CHAPTER 26: GLOBAL HAWK TAKEOFF

The flight line was alive.

By the time Albert and Ward returned to the command center, the Global Hawk was already surrounded by techs and operators pulling out checklists, laptops, portable ground-control cases, and umbilical cables. What was once an empty patch of land was now a makeshift HALE drone launch pad in the middle of a fantasy world.

Specialist Harker jogged toward the drone, his headset hanging around his neck, his face wearing a mixture of fear, pride, and "holy crap I’m really doing this."

"Sir, I’ll start pre-flight checks immediately," Harker said, tapping his tablet. "Never thought I’d fly one of these outside Edwards or Beale... let alone in another dimension."

Ward snorted. "Welcome to Atlas."

Harker didn’t answer. His eyes were already on the machine.

He placed his hand on the fuselage like a priest touching an altar.

"Let’s get her airborne."

He snapped his headset on, plugged into the portable GCS (Ground Control Station), and began running through the pre-flight sequence. A small screen displayed the drone’s diagnostics as lines of text scrolled like a living heartbeat.

GLOBAL HAWK BLOCK 40 — SYSTEM BOOTING

AVIONICS: OK

ENGINE START: STANDBY

FLIGHT CONTROL SURFACES: CALIBRATING

EO/IR: LINKED

SAR RADAR: ACTIVE

LINK 16 EMULATION: ESTABLISHED

SATCOM : INACTIVE

Harker exhaled. "Sir, everything looks clean. Like it rolled straight out of Palmdale."

"Well, it pretty much did," Ward said. "Just... the divine version."

Ground crews connected an umbilical cable, loading the pre-programmed route Harker prepared: a straight ascent to sixty thousand feet, then a push due north.

Albert stood behind him. "Talk me through the plan."

"Straight north vector," Harker said. "We’re launching to max altitude. She’ll cruise at 60,000 feet, Mach 0.6, scanning everything with SAR and EO/IR."

"And the range?" Albert asked.

Harker blew out a breath. "Sir, official max range on Earth is over 20,000 kilometers. But we can’t treat that as usable here."

"Explain."

"In Earth operations, we always have recovery bases, refueling options, alternative airfields. Here? Nothing. No satellite network. No forward strip. No tanker. If we fly her to max endurance, she’ll run out of fuel and belly-flop into a mountain or an ocean."

Ward winced. "Would kinda suck to lose a hundred-million-dollar aircraft on day one."

"Exactly." Harker pointed at the projected route on the tablet. A dotted line extended north for hundreds of kilometers. "So here’s what we’ll do. We’ll fly her half-range. Actually—less. One-third outbound, two-thirds reserve. That gives the Global Hawk enough endurance to get home even if headwinds kick up or we hit unexpected weather."

Albert nodded. "Makes sense."

"No point scouting a thousand kilometers if we lose her at one thousand and one," Harker added.

Albert placed a hand on his shoulder. "You’re in command of this bird. Whatever call you make up there, we follow."

"Yes, sir."

Harker keyed his mic. "Tower, this is Global Hawk Ground Control. Request engine start."

A voice replied from the field tower Atlas had erected two days ago. "Global Hawk, Tower. Engine start approved. Winds calm, runway clear."

"Copy. Initiating start sequence."

Harker tapped the tablet.

The Global Hawk’s single Rolls-Royce turbofan whined to life, spinning up from a whisper to a steady hum. Dust kicked up behind it as the exhaust heated the air.

Ground crews backed away quickly.

Ward watched, arms crossed. "Sounds like a giant vacuum cleaner."

"Shut up and appreciate the miracle," Albert said.

Harker hid a smirk. "Flight surfaces coming online. Ailerons functional. Rudder functional. Flaps responding..."

The drone’s taxi lights blinked twice.

"Tower, Global Hawk ready to taxi."

"Global Hawk, cleared to taxi to Runway One. Winds steady."

The aircraft rolled forward slowly, its long wings cutting a silent silhouette across the base. Operators stopped what they were doing just to watch.

Albert walked beside Ward toward the edge of the runway.

"This is the first time we’ll see the world from the sky," Albert said quietly. "From this height... we’ll see everything."

Ward nodded, face serious for once. "If the demon race exists, we’ll find them."

The Global Hawk reached the runway threshold.

"Tower, Global Hawk requesting takeoff clearance."

"Cleared for takeoff. Godspeed."

Harker touched two icons. "Engine to full. Rotate in fifteen seconds."

The drone accelerated, wheels bouncing once on the uneven ground. It built speed steadily. The wings flexed, catching air.

And then—

"Rotate."

The Global Hawk lifted from the earth like a ghost, silent, effortless, smooth. Within seconds it was airborne, climbing steeply, cutting through the early sky.

Albert watched it rise.

Higher.

Higher.

Until only a glint remained.

Harker monitored the telemetry. "Altitude passing twenty thousand. Climb stable. Passing thirty. No turbulence. Engine temp nominal. Forty thousand... fifty... fifty-eight... sixty thousand. Leveling out."

A soft beep.

"We’re at cruise."

Albert exhaled slowly.

"Now what?"

"Now..." Harker tapped the SAR suite activation. "We start scanning."

Layers of terrain began appearing on the screen—mountains, forests, rivers—stitched together in real time.

"And we go north," Harker added.

Albert nodded.

"Keep feeding us images. Every ten minutes, I want updates."

"Yes, sir. If there’s something out there... we’ll see it."

Albert and Ward stepped out of the command center, the wind carrying the echo of the Global Hawk’s distant climb.

Ward looked up. "Think it’ll find the Demon King?"

Albert didn’t look away from the horizon.

"If he’s out there," he said quietly, "he’ll have nowhere to hide. The sooner we confirmed his location, the sooner we get home."

"Damn right sir."

Ward cracked his knuckles, stretching his shoulders as the two walked along the gravel path leading back toward the main hangars. The morning wind cut across the base, carrying the faint hum of generators and the distant shouts of crews working the flight line.

"Crazy to think," Ward muttered, "yesterday we were fighting goblins with rifles, and today we’ve got a strategic recon drone mapping a whole continent."

"That’s the reality now," Albert answered. "Every hour counts. Every advantage counts. And, I want to go home as soon as I can."