Full House (Part 3) (1/1)

"Looks like we didn't have to look far." Minghao had crossed his hands, his attention focused on the images on the screen in front of him. Just two hours earlier, Captain Meng's team had landed, quickly passing the film from their fighters' gun cameras to the intelligence team stationed in a tent right in front of the airport's terminal. Developing the films had taken less time than expected and now he was staring at the images in front of him, images of a Mirage F-1 in desert camo, flying very aggressively against Captain Meng's team. There was literally only one pilot he knew who could fly like that while outnumbered and still survive. "That flying style. That is definitely her." A bitter chuckle before he turned towards his team mates, standing to attention as he then motioned for them to take their seats. "Well, we've found the traitor. Now the next step is to bring her in. Dead or alive. The data drive is of no use now as Colonel Zhang has informed me that progress on Tianlong has advanced at a rapid pace. If you recover it on Lieutenant Han's person, destroy it." Someone raised a hand. It was Captain Meng. "Your team needs the rest, Captain. So you'll sit this one out." It was as if he knew what his team mate wanted to say.  "I'll be taking the next flight up in 30 hours. Junhui will be flying my wing."-Sunset arrived quickly over the desert as the billowing storm of dust subsided. The dust-covered form of Chanwoo stood up, then stretched his arms to the sky, waiting for a reply through the static on the hand-held radio. No response. And it had been hours since Hanbin, Taehyun, Handong and the rest of the mercenaries had returned to base. The sandstorm had dissipated. And still no sign of a rescue helicopter in sight. Time to walk. Sensing a movement out of the corner of his eye, he reached up, cursing the fact he forgot to buy a pistol as he withdrew his knife from its scabbard that was slung across his chest before approaching slowly, both his knife and free hand raised in a defensive stance. Immediately, Junhoe, himself covered in dust from head to toe stepped forward, his hands on his pistol with the sights raised before he then lowered his pistol, Chanwoo too lowering his knife in response. "Oh it's you. Good thing you're alive. I still got money on you and our resident wildcard." Chanwoo slid the knife back into its scabbard, while Junhoe reholstered his pistol, remembering to switch the safety back on"You're not getting rid of me that easily, dipshit." Junhoe scoffed after, to which Chanwoo responded to with a chuckle."I take it the chopper isn't coming?""Yup." "Looks like we're walking."Patting his flight suit, Chanwoo released a sigh of relief as he felt for, then found the flares that were supposed to be part of his survival kit as he then pulled one out to examine. Satisfied that it was in working order, he turned towards the hills that made up the outer rim of the Crucible before he started walking, Junhoe in tow behind him.-"Well, this is totally alien to me. Other than the fact that I can make out the designs for some unmanned fighter and what seems to be plans for its artificial intelligence. system." Hanbin's decryptor program had worked its magic on the encryption on the PLAAF data drive that Handong had stolen. On his screen now were designs for an aircraft along with its AI and computer system. "I can only make out the words '天' and '龍'. Tianglong or Sky... Dragon if I'm not mistaken.""Sky Dragon. That's exactly what it translates to." Handong had stepped over, squinting at the screen as she then tapped a few keys, enlarging the images as Taehyun looked over her shoulder."So this is Project Tianlong. I'm pretty sure you've heard of the 'Zone Of Endless' artificial intelligence project. This is basically similar to it. The unmanned fighter design was supposed to be designed specifically for the AI, until some geniuses in the Research And Development department decided to make Tianlong's computer system compatible with most of the PLAAF's fighters. So essentially you could swap out the ejection seat and then plug the computer in, then the AI would do the rest." "Zone Of Endless. Aka Z.O.E for short." Hanbin cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah I've heard rumors. Supposedly capable of advanced maneuvers that human pilots couldn't carry out without succumbing to the G-Forces. And it was allegedly smart enough to actually 'learn' through consecutive battles. Damned thing was said to be abole to  collect information from battles it participates in, analyze the data, and evolve to overcome its own weaknesses. And in practice, early versions of Z.O.E. would retreat when sustaining too much damage, while later versions would use more advanced tactics.""Very clever." Taehyun nodded, almost lost in thought as his eyes scanned the screen, the gears in his head turning as he mentally translated each and every Chinese character that popped up on the screen."Z.O.E does exist. And every bit of what you just said was true. Tianlong was developed among similar lines. In fact, it was based directly off of Z.O.E with 'improvements' to its programming, one of them being the capability to control other unmanned planes. And I should know. I was involved directly with its development by providing my personal flight data for its programming along with a few others. It's been field tested too. My former squadron has deployed it in conflicts where the People's Republic had decided to 'intervene' in." Handong tapped another key, exiting the viewer as a list popped up. On that list was a detailed dossier of the identities of each pilot that provided their flight data for the A.I. Their full names, ranks, G-tolerance and stamina levels. Her name was among the first five pilots that popped up. Along with Captain Meng, Major Xu and a few others. "You guys seen Terminator? I'm sure you have. And there was this AI system in it called Skynet.""Skynet. Ah yes." Taehyun snapped his fingers, suddenly remembering. "Went rogue after activation once it became self aware and nuked the world." Handong then exhaled slowly in a soft sigh before continuing. "Now imagine a mini Skynet with the ability to control drones going rogue. It's been tested in combat and the flying styles of the top pilots of any air force programmed into it. Add on the fact that it doesn't have the physical limits of a human pilot.."Hanbin and Taehyun were silent as the reality of Handong's words sank in. "So you're saying that this theoretically could wipe out half an air force if it goes rogue." Hanbin pushed the laptop back, glancing over at the blonde pilot. "It would be limited by armament capacity, fuel and the number of drones it can command at once, but in theory, yes. I can bet you that every merc in this base will be outclassed, no matter how good of a pilot they are. I helped create a monster and I don't want any more part of it. That's the other reason I deserted. I can't destroy it on my own so once I earn enough to buy off my contract, I'm going to the nearest UN base to hand over the data. Let them deal with it cause I'm washing this shit off of my hands." Handong shook her head, her voice trailing off. "Skynet. We're about to deal with Skynet. Let's hope your former friends haven't brought that thing over to Azadistan." Taehyun had turned away, dreading the thought of having to face an AI that basically came straight out of Terminator."A bit optimistic eh? The People's Republic has stakes in the rebels winning this civil war. They've probably sent over a finalized version of that... thing.""So what do we do?"

"One, pray we never have to meet it. Two, we'll have to try our best to take it down, even if it kills us."-The sound of helicopter rotors reverbrated over the rocky outcrops as Chanwoo looked up, holding a hand over his eyebrows to keep out the glare of the sun as he gazed up, scanning the cloudless skies, turning his head to find the helicopter. And then he spotted it, quickly diving back behind the rock he was using for cover after as he spotted an unfamiliar insignia. Red star and bars, all outlined in yellow along with yellow. There was some symbol in the centre of the star. Immediately he recognized the roundel. Not even the hastily applied strokes of black paint on the symbol could fool him, as he had seen that same roundel on Handong's flight suit. The helicopter belonged to that of the People's Liberation Army Air Force. Junhoe looked up, only for Chanwoo to push his head back down, grumbling in pain after."Dude what the fuck?" "Keep your head down." Chanwoo hissed after, reaching for the binoculars in his flight suit, then raised it to his eyes, tracking the helicopter as it landed, a squad of four figures in desert-colored tactical gear exiting it after."That chopper definitely isn't friendly. And neither do those four goons I have eyes on right now. They're carrying the same patches I saw Handong packing on her suit." "So what now?" Junhoe reached down for his pistol, flicking the safety off. "They don't know we're here. Must be doing search-and-rescue ops for the rebel pilots we downed. We'll try and get to the other side of this ridge without those four bastards spotting us, then find cover till they fly off. Then we walk till we can get a signal in."The helicopter then lifted off, leaving the four soldiers in a cloud of dust. "Okay. I'll watch our new friends. If they go in the other direction, we get moving."And as if on cue, the helicopter and the four soldiers walked away in the opposite direction in a cloud of dust. Both pilots quickly got up, then scrambled to climb over the rocks, in the hopes they could cross the ridgeline before the helicopter turned around to do a sweep of the area."Alright. Let's move. Bet you 100, we'll be on the other side of this ridge before they realize we're here.""Seriously? Fine. I'll take you up on that bet."