1525 June 19th, 2020 CE

Washington D.C.

Cralson brought the room to attention. “Mr. President, I think we need to retaliate. We did destroy their invasion force but we should send them a message to never come back.”

Ronell looked at Carlson. “And how do you suggest we do that?”

“Seeing that the UGVs haven’t found any other cities and this one is clearly populated by these monsters, I think we should nuke it.”

“Are we able to get a nuke there? I’m not sending anyone into that world unless we know they can come back.”

Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, Stephen, nodded. “Here’s the idea Mr. President. It’s quite simple. We put a nuke onto a drone and drop it over that city.”

Ronell frowned. “Are we certain we are able to operate an aerial drone through the portal? I know we weren’t certain if ground drones could operate there until we tried.”

Stephen contemplated it for a second. “Well, it seems that radio signals are capable of passing through the portal. This is why we are still able to control the three UGVs we sent in. In addition, according to how far the UGVs traveled, the monster’s city can be seen from a cliff only about a bit over 0.5 miles from the portal. It’s not a long distance.”

“How does this translate to aerial drones?”

“Usually our aerial drones use satellite communications to be controlled but they are capable of being controlled by a ground control station if within short range. With the city being only about 1 mile from the portal, it should work if we place a ground control station outside of the portal.”

“Okay… do we have a drone that is big enough to carry a nuke?”

Stephen nodded. “We do, Mr. President. The QF-16.”

“QF-16?”

“An unmanned old F-16. We have been using those as practice targets since 2013. We can put two B-61 nuclear bombs each with a 340 kiloton yield on it and drop them over that city. Although I think one would be more than enough.”

Ronell crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair. “Hm. What does everybody in this room think about this idea?”

Murmurs of agreement arose from the rest of the members of the National Security Council. “We need to pay them back for what they did to San Francisco.”

“Let the door hit them in their ass on their way out.” 

“They are human eating monsters and they launched chemical missiles at one of our major cities, a nuclear strike is completely justified.”

The President considered the idea from those murmurs of agreements. “Are there any possibilities of civilized non-monster beings there?”
“Mr. President, based on the environment of this world, I don’t believe it is suited for long term survival of anything else other than these monsters. Especially considering the fact that these monsters just seem to eat other living beings without regard. This world has been barren other than that city.”

Ronell pondered for a few seconds before responding. “Commander Orville, can we get confirmation that the portal is big enough for an F-16 to fit through?”

The Commander on screen nodded. A few seconds later, the answer came. “The portal seems big enough to fit an aircraft carrier. We shouldn’t have any trouble getting a F-16 in there.”

Ronell nodded. “Then get the F-16 there as fast as possible. We don’t want this portal closing before we drop it.”

Stephen responded. “Please get the Chief of Naval Operations and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. They should be at the Pentagon.”

A few minutes later

On another screen in the Situation Room, the Chief of Naval Operations, Darren Mitchell, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Sam Brown, were talking to the President. 

Sam was responding. “Mr. President, an QF-16 with both drop tanks can get to the island from Hawaii.”

“That’s good then.”

“There are two issues with this Mr. President. First of all, it's going to have to land on that island but there’s no airfield there. Second, if the QF-16 is carrying both drop tanks, it can’t carry a B-61 nuclear gravity bomb.”

Ronell frowned. “How about aerial refueling? Don’t we have aircraft specifically for this?”

“We have only ever done a couple tests of aerial refueling of a drone. Never with a QF-16. In this situation, a QF-16 carrying a nuclear bomb.”

Ronell sighed. “Can’t we have it take off from an aircraft carrier then?”

Darren shook his head. “Mr. President, an F-16 is not meant to take off from an aircraft carrier.”

“Then does the Navy operate any drones capable of carrying nuclear bombs?”

“We don’t have that capability, Mr. President.”

“Then are you able to find a way to get an F-16 drone in the air through that portal and have it drop a nuclear bomb or two on that city?”

Sam was the one who responded. “It will be an undertaking but we believe we can do it. The Pentagon is formulating a plan right now. Give us a couple hours and I think we can have an operation underway. The SEAL team currently on that island will have to stay there.”

Two hours later

On screen, Commander Orville spoke. “Mr. President, the portal had flickered again a few minutes earlier.”

Ronell had just come back from a break. “How long was it since the previous flicker?”

“Two hours and five minutes sir.”

“Okay, keep track of the timing of the next flicker. Let’s see if there’s a pattern.”

“Stephen, any word from the Pentagon?”
“They have a plan and will be sending it to you once they finalize a few things. It requires your approval due to its involvement in the usage of nuclear weapons.”

Ten minutes later

The National Security Council were all flipping through documents that detailed the operation.

Stephen put his document down. “What do you think Mr. President?”

“This plan seems quite good but there is a concerning part about the transportation of the nuclear bomb on page five.”

“The delivery to the island part?”

Ronell chuckled. “Are we certain this is safe?”

“The two nuclear bombs won’t be armed during transport and delivery so there is no risk of it going off.”

Less than an hour later

Travis Air Force Base, California

A C-17 Globemaster III taxied onto the runway. Its cargo compartment was filled with pallets and a humvee.