{ === + === }

…

Several days after the initial declarations of war between Osea and its neighboring states (plus one overseas powerhouse) many other nations found it a good time to declare war with each other, given that the two major nations in Strangereal are now engaged and had no attention to spare to their lesser conflicts.

One of those said conflicts involved the Federal Republic of Erusea (Erusea) and the Federation of Central Usea (FCU) on the Usean continent. Although the FCU had long standing alliances with other nations on the Usean continent, the suddenly and inexplicable change in international relations (read: war everywhere) made their ruling political bodies anxious and unwilling to make sudden moves that would bring war into their countries.

Seizing upon this opportunity, Erusea had declared for San Salvacion, a free city-state between the FCU and Erusean border. The FCU, knowing that this invasion would cause Erusea to arrive on their proverbial doorstep (and fearing continued aggression by Erusea if left unchecked), declared a guarantee of San Salvacion. However, the FCU was worryingly alone.

Both nations amassed their forces on the borders of San Salvacion, who really just wanted this whole thing to blow over but had no say in the issue.

…

[FCU Frontline base, 1400]

…

Two nameless NPC pilots are busy playing chess next to their F-16C Fighting Falcons, obviously breaking a regulation (or ten) in the process.

"It's a good thing war hasn't broken out yet." Pilot A says sarcastically.

"I know." Pilot B plays along. "Or we'd have to deploy again."

"Think the captain's over it yet?" Pilot A asks. "We got knocked around pretty hard yesterday and he didn't seem too happy about it."

"Erusea's just poking us right now, and we're hitting back as hard as we get." Pilot B shrugs. "The Captain'll be alright."

Pilot A taps his cheek in thought. "You think? Check." He leans back after moving his piece. "Our logistics on the border was better, so we got more fighters in the air than before, but we're not exactly coming out of a fight smelling like roses every single time."

"It just means Erusea has better pilots than we do. Ah, shit." Pilot B realizes he had accidentally lost his queen. "When we get AWACS support things will turn around."

"Thaank you." Pilot A says with a grin and takes the queen. "I don't think it's gonna be that simple. Erusea's bigger than us, and if nobody around us wants to hop into this fight we're not going to win it."

"Yeah." Pilot B sighs. "So, really, when's the other shoe gonna drop?"

"It's dropping right now." Their captain said over their heads, making both of them jump. "What are you two doing?"

"We're, uh…" Pilot A grins sheepishly. "On Standby?"

"Very active standby." Pilot B adds.

The Captain just sighs. "Get your asses to the briefing room. The new pilots are here."

"Yes ma'am." Pilot B salutes sharply and jumps to his feet.

"God dammit." Pilot A was stuck cleaning up after the upturned board.

…

[Briefing Room]

…

"Yay. Nuggets." Pilot A sighs as soon as he laid eyes upon the new pilots.

"God forbid we have to babysit." Pilot B sighs. "Captain, with all due respect, why aren't they sending more experienced pilots into our group?"

The captain gave him a dirty look. "Aren't you a smart mouth? These guys are as good if not better than you are."

Pilot B eyed one of the lankier newcomers warily. "I find that hard to believe."

"And I find a lot of things about you hard to believe." The captain responds flatly. "Your graduation at the top of the academy among them."

"Touché." Pilot B grins. "Sorry ma'am, newcomers."

"Don't mind him." The captain sighs to the two new pilots. "He talks too much for his own good."

"Well, our poor manners aside," Pilot A salutes the two newcomers. "Welcome to the Sprite Squadron. We're here as the front line pilots against Erusea, so you must have skill to be assigned here."

"Yes, sir." The lankier pilot replies readily. The stockier pilot simply nods.

"Well, at least you're confident." Pilot A replies approvingly. "Confidence is key up there."

"The two of you will be Sprites 5 and 6 when we go up." The captain takes control again. "I expect the two of you to work with each other for your first missions."

The two new pilots salute.

…

[Next Day, 0800]

…

A flight of six F-16C Fighting Falcons soared through San Salvacion airspace at an respectable altitude of 6000 feet.

"The two of you show up and then Erusea decides to mount a serious attack." Pilot A laughs. "You guys are like the anti-rabbit's foot."

"Wouldn't that just make us the rabbit?" Ribbon sighs.

"I guess it would." Pilot A agrees, still in a good mood. "How many are we up against, captain?"

"San Salvacion's radar network says we have about thirty fighters in our area." The captain replies. "It's going to be a pretty big furball, boys, so have your big boy pants on."

Pilot B's reply was a breezy "Acknowledged" along with the rest of squadron.

…

"Tally ho." Sprite Captain says. "Flight of four Fishbeds at our 11."

"Oh good, numerical advantage." Pilot A (Sprite 3) says cheerily. "Did they see us yet?"

"It looks like they're establishing control over Route 20." Pilot B (Sprite 4) notes. "Must be prepping for a ground invasion force."

"Not much point holding a highway if nobody rides it, though." Sprite 3 says with a cursory check of his fuel. "What's the call, boss?"

"We'll engage." Sprite Leader says firmly. "One shot each, children."

"Roger." Sprite 3 arms one XMAA. Sprites 4 through 6 did the same.

The Mig21bis Fishbeds heard the lock alarms in their cockpits, divided, then turned tail and ran.

"What the…" Sprite 3 frowns. "That's a first. Usually they're pretty gung-ho about this whole thing."

Sprite 4 was a bit more clear-eyed. "There are thirty other planes in the air. My money's on them trying to lure us in."

"No doubt about that." The captain mutters, then switches channels. "AWACS, where are the enemy flights closest to our position?"

"Not accounting for the one that's running away, you have another group of Fishbeds to your 9 o'clock." The AWACS operator replied. "Six aircraft."

"And if we followed them, they'd be on our six when we engage…" The captain reasoned. "Alright, good enough. Leave them be and continue our patrol."

"Bah." Sprite 3 says but fell back in line. "Acknowledged. Don't tell me they came all this way just to sightsee."

"Let's hope that's what they're doing." Sprite 4 corrects him.

…

And so this continued for another week, with Erusea and the FCU skirmishing over the skies of San Salvacion and scoring very few kills on either side while both sides moved ground forces to position.

Then there was a problem. Namely, San Salvacion refused to let FCU land forces enter and reinforce the city. Obviously, Erusea had no such problem (or rather, they were refused entry as well but they didn't feel like listening).

Suffice to say that the FCU military was not happy with this arrangement.

"They don't seem to want us to protect their independence." Sprite 3 grumbles.

Again, Sprite 4 was the cool-headed one. "They don't want us entrenched because Erusea's been shipping in a million Intruders and Frogfoots."

"Would it be Frogfoots or Frogfeet?" Sprite 3 needed to ask.

4 ignored him. "If I were them I'd probably ask for something similar."

"Yeah, I guess." 3 nods. "So what attackers do we have?"

"Mirages, F-2As, and a handful of A-10s." 4 ticks off each fighter type on his finger. "I think they're also sending in Tornados, but I don't know when they'll get here."

"FCU's not really in a state for war, huh?" 3 stretches. "Not that I'm surprised."

"Blame Aker in the south, I guess." 4 shakes his head. "They've always handled FCU's ground attack roles in joint operations."

"Pity they're not doing anything now." 3 stands up. "Yo! Six!"

Sprite 6 was busy with helping the mechanics doing maintenance on the F-16C…though to be honest the crew is doing almost all of said work.

"Busybody." 3 mutters good-naturedly then raises his voice again. "How do you feel about conducting ground attack missions?"

"It would be easier than shooting things that move." Sprite 6 replies with disinterest.

"Our rookies are no fun." 4 pats 3 reassuringly on the shoulder as 3 feigns emotional devastation. "You should know that by now."

…

[Six days later, Sky over Old San Salvacion, 1600]

…

"Guys?" Sprite 3 says cautiously. "Look to our 9 o'clock."

Sprite 6 glances over the F-16C's wing but sees nothing of interest.

Sprite 4 obediently checks his radar. "Eruseans…a lot of Eruseans. My radar isn't broken, right?"

"No, you're seeing the same thing we are." Sprite 2 replies. "We got at least a hundred Erusean aircraft headed straight for us. What's the call, captain?"

"AWACS, this is Sprite Leader." Their captain reports. "We have hostiles on radar approaching fast, please advise."

"Sprite Leader, this is SkyEye." An operator on the supporting aircraft replied. "We've detected the incoming enemy aircraft as well. Air command has scrambled fighters and they will be in place shortly. Defend your positions until they arrive."

"Defend our positions?" Sprite Leader was indignant. "We're outnumbered 20 to 1 here!"

"We're well aware." SkyEye replies apologetically. "But Erusea's making a major push and we cannot give up ground here."

"Time to man up, I guess." Sprite 3 sighs. "Arming XMAAs. If they're going to dance then it's the least we can do to oblige them."

"Admirable, but we don't exactly have a full tank here." Sprite 4 points out, though he arms his XMAAs all the same. "We can hold for fifteen minutes, tops."

"Then hold for that long." The captain snaps. "All aircraft engage; fight defensively and don't overextend yourselves." She listens for her XMAAs to report locks. "Fox three!"

She and her flight of F-16Cs release their salvo of XMAAs.

"They're not sitting around either." Sprite 3 mutters as his warning alarms go off. "Incoming!"

An Erusean detachment of eight F-18A Hornets and eight F-16C Vipers split from the main force and engaged the FCU F-16C Fighting Falcons with a salvo of twelve XMAAs.

The FCU missiles scored 4 kills out of 24 missiles fired, all Tornados.

The Erusean counterattack whiffed every last shot.

"Yeah! Eat it, suckers!" Sprite 3 celebrates as the missiles following him lose their lock.

"Watch the skyline." Sprite 4 warns him. Their evasive maneuvers cost them altitude, allowing the Eruseans to dive down onto the Sprite squadron.

"Yeah, I see it." Sprite 3 arms his second set of XMAAs and noses up to meet the attackers. "Come get some!"

The threat of XMAAs forces the Eruseans to break off into their two groups, allowing the Sprite squadron to climb and engage at a more favorable level.

Sprite 3 immediately found a lock on a lazy Hornet and tore into its engines with a missile.

"These guys aren't much." Sprite 4 laughs, taking down another Hornet.

"Not much, yes." Sprite 1 turns along with her Viper quarry and strafe it with bullets. "But watch their numbers."

"Yeah." Sprite 3 hears a lock warning. "Hornet on my ass. Get it off." He turns hard right and lures the Hornets into position for Sprite 4.

"Red 2, you're maneuvering into their trap." The Erusean pilot doing the chasing hears through his own radio. "Break."

Sprite 4 locks onto the Hornet behind Sprite 3 for a brief moment and almost fires a missile, but the Hornet suddenly brakes and ascends. 4 sent a few bullets chasing after it but scored no hits.

"Looks like the honeymoon is over." Sprite 4 stays on course to ensure that Sprite 3's tail remained clear. "We're actually going to have to try."

…

When the reinforcing fighters arrived on scene to engage the main force, the Sprite team had made three more kill between the six of them and was collectively bingo fuel.

"Sprite Leader here, glad you guys got here on time." Sprite One sighs as she leads her flight back to their airfield. "The catwalk's all yours, Omega."

"Omega Leader copies." Omega 1 replies steadily. "Thank you for keeping the field for us."

"Whew!" Sprite 3 engages his autopilot. "I'm glad they got here when they did. I'm bingo fuel."

"We're all bingo, dude." Sprite 4 laughs. "2 to 1 fighting is horrid."

"And we're gonna have to go in again when we get resupplied, right?" Sprite 3 groans. "Hey, 5 and 6. How are you guys doing?"

"Could be worse." Sprite 5 says blandly, netting an eyeroll and slight shake of the head from 3.

The other answer was equally as bland. "Sprite 6, no complaints here."

"I swear, the two of you need hobbies or something." Sprite 4 laughs as 3 sighs harder. "We all need to go out for a drink when we're done here. The two of you need to be properly integrated into the group."

"Or maybe it's because the two of you are hogging all the bandwidth." Sprite 2 says like a disapproving father.

Sprite 1 laughs at that. "Since when have they not hogged bandwidth?"

"The bandwidth was made for guys like us, lead." Sprite 3 says dramatically. "We're meant for the big stage."

"Riiight." Sprite 1's sarcasm could not be more overt. "The stage just can't wait for a man like you."

"You know it." Sprite 3 rolls his aircraft for show. "The only way it can be improved is if the two of us take it at the same time."

"The 'us' or the 'you'?" 4 asks inquisitively.

"Uh…" 3 was about as confused as the rest of the squadron. "Yes."

"Alright, alright. Pack it in, gentlemen." Sprite 1 had enough fun. "We're coming into heavy air traffic. I don't want to see any of you go down in flames crashing into our own guys because you were too busy shooting your mouths."

"Yes, boss." Sprite 3 verbally salutes.

…

30 minutes later, the Sprite team was landed and rearming. The pilots were sent to the officer lounge for forced relaxation (they would have rather just sat in their cockpits, but the crew chief was very insistent).

Another 30 minutes later, the Sprite team, now forcibly refreshed, boarded their Fighting Falcons again and took into the air.

"I have to admit, being told to use the bathroom was a new experience." Sprite 2 mutters.

"Were you never a child or something?" Sprite 3 wonders.

"I was a very brilliant child." Sprite 2 replies with the hint of a laugh. "So I can imagine not needing to be told to do simple tasks."

3 sighs as 4 laughs at him. "Well I walked into that one." He replies good-naturedly. "So, lead: Where are we headed to now?"

"Looks like the Eruseans are trying to fly some bombers over San Salvacion Air Force Base." Sprite 1 replies after conferring with the AWACS. "We're headed that way."

"Oh, we're going bear hunting?" Sprite 4 cracks his knuckles. "Sounds like it's gonna be a good time."

"Going by the sounds of it, the bombers themselves shouldn't be a problem." Sprite 1 agrees. "They also have some mercenaries as escorts…bet you anything this is just a long shot on Erusea's part."

"Mercs?" Sprite 3 raises an eyebrow. "We're the ones with the smaller airforce here. Shouldn't we be the ones using mercs?"

"Not if they get to them first, I guess." Sprite 2 replies. "What the…I'm not seeing things, right?"

"You're not." Sprite 1 checks her targeting radar. "Tally ho, three fighters in our face."

"In our face, you say?" Sprite 3 stares at the horizon. "How big is our face? I don't see them."

"Three fighters at our XMAA range…looks like they're the eager ones, meeting us this far out." Sprite 1 arms three XMAAs. "Engage after I fire."

"Copy."

…

While the Sprite squadron was ready to kick ass and take names, the incoming Mercenary Squadron was on lookout for enemies. They had seen the Sprite squadron coming in at approximately the same time the Sprites saw them, and were currently turning to engage.

"See? I told you we'd find them if we came out this far." The squadron leader says confidently.

"Well, that's great, but…" his wingman sighs. "They're gonna be shooting at us, because we can't hit back." Though their aircraft, the Mig-21-93, were capable of carrying SAAMs (just 2 of them) they had deigned to use those slots for drop tanks instead to increase their flight time.

"We just need to get closer than this." The third pilot says in a noncommittal tone. "Our Migs are better at knife range anyways."

"We're not flying at them so we can dodge better." The leader reminds him. "3, send a message to the others and tell them to converge. We're being engaged, after all."

"Right, right…" the third pilot sighs softly. "Guys? This is Raven 3, we're engaged with enemy aircraft, requesting assistance."

"Better come quick, too." Raven Leader said to himself as his lock warning sounded. "Or there won't be any for you guys to shoot."

…

"Sprite Leader, this is SkyEye. Enemy aircraft are converging on your position, don't get overwhelmed."

"Thanks for the heads-up." Sprite 1 replies. "How many?"

"Eight aircraft…no, ten; two more just entered the combat area."

"Ten, huh?" Sprite 3 breaks from formation to engage Raven 3. "Enough for all of us to get a few kills. Yo! Rookies!"

"Yes, sir?" Sprite 5 replies dutifully.

"This is your chance to shine!" Sprite 3 laughs.

"Roger that, sir." Sprite 5 replies, clearly not sharing the sentiment. "6, We're going in after the right one. Back me up."

"Ok." Sprite 6 nods.

…

The six Sprite aircraft divided into three pairs, and each pair went after one Raven aircraft.

The difference in skill became immediately apparent.

Sprite 1 hard locked onto Raven 1 after two turns and sent him away smoking with a stream of bullets.

Sprites 3 and 4 each locked onto Raven 2 and turned his aircraft into a ball of fire as he tried to dive out of the way.

Sprites 5 and 6 boxed the last Mig in but were unable to get a lock. They chased the pilot until a poor maneuver caused the fighter to slam into the ground.

…

"That's all she wrote for these guys." Sprite 3 laughs. "Now then, how long 'til the new guys get here?"

"ETA 1 minute." Sprite leader replies. "Reform and prepare to engage; remember to save some for the bombers."

…

The Erusean side was having a less than nominal day. Despite having more aircraft, Erusea was unable to maintain air superiority against their enemies, and the ground forces sent suffered for it. Since the beginning of the operation, the Erusean ground forces were still stuck at the edge of Old San Salvacion and were unable to proceed further.

Being shelled by San Salvacion Artillery (and yes, San Salvacion did have its own army) didn't help them any.

At the moment, the ground forces were hastily scrambling away from incoming San Salvacion aircraft. Just a minute ago, some Erusean aerial squadrons disengaged to return and rearm, and this opening in the air cover was immediately plugged in by FCU pilots, allowing San Salvacion Attackers to reach the Erusean tanks.

Ace combat is not tank combat, so assume these are German Leopard 2A5s or something.

"Back up! Backup backup backup!" A tank commander yelled to his driver as the tank attempted to hide between two houses. A bomb dropped from the F-2A overhead stopped him dead.

"What the hell is our air cover doing?!" The driver of a nearby SAM vehicle snarls. "Shoot them down already!"

Disclaimer: we don't know how this works and are thus guessing.

The gunner locks onto the incoming F-2 and fires a missile as soon as he hears the lock tone in his ear.

Given the F-2 was in the process of zooming past the vehicle while moving very fast, the missile traced for a small while and then lost its lock. All of Usea had problems with missiles being not very accurate, and this was no exception.

"The angle was bad." The gunner mutters. "Arming missile." He re-aims the SAM turret to lock onto the F-2A again, but the aircraft placed a tall building between it and the Roland, and the lock was lost.

"Damn." The vehicle commander growls. "To no surprise, they're flying circles around us."

"If only our air support was any good." The driver gives a worrying glance to the smoking pile of metal that used to be a tank. "What the hell are they doing?"

"What they're not doing is covering our heads." The commander saw another aircraft on radar. "Incoming at 135, take it down now!"

The SAM vehicle lurches forward to get a clearer shot at the Su-25 Frogfoot in its sight and fires a missile before fire from a San Salvacion Irregular (read: guy with an RPG) destroyed it.

"Didn't we clear these houses already?" The Erusean Unit Commander, more experienced in open terrain combat than urban, asks exasperatedly. "Send some infantry units through those houses and make sure they're clear."

"I think I see a command vehicle." The pilot of the Su-25 Frogfoot says after finishing his evasive action. He had seen the Commander APC hidden between some small houses. "Taking it out."

"Watch for triple A." His copilot warns. "3 o'clock."

The Frogfoot banks and drops altitude some more. The AA Gun emplacement guarding the command vehicle fired a few shots into the tree line and did little more than to warn the command vehicle about the incoming aerial threat.

Not in the mood to die a flashy but otherwise useless death, the Erusean commander ordered his tank to confirm the Frogfoot's position and move around the houses so as to use them as cover against the aerial attack.

It worked for two minutes, and then the Frogfoot found a good angle of attack against the vehicle.

As the fighter went into its attack run, however, the copilot noticed a blip on their radar.

"There's a fighter coming in." He warns. "It's a fast one."

The pilot doesn't stray from his attack path. "Well, that means we're screwed no matter how we hack it, so let's take this guy down and bail out later."

"You're such an optimist." His copilot sighs. "AWACS, this is Devil 2. We're in trouble."

"AWACS HawkEye copies, diverting Rapier team to your position."

The Frogfoot dutifully dropped a guided penetration bomb on the command tank's top and blew it to bits.

"Alright, now where's our funeral?" The pilot looks around, trying to confirm the physical position of the blip on his radar while flying evasively but randomly.

"He should be behind us?" The copilot looks around as well. "But I don't see him-"

The Frogfoot then suffered a direct hit to its engines, spun out of control, and crashed into a house.

"Target down." Reported the pilot of the fighter. "We were unable to rescue the commander, however."

"Unfortunate." The Theatre Commander paid it little attention. "Aquila Squadron, continue your primary mission."

"Yes sir." The squadron leader acknowledges. "What should we do next, captain?"

"Four enemy Hornets are bearing down upon us." His wingman replies. "Climb and destroy."

…

"Hey, it's a red baron." Rapier 1 notes with surprise. "A red baron with a souped up Flanker, too. All aircraft open fire, we'll take him down now."

Rapier 2 took an extra-long look at the incoming aircrafts. "Yellow Wingtips, huh? I can't say I agree with their tastes."

"How they look doesn't matter." Rapier 1 replies. "We just need to take them down. Rapier squadron, attack!"

The Rapier squadron, the team of four Hornets, dove onto the Yellow Terminators and fired their normal missiles.

The Yellow Squadron scattered, except for Yellow 13, who weaved through the missiles and continued to climb, as if challenging the Hornets to a joust.

"Red Baron indeed." Rapier 4 grins, noting that the Terminator was headed directly towards him.

The two aircraft open fire with their guns at the same time, but Yellow 13 maneuvered via a roll. Rapier 4 sustained a cockpit hit that killed him instantly while Yellow 13's Terminator sustained a few hits to its tail fin.

"Shit! 4!" Rapier 1 yells as the two sides passed each other.

Yellow 13, who had been braking while shooting, stalled in midair and immediately dropped back down after the Rapier Hornets.

The Rapier team, a little too worried about a lost wingman and unused to dealing with a supermaneuverable fighter, pulled level to the ground and moved to turn with Yellow 13 sitting right behind them.

Yellow 13 armed 3 of his XLAAs and fired before the Rapier team could react to what was going on. Seconds later, three new fireballs scattered across the ground.

"Nice shot, captain!" Yellow 1 cheers as the squadron reforms and climbs back up to altitude. "That makes you the first Ace of Erusea!"

"The first of many." Yellow 13 replied in a level tone. "Now don't get distracted, we still have work to do."

…

[5 Minutes Later]

…

"The main force is what?"

Sprite 1 was momentarily distracted from the last mercenary (a Rafale M) she was chasing and let it get away from her long enough for Sprite 2 to snag the kill instead.

"SkyEye, repeat." Sprite 1 demands.

"The main force is being pushed back." SkyEye repeats, his voice showing his own doubt. "The cause is apparently a flight of new enemy fighters."

"Fighters don't win wars, pilots do." Sprite 1 replies instantly. "Do we know who's behind the stick?"

"Unknown." SkyEye says. "But there's one extremely skilled pilot in the enemy squadron. He's downed 9 aircraft already."

"Yikes." Sprite 3 mutters. "Sounds like he's gonna be bad news for us."

"Roger that." Sprite 1 sighs. "Thanks for the heads up, SkyEye. Squadron: we'll handle the remaining bombers and then head straight home."

Sprite 4's eyebrows went up. "That's a surprise." He says. "I thought you'd tell us to attack this new Ace of theirs."

"Believe me, I want to." Sprite 1 growls. "But keeping San Salvacion clear comes first."

"The lady has spoken." Sprite 3 grins. "Tally ho!"

The second to last batch of bombers, a wing of 4 Tu-95 Bears, entered into their combat area.

"All the mercs are down, too. Sprites 5 and 6, take the shots." Sprite 4 says.

"Not all." Sprite 3 reminds him. "The two stragglers are going to be on us at any second."

Sprites 5 and 6 was worried, but they did as they were told and fired their remaining two XMAAs at the Bears, splashing them without incident.

"That's all of them." Sprite 1 grins despite herself. "How do you like that, you damn Eruseans?"

"Mercs entering combat area." Sprite 2 warns. "They're escorting two more Bears."

"They're fashionably late." Sprite 3 laughs. "Props to them for waiting. We're almost all out of ammo here."

"They're pretty full of themselves, too." Sprite 4 scowls upon seeing paint schemes on the enemy's F-15C Eagles.

Sprite 6 saw the two incoming aircraft, took note of their paintjobs, and then instinctively felt a chill that caused a shudder.

…

On the other side, the two pilots saw the flight of six F-16C Fighting Falcons, and as their eyes checked the status of each one, they felt a slight chill down their spines as well.

"What was that…?" The pilot of the lead aircraft, an Eagle with a single red wing, murmurs.

"Was that warning…?" The pilot of the supporting aircraft, an Eagle with a pair of dark blue wings, wonders. "Galm 1?"

"If it's not immediately pertinent to our mission, then don't worry about it." The first pilot replies breezily. "Sorry. I know we're a provisional squadron formed because we're both mercenaries, but that doesn't mean we're gonna be friends, alright?"

"Understood." The second pilot sighs. "I'll follow your lead, Galm 1."

"It's a tough business, Galm 2." The first pilot reassures him. "So friends come and go pretty quickly…no hard feelings."

…

"They're coming for us." Sprite 1 warns. "Split and engage. Rookies, go after the bombers."

Sprite team again divided into three teams of two, with Sprites 1 and 2 engaging the red winged aircraft and Sprites 3 and 4 engaging the near-black winged aircraft.

To everyone's surprise, the two mercenaries blew past the four incoming Falcons and homed in exclusively on the rookies.

"5 and 6, Break off!" Sprite 1 orders. "Break now!"

Sprite 5 froze, and a burst of gunfire from Blue Wing struck his aircraft, tearing off a wing. The rest of the aircraft spiraled into the ground.

Sprite 6 did manage to break away, but still took a few bullets to the fuselage.

"Sprite 6! Are you alright?!" Sprite 3 asks while re-engaging Blue Wing.

"I'll live." Ribbon replies through gritted teeth and watched Sprites 3 and 4 chase after the Blue Wing.

After one turn, Blue Wing forced 3 and 4 to overshoot with a sharp barrel roll.

"He knows his aircraft very well." 4 can't help but complement. "Split!"

The two Falcons divided again.

"Good, but not good enough!" the Red Wing pilot, while still evading a lock from Sprites 1 and 2 behind him, found an intersecting flight path with Sprite 3 and fired.

Sprite 4, shocked at the sudden interception of 3, slowed for a brief second. That brief second allowed the Blue Wing to achieve a hard lock at way less than evasive range.

"Sprite 4 is down. 3, are you alive?" Sprite 2 asks as calmly as he could manage. His answer came in the form of Sprite 3's Falcon not levelling itself, losing altitude, and plowing into a pond. "Damn. Lead, we're in trouble."

"I can see that!" Sprite 1 snarls, straining against her dampeners to stay on the Red Wings' tail. "These bastards are not going to get away with this!"

"6, take out that bomber then get out of here." Sprite 2 orders. "These two are way too skilled."

Sprite 6 was in shock.

The Red Wing had, in the brief moment that it took Sprite 2 to speak, baited Sprite 1 to follow at gun range. Sprite 1 gladly obliged and fired her guns, only for the Red Wing to execute a Kulbit at a speed and angle that must be murder on the plane's airframe. Sprite 1 as a result overshot badly while smoking.

Red Wing had shot and seriously damaged her aircraft while executing its Kulbit.

Sprite 2, seeing this, fired at the Red Wing after barely attaining a lock. In response, the Blue Wing strafed his Falcon and detonated the engine with a lucky shot.

"Son of a…" Sprite 1 snarls as Sprite 2 attempts to bail out. "Full afterburners, we're running!"

"Whew." The Red Wing Pilot breathes. "These guys were a cut above normal…Galm Two, what are you doing?"

The Blue Wing aircraft followed the crippled body of Sprite 2's Falcon and put a bullet into the cockpit.

"Galm Two, that's far enough." Red Wing Pilot warns. "We do not fire at downed pilots."

"We're mercenaries, Galm One." Blue Wing Pilot says coldly. "Results are everything." He locked onto the two fleeing aircraft with two QAAMs and fired.

Results are… The Red Wing pilot seethes. As a mercenary, he's right. As a knight…

Sprite 1, having nowhere near the mobility necessary to dodge a QAAM aimed at her injured aircraft, ejected before the missile hit.

Sprite 6, now supremely angry and running on adrenaline, turned a full 180 and aimed straight back at the Blue Wing aircraft.

"What are you doing?" The Red Wing Pilot said to himself. "Get out of here already. You've lost."

The Blue Wing Pilot took up the challenge and hit his afterburners. He then armed his third QAAM and fired at close range.

The Falcon fired its last missile back and inverted for a short dive. By chance, the QAAM entered the smoke trail of the Falcon's missile and momentarily lost maneuvering ability (a timespan of milliseconds). Those milliseconds were enough for the missile to slightly overshoot the Falcon and slam harmlessly into the ground.

The Blue Wing Pilot's need for perfection hurt him, as his QAAMs had their proximity fuses set to be as short as possible to ensure a sure kill on the target, and his last shot was only slightly outside of that range.

Suddenly he's gotten good. Red Wing thought while debating whether to join in on the fight or not. Sorry, pilot…but it's a job for us. He opted to dive in as well.

The Blue Wing pilot, after four turns, managed to land itself behind the Falcon and was perforating its left wing with volleys of gunfire.

"Seeing you on my ass is annoying!" Sprite 6 snarls and executes a barrel roll, which the Blue Wing Fighter follows perfectly while firing more bullets. "Get out!"

The Blue Wing Pilot notices a flare being released into his field of view and dips slightly to avoid it.

The slight dip allowed Sprite 6 to brake and force the Blue Wing Pilot to overshoot. True to their skill difference, the distance between the two after the position switch could be measured in tens of feet.

Knowing that the fighter out front was liable to jink and evade at any time, Sprite 6 simply opted to pull up and fire and leave it to luck.

The Blue Wing pilot felt his aircraft shake slightly as the Falcon finished its Immelman turn plus guns (with afterburners on the whole way) and escaped from the combat area.

"Galm Two. Cipher. What's your status?" Red Wing asks.

Cipher smiled slightly. When a mercenary uses a TAC name, it's the sign that their working relationship won't immediately end in a ball of fire. "One of my engines is acting funny, but I'll live, Pixy."

"Looks like the FCU has some talent after all." Pixy stares at the progressively smaller dot that is the retreating Falcon. "Whoever that was, he gave you a run for your money."

"If that's the case, I wonder why he ran away?" Cipher wonders. "Come back. Let's fight it out until there's only one of us standing." He half-says, half-shouts.

Pixy shakes his head. "You're too bloodthirsty, Cipher."

"Nothing wrong with being bloodthirsty when blood is how we make our money, Pixy."

So you think. Pixy frowns. "Hey Cipher. Feel like taking the lead next time?"

…

"Sprite 6, this is SkyEye can you hear me? Sprite 6?"

"I-I hear you, AWACS. Go ahead." Sprite 6 replies while suppressing some uncontrollable shaking.

"Sprite 6, I'm sorry to say that the enemy bombers reached the air field." SkyEye said. "The enemy's sending in more aircraft as well. You're hereby given new orders: return to Sandburg Airfield."

Sandburg…that's further back than our current airfield. "Does that mean we're abandoning the operation?" 6 growls, obviously not happy.

"Unfortunately, yes. The sudden loss of FCU aerial cover cowed the San Salvacion government, and they're surrendering."

Upon hearing that, 6 slammed a fist onto the fuselage.

SkyEye felt it through the radio. "I feel the same way. We needs time to regroup…we've lost too many good pilots today."

6 toggled off the radio and screamed at nobody in particular. A long, drawn out scream that, when it finally ended, gave way to a new, kind-of-pleasant sense of focus.

…

…

"Oy, that pilot…" SkyEye overheard at the threshold to the officer lounge. He stopped to see who the speakers were talking about.

It was Sprite 6, sitting alone and deep in thought.

The two speakers, two reasonably veteran FCU pilots, were leaning against a wall and…gossiping, if SkyEye were to describe it politely, in low tones.

"That's the remaining member of the Sprite team, right?" NPC Pilot A murmurs.

"Yeah. Everybody else in the team's dead." NPC Pilot B replies with a shake of his head. "So the only one left is the rookie."

"Jesus." NPC Pilot A breathes. "Can you imagine being promoted to flight leader like that?"

"I don't think anybody wants to be promoted like that." NPC Pilot B nods. "I'd rather be reforming Rapier and Omega squadrons. At least those two don't have the same length of service."

"No kidding. Who was that guy?" NPC Pilot A's anger crept into his voice. "He just shows up in a Flanker with Canards and beats us all senseless. That's just stupid!"

"The guys are calling it a Terminator." Pilot B laughs sadly. "But damn does it make sense."

"A lot of flights are gonna need to be reformed after this." Pilot A takes a swig out of his drink. "I'll tell you what. I would rather lead a dead squadron than be regrouped into one with a rookie survivor."

"Better chances of victory?" Pilot B asks with a sly grin.

"A squadron with a live rookie and dead veterans is bad luck." Pilot A replies. "You know that."

Pilot B sounded just a little bit surprised. "It's just a dumb superstition."

Pilot A frowns and thumps B on the chest. "Says the guy that spins his lucky coin three times before taking off. Nothing against the rookie, of course, but I'm pretty sure Sprite's gonna be a Flight of One from now on."

…

And he was right. A week later, on the next operation—to protect the Sandburg Airforce Base against Erusean A-6 Intruders—Sprite 6 went up alone, along with rebuilt (and fully manned) Rapier and Omega squadrons.

"That's just unfair." SkyEye sighs.

"What is?" HawkEye leans over. "Oh, Sprite?"

"Yeah."

"I don't blame the pilots." HawkEye says sympathetically. "A lot of them get superstitious after something bad happens, and I think we can all agree that San Salvacion was pretty high on the list of bad things."

"Yeah. Still…" SkyEye frowns at the lone F-16C flying among full squadrons. "We're really just going to let this happen, aren't we?"

"I'm willing to bet that if you order one of the fighters to cover for Sprite 6, they won't bother to get their hands dirty." HawkEye cautions him. "At least give it two more weeks."

SkyEye taps his chin and thinks quietly for a long while. "It's within our powers to change squadron designations, right?"

"Yeah, but you won't be fooling anybody." HawkEye replies.

"Good enough for me." SkyEye opens a public channel to Sprite 6, so everyone could listen in (as they must when a squadron designation was being changed).

"That must have been tough on you." SkyEye said first, as he found himself temporarily unable to think. "To have your first battle be something like that."

Ribbon's reply was calm and measured. "A battle's a battle. We don't have the luxury to pick and choose…we can only accept what we're given and move on, no matter what, no matter when."

No matter what, huh…? SkyEye found himself staring at the emblem on Sprite 6's aircraft. "Sprite 6, I'm here to give you a new squadron designation."

I don't think that will help much. 6 thinks, but decided it would be better to be gracious. "Sprite 6 acknowledges, awaiting new assignment."

"Better hurry it up, SkyEye." HawkEye warns him. "We got hostiles coming in. Rapier and Omega teams, you're cleared to engage."

Sprite 6 saw as well, but knew flying into battle with a (temporarily) revoked squadron callsign was a no-go.

"I'm getting to it." SkyEye nods. "Sprite 6…"

He takes a breath.

"…Sprite 6, your callsign is now Mobius One, we will now refer to you by this name at all times."

SkyEye takes another deep breath, feeling a shudder come over him.

"Mobius One, engage."

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

-Sprite Team: Soo much characterization on throwaway NPCs…but yeah, I think this serves pretty well as background for Mobius One, and why he's a loner.

-Also, since I'm used to thinking of Mobius One's TAC Name as Ribbon, I have this image of him as a cute anime girl with regulation-defying ribbons. One of the many reasons why I opted to avoid using names at all for the good guys this time around...because I couldn't decide if I wanted him to be manly man or girly girl. If we end up with manly man Mobius One I'll probably use Reaper as his TAC name instead.

-This stage is Ace04's San Salvacion liberation but inverted.

-The FCU is the predecessor to (and the main member of) ISAF. ISAF's establishment occurs later on in this story.

-Fortress Intolerance is the endpoint of Ace Combat 3DS. Within the limits of this story, the only canonical event that has already occurred is the Usean Rebellion (so the events of Ace2/Ace3DS).

-Since both sides used the same aircraft, I opted to use different reporting names for them. The good guys get the Fighting Falcon and the baddies get the Viper. Where possible I'll probably end up doing the same if other aircraft has similar names…having US fighters fight against Russians all the time isn't a lot of fun.