He did not see the kite-like drone lurking miles away at higher altitude, nor did any of his ships detect it, but the data it gathered proved criti- cal for the needed targeting information. As he was making his rounds, shaking hands and wishing them well before their planned counterstroke against the enemies of their nation, a hypersonic missile bloomed into a bright fireball that filled the sky with intense heat as the blast wave smashed the meager vessels gathered near the reef in all directions in an apocalyptic flash. The same surveillance drone dutifully recorded footage of the doomed force, and soon the images were posted with supporting AI-generated text as the “End of the Cordovan Navy” and widely distribut - ed.
Scene #7 – Friday night, back in the USA Brody drew a so-called zippo mission this time, and piloted the virtual P-51D (really a drone carrying a large fireworks-looking device) to just above the tree-
tops at top speed, making it very hard to spot when he suddenly popped up skywards and un- leashed a highly flammable phos -
phorous-like material in a shower of whitish-orange sparks that splashed down on thatched buildings which quickly caught fire. Smoke soon rose over the village below, Teko or Teka, he thought, which the mission brief- ing claimed “was an important chokepoint for the enemy’s retreat.” Then he saw the old bridge, the real target, out of the corner of his peripher- al vision. He was not responsible for attacking it; rather, his job was to make the smoke which would obscure the incoming strike package so they could smash the bridge. Brody gained altitude as the whitish smoke billowed and could see occasional people run out of the burning struc- tures like frenzied ants, but he ignored them — after all, they had noth- ing to do with his victory conditions. Near the bridge, he thought he saw more figures pointing in his direction followed by a few potshots from the ground.
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