[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Y9sJ6mj.png[/img][/center]

[quote=@ctrlsaltdel]
Mikey reached up, absentmindedly fiddling with her sunglasses. [color=7b8973]"Well,"[/color] she finally said, [color=7b8973]"question one: do we have a plan to get aboard the [i]Guangdong[/i] yet?"[/color] She pointed at the map, tracing the distance between the two fleets on the battle plan. [color=7b8973]"They're going to have, like, at least six ships of dudes there who want us to not do that, and I don't think asking nicely is going to work."[/color]
[/quote]
[color=f7941d]“I could drop us onto their bridge from a couple hundred klicks away if we needed to,”[/color] Callie pronounced, trying to maintain her focus on the part of her mind that hadn’t heard Qingshe’s name in the same space as their foe’s and tightened her grip on Charter, [color=f7941d]“just the same as the Mischief Reef operation.  In fact, if I could get any kind of visual on Cao Bao at distance, we could launch a decapitation strike – deliver Sergeant Janssens right to him, neutralise his Arm and eliminate him before he can react.  Then we could either return the same way and rest before the battle proper, or try to push that advantage and see if we can cripple their assets while our own move in.”[/color]  She glanced at Henri, grimacing.  [color=f7941d]“Only issue I see besides the uncertainty of when the target appears is deploying anything like a meaningful force so you’re not totally isolated, sir.  Activating Fighting in Shade means you shut down any portal close enough for the ambush to work, and I can’t maintain one wide enough to let several people through at once at those distances.  Either we don’t deploy enough to neutralise the target or we give the target too much time to be sure of…”[/color]

Callie trailed off as her mind snagged on something – then snapped her fingers.  [color=f7941d]“Cristina.  How many people do you think you could take with you, either by blinking with them or in your pocket dimension?  If you could transfer them through the portal, that’d solve the problem handily – enough members of TFO to maintain a perimeter, even just special forces if we’re being conservative…”[/color]  She leant back, folding her arms.  [color=f7941d]“And then…  I’ve been working on something and I think I can entirely sabotage their carriers’ take-off architecture without compromising my other capabilities.  I’d imagine our Lotus flyboys would take air superiority with even less difficulty than usual if we could completely cut off Chinese reinforcements in the skies.”[/color]

Not even too big a lie – just that the things being worked on were US politics and Chinese escalation, not her own abilities…

She turned to Yi, clasping her hands behind her back.  [color=f7941d]“Admiral, sir, if these charts are accurate, I could theoretically have us there or disrupt enemy air power [i]now[/i], barring however much time preparations took.  Practically, we’d need to wait for a moment that Cao Bao’s on their flagship’s bridge or top deck, if he’s there at all, but if he makes that appearance then we could strike at any time from now ‘til fleet-to-fleet contact, if you felt it tactically sound.”[/color]

[@Digmata] [@Chiro]