The adventures of the Environmental Gendarmes in another world (Republished)

Air attack

It's six thirty in the morning. A triangular shaped solar drone is flying towards the mysterious town under orders from lieutenant Ace to observe and report. It's also a chance to verify the capabilities of the drone as this is a new domestically produced model which is still under testing back in Atlas City.

It was introduced a few months ago by the lieutenant himself as a replacement of the old mark one Seagull and the mark two Petrel drones which were copies of the Italian Falco and the Vietnamese ITAD M-400 drones. He thought that the older models were a very common design for the air corps so he thought that a more uncommon design would be more practical. For an entire week he had locked himself inside a depot in the barracks and wouldn't let anyone in. He had to design and redesign his concept but none of the designs satisfied him.

That's when something clicked in his brain. If he couldn't think of a design, he could modify an existent one. He searched for many aircraft designs but couldn't find the ideal one. After he found the donor plane, he grabbed a screwdriver, chainsaw and a few pieces of plastic and started to work on his new idea. After a week, his prototype was ready.

After a quick demonstration, the Environmental Defense Ministry gave the green light for the production of ten units in order to test them and see how they performed. The results were satisfying and the ministry gave the approval for mass production. The lieutenant remembers refusing to take credit for his work, saying he was just doing his job.

The new mark three model resembles like the Bombardier Q400 airliner with a more aerodynamic fuselage, two delta wings, a twin tail and one propeller on the back of the fuselage. It is also equipped with two powerful solar panels that allow it to fly for at least fifteen hours before running out of energy. It can also be armed with four to six 18 inch micro missiles that can track down and destroy a target from a distance of fifteen kilometers.

The drone arrives at the city where it starts filming and taking photos. Surprisingly, while GPS doesn't work, this drone has no need for satellite connection as the solar panels can generate power for the camera.

Everything seems to be normal. There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. It zooms its camera towards the coast to verify the situation. It's a mess down there, just like the pilot of the patrol boat reported. Some houses have been destroyed by artillery fire while some people are seen carrying different tools and wood.

The drone then turns its camera towards the lake after spotting some movement. There's a small flotilla of ten 14th and 18th century ships heading towards the coast of the city. They're probably planning to bombard the place for a second time. The most logical thing would be to keep a low profile and not intervene, but like the lieutenant said, 'In this war logic won't help them in anything, sometimes madness is needed', besides, they just gave away their presence so now they have no choice but to get involved in this war. The lieutenant knew that too but he hoped this time would never come. Now they have to sacrifice their neutrality to defend their beliefs.

Ace, who happens to be watching the footage from the laptop of his pickup truck, contacts the command post.

-'This is scout one', he says. 'You are clear to engage, I repeat you are clear to engage. Blast the enemy flotilla. One missile in the gunpowder deck should be enough to blow the ships up'.

A few parasites are heard before the response.

-'Understood', says one of the cadets who had stayed in the command post.

The lieutenant knew that once he made such decisions there would be no turning back. But he got traumatized by yesterday's incident and wanted to prevent any further slaughter. The only way to do so is by intervening, even if that means altering a little bit of history. He is determined not to let any more innocent civilians suffer the consequences of war.

The drone then drops to one thousand feet and makes a left turn. The plan is to perform a dive attack, make a left turn and perform a second attack from the starboard side of the ships. The missiles may be small but they are still capable of destroying a big target. While it was tested on smaller targets such as cars and old bunkers, the explosion from the impact was huge. It has never been tested on amphibious targets before so they are not sure of the missile's effectiveness. Well, it's time to find out.

Aboard the ships, some sailors were loading the cannons and catapults that would be used to bombard the town while others prepared their bows to shoot at the people that would attempt to run away. Captain Adamius was proud to lead the attack on the enemy town. He has been personally appointed by his emperor to lead the nation's navy to victory. The emperor has seen the potential in him. His tactics, fighting and loyalty have lead him to so many victories that he lost count of how many times the imperial family has rewarded him. Although he doesn't have much experience in naval warfare, he still has enough experience to form a tactic that will give him and his troops the advantage.

-'Men', he yells at the sailors who turn to look at him. 'We have brought the enemy to his knees. You see that town? That's where the enemy has been hiding. They won't dare to step forward to oppose us anymore. Your fighting spirit and loyalty have lead you all here. This is what you were born for. This is what our empire stands for. Today we make our emperor proud. Today we take the capital'.

Listening to his speech, the sailors cheer him and yell out words of pride. They load the cannons and the archers stand at the port side of the ship. Adamius can feel that victory is close. After so many victories, it's finally time to complete their conquest. Nothing can stop them.

The archers are in their position. They are all excited that they are the ones who will win

-'Can you believe it?', asks an archer as he places an arrow on his bow. 'The capital is finally within our reach'.

-'I believe it now?', responds another archer. 'After all these years of war, we're finally going to achieve peace'.

-'That's right my fellow warriors', says Adamius who decided to fight with his men. 'Peace is at last within reach. The great empire will once again return to its former glory. Today we take back what once belonged to us'.

The captain is about to give the order to fire when suddenly an explosion rocks the ship. Captain Adamius looks to his left and sees that the other ship is on fire and sinking. Some sailors and archers run to the stern while others either wait for the attack order and some are startled by the explosion. They all look around, trying to find any possible positions of enemy cannons. They find nothing. That's strange because only a cannon could blast the ships.

-'Where did that come from?', asks Adamius.

-'We don't know captain', responds a sailor. 'There aren't any cannons at the coast. It as if we got attacked by a ghost'.

-'Don't talk nonsense', replies Adamius. 'There are no ghosts'.

-'Hold it', says an archer. 'What's that sound?'

-'What sound?', asks Adamius.

-'I can hear it too', says a sailor. 'It's from above'.

They all look up to see the drone flying towards their ship.

-'What is that thing?', ask some sailors, including Adamius.

-'It's going to attack', yells an archer, realizing the danger.

-'Shoot it', orders Adamius. 'Shoot it now'.

The archers obey and shoot their arrows but all miss. The drone is flying too high for the arrows to hit. They try to shoot it a second time but miss again. No matter how many arrows they shoot all of them fall into the water. Fear has now taken over their instincts as they seem to be shaken to the core and keep wasting arrows.

The drone locks on to three ships and fires three of the micro missiles. Thanks to the multiple target locking system, it doesn't need to perform six attacks the whole time. It can just attack three targets in a row, just like the F-22 can shoot down six planes in row. The attack on the first ship proved successful as the missile seemed to know where to hit. The explosion was so big that the ship broke in two, now it's time to find out if the other missiles will also be as accurate as the first one. It only has one shot at this so it's better not to miss. The phrase 'Targets Locked' appears on the screen and three of the missiles are fired. It only takes a few seconds before they collide with the ships.

The archers and sailors watch as the missiles detach from the aircraft's wings and head right towards them.

-'The creature just shot three fire arrows', yells an archer. 'They're heading straight for us'.

-'Form a shield wall, quickly', yells Adamius.

The archers obey and raise their round and square shield in the air, expecting to get hit by those 'arrows'. What they don't realize is that the 'arrows' are meant for the ships and not them.

One by one, the three ships in the middle of the formation are blasted in to pieces or cut in half. The explosions are so big that most sailors and soldiers on the upper deck are knocked in to the air and fall into the water. Captain Adamius and his crew watch in horror and disbelief as the ships burn and he sailors try to swim to the nearest ship that is still intact.

They can't believe what they just saw. A 'creature' like that with 'fire arrows' that know exactly where to hit. They start to think that their enemies are using a new magical weapon far superior than any other weapon. If that's the case then they don't stand a chance against their enemy, not until they find ways tp counter them.

Captain Adamius, not willing to take the risk, orders the flotilla of the four remaining ships to turn around and retreat. He knows this will bring shame to his nation but he can't lose any more men.

With the attack completed, the drone returns to the command post. This can, in some way, be considered the first successful deployment of the new mark three model and the first successful use of the 18 inch ENDEIN micro missile. Not only the completed their mission successfully, they also proved how effective they are in combat. Maybe the drone is not stealthy but it's fast, agile and fully autonomous. Now they know they can use it whenever they need without any fear of possible flaws.

From now on, the gendarmes can no longer keep a low profile. They just attacked the flotilla of an unknown nation. They intervened in somebody else's war. Sooner or later they're gonna have to pick a side but if possible, they'll have to try to avoid it. Maybe they cannot stay neutral in this unknown war but they can at least defend themselves.