Chapter 1
The USS Riverdale, the newest aircraft carrier in the US Navy was heading out for its first mission. The ship, which was based in Yokosuka, Japan, was heading towards the Korean peninsula. Recently there had been a series of border skirmishes between both North and South Korea and it seemed quite possible that war could break out at any time; especially since Russia had recently begun selling military equipment to North Korea once more.
On the deck of the USS Riverdale, a squad of three F-18F Super Hornets were getting ready for launch. Their mission for the day was to patrol along the international waters line with North Korea and to protect vulnerable P-3 Orion and P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft that were conduction signals intelligence flights as well as maritime patrols in that same area. The squadron was designated Eagle squadron for the day.
Lt. Betty "Nitro" Cooper was on her first tour of duty. She'd developed a reputation for pushing her plane to the limits during flight school which is how she'd earned her nickname "Nitro". Her radar operator was Lt. Forsythe "Jughead" Jones, called Jughead because he'd originally enlisted in the Marines but had then transferred soon after to the Navy. The term for Marines in military lingo was Jarhead and this had been altered into Jughead in a somewhat joking manner. Jughead was okay with the nickname as he preferred it to being called Forsythe and it wasn't simply his last name either.
"You ready back there Jughead?" Betty asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Jughead replied.
Betty watched as the deck crew readied the plane of their squadron leader Capt. Kevin "Wrong Way" Keller. He had gotten his nickname when during his first carrier landing in training with his plane low on fuel he had managed to land his plane approaching from the wrong direction after missing on his first approach.
Betty and Jughead watched as the engines on Kevin's plane spooled up and the afterburner kicked in and then the catapult launched the plane forward and it shot off the end of the ship and into the air. The deck crew then began getting Betty's plane into position for launch readying it with well-practiced efficiency.
"Hurry up there," came a joking call over the radio.
Betty glanced back at the third plane in their flight which was being piloted by Lt. Reggie "Cylon" Mantle. He had been in flight school with Betty and had earned his nickname from the robots in the series Battlestar Galactica, for the cold precision with which he approached each mission and also for his seeming indifference to when two of their classmates had been killed in a training accident.
"I can't control this," Betty responded.
"Cut the chit chat," came the call from the ship's tower radio admonishing them both.
Betty turned her focus towards her take off. Her plane was now in position and the catapult was latched to the nose gear. She watched the flight co-ordinator waiting for his signal. She spooled up her engines and then the plane suddenly lurched forward as the catapult shot it down the deck. The plane reached the end and Betty pulled back on the flight stick as the plane soared up into the air.
"Wahoo!" Betty exclaimed in excitement and delight.
She always enjoyed take-offs, especially such a fast and sudden one from a carrier deck. She quickly climbed to her designated altitude and joined her commander in a holding pattern as they waited for Reggie to take-off. A few minutes later Reggie had flown up and joined them and they flew as a group towards their assigned waypoint.
About fifteen minutes later they were approaching the South Korean shore.
"Remember while we are allowed within South Korean territorial waters we can't encroach on North Korean territorial waters," Captain Keller reminded them. "So remember to stay at least twelve miles away from the shore, more if you can."
"Aye, Aye Captain Wrong Way," Betty responded.
"Yes Sir," Reggie said.
"I've got point, Nitro I want you on my four and Cylon hang back on my six," Keller instructed them.
Betty and Reggie both maneuvered their planes into position, Betty taking up a position just off to her captain's right and a little behind while Reggie was a ways behind them.
"Okay, there's P-3 conducting reconnaissance up ahead," Keller reported. "Keep an eye out for any North Korean planes that might be looking to attack."
A few minutes later they approached the slow lumbering four engine P-3 turboprop airplane that was slowly making its way along the coastline of North Korea. The much faster F-18's flew past it and then began to gradual turn to circle back. They were about half-way through the turn when the P-3 suddenly came on the radio.
"We've got incoming," the P-3 said. "Looks like they're sending planes to intercept us."
"Jughead do you see anything on the radar?" Betty asked.
"Negative," Jughead replied. "But we are facing the wrong direction."
"Permission to break off sir," Betty requested.
"Negative," Keller responded. "Stay in formation."
Betty grumbled but did as she was told. Moments later as she looked towards the Korean shoreline she spotted three small dots approaching.
"Those are Flanker-D's!" the radio operator on the P-3 exclaimed.
Flanker-D was the reporting name for the Russian Su-33, an advanced naval air superiority fighter which had capabilities that were on par with that of the F-18.
"They're locking onto us!" the radio operator on the P-3 shouted in a panic.
"I'm switching over to a universal frequency," Keller said.
Betty heard a click over the radio.
"This is the United States Navy," Keller stated. "Stand down or be destroyed."
Betty kept her eye on the three approaching planes. None of them wavered at all.
"Sir permission to engage," Betty requested.
"Denied Nitro," Keller responded. "We do not fire until fired upon."
Betty grit her teeth in frustration. That was a stupid rule, that meant somebody was likely going to die first. Just then she saw a flash from under the wings of one of the North Korean planes and a missile streaking towards the P-3. The P-3 banked sharply trying to dodge the missile but the big plane was too slow and ungainly and the missile struck it's left wing tearing the wing in half. The plane began to quickly lose altitude and go into a sharply banked turn as it banked to the left since only the right wing was providing lift.
"We're hit, we're going down," the P-3 reported. "Bailing out!"
Unfortunately the P-3 didn't have ejection systems so the crew had to bail out the old fashion way. Betty wasn't sure if they would all survive. The pilot was likely going to go down with his plane.
"Permission to engage granted," Keller said. "Nitro I want you to…"
Betty wasn't listening though. As soon as he'd given permission to engage she had slammed her throttle all the way forward and shot past him towards the three approaching enemy planes.
"Nitro what are you doing!?" Jughead exclaimed from the back seat.
Betty didn't reply but just grinned as she pointed her nose towards the enemy aircraft. Her plane was armed with six missiles, four heat seeking AIM-9 Sidewinders and two radar-guided AIM-120 AMRAAMs. The AIM-120s were more accurate but took time to lock on while the AIM-9's could be fired without the need to lock on. Betty flicked up the cover over her missile firing system and put her thumb on the trigger.
"Fox-Two, FIRE!" She called out.
One of her AIM-9's ignited and rocketed away from the plane towards the enemy aircraft.
"Fox-Two, Fire!" Betty called out again as she launched a second missile.
Both missiles lanced towards one of the enemy planes. The plane fired flares which attracted one of the missiles. However the other missile was not deterred and continued on straight towards the Su-33 and struck it in the port engine's air intake. The plane exploded in a fireball that complete engulfed it and gave the pilot no chance to eject.
"Yeah, that's one down," Betty exclaimed excitedly.
"They're trying to get a lock on us," Jughead shouted cutting into her celebration.
Betty glanced back to see one of the Su-33's had gotten onto her tail and a moment later the missile lock warning began to blare loudly.
"How close are they?" Betty called back to Jughead.
"Real close," Jughead replied. "They're practically in our exhaust."
Betty thought that was a bit of an exaggeration but she had an idea.
"Hold on!" she shouted. "Gonna try the cobra."
Betty disabled the angle of attack limiter and pulled back on the stick raising the nose up and up while careful controlling her speed. The plane continued moving forward while at the same time it pitched up till it was basically flying forward belly first. The enemy Su-33 shot past Betty as it had far more speed. Betty brought the nose back down and slammed the throttle forward as she was now on the tail of her enemy. Behind her she could hear Jughead let out a sickened moan from the G-force of her maneuver.
"Fox-two, Fire!" Betty shouted.
She fired another AIM-9. The enemy plane didn't even have time to try and dodge the missile reached it so fast flying right into one of its exhaust ports causing it to erupt in a giant fireball. Betty snap rolled to the right and dove to avoid the flaming debris.
"Nitro get back in formation!" Kevin shouted over the radio.
"We've got two more enemy aircraft inbound," Reggie reported. "Looks like two Foxhounds."
The Foxhound was the MiG-31, an interceptor that was one of the fastest combat jets in the world.
"Fuck," Kevin muttered. "Cylon, can you see if there are any survivors from the P-3?"
"Looks like there are three or four survivors in the water," Reggie reported. "But I see a ship heading towards them, pretty sure it's a North Korean one from where it's coming from."
"We've got to protect them," Betty said. "We need to take out that ship or they'll be captured."
"Alright, Cylon, Nitro fly cover, I'm going to make an attack on the ship," Kevin ordered.
Kevin's plane had a different load out than Betty's being armed with 4 AIM-120's and two AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
"I've got your six," Reggie said as he fell in behind Kevin.
Kevin dove down to a lower altitude heading directly towards the ship. Betty put her plane into a banked turn as she remained above trying to see what the enemy planes were doing. The two approaching MiG's altered their course to intercept Kevin while the remaining Su-33 dove down to give chase.
"They're all heading after you," Betty reported.
"I've got the Foxhounds," Reggie said. "Nitro you take that last Flanker."
"Copy that," Betty agreed.
The Su-33 was focused on trying to chase down Kevin, which allowed Betty to get behind it. She tried to acquire a lock with one of her AIM-120s but the plane was juking around making it difficult.
"Tricky bastard," Betty muttered as she struggled to get a clean lock.
"We've got a lock," Jughead exclaimed.
"Fox-Three fire!" Betty called out.
The missile streaked away towards the Su-33. However it dropped some chaff and missile veered off courses and ended up exploding harmlessly.
"Damn it!" Betty cursed.
However she continued on behind it getting a little closer. She decided to instead try her last Sidewinder. Kevin was now within range of the enemy ship.
"Missile's away," Kevin announced as he fired both of his Harpoon missiles.
The two missiles dropped down to just a few feet above the water and streaked towards the ship at supersonic speeds before they slammed into the sides of the ship just above the waterline on the port side. The boat shook with the impact listing nearly twenty degrees to starboard before rocking back to port. The missiles had ripped an enormous hole in the side of the ship and water began to pour in and it began to list heavily to port and began to capsize.
Meanwhile Betty had gotten on the tail of the Su-33 again.
"Fox-Two, Fire!" Betty exclaimed.
Almost simultaneously the Su-33 fired a missile of its own. The missile streaked towards Kevin's plane which was pulling up to gain altitude once more. This had the unfortunate side-effect of causing him to lose speed.
"Wrong Way, look out!" Betty shouted.
She saw Kevin try to bank to the right to dodge the missile but it was too late. The missile slammed into the back of his plane which erupted in a fireball. Betty looked to see if Kevin or his radar operator had managed to eject but saw nothing.
There was another explosion as her last AIM-9 found the last Su-33 and blew it up. The pilot had managed to eject and Betty saw him drifting down towards the water. Betty flicked her radio over to the USS Riverdale's channel.
"This is Nitro, Squadron Leader is down we've got pilots in the water we need assistance," Betty reported.
"Copy Nitro we've got rescue and reinforcements heading your way, ETA two minutes," the radio operator onboard Riverdale reported.
Just then Betty saw an explosion off in the distance. She looked to see that Reggie had managed to take out one of the MiG-31s. However now the other one was on his tail and he was desperately trying to dodge. Betty turned her plane to assist. She only had one missile left to try and assist him, she knew she had to make this count.
"I've got you Cylon," Betty called. "I want you to fly straight towards me."
"What?" Reggie exclaimed over the radio.
"Trust me, just do it," Betty replied.
Reggie turned his plane and flew straight towards her the two planes closing on each other rapidly. Betty turned off her FF computer and got a lock on Reggie's plane with her last AIM-120.
"What the…? Are you locking your missile on me?" Reggie asked frightened.
"When I call the fire I want you to bank hard left after two seconds," Betty said. "Ready? Fox-Three!"
Betty fired her last missile.
"Fuck!" Reggie shouted.
He threw his plane into a hard banking left turn and the missile streaked past his plane missing by mere feet. It continued straight on into the pursuing MiG-31 striking it dead on and blowing it to smithereens.
"Ha, ha! Yes!" Betty exclaimed.
Reggie gave a relieved sigh over the radio.
"The area is clear for now," Betty reported back to the Riverdale.
A few minutes later another flight of F-18's appeared along with two search and rescue helicopters. The helicopters set about rescuing the crew of the P-3 as well as the sole enemy pilot who had managed to eject.
"Eagle Squadron return to the ship," said the leader of the other F-18 squadron. "We've got it from here."
Betty and Reggie were both starting to run low on fuel, and Betty had no more weaponry so they had no qualms about returning to the ship.
A short while later Betty's plane skidded to a stop, safely onboard the USS Riverdale once more. Betty climbed out and excitedly high-fived some of the flight-deck crew over a successful mission. However it wasn't all happy. Her squadron leader had been killed in the engagement.
Betty, Jughead, Reggie and Reggie's radar operator Adam were immediately sent to be debriefed on the mission. They were met in the debriefing room by their executive officer, Captain Geraldine Grundy; a strict no-nonsense woman had had been in the Navy for years.
"Take a seat," Captain Grundy said sternly.
They sat down feeling somewhat worriedly.
"First of all congratulations, thanks to you we were able to rescue the crew of our downed P-3," Grundy said.
Both Reggie and Betty smiled.
"But you Nitro," Grundy continued. "You deliberately disobeyed orders out there today."
"But sir…" Betty tried to protest.
"You engaged the enemy without following your squadron leaders orders," Grundy said.
"Yeah and I shot them down," Betty retorted.
"Perhaps, but your actions could very well be the reason that Captain Keller is no longer here with us," Grundy said.
"No Sir, when he was shot down I was doing exactly what he asked," Betty stated.
"I'll be the one to determine that," Grundy said. "I'm going to be reviewing the performance of you, or both of you from the data on your planes. Until I'm satisfied with what I fined you're both grounded."
"What!?" Both Betty and Reggie exclaimed.
"Dismissed," Grundy said inflexibly leaving no room for argument.
The four of them got up and left the debriefing room.
"This is bullshit," Betty muttered as they left.
"I know you were awesome out there," Jughead agreed. "I mean you did a Pugachev's Cobra in a combat situation and you shot down four enemies."
"Yeah and you nearly shot down me," Reggie added. "You ask me they're going to court martial you."
"Shut up Cylon," Jughead said. "Nitro is the best pilot on this ship by far, they would be crazy to court martial her."
"There is no place in the Navy for rule breakers like her," Reggie responded.
Reggie and Adam broke off to head to the mess hall while Jughead and Betty went to head back to their quarters.
"Don't listen to him," Jughead said. "You were one kill away from becoming an Ace on your very first mission."
Betty nodded but inwardly she was worried. She'd gotten a fair bit of heck for her somewhat reckless attitude in flight school and she knew that Captain Grundy was a stickler for the rules.