[ MT ]
Red Hunters
Skies above the Redwing Empire
July 7, 1950
Major Mike “Shredder” McCallister gazed at the late morning sun to his right, a blazing orb of bright light in the clear sky. It was a beautiful sight, such an amazing day this was, there was barely a cloud in the sky. The heat was bearable, in the 70s, as he recalled, not too hot nor too cold. Definitely something an Allosaur from one of the colder regions greatly appreciated. Just too bad there would be blood spilled on this day, he sighed as he glanced over at the other planes in his formation.
McCallister was in the cockpit of the lead plane of a flight of four, flying the most advanced fighter plane currently available to most of the Air Force. The F-83, a swept-wing jet fighter which had been in service since the mid-40s, was the best the SAF had got. There was the news that a new fighter had recently entered service, the F-86 Saber, however, that fighter had yet to enter to be sent here to this part of the world. Even so, the F-83 was still a capable dogfighter despite its age, being armed with a devastating cannon arsenal capable of shredding aircraft as well as several air-to-air missiles. The missiles weren’t that good in a maneuvering dogfight, but against an enemy right in front of you, it did the job well. It was especially effective against bombers, being too big and slow to evade the lethal projectiles. This flight of four was part of a formation of sixteen fighters in all, with McCallister's flight in the lead. McCallister and his fellow pilots were members of the 142nd Fighter Squadron, which operated both F-83s and F-62s.
McCallister had been in the Air Force for more than ten years, having originally flown P-19s back in the early years of the UDR War before being transferred to the P-51 in the mid-40s, which he flew in anger against forces loyal to the totalitarian Union government during the Summer Revolution, and then to jet fighters in the later years of the decade. So far, he had scored 62 kills and had a stellar combat record as a bold and aggressive flight leader.
With the help of Air Force pilots like Major McCallister, the Monarchist forces led by Redwing King Markarth and Lord Alacath and Saurisian General Michael Townsend were gaining control of the skies. Especially since the Communist forces led by Colonel Alacir were employing obsolescent piston-engine aircraft from the early to mid 40s, as opposed to the more advanced jets used by the Monarchists. Recently, however, there had been rumors going around that one of the Communist faction’s “sponsor” nations had provided Alacir’s forces with several brand-new jets far more advanced than anything the Monarchists had.
So far, there had only been a few accounts of encounters with these jets, fast fighters that preferred sleek diving attacks over actual dogfighting. Still, the well-trained Saurisian pilots and their confident Monarchist allies feared the presence of this new enemy plane that could tip the balance in favor of the Reds. Nevertheless, the Monarchists continued mounting substantial aerial operations, defending against the occasional bombing strike as well as hunting for enemy planes and attacking Communist airfields.
On this bright day, McCallister and his fellow pilots were tasked with stopping a Communist bombing raid on a Monarchist industrial complex at Skuldaf near the northern coast. It was an hour-long flight from the airfield at Pankeld, 150 miles to the southwest.
At long last, the flight reached Skuldaf, the sprawling industrial city below being a major source of the Royalist government’s weapons production and thus served as a major target for the Reds’ naval and aerial forces. And it seemed the Saurisians had arrived right on time, for there was a large formation flying in from southeast a thousand feet below. McCallister gave the order for the planes to start descending down right on top of the formation.
Dipping their noses down, the F-83 began their screeching dives as they descended right on top of the hostile planes. Right there, McCallister could see some 83 Il-4 medium and 12 Pe-8 heavy bombers below them, with 46 La-5, 18 La-7, and 10 Yak-9 fighters as escort. McCallister led the charge, diving towards the head of the lead flight while ensuring he was aiming correctly at his target. Before the escorts and bomber gunners could react to the diving attack, the Major let out a short burst with his four 30mm cannons. It was sufficient enough, for the rounds had hit right on target, leaving the Ilyushin in flames and spiraling towards the ground, its crew trying desperately to bail out.
Following the kill, the rest of the F-83s bored in, opening fire with their cannon once in they were in rage, targeting bombers and fighters alike. Ilyushin, Petlyakov, Lavochkin, or Yakovlev, regardless of the plane, all fell to the powerful guns of the Saurisian fighters. Within ten minutes, 83 planes in the large formation had been shot down with only one of their own damaged. The rest of the Red planes fled, leaving the 83s in control of the skies.
Not long after the remaining Red planes vanished from sight, one of the 83s called out, “Bogies! Bogies! 4:00 high!”
McCallister glanced over at the direction the fellow pilot indicated and saw sixteen specks in the distance, glistening in the sun. They seemed to be considerably above McCallister’s formation and the Major noticed they were rapidly descending. McCallister gave the order for the sixteen F-83s to turn into their attackers, the best way for them to maneuver against their newfound adversaries.
Turning round, the F-83s headed in the direction that the bogies were coming from, screeching past the diving fighters at five hundred miles per hour. They presented tangible targets for the hostiles for only a split second, for the Saurisians managed to get behind the fighters. McCallister and the other F-83 pilots could see that these aircraft were unlike anything they had encountered during run-ins with the enemy. They were clearly jets, similar in shape and design but their fuselages were longer and they had a distinct paint scheme that made the planes shine in the sunlight. It was very obvious that these were the rumored new planes the enemies had that had been circulating in the rumors of panicked airdinos for weeks. They were indeed the infamous MiG-15, supplied by some of the Reds’ sponsor nations as an answer to the Allies’ aerial superiority.
Nevertheless, McCallister lined up his sights onto one of the planes further back in the formation – a position referred to in air force lingo as “Tail End Charlie” – and opened fire. Hot 20mm cannon projectiles impacted the tail of the plane, causing it to smoke before the plane spiraled down towards the ground and disappeared out of sight. Realizing what was happening, the MiG formation split up with each aircraft performing hard turns to engage their attackers. A swirling jet-versus-jet dogfight began, among the first in Saurisian Air Force history, and the outcome would be decided by the courage and skill of the pilots on both sides.
McCallister pursued one MiG that had made its tight turn rather sloppy, having a rather large turn radius even for a jet without a G-suit (which both the MiG and F-83 lacked). Making a tighter turn than that of his opponent, the Major easily managed to get behind the MiG before launching an X-4 missile (not wanting to use up too much cannon ammunition) which successfully streaked towards its target, shredding its tail. McCallister watched the plane spin in a large corkscrew before the pilot ejected from the doomed aircraft. However, he didn’t have much time to celebrate for he saw another MiG roll in on his tail preparing to open fire with his own cannon arsenal. Thankfully, though, a burst of gunfire coming from above struck the jet, causing it to burst to flames before beginning a gradual plunge to the right of McCallister’s craft. He saw another F-83, that of Lieutenant John Randall, diving into view before leveling the nose and then beginning to climb above to look for more MiGs to catch.
As the Allosaurus scanned his surroundings for more targets, he overheard a voice crackle on the radio, “MiG on my tail! I can’t shake him!” ‘Shredder’ immediately looked around, looking for the friendly in trouble, when he spotted an F-83 down below to his left being chased by a MiG. The 83 pulled all kinds of maneuvers but failed to shake the enemy off his 6:00, the MiG himself performing some really fancy maneuvers to cut his speed and prevent himself from overpassing the 83 or stalling while trying to keep behind him. McCallister immediately saw the danger, in that this MiG was clearly quite skilled and thus had to get him off the friendly’s tail.
The Major immediately dived down to position himself right where he could easily shoot at the MiG, though he was not intent on actually shooting him down. Rather, he wanted to scare him off to give the other ’83 breathing space to climb back up out of the MiG’s sights. Leveling himself to get a clear shot, he fired a really brief burst, which was enough for the enemy pilot performed a tight left-hand turn allowing the F-83 to climb away. McCallister now had to contend with the MiG, and as the most experienced pilot in the formation he was well-capable of matching this Red in a dogfight.
The enemy fighter was coming around, clearly to get behind the Saurisian’s 6 o’clock, so McCallister had to counter his enemy’s move. He began his own hard turn, attempting to either get on the MiG’s six or cause him to panic and make a mistake that the Saurisian could exploit. Thus, both pilots were engaged in a sharp turning fight, where the one could get behind his opponent’s tail first wins. For several excruciating minutes, both pilots kept turning, trying hard to get into an ideal firing position while struggling to keep their heads up. McCallister squinted and grunted as he felt the G-forces on his body. As both planes lacked G-suits to protect the pilots from the strains of dogfighting and maneuvering, eventually the pilots would have to ease up or they could black out or their planes would stall out, becoming prime targets for their adversary.
As time wore on, McCallister was afraid he would have to ease up on his turning so as to avoid a stall or a black-out, even if this meant giving the advantage to his opponent. He inwardly hoped the MiG pilot would be forced to do so before he did, which turned out to come true. The MiG loosened the turn, thereby lifting most of the strains that were bestowed upon its pilot. Seeing this golden opportunity to strike now, the Major did just that, letting out a short burst with his cannon which set the MiG’s tail on fire. The fighter dipped downward as it began its plummet to the ground, while its pilot punched out, being shot out of his cockpit before his parachute snapped open. McCallister streaked past his defeated adversary, victorious in the fight though shaken from how close he was to certain death.
The surviving MiGs, after seeing their leader and most experienced member get shot down by the enemy commander, scattered and fled in all directions with several of the planes getting picked off by the F-83s. The most spectacular of these was when an F-83 fired an X-4 that exploded up one MiG’s tail, completely shredding it and leaving nothing but the nose, cockpit, and wings as it performed a corkscrew. There was no sign of ejection from the doomed plane.
With the MiGs scattered, the F-83s were again alone in the skies and by this time were beginning to run low on fuel. McCallister gave the order to return back to base, which the formation promptly did. It had been a bloody fight, four 83s had been shot down while three more were badly damaged while nine MiGs had fallen to the guns and missiles of their adversaries. They had not only drawn first blood against the feared MiG-15 but scored the first Saurisian victory over the advanced jet fighter with older aircraft. It was a glorious day, for McCallister and his squadmates had not only beaten back a Red bombing strike but had also given their MiG force a bloody nose and broken the myth of the MiG-15's invincibility. The F-83 pilots had scored an incredible kill rate, with McCallister having downed twelve enemy aircraft alone.
The 142nd would go on to down 80 enemy MiGs, more than any other squadron, rightfully earning them the nickname "The Red Hunters". The next year, the squadron would transfer to the F-86, a fighter that was a more even match for the fearsome MiG and it would be from that platform that they would score most of their kills. However, McCallister would come to miss his beloved F-83, recalling how it had saved him countless times over different skies and against different opponents. He would go on to become squadron leader after being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1958 and would lead the squadron for nearly five decades before retiring having had 142 enemy planes to his credit while his F-15, the last fighter he would pilot in service, was decorated with the name, kill scores, nose art, and insignia shared by that of the old jet fighter in which he would score countless victories against a foe with a fearsome reputation half a century before in the skies above Redwing.
