Q-BRANCH Proving Grounds
With Tanner's help before he left for the Illuminati meeting, Bond assembled Team Omega at the Q-Branch secret proving ground in Northern Scotland. And he called in a favor from a friend of his in the CIA.
"Is it ready?"
Felix Leiter smiled. "Yes it is, James."
"Let's give her a spin."
Q as a mother hen over his inventions was not so glib.
"007 we do not take our people's hard-earned taxes just to give you a joy ride whenever you want one."
"I thought the Americans might want some Anglophobic feedback?"
"I'll give you some of my own, so listen carefully."
They were all looking at a tracked armored vehicle, an American M113 Gavin.
"It's an American Gavin. We dropped some by parachute last year when we busted out the MI6 station chief from the Afghan Taliban."
"Right. You got a holy bang out of firing expensive TOW missiles at fort walls Her Majesty had to pay for and then repair."
Bond thought that apparently, we have got both sides of the racket covered.
"Yes, 007 its hybrid-electric drive and can power even a small laser as you know from the Kammler op."
Leiter laughed, "That was a good one, James...crash go the Nazi flying saucers..."
Q was perturbed.
"And what if you are not on friendly American soil and there is no American or RAF C-130s or CH-47 Chinooks to come get you like they did? How does the team get out?"
"What have you got in mind, Q, make it fly?"
"EXACTLY."
Q pressed a button and the AERO unit on a crane was lowered behind the Gavin and its driver, his sexy female assistant, Q'ute backed into it.
"Meet the AeroGavin."
Bond was impressed.
"It's a biplane"
"Yes, 007 to get maximum wing area for lift. More wings more lift."
"But more drag, too?"
"007 if you read all your history and not your favorite parts, you'd know there were several aces in WW2 that flew biplanes. Our top commonwealth ace, a South African Pat Pattle flew Gloster Gladiator biplanes which were far more maneuverable than any monoplane. Today, if you can turn and get a missile lock first, you win the fight"
Bond laughed. "Continue, Q, please".
"You take off and fly to your mission area; land and detach the aero unit. When done, you return and re-attach and fly back to base. In future warfare weaponry will be too lethal for us to be lolly-gagging around in these bloated bases. We shan't have the luxury of going 'mother may I?' every time we need a lift from an aircraft and its pilot bureaucracy. Everyone will need to be dispersed, camouflaged and armored. When the time comes to fly and exploit an opportunity, we fly ourselves to the objective".
"We'll take two."
"Only Q'ute and myself are qualified to fly the AeroGavins, 007".
"We'll take you, too."
Leiter turned to Q.
"We only have 24 hours left before the meeting. Can these things fit inside a C-17?"
"Yes, its a tight fit....we'll need everyone to pitch in."
Bond smiled. "Good. A C-17 is due here within the hour. It'll land on our runway over there. What do you want my team to do now, Q?"
Q and Q'ute divided up Omega Team into two elements A and B to assist with C-17 loading of the AeroGavins. Bond would be with A element, Leiter, the B section.
"It looks like James, we are into the breach once again, pardner?"
"Yes, but who knows who we are going to find under those masks and hoods? Maybe who has been setting us up all along?"
"Be strong, James. Be ready for some surprises."