January 25th, 2017, 0800 hours [8:00 AM]
Juan was working on the Leoqoon when a beautiful and large aircraft initiated landing; it was a supersonic business jet. It had 4 engines underneath the variable-sweep wings, clear white paint, civilian registration, and Ratliff Aero's logo on the nose, in a pin-up style with a sexy lady.
"What the hell...*chuckles*"
When the aircraft stopped, close to Juan's hangar, the door opened and the stairs descended; a man in his early 40's stepped down, wearing a white suit, just like his aircraft.
"Mr. Stutz!"
"Boss! What are you doing here?!"
"I thought about taking a closer look at how things were around!", the man shook hands with Juan.
"Right...*chuckles* But I'm guessing you didn't come just to pay us a visit...am I right?"
*laughs* "You've got a good eye, my boy. But yes. I have important news to discuss with General Celuchu."
"Is it serious?"
"Very. By the way, I've heard the Leoqoon has been causing quite a ruckus against Ruvanian and Esknarian, eh! Well done. I've ordered a maintenance crew to be sent, they'll be arriving in the next days, bringing spare parts, as well as auxiliary equipment for our Kesalian friends."
"That's great, sir! Thank you!"
"Not a problem. We must help each other in times of need, right? Specially during a war. Now, if you excuse me, I need to talk with the General."
"Okay, sir!"
They shook hands again and the man went to a car that had just arrived to pick him up.
Later...
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1025 hours [10:25 AM]
General Celuchu called the pilots for a special briefing.
"Ladies and gentlemen...we have a serious threat coming. But first I'd like to present you Mr. Nathan Ebinger here, owner and CEO of Ratliff Resources."
"Hello, everyone.", Nathan waved.
"As you know, his company is one of the world's largest, providing support for pretty much everything. From medicine to warfare, from software to hardware; therefore, they also develop surveillance technologies. And it's exactly about this topic that he has come to talk to you, guys and gals. Well, Mister...they're all yours."
"Thank you, General.", Nathan shook hands with the General and stepped forward. "Well, before I start...obviously, all this information is classified, so...you know the procedures; can't tell anyone about it! *chuckles*. Now, to the matter at hand. Our company works closely with the Wyvernian and now Kesalian Governments. And for such, we develop technology; in this case, surveillance. The reason for my sudden appearance is because we've been conducting flights close to Ruvania, trying to investigate that strange orbital weapon that shot down many pilots not so long ago. And we've seen a lot of movement from their Navy as well, towards the Russell Glacier. We're talking about at least 3/4 of their entire fleet moving to there. Obviously that's too suspicious, so we adjusted the orbit of our satellites to pass over the glacier, and we've discovered this..."
He showed satellite images on screen: a HUGE entrance in the glacier's coast, probably going deep within and below the thick ice.
"It's more than obvious the Ruvanians had plenty of time to setup an underground base there. We were wondering the reason for such large entrance...until we had the luck of seeing this, just a few days later..."
The next image revealed what appeared to be a mix of ship and aircraft...large enough to have a small runway and hangar on it; a flying fortress. Some pilots expressed shock, others fear; others, anger. Juan, Anthony and Kim were concerned.
"What is this thing, sir?", Juan asked.
"We don't know yet. But judging by these pictures, it's at least 2 miles long and about a mile wide. We first thought it was some kind of ship...until we caught it during a take-off...there's no engine today that could deliver the required thrust to take this thing off the ground, even if hundreds were used. We believe it uses a new type of propulsion; most likely...anti-gravity."
*Kim looks closely* "Wow that thing is a behemoth!"
*Anthony pauses* "Sir, if I may provide a theory...me, Kim and Juan encountered the Ruvanian laser system in that combat op a while back. After we retook NAS Port Isabel the laser fired a long burst...about 30 or so seconds. It took out several of our soldiers. I have a feeling that this carrier or whatever in God's name it is, might also be a control or command center for that laser."
"And who knows what else is onboard that thing. It looks like we all might be on borrowed time. Sir, did you manage to discover any potential weakpoints in the fortress?", Kim then asked.
"Like I said, we still don't have more solid data on that thing. But we know it flies...and has the likely ability to launch a full squadron OR squadrons of fighters. And...this, what I call the "cherry on the top".
He then showed a video shot from an aircraft flying close to the monster. And in seconds, the flying fortress was covered by some kind of mist; seconds later, the video began to experience a lot of electronic interference until it stopped.
"This 'mist' surrounding it certainly is of electromagnetic nature, since not only jammed the video equipment, but also the aircraft's instruments...until it crashed. Fortunately, the video was being broadcasted live to our headquarters and recorded at the same time, so we didn't lose any footage."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
*Anthony and Kim looked at the footage with shocked expressions* "This is a big big problem...", both said.
"General...how did we fail to see their game until now? Something like this would take decades of designing, planning...production, etc...not to mention resources of any and every kind! How we didn't see this before?", Juan inquired.
The General didn't know what to say for a moment, but neither try to hide his shame and disappointment.
"Personally, Lieutenant...I think I'd blame only one person right now: Oscar Diederich."
Juan jaw-dropped. "Kesalia's Prime Minister?!"
"Whoa whoa whoa, the PM?! This is even worse than i thought!" Anthony said.
"But sir...how can it be proved that Prime Minister Diederich is responsible? Could he have diverted attention away from this and allowed the Ruvanians to develop their weapon in secret prior to the war?", Kim then responded.
"Keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion, gentlemen. I don't have any proofs regarding this fact."
"Be careful, General...this could be considered treason, right?", Juan questioned.
"If he's clear, I don't think he should feel so offended, Lieutenant. Don't you agree? After all, there'd be no evidences anyway."
*Anthony scratches his head* "Well, our PM did cut several programs...like the F-22 and the new defensive network to replace our old one. When the war broke out, King Armistead overruled his cuts and reinstated the programs in question. He also planned to cut tech transfer to our Prosperian allies as well."
"But it fell through, thankfully.", Kim added.
"Anyway. If...and only IF...he's involved in this, I believe we'll find out, soon enough. Mr. Ebinger, continue with the briefing."
"Of course. If the Ruvanians plan to use this mobile fortress for a large-scale attack against WePAC forces, we can expect heavy losses on our side."
Anthony clenched his fists. "It turns out the Ruvanians were not one but two steps ahead...we can't give up, though. We can't let them win..."
"If they win, we can say goodbye to the free world." Juan stated. "But they won't. Because we'll do what it takes to stop them."
"It's good that you mentioned action, my boy.", Nathan smiled. "We've been working along with Kesalia's Eagle-Eye Aeronautics and Sabre Defense Inc. to release upgrade programs for all Kesalian military hardware. We'll be updating ships, jets, tanks, etc. with new electronics, weaponry and defenses."
"Great!", Juan cheered.
"It's a massive effort in so little time, but the only way for us to win this war is by preparing ourselves for the worst."
"I agree.", the young pilot replied.
"Alright, gentlemen. That was the announcement we had. Be on your guard: we don't know when you'll be called to scramble."
"Sir, yessir!", everyone replied and saluted.
"Thank you for your attention, everyone. Dismissed!", the General concluded the 'briefing'.
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1107 hours [11:07 AM]
Everyone was leaving the briefing room when Nathan called Juan to talk privately.
"My boy."
"What is it, boss?"
"Can we go for a walk? I've just come here to deliver the intel report, anyway. I'll be leaving in just a few hours."
"Sure, sir."
They got out of the building, walking outside, watching aircrafts landing and taking off...
"I didn't want to talk in front of the other pilots, but...I actually have proof of Kesalia's Prime Minister's..."dirt"."
"Wait, what?! How?"
"Technically...it's confidential. But I know I can trust you. Thing is: I'm a contractor for W2S, the Wyvernian Secret Service. And we've been checking on the Prime Minister for about 2 years now. And...we found a bank account in the name of his wife...it contained several deposits from $3 to 4 million in a relatively short time, just weeks apart...and the source of the deposit is a "pension fund" from...Ruvania. This fund is already known by us: a cheap facade of a bank for terrorist financing."
"My God, this is more incendiary than napalm!"
"Tell me about it. Our guess is that the Ruvanians are financing him to 'block' Kesalia in every possible way..."
"Why don't you go talk to King Armistead, then?"
"It's not that easy, you know...everything we need to discuss with the Kesalian Government must pass through the Prime Minister first."
"Is there even a way to 'skip' this and go straight to the King?"
"I don't know. I could try talking with Celuchu, but that would be ONLY if he has direct connection to the King. Otherwise, this whole thing could leak...if the Prime Minister finds out, it's gonna be one hell of a firestorm back in Melfort!"
"Yeah; spying on our own allies is a very bad thing...", Juan sighed.
"Bad, but sometimes necessary. It's not something we're proud of, but it could prevent greater issues..."
"I know. Well...the only way you can solve this is by talking to the General. I believe he'll help us, since he's already suspicious of the Minister, so..."
"You're right. I'll go back and explain everything to him. Thanks, my boy! You've done a great service to your nation, well done!", Nathan then tapped Juan in the back.
"*chuckles* Not a problem, boss. Anytime."
And then, Nathan went to the General's room and talk to him.