Chapter 611: Fierce Battle with the Fallen (Part 2)

Above the Petra Mountains, a Global Hawk drone was flying ten thousand meters high in the sky.

This Global Hawk drone was not sent out by Sun Cheng, but came from the United States military.

At Tabuk Air Base in Saudi Arabia, the senior commanders of the former Original Sound Nest unit were all gathered inside a data command center.

"... Here... here, large amounts of energy fluctuations from Decepticons and Autobots have been detected... Commander, should we descend in altitude to conduct more precise filming..."

Two days have passed since the attack on the main force of the Fifth Fleet that occurred in the Red Sea.

Two days of time can change many things, such as the outgoing President Cheney (intentionally misspelled) issuing a comprehensive counterattack order to the military.

Well, during his term, the main forces of the Second Fleet and the Fifth Fleet were almost completely wiped out.

Such an "achievement" was enough to keep Cheney, who launched the Afghanistan War and the Second Gulf War during his term and burdened the United States economy with a heavy load, forever nailed to the position of "most unpopular United States president."

Therefore, in order to get rid of this disgrace, the hawkish president—Cheney, who had originally intended to peacefully finish the last year of his term—decided to go all out.

"Counterattack, the United States must counterattack, otherwise our enemies spread across the globe will all be ready to make a move!"

It must be admitted that he and the United States authorities still had a bit of self-awareness, knowing that over the past half-century, by relying on powerful military force to throw their weight around globally and wantonly interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, they had created countless enemies for the United States.

Therefore, after the military held a brief meeting, they also agreed to the president's counterattack order.

The majesty of the United States military had shown a trend of falling from its pedestal under the successive attacks of the Decepticons; they had to counterattack to defend the military hegemony of the United States.

Major William had already received the latest orders from the country; the order to disband the Original Sound Nest unit would not be revoked at the request of Galloway and others, but the Ministry of National Defense would re-establish a new cleanup agency specifically targeting alien invaders—Tombstone (TEAM-TOMB-WIND, abbreviated as T. T. W.).

The new Tombstone unit was subordinate to the United States Special Operations Command, with its base located at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

Its intelligence gathering would be handled by an intelligence collection department specifically formed by elite personnel drawn from the CIA, and until the arrival of the new commander, Major William would serve as the interim commander.

And after the establishment of the Tombstone unit, the first order from the country was to secure and lock onto the locations of the aliens in the Middle East region, and to coordinate with the Air Force to launch a counterattack.

The aliens here included not only Decepticons but also Autobots.

Major William kept a straight face, showing no emotional fluctuations.

"Requesting approval... descend altitude to 5,000 meters to conduct precise ground data collection..."

"Yes, Commander..."

Major William already knew that he and Captain Robert and other former Original Sound Nest commanders had been abandoned; their stance of being too close to the Autobots had been strongly criticized by Galloway, and once the new commander of the Tombstone unit was selected, they would be kicked out.

"I hope the Autobots are not in the Middle East..."

He prayed for the Autobots in his heart, but there was no other way besides that.

Because right now, a military monster named the United States was angry.

A continuous stream of military supplies had been transported to the Middle East region through various means over the past two days.

The United States military had already learned from the agents lurking in Severodvinsk that the Decepticons were searching for the 【Matrix of Leadership】 within Jordan.

Although they could not yet determine the specific location where the 【Matrix of Leadership】 was hidden, as long as they found the Decepticon gathering place, what awaited these aliens would be an angry counterattack from the United States military.

It was precisely because Major William knew this that he was worriedly praying for the Autobots.

Because he was very clear about what kind of weapon the United States military had prepared to deal with the aliens: the GBU-43B heavy air-dropped bomb, known as the "Mother of All Bombs."

Speaking of the GBU-43B heavy air-dropped bomb, many people who understand the military cannot help but think of another model known as the "best of conventional bombs," the BLU-82 bomb.

Like the GBU-43B, the BLU-82 was an air-dropped bomb equipped by the United States military.

This was a fuel-air explosive, also known as a vacuum bomb or a fuel-air explosive.

For a long time, the BLU-82 was the largest conventional bomb in the world; it weighed 6.8 tons, had a short and thick shape, the bomb body looked like a large iron barrel, the warhead was conical, the front end was equipped with a steel pipe, and the front end of the pipe was equipped with an M9-04 fuse.

Because it was too bulky, and due to its huge volume and weight, the BLU-82 bomb could only be loaded into the cargo hold of a C-130 or C-17 transport aircraft and dropped from the tail door using a parachute.

The BLU-82 bomb's true fame came precisely during the Afghanistan War launched by the United States a few years ago.

In November 2001, when the United States military discovered that the war situation in Afghanistan seemed to have reached an unfavorable stalemate, and the invading United States military was very likely to repeat the encounter of the Soviet army that invaded Afghanistan in the last century.

On November 5, following an order from the Pentagon, large C-130 transport aircraft of the United States military flew over the front lines of the Taliban forces time and again, dropping a special bomb that they themselves called the "Rainforest Destroyer"—the BLU-82, which had been tested in the late stages of the Vietnam War.

Accompanied by the explosion of each BLU-82 bomb within Afghanistan, this conventional bomb, which had terrifying lethality against ground buildings, equipment, and soldiers, quickly crushed the Taliban's determination to resist.

The GBU-43B was a new type of fuel-air explosive with even greater power developed by the United States military on the basis of the BLU-82.

Although Major William had not participated in the testing of the GBU-43B bomb, having served in the Middle East for many years, he had participated in the Afghanistan War and still had lingering fears about the destruction caused by the BLU-82 bombs dropped by the United States military in Afghanistan back then.

He had once commanded the Original Sound Nest and dealt with the Autobots and Decepticons for a long time.

Therefore, he also had a certain understanding of the body strength of the Decepticons and Autobots.

These Mechanical Life forms from the planet Cybertron did indeed rely on bodies made of metal to ignore the damage from most bullets and small-caliber weapons invented by humans on Earth.

Even some smaller-powered Rockets and Missiles were difficult to harm them.

However, the explosive equivalent of those Rockets and Missiles was only equivalent to a few kilograms or even a dozen kilograms of high explosives.

And the explosive equivalent of one GBU-43B was approximately equivalent to eleven tons of high explosives, and the blast coverage could cover a circular area of nearly half a kilometer.

According to calculations by explosive testing experts within the Original Sound Nest, even if Megatron were at the center of the explosion, one GBU-43B would be enough to severely injure him or even take his life.

And the total number of GBU-43B heavy air-dropped bombs that had currently been transported to Tabuk Air Base in Saudi Arabia by the United States military had reached as many as twenty-two, almost pulling over all the stock that the United States military had secretly deployed in the Middle East.

The casualties caused by the Decepticons when they attacked the Second Fleet and the Fifth Fleet had undoubtedly frightened the military.

The order Major William received was to use drone reconnaissance aircraft to find the Decepticons and Autobots that might be located somewhere in Jordan, and then notify the United States Air Force that had arrived at Tabuk Air Base, letting them dispatch fighter jets to drop their bombs on them.

Throughout the process, there would be no close-range contact between the two sides!

Just as Major William was praying for his Autobot partners, the Global Hawk, which had descended to a sufficient altitude and started low-altitude filming of Jordan, transmitted back a set of images that shocked everyone in the command center before long.

"Commander, the Global Hawk has discovered high-energy reactions in the XX area of the southern section of the Petra Mountains... it is the Decepticons... and the Autobots..."

"The video has been generated... starting data comparison..."

"Data comparison complete... the identities of the Autobots in battle are confirmed as Ironhide, Bumblebee, and Ratchet..."

"Commander, should we send the video and information to the Air Force..."

The Global Hawk discovered Ironhide and the Decepticons fighting near the Nameless Temple; this intelligence made Major William frown.

"Commander..."

The technical officer in the command center asked again; this Global Hawk controlled by them belonged to the former Original Sound Nest unit, not the Air Force or other United States Army aviation units.

It is one of the very few drones that has undergone modification, capable of detecting Decepticons and Autobots.

The order received by Tombstone was that upon discovering aliens within the borders of Jordan, they were to immediately transmit detailed data and information to the United States Air Force, which had just stationed itself at Tabuk Air Base, so that they could dispatch fighter jets to escort C-130 and C-17 transport planes to drop GBU-43B bombs over the battlefield.

Captain Robert saw the struggle in the heart of the silent Major William, sighed, stepped forward, and saluted: "Major, please authorize the transfer of the video footage to the Air Force..."

NEST is completely finished; it is impossible for the United States government to reconcile with the Autobots again.

This point could be seen from the change in attitude of the politicians back home when they renamed NEST to Tombstone and explicitly designated all aliens as targets for elimination.

These former NEST commanders would soon be retired or "promoted" to other unit establishments.

Captain Robert knew very well that if his good friend continued to show closeness to the Autobots.

What awaited him afterward would very likely be an investigation by the military police or intelligence agencies.

"Major..."

He urged solemnly once more; Major William's crossed arms trembled slightly, and after he locked eyes with his good friend Captain Robert, who was looking at him with a grave expression, he once again saw the helplessness deeply hidden in the other's eyes.

"I... I understand..."

Major William sighed, silently apologized to the Autobots in his heart, and then immediately looked at the technical sergeant who had turned his head and was still waiting for his order, "Expand the search radius of the Global Hawk to look for more potential aliens... at the same time, transmit the video information to the Air Force; the rest is up to them..."

"Yes, sir!"

About twenty minutes later, an aerial force consisting of over forty F-15 series fighter jets protecting eight C-130 and four C-17 transport planes took off from Tabuk Air Base in Saudi Arabia, ignoring the territorial sovereignty of the neighboring country, and flew toward the southern section of the Petra Mountains in Jordan.

By this time, the fierce battle between the Autobots and The Fallen located in the Petra Mountains had already reached its end.

PS:

Sorry, I just noticed that I set the timer wrong and scheduled it to be posted at 3:00 PM.