ACT Zero
The Skies over Quwati 13:00 local time
Second Lieutenant Alex Thompson soared through the skies of the Otoman Empire in his F-15C Eagle at seven thousand meters. On both of his wings were the rest of Dagger Flight, four Liberion Air Force F-15s assigned as advisors to the fledgling Royal Otoman Air Force, or ROAF for short. Off to Alex's left was another flight of F-15s this time belonging to the ROAF. In their own language the Otoman pilots squawked away talking about who knew what.
"Dagger Four are you awake over there? You are drifting a bit." Major David Weaver commander of Dagger Flight asked Alex over the radio. Alex swiftly corrected his heading and leveled out.
"Sorry sir, I got a little distracted." Alex replied to his flight leader who simply grunted in acknowledgment.
"Hey four, you thinking of your girl over in Persia?" The number three of the Flight Quinn Flint prodded Alex who rolled his eyes.
"Oh not this again Quinn." Alex retorted to his friend and wingman who simply laughed in reply.
"Come on man, you two are super obvious; always writing each other love letters, sneaking off and visiting each other in Baghdad. Hell you two are the talk of the base, especially so since she is a witch. Speaking of her though when are you going to introduce us to her?" Quinn chided Alex who groaned in annoyance at his smart ass wingman who clearly was getting a kick out of Alex's misery.
"It's not like that and you know it. My relationship with Master Sergeant Yekta is strictly platonic. Besides she is fifteen, I have a few too many years on her to be dating her." Alex explained hoping to end the conversation. Quinn let out a roar of laughter before he replied.
"Oh I see so it's a case of forbidden love then?" Quinn prodded the young fighter jockey who would have face palmed if it weren't for the helmet and oxygen mask he was currently wearing.
"I swear, when we get back to base Quinn, I am going to kick your…" Alex was saying before a chime in his helmet alerted him to a radar contact just appearing on his scopes.
"Can it you two. Contact bearing 313 at four thousand meters and climbing." The flight leader called out over the radio. Alex saw a single small radar contact approaching the eight Eagles at Mach 2. The radio began to fizzle and a young sounding female voice spoke to them.
"Attention Liberion aircraft you are illegally entering Persian Empire air space. Please change your heading to 195 and egress out of our airspace." The young Persian witch stated to the Liberion pilots. Alex recognized the voice of the witch instantly.
"Rosana is that you?" Alex asked the witch who gasped for a moment, before giving a nervous reply.
"Alex?" Rosana Yekta replied to the young Liberion whose eyes lit up in excitement at the thought of meeting his friend over the skies of the Otoman Empire.
"Aww is this your little girlfriend?" Quinn teased Alex who chose to ignore the squad clown.
"Yup it's me, how are you Rosana?" Alex inquired of the young witch as some of his squad mates snickered at their expense.
"Love birds…" Quinn teased them causing a blush to appear on Alex's face. Alex was able to see the approaching witch in the distance.
"I am… I am doing alright, how…how… how are you?" She nervously asked Alex who smiled behind his oxygen mask before he replied.
"I am doing alright as well. What is the problem Rosana? We got authorization to fly over this patch of desert." Alex asked the young witch who passed overhead before turning back to join the flight of Liberion and Otoman aircraft. The dark skinned blonde haired girl flew directly over Alex's Eagle looking straight at Alex a warm smile on her beautiful face.
"Well, I was told that you had illegally entered our airspace. My commander had not received any notice from Tehran that we were expecting you; so I was ordered to escort you out of our airspace." Rosana informed the Liberion pilots.
"Alright to avoid a cluster fuck we will leave this airspace. All aircraft change heading to 0-9-0 and cross into international waters." Major Weaver informed the flight who began peeling off towards the Persian Gulf. Alex banked gently to his right as Rosana turned with him a mere twenty meters above him.
"I will escort you out of our airspace." Rosana told them as she followed just a bit above and behind the Liberion formation. "Alex… I got your letter; I am glad your sister is doing well and made it through the witch academy." She said to Alex who smiled and chuckled a bit.
"Yeah she is a tough cookie; I knew she would make it through." Alex replied to Rosana before Quinn interjected.
"Wait you have a sister…? Is she hot?" Quinn demanded to know eliciting a growl of disapproval from Alex.
"Quinn she is thirteen." Alex simply stated to his wingman.
"Oh… is she hot?" Quinn once again inquired.
"I swear if you so much as look at my little sister funny Quinn, I will gouge your eyes out." Alex threatened the pervert he had the misfortune of calling his wingman who just laughed in reply.
"Hey I can wait five years if she is a looker." Quinn told Alex who gave the middle finger to his wingman.
"Three you are crossing into dangerous waters man, I think it's time to call it quits." Jackie the number two of the flight informed Quinn who just laughed a bit more.
"Hey, I like to live… dangerously." Quinn informed the 2IC before Alex interjected.
"Well you are about to see how dangerous my fist is when it hits your face if you don't shut up." Alex threatened the comedic wingman; it was an empty gesture, it would take a lot to get Alex to actually want to punch someone. And having known his wingman for over a year Alex could tell when he was being given a hard time by the sarcastic Second Lieutenant. Now if Quinn actually did try and get in his teenage sister's panties, that would be another story all together.
"Alright, Alright well I will let you two love birds continue your chat." He slyly stated to Alex and Rosana who gave a visible blush in embarrassment at being called a "love bird". She then closed into Alex's aircraft until she was within arms-reach of his aircraft.
"Alex I really enjoyed our time together in Baghdad last month. Do you think we can do it again soon?" Rosana asked the young pilot who nodded at her.
"Yeah I have leave in two weeks. Do you want to meet in Quwati City this time?" Alex asked the Persian Witch who got a sad look in her eyes and looked away from him for a moment before returning his gaze.
"Well… I don't think I will be able to… it's hard for witches in Persia to get a pass to visit a foreign country." Rosana explained to Alex who nodded his head.
"Alright… it's ok we can just meet in Baghdad again, the city of lights of Persia right?" He told her as a look of happiness once again filled her eyes.
"Right." She simply stated before a deep blush filled her face and she moved in a bit closer to his canopy. She placed her right hand on the cockpit of his Eagle and began to speak a nervous tremor filled her voice. "Alex… do you think that… perhaps next time we make it could be a… a…" She asked him in a shaky voice before the green magical radar antenna on both sides of her head turned bright red and she turned to face forward a look of fear on her face. "No… it can't be." She stated fearfully. Just then a deep black cloud appeared in the distance and Alex's heart began to sink.
"No it can't be them… after all of these years of peace it can't be…" Alex trailed off before his commander shouted over the radio.
"NEUROI!" Major Weaver screamed as the entire flight's radars erupted as one at a dozen fast moving contacts materialized on radar heading towards them at Mach 1.5. Alex's RWR (Radar Warning Receiver) blared to life as two missiles were fired at his Eagle. "All aircraft BREAK, BREAK!" Major Weaver shouted as the fighter aircraft broke formation and began to deploy countermeasures.
Alex pulled a High-G turn as he popped chaff and flares to confuse the alien missiles. Alex could see Rosana's F-14 striker's wings sweep back as she broke the sound barrier and fired an AIM-7W Witch Sparrow at one of the approaching Neuroi fighters. Alex had no time to watch as he reversed his turn as one of the two missiles fired at him flew passed his aircraft and went ballistic, while the remaining missile swerved to intercept his fighter. Alex went full burner and dove for the deck hoping ground clutter could confuse the missile. The desert floor zoomed closer to his Eagle as he pulled hard on the stick raising his nose just a few dozen meters from the ground. A loud explosion was heard as the Neuroi missile smashed into the ground behind him. Alex then got another radar warning as he looked up seeing a black delta winged aircraft with what appeared to be a crimson canopy aircraft approaching him a cannon on the right side of the cockpit was blazing spitting fist sized onyx shells in his direction. Alex turned hard right into the aircraft who shot past him. Time slowed for Alex as he took in the Neuroi fighter; it to him vaguely reminded him of an unholy union between a Mirage 2000 and a Mig-29, under its wings were half dozen missiles of varying sizes. But that wasn't the most surprising thing about the Neuroi. Alex saw that the canopy was partially transparent and a black humanoid figure was in the cockpit starring back at him.
Alex's Eagle was buffeted by the passing Neuroi shockwave as he pulled back hard on the flight stick entering first into a climb then into a look as he flicked the selector switch to AIM-9 heat seeking missiles. Alex did a quick roll as he noticed on the Neuroi fighter was a set of red hexes indicating laser ports charging and firing. The crimson beams passed by his Eagle harmlessly as a loud growl filled his helmet indicating a missile lock on the alien craft.
"FOX-2!" Alex shouted as an AIM-9L flew off one of the missile rails on his F-15 shooting towards the enemy aircraft at near hypersonic speeds. The missile struck the Neuroi center mass tearing the aircraft apart and causing the wreckage to smash into the ground before turning into bright white metallic shards. "Splash One! I repeat Splash One!" Alex shouted in excitement at his first kill on his first combat mission. Alex looked above him to see a fur ball erupting as Neuroi fighters clashed with Eagles and the lone air infantry witch fought desperately against the numerically superior Neuroi. Alex pulled his nose up using the positive thrust to weight ratio of his aircraft to climb straight up like a rocket ship.
Alex witnessed Rosana using her MG3 to cut down a nearby Neuroi fighter shredding it with magically enhanced 7.62 rounds. Lasers bounced off the young witch's shield as she did a quick drifting turn 180 degrees to face another threat this time firing a Witch Sidewinder at the hostile striking the aircraft on the nose obliterating it instantly.
Alex switched to his Sparrows and selected a target, a Neuroi chasing an Otoman Eagle. He got a positive radar lock on the creature and fired a single Sparrow.
"FOX 3!" The Neuroi broke chase and pulled hard left exposing the topside of its body to the incoming missile. Its laser ports charged and discharged two bright beams of crimson light at the AIM-7 converging on the radar guided missile vaporizing it instantly. Alex closed in on the hostile switching to his 20mm cannon and getting within weapons range. The Neuroi Fighter corkscrewed and pulled up zooming away. Alex pushed his engines to their limits and followed after the enemy aircraft that fired a laser at Alex missing him by a few meters. Alex then lined up the hostile in his sights and pressed the trigger. A one second burst of fire came out of the 20mm M61A1 Vulcan cannon spitting over a hundred rounds at the Neuroi. Once again time slowed down as shells tore through the Neruoi, shells shattered the fuselage and tore through the canopy turning the pilot into a bright white mist. The Neuroi aircraft lost power and began falling to the earth flaming wreckage spiraling towards the earth that it came from.
Alex's eyes darted from side to side scanning for Neuroi, is scopes went clear as the remaining Neuroi either hit the deck and "bugged out" or were already shot down.
"Alright head count people who is still breathing?" Major Weaver said over the radio.
"Two here still alive boss." Jackie informed the Major.
"This is Three I am here and certainly not queer." Quinn informed everyone much to the Major's annoyance.
"Cheeky bastard. Four are you still amongst the living?" Major Weaver inquired.
"Yeah I am alive sir." Alex informed his commander.
"I am still living too." Rosana told the flight of Eagles. Alex let out a sigh of relief as he heard her voice. Two of the Otoman pilots informed the Liberions that they were alive, indicating that two of their flight had been shot down by the Neuroi. All in all it could have been worse. Alex looked to the East and saw a massive Neuroi hive in the distance some larger creatures could be seen firing their lasers at targets below them. It was unreal to Alex; sure some small Neuroi outbreaks had occurred throughout the Middle East and Africa but not this many, and certainly not a hive. It was like something out of the Second Neuroi War.
Alex's radar began to fizzle. "What the hell?" Alex stated as he saw the sky to the East start distorting and chaining to a strange purplish as lightening crackled. A black hole appeared violet energy swirling around it. A pair of large bright lasers emerged from the black hole striking Rosana who put her shield up just in time to save her life.
"AHH!" She screamed as the shield broke and her striker exploded jettisoning her from the stricken device.
"ROSANA!" He shouted as he saw the young witch clothes beginning to burn fall to the earth.
The Skies over Karlsland 15:00
Lieutenant Colonel Kataline Barkhorn or rather as she preferred to be called "Kate" Barkhorn zoomed through the skies in her F-16C striker. The F-16C was a Liberion light multirole striker unit designed for close in dogfighting and dropping unguided bombs and laser guided AT-Missiles at ground targets. In the mid-1980s the F-16 had been picked as the new main striker unit of the Karlsland Air Force narrowly beating out the Orussian Mig-29 striker that was its primary competitor.
After the Second Neuroi War the Karlsland aircraft industry had fallen into deep decline. Despite the success of the 262 and Ta-152 strikers and fighters, the export market had dried up and the costs of relocating back to the newly liberated Karlsland was too great for many of the companies. As a result companies like Messerchaft and Flak Wulfe increased the costs of their aircraft and ended up shooting themselves in the foot. Looking for cheaper aircraft and strikers, Karlsland looked to Liberion and Orussia to supply them with aircraft, forcing domestic companies to merge with other European aviation companies like BAE.
"Alright we are nearly at checkpoint Foxtrot; one more and we get to go home." Kataline said to her fellow witch a fourteen year old red haired girl named Gretel. Gretel was a second year veteran in the Karlsland Air Force and had fought alongside Kataline in South Africa supporting local forces with clearing out a small nest that had appeared in the jungle, she even managed to score an air to air kill by shooting down a "flying goblet".
"Oh boy I can't wait to get back to base and read my trashy romance novels." Gretel stated sarcastically sending a ping of annoyance down Kate's spine.
"Hey my romance novels are not "trashy" Gretel. They are works of art damn it!" Kate shot back at the younger witch who giggled obviously enjoying getting a rise out of her older commanding officer.
"Yeah, I am not sure how stories like My Onii-chan's Magical Pineapple Adventure could ever be considered a work of "Art"." Gretel goaded her commander who sighed before she replied.
"For the last time, that story is a heartwarming tale of experimentation and a tragic tale of the sacred love two brothers share for each other." Kataline explained to her subordinate.
"Sounds like smut to me." Gretel chimed.
"IT'S NOT SMUT, IT'S ART!" Kate shot back earning a snicker from her wing witch. "Just for that I am going to order you to read it cover to cover so you can see for yourself how amazing that story is." Kate threatened Gretel who made a gagging noise in disapproval. A chime went off in Kate's earpiece.
"This is Eagle's Nest to Big Momma. RTB immediately a situation has arisen in the Middle East." The ground controller informed her.
"Roger that Eagle's Nest I read you Five By Five." Kate replied to the ground controller. Kate looked to Gretel before speaking. "We will continue this conversation later, let's see what command wants." Kate informed her wing witch who nodded her head. Kate banked gently to the right and headed for home.
Fifteen minutes later they saw the distant runway. Deploying their air breaks and dropping their landing gear they descended on the air base and touched down. Taxing to the hangers nearby ground crew helped them out of the lightweight striker units. Kataline stretched her arms and rolled her shoulders as she and Gretel headed to the briefing room to see what all of the commotion was about. In the hallways some of the men and girls on base were talking in hushed voices speaking of war and conflict. Perhaps another small Neuroi outbreak occurred somewhere in the Middle East? It had only been a few years since the Orussians had cleared the mountains of the Hindu Kush from the Neuroi that infested the mountain range. Kate walked into the briefing room and saw her commanding officer Hans Gunther an old Colonel in charge of this Air Base. Kate saluted him as he stood and returned the salute. Hans had been a small boy during the reconstruction period after the Second Neuroi War and had even fought with her in Africa.
"At Ease Colonel." He told her as she went to an at ease position.
"Sir what is this talk about war that I keep hearing? Have the Neuroi launched another raid into Afghanistan?" She asked the old man who shook his head.
"No Colonel its much worse than that." Hans explained as he lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag on the tobacco stick. "A Neuroi Hive Appeared over Quwati City in the Otoman Empire." Hans explained as Kate's eyes went wide.
"Sir… are… you sure?" She asked him to which he gave a slight nod. Hans then pulled from his desk some scotch and a glass pouring himself a drink. He raised his glass offering her a drink. "No thank you sir." She simply replied.
"Are you sure? The news gets worse." He told Kate who looked into his eyes.
"How could it possibly be any worse than that sir?" She asked him a bead of sweat dripping down her forhead.
"A second Neuroi hive is forming over the skies of Baghdad..." Hans paused for effect. "And this one; is the size of the one over Veniza during the war." He explained to her. Kate's heart sank as she thought of the prospect of having to clear out two Neuroi hives in close proximity.
"Sir, if you don't mind I think I will take that drink." She simply stated to him as he then poured her a drink which she then gulped down. Hans took a pull on his drink before speaking.
"I contacted your grandmothers, Charlotte and Gertrud. They will be here soon. They will tell you everything they know about taking down a Neuroi hive. Things with the Neuroi might have changed but a hive is still a hive. We can kill them no matter how many of them appear I have confidence that you will lead our witches to victory." Hans told Kate who was still trying to take all of the news in. Hans stood up and walked around the desk putting a hand on Kate's shoulder. "Get some rest Colonel… it is going to be a long war." He told Kate who nodded her head.
Although she didn't know it at the time Kate would play a very important role in this new "Gulf War". Soon the eighteen year old Lieutenant Colonel would find herself in command of a squadron of inexperienced witches from all over the globe. These witches would later go down in history as the most famous squadron of the war… the 105th Joint Strike Wing otherwise known as the Thunder Witches.