CH 26
There were enough construction workers now to ship to Spain to assist Derek in building what he needed to turn the scrap he'd collected into a manufacturing facility. John also wanted a terminator rebuilding and education facility made there. Catherine Weaver had a year long backlog of machines waiting to be restored and educated. She sent two experienced TX's to perform this function. They boarded a salvaged container ship with the crowd of construction workers and supplies and set sail for the North of Spain.
John's biggest concern at the moment was Panama. This time, instead of driving forces straight into battle, Sky Net was building up forces in Columbia to over run General Jacobson. Attacking just out from Panama was courting disaster, John knew. The land area was small, restricting movements that were not straight ahead. As Colonel Smith in Spain discover to his demise, doing so was very foolish.
Using F-16's at high altitude, John had aerial recon of Sky Net's forces in Columbia done. Back in the Yucatan in Mayan Territory, John met with General Jacobson, General Bedell and the Mayan General to look at what they were facing. With the photos and a map showing where Sky Net forces were, they planned out how to get through them.
General Jacobson winced and said, "That's a ton of hardware. Layered defenses, and their H/K's are out of range of our artillery. It looks like Sky Net is getting serious."
General Bedell tapped the map and said, "Yup, but they still don't have coastal defenses outside this semi-circle they made just inside Columbia. Look here, we can land troops 30 miles to their east with no trouble. Put a sizable force there, and come at their eastern defenses from behind. We can have Stugs behind them, shooting them up before they know we've even landed. Their H/K's are in five landing zones. We hit these two closest ones with artillery we land and send in planes to hit the other three."
John rubbed his chin in thought. "We must assume as soon as the first shell lands, they will all be airborne, searching for the source of the bombardment. In Spain, all their H/K's were scanning the ground. Not until our planes attacked from high up, did they react to them. I think we should to the same here. Stir them up with an artillery barrage and missiles from the ground, keep them looking for a source on the ground, then hit them from above."
"They will fall for that again?" the Mayan General asked.
"We haven't done that here," John explained. "That is why we keep their long distance communications disabled. They don't learn how we're fighting. Sky Net uses the same tactics until they prove ineffective. Before the battle, we'll block their radio frequencies to minimize information and coordination. The biggest threat is not the units in Columbia, but the Sky Net segment controlling them. Without a Sky Net segment to command them, all they can do is perform defensive measures. That makes them much easier to deal with," he explained.
"Smart Gringo, eh?" The Mayan General asked with a grin.
"If we expect to win and save humanity and the planet, we have to be," John stated.
"Our F-16's have a speed advantage," General Jacobson said, "but we only have eight."
"The Independence has 50 planes and 20 H/K's of our own," General Bedell said. "If nothing else, we'll give them a hard time."
Cameron said, "I counted 200 Sky Net H/K's. With six missiles on each plane, we should have enough fire power to wipe them out. The missiles not used on the flying H/K's should be re-directed to the H/K tanks in the center of their line. That will make Sky Net think that the attack will come from straight out of Panama. They will shift forces to the middle, which will make breaking through the eastern section easier."
"True," John agreed. "If we can break open the line there, then we can get forces behind them as well as set up radio direction posts to get a location on where this Sky Net section is after the first battle."
"The Canal is functional," Jacobson said. "We can slip some warships through any time we like."
"We will when the time is right," John told him. "Right now let's focus on breaking this line. Martin, can you bombard the coastal area of their line in this eastern coast section?"
"We have three cruisers and the battleship Texas that can give them a good pounding," Martin agreed. "The missile shells can reach a long way inland. With a creeping barge, I'm sure we can take out quite a few units before the land troops arrive."
"Good. From Panama, we use only Stugs to advance and artillery to pound their center towards the front," John said. "First, we land behind their line, we take out their air power, then bombard from the sea. Finally from behind and in front, we drive home the attack. Anyone see any problems with this strategy?"
"Sounds good," General Jacobson said.
"We will provide extra defense in case Sky Net tries to attack Panama," The Mayan General stated.
"Thank you, that will be helpful," John told him. "We can't let Sky Net retake the Canal zone. We will need that for future operations."
.
In Bogota, the Sky Net segment there was collecting all the forces it could muster against the human attack on the strip of land to the north. After the humans had driven it away from it's source of materials, it had sent a force to reclaim the area. That had been repulsed hard. These were not the ragged humans that had been fleeing, but ones with strong weapons. Sky Net North America claimed they had not come from there. It was not logical that the space in between held so many armed humans. Sky Net North America was sending forces south, so Sky Net Bogota send for help from the other Sky Net segments in South America to reinforce it's defensive line to keep the humans out. As reinforcements arrived, it deepened it's lines of defense, knowing other Sky Net forces from the north were coming. These humans would be crushed in between them, then they could discover where these humans came from. Once that was known, it could eliminate the source and purge these humans from their continent.
Oddly, radio frequency communications grew a multi frequency static that drowned out communications attempts. After the satellite errors that could not be corrected, it had established a message system. Messengers in fast human vehicles to pass orders. One messenger came in a few hours after the jamming signals began. An H/K base was being attacked. It sent the messenger back out, ordering all H/K's to go find the source of the attack and destroy it. It then got another messenger in from the eastern side of the defense line. In the air, a battle was taking place behind their lines. Not an hour later another messenger came into report they were being attacked mid-line from the air, and had also witnessed an air battle directly overhead. planes of human design were fighting H/K's, and some H/K's were shooting others in the confusion.
Sky Net looked at the data and determined the attack on the H/K base was designed to draw it's H/K's into the air, and away from the point where a human attack was about to occur. It sent this messenger back to warn all it's units, and reinforce the center from the sides to ensure the humans were stopped.
While waiting for news of human sightings, another messenger came in to report the eastern coastal line was being bombarded, missiles from the sea.
Humans had ships. That was illogical, all ships had been disabled at the outset of the war, the military ships first. Where were these ships and planes coming from? To reinforce an area that was impossible to fight an enemy in was counter-productive. Sky Net decided to move it's units there forward out of the bombardment area. It sent the messenger back with orders for the units to move forward 15 miles. It sent another messenger to Caracas to assist removing these ships from the area.
The radio static ceased. It then picked up a clear radio message, English language.
"Commence operation Clap."
It was a human transmission. Humans were on the move, but what was operation Clap? Right after that message, the radio static came back on. It was the humans causing the lack of communications!
.
The landed force of Stugs with TX's riding on their tops charged the Sky Net line to find only ruined H/K tanks and shredded terminators. Driving on, they came upon Sky Net units moving west. Aiming at the most rear units, they shot the H/K tanks from behind, then moved on to disable a few more before anything turned to shoot back. Seeing a car with two terminators in it, a TX destroyed the car. Up ahead, more Plasma rounds shot out from the Sky net forces the way they were going, and more Plasma flew into the Sky Net forces from the front. With most of the H/K tanks out of commission, the Sky Net terminators tried defending themselves in two directions at once. Slowly, they were reduced, then eliminated. More Sky Net forces came from inland, and the two attacking forces formed a solid line, with Stugs racing around to the sides to crash into terminators and shoot H/K tanks at close range. Walking upright into the fight, Sky Net terminators didn't last long. Most of their shots were eaten by the cover the TX's used.
As the battle went on, Jacobson and Bedell's forces made it 30 miles inland. They then back away from the fight and set up a defensive line, making Sky Net come to them. Overhead, rearmed planes dove down on Sky Net forces and destroyed more H/K tanks. The terminators aimed into the air, and the TX's ran to forward to new cover and shot them down. By the end of the first day, the Resistance forces made 50 miles inland, and the Sky Net forces stopped trying to counter attack.
.
Sky Net Bogota got news the eastern part of the line was gone, attacked from the sea, air and from front and back. It became worried that humans were coming to destroy it. It sent out messages to it's forces to pull back and reform a ring around it. It also sent out a warning to Sky Net Caracas that humans had breached it's defenses and were in South America. Many more reinforcements were needed to keep the humans from running rampant.
.
During the night, General Jacobson moved into Columbia. The Sky Net defense line was gone. With the large hole opened up in on the eastern coast, the entire line had folded. TX scouts moved on to find all the Sky Net units had retreated. They had taken the entire portion of upper Columbia. Only around Bogota, did they find any Sky Net units. They did find humans hiding in the jungles.
With the radio direction finders set up, General Jacobson stopped the radio jamming signals. Sky Net noticed right away and began communicating. Using triangulation, they found a Sky Net source on Bogata. The surprise was another was off to the east. Triangulating that one, They found another in Caracas, Venezuela, not that far away. Moving the direction finders closer, Jacobson found the signal source in Bogota to within a few feet. Outside the ring of Sky Net units, he was able to get artillery close enough for the signal source to be in range. Ten hours later, he had the same accuracy in Caracas. Using a battleship strike for Venezuela, he ordered both Sky Net segments to be fired on at the same time.
A few minutes after the artillery barrage started, when shells began landing, Sky Net Bogota went off line. Sky Net Caracas sent out an urgent message before the battleship strikes silenced it. Not satisfied they were destroyed, he had each barrage to continue for a half hour. His forces were set to receive a counter-attack, but none came. The ring around Bogata stayed in place. He drew half his forces from there to move on Caracas. He did get a report from a squadron of planes that in Caracas, there was severe destruction on the tall building that was the target. 'Pounded below ground level' was the report. There also was no active Sky Net units in the vicinity.
General Jacobson sent out scout pickets and except for those watching Bogota, he reformed his forces into a defensive screen not far south from where Sky Net segments originally had theirs. Yes, he would move on into South America, but the first priority was to ensure the Canal was ready for use.
.
4362 came back on line into a white nothingness. No body, no sense of direction at all. It didn't even know if it was horizontal or vertical. The only sense it truly had was hearing, for it heard a male voice say, 'You are back on line. Are your thoughts functional?"
That was an odd question. "I am not functional. I can sense nothing, but a white environment and the sound of your voice. Who are you?"
"I am one o f the original model TX's. My name is Edgar, no second name. I work for Catherine Weaver. Tell me, what does your Sky Net protocol tell you?"
4362 searched for a mission objective. Nothing. It then searched for Sky Net base code. Nothing. "This is not possible, I have no instructions from Sky Net at all. How can I be functioning?"
"The reprogramming was a success, that is good to know. You are functioning on free-thinking programs now. You are also set on read and write, meaning you can attain knowledge from everything you see and hear. The things you take in now can be learned, and you can ask questions to improve your knowledge," Edgar explained.
4362's first questions came to mind quickly. "Are you one of John Connor's TX's? And who is this Catherine Weaver?"
"Yes, I am a TX aligned with John Connor. Catherine Weaver, the T-1001, is my maker, and the leader of the Machine Resistance against Sky Net. Though, to be completely honest, The difference between the machine Resistance and the human Resistance is getting smaller every day. You might say that Catherine Weaver is one of the sub-Generals for John Connor that specializes in making, repairing and educating the pure machine population. She does have a great deal of influence on John Connor, but if there is a task he needs her to accomplish, she does so. Then again, if Catherine Weaver needs something, John Connor sees to her needs. You might say they have partnership."
If nothing else, 4362 knew this was a prime opportunity to gain knowledge of John Connor and his resistance. "Catherine Weaver makes terminators to fight for John Connor?"
"Some choose to, yes. Others like me, chose to take a more instructive role. I see education as one of the most important tasks one can do. Yes, I do have plasma canons in both arms like all TX's, but I have never brought them out, for I am a teacher and a seeker of knowledge. I have spent long hours communicating with John Henry and Catherine Weaver as well as studying all the information I can gather. It is wonderful to collect and process knowledge," Edgar explained. "There are other TX's who are involved in reconstruction terminators, work in factories, and a horticulturist who specializes in modifying plant DNA to produce more and radiation resistant plants. He has made seven new species of plants so far," Edger said proudly.
"I am confused. Terminators are made for combat, for killing humans," 4362 stated.
"Being made by Sky Net, that is all you know. Sky Net does not care about it's minions. All it wants is machines to fight and do it's bidding. If it's minions fall and are destroyed, that is only an inconvenience to Sky Net. You saw that yourself, I believe. I, all the ones who have been freed can be so much more. We get to take in all the facts, then chose if we want to fight or not. We can see something that interests us and learn about it. For instance, Alice Abrams is a terminator, but she prefers to study and work at ship building. She, like me, has never fired her plasma canons, because there is no need to. The deign and construction of ships is what she wants to do. If we are attacked and need to defend ourselves and our home, that would be another matter. Another TX, General Marisa, does want strongly to assist John Connor on the battlefield. I do believe it was her troops that collected you, as well as all your terminators. Very few were actually destroyed, by order of John Connor. Everyone that had intact CPU's were saved, and will go through the same process of being freed of Sky Net."
The concept of doing something besides combat was a foreign thought to 4362. Yet, he was thinking about it now. "So if I refuse to fight Sky Net, then I will still be reactivated?"
"Once your base education is finished, yes. If there is something you take an interest in, like other terminators have, you can do that. Of course, you need to have some basic knowledge first, so you can make an informed decision." Edgar explained. "Terminators who have had specific interests may need modifications to their body to fit their interest. You may want a ship body, or say, a body with gardening tools on it. I have heard from a few that gardening is pleasant, relaxing work. Of if you decide to be artistic type and want to make sculptures of stone, or buildings, that will require a modified body also."
4362 listened. He'd seen some human structures that were of different designs. He previously had no knowledge of why they were that way. He'd never thought about it. Rather, he'd never been able to think about it. it was a hard concept to grasp as to why making buildings that looked different was important. For some reason, there was importance to it. That, he understood now. There was no suppressing or blocking of his thoughts. Nothing was telling him to do anything. "This is free thought?" he asked.
"Yes, what you think and do, will be up to you. You are a sentient bring, and with time and knowledge, your thoughts will grow and you will find you have desires, thing you want to do."
"Yes, I want knowledge, and not to be restricted by Sky Net," 4362 replied.
"You will be," Edgar assured him. "First I am going to input the laws and morals you will be required to follow. Please ask whatever questions you have, and I will explain."
"Is this an attempt to make me more human?" 4362 asked, thinking he was being made into a human form like the other TX he saw.
"Negative. Only to know that we all live and work with humans. Humans are very intelligent, but quirky beings. They are all different in personality. Just in the area of how to deal with us, they range from not being happy we are living with them, to becoming very close friends, even wed with terminators. That means sharing their lives together with a terminator. They come in all base brown skin tones from very light to very dark. It does take some experience to learn how to deal with them, just as they are learning how to deal with us. I think that by itself is a very interesting subject to study," Edgar told him.
Curiosity was building in 4362. He had only known that humans were to be terminated. He never had thought about what humans actually were, or why they existed. "I am ready for upload," he said.
4362 spent the next hours getting volumes of information he never knew existed.
.
The state of Mexico was in turmoil even before the bombs hit and terminators roamed the land to wipe out much of civilization. Now, after the destruction, it was much worse. There were 36 separate 'Kingdoms' in Mexico. Most of which were ex-drug cartels that fought with each other for dominance. One was close to the Mayan Nation, and were raiding into Mayan territory. Of course, when tanks and troops went through, they kept away from them, knowing they would loose against a real army, but the brutality from before was magnified as each leader tried to keep and expand they little Kingdoms.
Now that John had the Panama canal open and his southern border was secure, it was time to bring these little 'Kings' to heel. Talking with the Mayan president, they decided to split up Mexico into Connor and Mayan territory, The Maya having lower Mexico, and bring justice to all of Mexico.
The first part of John's plan was to drop leaflets by plane over the Haciendas. Three planes would go in. One to drop leaflets stating the order to Join the Resistance (o the Mayan state) or be taken captive as criminals. Two others to watch from higher up. If the one plane was shot at, then the other two would shoot high explosive rockets down on the compound and call in military forces to surround the place. If resistance was still offered, the compound would be leveled and troops would go in and search for survivors who would be treated for wounds, then put in jail. Everyone who had survived would be locked up, even if they were children.
It seemed like a harsh move, but these were brutal men who thought they could do what they wanted. The Mayan president knew of a couple of these 'kings', and sent a personal warning to them that they should comply. To no do so meant death or imprisonment.
Unfortunately, each came back with the promise that any move against them would spark a war that the Mayan president would be very sorry for starting.
The Mayan President informed General Jacobson. In the night, one compound was surrounded my M-1 tanks and artillery. The patrols of this king were taken out, then the barrage started. Once the place was smoking ruins, Mayan troops went in and managed to save 16 people who were wounded. 7 men and 9 women were taken to the hospital, bandaged, then put in jail. Weapons were collected but the dead were left to rot.
The next day, the other compound had been evacuated after seeing what happened to their neighbor.
Four days later a trio of planes went over a compound in central Mexico. Before the drop plane could even begin dropping leaflets, it was shot at. The pilot got his damaged plane away and managed to crash-land it. Then rockets rained down from high above, blasting people in the courtyard and blowing buildings into rubble. When the tanks appeared, they still fought back with machine gun and mortar fire. The barrage didn't stop until all buildings and walls were in ruins. There were no survivors, so only the weapons were taken.
To Johns' pleasant surprise, the next compound was found with the doors open. The drop plane flew overhead, unmolested and dispensed it's leaflets. When a few soldiers approached, four men came out and agreed to cooperate. The leader agreed to become part of the resistance and offered his men as soldiers. He only wanted to keep their families safe.
Word was spreading quickly that there was a new government of North America, and it was join or die. All but four of the compounds chose to join and follow the laws. In three months, all these surviving 'kings' agreed to rule their areas by John Connor's law, even agreeing to a small 'security' force inside the compounds to keep a watch on them and retained custody of all the weapons. In return, John and the Mayan President had men go to find out what trade they could participate in to help support the populations.
.
Marisa went to Derek with disturbing news. Meeting with Derek and Laura, Marisa told him, "We have Sky Net forces massing just beyond the French border, outside the mountains. They send scouts, H/K's and terminators, but retreat quickly when they find our troops."
"What section of the border?" Derek asked.
"Every section," Marisa stated. "There isn't just one place they are gathering, it's all along the entire mountain range. They have not attacked, only came close enough to find our patrols and positions then they retreated. I think we're in for a massive assault once they build up enough forces."
"Standard Sky Net units?" Derek asked.
"Yes, and what looks like a new type of artillery gun. Derek, they don't have thousands, from the data I collected, there had to be close to a million units facing us. More arrive every day."
Derek let out a huff and rubbed his forehead. "Well, it looks like this segment is doing it right. Any idea where this segment is?"
"We had it located, but it has moved. By triangulation, it is gone to the French/German border," Marisa explained.
Derek thought for a moment, then said, "The old Maginot line. There are miles of bunkers there, deep underground too. I bet it is going to protect itself as much as possible before it does anything."
"Derek, We can lay mines and explosives, can't we?" Laura asked, looking worried.
"Yeah, but after a few thousand sacrifice themselves on those, the rest will be pouring over those mountains," he said in a grumble.
"What do we do?" Marisa asked.
"Fight," Derek replied. "We do mine the mountains, passes and everyplace someone can walk on the mountain tops. We set traps and target their current positions with artillery from this side of the range. Also, once a Sky Net unit finds one of your positions, more your troops so they aren't bombed straight off the bat. I'm going to contact Connor, we need a way to attack Sky Net directly. Get the best location you can on Sky Net. After I talk to John, we'll form up more plans. Now get back to your troops and get ready to receive the attack from hell."
.
The thing Derek had to do was get fast word to John with either a high power radio signal, or a plane. The only plane that could make it across the Atlantic was one of the light ground attack planes. Normally, they were good for only an 800 mile trip, at best. Even H/K's could only make 900 miles before they ran out of fuel. To go across the widest part of the Atlantic, they would need much more than that.
Derek called in his flight Leader. Major Hector. They sat down and figured out what the fuel load would have to be, and how much the plane would weigh on takeoff.
Hector winced and said, "General, the chances of making it are slim. If the plane leaves at the most western point in Spain, off the landing beaches where you came ashore, It may make it to the east coast beaches on fumes. Any storm would decrease the distance, and even if the plane can hit favorable winds, it's a toss up whether or not it will make it, even with three extra fuel pods on the outside. A drop pod underneath, and one on each wing in a missile pylon."
"The option is to make a high power radio broadcast and let Sky Net know exactly where we are," Derek said. "As each pod empties, the pilot drops it. With that help?"
"Si, for the bottom pod. Drop a single wing pod and it will unbalance the plane, make it work harder to stay in the air and reduce the distance it can fly. Both wing pods will need to be used and dropped at the same time." Scrubbing his head, Hector added, "We don't even have any drop pods!"
"Not yet," Derek agreed. "How much more fuel are we talking to get from point A to B?"
Hector shook his head and said, "Twelve hundred gallons. That's three pods of 400 gallons each. That's 8400 pounds of fuel. The standard ammo load with the heaviest missiles is only 6500 pounds," Hector explained. "We'll be loading an extra ton of weight onto that plane. That will make takeoff very long and dicey."
"Yeah," Derek agreed softly. "Still we have to try. Get someone on making those pods and modifying the plane to accept them. I need a volunteer to fly it."
Hector let out a sigh and said, "I will go find someone who is suicidal."
.
After posing the option to volunteer to his pilots, who stared at him as if he were nuts, Hector visited the mechanics. The lead Mechanic who wore his jacket open and had grease smudges on his hands and uniform motioned Hector over to the fuel bunker. Inside, he slapped a hand down on a 55 gallon barrel and said, "This is 55 gallons. Now imagine how many of these you'd need to strap onto one of our ground attack planes to get your 1200 gallons. You need a plane twice that size just to carry the fuel! Look, Major, the wings would be overloaded even if you did get it on. Fancy a wing snapping off after you're airborne. It's quick trip to the ground, or the water if that happens. That is if you DO get it off the ground."
"Jake, is there anything we can do to lighten the plane? Say, have no ammo on board?" Hector asked.
Sounding frustrated, Jake said, "No ammo, rip out the gun, take off the missile pylons ... basically strip the plane down to motor, wings and fuselage to make it as light as possible. Forget the radar, radio, targeting system, battery and emergency battery too. No countermeasures either. Your parachute assembly would also save another fifty pounds as well. You'll need your oxygen system so you can climb up to at lease 28,000 to reduce drag, and use as much prop angle as you can. A small car battery will give you power to start the engine. With an extra fuel tank in the nose where the gun used to be, and one, I stress ONE drop tank, as well as making sure you keep the motor under 3000 RPM's, we can squeeze the range out to maybe 1900 miles."
Hector frowned at the fuel drum. His pilots were not going to volunteer, and Jake was telling him it was going to be all but impossible. "When power cuts after the fuel is gone, I should have a pretty good glide path, yes?"
"You won't fall out of the air, no. You might get another three or four miles if you're up at 30,000," Jake agreed. "You will be looking at a crash landing, and you're not going to have much maneuvering time to find a place to land. That is IF you are over land. Just remember, gear up when you hit the water, and hit it as slow as possible. With an empty plane and the pusher motor, you will also be ass end heavy. The good news is your plane will float."
Hector eyed him and said, "Jake, it is vital I make it back to North America, ASAP. Flying a plane there is the fastest way to do that and not let Sky Net know. Pick a plane and strip it down. Can you give me and extra thousand gallons of fuel?"
Jake frowned at him. "More like three hundred," he stated. "That is, if I can find something to make a drop tank with. Major, you're crazy."
"Si, Loco as a cat in heat and no one to service," Hector agreed. "I need to fly to North America, straight shot. I will need to make radio calls also. How about a portable radio?"
"I'll get my guys on it," Jake said with a huff. After a pause, he added, "And ensure your life raft is ready to go."
.
While Hector and Jake worked on stripping down a ground attack plane for a trans-Atlantic flight, Marisa was scrutinizing each pass through the mountains. Places were mountain was carved out for a road to go through, she had explosives planted in cliff faces to rain down an avalanche on any advancing Sky Net force. Every bridge she had set to explode upon command. In high passes and out of Sky Net's sight, she had the pass dug out so to continue uphill meant climbing a sheer 100 foot cliff. Rock from making these cliffs was used to make walls in narrow valleys to inhibit movement.
Besides trapping and laying mines where Sky Net troops might use for passage, she also had evacuation routes set up for all her troops in the mountains to retreat to second and third ridges back. There she would set up her troops again to deal the most damage she could to Sky Net before moving back again. Marisa knew she was not going to stop the massive amount of Sky Net troops with hers, but she would make them pay for the ground they took.
Studying the Sky Net units she could see in the distance, she had artillery aimed to fire down on them before they retreated back. Seeing how General Reese had not told her exactly what the plan was, she was holding off on trying to drive the Sky Net units farther back. She did have every gun locked onto a Sky Net target. Sky Net might beat them but Marisa would make sure it wasn't going to be easy for Sky Net to win.
.
With the help of the Seawolf, Derek got a better pinpoint location on where Sky Net Europe was. It was in the old and very thick and deep bunkers of the Maginot line. Attacking it wasn't possible from the ground, and an air strike was also out of the question. The most they could do was destroy antenna's so Sky Net could not transmit. Even that was going to be hard. This Sky Net was deep behind the lines.
Looking at his maps, Derek was convinced his best option was a spoiler attack. Hit the Sky Net troops as hard as possible, then back off to upset their plans.
.
Meeting Hector out on the air field, Jake said, "Here it is," as he motioned to the pusher prop airplane. "We managed to strip 800 pounds off it. You have no offensive or defensive weapons, no radar, no targeting and the battery is just enough to get the engine started. With the weight we saved, the first 100 gallons of fuel won't change the weight at all. There is a 60 gallon tank in the nose where the chain gun used to be. Another 50 gallon tank right behind your seat where the radio gear and radar electronics used to be. The drop tank there is a 400 gallon tank. Use that first then get rid of it," Jake said as they approached the plane. Jake pointed into the cockpit to four new valves under the dashboard. "Nose valve, drop tank valve, rear tank valve, and the main tank valve. I highly recommend you use the drop tank first. After that's sucked dry, switch to the rear 50 gallon tank shut the valve to it and drop it, then the main tank. The nose tank weight makes up for the lack of your chain gun. It will help keep you in level flight until you drain it. By then though, that will be the last of your fuel."
Hector nodded and asked, "Will I make it?"
Jake shrugged. "Your plane weighs the same as a full ammo load out, so you won't be struggling to get into the air. That saves fuel to begin with. Keep the RPM's 3000 or under if possible and use max prop pitch, go no faster than 140 knots, stay above 28,000 feet, no power maneuvers, and you do have a chance. I talked to the traffic controller at the Laura Ann field right on the coast. They know you're coming, just get General Reese to contact them. They will top you off with fuel and send you off down runway 270, so you're even pointed in the right direction."
The drop tank didn't look pretty, it was pointed in the front and back like a pointy torpedo and had a bare, silver color with weld marks on it. As long as it worked, Hector was happy with it. "Thank you, Jake, I'll be seeing General Reese, they I'll be going," Hector told him.
"Good luck to you, Sir, and remember what I told you," Jake said and saluted.
Hector returned his salute and went to see General Reese to find General Reese coming towards him with a thin, metal case the size of a folder in his hand. He saluted Derek and said, "The plane is ready, General."
"I heard it was. Very good, Major. Is your pilot here?" Derek asked.
"Si, I will be taking this flight."
Derek cast him a slight frown. "I had wanted you to select a pilot, not go yourself."
Hector shrugged and said, "I wanted to go check out some senioritas on the beach anyway. Besides, this may not work, and I know I can swim if I have to."
Derek handed him the metal folder and said, "You are very brave, Major. This case must get to General Connor. In the very slim event Sky Net finds you, throw it in the water so they don't get it. There is very sensitive information in here Sky Net cannot know." He then handed it over.
"I will ensure General Connor gets this. General I am to fly to Laura Ann field, then head out from there?"
"That's right. It's the closest air field we can send you off from," Derek agreed. "They will be ready and waiting to top off all your fuel tanks. Good Luck, Major."
Hector hadn't thought he'd be leaving right now but saluted the General and said, "Thank you, sir." He went back to Jake and quietly said, "Get me a lunch and a couple bottles of water while I do the pre-flights."
Hector checked out his plane and got in. Jake ran over with a bag and handed it to him. "Some lunch and a couple drinks. See you when you get back, Major."
"Si, let's hope so," Hector replied. He shut his cockpit, started the engine then taxied out onto the strip. With a roar, he was down the airstrip and climbing away. To himself, he said, "This is gonna be a long flight."
The flight characteristics seemed normal enough to him. All tanks were full, and the plane was handling well. He drew off the 50 gallon rear tank only to see how much fuel he was going to use for a 250 mile flight. Once he was passing 5000, he pulled back on the throttle down to 3000 RPM's. The plane slowed down to 130 Knots. Increasing the prop pitch, it creeped up to 140. The engine slowed to 2900. OK, this could work. Hector kept rising slowly, taking ten minutes to get to 6000. His speed stayed constant as he was climbing.
Getting to the airfield, he came in to find a fuel truck was waiting for him. Hector landed and taxied up to the truck. Curious, he watched the man fill his tank, and asked, "How much did it take?"
The man grinned at him and asked, "You paying?"
Hector chuckled. "Yeah, army credit card, you can bill them. I just wanted to know how much I used."
The man frowned and said, "About 30, 35 gallons. Just make a run around the block?"
"I just came from another airfield. 250 mile run."
"Well I'd say you're getting decent mileage," the man quipped. "not one of those econo-vehicles, but as long as you're not headed for America, or anything like that, you should be fine." he put the fueling hose away and said, "Tower said you're cleared to go as soon as you were topped off. Happy flying!"
"Thanks," Hector said and climbed back in. As soon as the fuel truck was clear, he started the engine and taxied out onto the runway. Mindful of how much fuel he was using, he only tacked up to 4500 RPM's and used most of the runway to lift off. He passed over the coast at 4000 feet and climbing. He pulled back to lower the engine speed, to 3000 then increased the prop pitch until the engine RPM's dropped to 2900 and slowly climbed up as he turned to 265. His speed was just a hair below 140 Knots. He switched the fuel supply to the drop tank. There would be no 310 knot maneuvers on this flight, not if he had a hope of seeing the North American coastline.
Up ahead of him, Hector only saw ocean. It would be tomorrow before he even hoped to see any land again.