Ace Combat: Angel Wings Chronicles

Siege of Los Canas

Sept. 17, 2003

Hello readers! Back again with another chapter of the Angel Wings Chronicles, this time detailing the fall of ISAF's old GHQ from Seraph's perspective.

Some of you may even wonder if Seraph's circumstances will improve. Believe me, though, it will only get worse before it gets any better at this point in ISAF's history.

Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it is a little short. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ace Combat series or its canon characters, which are a properties of Namco. Seraph is my OC.

Mission Briefing

Erusian Army battalions are stationed fifteen miles to the west of Los Canas. Due to the inability to fly high altitude reconnaissance aircraft due to Stonehenge, and the loss of our satellite surveillance systems, we were unable to track the individual regiments of the Erusian forces before they could rendezvous. With how much larger their ground and air forces are, it's only a matter of time before the capital is overrun by enemy forces, and reinforcements from Istas Fortress won't be able to arrive in time to provide assistance.

Due to the strategic vulnerability of our location within Stonehenge's firing radius, GHQ has made the decision for a full scale withdrawal to the east of the continent. To that end, we've amassed a large helicopter fleet capable of lifting the military leadership, members of the Council of Usea, and the remaining troops over long distances away from the capital. As Stonehenge will likely track and fire on our high-altitude transport aircraft, our helos will be our fastest and safest possible avenue of evacuation.

Scarface Squadron is to assist the Los Canas Capital Air Defense and National Guard in holding off the enemy siege until our helicopters safely exit the combat zone. A substantial number of enemy attack aircraft and airborne tank battalions have been sighted going ahead of the main Erusian forces. It is believed that they intend to breach our remaining defenses with a blitzkrieg and either capture or eliminate our command staff. You are to shoot down all attackers and transport aircraft before they reach the air base.

We know that this will be a risky mission due to the threat of Stonehenge's anti-meteor shells being used against our aircraft, but this withdrawal is crucial to the continuation of our war effort and the ultimate freedom for Usea. We must not allow Erusea this easy victory.

Scarface, move out!

Los Canas Air Force Base, 1143 Hours

"Enemy bombers spotted coming in from the west!"

"Our ground forces are getting hammered out here! Requesting air support!"

"What's happening with our interceptors!?"

"All aircraft under Capital Air Defense's jurisdiction are prioritized for launch. Get our fighters in the air!"

Seraph was taxiing towards the runway in his F-14D, with Phoenix's F-18E just in front of him. Two ISAF F-16s had just cleared the runway into the sky, turning towards the city, which was being pounded by bombs from the Erusian advance force. The situation was chaotic and rapidly deteriorating; even though the larger main force was just behind the advance force, the enemy squadrons were clearly larger and better equipped than most of the Capital Air Defense units.

"If those bombers are attacking now," Seraph surmised, "their paratrooper and airborne tank divisions can't be far behind."

"Seraph," Phoenix informed, "you've got the long-range missiles and speed to intercept multiple aircraft at once. I'll provide cover for you from their escorts while you focus on destroying the bombers and transports."

"Affirmative, Phoenix," Seraph chimed in agreement as he did a quick check of his loadout of two Sidewinders and six Sparrows. Given the number of escorts swarming about his targets, he needed to make every shot count.

"Don't forget that I'm his second pair of eyes and ears," Cherub gave the thumbs up and smiled, "nothing's going to slip past me, otherwise Seraph might as well be blind as a bat."

"Hey!" Seraph pouted at his friend's jest, "there's a night and day difference between angels and bats! I don't even have vampire teeth!" At that, Cherub just chuckled loudly.

"Alright, you two, this is serious," Phoenix reminded, "jest off after we get out of this city alive." The two Scarface aircraft lined up side by side, with the pilots awaiting permission to launch. It came rather hastily.

"Scarface Team, cleared for immediate take off," the control tower radioed, "please protect our base and helicopters until the VIPs and remaining troops are airlifted to safety."

"Roger, Tower," Phoenix acknowledged with a salute, "now please evacuate while we take things from here."

"Understood, Godspeed Scarface!"

"Scarface 1, taking off!" At that, the F-18 roared ahead along the runway.

"Scarface 2, moving out!" Seraph likewise thrust his throttle forward, propelling his heavy fighter at high speeds. He soon rapidly gained lift and pulled off the runway. The landing gear was not even completely up on both aircraft as they turned towards the fighting. Seraph could see the allied fighters trying to close in on the enemy B-52s, only to be swatted away by the F-18Cs.

"Hermes to Scarface Squadron," the ISAF AWACS reported, "we've got ten B-52s bombing Los Canas and approaching the air base. You've got to intercept them before they do any harm to the VIP and troop transport choppers present."

"Affirmative AWACs," Seraph greeted, "keep an eye on us from up there."

"Remember," Hermes reminded, "our military leaders are onboard those choppers. It's imperative that our command survives the withdrawal, or the war will be lost. Scarface, our lives are in your hands."

"We'll do our best, Hermes," Phoenix assured, "the Erusians will have to put up with us first." He went full afterburner towards one of the fighter formations. "Seraph, I'll handle the fighter-bombers. You take out their Stratofortresses."

"Roger that," Seraph switched to his Sparrow, which brought up his high-accuracy targeting circle on his HUD. Cherub worked his radar to increase the accuracy and efficiency of the missile as Seraph activated its guidance. The F-14 pilot kept his nose pointed at the enemy as the twin positive lock on tones sounded in his ears. "Fox one!" The Sparrow left its rail and streaked towards the target. It took just two seconds as the missile exploded near the center of the bomber's fuselage. The aircraft completely imploded as the shrapnel detonated its lethal bomb bay payload, causing its front and rear ends to split apart and disintegrate.

Cherub whistled as he saw the explosion. "Whoa, he felt that one!"

"Enemy bomber kill confirmed for Scarface 2," Hermes tracked the takedown, "there are still nine enemy bombers left."

"Enemy fighters incoming," Cherub sounded off as two of the Erusian fighters appeared on radar. True enough, Seraph could see the F-18s approaching from 2 o'clock. He rapidly climbed, with the F-14's superior thrust giving him an energy advantage. He did a flip and dove towards the enemy fighters at high speed.

"Fox two!" Seraph fired a Sidewinder, just as the Hornets' fired theirs. However, using flares and speed to his benefit, Seraph easily shot past the missiles. His Sidewinder hit one of the Hornets head on, destroying the top of the fuselage and engines. The F-14 sped past as the enemy fighter fell from the sky. "We still have one enemy on our tail, Seraph!" Cherub warned as he looked back at the enemy fighter turning to chase them.

"I know, but we've got the speed," Seraph replied, "and those bombers aren't waiting for us!" He flew towards the city, where the rest of the bombers were still dropping their ordinance. Seraph approached a group of two bombers from their side, and let his gun roar with a long burst of tracers. The two bombers were riddled with bullets to the engines, and were forced to cease and turn away. They were sluggish due to their damage, but Seraph's strafing did the trick. "That's two more out of the equation."

"Help, I've got a bandit on my tail!" Seraph looked around to see one of the enemy fighters chasing an allied F-16. The ISAF ally was on the complete defensive, as the Erusian was aggressively firing his gun. Going into afterburner, Seraph chased down the attacking Erusian and fired his gun. The tracers were enough to get the enemy off the F-16's tail, and it was the Erusian's turn to be chased by Seraph. Getting a clear shot, Seraph locked on with a Sidewinder and fired. It was close enough to not let the Erusian evade, and the Hornet crashed into a building below.

"Careful where you drop those planes, Seraph," Phoenix warned, "we don't want to be dropping them onto our troops or civilians."

Suddenly, the missile alert sounded in the cockpit. The F-14 pilot grunted as he evaded, but one of the F-18s from earlier was still chasing him. "One bandit at our seven, lose him!" Cherub urged. Seraph zig-zagged as the enemy fighter was spiking him with its radar. However, the F-18's fly-by-wire meant that the smaller fighter could easily keep pace with the larger F-14. "He's going to get a lock on us! Jinx him!" Cherub was becoming nervous.

However, Seraph thought of a maneuver from his training days that always drove some of his instructors crazy. He leveled out the F-14, waiting for the F-18 to similarly limit out. Just as the radar alert tone beeped faster, Seraph slammed the throttle back, causing the F-18 to overshoot. The gun reticle showed on the screen as Seraph was in range of the bandit. Lining up his target, Seraph fired a long burst from his cannon, making scrap of the engines and blowing the Hornet out of the sky.

"Enemy bombers are attacking our ground forces in the city," Hermes alerted, "Scarface, intercept them!"

"This is National Guard Command," the allied ground commander shouted, "we've taken massive casualties from enemy aircraft! Most of our AA weapons are either inoperable or out of ammo!"

"This is Scarface 2, I'm moving to intercept the remaining bombers!" Seraph refocused on the bombers, which were still bombing the city, and moving towards the air base. He readied another Sparrow missile, and acquired his second bomber. "Fox one!" The Sparrow went straight for the bomber, hitting it square in the bomb bay and blowing it up. Seraph then angled his jet's nose towards two other bombers flying close to one another. His rotary cannon spun with an audible 'bbbrrrttt' as he strafed with 20mm HE shells. The Erusian bombers were riddled with bullets, some of which went into some of the engines and blew them into sputtering fumes. The aircraft then began turning away, indicating that they were out of action.

"Confirming seven enemy bombers still in play, stay focused, Seraph," Hermes confirmed.

"Consider them history AWACs," Seraph assured, "I won't let them get any closer."

"Don't try anything fancy, Seraph," Phoenix ordered as he shot down an Erusian fighter attacking an allied tank squad, "I've already lost a former number two, and I don't want to be losing another." He then climbed as two more Erusian fighters came behind him, guns blazing. "There's so many of them..." To him, the Erusians seemed to be more aggressive than many of the pilots from the 1998 Rebellion.

"This is Capital Air Defense Command," the city's air base called out, "sixty percent of our helicopter forces have evacuated, what's the status on those bombers?"

"This is Scarface 1. Enemy bombers are inbound, but my wingman's got them tied up," Phoenix said, "we'll watch for those transports and their tanks."

"Copy that," Command acknowledged, "our lives are in your hands."

Likewise, Seraph was getting more into the groove of his combat flying. While the Erusian F-18s attempted to shoot him, he proved adept at using the F-14's speed and maneuvering at high speeds to outrun their attacks. Phoenix watched as Seraph managed to weave past the Erusian escorts and strike at three more bombers with a Sparrow and his gun. Two bombers went up in flames and blew up, while the third was forced to withdraw. Seeing that the Erusians were now focusing on the F-14, Phoenix banked hard and locked onto four of the Erusian fighters. He launched his AMRAAMs, all four of which hit their marks, giving Seraph a clear path to shoot at the remaining four bombers.

"All enemy bombers confirmed destroyed," Seraph said as he watched the last B-52 explode harmlessly over the city.

"This is Capital Air Defense. Eighty percent of our helicopter force has successfully departed. The IS Council is confirmed to be safely extracted east of the combat airspace. We'll be departing as well."

"Roger that," Phoenix replied , "safe flight. We'll see you due east!"

Cherub watched his screen for additional hostiles as Seraph scanned the skies for the transports that were supposed to follow the bombers. However, the only other enemies present were the remaining Hornets that were still engaging the battered Capital Air Defense fighters.

It was then that Hermes came in with an urgent message, "warning, seven contacts inbound from the northwest!"

Seraph and Cherub perked up at that. "Enemy reinforcements? Which squadron?" Seraph asked. If it was the transports, it was a much smaller flight than expected.

"Negative, they're moving too fast," Hermes denied, "the bogeys are coming in at Mach 5, too fast for fighter jets."

"What!? Where are they coming from?" Seraph was now starting to worry.

After a few seconds, it was then that the AWACs exclaimed. "Alert! They're rounds from Stonehenge! Get out of there now!"

Phoenix's blood chilled at the mention of the superweapon firing on them. He recognized the danger, based on what Slash previously told him about Stonehenge. "Seraph, get below 2,000 feet!"

Seraph wasted no time. By the urgency of Phoenix's voice and the panic among the other pilots, he dove hard and fast, trying to reach the altitudes that were said to be safe. He hit the deck not a moment too soon.

"Stonehenge rounds incoming! All units brace for-" The message was cut short as Seraph felt a violent jolting motion through his F-14. The Delarusian glanced up to see bright shockwaves blossom from the projectiles. In that instant, the ISAF aircraft that just so happened to be above Phoenix and Seraph exploded all over the sky, with their flaming wreckages spinning and crashing into the ground.

"T-that's Stonehenge!?" Seraph muttered. He had heard about Stonehenge's ability to fire shockwave shells designed to intercept Ulysses fragments, but to see them used against his allies was truly terrifying to behold. Regaining his senses, it was then that Seraph radioed, "Scarface 1! Are you alright!?"

"I'm alright," Phoenix replied to the young pilot's relief, "but that attack definitely came from Stonehenge."

It was then that the Usean veteran saw on his panel that his coms with AWACs Hermes were disconnected. "Hermes, give me a status report." He hoped for an immediate answer, but there was none. "Hermes, we need an update on those enemy transports," Phoenix radioed again, but there was no response. "AWACs Hermes, come in."

It was Cherub who then gave the answer. "I don't see any other allied aircraft on radar..." he reported, "they must have been all shot down."

Seraph felt a surreal sense of dread from Cherub's answer. He had heard the rumors about Stonehenge's terrifying firepower; now he was deathly afraid of the airspace above him. However, the worst was just beginning. It was then that the enemy transports showed up on radar, with an entirely new squadron of fighters.

"We've got incoming," Cherub alerted, "I'm counting twenty-four C-17s, twenty F-15Cs, and thirty MiG-29s! They're coming right at us!"

It was just like the last time... Seraph and Phoenix were now completely alone in the skies, and the whole Erusian Air Force was descending on them. "Darn! We still have helicopters taking off!" Seraph looked out his canopy, seeing that there were six helicopters left at the air base.

"We can't simply leave those guys to be slaughtered..." Phoenix said, "Seraph, we'll have to face the music and take on those enemy planes."

That made Seraph almost grow two brains. "Pardon me, Scarface 1," he began, "but we're outgunned seventy to two! We won't last long against those fighters!"

"We'll certainly last longer against them than we will against Stonehenge," Phoenix came back, "just follow my lead!" He hit the afterburners on his thrusters, propelling the F-18 towards the approaching enemy formation.

Seraph sighed in exasperation. "So much for a glorious combat debut to write home about," he expressed. Nevertheless, he also went for his afterburners, joining his flight lead in a do-or-die gamble against fifty enemy fighters and twenty-four transport planes. As his F-14 approached, his missile alert went berserk as the Erusians fired their medium-range missiles. He rolled hard and dispensed chaff and flares, and eventually got tangled alongside Phoenix as they were surrounded on all sides. As they were now the only ISAF fighter jets in the area, the enemy was now focused on finishing them off.

Seraph riddled an F-15 with tracers, only be forced into evasive actions by two MiGs shooting at him with their own cannons. Phoenix shot past some of the escorts, and fired a missile at one of the C-17s, blowing off one of its engines and wings. Unfortunately, the C-17s had already begun releasing their payload of airborne tanks, which parachuted into Los Canas below, and fired upon the ISAF stragglers on the ground. Despite their valiant efforts, Scarface was steadily being pushed back by the Erusian fighter squadrons, while the airborne mechanized units began to advance on the air base.

"Remaining evac choppers," Phoenix alerted, "you've got several Erusian armored vehicles vectoring in on your position! We can't hold them back, get yourselves in the air now!"

"Copy that, Scarface 1. We're taking off!" The six or so remaining UH-9s attained enough power to slowly lift off the tarmac. Unfortunately, some of the Erusian BTR-80s just happened to land close enough to the base to acquire the fleeing helicopters with their cannons. The hostile armor opened fire, and struck their targets.

"I've lost power to the rotors!"

"Mayday! Mayday!"

"We're going down!"

Phoenix could only watch helplessly as the Erusians slaughtered the escaping ISAF troops and staff, their helos spinning out of control and erupting into fireballs as they crashed. He swore as a close missile shot from an F-15 nearly clipped his wing. 'We're going to be killed at this rate...' he thought.

"This is really bad, Seraph." Cherub was practically being shaken like a doll as the F-14 was twisting and turning hard. "We're now the only ISAF planes left in the sky."

"Keep your eyes peeled, Cherub!" Seraph said as he was having to constantly watch his flanks and six as the missile alerts blared in his ears. Nothing seemed to be going right for the young pilot as he struggled to get a lock on one of the enemy planes, only to be forced into evasive maneuvers. He could also catch a glimpse of the Erusian BTRs on the ground advancing to occupy positions across the city, deploying several soldiers to sweep out whatever resistance remained. 'We've just lost the city...' It pained Seraph to admit the thought. "Scarface 1, this is Scarface 2," he radioed, "I don't think we can hold out over Los Canas any further. Please... we must withdraw immediately!"

"Agreed, Scarface 2," Phoenix assented, "let's break southwest and meet up with the White Valley. We can't afford to die here." He turned his F-18E hard away from the F-15s and MiG-29s and accelerated away. "Scarface 1, breaking off."

"Scarface 2, following suit!" Seraph likewise hit the afterburners, pulling himself out of the dogfight. The two Scarface fighters rapidly departed from Los Canas' airspace, the city now having fallen into Erusea's hands. The enemy fighters were not in pursuit, apparently disregarding the both of them as no threat.

"We made it," Seraph breathed out. However, the image of Stonehenge's attack remained burned into his mind. Now that he had witnessed its power for himself, he could understand why Erusea seemed to dominate the skies so easily. "So... where to now?"

"We'll have to make a stop at Istas Fortress, assuming that it hasn't fallen into enemy hands yet." Phoenix did a check on his weaponry and fuel. His screen showed that he still had enough fuel for the trip, but he was now down to his gun and two missiles on his wingtips. "We're going to need to refuel and resupply if we want to get back to our carrier. You good on fuel and weapons?"

"Looks like we've got half of our tank left," Cherub said as he ran the analysis, "should still be enough for us. Not so good on the weaponry, though. We've got only one missile and two hundred rounds of the cannon left."

"Keep an eye out for enemy patrols, buddy," Seraph ordered his co-pilot, "I'm not keen on further combat with us like this." He then focused on the HUD as he uploaded new flight data concerning safe passage to Istas to the southwest. "Maybe we might catch a break for once, after all this fighting and running away," he mused aloud. A radar alert startled him though, followed by a hypersonic crack above the two ISAF planes. Seraph shuddered as he saw contrails left by the bogeys, which were too fast for his radar. "Stonehenge..."

"That's in the direction of Istas Fortress..." Cherub voiced with a chill in his voice. Seraph had spoken too soon; they were not out of danger at all...

To be continued...