October 28, 2020, 09:00, B2 Bunker (Armed Forces Joint Command Control situation room) in Seoul Yongsan-ku.

  “Zeus 1! Interception is not possible with a sharp output drop! Reporting that recharging would take 30 minutes, and during that time, the interception system will be completely stopped.”


  Chairman of the Joint Staff Kang Yi-sik slightly furrowed his brows at the report of a drop in output, and asked while flicking his finger on the table, “A 30-minute stop for an output drop? The output consumption must have been greater than we thought. What is the current situation with the ballistic missiles?”


  “Currently 94 of 252, 79 DF-21 ballistic missiles, 33 DF-3s, and 12 DF-4s are about to enter the middle phase! I have uploaded the statistics report to screen number three. Please confirm, Chairman, sir!”


  “Ninety-four out of 252 are still left. Contact the air force operation command and order an emergency group of fighter planes capable of interception!”


  “Yes, sir.”


  Originally, the second phase of KAMD was for the Three-Legged Crow [1] Spaceplane to handle the interception. However, it was still in testing and not yet deployed, so Chairman Kang Yi-sik had ordered the Vermilion Bird [2] fighter plane and Black Vermilion Bird [3] fighter bomber as a last resort.

  “Fighter Wing 38 and Fighter Wing 10 reported to have made three formations of Vermilion Bird fighter planes and two formations of Black Vermilion Bird fighter bombers.”


  “Good! How is the Hades ground defense satellite?”


  “Currently, KS-LD Hades 1 through 3 are in the progress of intercepting. It’s on screen number two.”


  * * *

  October 28, 2020, 09:02. CP TANGO (Air Force Command Post Hades ground defense satellite integrated control room) in Seoul Cheonggyesan.

  At KS-LD Hades bases 1, 2, and 3, which were constructed in three locations at Kyungi-do, Gyeongbuk, and Jeonnam, the silo covers slowly opened to the side. The terminal high-altitude S-LSM 600 Bident Missile, programmed to travel 3,100 miles towards the 20 highest-priority Chinese ballistic missiles based on impact time and level of danger, was seen slowly exuding blue flames in the silo. Then, the Bident missile slowly headed towards the sky after slipping out of the silo, and once it reached an altitude of 0.6 miles, the missile made a sharp second propulsion, instantly reaching a great speed of Mach 45 and disappeared into the Korean and Chinese atmosphere.

  “The first round of 60 Bident Missiles from Hades 1, 2, and 3 have had normal deployment success! They are currently maintaining terminal velocity at Mach 45 and are approaching middle-phase ballistic missile DF-3, DF-4, and DF-21, flying normally towards their assigned targets. There are 56 seconds left until the first interception.

  “Second round assign targets and wait, then fire the second round of interception missiles immediately upon completion of first-round interception.”


  “Second round has assigned targets and is waiting, 20 Bident missiles from each Hades on standby.”


  “Add failed targets from the first-round interception and prepare for an assignment.”


  “Adding failed targets from the first-round interception and preparing for an assignment.”


  On the digital map of the Korean peninsula and China, various colored lines were being drawn. Chinese ballistic missiles had passed the early phase, which was their highest chance of being intercepted, and as they entered the middle phase, each of the three kinds of ballistic missiles from China slightly altered its trajectory towards its target and began separating from the launch vehicle.

  “DF-3 and 4’s ballistic missile launch vehicles and warheads are separating.”


  “How much time left to intercept?”


  “Ten seconds left until first interception.”


  “Three, two, one. First target interception successful!”


  “Second and third interception successful! Fourth failed! Fifth successful.”


  The operator’s consecutive reports of success and failure made the atmosphere of the control room as hot as a blast furnace, and the sky outside the atmosphere between the Korean peninsula and China was like a festival with tens of missiles entangled with each other, causing a firework show.

  “We have successfully intercepted 48 to 60 targets. There are 12 failed from the first round and the other 34 of the original 46 left.”


  In a situation like this, Controller Oh Seung-pil maintained composure and ordered the second round of interception. “Reprogram failed missile targets from the first round, and fire the second round of interception missiles immediately upon finishing!”


  “Reprogramming 12 additional targets.

  “Programming completed!

  “Fire.”


  “Fire!”


  Again, from the three Hades silos, 46 Bident Missiles were fired, and the warheads from the ballistic missiles, now completing the middle phase, entered the terminal phase and began falling at a scarily fast speed with the help of gravity onto various areas on the Korean peninsula.

  “Fifty seconds until the second round of first interceptions.”


  The Korean military was at more of a disadvantage as time went on. Though they had the mighty KAMD system, it was their first time in this actual situation. Unexpected situations always happened. Even though hundreds of simulations could be run, the question was how to minimize these things.

  “First interception successful. Second successful. Now heading into the third interception.”


  Once again, the Hades integrated command post control room practically became a noisy night market, and here and there, the reports of success and failure hit the controller’s eardrums relentlessly. After a few minutes, the final interception report was heard.

  “Thirty-three of 46 targets were successfully intercepted, and the remaining 13 targets are falling and have reached Mach 30.”


  “Check the ballistic missile types.”


  “There are five DF-3s and eight DF-4s.”


  It was a remarkable accomplishment to intercept 33 of 46 ballistic missiles in their terminal phase. However, the problem was that the surviving ballistic missiles were DF-3s and DF-4s, which had a high chance of being nuclear warheads. Now, Hades, which was responsible for intercepting the missiles at terminal altitudes, had nothing else to do. In KAMD’s final and fourth phase, the interceptions were left to the Army Missile Command for various high-altitude missiles and each naval fleet for anti-air missiles.

  * * *

  October 28, 2020, 09:05, B2 Bunker (Armed Forces Joint Command Control situation room) in Seoul Yongsan-ku.

  While watching all of this, the chairman let out a small moan. He had been expecting things to go as the original plan, with Hades ground defense satellite being enough to intercept. If the strategic interceptor satellite, Zeus, hadn’t had the unexpected output problem, it would have definitely been possible, and it was the moment he truly felt that wars did not go as expected.

  “Each army unit under the Army Missile Command is firing defensive anti-air missiles for high-altitude and mid-altitude missiles.”


  “Maritime Task Flotilla Seven Hocula destroyer and the Navy’s second fleet have begun interception.”


  “Fighter planes from the 38th and 10th Fighter Wings have begun securing target location and interception.”


  Now, in the fourth phase of KAMD, which was the Army Missile Command’s various anti-air missiles, the Navy ships’ terminal-phase interception missiles, and the six and a half generation fighter planes being deployed while hoping for a fluke, needed to be trusted.

  “Disperse all current situations of interception on every screen.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  The 13 red lines from mainland China were quickly drawn in a downward slope, pointing to various parts of the Korean peninsula. From several different areas, numerous lines were drawn towards these areas. A few moments later, many explosions occurred in the sky 155 miles above the Korean peninsula. The Army Missile Command’s Dragon of Heaven S-LAM-500 and Heavenly Palace S-LAM-410 PIP missiles successfully intercepted four of 13 ballistic missiles, and the six Maritime Task Flotilla Seven Hocula destroyer’s Triana S-SSM-500 missiles deployed successfully, intercepting five ballistic missiles. Four ballistic missiles were now remaining.

  “Interception success! Interception success! Nine of 13 have been successfully intercepted! There are four left now,” shouted the operator while slapping his face with both of his friends like the movie ‘Scream.’


  The Chairman of the Joint Staff’s voice trembled as he urgently asked, “Where is the target for the four ballistic missiles?”


  “The DF-4s are heading to the Seoul Blue House, Army Group 2’s base in Chun Cheon, and the Incheon Airport, and the DF-3 is heading to the 11th Fighter Wing’s air force base in Daegu.”


  Chairman of the Joint Staff Kang Yi-sik slammed the table in front of him with his fist like he was going to break it.

  “Damn it! Why did the surviving ones have to be DF-4s and DF-3s? How much longer until impact?”


  “Twenty-one seconds until Seoul impact, 21 seconds until Chun Cheon impact, 20 seconds until Incheon Airport impact, and 23 seconds until Daegu 11th Fighter Wing impact.”


  “Army Missile Command is entering the second round of interception.”


  “Hocula Destroyer has also fired the second round of interception missiles.”


  On the central screen, many blue lines were moving towards the four red lines that were clearly coming down towards the Korean Peninsula. A few seconds later, three of the four red lines disappeared.

  “Interception was successful for ballistic missiles heading to the Blue House, Chun Cheon, and Daegu 11th Fighter Wing. Out of these, it has been confirmed that the ballistic missile heading towards the Blue House was intercepted by the Black Vermillion Bird formation deployed from Suwon.”


  The fluke they had been hoping for by deploying the 10th Fighter Wing Black Vermillion Bird formation luckily intercepted the ballistic missile heading towards the Blue House. Momentarily, all the workers in the control room cried out in happiness, but the atmosphere sank again with heaviness. This was because one DF-4 warhead was still falling towards Incheon Airport.

  “Twelve seconds left until impact on Incheon Airport.”


  Chairman of the Joint Staff Kang Yi-sik closed his eyes gently. Though they had pulled out all the stops, they had still missed one Chinese ballistic missile, a DF-4 that was possibly mounted with a nuclear warhead.

  “DF-4 Incheon Airport impact in nine, eight, seven, six…… Huh?”


  The last surviving DF-4 warhead, falling from a high altitude of 500 miles and boasting an amazing speed of Mach 38 from free fall, disappeared without a trace in the sky 35 miles above Incheon Airport.

  “Chinese DF-4 ballistic missile interception success. The interception was successful.”


  Chairman Kang opened his eyes at the unexpected report from the operator and stared at the central screen. The clear red line indicating the ballistic missile trajectory had disappeared.

  Moments later, the operator in charge of communication lifted both of his hands high and shouted loudly enough for the entire joint control command center to be blown away. “Intercepted? Where was it intercepted from?”


  “Zeus 1 quickly changed to interception mode while recharging and intercepted it.”


  “Wah!”


  At that moment, tens of operator workers hugged each other, regardless of rank and gender, to share the joy at the fact that all of China’s ballistic missiles were intercepted. Even Chairman Kang, as if he had momentarily aged ten years because of the last ballistic missile, was rejuvenated and couldn’t be happier. Each of the military chiefs who were watching no less nervously than the chairman shook each other’s hands and joined in this happy moment.

  “Aerospace operation commander!”


  “Yes, Mr. Chairman!”


  “Tell the Zeus 1 controller that I’ve aged prematurely because of him.”


  “Haha, understood, Mr. Chairman.”


  “Now, let’s focus on the cruise missile interception.”


  China’s drastic retaliation strategy was to neutralize Korea’s various radar bases and anti-air military facilities by simultaneously attacking with five ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads and over 200 highly explosive ballistic missiles, then to strike the remaining military facilities, civilian airports, and ports with 277 cruise missiles. Currently, the 277 cruise missiles fired from China had maintained Mach 0.8 from each of their launch points, and they were all approaching the West Sea of the Korean peninsula 35 miles above the West Sea’s surface in flyover mode as one unit.

  “Each group, convert to cruise missile interception system and set Apollo 1 to detection.”


  “Converting to cruise missile interception system and setting Apollo 1 to cruise missile detection.”


  At the chairman’s commands, the operators in the Armed Forces Joint control room immediately passed the orders on to each anti-air defensive fleet and the Apollo satellite control room.

  “Apollo 1 has sent the detected cruise missile trajectories.”


  “Upload it to the central screen.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  A few moments later, the 277 cruise missiles fired from China were shown as red dots that were gathering towards the Korean peninsula.

  “Ground air defense fleet and 2nd Navy Fleet, link data and designate target assignments.”


  “Ground air defense fleet and 2nd Navy Fleet are entering data links and assigning targets.”


  With a brief moment to relax, Chairman Kang stretched his muscles that had hardened from tension and scrutinized the central screen.

  “Currently, assignment complete for the 37 cruise missiles fired from China’s Navy North Sea Fleet.”


  “Assignment complete for the 89 cruise missiles fired from the Navy West Sea Fleet.”


  “Next, the assignment for 150 CJ-10s, Chang Jian-10s, surface-to-surface cruise missiles fired from the Central Theater Command, has been completed.”


  Corresponding operators shouted the report of their completed assignments.

  “Then begin intercepting assigned targets now.”


  “Passing on the command to begin intercepting.”


  [1]: The Three-Legged Crow is a bird that symbolizes the sun in Eastern mythology. In Korea, it was a symbol of Goguryeo and regarded as a symbol of power.

  [2]: The Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature that is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is perpetually covered in flames and represents the fire element. It is commonly seen as an Eastern version of the phoenix.

  [3]: A black version of the Vermilion Bird.