"Why the hell are we even out here Grey? It's the middle of bloody nowhere!" Bill sighed as his wing mate, Thomas Walcroft, spoke. His squadron had been sent to patrol a vast desert region of Katina. It had a few dotted communities, but as far as strategic importance went, Bill would've ranked the region all the way at the bottom.
"Command sent us out here. Said something about some concern about something. Didn't hear the whole message." Bill double checked the flight systems in his AL3 Bottlenose fighter. He had overheard some of the communication from command, and had the feeling that they thought something was brewing on the horizon.
"Quit you're barking and keep scanning the sky and your RADAR's, this is a mission, not a practice flight you buffoons!" Bill smirked as he checked his RADAR, then double checked, suddenly puzzled.
"Captain Gallagher, I got something on RADAR, looks like a full squadron." bill started plotting their heading as the Captain responded.
"Check your IFF you idiot! They're friendly. The Bulldog squadron was assigned to this area too!" anger started to rise in his gut as he finished plotting the group's course.
"Sir, they are on an intercept course, shouldn't we hail them or something?" he could swear he heard the Captain's teeth grinding.
"Lieutenant Bill Grey, you may have come from the academy, but that does not give you the right to tell me how to do my job!" bill fell silent, suddenly furious with the Captain. The other squadron came closer and closer, until Bill could just barely make out the shape of the fighters. Those aren't Cornerian fighters? The thought crossed his mind as he stared at the unfamiliar craft ahead of them. Suddenly, red lances shot away from the fighters, the lead planes of the formation blasting apart.
"Son of a bitch!" Billed rolled and dove, a blast reflecting off his wing and leaving a blackened smear on the armor. He dropped his throttle as he pitched up and lined up on one of the attackers. His single cannon shook the craft as it fired as fast as the system allowed it. Green lances tore into the enemy craft, sending it spinning wildly out of control.
"Bill, I got one of those things on me! I can't shake him!" he heard Thomas' call and speed after them, trying to swat the enemy fighter away from his wingmen. He watched in horror as a red blast connected with Thomas' canopy. The now dead fighter drifted lazily toward the desert below, exploding on impact. Bill franticly opened his long range radio after destroying the craft in front of him.
"This is Lieutenant grey of the Husky Squadron calling Bulldog squadron, we are under attack, Gallagher is down, we need assistance now!" his long range RADAR showed at least three squadrons advancing on the small dogfight. Bill ignored them as he ducked and weaved after another enemy fighter, only to realize that he had been chasing a friendly fighter. The matched IFF was confusing his weapon systems and tracking, forcing him to shut it all down. "Huskies! Turn off your IFF systems, rely on your eyes!" he heard the others acknowledge as he hunted down one of the last enemies. The craft spiraled out of control as a new squadron appeared on his RADAR.
"This is Bulldog leader. We read you, but we only see friendly aircraft in the area, please clarify!" he cursed as he shouted into the comm, the three squadrons almost in weapons range of the seven fighters around him.
"They are using our IFF signatures! Ditch your IFF and use your eyes! Just get your asses here!" he dived into the new enemy formation, killing three of the craft in a single swoop. A pair of fighters dropped onto his tail and he started juking at random. Suddenly, a full squadron of Bottlenose fighters ripped into the fight, the lead plane clearing his tail.
"Grey, we need to pull out and warn hea….." his voice was cut off as the lead plane detonated.
"Damn it! All craft, focus on destroying the enemy fighters, if you get one on your tail, light your emergency beacon!" Bill pulled up and away from the fight as he spoke, letting a pair of the enemy fighters slip onto his tail. His fighter spiraled upward until he suddenly killed all forward thrust, his fighter stalling in midair. He pitched his nose up, destroying one enemy fighter as he plummeted toward the planet. The other fighter tried to loop over to bring him back into his sights as bill gunned the engines and continued to pitch up. They came up in a head to head, and he neatly dodged one of his opponents red bolts before firing his own green one at the last possible second. The enemy craft exploded as they shot past each other. An emergency beacon flared in Bill's HUD and he dived after back into the dogfight, clearing the friendly pilot's tail. He glanced around him, seeing the last of the enemy craft plummeting toward the ground or turned into scattered debris.
"I can't believe we're still alive! We… we won!" a Husky member had spoken, forming up on Bill's wing. The other five fighters left in Husky formed up with him, making Bill the point of the squadron. The seven remaining Bulldogs suddenly did the same as one of the pilots spoke.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say this, but I'm following this lieutenant Grey. I'm fairly sure I owe my life to him." The rest of the other squadron agreed as the thirteen fighters raced away from region.
"Well, I guess I don't have a choice." He gulped, realizing that all twelve of those pilots had just placed their lives in his hands.
"Well, Leader, what now?" similar calls followed as the Bulldog pilot spoke. Bill switched his radio to the base channel, his ears suddenly being assaulted by a distress call.
"Let's go save our base! Husky, Bulldog, move out!"