Fresh Task Group on the Grid — Two CVEs, Four Destroyers
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
A radar officer spots unusual activity on the screen and calls over Jack for verification.
Jack questions the timeliness of the radar data, prompting the officer to reveal it's only twenty minutes old.
Jack orders a zoom-in on the grid, revealing two CVEs and four destroyers, signaling a potential military threat.
Jack decides to escalate the situation by calling for additional help, confirming the gravity of the discovery.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Controlled urgency—Jack masks alarm with procedural commands, signaling both concern and command competence.
Jack moves to the console at the officer's summons, questions the age of the pass, instructs the operator to zoom to X-10, reads the ship identifications aloud, and issues the understated but consequential command to 'get some help.'
- • Clarify the contact's currency and composition quickly.
- • Trigger escalation to higher echelons so the data becomes operationally actionable.
- • Ambiguity is dangerous; concrete identifications demand immediate action.
- • Chain-of-command and broader analytic support must be engaged immediately when an order-of-battle emerges.
Focused, professionally alert; no panic but the tone implies the gravity of the contact and urgency to escalate.
The naval intelligence officer monitors the radar station, calls Jack over, executes the zoom to X-10, and states the resolved contacts—delivering the technical identification that converts telemetry into an operational picture.
- • Validate and localize the CAGE satellite contact accurately.
- • Provide a clear, serviceable readout to senior analysts to prompt appropriate escalation.
- • Sensor data must be converted cleanly into actionable information.
- • Timely, unambiguous reporting minimizes decision latency and prevents misinterpretation.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The CAGE Satellite Pass Feed provides the time-stamped sensor sweep that initiates the event: the officer cites the 'last pass' and its age, and the feed contains the plotted tracks that resolve into two CVEs and four destroyers, creating the evidentiary basis for escalation.
The banked CAGE Grid Radar Console is the tactile interface through which the officer and Jack inspect, zoom, and resolve the contact. The console's zoom and display functions turn raw telemetry into a readable picture (grid X-10) that allows verbal identification of carriers and destroyers.
The four destroyers exist as resolved contacts on the satellite/radar overlay; once named, they function narratively as hardening evidence of an escort group and materially increase the perceived threat level, prompting immediate calls for help.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The National Reconnaissance Center functions as the operational nerve center where satellite and radar data are monitored, fused, and escalated. Its windowless, banked consoles and overnight watch culture set the scene for a technical detection to become a strategically meaningful alert.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The radar officer's discovery of unusual military activity directly leads to the Situation Room's briefing about India's full-scale invasion of Kashmir."
"The radar officer's discovery of unusual military activity directly leads to the Situation Room's briefing about India's full-scale invasion of Kashmir."
Key Dialogue
"OFFICER: "Jack.""
"JACK: "How old is this?""
"OFFICER: "About twenty minutes.""
"JACK: "Go to X-10 inside the grid.""
"OFFICER: "Those are two CVEs and four destroyers.""
"JACK: "Let's get some help.""