Ace Combat: Broken Line (IC/Open)

[Dictatorship Of South Eaka]

Second Lieutenant Dmitry Sokolov,
Koga Airbase

It had been several days since the surprise attack on the base by the enemy pilots, during that time Dmitry was helping out around the base with cleaning up all the rubble and helping to transport people to the infirmary along with staying in the infirmary and helping out in anyway he could, mostly fetching supplies and doing some sort of in the lines of being a nurse.

During the breifing with Null was short and quick, after hearing that they were going to be moving bases Dmitry was not surprised due to the condition of it after the attack, however having to move bases right after he had arrived some what aggravated him but Dmitry stayed silent during the breifing being careful not to voice his opinion on the matter.

After the breifing Dmitry headed off towards the directions he was given by the a group of mechanics to where his aircraft was located, apoun reaching the hanger which seemed to have taken quite a beating, he inspected his aircraft and the F-4 Phantom only seemed to have light damage in the form of scratches and some shrapnal, meanwhile he made a mental note to himself about getting his aircraft repainted when he had the chance.

Dmitry then climbed into his aircraft and soon began to swip switches to startup his aircraft and soon the engine roared to life, Dmitry sat idling in the cockpit checking the various instruments and systems in his aircraft, once he was satisfied he put on his flight helmet with his visor lifted up and soon taxied unto the runway being one the first aircraft in line, he was soon in the air in formation with his flight armed with 4 AIM-9 Sidewinders and his 20mm cannon....

[Auremena]

Veronica "Luna" Fitzgerald
Griswall, Aurelia

Veronica returned to her hotel from a night out clubbing after a series of missions for Aurelia, or rather, defending their "interests," specifically, oil, in the many archipelagos disputed between her employers and Cayenne. As part of their gratitude, along with her base pay, she had been welcomed to stay in Griswall as a guest of the state until duty called her away again. And to keep some of the money they paid her in Aurelia.

Luna didn't mind, she rather liked Griswall. It reminded her of Port Edwards, back home. Modern and urban, yet simultaneously historic and quaint. Her hotel, an adorable boutique hotel, Casa Lezama, was in the heart of the old town, one of the now three districts in the city; the new town was just starting to take its shape around the under construction Gaiuss Tower, which was projected to be one of the tallest, if not the tallest, skyscraper ever.

She mulled over plans for tomorrow while waiting for the elevator. The beauty of Aurelia in the early spring was that it was warm enough for a trip up to the beach, as well as cold enough for an excursion up Mount Nevera for a bit of skiing.

None of that mattered when she found a letter in her room, set on the desk, likely by the concierge, bearing the seal of the Dorusian embassy to Aurelia. Another job, it seemed.

Ms. Fitzgerald,
Your services have been requested by the Dorusian armed forces. You will report to the Tienemen airbase and rendezvous with Captain Tallow of the Dorusian Air Force and join up with the Morena squadron. You will see to it that the Seianese 2nd fleet is unharmed. You will report to Captain Tallow for further orders until he determines that your services are no longer required.

The Federative Republic shall compensate you in the manner of 12 million Dorusian Roubles (roughly 1.5 million Osean Dollars) already deposited to a checking account in your name with the Federal Bank of Dorusia (see included checkbook,) in addition to a further 28 million roubles upon the completion of your tour (also deposited to the same account,) as well as a bounty for every target destroyed (see attached note)

Should you accept, the embassy shall send a car to your hotel precisely at 0900 to take you to Phuku Lagolla. Your absence shall dictate your rejection of the assignment.

The job seemed simple enough, and the pay was sufficient to get Luna thinking maybe this job could help her finance a new aircraft. Her F3 wasn't that old, but it didn't suit her. An F-18, F-16, or perhaps a MiG-29 would be more her style. The tornado would have to do for this job though. She called the desk to request a wakeup call for 0730 before turning in, hoping she wouldn't awake hungover and could get packed and ready quickly enough. Tomorrow, she would be off to Seian. Hopefully, this Captain Tallow would keep her stay decently short.

[Anowa]

Lt. Jason "Tombstone" Cain

The briefing was to be expected, being this close the the front line was just asking to be stomped by enemy ground forces. It was something Jason wasn't personally familiar with, but tactics were tactics, and throughout time they remained largely unchanged. He was just glad he'd be able to fly soon, whether combat or not it was one of the few things he could do and not feel helpless. At this point in his life he'd spent most likely a third of it flying, either privately or otherwise. Making money while doing so was also a rather good bonus.

Which is why the man was slightly disappointed when he found out that he wasn't getting paid a fixed salary, instead he was to be paid based on how well he did in combat. All Jason had to his name was the gathering dust in an offshore Nordennavic bank account, and everything the man had gathered from several years of cargo flights across the planet had culminated in an F-20 Tigershark, which was far from the man's first choice of craft, but a budget was a budget, and he wasn't expecting a lack of level salary. Besides something rather inexpensive would help the man regain his combat wings, and if he got shot down it's be easy to replace.

---

Jason oversaw the mounting of the ordinance he'd be taking with him, two sidewinders on the wingtips, four Maverick AGMs on the four wing hardpoints, and a drop tank of fuel on the fuselage's belly hardpoint. He figured the AGMs would do fine against ships if they came across any, and if they met tanks first then it's be well enough, they'd be resupplying upon their arrival at Ansan anyway, or so Jason hoped. The newly integrated pilot strode towards the stairs leading to the cockpit of his craft. The canopy began to swing closed and the stairs were pulled away, very soon after the man had taxied and was in the air.

---

A voice squawked over the radio <<Ok. Aguila here. Flight Four will consist of myself, Tombstone, Talon, Knot, Gunny and Joker both in the Viking. Form up Echelon left, Gunny taking up the last position. We're in for a long haul flight so get comfortable. Out>>

Jason made note of the callsigns mentioned, Aguila, Talon, Knot, Gunny and Joker, all names he would soon recognize as people being paid to watch his back, he'd do the same. Jason chimed over the radio, before maneuvering in with the rest of his flight <<Tombstone copies, Lead.>>

[Empire of Donner land]

2nd Liuetenant Amabel Allard
"Knot"

It was days later after the attack on Koga, she missed the small little base on the border. Maybe no one else did but she particularly liked her room. The sun wouldnt be able to interrupt her sleep and it was close to the restroom and more importantly the hangars where her Aircraft was stored, the Mig-19 she was piloting at this moment. In the attack the Mig got a few scratches and the Mechanics had to reach into the air intake and remove some shrapnel and fix that up but besides that the Aircraft was relatively unscathed in the attack unlike the two Eagles and Harunas old F-84F. She assumed it was now official she had one of the oldest Aircraft in the Squadron. She wasnt ashamed by that, if anything she was proud she could make do with such a dinosaur of an Aircraft used in the 50's and 60's.

Now she was in the air, she thought about the attack and how she witnessed the death of such a young person. She had to let it off her chest or something but she never talked about the Attack since they left the airbase. Just letting it sit there in the back of her mind would most likely be best even if it would eat away at her painfully, and if she did talk about it, what would the other Pilots think? It would be an emberassment, something Knot would never get over, its why she kept quiet most of the time that and not being good at sociality in the first place. Though her thoughts were interrupted by being ordered into 4th Flight yet again providing covering over the S-3 Viking.

<<Knot, Copy, Joining up with Flight four.>>

She pulled her Aircraft into the rear of the Formation just infront the Viking. She looked up to Praeses aircraft remembering how she used him to get out of the Hospital so she could finally get some rest. He stilled owed Knot a favor even if he didnt remember aboslutely anything about the incident in particular. Maybe its best that way. You couldve gotten in trouble you idiot. she thought, refering to herself with the insult.

[The balkens]

The last 2 days have been a blur to Yuri, from the first battle to the attack on the airfield. He had been up since then just drinking coffee and waiting. His F-4 got up into the air rather quickly, but he didnt like not flying with Garret as he trusted the Osean with his life but he would voice his objection later.

<<Vampire to Shark, any problems on your end?>>

[SaintB]

Garret Jones

0:34 September 19
"Just bandage it for now. I can get the stitches later - there are people that need more medical attention than I do." he said to the local doctor examining his hand.

The doctor attending him must have been an intern at the local hospital, he knew what he was doing but wasn't the most practiced at it, each piece of glass removed from his hand made both Garret and the man removing them wince "What the hell did you do to it anyway? If you don't mind my asking..." the slightly overweight man with dark hair and thick spectacles asked him.

"I tried to tear the broken canopy off of a jet fighter." he answered matter of factly, "It was life or death and I wasn't fast enough. Two men burned alive because I couldn't do it."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you know them?"

"Did I need too?" Garret spat the words a little more harshly than he meant, "Sorry... no I didn't but it doesn't matter. At least one of them had a family and they did but you can't save everyone. They're just the first of many who won't see their families again."

The young doctor frowned at the grim words of the pilot and suddenly found himself too busy wrapping Garret's cut hand to talk anymore until it was done, "There you are Captain."

"Major," Jones corrected him as he hopped off the hood of the car that he was sitting on.

"Yes, sorry, Major." the intern replied, "Make sure that you get your hand stitched by the end of the night or it won't heal well."

Garret nodded at him, "Yeah. Thanks Doc. Go help someone who really needs it now."

As he walked away from the little outdoor 'surgery' he looked back toward the wreckage of the E-111 Raven he had tried and failed to dig the two men out of. Fire crews had applied foam and stopped the flames but even then it was still too hot for anyone to remove the bodies and the whole thing still smoked and steamed from the heat. He tore his eyes away from it but like the proverbial train wreck he couldn't look away for long and his gaze kept falling back onto it. Could he even have saved those two? Maybe not but by being there he had been bequeathed a very personal item in that locket and wordlessly trusted with a solemn duty to make sure that it would go back home. Now to find the squad's leader.

It didn't take long to find him directing traffic outside the hangar where his aircraft had been burned, it was a shame too because that Eagle of his was one of the few aircraft here that could have taken on those Flankers and gotten a small measure of revenge. He cleared his throat loudly so he could be heard over the din, "Captain Tallow!"

10:34 September 22
Once the briefing was over Shark stood up with a clipboard in his hand, on it he had a map of the area and marked the approximate route they would be taking to the Tiananmen and then Ansan air fields and called his flight over, "Second Flight, Hetzenauer, Kelly, Pearsohn on me." he shouted over the din of the briefing room.

Once they all assembled he would relay some simple instructions, "Ok gentlemen, this is more or less the route we will be taking to our new air base. We head due east from here toward Tiananmen to resupply and then we head south with the second fleet toward Ansan. I'm going to be loading up for anti-aircraft work, Pearshon you will be on my wing and I recommend getting loaded for air as well. Hetzenauer, Kelly that obviously leaves you two on each others wings. I'd like you to both carry at least two sidewinders for the first leg of our trip because if we encounter anything its most likely going to be enemy air power. On the second leg its up to you what you carry but I recommend being loaded for bear because we may be facing enemy ships, I know you two can handle a few frigates or destroyers... or even a damned massive nuclear powered submersible Armageddon machine." he said winking at his two old comrades after referencing one of the many insane superweapons they encountered in the So-So war, "Just don't argue too much ok?"

He cleared his throat and kept going, "Takeoff ETA is 55 minutes from now. Lets be safe and professional up there gentlemen. Questions?"

11:25 September 22nd
The aircrew had fixed the popped rivets and made sure his aircraft was loaded to his specifications, they had even painted another little kill icon onto the fuselage for him in red, a nice touch since he didn't have time to do it. He reminded himself to thank them once he got to Ansan base because they had already taken off in an air transport for that same destination that he would be taking the long way to later that day. It meant he had to do the entire pre-flight check by himself but it wasn't a big deal; by his reckoning his F-20 was in tip-top condition. He climbed into the cockpit and closed the canopy as he strapped himself in to his seat while the engines warmed up and then taxied out into the queue of other aircraft waiting for clearance. Just before Garret could announce his ready status to the tower a familiar voice came over the headset.

<<Vampire to Shark, any problems on your end?>>

<<Negative Vampire. Things are looking ship shape but I haven't even got to the runway yet. How's the weather up there?>>

[Beiarusia]

Capt. Aleksei Tallow “Null”
00:35 September 19, 1992 // Koga Airbase, Seian

Null had been busy directing personnel to where they were needed, his eyes drawn every so often to the ruins of the hangar. His and Angel’s Eagles had been trashed, a loss made all the worse by the deaths of Sewek and Zelenko. They hadn’t made it out. No one could have in that mess. And while Null and Sewek had been at odds ever since meeting to see his death was more than a bit harrowing. He was a fellow countryman. A fellow soldier. No matter his faults he did not deserve that.

"Captain Tallow!"

A familiar voice called out behind him. Turning Null saw Major Jones calling out to him. A far better sight than the intoxicated Pearsohn.

“What do you need?”

[SaintB]

Capt. Aleksei Tallow “Null”
00:35 September 19, 1992 // Koga Airbase, Seian

Null had been busy directing personnel to where they were needed, his eyes drawn every so often to the ruins of the hangar. His and Angel’s Eagles had been trashed, a loss made all the worse by the deaths of Sewek and Zelenko. They hadn’t made it out. No one could have in that mess. And while Null and Sewek had been at odds ever since meeting to see his death was more than a bit harrowing. He was a fellow countryman. A fellow soldier. No matter his faults he did not deserve that.

"Captain Tallow!"

A familiar voice called out behind him. Turning Null saw Major Jones calling out to him. A far better sight than the intoxicated Pearsohn.

“What do you need?”

"Its about your comrades..." the Major extended his unwounded hand toward the captain and in it was the locket that had been passed too him, "Their canopy was jammed and I couldn't get it open. I tried to smash it open but I wasn't strong enough... before their O2 caught a spark one of them managed to pass me this."

Garret silently offered it to him, his face was a mask of grief for the two burned men; "I didn't know either of them but they seemed like competent pilots, and one of them had a newborn daughter. I think he wanted me to get this sent back home to them. If you want too just give me a place I can send this, or I can pass it on to you, maybe you can get some closure from this..."

Garret new all about closure. He'd lost comrades of his own in this ugly business... he had... killed... some of them himself even. Sometimes when a man under your command died you needed to honor them in some way, "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to do more for them Captain. If you need I can buy you a round in their honor sometime later."

[Beiarusia]

...

Capt. Aleksei Tallow “Null”
Koga Airbase, Seian

Jones held out a locket which Null took. He hadn’t known much about the two men having only just met them, and while they were not directly under his command the loss was still felt. They were brothers in arms and that was enough to matter.

Null nodded. “I’ll make sure it gets back to where it belongs. And don’t blame yourself. You did what you could which is more than anyone could have asked for. Truth be told I oughta thank you. It’s good to know that someone else cares about his comrades. Never forget who you’re really fighting for. Make sure each death matters.

“I’d only just met them, and Sewek could be an ass at times but…” He didn’t finish the sattement. He didn’t need to. “I’ll make sure Zelenko’s family gets this.”

A moment passed in silence before the two parted ways.

[Beiarusia]

Capt. Aleksei Tallow “Null”
11:59 September 22, 1992 // nearing Tiananmen Naval Base, Seian

The aircraft were making good time to their destination. Flight One was leading the squadron eastward, Flight Two trailing behind with Three and Four following suit, a kilometer or so in between each. The journey from Koga had been uneventful thus far.

Null was still adjusting to the aircraft given him by the local air force. An old F-101 Voodoo that, while in good condition, had rarely been pulled from storage. The aircraft was one of many given to the Seianese Air Force by the FRD over the years, not a major improvement compared to the J-7’s, but a sign of goodwill nonetheless. More advance – i.e. useful – planes had been sent as well, including F-15’s and F-16’s, but the Voodoo’s and others like it were simply gathering dust in their hangars back home. They were still gathering dust, but that was a problem for someone else now.

Unfortunately not many spare aircraft had been stationed at Koga, and most that were had been caught in the explosion that had gutted the two Eagles. Between the three pilots whose planes had been lost only two were available. Shinden had taken the Bronco while Angel was forced to be WSO for Null. Not that she minded much. To her, at least, it was better than being grounded, or hitching a ride with the cargo planes.

The Voodoo was carrying four AIM-4 Falcons. Short-ranged but better than nothing.

“Do you wanna handle the radio?” Null asked, doing another check of his systems. They were nearing the port and he wanted to make sure everything was still green beforehand. The last thing he needed was for the old plane to suffer a systems failure at some inconvenient time.

Having spent most of her time watching the passing landscape, Angel nodded, eager for a change in pace. Null told her what to say and she passed it along to the others.

Angel: << This is Morena One-One to all aircraft. We are to land at the Tiananmen airstrip, refuel, and continue on our way. Allied fighters will be joining us. So play nice. >> She added the last bit herself. << If we aren’t needed then we won’t be sticking around long. >>

“That good?” she asked.

“Good enough for mercenary work,” Null said.

The flight continued onward for a few more minutes. Below the landscape was giving way from the grassy fields commonplace near Koga to a dense foliage, trees green despite the coming autumn, the thick expanses interrupted only by small pockets of civilization. Not as breathtaking as the river valleys, but impressive all the same.

They were less than a 150 kilometers out when an unfamiliar voice came over the radio, exhausted and with a notable hint of panic.

Kokkuri: << Aircraft approaching vector zero-eight-four. We have you on radar. Identify yourselves at once. >>

Null was quick to respond.

Null: << This is Captain Tallow of Morena Squadron. >>

Kokkuri: << The mercs? >> The man muttered something in his native tongue, as if thankful for some good fortune. << This is Lieutenant Nakamura. Kokkuri. Requesting immediate assistance. Tiananmen has come under heavy assault. I repeat, Tiananmen has come under heavy assault. We can’t hold out much longer here. >>

Null cursed under his breath. Nothing could ever be easy.

Null: << What are we looking at? >>

Kokkuri: << An invasion force. Multiple aircraft and naval assets. They crossed over faster than we thought they would. The Second Fleet is unable to leave port and an enemy battalion is attempting to take the airfield. A few fighters made it up but the rest of the squadron has been grounded by enemy AA cover. We were on patrol when the attack hit, whatever good that does us. >>

“They don’t waste time do they,” muttered Angel.

“Guess not,” Null deadpanned.

Null: << Hold tight. Morena is inbound to the port. >> He addressed the squadron next. << Null to all aircraft. As you just heard things have gone bad. Fighters take point. Make an opening for our attack planes. We need enemy AA taken out ASAP. We still need to refuel for our trip to Ansan, so once the airfield is secure be quick about it. If this is really an invasion force we won’t be able to make much difference for long. >>

“And the fleet?” Angel question from behind.

Null: << Once we get our allies airborne all capable planes should move to assist the Second Fleet. Coordinate with our allies. Ships are dangerous, so don’t take risks. You’re more useful alive than dead. Don't hold back. You are cleared to engage any hostile forces. >>

Mission Theme: Launch

[Relikai]

Second Lieutenant Shimazaki Haruna, 'Shinden'
Skies over Tiananmen

<< Null to all aircraft. As you just heard things have gone bad. Fighters take point. Make an opening for our attack planes. We need enemy AA taken out ASAP. We still need to refuel for our trip to Ansan, so once the airfield is secure be quick about it. If this is really an invasion force we won’t be able to make much difference for long. Once we get our allies airborne all capable planes should move to assist the Second Fleet. Coordinate with our allies. Ships are dangerous, so don’t take risks. You’re more useful alive than dead. Don't hold back. You are cleared to engage any hostile forces. >>

Shinden: << Null, Shinden. Roger that Flight Lead, Shinden heading towards the western edge of the airstrip, engaging enemy ground forces. >>

The OV-10 Bronco, a sturdy reliable plane with a cannon, bombs, rockets and even missiles, broke from the formation as they neared the airstrip. Already, enemy light tanks were engaging Saienese armour and defensive positions on the ground. Although the Beiarusian tanks were relatively light and not the standard MBT, the lack of military focus in Saien meant that the main Saienese tanks were about their standard. A low level spotting pass told her all that she needed as she roughly identified the enemy tanks by their silhouette, confirming their identities.

Shinden: << Shinden to Morena. I count nine tanks on the Western side of the airstrip. Confirmed them to be light airborne tanks, going in for a strafe. >>

Lining her plane for an attack, Shinden remained focused as she controlled the Bronco for the final approach. Around her, Shinden could see AA fire from the ground, mentally marking their positions even as she flew perfectly straight. The Bronco's cannon rattled, spewing 20mm armour piercing rounds at the little specks of armour. Communicating with her gunner, the Bronco managed to hit two tanks with the cannon, before releasing a bomb near a third. AA fire to the left had Shinden turning that direction in low level, toggling off another 500lb bomb near a mobile gun as the attack aircraft pulled off.

Shinden: << Shinden to Morena. Completed my first run, three enemy armour taken out, one AA vehicle destroyed. Confirmed enemy AA and SAMs to be behind the armoured advance. AA and SAMS are mounted on light vehicles. >>

"Damage report?" Shinden called out to the rear. "None! Some ricochets, but the Bronco's holding well. In a minute we'll do another run before heading to the East!"

Kill - 3 Tanks, 1 AA

Weapons Remaining -
2x Sidewinders
1x 500lb bomb
2x Zuni Rockets
20mm Cannon

[SaintB]

Shark
September 22, 11:57

The ferry flight was going smoothly so far other than the fact that the stitched up cut on Garret's left hand was starting to go raw from the surface of the flight controls. He tried to keep his mind off of how aggravating it was getting by doing other things like checking his instruments constantly and watching to make sure his lightning quick fighter didn't pull too far past the slower movers which required a constant adjustment of his speed to keep from flying too far or stalling out. He went over it again, engine temperature was well within the safe limits, hydraulic pressure was good, oil pressure seemed a little too good so maybe he might want to have the grease monkeys take a look at the indicator, and finally the fuel level... also good; a lot better than expected. His secondary was empty but his internal was just a pubic hair under 2/3 which meant that once they arrived he could go into a holding pattern and wait for the ones with lower fuel to land ahead of him.

The weather so far was clear and so he sat back and relaxed, cruising just beneath the clouds he let go of the stick with his left hand and worked it a bit before checking his palm to see a smear of blood on the gauze he had taped over it, no wonder the damn thing was hurting but there was nothing that he could do about it now. Suddenly his radio crackled to life and over the drone of the engines in his headset he heard nothing but bad news. Clasping and unclasping his hurting hand a couple more times he got a good grip on the stick and waited for direct orders.

<< Null to all aircraft. As you just heard things have gone bad. Fighters take point. Make an opening for our attack planes. We need enemy AA taken out ASAP. We still need to refuel for our trip to Ansan, so once the airfield is secure be quick about it. If this is really an invasion force we won’t be able to make much difference for long. >>

“And the fleet?” Angel question from behind.

Null: << Once we get our allies airborne all capable planes should move to assist the Second Fleet. Coordinate with our allies. Ships are dangerous, so don’t take risks. You’re more useful alive than dead. Don't hold back. You are cleared to engage any hostile forces. >>

<<Roger that Null. This is Shark receiving you loud and clear. Preparing to engage from beyond visual range, ETA really damn soon.>>

He pulled the nose of his aircraft up a couple of degrees to begin a slow climb and hailed his wingmate on this mission <<Praeses, Shark here. I'm climbing to an elevation of 6,700 meters into those clouds up there and accelerating to mach one three then I'm going to pick a target and hit them with a Sparrow, you with me?>>

Once Praeses responded Garret would increase his climb and start gaining speed as he left some instructions for his attackers, <<Serpent, Frosty, try to focus on any AA you can identify first. We need to get that airstrip operating again so that we can refuel and our friendlies can join the fight. Once that's clear get some gas and bombs and head for that enemy fleet, I'll be there to watch your backs from the clouds when you make your run.>>

Now flying among the clouds Garret switched on one of the four Sparrow missiles his aircraft carried and searched for a target <<Shark is weapons hot.>>

Flying in the thick clouds and still quite a way from the actual battle going on he couldn't actually see the aircraft he was targeting but his RADAR and other systems began to track multiple aircraft involved in a one sided engagement and once it was compared to the IFF data coming from the various jet fighters he picked a target and moved into position for the attack waiting for a solid tone in his left ear and then he fired <<Shark, Fox 1.>>

The missile detached from aircraft and then its engine fired up, propelling it through the sky at ever faster and faster speeds. In the cloud bank all Shark could make out of the weapon was a bright yellow and blue light that disappeared in seconds as the missile accelerated until it reached 4 times the speed of sound. Then it was a waiting game more or less, all he had to do was keep his aircraft facing toward his target and anticipate the attack which would come at any second now. Part of his mind wandered back to his time in the Osean Navy when he had been ordered to fire on a Belkan Intruder which had violated a carrier exclusion zone. He had fired a Phoenix missile from an F-14 Tomcat at a target more than 50 miles out and never saw the impact but he knew it had hit. This was oddly similar to the here and now as he kept his nose facing toward his target and then... nothing. The aircraft, an SU-9 was no more; to anyone within visual range the aircraft's tail would seemingly explode on its own volition as it was struck by a missile traveling too fast to see with the naked eye, the only evidence was the contrail carved through the air in graceful arc in the sky. The aircraft began to pitch and spin uncontrollably then seconds later its pilot ejected and deployed a parachute before floating toward the ground.*

<<Shark again, I'm reading splash one bandit. Can anybody confirm?>>

The whole thing seemed to Garret to have played out like a movie and took a whole hour but the truth was it had all elapsed in a window of less than 30 seconds from the time he engaged until the kill.

* Kill: SU-9 with AIM-7M

[Independent States of Tula]

2nd Lieutenant Vladimir Tula
Nearing Tiananmen Naval Base

The flight had been going well so far, Vladimir was almost empty on his drop tanks but he still had enough full in the main to make it to Tianamen and then some, still the prospect of refueling was a good one for Vladimir, he didn't want to end up crashing into the ground because his Tiger II was a short range fighter. However that prospect suddenly became far more real as the air control officer at Tianamen Naval Base informed Morena that the base was under attack.

"Oh, this is beautiful...I swear if these asshats make me run out of fuel I'm going to start ripping heads off." Vladimir stated to himself as he flew in formation with his Flight Lead, Hound.

Just then Squadron Lead Null reported over the radio:

Null: << Hold tight. Morena is inbound to the port. >> He addressed the squadron next. << Null to all aircraft. As you just heard things have gone bad. Fighters take point. Make an opening for our attack planes. We need enemy AA taken out ASAP. We still need to refuel for our trip to Ansan, so once the airfield is secure be quick about it. If this is really an invasion force we won’t be able to make much difference for long. >>

“And the fleet?” Angel question from behind.

Null: << Once we get our allies airborne all capable planes should move to assist the Second Fleet. Coordinate with our allies. Ships are dangerous, so don’t take risks. You’re more useful alive than dead. Don't hold back. You are cleared to engage any hostile forces. >>

Arming his AIM-9M Sidewinders Vladimir activated his radio and informed his Flight Lead:

Wolf: << Hound, this is Wolf, breaking off formation to clear the skies for the attackers. >>

With that Vladimir hit the afterburners for his F-5E Tiger II and shot forward to begin the fight for him. His F-5E cut through the air and it was still quite peaceful where he was but Vladimir knew that would soon end as he was racing towards chaos in the air. Once he got within 37 km of the fighting his radar started popping up signatures of both friendly and enemy aircraft, Vladimir let the IFF do its work before choosing a signature to follow, as he was flying forward he heard a fellow merc's voice come over the radio.

Shark: <<Shark again, I'm reading splash one bandit. Can anybody confirm?>>

Vladimir checked his radar and sure enough one of the signatures his radar was tracking had disappeared, activating his radio Vladimir stated:

Wolf: << Shark, this is Wolf, I've got radar confirmation of Splash. >>

As Vladimir turned off his transmitter he looked up to now see his target, it was an Su-9 chasing a J-7, Vladimir frowned at that before angling his F-5E for an attack run on the Su-9. As he came up behind the Su-9 Vladimir turned on the heat seeker of one of his AIM-9M's and waited as the growling in his left earpiece grew in tone to signal a good lock. By this point the Su-9 realized that only a few kilometers away was an enemy fighter coming up behind it and so it broke off its chase of the J-7 to turn to face the newcomer. Unfortunately for the Su-9 as it was bleeding speed in its turn Vladimir fired his heat seeking AIM-9M.

Wolf: << Wolf, Fox-Two. >>

The AIM-9M Sidewinder blasted forward towards the target only six or so kilometers away, moving faster and faster as it closed the distance between itself and its target. The Su-9 pilot had only just finished his turn as the AIM-9M reached within a few meters of his jet, it came less than a meter of the nose of the jet before it detonated itself, engulfing the jet in shrapnel and the explosion itself. Vladimir kept flying forward, watching around himself for any enemy fighters trying to get the edge on him before turning his head to confirm a splash, he smirked at the sight of the flaming wreck of the Su-9 crashing towards the earth. Vladimir didn't see a parachute and he felt pretty certain the pilot had died from the missile...if not that then he was burning alive in the flying coffin that was plummeting to the ground.

As he searched his radar for his next target Vladimir called over the radio:

Wolf: << This is Wolf, splash one bandit. >>

[Rupudska]

<< Null to all aircraft. As you just heard things have gone bad. Fighters take point. Make an opening for our attack planes. We need enemy AA taken out ASAP. We still need to refuel for our trip to Ansan, so once the airfield is secure be quick about it. If this is really an invasion force we won’t be able to make much difference for long... Once we get our allies airborne all capable planes should move to assist the Second Fleet. Coordinate with our allies. Ships are dangerous, so don’t take risks. You’re more useful alive than dead. Don't hold back. You are cleared to engage any hostile forces. >>

Hound

<<Understood.>>

Hound began to veer off from the flight, heading for the airfield.

<<Morena Three-One to the rest of Morena Third Flight, we are to head for the airfield. I will activate my ECM pod. You do as much damage to the enemy AA as you can, I will handle air cover.>>

She rocketed towards the airfield at as high a speed as she could go without burning up too much of her remaining fuel. As she expected, the enemy AA and SAMs quickly got a lock on her. A lock she broke with equal quickness upon activating the ECM pod directly underneath her.

<<ECM is up. Morena Third Flight, do as much damage to the enemies around the airfield as you can. That includes you, Wolf.>>

As it so happened, a SAM battery was almost dead ahead of her, and well within range of her AGM-65s. With the ECM active, its only way of knowing she was there was by visual confirmation.

A big, juicy target, and it was all hers.

<<Hound, launching Maverick.>>

SAMs cannot move like an aircraft can, and they're not armored like a tank. And even if it were, it never stood a chance against a brand-new anti-tank missile. It exploded in a fireball, the size and volume increased by its own missiles detonating.

• 1x G-SAM killed
• ECM active
• 1x AGM-65 remaining
• 2x AIM-9M remaining

[Beiarusia]

Capt. Aleksei Tallow “Null”
Tiananmen Naval Base, Seian

Morena broke formation. Several fighters rushed ahead and into the chaos, the enthusiastic Shinden among them, Shark having already opened with a long-range missile. Several enemy planes were caught unaware, the others being too preoccupied with the J-7’s to offer much of a stiff resistance. Despite this it wasn’t long before the enemy rallied against the new arrivals. Two Su-9’s moved to engage Morena directly, joined by three MiG-9’s that had broken away from their ground attack to assist. They knew their limitations at range and so made to close the distance to where they would be on equal footing. Both Fishpots went after the crimson F-16, the three Fargo’s going after the Bronco.

Elsewhere in the sky the two remaining Su-9’s battled the allied J-7’s. Outnumbered, the Sukhois were more than capable of holding back the Seianese pilots. A streak of white smoke and then an explosion as an allied Chengdu took a hit. The plane spiraled to the awaiting ground.

Ally-A: << I’m hit! Can’t eject! >>

Enemy-A: << Kill confirmed. Continue as planned. >>

On the ground the enemy was continuing its advance, just barely held back by the base defenders. Enemy airborne tanks, supported by APC’s and jeeps, were moving to flank, their speed allowing them to outmaneuver the heavier MBT’s, forcing the allied tanks to fall back. Only a single defensive line remained before the base would be overrun. Several J-7’s were on the tarmac, grounded until enemy AA cover could be neutralized. The enemy MiG-9’s took advantage and launched a strafing run against the grounded planes unfortunate enough to be caught in the open. Two were shredded by the heavy cannon fire, one pilot miraculously surviving.

Further to the northeast the 2nd Naval Fleet was preparing to force its way to open waters. An enemy collection of ships, lead by a destroyer, were closing in. More dangerous, however, were the four enemy planes closing in. Their bombs would make short work of the smaller vessels, and without the support the enemy ships would be free to engage the flagship.

Ally-Cruiser: << This is the Sapporo. Enemy planes are closing in on our position. Requesting immediate assistance. >>

Kokkuri: << Roger that. Morena, support the Second Fleet. We can’t lose those ships. >>

Again Null found himself cursing under his breath.

Null: << Understood. Vampire, on my tail. We’ll buy those ships some time. Everyone else, keep your focus on that airbase. If we lose it then some of us won’t be making it to Ansan. >>

Himself included. There was enough fuel in his tanks to possibly reach Ansan on fumes, but after this fight that would be unlikely. Several other planes no doubt would need to refuel as well. The base itself was a lost cause. It was too close to the border and too lightly defended to stand up against a full Beiarusian assault, but with some effort the airstrip could remain operational for just a bit longer.

Null glanced back to Angel. “Ready?”

She nodded.

The Voodoo banked hard, changing course for the naval port and climbing. Vampire’s F-4 would hopefully be following after. Circling around to avoid the majority of the air battle Null was soon in open air between the coast and the ocean, approaching just under 6,000 meters in altitude. The 2nd Fleet was already on the move to engage the enemy ships, themselves visible not too far off the coastline. Four aircraft were approaching from the northeast, two groups of two.

Null: << Vampire, take the southern pair. Watch out for surface fire. >>

The Voodoo made to intercept the two Hawker Hunters, angling so that the plane could hopefully be brought in behind them. The two planes were quick to break off from one another, one going high and the other low. Null focused on the lower target. He bled speed, tightening his turn and bringing the front of his aircraft to bear.

“We got lock-on!” Angel reported.

The Hawker Hunter broke into a dive, rolling 180 and into a half-loop. Null made to follow but the lock was trashed. He continue after after the enemy plane and again achieved lock-on.

Angel: << Fox Two. >>

The missile fell from the bomb bay and streaked towards the Hawker Hunter. The enemy plane moved into a tight turn all the while pumping out chaff. The missile came close but was defeated by the countermeasures.

Angel: << Missile trashed. >>

The Hawker Hunter moved into a climb as the second fell in behind the Voodoo. Neither were carrying air-to-air weapons, but their cannons could more than rip apart the F-101. As tracer fire began to tear through the sky Null was forced to go on the defensive. The second Hawker Hunter continued after, firing for effect, while the first readjusted for an attack against the allied fleet.

Kokkuri: << Enemy aircraft on radar. Coming in from the north. Confirming eight MiG-29’s! >>

Another burst of tracer fire, uncomfortably close.

Null: << We have company. Hurry and get those allied planes in the sky! >>

[Ubaria]

Captain Noel 'Aguila' Silva
Approaching Tiananmen

It was a crisp autumn afternoon, the sun high in the sky cast a warm yellow glow over the pale green fields and forests of Siean, there was little cloud coverage below the 20,000ft mark and there was very little wind shear, almost perfect conditions for flying. The route there had been over mostly fields and forests, enclaves of civilization nestled few and farbetween but what lay on the cusp of the horizon was almost jarringly contrasted from the rural farming communities that had been visible thus far, just over the dash of the fighter the verdant earth quickly vanished and had been replaced with a maze of grey and black blocks, each indistinguishable from the next, their density and size varied and just beyond that, a dull blue water that stretched out to the vanishing point. This was the port of Teananmen.

Noel stretched out his legs and wiggled his fingers to coerce feeling back into them, he wished now that he had slightly more to eat before setting out, or something to drink other than a soda which had left a stale taste on his tongue. Trying to train his mind on something other than food, he quickly gave the once over to his flight instruments, everything was showing green.

<< This is Morena One-One to all aircraft. We are to land at the Tiananmen airstrip, refuel, and continue on our way. Allied fighters will be joining us. So play nice. >>
<< If we aren’t needed then we won’t be sticking around long. >>

<<Morena Four-One Copies>>

The flight continued on for a few minutes, Tianenment growing closer by the moment, again in silence until another unfamiliar voice came across the airwaves.

<< Aircraft approaching vector zero-eight-four. We have you on radar. Identify yourselves at once. >>

<< This is Captain Tallow of Morena Squadron. >>

<< The mercs? >>
<< This is Lieutenant Nakamura. Kokkuri. Requesting immediate assistance. Tiananmen has come under heavy assault. I repeat, Tiananmen has come under heavy assault. We can’t hold out much longer here. >>


<< What are we looking at? >>

<< An invasion force. Multiple aircraft and naval assets. They crossed over faster than we thought they would. The Second Fleet is unable to leave port and an enemy battalion is attempting to take the airfield. A few fighters made it up but the rest of the squadron has been grounded by enemy AA cover. We were on patrol when the attack hit, whatever good that does us. >>

<< Null to all aircraft. As you just heard things have gone bad. Fighters take point. Make an opening for our attack planes. We need enemy AA taken out ASAP. We still need to refuel for our trip to Ansan, so once the airfield is secure be quick about it. If this is really an invasion force we won’t be able to make much difference for long. >>

Noel quickly started preparing his craft for battle, arming the sidewinders, cannons and rockets he made time to prepare his flight for the coming storm.

<<You heard the man. Flight Four prepare to engage. Gunny hold back and wait until the rest of us have drawn enough attention for you to make your attack run. Target anything you see fit. Time to earn our keep ladies!>>

With that Noel slammed the throttle home, the Mirage instantly obeyed and jolted forward, the g-forces pinned Noel to his seat as the airspeed began to climb, the port rushed up on him quick from below and before he knew it, Noel was in the furball. One MiG pilot had already taken his chances and had broke from his formation to engage the Mirage as it approached, the Beiarusian pilot obviously jumpy as he let a premature spurt of cannon fire out which fell a few hundred meters short of his target.

"Don't worry buddy. Happens to the best of us" Noel grinned and bought the throttle down a pinch, just enough so the following starboard turn wouldn't cause him to greyout, it was however still rather straining, the will of force tried to push his neck back into his chest but Noel resisted and flattened out the plane to bring him on an intercept with the MiG. Perhaps the pilot was panicked because he made no attempt to maneuver out of cannon range, Noel twitched the rudder to get a lead on his target and once the reticule and his target were on the same axis, he fired. The 30mm DEFA let out a stream of hot lead that curved towards the MiG, a handful of the first rounds missed but the second volley met its target, a dozen or so bullets smashed into the airframe and punched holes through the wingtip causing a considerable loss of control, the pilot struggled to keep the MiG stable as it listed to the left and eventually dipped down towards the ground, its pilot bailing.

<<Aguila. Scratch one Bandit.>>

Once Noel had confirmed the kill he began to climb to get an altitude advantage and to deter any sort of pursuit, the cloud layer was rather high over the city but the Mirage closed the gap quickly and slipped into the white veil. Unbeknownst to him, an Su-9 had followed him through and had began to lock him from within the clouds, the only indication of its presence was the lock tone, Noel cranked his head round to see nothing but clouds. With no other choice, Noel put the Mirage into a steep dive and smashed back through the cloud layer, hopefully to get some speed up to put some distance between the Fishpot and himself. The Su-9 pilot didn't catch at first but quickly followed suit and dived with him, both now engaged in a downwards spiral.

<<Hostile bandit on my six. Need a hand here>>

[Auremena]

Veronica "Luna" Fitzgerald
1204
Approximately 400 km southwest of Tienanmen, FL360

Two and a half hours into a three hour ferry flight and all was normal. her seat was beginning to get uncomfortable, though. Which subcontractor designed the seat cushions on an interceptor which would be patrolling the skies for hours on end to be so uncomfortable? Of all the modifications she had made to her Tornado, she'd for some reason neglected padding. Maybe it was just her. Either way, she was going to need a drink with lunch when she got on the ground. But the cocktails would have to wait, as her radio came on.

<<Tornado Luna, Ansan Centre. You're headed to Tienanmen, correct? The naval base is under attack, suggest diversion>>

Luna wrinkled her mouth, figuring something bad had to happen. It was war, after all, even if it wasn't official.

<<Ansan Centre, negative, I'm headed in to assist. Request flight level five-zero-zero, and Mach 2.2>>

<<Tornado Luna, climb and maintain flight level five-zero-zero, cleared supersonic.>>

<<Ansan Centre, roger. Tell Tienanmen I'll be there within fifteen mikes.>>

Quickly, Luna released her drop tanks, fortunate that her backseat had no use anymore with the modifications as to now be able to store her luggage there instead of in a baggage pod, pushed the throttle to full, pitched her nose up, and pulled the wings back to full sweep, seemingly in one, fluid, beautiful motion, as she began her climb and acceleration. Some seven minutes later, Ansan Centre came back onto the radio.

<<Tornado Luna, Ansan Centre. You are leaving my airspace. Tune Tienanmen Military Frequency 288.525 to coordinate with them. Good luck.>>

<<Going to 288.525, thanks Ansan.>>

Tuning her radio to the proper frequency, she could hear all the combat chatter, not to mention the blips on the scope. Were they mostly friends, or had the Beiarusians sent a overwhelming military force? Still about 100km out, she announced her presence, hoping to hear from Captain Tallow.

<<Captain Tallow, this is LT Fitzgerald, callsign Luna, coming in hot, flight level five-zero-zero, 100 klicks out. Ansan said you were in trouble, thought I'd double time it to help. What's the friendly IFF squawk? I'll be in the thick in about two mikes, have two Skyflash ready to go. I'd rather not hit a friendly.>>

[Independent States of Tula]

2nd Lieutenant Vladimir Tula
Tiananmen Airspace

<<ECM is up. Morena Third Flight, do as much damage to the enemies around the airfield as you can. That includes you, Wolf.>>

Vladimir heard over his radio as he was performing a wide turn as he found himself flying away from the action. He was about to reply in the affirmative when suddenly two radar signatures from a thousand meters above him caught his attention, looking towards where he thought they were originating he saw two Su-9s moving towards a familiar red F-16 defending the airfield. Hitting the afterburners Vladimir tried his best to not fall behind the two faster Su-9s as he activated one of his AIM-9Ms.

Wolf: << Hound, this is Wolf, I'm tracking two Bandits. Two Fishpots moving in on you. I'm moving to engage one. >>

The low growling in his left earpiece was now a loud, high pitched whine and so Vladimir fired off one AIM-9M.

Wolf: << Wolf, Fox-Two. >>

The AIM-9M flew forward through the air towards the engine of the Su-9, crossing the 3,000 meters between the Su-9 and Vladimir's F-5E as the two flew through the skies. However before the Sidewinder could get close enough to detonate the Su-9 suddenly dived down, leveling near Vladimir's level in the air, however the Sidewinder kept going up...it was going towards the sun. Vladimir swore to himself as noticed the Su-9 now tried to push up again to get back to its partner's level to continue their push towards Hound. Vladimir activated another Sidewinder and as it locked on the rising Su-9 he hit the transmitter for his radio.

Wolf: << This is wolf, Bandit foiled the Sidewinder. Moving to engage again. >>

The tone indicated another solid lock and Vladimir wanted to keep it that way as he followed in rising up in altitude with his F-5E. The tone was as loud as it would get now at almost 3,000 meters distance between the two aircraft, Vladimir fired once more.

Wolf: << Wolf, Fox-Two. >>

The Sidewinder pushed forward, increasing its speed and gaining ground on the Su-9 which tried to push its altitude up even more as it pulled up to a steeper angle, however this time the Sidewinder wasn't fooled and it detonated right next to the engine which caught fire almost immediately. Vladimir watched as Su-9 pushed up a little thanks to inertia before gravity once more won its battle and sent the Su-9 plummeting to the ground, the pilot bailed out and Vladimir watched the chute activate and allow him to begin his slow drift to the ground.

Wolf: << Hound, this is Wolf...splash one bandit. Now you've just got one to worry about. I'm moving to- >>

Vladimir didn't get to finish as he saw a flurry of tracers pass by the right side of his cockpit and one even clip his wing. A Mig-9 had snuck up on him and was now firing its cannons towards the twice victorious pilot.

Wolf: << This is Wolf, I've got one Bandit on me, Hound...good luck with the second Fishpot. I'm taking defensive maneuvers. >>

[Dictatorship Of South Eaka]

Second Lieutenant Dmitry Sokolov,
Tiananmen Naval Base, Seian

Aguila:>>Hostile bandit on my six. Need a hand here>>

Honey Badger:>> Roger that, moving in to help.>>

Dmitry went from being relaxed to tensed up, he pulled his joystick down to the side and began to break off, as he was clear from the rest of the flight he straightened his aircraft up and began to scan the skies for Aguila, he soon spotted a Mirage he assumed to be Aguilas and a Su-9 spiralling down. Now realizing he was going to have to climb once more, Dmitry pulled his joystick towards him and began to rapidly climb due to the extra speed from his dive, he managed to climb relatively fast. As Dmitry leveled out, he activated his afterburners and soon gained speed very rapidly and was getting closer to Aguila.

As Dmitry neared Aguila, he flipped a switch arming his missiles and then flipped the cover on his joystick which revealed a red button, Dmitry was soon overhead of Aguila and his pursuer, he turned off his afterburner and began to dive onto the Fishpot, he stared at the pipper on his HUD which bounced around going closer and closer to the Fishpot as Dmitry neared, until finally it rested onto it and Dmitry pressed the trigger 2 times rapidly sending two bursts of 20mm armor piercing incindiery cannon rounds into the Su-9 which went up into flames as one of the bursts impacted its fuel tank. Dmitry then veered off and began to level off.

Honey Badger:>>One boogie down, your clear Aguila>>

Dmitry began to look for more targets on his radar and soon activated his afterburners once more which shot his plane like a bullet through the sky....

x 1 Su-9 killed

[Anowa]

Tombstone

Jason was enjoying the feeling of flight for what it was worth. He was stuck flying turboprop and subsonic planes for a little over three years, so the feeling of flying at speeds closer to rockets rather than super cars was something he'd missed dearly.

This serene feeling was quickly stomped on.

<< Null to all aircraft. As you just heard things have gone bad. Fighters take point. Make an opening for our attack planes. We need enemy AA taken out ASAP. We still need to refuel for our trip to Ansan, so once the airfield is secure be quick about it. If this is really an invasion force we won’t be able to make much difference for long. >>

With the loadout he was carrying, his destination was clear. The airfield was not only the priority, but also the only site Jason could defend with a high chance of success, his years away from a fighter had made him rusty, and he'd rather not run out of fuel amid a dogfight, and practice on ground runs was never a bad thing.

<<Tombstone to Flight Lead, moving to support the airfield.>>

Ironically the fastest way to get things done was to waste a bit of fuel, a bright blue and orange contrail spewed from the light fighters tail as it's afterburners shone through the misty sky.

The view of a few targets blinked onto the fighter's HUD, as well as the friendly craft trapped in the airfield and another member of Moreno Squadron. A weapons lock for one of four wing mounted Mavericks whined, Jason let the weapon loose as it trailed a a tail of fire towards the sole remaining SAM site, arguably the most dangerous emplacement near the airport. The vehicle went up in flames as it's flimsy armor crumpled to the Maverick's payload. This pattern continued for an AA gun who's crew was either focused on something else, or were asleep, and an unfortunate tank.

A barrage of AA fire forced Jason to yank back on the stick and pull into a steep climb, aborting a planned strafe on a collection of targets. The sound of several impacts alarmed the man and he leveled out well above the AA's effective range, he frantically looked out both sides of his canopy to assess the damage, a few holes in the left wing had just finished sealing the now perforated fuel tanks. That would cost him most likely, unless repairs were waived by the Seianese. Jason pitched to the side and turned, he was tempted to go in for another run, but he didn't want to do anything stupid. Then again, he never would've gotten his callsign if he never got tagged a few times. The action around him however made him pause, it would pay off if he waited a second to see where he was needed.

---

Kills
1x SAM
1x Tank
1x AA

[Rupudska]

Vladimir didn't get to finish as he saw a flurry of tracers pass by the right side of his cockpit and one even clip his wing. A Mig-9 had snuck up on him and was now firing its cannons towards the twice victorious pilot.

Wolf: << This is Wolf, I've got one Bandit on me, Hound...good luck with the second Fishpot. I'm taking defensive maneuvers. >>

<<Thank you, Wolf. I think I will be fine with this Fishpot.>>

With her jammer active, it probably would not be able to get a lock on with its primitive radar and missiles. Thus, she was not worried about its missiles.

Its guns were another matter. Those didn't need electronics to be used effectively, and could be much more lethal than missiles because of it. In this situation they were definitely more lethal than missiles.

Hound snapped right and down, heading for the ground in a tight circle. She expected it to follow. It did, but was unable to turn as sharply as she expected it to - not that she had expected it to be able to turn sharply anyway. Perhaps it had been damaged?

Regardless. She lined it up in her sights, and prepared to fire...

[Kassaran]

Second Lieutenant Markus 'Pops' Pearsohn "Praeses"
Koga AFB, Seian

The past two days of life on Koga had been filled with much activity and regret from most everyone present. Perhaps, of the few people that weren't occupied with helping clean up the base and trying to get it back into a semi-working order was one badly bruised and beaten-up Sotoan mercenary pilot. It hadn't been until the following morning when he'd learned of his own tomfoolery from the night before and it had been by a rather inconsiderate youngster whom had felt the need to yell at him through the morning hangover he had been suffering. Needless to say, he'd been fully debriefed and run-down on how terrible it was to bring prostitutes onto an airbase.

She hadn't even seemed to care as he'd held his head in agony and had silently pleaded for her to lower her voice. She'd gone on and on about how bad it had been to do what he'd done and how he'd be worse for wear to any others. Not only that, but she'd also never listened to him try to whisper in response how he'd never paid them a cent, not that it mattered. Usually that kind of stuff didn't happen up front in a public place and he knew that, but it still was a technicality he was willing to play off for his innocence in the matter. She'd left promptly since then and had left him to his own devices, save for the few times she had mad-dogged him from across the mess when he had left his quarters. While perhaps he wasn't in trouble with her anymore, he'd been laying low from base security.

Having been seen by at least ten MP's and base personnel whom weren't in agony-induced states capable of rendering them as unreliable witnesses to his drunken rampage through the infirmary, he knew from experience that being seen free by them would quickly bring up contract-threatening questions. Not to mention, there was also the score that a certain anxious MP had been wanting to settle with him for a certain cheap shot into the chin and the medic whom wanted to give him an extra dose of kick to the ass. Needless to say, Praeses was a wanted man and highly sought after by members of the wrong sex for all the wrong reasons and he wasn't willing to get caught with his pants down, one way or the other.

When the third day after the attack on Koga had finally rolled around, so too did an anxious and quite cabin-fever-ridden Pearsohn also enter sunlight for the first time. The briefing had been quick, not quite thorough, but with intelligence for Seian in shambles that was to be expected. War had been declared and for obvious reasons as the now confirmed enemy 'Flanker' squadron had been the ones responsible for the attack. He'd almost questioned why a CAP hadn't been established around Koga in the first place in light of the event, but perhaps the Seianese had just preferred to not be burning money and fuel on 'needless' security. Obviously the lack of SAMs or a capable radar emplacement at the runway had been proof of that. Hell, even in the middle of Southern Sotoa a few years earlier he'd seen better from the F.O.B.s that didn't even fly out aircraft.

The briefing over with, for the main part, he'd been immediately summoned to the flight lead for Flight Two, or Old and Angry Flight as he looked around at the seasoned veteran mercenary pilots with him. Shark's briefing was undoubtedly more concise and it held far more relevancy to the Lieutenant as he mentally reflected on the loadout he'd be going with for this battle. Same as before would have been nice, save for the poignant fact that they'd likely be up against some more threats than before. Hell, if the Beiarusians were all in, he'd be liable to come across their forward attack elements in the transferal over to Ansan which meant he also needed to kit out for such an event. A smile crossed his face as he quickly decided on what he'd place upon the cherished fourth hard point on his craft with little hesitation.

Dismissal yet again came and went for Pearsohn and moving to the tarmac quickly (his flight suit having been quickly donned and the helmet secured over his head to hide the bruising which had left him looking worse for wear), he made his approach towards his bird. He smiled at the silver-gold words "Praeses" painted upon the side of the Avro CF-105, the emblem he'd chosen for himself nearly two decades earlier while in flight school painted below it, no less than a half meter in diameter featuring the Navy Blue buckler and the broken arrow upon it. Next to it now lay two more broken arrows to join with the seven from earlier contracts. One more would make him a double-ace, no small feat in and of itself, but Shark had plenty to go around himself. Not to mention, but most of the seven kills (four) had been bombers and two had been helicopters counted as aerial kills for his sake. Nevertheless, he now had bagged himself a career total of three fighter-capable craft with one being a rather significant threat he'd never initially expected and almost died to.

Pulling himself up and over the ladder leading to his interceptor's cockpit, he took a long, hard look, at the carnage strewn upon the ground near the runway. Letting his gaze wash over everything, he took a look at his crew chief whom waved him hello. He'd already been preparing the armament that Praeses had wanted and sending the crew chief a thumb's up in return, he began running through the craft's diagnostics. He'd been hidden away, unable to do a full check for nearly two days which had internally killed him, but he'd trusted this crew chief with her for longer spats than that and two days in a secured environment in the wake of a disaster was surely fine. No saboteurs caught or suspected and no invaders present, he was safe here. Feeling secure within the seat, he gave everything in the cockpit one final look-over before clambering back out again to do the pre-flight checklist. Even though he'd forgone the check only three days before, here was the result of not wanting to miss any piece of shrapnel or leaking hydraulic cable cut by debris that could lead to greater complications later in the flight.

He'd seen his fair share of these complications occur in the air, and for the craft lacking the proper ejection or recovery methods, he'd seen such errors and flaws go fatal real fast. He knew the value of proper maintenance and the fact that he'd even jumped into his aircraft without checking her on that morning had been tempting fate a mighty fine amount. In fact, he'd probably cost himself that Sparrow he'd launched in doing so, and so now he wasn't going to be taking any chances, especially not with the armament he was lugging now. Looking at each of the pylons closely as he walked about the aircraft, also making sure to check each joint and piece of the aircraft visible from landing gear up, he couldn't help but stare at the beautiful piece of hardware that was the Super Falcon lodged under his Arrow.

The AIM-26B, a powerful anti-bomber formation guided missile with a roughly 40 pound air-burst fragmentation warhead capable of shredding enemy squadrons in mere seconds if used right and it's guidance measures were perfect for engaging targets giving off a large radar ping. While perhaps ineffective on smaller and more capable strike-craft formations, the slower craft that might be working on ground pounding and strategic bombing were a different story and were exactly the kind of targets this missile loved to eat. With this missile, he'd scored three of his bomber kills with two of these missiles and three assists from the damage incurred from its wrath on three other bombers. A total of six aircraft critically or fatally damage by only two of these missiles in the interceptor role left it as incredibly dangerous. Too bad it was often too heavy for its own good.

Certain he'd checked everything over right, and certain that he'd not get mauled by the gremlins in the sky once he was up, he checked the time on the aviator's digital wristwatch he usually had on his right wrist. Unsealing his pressurized flight suit (as the Arrow required one in the high-altitude interceptor role), he found himself ten minutes early in his run-through of everything. Better so than on-time he guessed as he again mounted his mighty steed and turned over the engines. With the cockpit still in the open position, he listened to the starting notes of the symphony that were the two perfectly tuned high-performance interceptor-specific turbines that'd propel him at Mach 2 and above if he so willed.

Finding the engines to be indeed starting up properly, he keyed in the cockpit closure sequence on his flight-computer and watched as the canopy of the interceptor slid into place over him, the small and errant sounds of the runway operations around him disappearing into the resounding thrum of the engines vibrating through the craft. Finally, after about eight seconds, the canopy finished its closing and seemed to jump down and into a locked and sealed position as the craft finally finished waking up. All around him there was movement, but all of it was peripheral to the interceptor pilot now taxiing into a standby position near the runway. While perhaps he was ready, not everyone else was and he recognized this as he moved into position to move onto the runway. Pulling the taxiing craft to a stop, he decided to check through the aircraft's diagnostics one more time as he waited for permission to move to the runway from the Seianese Traffic Controller now shouting orders to the pilots in their craft.

<<Vampire to Shark, any promblems on your end?>> Came a voice, the sound of a certain pilot from first flight and apparently an old friend of his own Flight Leader as Praeses also came to the revelation (in spite of so many prior times to have had the epiphany now striking him resoundingly in the forehead like a divine palm), that they were veterans of the Sotoan conflict. He'd been in quite a few scraps before, but only now, upon thinking about the Major's mini-briefing had he come to the realization that indeed they had been present. Actually, they likely had been a little more than present, but could they have actually been a part of that mercenary squadron he'd read and heard so much about during the fighting in the early war? It was more likely than not and wanting to ask so, he was cut off as the Major responded to the airborne Phantom pilot's querie.

<<Negative Vampire. Things are looking ship shape but I haven't even got to the runway yet. How's the weather up there?>>

His thoughts distracting him from the conversation left him surprisingly speechless as the squadron continued with its takeoff procedures. Before long, everyone was in the air and smiling to himself at the beautiful countryside below, he could help but wonder where she was right now. She'd just be finishing secondary at a private academy if her grandparents had stayed any more true to their conservative beliefs also meaning she'd be getting ready to go into university now. He let his breath out in a sigh as he thought back all those years and took himself to that fateful day. Perhaps it should have been him, but in the end it never mattered. As he seemed to enter a daydreaming state, common for these ferry jobs, he suddenly started as the radio chatter picked up - a lot.

Cursing under his breath, Praeses listened to the ATC's at Tiananmen Naval Base gave the inbound Morena a sitrep on the current state of affairs. The expected enemy invasion fleet had been confirmed under the worst of conditions, that being right on top of Tiananmen, apparently their radar everywhere was in a sad state of affairs and not just at Koga. Listening and reading through the flight computer data as he keyed in the arming codes for his missiles, he did what he could to also pick up a general state of affairs for everyone else.

Ground troops were on the major defensive, this was already a losing battle and they were just trying to stall for evacuation. His mind going to the civilians in the city, he prayed a silent prayer under his breath for them before continuing. When the orders came to act, they came fast and they came hard with Shark immediately calling Flight Two to attention and action. The Tigershark pulled hard up and began to climb, the afterburner's flaring in the morning sunlight, but even for all the effort the craft was putting in was still left unmatched by the true speed king present. Easily pulling alongside Shark as he went through his lock-on procedures, he watched him launch a missile which disappeared into the clouds and moments later obliterate an enemy fighter somewhere beyond visual range. Confirmation soon had everything squared away proving that he had indeed scored a kill.

Taking up a patrol over the fight, keeping a close eye on everything happening, he watched as several of the Mig-9's present managed to close the distance on the enemy aircraft and push to within engagement zone over the airfield. Trying twice to obtain a clear lock on an enemy craft below him as he pitched the craft up and into the 40,000 foot altitude in high loops, he finally managed to lock onto a signal far below belonging to a Fargo now on the mercenary pilot Hound. Thumbing open the lock, he knew by now that the craft would be hearing the missile lock tone and the second the beeping in his helmet stabilized, he pulled the trigger and opened comms.

<<Praeses, Fox One.>> As the missile pulled away from the pylon and went on it's own way, still screaming downward in a dive now well past Mach 1 and pushing 2, he engaged the airbrakes to give him a few more seconds of loiter time. It appeared as though a second Mig-9, the wingman to the one he'd just fired upon was now also on the tail of the other canine callsign, Wolf. Obtaining lock quickly and more easily this time, he depressed the firing trigger again on the control stick and then quickly pulled hard and left to level out and climb back to interceptor altitude.

<<Praeses, Fox One>>

---

As missile lock sounded on the second pilot's helmet, he had been in mid glance towards his fellow pilot, a flaming wreck taking his place in the sky as the first Sparrow had again tracked the massive cross section easily against the countermeasures deployed. In fact, from the angle they were at, it was near impossible to defeat the missile's homing and slamming the eject button down as the missile launch warning sounded, the pilot had only just cleared the craft when a flash of light alerted him to his craft's disintegration from the heat of the fuel tanks detonating. Freefalling for a moment, the chute opened quickly and within twenty seconds he was on the ground.

As the two flaming wrecks slammed into the ground, fuel and fire spread everywhere, setting multiple office buildings near the base aflame and sending dark, acrid plumes of smoke and ash high into the sky alongside the many other wrecks now beginning to litter the city. The roar of the flames being drowned out easily however by the growling and screaming of the craft in the ferocious furball overhead.

---

<<Praeses reading two hits on enemy Fargo times two. Wolf, Hound, you're out of the doghouse if confirmed.>>

Smiling to himself at his little joke, he suddenly came to the realization that something was obtaining lock on him and taking the necessary precautions, he leveled out and began to pull hard away from the direction of the lock according to his flight computer. Checking recent combat reports, whatever had locked onto him likely belonged to the enemy squadron inbound and reading the reports, they were in trouble. The inbound craft were one's he'd seen only once before, years ago serving a stint after SoSo with a Yuktobanian mercenary group operating near Belka. Fulcrums.

[Independent States of Tula]

2nd Lieutenant Vladimir Tula
Tiananmen Airspace

<<Praeses reading two hits on enemy Fargo times two. Wolf, Hound, you're out of the doghouse if confirmed.>>

Vladimir looked behind his aircraft and began a wide right turn, slowly angling his head until he was looking straight out through the top of his F-5E's canopy watching the flaming wreck of the MiG-9 falling towards the ground.

Wolf: << Praeses, this is Wolf, confirming your kill on the Fargo that had been on my tail. >>

Just then Vladimir noticed new radar signatures approaching the battlefield...and then his earpiece warned that he was locked on. The lock coming in from these new arrivals.

"Son of a-" Before Vladimir could finish his headset warned of a missile launch.

Vladimir hit the afterburners and shot off and to the right of where the lock had come from, trying to buy time as he maneuvered up suddenly and then down, rising and then falling hundreds of meters, making himself as eradic a target to follow as ever. The high G turns made it impossible for Vladimir to speak, they almost made it impossible to remain conscious as red invaded his sight. However the long range radar missile lost its lock thanks to Vladimir's erratic movements...before another came after Vladimir as well. He couldn't speak but somewhere in Vladimir's mind he knew he'd kill whoever was targeting him.

OOC: Calling dibs on this MiG-29 that's locked onto Vladimir.

[The United Remnants of America]

Upon being let loose by Null, Frosty did as Frosty does. Frosty pushed his F-100D Super Sabre to just under Mach 1, edging the line of a sonic boom as he sped forward, dipping his aircraft low to the ground to avoid any potential enemy SAMs that were in the area. He didn't feel like being a target, and he felt particularly like being a wild weasel today.

Frosty's F-100 was loaded full of cannon rounds, several Mark 82 general-purpose bombs, two Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, and two LAU-3/A rocket dispensers with 19 rockets each.

Even as he pushed low towards the ground, giving a friendly buzz to his allies, he heard the radio reports of SAMs being destroyed. "Well, shit... Alright then." He wasn't even there yet, and already people had done his job for him. What a shame. But even as he assumed that, a line of tracer fire piercing into the sky forced him to jink right hard. Apparently, there were still AA units on the ground.

Frosty banked his aircraft and did a roundabout, going slower this time so he could get eyes on the AA. The rounds of tracer fire walking towards his aircraft helped, two streams stemming from the ground about a hundred meters apart, both walking towards either side of his aircraft. Frosty quickly jinked his aircraft left, letting fly a trio of rockets from his rocket pods before jinking right and letting off another two rockets before he rolled his aircraft up and away from the tracer fire, increasing his speed to get away from the killzone he was flying into. Frosty lifted his aircraft higher, banking his aircraft so he could get eyes on the impact. From his altitude, he could see that both of the anti-aircraft guns were gone.

<<Frosty here. Scratch two anti-aircraft.

As he leveled back out, Frosty noticed several other tracer streams, denoting other AA units in the area, but they were further away, and something much closer had caught his eye. As he'd climbed, his radar showed all of the radar contacts in the area, but a grouping of slower-moving contacts heading towards the Seianese naval force caught his eye. They must be the Hawker Hunters that were in the area, because they appeared to be attempting to avoid the air battle raging with the mercenaries, hostiles, and allies in the area. Frosty had a pair of Sidewinders, and he grinned as he turned and burned towards the slow transonic aircraft, pushing his Super Sabre to Mach 1.2, nearing his max speed as he quickly ate up the distance before slowing as he neared within five kilometers of the Hunter Hawkers. So close, they'd be defenseless, and Frosty watched as he armed one of his AIM-9 Sidewinders and fired it, the Sidewinder almost immediately getting a lock on the far-left Hawker Hunter in the pack of four. The poor aircraft broke off to dodge the missile, but it was too slow. The Sidewinder missile slammed into the back of the Hawker Hunter at almost Mach 3, nearly three times as fast as the Hawk Hunter could ever hope to move.

<<Frosty again. Splash one Hawker Hunt-

A loud, annoying, and incessant wailing came from Frosty's rearward radar detector. He'd been missile locked!

<<Frosty again. Not to alarm anyone, but I think a Fulcrum is currently attempting to kill me. Assistance?>>

The wailing changed tone, or rather it added a second tone, the detection warning now showing that a missile had been fired on him. Frosty pulled back hard on the stick, completely forgetting about the remaining Hawker Hunters. Frosty's Super Sabre shot almost vertical, gaining altitude as he attempted to outmaneuver the missile he was sure was right behind him, quickly gaining on his ass. As Frosty's body got used to the sudden vertical shift, he began to spin his aircraft as he rose in the sky. Air to air battles were not his strong suit, nor his aircraft specialty. He should have stayed near the ground where he belonged.

Frosty pulled his stick back again, his Super Sabre going upside-down momentarily before he rolled back upright and dipped hard again, now going the opposite direction he'd originally been going. Little did he know, the upside-down maneuver had actually saved Frosty's life. He'd mistaken how close the missile had been, and the last-minute change in position had sent the missile streaking right over his underside, overshooting him and then losing it's lock as it continued onwards until it would eventually burn out and fall harmlessly into the ocean. However, the Fulcrum was now facing Frosty down, and the enemy aircraft still retained a missile lock on him.

Loadout:
4x 20mm revolver cannon
1x Sidewinder missile
2x LAU-3/A rocket pod: 33 rockets
14x Mark 82 500lb pounds

Kills:
2x G-AA
1x Hawker Hunter

[Ubaria]

Noel didn't see the F-4 Phantom as it began its attack dive, neither did he see the Su-9 go down, he only heard a dull rumbling as Honey Badger let rip with his cannons and tore the Fishpot to shreds. He bought the Mirage out of its downward spiral and flattened out to watch the wreck of his pursuer drop from the sky, a faint parachute visible amongst the mess of smoke and fire.

<<One boogie down, your clear Aguila>>

<<Good kill Honey Badger. Appreciate the assist>>

With that he broke off starboard and began to climb once again, trying to clear the fray of flak and smoke that clogged the air and made it somewhat difficult to see. From off in the distance, a formation of MiG-29's closed the gap at an alarmingly fast rate, Noel had the height advantage and that was about it, the MiG's were faster, could turn quicker and had a compliment of missiles that made his two sidewinders look like toothpicks but he had the drop on them, perhaps literally and figuratively. He watched as one separated from the pack and began a pursuit on a ground attacker, an F-100 Super Sabre upon closer examination, one of Morena.

<<Frosty again. Not to alarm anyone, but I think a Fulcrum is currently attempting to kill me. Assistance?>>

Indeed the Fulcrum was bent on taking him down, one missile already trashed it began maneuvering to line up the second, the two craft moved towards eachother and with its comrades distracted, Noel began to dive. The Mirage was travelling the same way as frosty at a larger angle and so Noel would have to keep the craft turning to maintain missile lock, not that it mattered that much, there was still considerable distance to be closed.

<<Frosty i have your target. Keep him there>> Noel began to line up the shot with the twitch of the rudder here and there, the MiG had obviously noticed the lock as it began to turn away but for him, without hesitation Noel fired.

<<Aguila. Fox Two>>

The missile dropped and sped off through the skies, however the Fulcrum turned fast and outmaneuvered the missile which sped past its wing and curved before losing all power, Noel powered past the MiG moments later with its own attempt on Frosty being foiled.

<<Shots trashed. Frosty you're clear but that Fulcrum is still up>>

The MiG pilot had bled off a lot of speed attempting to outmaneuver the first missile but its turning circle would now also be tighter, it began a right hand roll, Noel would match its roll but he had to be quick about it, bleeding off whatever speed he could, Noel threw the Mirage into its own right hand roll, G-forces tested both pilot and machine, the planes agility really being put to the test. As vision slowly returned, the first thing he could see was the tail of the MiG dancing against the sky infront of him, the offset head on pass had worked and now the chase was on. The defender weaved and bobbed in an attempt to throw off the short range radar lock but the truth was, there was little room to play with in terms of altitude, the water rushed up quick and the Fulcrum had no other choice but to level off, that or crash into the water. Noel took his next chance as the MiG decided its next move.

<<Fox Two>>.

There was less than a kilometer between them, the missile closed the gap in mere seconds, a burst of flame followed as it exploded and shredded the tail and the rear half of the fuselage. The pilot bailed just as flames engulfed the remainder of the craft, his chute billowing out just as the Mirage passed him.

<<Splash one MiG bastardo>>

(OOC: 1x MiG-29)