“Sir?”
“What your team is training for is very important for my plan, but it isn’t the only mission. You did so well in Moscow there is another similar mission that is more important.”
“Sir, Moscow did go well. As we anticipated, they weren’t prepared. I will do anything that you order,but I am concerned about my team going on a mission if I’m not with them.”
“Lieutenant, you have your orders. Prepare your team and tell me when they are able to perform the mission. When they are ready, I will tell you what else I need you to do.”
“Yes General,” the Lieutenant said as she saluted and General Keung turned to go to check on the next part of his plan.
General Keung walked at a fast pace out of the large building. Losing Lieutenant Lee’s team was a risk that was necessary. He needed a diversion if the other more important parts of his plan were to work.
General Keung and Chang
General Keung’s next stop was further away, and he climbed in his staff car which was parked near the door.
His ride across base gave him a few moments to review his plan. It was a sound plan, but it had risks. Any mission that could change the balance of power in the world and allow the Chinese people to regain their right as the world leader was a plan that had to have risks. The payoff always was larger than the risk.
The hanger beside the runway was the largest building on the base. It was where the keys to his plan were being developed.
The hanger was different from the large building that had the water tank. It was mostly dark, and when the General entered, he could see the spotlights that were showing in the center of the huge hanger and that led him in the necessary direction. As he walked, he was aware of the lines of motionless forms on either side and the racks that stretched to the ceiling. The quiet shapes weren’t any concern to him. The role they would play had already been orchestrated.
Like the other building, the heels of General Keung’s boots made noise, and there was only a slight echo. He approached the lighted area in the middle of the dark space and a man scurried to meet him.
“General, I didn’t know that you were planning to come by today. If I had known…”
The general cut him off before he could finish the statement.
“Chang, what progress have you made?”
“Sir, we’ve finished integrating our robotic soldiers with the alien robots. We’ve found them to be an excellent fighting team. The alien units have an abundance of power, and we’ve been able to funnel it into our weapons and increase the yield.”
The general waved his hand, and the small man stopped talking immediately.
“I don’t care about the robots. What progress have you made with these ships?”
“General Keung, once we were able to download the program from the alien central control unit and the robotic units, we were able to gain control. We don’t understand the language, but we are able to control the inputs and get the response that we desire. I’m happy to say; we have complete control over the flying ships now. We can control each of their ground units and the delivery vehicle. We’ve taken it one step further and installed controls that we can manipulate.”
General Keung just smiled.
“General, the final parts of your plan are coming together,” said Chang.
“Chang, I want our fighting soldiers paired with their machines and loaded into the craft that you have. I want one plane loaded with troops. Let me know when you’re ready.”
“Yes, General.”
“You’ll be able to do what I want when we get there?” The General asked.
“Yes sir,” responded Chang with pride.
LL Enters Washington
LL decided to make the return drive to Washington DC at night. Security in the area was improving, but it was still prudent to move at night. C-130’s had dropped the leaflets in the area so many of the logical people would likely have already moved to Norfolk. That meant that any locals he encountered had stayed behind for a reason. When you move a military unit, he didn’t want to get tied down with the local issues. It was best to leave them to their own plans. LL’s target was the key areas within the Capitol. Secure them, and then the outlying problems could be dealt with in their own time.
LL’s convoy had three midsize trucks filled with survival and operational equipment. He planned to set-up and stay for a while, so they needed a little of everything.
Entering the city was a little surreal, not only because of their knowledge of recent events, but it was also the fact that they were entering the Capitol of the United States and it was essentially deserted. When LL and his team had been there, and the White House was destroyed, the overall status of the city was an afterthought. Now they were a little more relaxed, and their attitude was different.
They arrived late at night, and the logical place to set up was the parking garage that was their base on the last mission. All the supplies that they left were still there. The fact that they hadn’t been disturbed was both good and bad news. The good was that they still had the supplies available. The bad was that there were so few people in the Capitol their stash wasn’t discovered.
“Okay, let’s get everything unloaded and stored, then I want to split up into teams and check out the area. Once we know what’s happening around us, maybe we can relax and get some sleep. Let’s get to it,” LL yelled to his squad even though he got some ‘colorful’ feedback.
The vehicles were unloaded quickly and having the powerful Beta-Zero unit with them made the process go faster. Working together with the team helped them to relax around him and accept him.
LL Investigates Washington
The reconnoitering they did upon arrival showed no threatening activity in the immediate area. That didn’t lower LL overall awareness, but it allowed him to go to plan B sooner than if they had to defend themselves.
LL and Michael had taken the last watch, so they had the coffee brewing as the rest of the team rose. As professionals, there was little discussion or camaraderie during the morning meal. What little talk there was, was about the mission plan and how to proceed. It wasn’t time for idle chit-chat over coffee and reconstituted eggs.
The plan was simple. Set a center at the parking garage and draw a radius of 5 miles. Check out everything that was going on within that area. If it turned out to be safe, the President and remnants of the US Government could set up. The White House was out of the equation, and everyone knew why.
“Sergeant, this might be a good opportunity for me to move around the area to see if there are any mobile units that can support our mission,” suggested Beta-Zero.
“I don’t think anything is going to happen yet, go ahead,” responded LL.
“Excellent, I’m able to move about the area at a high rate of speed and establish contact with any remaining mobile units. I have a boot system within my processor, and when I encounter a unit, I’ll power it down, and when it reboots, it will come up under my control. I will then prevent it from rebooting and instruct it to stay in the local area so we may be able to use it upon our return.”
“Ya, that sounds good,” responded LL. Hearing the robot’s details really didn’t interest him. The robot was on his mission, and he and his men were on another.
Tobias gets settled in Washington DC and Sees the White House
Entering a huge city that is basically deserted would be a strange feeling for most people. For Tobias, it gave him a sense of power. He could do anything that he wanted, and he could do anything he wanted to anyone that he wanted. All of which gave him power.
Now he was entering Washington D.C. That fact gave him more power. He was entering the Capitol of the free world. That was where the powerful lived, and now they are dead, and he is alive. The rich and powerful of the world once walked these streets, and now Tobias could drive anywhere and do anything. They no longer existed, but by virtue of being alive, Tobias was in charge. He had won, and they had lost.
The
first place that he wanted to see was the most symbolic of how the world had changed. He had heard rumors, and he needed to see it for himself.
“Turn here,” Tobias directed the man driving his truck.
The large truck turned left onto Pennsylvania NW, and there it was. Or, there is where it used to be. The remnants of the building were laid out in front of him.
“Turn in here,” he said as they entered the gate to the property. The guard shack was still there, but the gates had been removed, and it was an easy drive up the circular drive to the burned pile of wood and steel. The hole in the ground was immense. The full structure was gone, and the grounds had a huge pile of debris and damage to the trees and shrubbery. It wasn’t clear what happened, but the evidence was clear. The White House was gone.
Tobias got out of the car and just stood there, admiring the wreckage. In a way, the destruction symbolized his new role in life. No longer were others telling him what to do or how to act; he was free. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the smell of ashes.
There wasn’t much left to the home of the most powerful man on Earth. Tobias walked around, kicked a few things and even found a couple of filing cabinets to poke in. He didn’t find anything exciting, after all, if he had, it wouldn’t have been relevant anymore. Still, he felt the power as he walked, he was stepping on those who had worked there. He was alive, and they weren’t. As he walked, he hoped to find some human remains. That would give the final feeling of superiority. But he found none. The fire that had consumed the building and destroyed almost everything. In a way, he was disappointed.
“Okay, let’s head out of here,” he yelled to his teammates. They had been walking around the remnants of the White House also, with each of them taking what they wanted or what they might use.
“Where do you want to go?” Tobias’ friend, Willum asked.
“Just drive around the area. I want to see what’s left,” he responded.
Parking Garage
LL and his team were sitting on the floor one level below the Capital One Bank. That position gave them the best view of the surrounding area and a defensible position. They had multiple exits already identified, and if necessary, they could move to the upper floors. The first order of business would be to set up a zip line from the top of the building to an adjacent building, just in case an escape was needed.
“Okay, we’re here. Our first step is to check out each of our adjoining buildings, so we know what’s in our immediate area. After we’ve checked them out, we’ll begin expanding until we’ve cleared each of the key Government Buildings. Any questions?” he asked.
Just as his team was about to answer, he got a quick radio message through the shared comm-set in his helmet.
“Bogeys, six vehicles coming up Connecticut,” Ruth’s voice whispered.
“Cover,” LL directed.
Immediately the entire team moved to locations along the East wall of the garage. Each with their weapons at the ready. Each in a different strategic position to repel an invading force.
Ruth was on the roof of the building and had set of binoculars fixed on the vehicles as they came up the street from the direction of the White House. The SUV’s turned up 17St NW and were on the opposite side of Farragut Square, which gave her a good view of them, with little chance of being seen.
“I make out two in the front of all six vehicles, maybe more in the rear. They appeared armed and organized,” she added.
“Do not engage, just monitor,” LL directed his team.
The small caravan was going slow, not too slow as if they were looking for something but slow enough time for them to look around.
“They’re reconnoitering the area,” Ruth passed on from the roof.
“Get a count as they pass by,” LL whispered to his team.
“I’ve got twelve,” whispered Ruth. “Last two are carrying gear. Looks like they’re on a mission,” she added.
LL verified Ruth’s information as they passed his location. It was obvious they weren’t just a couple of civilians. Whatever they were planning would have an impact on LL’s mission, so they needed to be accounted for.
“LL, I could shoot a locator onto the back of the last truck,” O suggested.
“No, too far away, and when they open the hatch, they might see it. I don’t want them to know that we’re here yet. After they clear you, exit the garage on the North and see if you can stay with them for a while on foot. See if they set up shop someplace. Just don’t get caught.” LL said.
“Will do, I need some exercise anyway,” O said, just before he sprinted out of the North side of the garage and ran across K Street just as the last SUV crossed the intersection and turned right onto K NW. O ran across the North End of Farragut Square, seeking cover in the foliage and saw them heading East on K. He was able to almost keep pace with them, moving from parked car to parked car, until they slowed as they approached 15 Street. O was only a short distance behind them, and he suspected that he wouldn’t be able to keep pace with them for long, but as he reached 16 Street and he saw the SUVs were parking on the North side of K and the occupants were getting out.
O took a couple of deep breaths and focused his helmet mike on the group. He turned up the sensitivity to ‘Surveillance’ level and immediately he was able to hear the conversation.
“Okay, let’s set up in this hotel,” said one of the men in the lead vehicle.
O stood quietly for a few minutes while he caught his breath and listened to them, to confirm what they were doing. When O was confident that they were indeed setting up their equipment and weapons, he headed back down K to the parking garage.
“LL, O,” he said into his comm-set as he ran.
“Go,” responded LL.
“There are eight of them; they’re heavily armed and setting up shop in the Hamilton Hotel on the Northwest corner of K and 14th. Looks like they’ll be there for a while.”
“Thanks, at least we’ll know where they are,” answered LL.
O entered the lower parking garage and quickly found LL and the remainder of the team.
“Details?” LL asked as O approached.
“As I said, there’s eight of them; Military types, heavily armed. They have auto-weapons, I think M-20’s. Looks like some grenades, and even a couple of rocket launchers. Pretty heavily armed for a sight-seeing tour of the Capitol.”
“Could you tell who is in charge?” LL asked.
“Short guy, bald, Napoleon Complex, I’d say by the way he ordered everyone around.”
“Okay, I think we need to move our camp. I want to be able to keep an eye on them. There’s another parking garage on I between 15 and 16th; we’ll move there tonight. O, when we’re set up, I want a tracker on the lead vehicle.”
“Will do,” O answered.
“Okay, let’s pack-up,” LL said aloud.
“Beta-Zero, this is LL,” LL Transmitted over the SAT-COM link.
“Beta-Zero, responding,” was the response.
“We have some company that we need to keep an eye on. We’re moving our location to a new location. I’ll send you the coordinates. I’ll also indicate the direction to enter the garage from. I don’t want our guests to see you.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Have you found out anything?” LL asked.
“Many of the commercial units are no longer present. I have encountered a small number of industrial and Government support units. I download all of the necessary information from them, then I power them down and put them in standby until we decide what to do with them.”
“Excellent, we’ll be in touch. LL out,” closed LL.
“Acknowledged,” responded Beta-Zero.
Wednesday, November 1, 2051
LL Puts Tracker on Lead Vehicle
LL and his team were settled in their new location in the Colonial Garage. LL and O walked out of the northern side of the garage and made their way to K through a couple of alleys. When they reached K street, they slowed to obse
rve what was going on.
“There are the six SUV’s parked over there,” O said as he pointed to the cars which were parked in a haphazard manner. Some were at the curb, and others were either up on the curb, or just parked in the street.
“Do you know which one was the lead vehicle?” LL asked.
“Yup, the one parked on the street,” O responded.
“Okay, let’s mark it,” LL said.
“I’ll use one of our skipper-trackers. I can get a clear shot from across the street. It shouldn’t make any noise when I skip it across the street. Then the magnet will pick up the undercarriage and attach itself. They’re small enough, so they’ll never see it.”
"I’ll cover you, go ahead,” LL said to his partner.
O made his way up the south side of K Street, and as he passed the Bank on the south side, he had to stop. The glass on the windows was broken out, and he would make a lot of noise if he walked on the broken glass. He had to slow down and slide his feet on the sidewalk, so he could move the glass out of the way with his foot and not step on it. It took a lot longer than he wanted. Finally, when he was clear of the glass, he was across the street from the lead SUV and pulled one of the skipper-trackers out of his backpack.
Delivery was simple enough, all he had to do, was to skip the device across the street in such a way that it slid under the car, then the powerful magnet would attach itself.
He was able to throw it, and when he checked his read-out, it had attached and was working perfectly.
“Done,” O said.
“Good, RTB,” LL said.
“No can do, tons of broken glass on the sidewalk, I’ll make my way down 16th then across to the garage. Tell Ruth not to pop me.”
“Roger,” LL responded.
Ruth was guarding the south entrance, and O’s concern was valid, so he’d better hurry and get to her before O did.
Earth II - Emergence Page 10