“Sir, we’ve made contact with the Negotiator. They are ready to discuss the terms of the assignment.”
“Are we sure that this Negotiator represents the party we are seeking?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve established a secure communication channel using the known public encryption key. “
“Fine. What are the terms?”
“Sir. The Negotiator wants the battlefield location, and the available forces at disposal, armor and infantry. This is expected to include all waves available, plus wide area weapons and deep strike options.”
“Do they want the firmware versions of the forces?”
“Ah, yes sir. The inventory requirements include that as well as the current usage records, performance logs and out of factory enhancements.”
“Fine. Send them what they require. Let me know when they want to talk money.”
* * *
“Dude, look at all the obsolete crap!”
“Don’t underrate that inventory. The Cynadyne model 700’s are 10 times better than what is being put out by FMC today.”
“Put its so old school. And some of those divisions have seen over a thousand hours of combat!”
“And still in use – think about that for a moment.”
