Chapter 639: A Time for Decisive Action 2: America's Retaliation!

February 19th, 2021, 18:00

Seoul, Yongsan-ku CC tanker (Apollo 2 reconnaissance satellite mission control)

The operators of the Apollo 1 satellite, which was in charge of reconnaissance missions at the Pacific in southern Japan, had their eyes glued to the radar monitor of the Apollo 2 satellite and busily operating the console.

The operators changed through different types of visual filters while being on high alert for anything suspicious.

From the outside, the operator job seemed to be an easy one that only required someone to stare at a monitor while sitting down. However, the physical and mental stress was unimaginable. Each reconnaissance satellite was being operated by 144 operators stationed at the reconnaissance satellite company’s mission control.

The job was in shifts of four at 24 hours a day, where 36 operators would work 6 hours each. The operators would only be able to leave their post for 6 hours a day. Maintaining focus under those conditions while staring at a monitor was a taxing experience.

The radar equipped on the Apollo satellite was a QMZ-1 version radar, the Quantum Muli-Zone radar’s early version. The satellite was at a geostationary orbit of 36,000km and scanned an area of 1,000km2. The area was divided again among the 36 operators so they can conduct a deeper scan.

“Something’s up,” Private Hong Gyu-tae, one of the operators, muttered to himself while looking at an unclear dot on his radar through multiple visual filters.

Four months ago, Hong Gyu-tae was a college student, but when the war against China broke out, he enlisted with his fellow students. After receiving basic training for a month, he was assigned to the prestigious aerospace force’s reconnaissance branch thanks to his aerospace major. He went under additional training for another month before being sent to the field. After two months of training, Private Hong was sent to the 2nd Apollo battalion under the reconnaissance satellite brigade at the CC tanker in Yongsan.

Since he had only been working at mission control for two months, Private Hong made mistakes and was scolded by his superiors. However, after getting the hang of things, he started to pull his own weight. He was about to have a subordinate working under him and nearing his promotion to private first class. Private Hong calmly stared at his own screen and muttered to himself while concentrating.

“Sir! I think I have something. Could you please take a look?” Private Hong raised his hand and called over his platoon commander, Lieutenant Choi Ho-yoon.

“Did you find any anomalies?”

“The computer doesn’t show any signs, but I think there’s something strange, sir.”

“Put it up on screen 2!”

When Lieutenant Choi Ho-yoon ordered Private Hong, he manipulated the console and projected his own screen on screen 2 at the center of the room.

The 2000-inch screen showed the skies above the pacific. The screen did not show anything strange, but a few blurry dots were moving quickly across the screen.

If these were planes or jets, then the mission control’s supercomputer would have sounded the alarm and show the intelligence about the objects after comparing them to the database. Sometimes, the supercomputer would not sound any alarm or show information. Without a closer look, the dots could have just been migratory birds.

“Aren’t they just birds?”

The other operators looked at screen 2 and started to mutter their opinions based on experience. Most of the senior operators concluded them to be as well.

“If these are birds, there’s no way they could move that fast, sir.”

“Now that you look at it, they are moving quite quickly, aren’t they?”

Lieutenant Choi Ho-yoon tapped Private Hong on the shoulder and went to the commander. Lieutenant Choi Ho-yoon conversed with the mission control’s commander. They were given the authorization to use the high precision optical lens. Lieutenant Choi started making requests to Reconnaissance Director Oh Seung-ho after getting authorization.

A moment later, the high precision optical lens attached to the underside of the satellite started to enhance the footage of the area Private Hong was in charge of.

The high precision optical lens was powerful enough to show ants on the surface in high definition. When it started to focus on the area, the blurry dots started to become visible in the infrared mode. However, the infrared vision was not enough to identify the objects.

Lieutenant Choi Ho-yoon opened his eyes wide and spoke. “What the hell are those things? They are not birds for sure.”

The unidentified objects must have been equipped with IRST functions since it was difficult to identify using the infrared mode. The commander himself gave an order.

“Change to the electromagnetic mode and enhance the footage more!”

“Yes, sir.”

The operator in charge of the high precision optical lens answered loudly and started to manipulate the console. The 2nd screen turned blue for a moment. Then the screen started to show the footage in the electromagnetic mode that made the objects a bit more identifiable.

“Are they jets? They look like F-22 Raptors.”

“Really? Then why didn’t the computer detect them? Isn’t it able to detect raptors easily? It detected the ones used by Japan, didn’t it?”

“You’re right. Then what are those? Are they a different make?”

The operators started to chime in, and Apollo 2’s mission control started getting noisy. The commander shouted angrily.

“Everyone shut up!”

The mission control fell silent.

“Zoom out and see how many jets there are!”

When the commander gave the order once again, the operators started to manipulate their consoles. The second screen started to zoom out and showed many planes being detected by the electromagnetic mode. There were at least 100 planes detected.

“There are planes that the Apollo satellite could not detect…”

The Apollo satellite’s Quantum Multi-Zone radars were more than enough to detect the latest and most powerful F-22 stealth fighter jet, excluding the ones from Corea.

“Based on their direction they must be American jets. Report it to the Joint Chief of Staff and continue watching their movements.”

“Yes, sir.”

Private Hong Gyu-tae started to cheer silently. Thanks to his hard work, they were able to detect numerous enemy aircraft that the satellite’s computer could not.

After 20 minutes had passed, numerous large aircraft were detected by the satellite. The supercomputer identified them as the American Air Force’s KC-135 aerial tanker and calculated their take-off location as Okinawa and Guam.

“They are American jets!”

The screen showed one KC-135 aerial tanker and 20 unidentified aircraft flying in a flight wing formation while being fueled.

Commander Na Tae-hyun, who was looking at the screen, stroked his chin and asked one of the operators, “You are sending the footage to the Joint Chief of Staff, right?”

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“Yes, sir. We are sending the footage to the air force command, and have data linked to the Zeus satellite’s mission control as well.”

* * *

February 19th, 2021, 18:00

Seoul, Yongsan-ku B2 bunker (ROK military joint command center)

The atmosphere inside the Joint Chief of Staff’s command center was dim as it watched the footage from the Apollo 2 satellite’s mission control. Up to this point, the Corean military had been fighting against their enemies by using the high-powered reconnaissance satellites that allowed them to see the battlefield like the back of their hand. By forming strategies and tactics based on their satellites, they were able to achieve victory. However, this situation had shocked the Joint Chief of Staff.

The Apollo satellite and the Quantum Multi-Zone radar that had been developed from years of research on the alien spacecraft was not functioning properly.

Chairman Kang, who was watching the unidentified jets being fueled by the aerial tankers with a concerned look on his face, spoke. “Are we sending the footage over to the underground research facility at the 17th fighter wing?”

“Yes, sir. The underground research facility is watching the footage live as well.”

“America truly is a power to be reckoned with. I think we underestimated the nation’s capabilities.”

While Chairman Kang Ui-sik and Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun were conversing with each other, the communications director reported in.

“Sir! It’s from the commander of the aerospace forces. The Zeus 3 satellite has finished preparing for the interception and they are standing by to make an attack.”

Twenty minutes ago, Chairman Kang Ui-sik received the report from the Apollo 2 satellite’s mission control. He gave an order to prepare for the interception of the aircraft once they have been identified as the enemies.

“There’s an issue, sir.”

“What issue?”

“The Apollo 2 satellite could only identify the aerial tanker, but the other aircraft are not detected by the radar, so they cannot data link the information. Therefore, the Zeus 3 satellite cannot start the interception, sir.”

Chairman Kang’s frown became deeper after hearing the communications director’s report.

“Operations director.”

“Yes, sir!”

“How about we attack them with the Epirus missiles instead? If we only attack the aerial tankers, that would mean we are letting the forces that could threaten our own go free. I am not comfortable with the idea.”

“I agree with you as well, sir. However, since these are not stationary targets, there’s a high chance they would be able to detect and avoid the Epirus missiles before they can reach them, sir.”

“I didn’t think about that. Very well! I am authorizing the attack on the aerial tankers.”

“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun, the operations director, answered curtly and then sent out the order approving the attack for the Zeus 3 satellite.

* * *

February 19th, 2021, 18:30

Seoul, Yongsan-ku CC bunker (tactical interception satellite Zeus 3’s mission control)

“Lock on target 1 and open the zoom in on screen 1.”

When the operator manipulated the console under the interception director’s orders, the 50mm high powered laser beam focused on the target. The screen showed the first target, the KC-135 aerial tanker, after receiving the data link from the Apollo 2 satellite.

“Start the Zeus 3’s interception system.”

“Interception system online.”

The Zeus 3 satellite moved at the same speed as the earth’s rotation and stared at the planet from a fixed location. The nozzle of the rocket started to fire up and turned towards the southern area of Honshu, Japan. The lower panel opened up and the laser cannon slowly emerged from inside the satellite. The screen showed the satellite aiming the first KC-135 aerial tanker.

“Check the plasma output!”

“Zeus 3’s plasma output at 100%,” the output operator answered loudly.

The commander ordered the interception director to fire, and it was relayed to the cannon’s operators.

“Fire!”

“Fire!”

The laser beam started to spark up, then a thick red beam started to fly towards earth at the speed of light.

The red light from space hit the KC-135 aerial tanker that had been fueling the jets. When the laser tore a hole in the aerial tanker’s body, the plane started to shake from the pressure difference. The flying boom connected to the F-22SR Super Raptor jet expanded and broke in the middle. The shaking KC-135 aerial tanker caught on fire and exploded.

Booooom…

The 18,000 gallons of jet fuel inside the KC-135 aerial tanker had created an enormous explosion. The flames started to spread out everywhere. The F-22SR Super Raptor that had been fueling up and the three other jets standing by and guarding the tanker exploded from the flames as well.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Interception successful! Position at N 34°31’44.52″ E 147°13’0.31″.”

“We continue to the second interception target.”

The commander gave the order to fire the laser at the second target.

Another red beam of light fell from the sky and the second KC-135 aerial tanker was hit on the left jet engine and exploded.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions littered the dark skies above the Pacific Ocean.

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