IUN Carrier 'Albatross' - Spring Sea, 29th June 2016
The air control centre of the IUN-PKF Carrier Albatross was dark, and packed to the brim with flashing monitors and sailors typing furiously away at their orange lit keyboards. Everyone was talking to someone, it was a miracle anyone could concentrate on their work. Nobody seemed to notice the commander enter, the blue light shining off his cleanly shaven head as he briskly stalked towards a particular monitor and the young officer sat behind it. "What is it, Lieutenant?" His voice was gruff, and demanded attention.
"Sir, unidentified aircraft picked up on radar bearing zero eight zero angels fifteen headed in our direction. Range two five zero miles and closing." The younger man rattled off clearly and professionally, years of training kicking in. "Sir, it is not responding to any radio calls."
"Who's in the air?" The commander questioned.
"Omega Element are inbound from their CAP, Mobius Element are about to launch to relieve them. AWACS Sky Eye is on station to provide support."
There was barely a second's hesitation before the commander had made his decision. "Launch Mobius Element now. I want them to intercept and ID the unknown aircraft, and I wanted the ID two minutes ago. Get it done."
"Yessir!" The young officer reached for the telephone, and dialed the command bridge.
"...launch bar switch retract." Major Elizabeth 'Ribbon' Skyra was rattling through her preflight checks with ease, a process she could perform in her sleep. Meanwhile, her Weapon Systems Officer, Captain Tom 'Hanks' Sanderson was just about able to keep up with the redhead sat in the pilot's seat.
"Launch bar switch retracted." He confirmed.
"Flaps not in auto."
"Confirm, flaps not in auto."
"Cycling control surfaces…" Outside, the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet's ailerons, rudders and elevators moved freely in response to Skyra's input. The thumbs up from the deck chief confirmed that all control surfaces were moving as expected. "...all good. Checking engine instruments."
"All instruments nominal. Ready for launch."
"Copy, ready for launch. Increasing engine power idle...middle...max." The aircraft growled and buckled as the engines increased their power. The catapult officer gave a thumbs up and snapped the same hand in a knife gesture towards the bow of the massive ship. Skyra imitated the gesture and threw in a quick salute right before the steam catapult jolted forward with a bang, throwing the Super Hornet off the deck and into the skies.
"Good launch." Skyra pitched the nose up, setting her flaps back to auto as she raised her gear and banked away to clear the path for her wingman. "Mobius One is airborne."
"Mobius Element this is Sky Eye. Relay from command. An unidentified aircraft is approaching two hundred miles from carrier fleet vector zero eight zero and not responding to radio contact. Command wants you two to intercept and ID the target."
The two F/A-18F Super Hornets were armed with four short range Sidewinder missiles and four medium range AMRAAMs. Both pilots were veterans of the Usean Continental War, and the weapon systems officers had several thousand hours in their air with their respective pilots. For all of them, this wasn't their first rodeo. "Roger, I see 'em." Sanderson confirmed from his position behind Skyra. "Single bogey, no IFF squawk. Must be a lost civilian plane."
"But why isn't it responding to radio calls?" Mobius Two backseater Captain Greta 'Snag' Jones queried. It sure seemed like a weird situation. "When an Osean carrier calls you to tell you to fuck off, you generally turn tail and bug out."
"Only one way to find out." AWACS Sky Eye replied. "Commence intercept. ID the target and escort it out of the airspace."
The fighters gave their acknowledgement calls and continued their gradual climb, increasing their airspeed to cruise at just over one thousand kilometers an hour. Skyra settled back in her ejection seat, lowering her polarised visor when they broke through the clouds and into the bright midday sun. It was peaceful, she thought. Skimming the clouds as they approached the target. But something didn't feel right, like a faint itch that wouldn't go away. "Mobius One to Two. Keep your guard up, something doesn't feel right." She voiced her uneasiness to her wingman sat at her five o'clock.
"Relax, Ribbon." The number two pilot Major Elijah 'Holiness' LaPope chucked in his trademark way that always seemed to irritate the flight lead. "I bet it's just a lost child that needs help getting home. No problem at all."
"Three thousand meters to intercept. You should be seeing the bogey any minute now." AWACS Sky Eye interrupted Skyra before she could reply. Sure enough, a black speck appeared to her straining eyes, the lone aircraft they needed to ID.
"Tally ho, one bogey at eleven o'clock." Skyra confirmed the visual. "I'll call judy on the intercept. Holiness, drop back and cover me."
"You expecting trouble, Ribbon?" LaPope chuckled again, but dropped back as instructed. Both planes banked into a smooth parabolic turn to exit on the bogey's six, and Skyra accelerated to pull closer to the aircraft. The outline of the plane grew stronger, and eventually Skyra was on the jet's seven o'clock.
"Target is one Flanker variant. Trying to hail them." Skyra informed. "Hanks, you want to give them a call."
"Sure." Sanderson cleared his throat. "Unidentified aircraft, this is the International United Nations Peacekeeping Force. You are in restricted airspace, please divert your course to vector zero four zero and exit the area immediately." What followed was two minutes of silence from all parties.
"No response. Sky Eye, we're gonna take a closer look." Skyra once more pushed the throttle forward to give the Hornet a little jump of speed, and pulled alongside the aircraft. "What the...Sky Eye, bogey appears to be one Su-37 in Yellow Squadron colours."
"Yellow Squadron? But they've been disbanded since the Continental War?" Jones sounded as confused as Skyra felt. "Sky Eye! Where's the other four?!"
"He's alone." AWACS Sky Eye reported with confidence. "No change in plan. Continue intercept and escort."
Skyra slid her jet closer so she could make out the pilot. The uneasy feeling returned as she studied the cockpit, there didn't seem to be anyone at the controls. And what was that weird blue light that seemed to glow from just underneath the plexiglass. "Sky Eye, target appears to be unmanned..."
Two things happened almost simultaneously. First, the blue glow switched to red, then the Terminator's nose pitched up sharper and quicker than any human pilot would have mustered and the aircraft pulled half a kulbit. Then it fired a single missile.
"Break, missile!" AWACS Sky Eye yelled.
"Oh shi…!" The transmission was cut short as the missile connected with the target. Where Holiness and Snag had once been, only fire and fragments remained. A second blaze began to burn, this one in Skyra's chest.
"Mobius Two is gone, they exploded in mid air." Sky Eye's voice mirrored Skyra's rage. "Bandit confirmed hostile. Mobius One, engage."
Skyra had snapped into a mid-G turn, conscious of her energy management. The Hornet, while a great multirole platform, could not match the agility of the Terminator. Especially one flown by a drone pilot who was unaffected by high-G maneuvers. This would be different from the last time above Farbanti. "Hanks, you got eyes on him?"
"Yeah, target diving just off our wingtip, he's gaining speed." Her backseater confirmed, and Skyra followed his instructions and found the dark aircraft nose down and losing altitude.
"Got him. Mobius One, engaging." She rolled, throwing one wing over the other to dive onto the tail of the rapidly accelerating Su-37. It was still in range of a Sidewinder shot, as became evident when Sanderson switched both the MASS and LAS to fire and the Sidewinder seeker growled in her headset like an angry dog itching to be let loose on the rabbit.
"Got a lock." Sanderson told her, but she didn't fire. Instead her hands were poised on the HOTAS controls, waiting for the drone to make it's next move. It couldn't dive forever, that's for certain unless it planned on crashing into the ocean. As Skyra expected, the drone broke through the clouds and pitched up smoothly until it was flying straight and level, with the Hornet hot on it's heels.
"Fox two!" Skyra released the angry hound on her wingtip and the eager missile shot off with a roar towards it's target. The drone however wasn't going to let a simple missile shot take it down, it snapped onto it's wingtip and banked away sharper than any human pilot. The missile tried to follow but failed, soaring off into the distance.
"Missile didn't connect!" Sky Eye voiced the obvious.
Skyra turned in the direction of the drone, once more pulling a wider and smoother curve. She looked up as she did so, seeing the pale yellow belly of her adversary. Unlike her, the drone had lost a lot of energy evading the missile and was again flying straight and level, seemingly oblivious to the Hornet slowly curving around to it's four o'clock. Until it suddenly broke into a turn pulling at least seven or eight G's as it screamed past the nose of Skyra's Hornet.
"Jesus!" Sanderson gasped. Skyra wasted no time rolling to her other wing and continuing the turn, squeezing her thighs to keep the blood from pooling in her feet and leading to a blackout, often fatal in combat. This bastard wasn't going to stop, and Skyra knew that in a prolonged fight, the drone would win. There was no way even an ace like her could outmatch a drone's endurance. She had to end this, and sooner rather than later.
The drone had stopped it's turn just before it began to stall, and was once again flying straight and level as the Hornet played catch-up, still banking at the drone's eight o'clock and in no position to fire a missile. It was a game the drone could keep up all day, and Skyra raked her mind to find a way to cut it short…
"Mobius One, the drone has a predictable flight pattern." AWACS Sky Eye reported. "It flies straight after pulling a tight manoeuvre. That could be your opening to shoot it down."
Sure enough, as Skyra thought about it Sky Eye's suggestion was right. She decided to make sure, pulling a little harder on the stick and forcing the Hornet's nose round quicker. The seeker on the second sidewinder missile found the target and with the call of "Fox Two!" it was sent on it's way. And sure enough, as the missile arced closer the drone pulled another half-kulbit and added in a twist so it's nose was pointing towards Skyra where it launched it's own missile at her.
"Break!" Sky Eye yelled, and Skyra didn't need telling twice. The Hornet had lost a lot of energy in her last move but she was able to snap into a hasty barrel roll. Sanderson was switched on, and immediately began pumping white hot flares out the back of the Hornet as the drone passed with just meters to spare. The missile punched a hole through the 'barrel' that Skyra had drawn in the sky, it's eyes firmly locked on the flares left in her wake.
Missile evaded, Skyra punched the fighter into maximum afterburner to hurriedly increase her airspeed and cut into another smooth turn. Looking up above her, she found the Su-37 in a gentle climb and once more, flying straight and level. Sky Eye was right, the drone was predictable. It gave her an idea.
"Hanks, ready one AMRAAM." She ordered.
The confusion was evident in his voice. "But they're BVR weapons, sidewinders are better for…"
"It doesn't need to hit." Skyra interrupted him as she brought the Hornet around to chase the Terminator through the clouds and out into the blinding sun once more. "Do it, and fire on my command."
"Roger. What're you gonna do?"
The Terminator had sped up but the Hornet was still gaining on it. The drone seemed to be contemplating it's next move as the AMRAAM found the target. Skyra braced herself in the seat, gripping the controls tightly in preparation for what was about to come. "Something this plane shouldn't do. Ready….fire!"
"Fox Three!" There was a clunk as the release unit pushed the medium-range missile from the fuselage of the Hornet then a hiss as the rocket motor ignited and the weapon shot off. As she predicted, the drone detected the incoming missile and broke into a high-g turn again to successfully shake the missile off. And this time Skyra followed suit, putting the F/A-18F onto it's wingtip and pulling back as hard as she could. The g-counter climbed, 5...6...7...8... and still the Terminator turned. Her thighs and the G-suit worked overtime but the edges of her vision were turning black. Spots danced in front of her eyes, her head screamed in protest and her airspeed dived with her consciousness. Just...a few...more...seconds…
The Terminator stopped suddenly and rolled wings level. Skyra almost overshot but slammed the control stick against her other knee and simultaneously rammed her finger through the trigger and flicked the switch to cycle to her guns. She didn't even have the energy to call out.
A single sidewinder shot from the rail, followed by a hail of 20mm cannon rounds. The drone pitched up, a desperate attempt to evade but all it's energy was spent and it stalled. It was easy prey for the missile, which slammed at Mach 2 into the port exhaust nozzle and exploded. The cannon rounds punched holes in the stricken jet's wing, and Skyra was barely able to avoid a collision with the burning aircraft as it began it's final tumble to the waters below.
"Splash one!" Sky Eye cheered, the sudden excited shout snapping her back into full consciousness. Skyra released the breath she didn't know she was holding, and rested her head back against the headrest of the ejection seat.
Got 'em.
A weird noise came from behind Skyra, followed by a groan. "Hanks, you still with us back there?" She called, straining to look over her shoulder to her backseater. A thumbs up was thrust into her field of vision, as Sanderson came to.
"Let's not do that again." He grumbled.
"You may have to." AWACS Sky Eye sounded grim. "Two bogeys inbound at high speed, no IFF squawk. Vector zero eight zero, same as last time."
"Look alive, Hanks." Skyra growled as she banked her Hornet, considerably more smoother this time, to point her aircraft in the direction of the incoming unknowns. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins, she was ready for a fight.
"Fangs out." Sanderson replied, although he didn't sound up for it.
"Osean aircraft, this is Sol Two of the Erusean Air and Space Administration. Can you hear me?"
"Sol Squadron, this is AWACS Sky Eye of the International United Nations Peacekeeping Force." Sky Eye replied, projecting an air of authority into his voice. "You are approaching restricted airspace. Turn around immediately."
"One of our aircraft disappeared from radar in this airspace. We've been ordered to investigate."
"Sol Two this is Mobius One." Skyra thumbed the PTT on the international frequency. "An unidentified drone was engaged and shot down after it attacked us. Was this yours?" Silence dawned on the situation for what seemed like eternity. Skyra's plane was still hot, the MASS and LAS still live and the missile seeker heads cooled and ready to find their target. Every second without a response brought the two new fighters closer and pushed the potential engagement in their favour. Give me the order. She willed Sky Eye. Let me smoke them.
"This is Sol Two. Turning to bearing zero one zero and exiting airspace."
"Erusean bastards." Sanderson voiced what all three of them were thinking. "They had it all planned out from the start. That's a violation of the cease-fire agreement."
"That's above our pay grade, Hanks." AWACS Sky Eye replied. "You two did good out here today, without you we would have lost more people. Vapour Element will take over the CAP. Mobius One, return to base."
"Roger. Mobius One, returning to base." The silver F/A-18F Super Hornet banked away towards the carrier.
