Disclaimer: I don't own ace combat; all call signs other than viper 11 and Mobius one belong to me

Characters:

Notes:

ISAF

118th tactical fighter squadron (reserve squadron)

Mobius 1 2nd Lt Lazlow, aka Lupuis

18, short brown hair, green eyes, average build

Viper 11 2nd Lt Walker

22, Crew cut Black hair, Brown eyes, heavy build

Delta 4 2nd Lt Eva

19, long blonde hair, Blue eyes, slim hourglass build

Omega 1 Captain

38, brown hair, blue eyes, starting to go bald, heavy build

Omega 4 ----

Bravo 9 ----

Delta 6 ----

Eurasians

41st bomber wing

Black 2 Ekizal, 2nd Lt

17, Black hair, Dark brown eyes, acne, tall and skinny build

476th Interceptor squadron

White 4 Gabriel, 2nd Lt

19, Blonde hair, blue eyes, Medium build

133rd Reserve training squadron

Brown 3 Eliza Grimm Airwoman second class

20, Brown hair, Brown eyes, small build

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"All fighters report status" The voice of AWAC's controller skyeye woke Lupuis from his stupor.

"That means its time to wake up Lupuis!" Delta 4 cut over the com

"Hey I'm awake!" he mumbled blinking he awoke from his daydreaming

"Cut the chatter, all aircraft report in"

"Omega 1, ready op"

"Omega 4 ready op"

"Bravo 9 ready op"

"Omega 12 ready op"

"Viper 11, ready…"

"We all know your never ready" Delta 4 cut in "delta 4 ready op"

"Cant you two shut up for once? Delta 6 ready op"

"Mobius 1, ready op"

"Wrigley AFB, vector three six, zero, the bombers should be parked together on the ground, take them all out"

The Dozen fighters closed formation as they closed the remaining distance to the target, the elderly Phantom's were now supported by a pair of F-5 Freedom fighters. These two planes had drafted from a training squadron to boost the losses suffered since ISAF's Fallback from the mainland. Eva and walker had drawn straws to see who would get to fly the agile fighter, Walker had won… this had the effect of Eva being more vocal than normal. The second freedom fighter had gone to omega 12, a reward for downing a Mig on the last mission.

"Form off into your assigned groups, Delta 4 and Omega 12 escort the phantoms and engage enemy air assets." Omega 1 ordered as the F-5's hit their afterburners and scooted ahead of the formation.

"Hey Omega 1, do those pylons supply power to base?" Delta 4 cut over the com

"Looks like it, destroying the substation would retard their SAM's, all your Mobius 1"

Dropping out of formation, Lupuis selected one of the 2000ibs bombs that were slung beneath his fuselage.

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Wrigley AFB

The radar operator had spent the last 6 hours looking at his screen, white paper coffee cups testament to this fact. Currently he was busy playing a game of solitaire. Alt tabbing back to his radar screen as his supervisor came by; he stared at the radar blips on the screen. It took him a few seconds to register what they meant. He hit the intercom: "contact! vector one eight zero south, looks like a squadron of fighters!"

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The 2000ib bomb while not an exceptionally large munition, did have the advantage of being cheap to produce and comparatively simple to use. It had no guidance system; its most advanced feature was the altitude restrictor preventing its detonation unless it was dropped from over 500ft. As the bomb left its carriage the internal mechanism unwound as it fell, arming the bomb for detonation. 6 seconds after being dropped, the 2000ib of high explosive detonated on impact with the substation. The explosive force of the blast demolished a pair of transformer sheds, causing a power spike among the remaining transformers. Overloaded, they burnt out and the power to Wrigley's Radar and integrated SAM batteries died.

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Eliza woke to the sound of sirens blaring throughout the base; he closed his eyes again, wishing it would stop. The shuddering impact of a bomb impacting against the runway jolted him from his bunk.

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Walker Banked left at an F-5 which was trying to claw its way into the air, its airspeed and altitude was low, an easy victim. He switched to his Sidewinder short range Air to Air missile, hearing the sound of a clear radar lock. He fired, feeling his lightweight fighter shudder as the missile left the wing. He watched the missile arc towards its target before banking off into the sky below the small jet.

"Motherfucker!" Screamed Walker as he switched to his guns, the F-5 had an ECM pod, the Chaff making a more obvious target than the jets radar signature.

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Blue 2, whooped as he heard the missile warning cease, leveling out he scanned for a target.

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Jinxing behind the fighter as its pilot searched for a target, walker triggered his 20mm cannon, the two guns spitting out high explosive shells into the rear engines of the Eurasian fighter, its ECM no defense from solid lead. The shells impact destroyed the planes power plant and shredded its tail pane. The controls not responding, the pilot ejected. The Perspex canopy shattered as the detonator cord embedded within it detonated, the ejector seat propelling the aviator from his crippled bird.

Walker Laughed, his first kill! His laughter was cut short by the debris from the downed fighter's tail being sucked into his engine

"CRRRAAAAPPPPPPP!!!!!!"

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Gabriel taxied his Mig-21 down towards the runway, his heart thumping as the ISAF aircraft thundered overhead, attacking the combat air patrol. A 2000ibs bomb landed less than 50 meters to the left of him, scraps of debris showered the cockpit, a partially large rock denting his nosecone, disabling his active radar. He hit his afterburners, sending the elderly fighter into the sky. With his radar damaged, all he could do was distract the fighters.

Lupuis pulled up from his attack on the substation, the F-5s had already engaged the Eurasian fighters while the F-4's were concerned with suppressing the Air defenses. The base's lone SAM launcher was inactive, its crew trying to start its backup generator. He scanned the horizon for targets; his eyes caught sunlight flashing off a cockpit. He hit his afterburners to intercept the lone bandit.

Lupuis's F-4 jetted forward, his radar scanning for his target… the jet had gone low between the hills, blinding his radar to its presence. He dropped his altitude to 2000 ft, circling where his radar last sighted the aircraft. He leveled out just as 30mm depleted uranium shells tore half of his port wing off. He turned his head just as the A-10 thunderbolt fired again, its GAU-12 cannon venting gun smoke as it strafed him.

In the cockpit, Elisa Grimm swore as she missed her target. Her first burst had only clipped him, but the damage caused by the massive cannon was extensive. She was not a frontline pilot, just a trainee who was tasked with delivering aircraft to outlying bases. She had trained to fly cargo planes, but had been tasked with delivering new fighters. Her inexperience with the slow attack plane was clear. Her 30mm gun, designed to kill battle tanks, was ranged for combat at 2000m, she had aimed it at less than a 1000. Had she known that her gun was set for that range, her second burst would have shredded the phantom.

Lupuis struggled with his jet, the hydraulics on his port side was shot, and so was the electronics. He was lucky to still be alive, part of his wing was hanging off and one of the engines was on fire. He turned to see the Grey A-10 on his 6.

"I've got an A-10 all over my six! Somebody get here quick, my jet is crippled!" He screamed as he shutdown his damaged engine.

Elisa braked, pulling her thunderbolt back far enough to get the gun range right, the phantom was flying level and its pilot trying to retain control of the crippled jet. She smiled as she pressed the firing stud. Nothing happened; she pressed it again, still nothing. She looked over her controls, the gun magazine read empty. The weapon had only been loaded with enough rounds for emergency use. As she banked right the left wing of her plane exploded as an air to air missile impacted.

"Scratch one A-10! Lupuis, you owe me big time!" shouted Eva as she overshot the A-10, pulling next to the crippled phantom

Lupuis grinned, watching Eva wave to him as he headed south. It was only then that he felt the warm liquid dripping down his arm.

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Elisa pulled her aircraft into a shallow turn, trying not to overbalance the heavy jet. Her port wing was almost completely gone and the engine had been shredded too. "Brown 3, I need cover to land"

Her answer was static

"Anyone hear me???"

"Tower is down, I'll cover you." The voice of White 4 cut through

"Roger, starting my approach."

Above the battlefield Viper 11 saw the crippled A-10 start its approach, behind it was a Mig. The rest of the squadron had been busy destroying the bombers on the ground, their bombs and cannons had pretty much wiped out the bomber force. Delta 4 and Lupuis were heading home, while he flew rearguard.

"Looks like the remaining mig is covering the crippled A-10, no threats otherwise."

"Roger that, all aircraft RTB" The voice of the AWAC's controller Skyeye sounded, ending the squadrons second mission.

The crippled A-10, its wing clipped and missing an engine, slammed down on the runway, its undercarriage collapsing under the stress, its belly scraping along the runway, leaving a trail of burning jet fuel. Screeching to a halt, the pilot was slumped over the controls.

Ekizal broke from the cover of the concrete air-raid shelter, running towards the crashed jet. The fires were creeping up the fuselage, threatening to consume the pilot. Reaching the side of the thunderbolt, Ekizal slammed his fists on the canopy to no avail. Drawing his pilot's sidearm, he shot the explosive bolts. The canopy shattered, bits of plastic digging their way into his face as he pulled the unconscious pilot from the wreckage. Throwing the limp form over his shoulders he ran from the burning wreak.

White 4 watched with horror as the A-10 span out on the runway and started to burn, banking around he saw the lone figure run out to pull the pilot free from the wreckage. Within seconds of pulling the pilot loose, the plane went up in a fireball as the fire breached the fuel tanks, flattening the pilot and her rescuer.

The fighter squadron had landed without much incident, Lupuis being held off till last to drain off as much fuel as possible. The rest of the squadron had been called to the debrief while he was sent to the med bay to check on his arm. An exploding circuit board had sliced it open, meriting some bandages.

Walking out onto the flight bay Lupuis looked at his ruined fighter, most of the wing was gone, along with one of the engines. It would never fly again…one of the ground crew had dug out a 30mm round that had impacted into the metal plate behind the cockpit, miraculsly it had failed to detonate. He looked at the shell, slightly flattened by its impact, a dead weight in his hand.

He felt something blow wetly into his ear

"You owe me big-time hotshot" Eva whispered as she prodded him in the back.

"Tell me about it…" he watching the mechanics strip the useable parts from his phantom.

"Walker wants to talk to you…he is pissed off at his luck again, catch you later"

As she walked off Lupuis was sure she winked at him…