desecrators.”
Jk’shth reacted quickly. It would be a grand day if the Shre’lor was retrieved. There would be great rejoicing. “We must try to retrieve it, but we do not want a new war with the humans. So many died in the last one on both sides .”
There would be no war right now, Kr’shl thought to himself , the time was not yet right . “We have border skirmishes with the humans fairly regularly. It is quite a nuisance. This area is not fully claimed by the humans of the PAA, so we should be able to strike without provoking war.”
“That is good.”
Kr’shl found himself reacting more eagerly to the thought of fight ing than he expected. “As this is an offensive operation, do I have your permission to attack?”
“You have my permission. Do not be too eager to cause damage,” warned Jk’shth.
“Very well.” Kr’shl turned to an assistant and ordered, “ Launch the new Zr’prihl Hunter units on my command authority. This will be an excellent test , and they can arrive within hours using the new booster units .” This was turning into a most auspicious morning despite the early hour. If the Shre’lor was recovered he would gain great prestige. “Grand Master?” h e asked with great politeness. “Please accompany me to the Command Centre. We can observe the proceedings from there.”
***
“Are we set for low altitude parachute extraction, X?” Joshua asked his mecha’s AI. This AI had been with him since he had piloted his first HARM unit into combat. Some pilots gave their AIs real names, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. His AI, whatever its upgrades, would always be X, named after the X-14 prototype he had piloted.
“All systems are green,” the AI replied in its synthesized voice, “this mecha is in aerial deployment mode. I am ready if you are.”
His AI had developed a dry sense of humour some years back. The techs said it was okay , and might have happened because the AI had been running so long. Joshua didn’t mind , so the humour had stayed.
“Unit One, ready.” Joshua called out.
“Unit Two, ready.” Penny called out.
“Roger, that,” the transport pilot replied over the intercom. “Loadmaster, drop door.”
Motors began to whine and the large cargo ramp at the back of the plane began to lower. The converted stealth bomber was flying low, around 5 0 metres off the ground. They were running in stealth mode and were next to invisible right now, but the low altitude made it safer for dropping the mechas within. The plane might be invisible to radar, but the HARMs were not.
“Standby,” said the pilot. Moments passed, then the red drop light turned green. “Over drop zone,” the pilot announced.
“Locks off,” called out the loadmaster. “Drop one!”
He pushed a button to release a drogue chute attached to the back of Joshua’s HARM unit . The chute trailed out behind the plane , opened , and Joshua’s HARM was jerked backwards right out of the cargo compartment.
A few seconds later, the drogue chute for Penny’s HARM unit opened and jerked her mecha out of the aircraft too.
Once clear , each HARM unit blew the explosive bolts attaching its drogue chute. Falling quickly, they shifted from their kneeling configuration in to a crouched landing position, firing their jump rockets to land safely in a cloud of dust in the African bush.
“Unit One, down,” Joshua announced. H e unlimbered his primary weapon , a coilgun that fired electromagnetically accelerated projectiles at hypersonic velocities.
“Perimeter scan is clear,” announced his mecha’s AI . “It does not look like we have been detected. A small herd of large animals is half a kilometre to the northwest.”
Joshua took a quick look at the night vision data. “Elephants!” he exclaimed. Welcome to Africa, he thought to
Jk’shth reacted quickly. It would be a grand day if the Shre’lor was retrieved. There would be great rejoicing. “We must try to retrieve it, but we do not want a new war with the humans. So many died in the last one on both sides .”
There would be no war right now, Kr’shl thought to himself , the time was not yet right . “We have border skirmishes with the humans fairly regularly. It is quite a nuisance. This area is not fully claimed by the humans of the PAA, so we should be able to strike without provoking war.”
“That is good.”
Kr’shl found himself reacting more eagerly to the thought of fight ing than he expected. “As this is an offensive operation, do I have your permission to attack?”
“You have my permission. Do not be too eager to cause damage,” warned Jk’shth.
“Very well.” Kr’shl turned to an assistant and ordered, “ Launch the new Zr’prihl Hunter units on my command authority. This will be an excellent test , and they can arrive within hours using the new booster units .” This was turning into a most auspicious morning despite the early hour. If the Shre’lor was recovered he would gain great prestige. “Grand Master?” h e asked with great politeness. “Please accompany me to the Command Centre. We can observe the proceedings from there.”
***
“Are we set for low altitude parachute extraction, X?” Joshua asked his mecha’s AI. This AI had been with him since he had piloted his first HARM unit into combat. Some pilots gave their AIs real names, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. His AI, whatever its upgrades, would always be X, named after the X-14 prototype he had piloted.
“All systems are green,” the AI replied in its synthesized voice, “this mecha is in aerial deployment mode. I am ready if you are.”
His AI had developed a dry sense of humour some years back. The techs said it was okay , and might have happened because the AI had been running so long. Joshua didn’t mind , so the humour had stayed.
“Unit One, ready.” Joshua called out.
“Unit Two, ready.” Penny called out.
“Roger, that,” the transport pilot replied over the intercom. “Loadmaster, drop door.”
Motors began to whine and the large cargo ramp at the back of the plane began to lower. The converted stealth bomber was flying low, around 5 0 metres off the ground. They were running in stealth mode and were next to invisible right now, but the low altitude made it safer for dropping the mechas within. The plane might be invisible to radar, but the HARMs were not.
“Standby,” said the pilot. Moments passed, then the red drop light turned green. “Over drop zone,” the pilot announced.
“Locks off,” called out the loadmaster. “Drop one!”
He pushed a button to release a drogue chute attached to the back of Joshua’s HARM unit . The chute trailed out behind the plane , opened , and Joshua’s HARM was jerked backwards right out of the cargo compartment.
A few seconds later, the drogue chute for Penny’s HARM unit opened and jerked her mecha out of the aircraft too.
Once clear , each HARM unit blew the explosive bolts attaching its drogue chute. Falling quickly, they shifted from their kneeling configuration in to a crouched landing position, firing their jump rockets to land safely in a cloud of dust in the African bush.
“Unit One, down,” Joshua announced. H e unlimbered his primary weapon , a coilgun that fired electromagnetically accelerated projectiles at hypersonic velocities.
“Perimeter scan is clear,” announced his mecha’s AI . “It does not look like we have been detected. A small herd of large animals is half a kilometre to the northwest.”
Joshua took a quick look at the night vision data. “Elephants!” he exclaimed. Welcome to Africa, he thought to
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