The Drop (part 3)

Like most military bases, the Calico Advanced Robotics Research and Modern Warfare Development base was in most ways indistinguishable from other suburban American areas: it featured a modern, sprawling commercial mall with the usual chain stores and restaurants (Dave and Buster's was a local favorite), a movie theater complex with 8 screens and an IMAX, two In-n-Out burger joints, three different smoothie shops, a national chain gym (despite military access to a state of the art facility), an indoor paintball arena, and more coffee houses than churches.  A public bus system connected various parts of the base and offered a scheduled shuttle service to both the Palmdale Transportation Hub to the west and the Calico Ghost Town to the east, a popular tourist attraction.   A small airport and a modern medical hospital rounded out 'amenities'.  Sure, the police were a little less tolerant of mischief and you saw more people in fatigues and camouflage than you typically otherwise did, but all in all it was a run of the mill mini-metropolis.

More or less in the middle of nowhere.  That was a little less typical.

Although many bases had begun to switch to more high rise condominiums for housing, CARR-MoWD still maintained a respectable number of single-lot houses.  From the beginning, CARR-MoWD was intended to house more officers, researchers, and engineers than line soldiers.  Top brass decided to focus on comfort; space was not a premium as on other bases, particularly overseas.  Development and planning for CARR-MoWD had begun in the early 2000's.  Military analysts at [DARPA] and [RAND] had become distressed with spiraling military costs; the military creature had begun to grow out of control, as short sighted spending focused on lower immediate costs over the long term.  Analysts noted the increase in recruitment and the focus on "disposable" soldiering and foresaw a significant decline in the technological edge that had formed the backbone of the early american armed forces as a consequence of the strategy of quantity over quality.

The argument to invest heavily in future warfare came to a head amidst the over budget, overdue, and underperforming [F-35 Lightning JSF].  Billions were being wasted on a multi-role fighter that relied on a gimmick that could not be used for it's stated purpose: the jump jet SVTOL capabilities necessitated special materials on the take off and landing zones to withstand the high temperature output of the engine.  This made its deployment from temporary, forward bases impossible - the [thick slabs of metal] needed were both too expensive and too heavy.  RAND corporation simulations predicted a total loss of advantage by the JSF outside narrow operational parameters to older generation fighters.  Worse yet, after technical specifications and designs were hacked, a superior variant entered into production in China, well in advance of the JSF's prototype.

And then the events in Afghanistan made the argument for reclaiming the technological edge became incontrovertible: American armed forces were under-equipped and far too vulnerable to low technology, improvised weaponry.  It also became clear that the focus of American warfare was shifting towards distant, remote engagement and weaponry.  It seemed, from the American perspective, that warfare would inevitably become a long range affair, conducted from beyond the range of unassisted human eyesight.

RAND analysts laid out a roadmap to regaining technological ground: focusing on science education, research, and cutting edge development.  Increasing investment in materials science, robotics, drone development, and energy.  DARPA set aside land for a military base and began covert construction on a secure research and testing facility under the black budget.  There would be no leaks - no technological one-upsmanship.

Research progressed steadily, taking cues from the public sector, in creating robotic weapons platforms, unmanned assault vehicles suitable for a variety of environments, and even more "traditional" combat machines; just prior to the Ssi-Ruhk appearance in 2031, a prototype "walking tank" All Terrain Agile Combat Vehicle had been produced based on research in quadruped drone weapon platforms.

The appearance of an alien species in Earth orbit, a species as technologically beyond humankind as humans themselves were beyond their own primate progenitors, had not put a stop to research; if anything, it had spurred a greater sense of urgency in developing new technologies.  While observing alien technology to inspire innovation, it became readily apparent how laughably primitive Earth technology was in comparison; humans were completely at the mercy of their alien visitors.  And yet, however remote the chance for survival, life will chase after it.

The avatar-construct [Lancer] was one of several designed by the pilot [Jackson Lee].  There really had been no need for the "previously human" to take part in any conflict; they were, despite identical physiology, less able and adapted to taking advantage of the digital aspect of their existence.  But there had been a general consensus: if the curtain to humankind was to drop, then they who were human would do it. For the sake of those who were not chosen, they would strive to bring about the inevitable end quickly, painlessly.  It was conceivable that human-scale constructs may become necessary in the course of Reclamation, and especially those capable of human-equivalent interactions and articulation.  In the end, there were some reservations with regard to possible psychological effects on what was and remained a bipedal, human psyche inhabiting an non-humanoid form for prolonged periods.

[Lancer] stepped out of his Pangolin transport and into the impact crater.  "Looks like Pancaked pulled off the crash stop without a problem," [Jackson] commented as he observed his surroundings.  The pilot interface was a bizzare dichotomous virtual reality - on the one hand, the A-C served as his physical body.  He experienced, virtually, the environment from the same perspective as if he were the robotic construct.  Relevant data panels and tags simply appeared and disappeared as needed in his field of vision.  Sans the optical data processing, it was a bit like being human again.

On the other hand, he was simultaneously aware of being in a virtual control room with his AIDE [Caith] - impossible as there was not only no such structure, but no space for anything even approximating the virtual control room.  The substrate housing their awareness was nestled within the torso, beneath armor plating, artificial muscles, power conduits, sensors, and so forth.  And yet, there he was, in Caith's representation of the construct.  He was aware of her somewhere behind him, a presence, at a holographic control console, monitoring a much greater flow of information than he was aware of, watching a a 360 degree field of vision at the same level of detail he managed approximately [???]105 degrees.

"Indeed; I've sent him our 'all clear' and he reports operational status - no noteworthy damage sustained," reported Caith.  "Our Antica are inbound ETA twenty seconds," she continued.  Fuzzy yellow and black cross hatching overlaid onto Jackson's vision.  "Their projected landing sites are noted."

Jackson continued to survey their landing site.  Behind him, he could hear the Pangolin righting itself.  As intended, they had landed at the [direction] end of the airport landing strips.