Unseen Enemy: Invisible Titanium Humanoids
Work of science fiction
Omens Foretold Chapter Twelve Part Five Hotel
Aneurysmics--A Minor Hiccup
Primary Event Narrative Date: April 11th, 1994
Evidence Archive Date: TBD
File Discovery Date: March 2, 2026
Archive File: OFC12EH-1987199404092026/PI17-ANEUR
"...Manning and move orders sent."
Then men watched as the ordered vehicles began to slowly move to the firing position. Benedictus and the others inherently knew what the two other units were going through right now and could feel the weight of guilt in breaching almost every known protocol but they had all agreed it must be this way. More waiting...more sweating.
"Active FDO reporting the howitzers have been verified. Fire mission transmitted."
While they all looked at the screen an excruciating minute went by followed by another and another and despite the skeleton crews and the unbearable silence they saw two flashes after about four and half minutes and another two flashes about two minutes later. They saw the five vehicles slowly move back behind the tree line and all but one radio go dark as they moved.
"No EMF signatures detected. Three immobile humanoid units detected. Height six feet. Alpha-2 Titanium Aluminide plating detected. Model unknown."
"Issue a Condition Delta. Order all men to turn on all radios, leave the APC and howitzers fully powered, evacuate to the humvees. Order the humvees to go dark, use handhelds. Return to the rest of their unit. In route, relay immediate evacuation double time to this abandoned toll road two miles south HERE. Drop to thirty unless given the all clear for max. It's relatively clear of obstruction going in all the way to this bypass HERE but we have to monitor the airspace corridors as well as exits, on-ramps, bridges. Inform that monitoring for enemy activity will be continuous until a return to Condition Alpha. Inform that any re-routing due to any detected enemy activity has to be done before reaching this point HERE on the bypass. Do it now."
Damont had already been giving commands as Benedictus was issuing them with a two second lag allowing for emendations. He issued the final orders and populated the map with the lead and rear vehicles first as they had the greatest signal. He then populated the map with the other vehicles via their handheld signals--weak but detectable by him. "No enemy activity detected at this time. Three enemy units south of the tunnel pinging but immobile. Continuing to monitor."
Monroe looked at Benedictus raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner.
Benedictus understood the unspoken inquiry and responded, "Maybe. The blast may have severed their communication pipelines altogether or it is a temporary disruption as they scan for other connections. Either way, we can't take the risk of non-evacuation and we still have tens of miles to get them clear."
"Got it."
To be continued...