Operation Shutdown

2026--The US is no longer China’s main importer and the Beijing government is calling back 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 8 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.

SOUTH CHINA SEA, EXTERIOR DECK, USS PALIN, 2026-07-04 2100Z

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 imageof the area on his electronic pad. A crypted feed unrolls in a side dialogue box.

Pearl
(still scanning)
No words from PACOM.

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

Pearl
Well... Happy 4th of July.

Tran Huang
(Looking at Pearl)
Same to you Commander.

Pearl
Guess we're first row for the fireworks.

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

Pearl
Neah... PLAN will just will just dock in.

Tran Huang
(looking back at his screen where all available Taiwan Navy ships form a symbolic territorial line, dangerously close to the Chinese "Armada")
Wow. This is David & Goliath!

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

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

Tran Huang
Right...