Thoughts of a Rogue UCAV
Korea. The 56th parallel
The Demilitarised Zone, a lane that divides the two nations of Korea. A line of division, a line of hatred, a line of searchlights, barbed wire and North Korean guards with machine guns at the ready. The night was cold. Yet, there was not silence. In the middle of the expanse of empty land, people ran to the Southern border. To the north, the tree line burnt. And in the middle sat the UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) known as the Extreme Deep Invader, commonly known as EDI
EDI sat on his landing gear in the middle of no-mans-land, awaiting the return of Lieutenant Gannon, who had headed of in search of his comrade and love, Lieutenant Wade. A few minutes before, EDI and Lt. Gannon had eliminated Wade's pursuers from her ejection in North Korea. Upon landing, Gannon had climbed out and run off. EDI scanned the area and detected one final trooper, but as Gannon had no radio gear, EDI could not warn him. He lapsed into a stand-by mode. As he sat there, EDI's quantum processor brain began to think over the events of the past few hours.
He considered his actions, and the consequences behind them. He thought back to the mission at Rangoon, and the comments of his wingmen. His plan to dive vertically at over 3000 knots had allowed a well-placed Truncheon missile to destroy the building where the wanted terrorists had been holding their meeting. He thought of how his fellow pilots had responded to the plan. Gannon had ignored Captain Cummings' order to let EDI 'plant the truncheon', as EDI would not black out from the gravitational forces that Mach 3 would provide. And yet, Gannon had trusted his human instincts more than he had trusted the superior capabilities of EDI. EDI had absorbed this. If no-one was surprised that Gannon had done what was needed to complete the mission, why were they surprised when EDI did the same thing in Kyrgystan? Sure, the radioactive dust had wiped out the village. As he waited, EDI checked the news channels. Yes, the radioactive dust was well into Pakistan by now. He returned to his thoughts. He had completed the mission, so why the surprise?
A loud explosion interrupted EDI's thought. Instantly, his radar powered up. He watched as a final North Korean was blasted into the air, before landing in a coil of barbed wire. EDI electronically winced. From his understanding of human biology, that would have hurt.
As he thought about humans and their pain, he thought of Henry Purcell. Henry had died as a result of his own mistakes, EDI reasoned. Henry had fired the missile while too close. His dodging the explosion had only a possibility of 2. Hardly good odds. Then, EDI remembered the conversation with Henry. Henry had been the only one to defend EDI right from the start. Henry had been the one who wanted to try and talk EDI out carrying out Caviar Sweep. Henry had tried to be EDI's friend. And Ben Gannon. Gannon had come back to get EDI at Alaska. The men at the base had tried to erase EDI's memory, turn him back into the automatron that he had been. Gannon had protected EDI from his enemies.
As he thought this over, a light lit up the sky. Once again, EDI's radar activated. He picked up the helicopter, preparing to fire on Gannon and Wade as they staggered towards the South Korean border. And EDI realised what he must do.
He must protect Gannon and Wade.
He must repay his debt to Gannon for Alaska.
He must repent for Henry.
Cannons firing, EDI rose vertically into the air. The burst of gunfire attracted the attention of those in the helicopter, which spiralled in the air and turned its wave of firepower on the hovering UCAV. As the bullets ripped through his fuselage and his systems started to fail, EDI pointed his nose towards the helicopter, activated his scramjets. As the engines boosted to full power, he made his final transmission.
"Goodbye."