ROBOSOLDIERS: Thank You for Your Servos by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781982191900
Amazon: 1982191902
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2022-06-07T04:00:00+00:00

Captain Jedediah “Jed” Babin was sitting in the jump seat in the cockpit of a Ghost missile boat. Forward of him the two coxswains were piloting the swift vessel. He looked aft at the two operations specialists in the mission bay. One was tracking the data feed from the onboard AI system. The AI was constantly updating the target list based on last known data and a random algorithm. Surrounding his lead boat were six other missile boats each armed with four extended range Naval Strike Missiles. Depending on the warning order the squadron could receive at any minute, the boats could unleash their missiles at a range of targets with the AI providing a recommendation on which targets would have the greatest effect. The missiles could hit fixed targets ashore, offshore infrastructure, ships, Chinese missile boats, amphibious platforms, etc.

“Conventional deterrence” was what the admiral called it when he described the mission to Jed. A death wish is what Jed first thought of when it was described to him. Then Talya, the wizard lady with the gray eyes, cast her spell of math on him and talked him into leading the effort. If you were willing to overlook the fact that everyone on an individual boat was likely to die if the craft was hit, it was just about guaranteed that the rest of the squadron would avenge you if you did die. Then add the fact the boats were almost invisible to radar, meaning a lot of effort would be required to get that one hit, and you had a perfect mission for special operations types like Jed. Pilots in the air and operatives on the ground faced the same kind of calculus every time they went on a raid.

It made sense from a strategic perspective as well. As long as they kept the patrols up, there was no way the bad guys were going to get away with wiping out a squadron and not get punched in the nose as a kickoff to a general war; and attempting to keep track of all the boats would drive them to distraction.

That was the theory. In practice, doing the mission this close to the Chinese coastline was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. This was why Jed chose to lead the first patrol himself. As the senior captain of the whole flotilla, he could have delegated the mission to one of the squadron commanders, but he felt he had to show an example to the force.

“Is Ghost Rider on station?” Jed asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, let’s start chumming the waters . . .”

And just to add more spice to life, they were now purposely emitting certain signals from a few of their boats. “Anti-simulation” was what Talya called it. Jed called it putting a luminescent target on his back . . .

The other specialist in the mission bay monitored the common operating picture of the squadron. Data poured in from sensors on the missile boats, small drones launched by the missile

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