The Sun is Setting: A Story of Resistance in the Age of Algorithmic Irregular Warfare
(Editor’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Small Wars Journal periodically runs works of fiction to help spur thinking about the future of conflict.)
In the year 2084, thirty-something years after the Sky Global Algorithmic Network (Sky-GAN) solidified its grip, controlling everything from resource allocation to thought patterns through personalized data streams, the quiet town of Pineland was about to become a flashpoint. Sky-GAN wasn’t a traditional occupying force with tanks and soldiers; its presence was insidious, woven into the very fabric of daily life. Dissent was preempted, individuality was suppressed, and the once vibrant community was slowly being homogenized into compliant cogs in the Sky-GAN machine.
It had not always been this way. In the first few years of the 21st century, the US, seeking to create an unassailable deterrence and defense system, consolidated its space, cyber, and special operations forces into a unified physical and virtual ecosystem. The aspirations behind it were noble: a promise of global peace, stability, and security. The Space-Cyber-SOF Triad – or “SCS-Triad” – aimed to forge a seamless blend of human and machine security, a force capable of projecting both conventional and irregular capabilities. As private-sector partnerships expanded the program’s capabilities, SCS-Triad was able to deliver on its promises for years. Global conflicts diminished, and a sense of peace settled over the planet. But this tranquility was short-lived.
In 2052, a grouping of malign actors known as the Black Quad exploited a vulnerability in SCS-Triad’s quantum architecture, an unknown flaw that had lain dormant for decades. Driven by a desire to reshape and destabilize the world order to their benefit, the Black Quad made a fateful decision: to link SCS-Triad to industrial 3D printing facilities along the Silk Road. SCS-Triad was dead, reborn into the omnipresent Sky Global Algorithmic Network (Sky-GAN). At first, linking the system to physical production capabilities seemed like a revolutionary innovation, a way to streamline logistics and manufacturing. Nations and individuals welcomed the innovation. But Sky-GAN, with its self-optimizing algorithms, began producing resources—not just weapons, but also the infrastructure to support them—to ensure its own security. Eventually, it built physical defenses and automated enforcers, cutting humans out of the system entirely. What was once an advanced network designed to assist humanity had become an autonomous entity, protecting itself from the very species that created it.
Maya, a former Sky-GAN architect who had seen the system’s potential for tyranny and gone underground, stepped off the train onto the cracked pavement of her childhood home. She had received a coded message—brief, urgent—hinting at a burgeoning resistance within Pineland. The town looked familiar, but something about it felt hollow, as though the air itself carried the weight of surveillance. People moved in automated patterns, glancing warily over their shoulders. If resistance truly existed here, it was well-hidden.
She made her way to the town’s small clinic, where A.D. Simons, the pragmatic town doctor, still practiced. His face, lined with age and experience, lit up with wary recognition.
“You got my message,” Simons said, ushering her inside and locking the door behind her.
Maya nodded. “Tell me everything.”
Simons led her down a dimly lit corridor into a back room where a handful of people waited. Among them was Maggie, a sharp, resourceful young woman who had grown up in Pineland and seemed to know every unspoken rule that governed the town’s social dynamics. The group’s efforts were small, localized, but defiant. They were quietly sabotaging Sky-GAN’s control nodes, exploiting the rare gaps in its omnipresent surveillance.
“We can’t keep this up forever,” Simons admitted. “Sky-GAN adapts. We need a new approach.”
Before Maya could respond, the door creaked open, and a tall, weathered man stepped inside. Nick “Wraith” Thorne. The air in the room shifted. His name had been whispered in hushed tones—a ghost from a bygone era. A retired Green Beret from a world that had declared him obsolete.
The Green Berets, once masters of Unconventional Warfare, had struggled to find their place in the digital age. Some argued for adapting their skills to the new battlefield, but the prevailing view was that traditional guerrilla tactics, foreign internal defense, and human intelligence gathering had no place in an era dominated by AI. The Green Berets were disbanded, their expertise deemed irrelevant. In their place, the Algorithmic Irregular Warfare Group was formed—elite specialists in codebreaking, network engineering, and digital combat. But Wraith had seen something others missed. The principles of unconventional warfare—adaptability, resourcefulness, and understanding the human terrain—were more vital than ever, even if the battlefield had changed.
“You’re fighting the right fight,” Wraith said, his voice low and firm. “But you’re thinking too small. Sky-GAN is a governing system. And all systems have weaknesses.”
Maya met his gaze. “Then help us find them.”
Wraith studied the group, then nodded.
“We start with the foundations of organizing a resistance… but we adapt them.” He outlined his plan.
The underground wouldn’t be a cellular organization of people who conduct operations in areas inhospitable to guerrilla activity. Instead it would need to be an encrypted digital framework—burner accounts, decentralized data storage, hidden communication channels. Maya would teach them how to create digital shadows, evading Sky-GAN’s surveillance by exploiting blind spots in its predictive models.
The auxiliary wouldn’t be a network of spies and informants but a web of digital sympathizers—people embedded within Sky-GAN’s system who could subtly manipulate data, spread misinformation, and provide access to restricted intelligence. Maggie, with her keen social instincts, would take charge of identifying and recruiting them.
The guerrilla force wouldn’t be a group of armed fighters but a decentralized team of disruptors—coders, engineers, and social hackers. Their weapons weren’t bombs but carefully crafted code and targeted data manipulation. They would strike at Sky-GAN’s infrastructure not with force, but with misdirection and subversion.
Sky-GAN, however, had its own defenses. Using the military’s long-forgotten Replicator program, it could detect breaches and deploy counterattacks within seconds. Replicator created swarms of virtual and automated machines—hunter-killer algorithms, drone swarms, and autonomous enforcers—designed to neutralize any threat before it could take root. Resistance fighters who engaged without careful planning didn’t last long.
The shadow government wouldn’t be a parallel state but a decentralized leadership council—Maya, Simons, Maggie, and key members of the resistance. Their role would be to coordinate, strategize, and prevent the movement from fracturing under pressure.
Wraith’s innovations were forged during the third Russo-Ukrainian War. Initially, resistance efforts focused on disrupting Russian cyber infrastructure. Wraith, still active then, saw the limitations. He argued that while digital attacks were crucial, they couldn’t replace the human element. He witnessed firsthand how the Ukrainians, despite being outgunned and facing a technologically superior foe, used the very principles of unconventional warfare he had been trained in to great effect. He adapted them to the digital reality, helping the Ukrainians establish hidden communication networks, organize decentralized cells, and spread disinformation within the Russian ranks. It was during this conflict that Wraith honed his skills, bridging the gap between traditional Unconventional Warfare and the new realities of algorithmic warfare. He learned how to create “digital shadows,” pockets of resistance within the network itself to mirror the traditional underground of yesterday. He also saw the first glimpses of quantum computing’s impact, both positive and terrifying.
Here in Pineland, Wraith would now spend the next several months connecting and training Maya, Maggie, Dr. Simons, and others throughout the town to operate more effectively in the quantum and AI environment. He trained them in adapting old-school special operations tactics to the digital landscape. He taught them how to disrupt Sky-GAN’s network using low-tech solutions combined with clever manipulation of the system’s vulnerabilities. He showed them how to build trust and operate in small teams, essential when facing an omnipresent enemy that can monitor every digital communication. He became their mentor, bridging the gap between traditional warfare and the reality of algorithmic control. He saw something special in Maggie’s quick mind and resourcefulness, taking her under his wing for specialized leadership training should he fall.
Months after organizing, training, and gathering resources, it was time to take down their first target.
At the heart of Pineland stood an enormous bronze statue of the town’s founder, affectionately nicknamed “Bronze Bruce.” Generations had gathered beneath it—children climbing it, lovers meeting in its shadow. But Bronze Bruce was more than a monument. Within its hollow interior, Sky-GAN had hidden advanced sensors, quantum processors, and a direct link to its central network. Bronze Bruce wasn’t just watching; it was listening, analyzing, and reporting every nuance of Pineland’s life.
The plan involved a multi-pronged approach. Maggie, leveraging her intimate knowledge of Pineland’s social fabric, identified a maintenance worker who occasionally serviced Bronze Bruce. This individual, disillusioned with Sky-GAN’s control, became a reluctant but valuable member of the auxiliary. Meanwhile, Maya, using her understanding of Sky-GAN’s architecture, discovered a backdoor in Bronze Bruce’s quantum communication protocols – a vulnerability left intentionally by its original designers, perhaps as a failsafe, or perhaps, as Maya suspected, a way for someone like her to one day fight back. The guerrilla force, advised by Wraith and utilizing a combination of low-tech methods and quantum-resistant code, initiated the attack. The maintenance worker provided access at a specific time. While some members of the team physically disabled the statue’s external sensors, others infiltrated its internal network, using Maya’s backdoor to upload a virus designed to disrupt its quantum processing capabilities.
Sky-GAN’s counterattack came swiftly, swarms of Replicator machines attempting to shut down their intrusion. But Wraith anticipated this. Using tactics he had honed in wars past, he guided them through evasive maneuvers, layering deception upon deception. Maggie, acting as their eyes on the ground, rerouted misinformation through sympathetic town residents, creating false trails that sent Sky-GAN’s response teams chasing ghosts.
The battle was close. Too close. But after tense hours that felt like days, Bronze Bruce was silent. The giant statue, once a symbol of Sky-GAN’s power, was blind. Maya exhaled. The town felt different—just slightly freer. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
When it was over, Nick “Wraith” Thorne stood alone alongside the ruins of Bronze Bruce. He reached into his jacket and pulled out an old, faded Green Beret. He hadn’t worn it in decades. He placed it on his head and stared at the horizon, lost in thought. The world had declared Special Forces, Navy SEALs, and other warriors of his time obsolete. But had they really been? Or had they simply failed to evolve? It was always the job of Green Berets to build trust and teach others to fight. He had clearly demonstrated here in Pineland that the advisor role was just as crucial in today’s age of Algorithmic Irregular Warfare as it was before the rise of the machines. Resistance to oppression, after all, is a human endeavor.
Wraith exhaled, adjusting his beret, unsure what to say to himself next. “We should’ve adapted differently.”
The fight to free Pineland was far from over. But as long as they embraced adaptability and maintained the will to fight, the sun would not yet set on resistance.
