1830 June 19th, 2020 CE
Washington D.C.
Commander Orville appeared on screen in the Situation Room. “Mr. President, the SEAL team has informed me that the portal has flickered again. It’s been exactly two hours since the last flicker.”
Ronell nodded. “It seems to be decreasing by 5 minutes every time it flickers.”
“Let’s wait for the next flicker before confirmation.”
1 hour and 55 minutes later
Commander Orville’s appearance on screen again confirmed what they had earlier predicted. “We are now certain it's decreasing by 5 minutes every flicker. Based on this pattern, we are predicting that the portal will close in exactly 23 hours from now.”
Ronell looked to Stephen. “Is that enough time?”
Stephen nodded. “If everything goes smoothly, that's more than enough time for us to complete the operation.”
Sky over the Pacific
As two KC-135 Stratotankers flew close in front of two C-17s, each of their flying booms connected to the top of each of the C-17’s cockpit. The four aircraft steadily flew in a formation as the KC-135s refueled the C-17s. Fuel was being disgorged at around a thousand liters per minute.
30 minutes later
Each of the two massive aircrafts carefully disconnected from each other. The two KC-135s banked right as it turned back towards the Hickam Air Base in Hawaii and the two C-17s continued forward.
1505 June 19th, 2020 CE
Hickam Air Base, Hawaii
The QF-16, which looked no different from a regular F-16 other than the orange paint on its stabilizers and wingtips, began a careful descent onto the runway of the airbase.
A few hours later
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Island in the Pacific
After resting on the destroyers stationed off shore of the island, the SEAL team had brought more supplies on their return to the island from the ships. They were still wearing their CBRN suits as the island was most likely highly radioactive from the nuclear missile. The setting sun illuminated the ocean in front of them.
“The package should be arriving soon.”
“Sir, I see the two C-17s”
The massive gray military cargo jets appeared in the darkening sky. The last of the sun’s rays were shining on them from the west which made them seemingly glitter.
The first C-17 flew closer to the ground and its speed seemed to have slowed. The back ramp of the C-17 opened and pallets slid out. One by one, pallets flew out of the back of the C-17 and their parachutes opened up. The sky was soon filled with a line of pallets and parachutes. As the C-17 flew closer to the end of the island, the final object was a Humvee that also flew out with its parachute opening up. The C-17’s ramp started closing and the aircraft began to pull up.
After the first finished, the second C-17 started its airdrop a few yards to the left of the first C-17. Multiple pallets with parachutes dropped out which formed another line of pallets in the sky as the ones from the first C-17 started hitting the ground.
The SEAL team moved into action as the second C-17 made its pass.
“Find the pallet with the nuclear bombs and keep it secure. There should be two pallets, each with one B-61 nuclear gravity bomb. It should be from the first C-17.”
The men fanned out. “I have the first pallet.”
“Can you confirm?”
"It's labeled ‘B-61 Nuclear Bomb’.”
They soon found the second one. “Secure them. Ramirez! Keep an eye on the nuclear bombs. Rest of you guys start getting the AM-2 matting out and start setting up the airfield.”
Other than Rameriz, the rest of the SEALs started unpacking the pallets from the first C-17 and taking out the steel rectangles that were coated in epoxy non-skid material. The AM-2 matting was a special matting capable of withstanding a jet landing on it. The SEAL team platoon started laying down the matting onto the ground and connecting them together in order to form a runway.
An hour later
The men’s night vision goggles emitted a faint glow into the night. Although dark, the AM-2 matting formed a long rectangular runway on the right side of the island. They had stationed the Humvee less than a thousand feet away from the runway. The back half of this Humvee had been replaced by a large rectangular metal box. The lieutenant started to explain to the men. “We have the Universal Ground Control Station on this Humvee. This will be what we use to control that QF-16. Rameriz! Since you are trained for UAV operations, you will be the one flying the QF-16 once we take possession of it. The last thing we have to do now is to get the drums of JP-8 kerosene fuel and the jet fuel transfer pump out of the pallets. They are in the rest of the pallets. Remember, keep them away from the runway. We don’t want an explosion happening due to a misplaced barrel of fuel.”
30 minutes later
Almost completely dark, the only lights came from the destroyers out at sea. The lieutenant barked out orders. “The QF-16 is in Hawaii now. Since the drone will be attempting to land on what can barely be called a makeshift runway, it’s been decided to attempt the landing during daylight since we should have enough time before the portal closes. Take shifts and get some rest. Keep an eye on the portal and make sure nothing comes out of it.