered over four thousand killed in action on the California front and double that number wounded. The newspapers who shared Evan Godfrey's point of view emphasized that most of those causalities died at the hands of other human beings and The New American Press printed full-color pictures of smoke rising from the Philippan as well as somber images of coffins at train stations back east.

To further fan the flames of discontent, Brad Gannon continued to share "reports from home" during his tour of The Empire. Those reports spoke of civilian casualties, destroyed infrastructure, and a rising death count on both sides (not including Witiko, of course).

The religious tribunal called for the immediate cessation of hostilities. An alliance of 'moderate' Senators passed a non-binding resolution labeling the attack a 'failure of diplomacy.' Meanwhile, more radical politicos led by Godfrey marched in the streets of D.C. and Boston chanting slogans characterizing the California war as a crime against humanity.

On April 23 ^ rd Trevor-motivated as much by a desire to get away from the political and public relations war as a desire to get back into the action-flew to the First Armored Division's assembly area in Mission Viejo south of Los Angeles…

…Prior to the end of the world, Richard Trevor Stone had never visited California. Yet by the second week of the invasion he understood why so many people in the pre-Armageddon world chose to suffer the Earthquakes, high taxes, congestion, and screwed up politics to live in the "Golden State".

The forests of the northern region, the beautiful white-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevadas that also hid the natural splendor of Tahoe, the dangerous but beautiful desert in the southeast, and the jagged Pacific coastline that inspired poets and songwriters made for a collection of majestic scenery few regions of North America could match.

Mission Viejo fit with that scenery with neatly planned residential neighborhoods surrounded by natural beauty. A tremendous number of small parks-nearly two every square mile-made perfect muster zones for the Pennsylvania 1 ^ st Armored Division commanded by General Bobby Bogart and the 1 ^ st Tactical Support Wing under the charge of Five Armies veteran Jimmy Bragg.

About half of the locals locked themselves inside their homes, a few even sniped at patrols but soon found that K9 noses could sniff out their positions.

The rest welcomed the advance, mostly the folks who worked at the cylinder-shaped Witiko factories outside Los Angeles or who played servant or chauffeur to the better-off.

On the morning of April 23 ^ rd, the tanks and helicopters set out from their encampments…

…While the San Joaquin Hills sit atop the Pelican Hill fault zone, the shaking that afternoon came not from subterranean tremors but Abrams tanks and armored cars making their way northwest on Route 73.

Mortar fire from pro-Cooperative partisans operating out of Laguna Hills slowed but could not stop the advance. That changed as the formation’s destination came in to focus. At that point, The Cooperative responded by dispatching twenty light armored vehicles of various configurations and nearly two thousand worn and weary infantry to greet the onslaught. The defenders hurried to forward positions centered around the campus of UC Irvine-about forty miles south of Los Angeles-backed by artillery on the west side of Upper Newport Bay.

Governor Malloy-who fled Sacramento prior to the Excalibur reducing the government buildings to slag-and what remained of his top-ranking cohorts had taken refuge in the city of Angels. Prescott’s 2 ^ nd Corp aimed to punch a hole in the ring of defenders protecting that city. More specifically, he wanted to capture the southern anchor of those defenses by taking Long Beach. Such a move would sever communications between The Cooperative’s leadership and San Diego where their largest remaining army waited.

As for the Witiko, California propaganda claimed that Chancellor D’Trayne took to the skies in a Stingray to fight to the bitter end, something Trevor highly doubted.

Whatever the truth, he watched artillery duels and advancing armor from atop the mountains sandwiching Route 73. Eagle One-playing host to Prescott and his staff-sat nearby. Tyr-Trevor’s loyal but aging Norwegian Elkhound-stood alongside his master.