Drone Wars - Issue 1 - Secrets and L.I.E.S., Page 2

able to achieve this level of privacy invasion via an astounding array of sensors, probes, and antennae.

  Collectively, L.I.E.S. made ‘privacy’ a word without meaning. Doing something private was no longer a right, it was something you had to steal.

  “What’s the heading?” Evelyn asked.

  “On your screen now.”

  Evelyn saw the approaching L.I.E. on her screen marked in bright orange with the two Predator guards marked in red. Predator drones were battle planes, carrying hellfire missiles and large caliber machine guns - they destroyed anything that came too close.

  “Okay Jenna,” Evelyn asked, “how do you want to do this?”

  “I’m thinking I’d like a challenge this afternoon,” Jenna replied.

  “Okay, I’ll take the L.I.E. - you take the Predators. Standard bow sweep?”

  “That’s what I was thinking.”

  “Those are going to be some tough shots, they’re flying pretty close together,” Evelyn said.

  “Well, then I guess you better make sure not to miss. That way, if I only get one, we’ll still have a two-to-one advantage. Really, this is on you,” Jenna replied with a smirk.

  “She’s got you there,” Tasha laughed.

  “Yeah, yeah, very clever, now hush up and focus,” Evelyn said, talking as much to herself as to the other girls.

  The room went silent and the pilots concentrated on their screens.

  Evelyn and Jenna flew a pair of heavily modified RJX-7 drones known as Secrets (the group was named after the drone, not the other way around). With a top speed of just over 400 mph, a Secrets drone was eight times faster than a L.I.E.S. and twice as fast as a Predator.

  A great deal of effort was put into making their Secret drones largely invisible to all other drone radar systems. They were good, but not perfect. Like all camouflaging systems, the longer a Secret remained within range of sensors, the more likely it would be for them to be spotted. Jenna called this the ‘zit-cover-up effect’ because like the make-up, the longer people saw you with it on, the more likely it would be that they’d see your zit. Unfortunately, Secret drones were not fast enough to outrun bullets or air-to-air missiles, so it was crucial to sneak up and eliminate their targets quickly - before they spotted the zit-cream.

  As a rule, the Secrets refrained from using bullets or missiles themselves because they created the possibility for collateral damage. The last thing they wanted to do was hurt innocent people - Clint’s surveillance state did that plenty already.

  The Secrets used Ticks instead.

  A Tick was an electronic device that targeted a drone’s command and control system and took it over, allowing the Secrets to take control of the drone and make it do whatever they wanted. Usually, they crashed the captured drone into a field, lake, large tree or pro-drone donor’s swimming pool.

  The downside to using Ticks instead of missiles was that they were difficult to deliver. Evelyn and Jenna had to fly their drones within five feet of the target in order to guarantee a successful plant (not an easy thing to do at two hundred miles an hour). Plus, Ticks were expensive and hard to make. Nothing pissed Tasha off faster than when one got wasted.

  “Prepare to deliver Ticks - load launch chambers,” Evelyn said.

  “Locked and loaded,” Jenna laughed. She always got a kick out of saying that.

  “Start approach on my mark - 3-2-1.”

  On one, the two Secret drones snapped out of the tight formation they had been flying in and headed in opposite directions. Their paths would take them in wide parabolas around opposite sides of the target drones, allowing Evelyn and Jenna to approach at opposite angles from the rear (which was the least likely angle for them to get spotted). Moving at just under top speed, the pair of Secrets banked in and dropped their Tick payloads perfectly. The small electric devices latched onto their target drones using a powerful magnet and started their work.

  The girls had no idea how special their team was. No one had ever told them that the average number of passes it took for a team to capture a L.I.E. was five. Evelyn’s Secrets averaged one-point-two.

  “Very nice job ladies!” Michelle cheered when five seconds later her computer told her all three Ticks were working. “We have three drones willing to do our every bidding. Standby for L.I.E. suicide.”

  Evelyn and Jenna put their Secrets into autopilot mode and they took control of the captured Predator drones. Michelle took control of the L.I.E.. She went first, commanding it to fly over a small forest preserve and self-destruct. It exploded in a pretty bloom of flame.

  “L.I.E. is down. Predators are next. How do you want to trash them?” Evelyn asked.

  “I’m thinking the old two-car pile-up.”

  “Ooh, yeah, I haven’t done that one in a while,” Evelyn agreed. “Which way do you want to do the collision?”

  “I’m thinking from above.”

  “That’s a tough shot.”

  “Already made one today.”

  “True enough. Let’s give it a try.”

  Evelyn took the Predator she was controlling and directed it to fly on a flat, level trajectory. At the same time, Jenna brought her Predator high above Evelyn’s, pushing it to nearly top speed. Once she had calculated that she had enough of a lead on Evelyn’s Predator, Jenna banked down and smashed the nose directly into the center of Evelyn’s like a lawn dart landing right in the middle of a bulls-eye. Little bits of Predator rained down from the sky.

  “Alright, nice flying! Ticks disengaged, primary vehicle control returned, let’s close down the Brain and pack up while we have this nice little hole in the coverage,” Evelyn called.

  The girls got to work. Five minutes later, their three-part drone, now reformed into a single craft, slid down into the yard behind the house their HQ had told them would be clear for operations.

  “The bird is down safely.” Evelyn said, leaning back and rubbing her hands over her face. “Now, let’s get out of here before whoever lives here comes home.”

  The girls started breaking down their equipment, folding up the monitors and stashing the tablets. This was something they had practiced a number of times and in less than thirty seconds there was no evidence they had ever been there. They got up to leave.

  “Like I was saying Tasha, you can’t just let a dude not call you back. You need to find a better guy than this Ken bozo,” Jenna continued, picking up from where she had left off before the mission.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Tasha agreed.

  “Of course I am, you…”

  Jenna’s advice was interrupted by the sound of the back door being kicked open. Evelyn ran to the hallway and gasped.

  “What is it?” Jenna hissed.

  Two uniformed figures wearing black tactical body armor were coming fast up the corridor with their weapons drawn. Evelyn ducked her head back.

  From down the hall came a booming voice, obviously amplified. “All occupants of this dwelling are under suspicion of terrorism, get on your knees and place your hands on your heads. Lack of compliance will be seen as resistance and will be handled with extreme prejudice.”

  “Oh, this is not good,” Evelyn groaned.

  TO BE CONTINUED

  in

  Issue 2: Combat Fitness…