Frankie turned to a large viewscreen in the Hellfire Brigade briefing area, bringing up a 3D view of the European continent, or at least what was left of it.  He winced at the memory of being repeatedly hacked apart by cthonian monsters to buy enough time to launch the spy satellite.  Yet, the data was now available, and the brigade was ready to be reinforced to accomplish missions.  On a smaller display, Frankie absently called up the blueprints for the XRM-15 Skyranger, a VTOL troop transport capable of travel at supersonic speeds.  Developed by a consortium of Japanese and German aircraft companies, it was the workhorse of the DPDS arsenal, even if it lacked any air to air weaponry.<br/><br/>Noting an unusual energy signature coming from the former site of London, Frankie traced out a red line from the base, planning on ordering a pair of skyrangers to the vicinity to check on the situation.  Unusual energy flares were quite normal these days, yet the London event was a lot bigger than the usual spike.  Perhaps the enemies of humanity had unearthed yet another ancient horror, perhaps they had simply switched on an old fusion reactor, either way, humanity needed to know.  Frankie sighed as he went over the rest of the intelligence, noting with alarm the increasing numbers of UFOs being detected by the few remaining functional radar installations.  Frankie resolved to bring up development of a new air superiority fighter at the next UN general assembly meeting, or at least get that damned weather control spell perfected.