Chapter 98

Dagan

The previous day with swift assistance from both Daedalus and Sun Tzu the first tentative moves by the Tauri in their war against the Genii had taken place. The two 304 class vessels carried with them a unique mix of men, material, and equipment. Once a suitable location had been located, two hundred miles from the Dagan capital a series of command and control centers housed in conex containers were beamed to the surface. Along with those came pallet after pallet of temporary runway planking. Teams of Air Force personal with experience setting up these temporary runway's made short work of piecing the interlocking panels together. In little time at all the forward operating base had taken shape.

Operating from this was the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drone. Meant to collect intelligence the Reaper also carried with it the ability to act on intelligence generated. For this deployment the Reapers were armed with the Hellfire antitank missile. Protecting the drone's and their assorted command and control centers was a team of forty Rangers in defensive positions around the perimeter with Special Forces alpha teams posted at the four corners of the compass. Watching over them were the sensors of the 304's in orbit high above.

Standing in the flight control center was Colonel Dean Frost. Known for his lead from the front mentality it surprised no one that he was here. Forty five minutes earlier the first Reaper had taken to the sky and Frost was intent on putting the missiles it carried to use. From an altitude of twelve thousand feet the diminutive drone aircraft quietly orbited fifteen miles north of Dagan's capital. The electro-optical sensor ball on the nose of the aircraft scanned the terrain below. As the sun began to set infrared spectrum tracking of objects below was engaged.

Starring at the live video feed Frost took in they tactical outlay before him. The Genii had dug in quickly and in a highly organized manner. Seeing the warm human bodies drop from the screen could only mean they were entering some type of fortification underground, perhaps a foxhole or something larger.

"Zoom in on the objects in the far right corner" ordered Frost.

"It looks to be an antennae farm. Based on the number down there I'm guessing brigade level headquarters possibly" responded the drone operator.

"Let's get another Reaper in the air. I want both targeting the antennae farm. We'll knock out their communications and see what type of a response we get" ordered Frost.

Moments later another Reaper lifted off and flew towards its rendezvous point. Forty minutes later the drone arrived on station. The two pilots in the command center armed their four Hellfire missiles apiece. Maintaining orbit of their targets the optics were slaved to fixed position on the ground below them.

"We're good to go Colonel" called out the lead Reaper pilot.

"Reaper one fires three rounds at the antennae farm, Reaper two fire's two rounds. Mark your targets so you don't double up. When they hear explosions people will come running out of their bunker. Get those locations locked so we can get what we're really after. Commence your firing run gentlemen" ordered Frost.

On command five of the one hundred and ten pound missiles leaped off their carrying rails from the two drones at mach one point three times the speed of sound. With pinpoint accuracy the missiles homed in on the reflected laser targeting beams aimed at the target below for their launch platforms. In a handful of seconds the missiles covered the distance to target impacting at the base of each antenna. Milliseconds later each twenty pound Integrated Blast Fragmentation Sleeve warhead exploded, shredding their targets and toppling the antennae to the ground in a crumpled mass.

Hearing explosions men in the Genii communications center rushed out of their bunker to see what the disturbance was. The sight that greeted them was something they did not expect. The Daganian's were a primitive people, lacking the ability to do such a thing. Unknown to the Genii their attacker watched from overhead.

"Sir, we've got men streaming from two points here and here. I'm guessing we're looking at once bunker with two access points" called out the drone pilot.

"Ok, target both access points and target the last missile in between the two access points. Fire when ready" replied Frost.

On command the remaining three hellfire's leaped into the air. Without warning the first two missiles impacted the bunker's two entry and exit points, eviscerating the cl.u.s.ter of men at both points. The third missile struck the soft ground directly above the bunker, collapsing the ceiling in on the radio technicians still seated at their posts. All told twenty Genii lost their lives in less than five seconds. Perhaps one or two was still alive within the shattered bunker, but none of the Tauri would be coming to lend aid.