I don't know if Jeff liked not having to cook breakfast more than I felt honored to stay the night again. Watching him sit at the table, and load up his plate removed all doubt. I was going to make him breakfast, even if it was Egos, bacon, toaster hash browns, and scrambled eggs. That would probably take as much of my total cooking skill, as when he cooked
"Any word on the drone?" I asked, taking my share of breakfast.
"You were up before I was." He chuckled. "Did you hear a knock at the door?"
"No, I suppose not." I Sighed.
"That does bring me to an important point." The commander sighed. "So we are clear if you take Jeff, your head has to be on leading that team...."
"Yes." I said cutting him off. "Jeff can take care of himself, and if he does what he is told, we will be fine." I smiled at jeff. "A family that slays together."
"What was the name of that movie?" Jenn asked. "The one with the two spies, from competing spy agencies...."
"The smiths?" Jeff asked.
"Yea!" She chuckled. "That's you two." She laughed.
There was a knock at the door. "Well, that figures, no phones to interrupt breakfast..." The commander sighed, as he stood, and answered the door.
"Mam." Percy said, as he stood in the entryway to the kitchen. She smiled and nodded at him.
"Don't mind us, we are just sitting down." The commander smiled as he sat. "Please tell me the drone is working."
"Sir it is..." Percy said looking nervous.
"Percy, it 0550 It's too early for buts, and a hear a but coming." The commander sighed.
"well, more of an oh." Percy sighed, and the commander glared at him. " We only and two drone pilots, one went AWOL, after the nukes hit, the other hasn't left the inforarmy in a week..."
"Shit." The commander sighed.
"Just find someone who played DCS World." Jeff said casually, like it was nothing, then ate his bacon.
"DCS?" The commander looked at me, I shrugged at him.
"A highly accurate military flight simulator." Percy said.
"Do you play?" The commander asked Percy.
"Sir, my computer get's as much use now as it did before." Percy chuckled. The commander looked at me and I shook my head.
"Do you?" The commander asked Jeff.
"I placed third in the international tournament," Jeff said, picking up another slice of bacon. "What?" He asked when he noticed the three of us were staring at him.
"Percy, see if there is anyone else who plays, and we will load up a simulation and tournament of our own."
"Consider it done." Percy nodded
"I want it thirty minutes done." The commander nodded.
I actually thought Percy was going to groan, he instead nodded at showed himself out. "Told you he was a marine." I chuckled.
"Yea, I have to admit, he has a knack for getting stuff done." The commander sighed. We finished and walked to the commander's office. He invited the Chef and Percy in.
"Cheif goo work." He said as he looked out the window at the drone.. "What did it cost us?" He asked.
"Sir I could have gotten three of the drone repaired, and maybe the fourth." He paused and sighed. "So maybe 50% of a drone."
"Thats not bad, I am guessing your have or are going to salvage what you can for spare?"
"Yes." The chief nodded.
"Percy." The commander said deep from his chest. "Any luck?"
"Surprisingly enough only the chief came forward." Percy nodded.
"Well, then chief you feel like taking the simulator for a spin?"
"You took third? In the IDCST?" The mechanic asked, Jeff."
"Yea." Jeff shrugged.
"Commander, this is the man you want to fly." He said pointing to Jeff. "The fourth place pilot, was an actual buddy of mine, with actual combat experience."
The commander grew irritated, but I am sure that only I noticed. "Well, I like options." The commander said slightly indgictaally, it could have been funny, his ironic nature. "Since your Job is to give me options, go give me an option." He said in a slight over stern tone that carried my opinion.
We went to the drone room, the two flew the drone in simulated, recon, and air to ground, and Air to air. Only because Jeff insisted in the air to air, I chuckled, there was no chance of Air to air combat, but the controls to fly the drone, in real life, and to fly in a simulated mission, were the same.
"Jeff that wasn't too bad." The commander chuckled. He leaned in and tapped the touch screen on the drone display, and brought up a salite map of Cheyenne. "The drone is ready to go, you'll fly out runway, 27." He said pointing at it on the screen. Turn right heading 40, till Flight level 1000."
"Ok I have to stop you there." Jeff said urgently, waving his hands in surrender. " Ok so I get up in the air I turn right to 40 which is NW-ish and climb to either 10,0000 ft or 1,000... I get confused still." He sighed. admiting one's limits is brave, and the sign of a true marine, rather than igornatly walking to your doom. And made me think.
"Ten thousand." the commander nodded.
"Ok aren't there two ways to look at altiulted?" I asked.
"Yes, Above ground level, AGL, and Mean sea Level, MSL." Percy explained and then looked at the commander.
"What?" He asked.
"Well most places that difference wouldn't probably be that important, but we are a mile high, and that five thousand feet, could make a difference in being shot down." Perch finished the explanation.
The commander nodded, then took out a folder from his desk, and read from it. "Ten, thousand feed, AGL." He nodded. "So climb to fifteen thousand feet, then turn southwest, until you find the wind farm." He looked back at the chief. "I want you to fly, back seat and collect the intel." he said. Back seat was a term on enderment, reference the 'good ole days' when figter jets often had two seats.
Jeff struggled to find the run way, he admitted he started on the runway, but in the air, he was better than any Pilot I had met. he knew Cheyenne from the air, creepily good. But the data the drone could collet was astonishing, LIDAR, Radar, and then the pictures. That was not the most amazing part, the data from the drone was so accurate and could be stitched to together, that we could see how tall the people occupying the wind farm were.
The commander was victory gloating about the intel, my eyes were drawn to little encampments at the base of the first row of turbines in the farm. "This wont work." I shook my head and grunted. Despite being amazing, the encampents were obscured by the terbine, and the resalution was just barely good enough to pick them up, in ideal conditions.
"It won't?" The commander sighed. "I think it will."
I pointed to a few of the encampments. "Those are rockets or motors." I gurnted.
"How can you be sure?" The commander asked.
"Right at the base of the turbines, so we don't use tanks, or our own rockets to take them out. That is where I'd put them." I sighed. "I don't think we can take that kind of fire, for that unknown of a distance." I shook my head.
Jeff leaned in, pinched the screen out, back to the map, he was on a track to what looked like a good idea. "What do you see?" I asked him.
"Send most of the tanks, and our own rocket, and rattle them, maybe be can provoke them to waste ammo, but send most of the ground forces, down 80 West, then loop back around here." He drew it with his fingers on the screen, and have the Airmen come from behind. There's what fifty of them if they stay focused on our..." He paused looking for a word.
"Shelling?" The commander asked.
"Shelling." Jeff confirmed nodding. "Then there could be a thousand of them, and it wouldn't help them."
The commander nodded at me, as if to say, speak. "Well, we made bold claims." I sighed, rubbing my face. It was rough, and coarse, how I wore it when I was ready for battle. "I think it's a go..." I nodded.
"Wait what?" Jeff asked, not quite sure his idea was a good one, now. "Are you sure?"
"Look!" I chuckled. "It's a damn good plan, what you didn't think about is the longer we keep shell'em, the jumpier they get." I grinned.
"So this is happening this afternoon?" The commander asked.
"See you in two days." I grinned. "Keep it constant, but keep them guessing they should you have stopped, then you should double your initial efforts, then let them think you have stopped, in two days, there won't be anyone who has slept, or isn't teetering on the edge of insanity.
"Jesus Christ!" The commander exclaimed. "I am glad you just punched me."
"Oh, we were a long way off from that, like I told you I didn't have time." I chuckled, the Commander looked uneasy, but like something else was on his mind.
"Chief dismissed." The commander said, and the chief left. "There is a price on your heads." He sighed. "It makes the bounty on us small. I would feel better if you would allow Percy, and two humvees of airmen to hold your position."
"You mean babysit." I groaned. "Fine." I sighed. The shock in the commander's face said he was expecting a battle. "Look I am, and thus Jeff is, by association, high priority targets." I paused. "Give me a few good men, and the rest you want to kick out but just need a warm body."
"Who rah." The commander grunted. "The Corps lives." He grinned slyly then looked at Percy.. "Attention." He said in his 'formal salute tone. "I present Sargent Major Walter, Klien." I wanted to recoil at hearing my name, I had loved my assumed name, it helped me forget. They saluted me, unease and discomfort gave way to the fact that they both respected me enough to salute me, Percy to follow me into battle, and the command trusted me enough to take my advisement. I have never been one for titles, but I could train and lead two teams of men into the best fighters on this side of the old Corps.
"Who rah!" I grunted and .shook his hand.