knowledge or even an advantage over the Newts.”
Angie looked out over her audience. “Any questions?”
There was a short silence . “Are we sure this intelligence is correct?” Willie asked. “This is almost too good to be true.”
“This information is real,” Angie confidently replied. A flick of her finger brought up a photo of a middle-aged African woman with short curly hair , standing beside a young boy . “It is from one of my own trusted assets, Dr. Shani Tsvato, who is currently working on the analysis of the artifact. She is a PAA national who normally is based in Cape Town, but was drafted for research on the artifact. Part of this mission is to extract her and her twelve-year-old son , Kwasi, and offer them asylum in Canada. She will be working on the inside to enable access to the artifact and open security doors to facilitate our entry.”
“Where is the artifact now?” Willie asked again.
“It is located in former Tanzania. The artifact is at a research facility in the Kahamba rare earths mine.” Angie pressed something on her wristpad and a satellite map appeared. It showed the mine location in the Shinyanga Region southeast of Lake Victoria from a high altitude , then zoomed in to show an enhanced 3D model of the site. The research facility was located on the far side of the large open pit mine , away from the massive tailings piles.
“Most of the country is controlled by the warlord Jean Huwapwa , who calls himself the President. The territory is technically claimed by the Pan African Alliance, but that is in name only. You should not be engaging any PAA forces during this mission. However, time is critical. Decoded intercepts have indicated that a Chinese delegation from the PRC will arrive in less than a day to examine the artifact and purchase it from Huwapwa . Huwapwa is on good terms with them as he buys arms from the Chinese and sells them rare earths. As you all know we do not have good relations with the PRC, so we will need to move very quickly to prevent this.”
This was actually a sad state of affairs, Joshua thought to himself. Ten years ago the world had been united against the alien Newts during the Alien War. The PRC, Russia, Japan, Canada, Pacifica, the European Union, the PAA, and even Brazi l had been all working together then. Some had proclaimed a new age of cooperation.
After the war, the global political landscape had changed. A good chunk of Earth’s tropical and subtropical lands had been occupied by the Newts , who had either pushed the humans out or now lived in a tenuous coexistence with them. New alliances and nations had formed, and old nations had ceased to exist. He had personally fought in the Second American Civil War. The new global alliance had only lasted two years after the war.
“That should be enough for now, folks,” General Russell added. He brought back the satellite map of the Kahamba area.
“The mission will proceed as follows. Captain Thornton, you are the mission commander. Your Alpha Team will be back in the air within the hour. Mission prep can continue en route to the target. All of your gear will be loaded onto the transport.” The map then showed a line from Diego Garcia to Kahamba. “Your transport will fly within 30 kilometres of the research facility as a scheduled commercial over flight . You will be doing high altitude - high opening jumps onto the research facility. Ms. Bless will be jumping with you. She has advanced infiltration training, including HAHO, but it has been some time since she has jumped. Willie, take good care of her, she comes highly recommended. When you have landed she will contact Dr. Tsvato to arrange entry.”
“Be my pleasure, sir ,” Willie spoke up. “If she says she can do it, we’ll be glad to help her. She might be a sp y , but she’ll be our sp y . Welcome to the team,
Angie looked out over her audience. “Any questions?”
There was a short silence . “Are we sure this intelligence is correct?” Willie asked. “This is almost too good to be true.”
“This information is real,” Angie confidently replied. A flick of her finger brought up a photo of a middle-aged African woman with short curly hair , standing beside a young boy . “It is from one of my own trusted assets, Dr. Shani Tsvato, who is currently working on the analysis of the artifact. She is a PAA national who normally is based in Cape Town, but was drafted for research on the artifact. Part of this mission is to extract her and her twelve-year-old son , Kwasi, and offer them asylum in Canada. She will be working on the inside to enable access to the artifact and open security doors to facilitate our entry.”
“Where is the artifact now?” Willie asked again.
“It is located in former Tanzania. The artifact is at a research facility in the Kahamba rare earths mine.” Angie pressed something on her wristpad and a satellite map appeared. It showed the mine location in the Shinyanga Region southeast of Lake Victoria from a high altitude , then zoomed in to show an enhanced 3D model of the site. The research facility was located on the far side of the large open pit mine , away from the massive tailings piles.
“Most of the country is controlled by the warlord Jean Huwapwa , who calls himself the President. The territory is technically claimed by the Pan African Alliance, but that is in name only. You should not be engaging any PAA forces during this mission. However, time is critical. Decoded intercepts have indicated that a Chinese delegation from the PRC will arrive in less than a day to examine the artifact and purchase it from Huwapwa . Huwapwa is on good terms with them as he buys arms from the Chinese and sells them rare earths. As you all know we do not have good relations with the PRC, so we will need to move very quickly to prevent this.”
This was actually a sad state of affairs, Joshua thought to himself. Ten years ago the world had been united against the alien Newts during the Alien War. The PRC, Russia, Japan, Canada, Pacifica, the European Union, the PAA, and even Brazi l had been all working together then. Some had proclaimed a new age of cooperation.
After the war, the global political landscape had changed. A good chunk of Earth’s tropical and subtropical lands had been occupied by the Newts , who had either pushed the humans out or now lived in a tenuous coexistence with them. New alliances and nations had formed, and old nations had ceased to exist. He had personally fought in the Second American Civil War. The new global alliance had only lasted two years after the war.
“That should be enough for now, folks,” General Russell added. He brought back the satellite map of the Kahamba area.
“The mission will proceed as follows. Captain Thornton, you are the mission commander. Your Alpha Team will be back in the air within the hour. Mission prep can continue en route to the target. All of your gear will be loaded onto the transport.” The map then showed a line from Diego Garcia to Kahamba. “Your transport will fly within 30 kilometres of the research facility as a scheduled commercial over flight . You will be doing high altitude - high opening jumps onto the research facility. Ms. Bless will be jumping with you. She has advanced infiltration training, including HAHO, but it has been some time since she has jumped. Willie, take good care of her, she comes highly recommended. When you have landed she will contact Dr. Tsvato to arrange entry.”
“Be my pleasure, sir ,” Willie spoke up. “If she says she can do it, we’ll be glad to help her. She might be a sp y , but she’ll be our sp y . Welcome to the team,
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