Resilient - Evolution

Chapter 3: Raid on AeroC

"Okay, I think we're ready," Jon said. "I've got the satellites back online, and we'll have directional control in about ten minutes."

"What about the video?" Dedriech asked. "We need to see what's happening."

"We've got two satellites leaving the window now, but three more are coming into the space. We should be able to get the feed anytime now."

"Show us what we got," Dedriech said.

"There's a visible object holding stationary at about twenty thousand," Jon said. "We spotted it yesterday, but it doesn't show up on any of the radar feeds. It's basically invisible to our technology, but you can see it sitting there. No radio traffic that we can see either."

"Anything else other than that one ship?" Dedriech asked.

"There's a compound in the mountains directly under that ship," Jon said. "There's been movement down there and lights, but none of the satellites we've been able to use have enough resolution to get a good enough picture."

"What do you think then?" Dedriech asked. "I've got the ordnance on standby, but I need a good target. We may only have one shot at this."

"If it was me," Jon said, "I'd send a couple hot ones to the ship and a volley down to the ground. You're right ... one chance. But that doesn't mean you can't take out all their resources at the same time."

"Think you can guide them in?" Dedriech asked. "We can't get a lock on the ship without the radar. The ground is no problem ... it's that damn ship I'm wanting to take out."

"If you launch it, I can probably fly it in," Jon said, "but we've got two operators here already. These guys are already trained, and I'd have to wing it. You also need to think about bringing the birds in from a different angle. We sure don't want to give them the opportunity to retaliate on us if they find out who's sending the bombs. I heard what they did to your teams in town."

"I'm not too worried about those guys here in town," Dedriech said. "There's a plan in place to take them out already. They had motorcycles. Yeah, it's cool tech, but this is more than just cool tech. Looks to me like whoever is running the show over there in Missouri is in league with Aliens ... and I'm not talking about our southern border brothers either. These guys in the mountains can be considered enemy collaborators as far as I'm concerned."

"Let me know when you're ready," Jon said. "Hey, what do you think about letting me have first crack at one of those girls you picked up over at Charleston yesterday? You said you would hook me up, but I've still been having to visit the bunker. Those girls don't even care anymore. I need something with a little more fire in her belly."

"I'll let you know," Dedriech said with a grin. "Skills come first. We need to know what they can do. If they don't have anything that can help us, then they'll go to the bunker like the rest. Everybody has to earn their keep." He paused briefly and then said, "I'll tell you what, though ... you pull this off, and I'll see about letting you borrow one for a week or so. Nobody's going to throw a fit over that."

"Have you decided on sending a ground team in to see what you can find out before you blow Missouri all to Hell?" Jon asked, getting back to business.

"I think we're going to deal with the AeroC people in Fort Smith first," Dedriech said. "The Council weighed in on it, and they say to take care of it. I guess that's like giving us the marching orders. They may want to see how we handle things from our end. We'll just run right in on them. The tech got us last time ... that and not having enough firepower there. This time, it's going to be a frontal assault. Nobody threatens our people and gets away with it."