Chapter 184: Chapter 184
Goronak, Jaffa encampment
True to his word, Rel'dar had gathered his ground force commanders in his command tent, along with the once captive but now revered Sgt. Linder. Sitting in a semicircle in the center of the tent, the men were overwhelmed with a sense of jubilation and a further sense of belonging. After what felt like years of struggle and searching for a future filled with hope, the Traditionalist Jaffa felt that their task was finally accomplished. Here they sat, awaiting the gift that gave proof to the cementing of an alliance with a powerful race; a race that would lead them into the embrace of ascension.
Concern was still in their hearts. Though a new tomorrow had been found, it had come at an enormous price. That price was the fracturing of the Traditionalist alliance with the Illac Renin. Never had Rel'dar and his followers ever thought possible that Da'vir and his followers would take up arms against Traditionalist forces. Knowing that ascension awaited them at the end of their path, the Traditionalist forces had met hostile force with hostile force of their own against their wayward brothers, in a display of fatalistic and grim determination.
When word arrived for the gathering to standby for the unknown gifts arrival, the level of excitement in the tent reached a crescendo. For five minutes the gathering of men waited with baited breath. Few of the men had ever stopped to consider just how long five minutes could truly be when waiting for something of such importance. Many things could happen in such a short amount of time, and unknown to the men, much was.
In the center of the tent a silver tinted aura of light formed suddenly. As the light expanded, the translucent image of a man sized device took form. With the aura fading, the spectral image took solid form, leaving the device for all to see. Ten seconds later, the device began powering up. From top to bottom, the device shimmered with violet currents of light. Unseen to the Jaffa, the sensor augmenters hidden within the base of the device also powered on. Due to his proximity to the device, Linder's presence and precise geospatial location were noted and quickly passed along to the Videum.
As power levels in the device reached a certain threshold, the ethereal flame of shimmering violet light began to engulf the interior of the text. Rel'dar and his ground commanders sat transfixed on the beauty unfolding before them. So engrossed where they, that not one of them noticed the return of the silver aura of light and sudden disappearance of their one time captive; Sgt. Linder. The light around them was beautiful, and unlike anything the Jaffa had ever encountered before. It made them feel content, and oblivious to the outside world around them.
While the activation of the device had enabled the rescue of Linder, it had a secondary purpose. After detecting the successful beaming away of Linder, the device activated a discreet low power beacon. This beacon was meant for not the Videum or the fleet in orbit. Instead this beacon was meant for the lone cloaked FB-302 orbiting eighteen thousand feet above, in an elliptical flight path.
Launched forty minutes before, this 302 carried a weapon far different than many used against the Jaffa. Hanging from the underbelly of the aircraft GBU-43 Massive Ordinance Air Blast guided bomb or MOAB for short. Weighing in at twenty two thousand six hundred pounds, and sitting at thirty feet one inch in length, MOAB represented the largest freefall weapon ever deployed by the United States Air Force. Eighteen thousand seven hundred pounds of the MOAB's total weight was composed of an explosive known as H6, one of the most energetic explosives used by the US military packing one and a half times the explosive power of TNT.
Following his mission brief, on receipt of the beacon below, the 302 pilot finalized pre-drop procedures begun when first arriving on station. Using the beacon as the aim point, the pilot locked the target into the MOAB's onboard guidance unit. With that done, very little could stop this titan of a weapon from reaching the target it was destined to meet. Mission orders given during his preflight briefing made it very clear that upon receipt of the beacon's signal, the weapon was to be launched. Already armed, the pilot toggled the release and the weapon fell free from the craft carrying it.
"Scalpel zero one, this is Chainsaw five five." The 302 pilot stated over the radio net.
"Chainsaw, this is Scalpel. Go." The AWACS controller in the command and control jumper replied.
"The crowd pleaser is away. I say again, the crowd pleaser is away." Chainsaw five five stated.
"Roger. You are cleared to RTB." Scalpel zero one replied, clearing the 302 for a return to the ship that had brought her and her pilot to this world.
As gravity took effect, the MOAB nosed over and began to plummet towards the ground below. The onboard guidance unit knowing where this short trip would end, provided a near constant stream of instructions to the lattice control surfaces on the tail of the weapon, steering it as it fell. Passing through eleven thousand feet, a four foot long rod sprang from the nose. The onboard altimeter detecting the weapon passing through ninety five hundred feet armed the firing circuit that would ignite the H6.
Continuing it's decent, the MOAB was fully armed and ready to fulfill its designed purpose. Lacking any sense of fear or compassion, MOAB's guidance system was only concern with zeroing in on its designated point of ignition. That location in time and space was quickly approaching. If it had been equipped with emotions, MOAB would have felt a sense of exhilaration stemming from the knowledge that it would accomplish exactly what its designers had intended.
At a height of sixteen hundred feet above the beacon, eighteen thousand seven hundred pounds of H6 ignited. Heat, pressure, and crippling amounts of noise were the result. An area of four hundred and thirty feet surrounding Rel'dar's tent were incinerated, crushed, and torn by explosive force. Those inside that circle were the lucky ones. The massive pressure wave of the air blast from detonation spread in all directions. Inside of a circle of two thousand feet from the blast area, the air blast sent men and equipment flying. Bodies already torn apart by the immense air blast were further shredded by flying debris, body parts, and equipment. In the span of the six tenths of a second it took to unleash MOAB's destructive power, the heart of the Jaffa encampment and its leadership ceased to be.
"Hacksaw flight, this is Scalpel zero one. You are cleared in hot." The AWACS controller announced over the communications net.
Hacksaw flight was made of up FB-302's, just like the one that dropped the MOAB. These however were closing in on the encampment from over the waters where Videum currently sat. Instead of being outfitted with one massive weapon, these attack craft carried twelve GBU-53 Small Diameter Bombs. These two hundred and four pound weapons differed greatly from their much larger cousin. Upon exit from the internal bomb bays of each FB-302, each SDB deployed their own diamondback style airfoil wings. These wings would allow each weapon to glide the twenty five miles to their individual targets. Equipped with infrared, inertial navigation, and millimeter wave radar; little chance existed that these weapons would fail to find their mark.
High above the valley holding the Jaffa encampment now under siege, multiple flights of F-302 air superiority fighters orbited. Each fighter pilot yearned for the dog fights they had dreamed of since graduating flight school. Would that dog fight come today? That was yet unknown. In the event Jaffa death gliders did decide to take to the air, the fighter pilots had every intention of giving them a welcome worthy of note.
In the mountains above the valley containing the Jaffa encampment, activity was afoot. Artillery assets of the NATO nations began pumping rounds down range. Executing their preplanned fire mission, each one hundred and fifty five millimeter howitzer would belch three rounds per minute, for the next ten minutes. Once that was complete, a collection of heavily armed AH-64 Apache attack helicopters would swoop in and rain down fiery death on the enemies of their world.
Several miles behind the highest NATO encampment, the forward air base was abuzz. 2nd Brigade 101st Air Assault Division took to their designated UH-60 Blackhawk transport helicopters. Riding into battle once the order was given, these four thousand men would perform the largest Air Assault in many years. It was hoped that their sudden arrival on the Jaffa's flank would force the enemy commander into committing an error. Only time would tell. Sitting aboard one of these UH-60's, two soldiers spoke quietly.
"Sometimes I think I should have joined the Coast Guard." Private First Class Katz muttered.
"And miss out on all this fun? No way bro! It's kind of like playing a really long game of Halo." Specialist Byron replied.
"We're on another planet, at war with an alien race, and getting ready to do an Air Assault. Don't you find that just a little bit crazy?" Katz asked.
"When you put it like that, I guess you're right. You really need to learn not to be such a fun sucker." Byron groused.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Benjamin_Green
Benjamin_Green Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of recent chapters.
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