STIR = Sensor, Targeting, IFF, and Reconnaissance
A large part of this chapter will have the characters addressed by callsign, so in case you get confused:
Captain Jonathan Storm = Kiba
Captain Rai Okami = Sky Wolf
Lieutenant Tom Shilsky = Survivor
Lieutenant Bea Archer = STIR Bliz/Bliz
Princess Sora = Athena
A Storm is Brewing
Dawn, on and around the damaged Hermosa.
"This is Lieutenant Archer. Can you guys hear me?" The injured lieutenant called over the intercom.
"Roger, Archer. Remember, we're on callsigns now. In case you don't remember, I'm callsign Kiba, Captain Okami is callsign Sky Wolf, for the moment you're seaborne STIR Bliz, and Tom, we've never been on a mission together. What do they call you?" Captain Storm relayed over the radio.
"Survivor, captain." Tom answered.
"I'd love to hear how you got that one when we're done here. Honey, your callsign will be Athena for this mission. Is that ok?" said Kiba.
"Yes, sir." the princess acknowledged.
"Enou— of your ch-tter, fpols. Your names –ill all be those of –ngels when we are through with you. Rottenfeur 1 to Rottenfeur 2, --ing them to the –ea." The F-16 Rottenfeur team charged. In the dawn light the planes suddenly became ten times as menacing. Every inch of the Fighting Falcons were painted a blood red. Even the missiles nestled under the wings shined that sickly color.
"Rottenfeur 2 to –ur Sorian enemies: -t seems you have –ticed the ominous pa-nt job of our Falcons. Well t—s is no paint, it is the a—ual blood of our past enem—s. We harvest --em from the battlefield –nd imbue their revenant souls to –ur vehicles, bolstering the resiliency o –eir armor. The more bl—d on the vehicle, the stronger the ve—cle and its crew is. –s you can plainly see, there is no gr—spot on our planes. ---pare to die!"
Rottenfeur 2 released 2 missiles, which caused the Sorians to break formation. Diving low, Survivor prepared to ambush one of the planes from its blind spot. Immediately spotting the strategy, Sky Wolf gave chase, attempting to herd one of the attackers into the trap.
"This is seaborne STIR Bliz, I've made contact with the nearest Sorian air base and described our enemies to them. They're running a check now. Standby for report."
"That's great work, Bliz. Status report on the Hermosa." ordered Survivor, barely dodging a gun volley from Rottenfeur 1.
"Flames are quelled on all decks. We're still listing at 15 degrees, but there are no leaks or floods. As for the passengers, we've pulled some from the water and many have minor injuries. Luckily there were three doctors on board so any ailments are being attended to. When I called for support, I reached White Cloud Air Base, which you may know is a naval port as well as an air base. They're sending rescue boats and a destroyer to help out." reported Bliz.
"Beautiful work, Bliz." Kiba congratulated her. "Keep giving us intel as things happen." Both the Sorians and the Rottenfeur team flew and fought fiercely and beautifully. It was amazing how the bloodied planes could evade four high performance fighters with such ease. For a while, anyway. Spotting an opening after Survivor and Sky Wolf failed to get Rottenfeur 1 with the "blind arrow" maneuver; Kiba drove one of the Rottenfeur team into a yin-yang circle. In this maneuver, the chasing plane purposely gets into the short range scanners of the plane being chased, making it look like they have switched roles. The planes follow each other in a circular pattern very closely. From a bird's eye view it appears they are at opposite ends of a circle, like yin and yang. While the enemy plane is fixated on his closer target, an allied plane quickly eliminates the enemy. This must be done because the force of the g's will cause at least one of them to pull out of the turn eventually, the first one to do so being the loser. This is how Rottenfeur 1 got shot down.
"That was gorgeous, Athena! I've taught you well." exclaimed Kiba, pulling out of the turn and watching Rottenfeur 1's plane burn as he ejected.
"---se you, Sorian dogs! I promi— your defeat will not be in vain, Mikhail. We'll –e back." said Rottenfeur 2. He quickly ignited his afterburners and escaped south beyond the horizon.
"Yeah, and we'll be ready!" Sky Wolf called after him.
"This is seaborne STIR Bliz. I saw the fireworks from here. Excellent work, guys. And look, our rescue team has arrived! All fighters remain in the air for possible air support." said Bliz.
"You didn't do too bad, yourself, Lieutenant. Sure you don't want to be a STIR captain full time?" said Sky Wolf.
"And miss blasting the brains out of anything that moves with you guys? I don't think so." Bliz laughed. Just then, a transmission came in.
"This is Admiral Shaile on the destroyer S.S. Starshot. Can any of you tell me what went on here?" the Admiral of Sora's 22nd Elite Naval Fleet asked.
"I don't know, really. One minute we're relaxing on the Hermosa's deck, and the next we're diving for our lives away from a sidewinder. We don't even know exactly why those guys attacked or where they came from. It's obvious they knew we were Sorian, though." Kiba explained.
"Well how do you know that?" Admiral Shaile inquired.
"They told us, ma'am. In fact they seemed familiar with us in particular." Kiba replied.
"Do you think they knew we were on that boat?" Sky Wolf guessed.
"It's certainly possible, but lucky for us we had our planes with us so we could drive them off." Survivor answered.
"But even with that, who could have tipped them off that Sora's best pilots would all be on the Hermosa?" Athena wondered.
"Ahhh!" Bliz's voice was heard over the radio.
"Bliz, Bliz! What's wrong?" Sky Wolf asked frantically.
"We may have failed in killing you and your squadron, Captain Storm, and the princess would have been a nice bonus, too. But in my mission's failure, the Narabian Empire will get away with at least one death today!" it was Captain Ramirez.
"R-Ramirez! What the hell is this! Who is the Narabian Empire?!" Kiba demanded. No one could do anything from the sky.
"Let Bea go, Ramirez! I swear, if you kill her, I'll burn that boat to the water myself! I'm arming missiles!" Sky Wolf threatened. She was beyond furious.
"Cool it, Sky Wolf!" Kiba pleaded.
"The hell I won't! He can't kill my best friend!" she yelled back. Suddenly, pistol shots rang out over the radio.
"BEAAAAAAY!" Sky Wolf screamed. Silence hung over the airwaves like a bad cold during a winter blizzard.
"Ramirez! Ramirez! What the hell did you do to Lieutenant Archer?!" Kiba ordered. Before anyone could answer, Sky Wolf interrupted.
"He killed her, Jonathan! Let's scuttle the Hermosa so that traitor Ramirez can—"
"Would you calm down, Rai? Ramirez is the one who got shot, not the one who did the shooting." Bliz told the others in the sky.
"Bea!" Sky Wolf yelled, again. The others breathed sighs of great relief.
"There now, you see? Bliz is more than capable of handling herself in any situation." Kiba assured.
"It's good to see you're alright, Lieutenant. I trust it's safe to send in the rescue boats?" said Admiral Shaile.
"Ay-ok, Admiral. I'm sure these passengers are ready to get home. I know I am." replied Bliz.
"Sorry, Bliz, but that doesn't seem like an option for us. With this attack and whoever the Narabian Empire is on our hands, we may be in for a full scale war." said Survivor.
"Lieutenant Shilsky is right," the Admiral agreed. "let's get back to base to assess the situation."
Late Afternoon, White Cloud Air Base, on the coast of Southeastern Sora
The passengers on the death trap that was the Hermosa had all returned home. Captain Storm and his squadron, along with Princess Sora and Admiral Shaile, were in the briefing room at White Cloud Air Base, Sora's second largest air base and naval port. They were speaking with King Hoshi, the king of Sora's monarchy, and President Alfred Couric, the leader of the Republic of Sora.
Sora is a monarchic republic, meaning that a royal family rules the country, but its power is kept in check and balance with a republic government, composed of an elected president, five elected regional governors, and other elected governmental officials. Both the royal family and the republic have limited power over each other to make sure neither has total control over Sora. The monarchy of Sora oversees military actions and can authorize the use of the country's most dangerous and top secret weapons, defenses, and vehicles. They also review laws, suggest revisions, and can decide any ties in elections of the Republic of Sora. A royal family member begins government work at 25 years old, but is trained for years beforehand. The Republic of Sora is in charge of making laws in Sora and commands the country's police forces. Representatives are elected to stand for the five regions of Sora, each named after the chief geographical formations of the respective area: the Northwestern Mountains, the Southwestern Plains, the Northeastern Forestland, the Southeastern Plains, and the Central Valleys. A president is elected to pass laws and be the ultimate representative of the Sorian people. War can only be declared by both the republic and the monarchy. In the republic, the four intermediate regions must give approval before the Republic of Sora can formally declare war with the monarchy. At least three members of the royal family over 18 must agree on the war decision to declare war with the Republic. The issue of war is what Captain Storm and his squadron, Princess, Sora, and Admiral Shaile were discussing with King Hoshi and President Couric via video chat.
"We can't declare war over a single terrorist attack." King Hoshi argued.
"That's true, we don't even know exactly who or where this 'Narabian Empire' is." President Couric agreed.
"Well they certainly had it in for Sora, and my squadron and I in particular. Don't you remember what I told you about their planes?" Captain Storm pointed out.
"The way they were talking before made it sound like they'd fought before, and won. They spoke as if they had an entire army to back up their arrogance." Rai said, grinding her teeth. Just then, a private burst through the door.
"I have urgent information for Admiral Shaile" the private said. He looked around and quickly straightened up and saluted, suddenly daunted by so many high ranking officials around him. Then he held up a small disk, no doubt containing the information he was sent to get.
"Well, let's see it." ordered Shaile.
"Yes, ma'am." the private complied. He put the disc in a computer opposite the video screen the King and President were on so they could see as well. In a few seconds images and text became visible. The data was beyond shocking.
"Hot damn!" Jonathan exclaimed.
"Is that the Narabian Empire?" said Tom.
"That land has been uninhabitable for decades!" Sora added. It was true; the Narabian Empire was located on an Emmeria-sized island about 200 miles south of Sora and Akaria. The earth there was so dry and hot that no human could withstand the conditions for more than a couple days. Engines would fry or explode upon ignition and any liquid evaporated in minutes. The arid conditions happened because of a nuclear project the Sorians did about 60 years ago. The extensive nuclear testing eradicated any hope of the land ever being successfully cultivated. It had then been left alone by the world as a reminder for the severe destructive and long-lasting power of nuclear technology. However, the Narabian Empire somehow spanned a good third of that land, much of it being lush greenery.
"I don't… how did we not notice that with our satellites? How did anyone not notice that?" President Couric looked and sounded terrified. If the threat of a highly-militarily capable country coming out of nowhere wasn't bad enough, the red-alert light in the briefing room suddenly bathed the room in bright red flashes.
"Dear God, what now?" Captain Okami asked. An intelligence officer's voice sounded over the intercom.
"An Akarian city has just been wiped out!"
