Change Isn't Easy Chapter 11: Collateral Damage, a kim possible fanfic

Change Isn't Easy

Chapter 11: Collateral Damage

Disclaimer: Didn't we go over this last time? They're not mine! When I have something worth reading that involves original characters, that I can make a profit on, I'll let you know. 'K?

That blip is driving me crazy. Trust Hego to cheap out on the radar system... The radar tracking screen in the Go Jet had been giving a new contact alert tone every couple of minutes for the last half hour, then losing the dubious contact almost immediately. It annoyed her to the point she wanted to pull the apparently faulty equipment out by the wires.

The Go Jet was flying at low altitude over the western Caribbean Ocean, about halfway between the coast of Central America and the lair where Drakken had met his end. Shego remembered that there had been a supply dump hidden out here somewhere. It would make an excellent hiding spot, since neither GJ nor Possible's little nerd buddy had found it. It wasn't near any commonly traveled sea or air routes. No planes or ships meant no prying eyes. The problem was she didn't know the exact coordinates of the island, and the Go Jet didn't have it programmed into the navigation system like the hover car. She was left with a search on the open ocean, with few landmarks. She was trying to concentrate, and the constant interruption of the radar warning tone was a huge distraction.

"Oh I'm gonna see Hego again, and when I do, he's gonna eat this stupid radar system..."

The oil platform, aptly named Secrets of the Deep, was designed to explore and learn the secrets around it. It also had quite a few secrets to hide, not the least of which was the crew currently watching the video stream from an unmanned drone patrolling the open ocean.

A young specialist decided it was time to inform his commanding officer of the specifics of the situation. "Sir. We have a contact in the western Caribbean, reported by drone L34. It matches the aircraft that left Go City earlier today. That woman that we're searching for should be in that plane."

A dark haired man of average height and unremarkable looks raised his eyes from the reports he was reading. "Remind me to reward the squad that found that hovercraft. That list of hidden supply spots is making this almost too easy." William Johns, Lieutenant Commander in the High Guard of The Human Unity, smiled to himself. Things were definitely going well. "Send an escort drone to investigate. If it is the woman we seek, force her down. Have a search and retrieve team head towards the area and be ready. Make sure no Exodus units are in the area. If there are, pin them down and keep them busy."

"Yes sir."

"What's the ETA of the escort drone?"

"Twenty five minutes until contact."

"Excellent. With just a little good fortune, in half an hour we'll have the green mutant, and she can explain to us how her deceased boss managed to obtain all that lovely anti-matter." And then we can put these Exodus malcontents back in their hole. Permanently.

Thousands of dollars for televisions, games, entertainment equipment, fancy computers and communications equipment, and that bonehead gets a twitchy radar system. Shego could only shake her head, and amuse herself with thoughts of what she would do to Hego when she saw him next. The radar was now giving a contact warning several times a minute, and from two different directions. Just to make sure, Shego had actually spent a few minutes scanning the direction of the alleged contacts with her binoculars, but she had seen only ocean and sky.

Adding to Shego's frustration was a rapidly emptying fuel tank, and no supply dump in sight. Soon she would either have to head for an airport, which meant giving GJ a good idea of where she was and what she was planning, or continuing the search, and hoping she was lucky enough to find it before she had to ditch in the ocean. After the last couple of weeks, she didn't have much faith in luck.

"Commander, L34 drone reports new contact in area. It's an Exodus air superiority drone, and it seems to be tracking the same target as our drone."

"Air superiority? Are you sure?" Lt. Cmdr. Johns' mood quickly changed from easy going to all business. An air superiority drone was more than a match for the recon drone he had trailing the green skinned person of interest.

"Yes, sir. Type II, fifth generation Exodus air-to-air fighter. I believe they call it the 'Vampire' fighter."

"Well, this day just took a downturn. Closest support?"

"Two more recon drones, not counting L34, which we're using as a relay. We have no other units less than two hours away."

"Great." Recon drones, even three of them, had little chance against a fighter drone. His drones were faster, but lightly armed, and had no armor worth mentioning. They were designed to sneak into an area, gather intelligence, and get out undetected. Their weapons were for use against targets of opportunity, not against an armored and EMP hardened weapons platform. "Get them there to distract the Vampire. Keep the relay drone out of it. Tell the operators their main priority is to keep the woman out of the hands of the enemy. If we can knock her down and grab her, fine, but don't take chances. Better that neither side has her than Unity agents get her and whatever she might know."

In a command center much like the one occupied by Lt. Cmdr. Johns, though it was a container ship instead of an oil platform, another group of people was avidly watching events in the Caribbean.

"Captain King, Vampire 21 is closing in on the Unity drone. We've confirmed that the jet is in fact the same one that escaped from Global Justice earlier today. We believe the pilot is Shego, since she was the only one not taken away by GJ agents."

Captain Saul King, Project Exodus Air Force, looked dubious. "Could it be a ruse?" He had been following events since Global Justice had 'raided' Go Tower earlier in the day. Though both Unity and his own Exodus surveillance equipment was far superior to anything the rest of the world had, this still seemed just too easy.

"I... I can't rule that out, Sir. We have no absolute confirmation on the identity of the pilot, only supposition and best guesses."

"But?"

The young asian woman reporting the information, Lieutenant Christine Li, looked at the Captain in confusion. "Sir?"

"Your tone and body language tell me that you don't believe it's a ploy by GJ to confuse possible pursuit. Why?"

"Sir, I'm not an intelligence specialist, so I can only offer my opinion, but I am familiar with Global Justice, and Dr. Betty Director. She has always been open to new technology and theories, but quite rigid when it comes to tactics and strategy. If this is a feint, it is a two staged plan; the more obvious trick, having a ring of aircraft mimic the escapee, lures pursuers into falling for the second trick of a decoy plane. It seems a little too involved for Dr. Director. Her tactics are usually more straight forward."

"Interesting. Let's see if you're right. This Shego woman is considered a high priority, and our bosses will want this checked out. And just in case that is her, let's get another Vampire and a search-and-rescue team ready. I'll be on the horn to HQ. Keep me up to date on the situation." Looks like things are going to be interesting for a few days, he thought as he made his way back to his desk, a calm stride masking his growing agitation.

Desperately searching the horizon for any hint of her goal, Shego didn't notice that the contacts hadn't dropped off the screen. In fact, the radar was indicating that the second blip had changed course, and was heading for the original blip at a rather impressive Mach three.

"Cmdr. Johns, the Exodus fighter drone has increased speed and changed course to intercept our recon drone."

"Status of the other two drones?" He placed his rough hands on the console of the specialist, leaning slightly, and scanned the displays.

"Still several minutes away at current speed, Sir. The Vampire will be withing firing range of our drone before they can get there."

Shaking his head, Johns allowed a little anger to enter his voice. "Tell them to increase to flank speed. I want them there now! Switch on targeting radars and anything else that will draw the Vampire's attention."

"Capt. King, we have two more Unity recon drones, closing on the area at Mach 3.5 and accelerating. They have their targeting and search radars on full power."

"Making a lot of noise, aren't they? Trying to distract us from the drone and the Go Jet. Keep the first Vamp on target. Is the second Vamp close?"

"About five minutes from effective range, Sir."

Captain King closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "So we have three Unity drones, our two Vampires, and the Go Jet. Besides that, are there any other contacts?"

"No Sir."

"No weird readings, no ghosts, no unusual radar activity...?"

"Not that I've seen, Sir. This spot is well away from shipping lanes and normal airline paths. The radar has been clear, except for the current situation. What should I be looking for?"

"Unity forces always use a signal relay. It helps to hide the main unit. Somewhere there must be a drone just orbiting, keeping out of sight..."

"Warning. Warning. Tracking radar detected. Possible weapons lock."

"What the...?" Shego's focus on the seascape below her was shattered by the computer generated voice. The radar, which she had been trying to ignore, now showed not one or two intermittent contacts, but four steady contacts, all seemingly closing on her. "Oh, this is just friggin' great! I don't have the time or the fuel for this!"

The first two contacts were coming from the southeast, while the two new ones were heading in from the east. Her only real option was to head west, which was actually good. That course would lead her closer to land, in case she had to bail out. That option was beginning to look more likely, but was hardly what she wanted.

The simple fact was that Shego was once again trapped. She was over open ocean, so there wasn't any terrain that she could use to hide, or even land and try to escape on foot. She was low on fuel, so a long chase was out of the question. Maybe if I can outrun them long enough, I can ditch somewhere close to land. How fast are they going... Checking the data tag the radar put up next to each contact, which had among other things speed and heading, she frowned. Mach 3? That can't be right. The only aircraft that can do that is the SR-71 Blackbird... The two newer easterly contacts were actually increasing speed. She had already assumed once the radar was faulty, and ignored it. Making the same mistake twice would be suicidal. She had to believe it was working correctly.

"Okay, if the radar's right, I can't outrun them, and there's no place to hide. If I ditch out in the open ocean, I'm caught. Or dead. So, what's left?"

A small voice in the back of her mind spoke a single, quiet word: surrender.

Sighing, she knew that there really wasn't any other choice. Her heart railed against her mind, causing a tightness in her chest, but she swallowed the lump in her throat as she switched on the radio.

"Attention pursuing aircraft. This is Shego, piloting the Go Jet. I surrender. Repeat, I surrender. I am low on fuel, and require assistance..."

"... low on fuel, and require assistance as soon as possible. Please acknowledge."

"Well, it looks as if we won't have to force her down. Now if we can just get rid of that Vampire..." Cmdr. Johns let his voice trail off as he weighed his options. The only sure way for a recon drone to take out a Vampire was to ram it. A Vampire was a lot more expensive than a recon drone, and such a trade would be to Unity's favor. It would be a lot more favorable to take it out without losing his own aircraft, so ramming was a last resort.

The commander's thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched buzzing sound from the radar unit. "Sir, new contact. Another Exodus Vampire. Sir, it's heading for the relay drone!"

The problem with last resorts, Johns thought to himself, is that eventually you have to use them. Then you have to find a new last resort. "You're sure they know where the relay is?"

"The drone moved out of the flight path as soon as the Vampire appeared, and the Vampire changed course as well. It definitely sees the drone. Whether they know it's a relay... I don't know, Commander."

"We just can't take that chance. If Exodus gets her, and she does have the knowledge that we suspect she might, it would change the entire nature of the conflict. Tell the operators to take her out. Now, before that fighter takes out the relay and we lose contact."

"Understood." The specialist pressed several spots on his touch screen to connect with the specific operators, the 'pilots' of the drones, on the communications system. "Black Jack, Viceroy, Hawkeye, kill the target now. Repeat, kill the target immediately." After a brief pause, he nodded to the commander. "Orders received. Closest drone is operated by Viceroy. He has a conventional air to air missile." A new dot appeared on the radar screen. "Missile away, Commander."

They're not answering? What the... Shego stared for a second at her radar, which now showed a fifth contact, moving very fast and directly at her. Her heart began to pound, and her breathing became short and quick.

Shego screamed into her headset, ignoring the computer voice warning her of the incoming missile she had already noticed. "What are you doing? I said I surrender! Just tell me what you want me to do! Cease fire! I give up already!"

The radio remained silent.

The missile continued towards her.

"Shit!" Shego's instincts took over as she forced the jet into a series of rapid, random, and violent maneuvers intended to throw off the deadly projectile. She also released chaff and flares, hoping to give it something else to chase.

"Captain, Unity drones have fired on the target! She's trying to evade!"

"Kill that damn relay drone now! Fire at extreme range if you have to! Have the other Vampire take out the drones that are approaching before they can fire!"

The sky above the Caribbean Ocean was suddenly full of missiles. Shego could only assume they were all meant for her. She was too busy trying to shake the closest one to worry about the others yet. "Come on, come on, take the bait..."

The Go Jet's frame was shaken as the missile detonated on one of the flares.

"Yes! One down..." She swallowed with difficulty as she saw at least five new contacts the computer had designated as missiles. She had no way of knowing only two of them were tracking her own aircraft. The other three were each streaking towards other targets.

The first aircraft downed was the Unity relay drone, stricken a mortal blow by a missile. The second kill, somewhat surprisingly, was the Exodus Vampire tracking Shego and the remaining Unity drones. Each recon drone carried only one weapon, so the first drone to fire had turned and set its sights on the fighter and, being slightly faster and more agile, successfully rammed it.

A few seconds later, two other missiles found their targets and the remaining two recon drones ceased to exist. That left only three contacts on Shego's radar. One seemed to be keeping its distance, but the other two were closing quickly. "Let's hope this works again," the green skinned woman muttered to herself as she released the remainder of her flares and chaff. One of the missiles exploded harmlessly amidst a cloud of chaff, again shaking the airframe of the Go Jet.

"Damn!" The last missile shot straight through the countermeasures. Shego pulled the plane into a steep climb, both as a last attempt to evade the missile and to gain altitude in case she needed – and lived long enough – to eject.

"Danger. Missile one hundred meters and closing."

"As if I needed a computer to tell me that!" Shego screamed back at the computer as she sharply leveled off her climb, rolled, and banked to the west again.

"Missile fifty meters and closing. Eject. Eject." The calmness of the computer generated voice seemed terribly out of synch with the urgency of the situation. The missile had matched every turn. Shego looked around to find the ejection handle, deciding that the computer had a good idea for once. As she reached for it, a brilliant flash illuminated the cockpit, and every electronic item on board began smoking and sparking. The control stick became very heavy and sluggish. Every screen and light went dim.

"Yep, bailing out is definitely a good idea." She grabbed the handle and pulled.

Nothing happened.

She pulled again, much harder, with similar lack of results. On the third attempt, the combination of frustration, fright, and her superior strength actually snapped the stainless steel handle. Shego could only stare at it, dumbstruck, as the Go Jet began to fall in a slow dive towards the beautiful, brilliant blue, and unforgiving ocean below.

To Be Continued...