"Ribbon"
Chapter 1: Treacherous Skies
In the days of the Belkan War, aces from every nation strived to leave their mark in history. Mercenaries or soldiers, it made no difference. But there was one pilot who stood out from the rest…a pilot I knew who truly deserved to be known as an ace in his own right.
This is where my story begins, above Belkan Priority One Strategic Airspace B7R, known to many as "The Round Table."
April 17, 1995
B7R
1030 hours
"This is the Airborne Warning and Control System, call sign Sky Sentry to all units," the radio chattered. "Enemy units confirmed on radar. All units, report in."
"Fang One to Fang Four, on standby."
"Gull One and Gull Two, awaiting orders."
"Swan Team, standing by."
As I patiently waited to check in, my team's own channel began to emit static. My team leader's gruff voice could then be heard.
"Hound Team, don't forget to follow procedures. I'm sure you already know how strict the top brass are back at base when it comes to these things," he said. "Hound Two, show the new kid the ropes, will ya?"
"Roger, Hound One," a serious-sounding voice responded. "Follow my lead, Hound Three."
"Hound Team, check in," repeated Sky Sentry.
"Hound One, reporting."
"Hound Two, checking in."
I remember my hands were shaking on the control stick that time. It was my first time being assigned to a mission, and looking back, I guess it was natural for me to have reacted like that.
"Hound Three…ch-checking in!" I said with a nervous sound in my voice. I could even hear myself on the radio after that.
"All units are accounted for," declared Sky Sentry. "Hound Three, try to calm yourself. Every pilot gets nervous the first time they fly a mission."
"Not me, AWACS," proudly declared Fang Two. "I was controlled on my maiden voyage!"
"Controlled? Was that what it is? That's not even the word for it. If I remember correctly, you almost committed fratricide before contact! Some maiden voyage you flew," Sky Sentry quipped sarcastically. "Let's cut the chatter for now, estimated distance before contact is in five miles."
From far away, I could already spot several dots on the horizon ahead. My radar displayed several blips near my position, and I could see that they were set up in five groups of four. We were clearly outnumbered, and that sent more chills down my spine.
"We're outnumbered, ladies and gentlemen!" exclaimed Gull One.
"All units are cleared to engage!" shouted Sky Sentry as the Boeing E-767 aircraft ascended higher than our squadrons.
"Yee-haw, let's rock and roll!" exclaimed Fang Two.
Swan Leader then went on the radio as he and his wingman's F-16s headed left to engage the nearest enemy. "Swan Leader to all units, remember bearing 151! It's the way back to friendly territory! Try not to get shot down within the Round Table!" he said, with the sounds of the missile alerts ringing in the background.
Four Hornets then passed by my team's formation at full thrust to intercept the second enemy squadron.
"Fang Team, engage!" exclaimed Fang One, with the noticeable accent.
A pair of Eagles trailed the Fang Team before breaking right to engage the third nearest squadron.
"Gull Team, engage!" exclaimed Gull One.
"Looks like all hell's just broke loose, boys!" Hound One then said excitedly. "Stick with me and we'll get through this alive! Hound One, engage!"
"Hound Two, engage!"
I gripped my control stick tightly and turned along with my team. "Hound Three, engage!"
The sounds of the missile alert began to ring as I headed towards what seemed like an F-4E headed towards me. I watched the targeting system analyze how far the bandit was in front me. The numbers quickly counted down, eight-thousand…six-thousand…five-thousand…then a long beep as a lock-on was acquired. A hail of machine gun fire came straight at me before I pressed a red button.
"Hound Three, Fox Two, Fox Two!" I declared over the radio as the two missiles released out of my F-5E. The missile alert stopped, and I could hear an explosion behind me. I quickly turned back to the battlefield.
"Amazing! Hound Three takes the first kill!" Gull Two confirmed.
"My boys and I are gonna be the team of the day!" Hound One proudly said.
It was after that kill that I started to calm down and focus into the action. As I immediately turned to assist the others, I saw another Phantom trailing Hound One after his transmission. Hound Two then broke away from his target to fire two missiles at the pursuing F-4E, leaving it to trail smoke.
"Shack on the target!" exclaimed Sky Sentry. "Looks like he's leaving the battlefield too!"
"I'm not letting him get away that easily," Hound Two said coldly as he pursued and downed the ailing plane with machine gun fire.
"Correction, make that a kill for Hound Two," Sky Sentry then said. "Hound Team leads the pack with two kills in total! Not bad for a couple of rookies, I'd say."
I could then hear Captain giggling giddily like a schoolgirl as I flew cover for him. Over to my left, I could see the Gull Team take on all four of the enemy squadron, with both planes taking on two a piece.
"Gull One, Fox Three!"
"Gull Two, Fox Three!"
The two Eagles released two XMAAs a piece in perfect tandem, taking out all four of the enemy squadron's MiG-29 planes at the same exact time. Of the four, I saw three seats that ejected as soon as the missiles struck, leaving me to believe that the fourth (possibly their flight lead) didn't make it.
"Yeah, alright bro!" they shouted once again in perfect sync over the radio. "Gull Team will provide cover for any squadron that asks," stated Gull One.
"Otherwise, we'll provide cover for AWACS," followed Gull Two as they maneuvered their Eagles in the direction of Sky Sentry. "Give us a call!"
"Seems that the frat boys are stepping up to the competition," Fang One flatly remarked as he narrowly evaded a missile. "Alright mates, if two of them can take four bandits out, then we can take the rest out of our radar!" he exclaimed. He then proceeded to pull a tight somersault maneuver to tail the Phantom that had just sent him a missile. After retaliating with one missile hit, Fang Two and Fang Three crossed paths ahead of him in an X figure to take out the craft with machine gun fire.
"Aw, dang it! That was Fang Three's kill!" admitted Fang Two with a mix of disappointment and appreciation.
Meanwhile, Swan Team seemed to be having some problems taking care of their engagements. I remember the rumors floating around that the two were to be wed after the end of the war, but nothing was known for sure. Soon enough, one of the bandits began to trail smoke.
"Whew, thanks babe!" said Swan Leader. The missile alert could still be heard in the background, however.
"Watch out!" shouted his wingman as a MiG-29 fired a missile at Swan Leader, who narrowly dodged it by a few meters above him by diving. In retaliation, his wingman armed her plane's missiles and waited for the lock-on.
"Swan Two, Fox Two!" she shouted as two missiles sped from her aircraft and took out the bandit.
Fang Four whistled. "Damn, Swan Leader! Your lady friend's outperforming you today!"
"Sh-shut up, Fang Four!" retorted Swan Leader in obvious embarrassment.
My focus then shifted to an explosion just ahead of us; the Captain just took out another of the enemy's Phantom fighters and gloated over the radio. I confirmed the kill for the Captain through the radio.
"And the scoreboard has Gull Team in the lead with four, followed by Hound Team with three, and both Fang and Swan Teams tied a piece with one," announced Sky Sentry, as if commentating on a sports game. "Seven bandits remain, with one trailing smoke!"
"Hah! Who's outnumbered now, Gull Two?!" bellowed the Captain through the radio.
"Hey old man, don't talk to me as if I'm the enemy!" replied Gull Two as he flew past underneath Hound One and tailed our remaining Phantom before shooting it down with machine gun fire. He almost slammed into the destroyed craft as well as the pilot who managed to get out as well.
My private channel began to start again. "Boys, I want you both to disperse and take out the remaining targets. I'd like to see what you're both capable of. Understood?"
"Affirmative, Hound One, dispersing from formation," Hound Two simply said as he broke away.
"Roger that, Captain!" I said, pulling off as tight of a turn as possible in the direction of the Swan Team. It took my plane a while to catch up, given the fact that our team flew the oldest models out of the four squadrons present here, but nevertheless, I finally locked on to a target.
"Hound Three, Fox Two!" I reported, firing two missiles in rapid succession. To my dismay, the missiles couldn't keep up, and the MiG-29 easily dodged them both. I cursed under my breath and continued to pursue my target.
"Damn, this guy's fast!" I exclaimed, obviously frustrated. "Sorry Swan Team, I'm doing the best I can!"
"So you're the nugget that scored the first kill today, huh? No worries," Swan Two said rather sweetly as she sped ahead of my craft and fired a missile. The missile scored a hit, despite the enemy craft attempting to pull off a somersault maneuver. Seeing this, I applied the brakes, pointed my craft up, and took out the bandit with a hail of gunfire.
"Thanks, Swan Two!"
"No problem," she replied. "Thanks for the support."
"Five bandits remaining, with one successfully leaving the operational airspace," announced Sky Sentry. "Keep it up!"
Over where the Fang Team was, Hound Two practically added himself to the squadron, flying perfect support for the squadron as both Fang One and Fang Two scored one kill a piece, thanks to gunfire from both Hound Two and Fang Four.
"Much appreciated mates," thanked Fang One. "I'm gonna have to get you two blokes drinks when we get back to base, yeah? On me, of course," he then added.
"Well hey, you know, if we all aren't already enjoying this, you might as well treat me to one too!" Gull One added and laughed.
I continued to fly support for the Swan Team, much to the obvious dismay and embarrassment of Swan Leader. In retrospect, I think he never did like the fact that I started to mingle with his lady.
"Hound Three, Fox Two!" I exclaimed as I released two more missiles to take out another MiG-29, saving Swan Leader.
"Thanks, rookie," said Swan Leader. "Watch out, you got a missile heading your way!"
I barely managed to break left to avoid the missile. I then flew upside-down and saw Swan Leader take out my pursuer with two missiles.
"Nice kill, Swan Leader!" I then said.
"Now we're even," he replied, sounding a bit annoyed.
Sky Sentry then came on with the notification tone. "One bandit remaining, take it out!"
Another explosion was suddenly heard mere seconds after Sky Sentry's announcement.
"Sierra Hotel!" exclaimed Fang Four in surprise. "Did anyone else see that?! That was one helluva maneuver, Hound Two!"
"We'll all watch the footage later from your camera and the Prodigy," Sky Sentry then said. "Down all enemy fighters!" he confirmed, and everyone started to cheer and regroup. I myself let out a huge sigh of relief, and the team's channel started up again.
"Well done boys!" congratulated Hound One. "Hound Two, I'll be looking forward to that kill footage," he chuckled, "heard it was magnificent!"
"Nothing too special, Captain," replied a humble Hound Two.
"And Hound Three, I counted three or four kills from you! That's some damn good fighting on your first mission!" exclaimed Hound One.
I simply chuckled nervously. "Thanks, Captain. I'm just glad we all got through this alive."
Suddenly, I saw blips on my radar, and then my fears came true when the notification tone from Sky Sentry was heard.
"Warning! Warning! Multiple reinforcements detected on radar! You're not gonna like the number!" Sky Sentry frantically radioed in. "I'll be calling in reinforcements, but head for bearing 151 and return to base!"
Static followed momentarily, but cleared up.
"I see seven!" shouted Fang Four. "Do I engage, Sky Sentry? They're coming in fast!"
"Fang Four, do not engage! I repeat, do not engage!" replied Sky Sentry. "All units, break away from the operational airspace!"
"Fang One here, I got a visual…and…oh, sh-"
My eyes widened when we lost transmission from Fang One. "Fang One, respond!" I shouted frantically. Fortunately, Fang One then came back on, amidst heavy static and the blaring missile alerts in the background.
"Damn it, I've been hit!" he shouted. "We've got ourselves some Flankers! Everyone break away from the airspace as quickly as you can! Just keep moving!"
I started to apply the afterburner, but my mind raced quickly.
"Fang One, I'm coming in to escort you out!" I then shouted into the radio. My hands began to shake at the control stick again, and it felt like I was going to crush it from holding it too tightly. Under the helmet, I could even feel the sweat dropping down the side of my face as I turned back.
"Hound Three, turn back!" shouted Sky Sentry. "What are you doing?!"
Captain then came on the channel. "Are you out of your mind?! You're gonna get killed!"
It was then that everyone else kept yelling at me and telling me to turn back. I know they were concerned, mostly due to the fact that I was more than just inexperienced, but in that moment I felt that I could take that risk and come back safe. I felt…invincible.
"Fang One, I'm closing in on your location!" I said, weaving through machine gun fire as I saw a Su-27 fly past me. I ignored it and continued on to meet up with Fang One.
"Are you mad? You could've been killed just now! Just what the hell were you thinking?"
"Yeah, well, I don't leave anyone behind," I replied. "You go on ahead, and I'll take care of things here!"
"You have better come back alive, you hear me?"
"Roger that, Fang One, I'll provide cover as best as I can!"
The missile alerts were going crazy as I tried my best to dodge the second Flanker that appeared. The familiar tone started again.
"Hound Three, this is Sky Sentry! Reinforcements have arrived! Break away from the airspace as soon as possible! Hurry!"
"AWACS, confirm the location of the reinforcements, will ya?" I asked in a panic. "I can only see one on my radar!"
From my location on the radar, I can see two bandits right behind me, but there was only one ally marked near where I was, heading for the bandits behind me. I then heard static on my radio, and a voice. Little did I know that that transmission would change everything for me.
"Mobius, Fox Three."
The straight beep of the missile alert was quickly put to a stop when I climbed higher. At first, I thought I had dodged the missiles, but another look at my radar showed that the bandits were gone! There was a lone green blip near where I was that headed for the rest of the enemy squadron.
"Hound Three, I'll take over from here," radioed in the lone reinforcement.
When I finally managed to fly flat, I caught a glimpse of the reinforcement's aircraft, and needless to say, I was amazed. His fighter plane was just hard to describe, but suffice to say that it was a highly-advanced fighter. The pilot himself also showed overwhelming power and skill; he was able to down most of the enemy fighters within a few moments. Within moments, my radar showed that whatever that was left of the enemy units began to fly in the opposite direction.
"What the…? Enemy forces are withdrawing?!" I wondered in surprise.
"Sk.. S..nt… to Hound Three, respond!"
With a shaky voice, I responded. "Th-this is Hound Three. E-everything's…A-OK, Sky Sentry."
I'll never forget that day. I remember watching him fly just above me, and through his plane's glass canopy, I could see him give me a thumbs-up.