Operation Shutdown

2026--The US is no longer China’s main importer and the Beijing government is calling the entirety of its 10 trillion dollar loan in US Treasury Bonds.

Taiwan is on high alert as the ultimatum given by the Mainland for all foreign (US) ships to clear 46 nautical miles from Greater China’s shore expires in hours.

The Republican lead Congress and Senate vote for a nationalization of The Federal Reserve. The US now faces its worse financial crises since its foundation 250 years earlier. Great Britain, which has now fully embraced the Eurozone can’t persuade its partners to bail out its former colony. Japan and unified Korea remain neutral as 90% their economies depend on the Chinese market. The Pakistan-India conflict and Russia's droughts/heat-waves internal concerns prevent these countries from intervening.

The US has one last shot: USCYBERCOM.

Four Star General Jouni Wilson, 48, Head of the United States Cyber Command has been called to the White House. The preliminary phases of Operation Shutdown (Operation Login & Operation Password) have been steadily deployed since 2012. California developed softwares which power routers and hubs controlling 80% of the world’s Internet traffic, are coded to overload and create irreparable hardware damage. Triggering OSD means halting all trade and the world would instantaneously “regress” to a pre-Internet era.

Two camps develop in the Situation Room:

One is in favor of implementing OSD immediately without warning so the US could retreat into “self-sustaining mode”.

The other is to expose the catastrophic consequences of OSD to all concerned countries and negotiate a settlement.

The main argument in favor of the first solution is that the US is no longer dependent on foreign energy resources as 50% of new vehicles now run on electricity produced domestically in Canada. The rest and other energy needs are fulfilled by exploitation of high sea platforms in the Beaufort Sea. William McKinley, 25th President of The United States, is being cited for his protectionist views.

Arguments against, include the continuation of US domination in military and software industries for a possible turn around of the current regression.

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SOUTH CHINA SEA, EXTERIOR DECK, USS PALIN, 2026-07-04 2000Z

The sun is rising at the southern entrance of the Taiwan Straight. US Navy Commander Roger Pearl, 59, scans the horizon through a pair of 20th century binoculars. A contingent of more than 100 PLA Navy ships are deployed 22 nautical miles from the Cost of Taiwan. Lieutenant Pete Tran Huang, 61, views the interactive live satellite image of the area on his electronic pad. A crypted feed unrolls in a side dialogue box.

Roger
(still scanning)
No words from PACOM.

Pete
No… The feed's now direct from The Situation Room...

Roger
Well... Happy 4th of July.

Peteg
(Looking at Pearl)
Same to you Commander.

Roger
Guess we're first row for the fireworks.

Peteg
(looking towards Taiwan)<br? > You think they'll resist?

Roger
Neah... PLAN will just will just dock in.

Pete
(looking back at his screen where dozens of tiny Taiwanese Navy ships form a symbolic territorial line, dangerously close to the Chinese "Armada")
Wow. This is David against Goliath!

Roger
No need for an incident this time... We're goin' home Pete.

Pete looks up again and scan the horizon. Pensive...

Pete
Right...

INTERIOR, SITUATION ROOM, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON DC, 2026-07-04 2030Z (Friday July 3, 2026, 3:30pm ET)

General Jouni Wilson kisses President Sam Gomez on one cheek before settling into a cushy leather seat. Around the conference table sit: The Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff (CJCS), The Secretary of State (SOS), Senator Pro, Chairman of The Senate Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Congressman Alt, Chairman of The House Committee on Energy and Water Development and about a dozen t-shirt wearing aides and advizors. The walls are covered with LCD paneling displaying live feeds from the Pacific front as well as scrolling data.

Sam
(addressing Jouni)
This is your big day General.

Jouni
(smiling)
With all due respect, this is YOUR big day Mr. President.

Sam
They all start to look the same to me if you want my opinion.
(turning towards the CJCS)
So, what do we got Chief?

CJCS
(rising and moving towards the main screen showing the same image as on Lieutenant Pete Tran Huang's pad)
Well Gentlemen... (turning toward Jouni) Mrs General... The ultimatum expires in less than 9 hours... (pointing on stars intermittently flashing red and blue) these are our position) About half the Pacific fleet is parked on either sides of the straight. The red dots here are the PLA's Navy. Over 100 ships with an estimated 100,000 troops on board. Further inland, we believe that another 20,000 Special Forces are ready to be airlifted and deployed directly downtown Taipei and Kaohsiung.
(Turing towards the President)
If the Taiwanese do not offer resistance, we estimate that the deployment and control of the Island by the PLA would take less than 6 hours. If the Taiwanese hold a battle, maybe 12 hours and over 10,000 casualties... Mainly on the Taiwanese side.

Pro-Intervention
(sitting to the right of the President)
And if we block them?

CJCS
This would mean launching Operation Sea Wall... Then we cannot predict the outcome as other fronts would inevitably open.

Pro
(looking at the CJCS)
But this is what we signed up for... We must have an estimate.

CJCS
Full on confrontation on this specific front could last forever. We have the capacity to hold indefinitely. But the contingency also involves an offensive on the Mainland... Moving to Operation Kuomin Bang.

Sam
Well let's not get carried away here. (turning towards Jouni) What do you say Jouni?

Jouni
About attacking China?

Sam
No, about not attacking China. About pulling the plug.

Jouni
(she rise her head and take a few seconds before addressing the whole group) Well gentlemen... In response to the issue raised by the Secretary of State... about the February loan call by Beijing, I have been asked to present possible alternatives to defaulting or firing off nukes.

Pro
I think you're oversimplifying General!
(turning towards the President)
If we lose Taiwan Mr. President, the only pull we have left is on Mexico... and Canada.

Sam
Let her continue Pro. Jouni...

Jouni
Thanks you Sam. For over a decade now, we have imposed on all software developers operating in the US to comply with an FCC regulation which covert objective was the injection of a ghost code which is now deployed on about 80% of the world's rooters and switches. We're talking main underseas and satellite switches here. Basically this give us the possibility to cut off all communications worldwide.

SOS
(adding)
Which would instantaneously alt all international trade and get most economies to collapse.

Pro
Including ours!

Alt
(sitting on the left of the President)
Our has already collapsed!

Jouni
(resuming)
Code name: Operation Shut Down.

TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE, CLOSING, 2026-07-04 2100Z (Friday July 3, 2026, 4:00pm ET)

Although all securities traded in US dollars were suspended due to Independence Day observation, several Canadian energy and natural resources stocks gained up to 500% by closing.

BAY STREET, TORONTO, MINUTES LATER

A banker steps into a cab in which the transparent LED security screen displays a live newscast. The anchor, named Lloyd, is the default virtual rendition of Canada's longest-serving network news anchor in television history.

Lloyd
In a formidable reversal of fortune, seven Canadian energy and natural resources companies, saved the day at the TSX this afternoon when their stocks closed up 500% getting the Canadian index to rise by 260 points, a first positive gain since the February crash...

As the newscast continues, the banker touches the screen to switch anchor skin. A 20 something foxy French accented lady named "Speakerine" continues without pose. Sask...

Speakerine
(continuing)
...atchewan based Prairies Potash Group showed the most spectacular gain closing at over CAD $1000 a share up 512%. Nunavut based Inu Off Shore (IOS) closed at CAD $872 up 394%. At the other end of the Pacific, the standoff continues between the two Chinas... Will the US intervene? More live from Taipei...

The Banker speed dials on his Dvice as the newscast continues.

Banker
(smiling)
I told you... 400% fucking percent man... Of course they'll pulling out... I'll catch after dark... пока!

USCYBERCOM HQ, FORT MEADE, MARYLAND

In a vast control room dedicated to major operations, a giant LED screen displays a map showing all terrestrial and submarine switches connecting the main lines of communication. Another 3D screen displays geostationary satellites above two hemispheres.

Around 25 operators are standing by. A full rehearsal is on hold waiting for a go from the White House. The protocol is similar to a nuclear launch.

The senior officer in charge of the operation is Captain Octavio Jabbaz, a 40 something laid-back dude munching on an apple in while monitoring all screens and an intermittent feed from Jouni. As he gets the go, he drops his apple core into the trash can, sit up right and taps on his mic.

Octavio
(though his mic)
OK girls... This is it. Full on Rehearsal. I repeat this is a drill... (pause) 360 seconds countdown... Now!

The 3 minute countdown starts. A sequence is coordinated and broken down in sectors.

Octavio
(sarcastic, looking at his subordinate siting next to him)
Nothing better to do at the head of a holiday weekend, than blasting your own shop!

10 seconds to launch

INTERIOR, SITUATION ROOM, WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON DC, 2026-07-04 2045Z (Friday July 3, 2026, 3:45pm ET)

9 seconds to launch.

Jouni stands by a similar image the the one displayed at Fort Meade as the countdown reaches zero.

Jouni
(pointing to the Mediteranean)
So the initial event happens here on the only cable joining Italy to Egypt. The break has an instantaneous effect on all communications reaching the Middle-East and most of the Sub-Continent. Shortly after, we trigger the North-Atlantic main switches, cutting us off from everything eastward. At this point only East Asia and US remain live.
(pause)
The Euro-Middle-Eastern black-out overloads satellite streams and there we go. At this point we hit the 3 spots in the Pacific and all that's left is for the Chinese to talk to themselves and maybe to have of India and Indonesia.
(pause)
No one knows how it started but all eyes are on China.

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