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459819.jpg
Shining Spice Mountain
459819
The five of you synch up. At maximum processing power you can each think approximately five times faster than a genius intellect or particularly gifted athlete. Direct communications via tight beam lasers mean you can also all coordinate a plan extremely quickly. The downside is that you can literally cook your brains inside your skulls if you do it too long, and attempting to compensate with cooling is just as harmful.
The core of the plan was for you to draw out the missile's engagement time so that your wingmates could blast it. The weight and sloppy aerodynamics of your gear limited your agility, and your speed was capped at just below the sound barrier (which you're already flying at). Riggs, meanwhile, has organs hardened against extreme G turns and can easily come hard around to engage. Brady wasn't quite as specialized; he's a newbie and running fairly light on gear, but he was becoming an excellent flyer under Riggs' guidance. You think you can dive hard and go supersonic; the boom will keep the missile's attention and give you another second or so, but it will hurt.
You proposed airbursting a fusion grenade; the EM and huge thermal bloom may confuse its targeting system for a critical few moments, or if you're very lucky might even get splashed by the blast. Brady and Cotton liked your idea. Riggs chimed in with the digital equivalent of a concerned Hmmm.
"Cut your thrust and come around as hard as you can in a split S," Riggs said, "I know you can take the Gs, and it'll either bleed speed trying to vector an intercept, or it'll overshoot. I'll follow through behind and be ready to pounce. The rest of you scatter in case this thing goes up messily."
"Alright Private, we'll play it your way," you replied, maybe putting a little too much emphasis on Riggs' rank; she frequently put forward her own ideas on tactical planning, but was never quite out of line. You made a mental note to apologize to her later.
About half a second had passed; just as you began to commence your roll, the missile suddenly cut thrust and began a rapid braking maneuver. You finally made contact with your own sensors as a massive cloud of vapor was thrown off by its turbulence. If the missile could react that quickly and vary its thrust, it might be capable of dodging Riggs and killing both of you.
You managed to think "Oh shit" before the laser painting you shifted spectrum slightly, and started pulsing. Your IFF lit up with a friendly contact.
"It's one of OURS?!" Cotton blurted out.
The missile identified itself as an AGM-190 multi-role cruise missile. It had been part of an airstrike on the forces South of Boston; its mothership had been shot down and it lost contact with the remaining Coalition forces. Operating autonomously, it had expended its sub-munitions engaging hostile forces on the ground. It had also expended its countermeasure munitions, killing four Floaters that had attempted to engage. At that remained was its main variable yield nuclear warhead, which required authorization and designation from a human to strike terrestrial targets.
While loitering around Boston operating only with passive sensors, it had, by pure coincidence, passed through your engine wakes in the scant seconds it took the energies to dissipate, and moved to engage potential targets of opportunity. A nuclear airburst to splash enemy fliers over ocean was considered acceptable parameters.
"Since when do we give missiles sensor packages as fancy as mine?" Riggs asked.
The missile reported it was the absolute pinnacle of Human missile technology, and stealth insertions were a core part of its mission profiles.
You have gained reinforcements!
"So, how do you wanna play this thing?" Cotton asked.
1. Go in hard and fast.
Hit Logan International Airport with the AGM-190 and smash the remaining forces with a sledgehammer surprise attack. Even at minimum yield the warhead will flatten most of the West side and start fires across the harbor. You are reasonably sure the majority of the Visitor force will be obliterated in one fell strike, though. They haven't had time to move far from their landing zones.
This could create a major stink, politically, but those seeking vengeance on the Visitors (yourself included) will take grim satisfaction with such a major blow against them.
2. Close that portal.
Try and sneak the missile through the portal and detonate it on the other side. The Oculot holding the portal open will be killed, and the invading forces will be cut off while Golboria scrambles to dial in another portal to Boston's location. You may even splash any reinforcements they're holding in reserve.
This will have major consequences. Part of the compact with the Oculot defectors is that no weapons of mass destruction are to be sent through portals. They hate the Kariket and his regime, but they all defected to get away from committing genocide.
You heard the Russian Federation snuck modified Novichok nerve agent through during an operation, and the results were... messy. The Baroness' wrath was equally messy; she personally murdered the two generals in charge of the operation, as well as over half the command staff. No charges were laid, as it was likely the victims would be revealed to be war criminals during a trial, and the Baroness made her point. Her position in charge of Oculot portal operations was cemented, and nobody was to test her terms.
3. Stick to the plan.
Go with your original plan, and keep the missile in reserve in case things become unsalvageable. A maximum yield detonation would wipe out most of central Boston and ensure nobody laid claim to the city, but it's also likely you wouldn't survive to stand trial for your actions anyway.
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