September 27th, 2010
8:30 AM
"Blaze! Get up! You're gonna miss breakfast!"
Ah, hell. Overslept. I rubbed my eyes and looked down at the alarm clock on the table. It's already 8:30, how the hell did I sleep so late. I pulled myself out of bed and threw on a t-shirt and camo pants.
I walked down to the cafeteria to grab my typical plate of bacon and hash browns. The rest of my squad was already there, not including Bartlett obviously.
"Hey hey, there's Sleeping Beauty! Grab a seat buddy", Chopper said as I walked over to the table
"Morning, Blaze", Bri said as I sat next to her
"G'morning guys...did no one think to wake me up earlier?"
"I told them not to.", came a gruff voice behind me that I only recognized as Bartlett's. "Figured I should give you one break but don't get used to it. I don't know if we'll be training today or not, I'm feeling generous because you four impressed me so much 3 days ago. I hope we never have to do that again. Let's eat"
"Blaze, we gonna go lift after?", Chopper asked between mouthfuls of food
"Yeah, we'll kill a couple hours", I replied when I finished my food, "Let me put my plate away, go change then we'll go"
11:26 AM
I was exhausted by the time I returned to my room. It had been three days since we'd been off the ground. Bartlett told us he'd be giving us a break after what happened on the 24th. No one at command knew where those planes were from. But, I swear when I flew by that SR-71 I saw Yuke markings. I hope I was seeing things...
"Wardog Squadron! Prepare for sortie and meet in Briefing Room One!", I heard over the P.A. as soon as I opened the door to my room. So much for a nap. I threw my sweaty shirt down on my bed, threw my flight suit on and ran to the briefing room.
11:33 AM
I ran into the briefing room and sat down next to Chopper, giving Captain Bartlett a nod. As soon as Nagase and Bri walked in, the monotonous briefing voice started. I read on the screen:
OPERATION: GYRE
09/27/2010 1133 HRS.
"A ship of unknown origin has been detected approaching the Sand Island coastline. We've confirmed that the ship has launched numerous unmanned aerial vehicles probably used for reconnaissance. The UAV will likely return to the launch ship for retrieval after completing their spy operations. You are to halt this operation by intercepting and destroying these recon drones before they can be recovered by the ship. However, do not attack the ship until further orders are transmitted."
"Got that, Wardog? Dismissed!"
11:37 AM
We raced to our planes and took off in order, Captain Bartlett first, then Nagase, Chopper, me, then Baja bringing up the rear. We flew around the island and arranged in a formation above the island headed west. Then our radios crackled to life,
"Wardog, this is Thunderhead. Unmanned recon drones returning to spy vessel. Shoot them down before they get back to the ship.", Blunderhead ordered
"Sure thing. You got that gang?", Bartlett barked in reply
"Wardog 2, roger.", came Nagase's reply shortly after
"Wardog 3, roger", growled Chopper afterwards
"Gotcha, cap.", I replied, clearly more relaxed than the rest of my squad
"Wardog 5, roger.", Bri acknowledged right after I finished my reply
"Alright, let's go!", Bartlett ordered, "Our orders are to not fire on the ship, understood?"
"Roger that", I replied as my wingmen all chorused their acknowledgements of the order
"Good, aim only for the recon planes.", our squadron leader said in the most pleasant voice he'd ever used, "Show me what you've got Kid!"
I had flown ahead of the other four planes and bagged the first two drones I detected, "First two down.", I remarked after taking them down
"Save a few for me, will ya?", Bri yelled at me, sounding exasperated as I chuckled to myself, as I shot down four more drones
"Pretty easy, huh?", Bartlett questioned
"Target practice", I responded
"Ok, let's hurry up and finish this.", came the captain's reply, "Shoot 'em down before that ship picks them up."
"That ship, is that where these drones are headed?", Chopper inquired, then asking, "Hey Baja, I'm glad there aren't any live people in these things, aren't you?"
"Yeah, don't feel bad about knocking their asses out of the sky."
"Hey Blaze, guess this is a good time to have a competition of kill scores!", Chopper challenged
"Is that so? Then I win. Last four drones down.", I replied smugly
"Other recon crafts have probably reached the mainland too.", Nagase said to no one in particular
"I sure hope not!", Chopper noted
"Warning! Multiple bogeys inbound, closing fast!", Thunder-Blockhead warned
"Same attack axis as before?", the captain said sounding unsure
"280, same vector as last time.", came the reply from Dunderhead
"Geez, how many planes they got lined up at the border. We'd better abort, this way!", Bartlett clearly taking the cautious route here, "You four think you can stick to my tail?"
"Roger, let's get out of here", Nagase replied
"What she said", Bri mused
"Alright, lets get out of here.", came Bartlett through my headset
Luckily, as I was speeding to catch up to Bartlett I happened to look down and see Chopper clearly struggling to escape from the flight of enemy fighters following us
"Chopper, you alright down there?", I asked urgently of my best friend
"I can't make it, they're running me down!", came his frightened response
"Oh, you're taking the trail position today, Rock 'n Roller? Hold on, I'll clear your six 'o clock for you.", Bartlett assured
I took that as a cue to clear some enemies out, and turned to intercept and engage
"Dammit, why'd I have to draw the short straw today!", Chopper complained
"Everyone else, quit gawkin' and start shootin'!", our captain ordered, once again without authorization
"Edge, engaging"
"Blaze, engaging", I muttered into the mic as I chased down a MiG-21
"Hey Blaze, gonna leave some of those for me?", I heard a melodic voice in my ear that I had grown to love
"Nah, I got this. Maybe someday hun.", I replied playfully. Did I really just do that? Oh god. No, focus, you're in combat dipshit. FOCUS.
"Don't worry, just remember your training.", Bartlett's reassuring voice broke my reverie
"First MiG down.", I informed my squad. Gotcha bitch!
"Captain Bartlett!", the usual late objection from Thunderhead
"Enemy fire detected, turning to engage.", noted Nagase. She gets creepily focused in combat.
"Wardog Five, fox two, fox two! Enemy plane splashed!"
"Wardog! You are not cleared to engage at this time!", again, late reaction from the geniuses at Thunderhead
"Break right, bandit on the captains tail. I'm on it.", Nagase again
"All right, not bad!", Bartlett praised
"You splashed an enemy without permission to engage?! What were you thinking, Wardog!"
"Someone shut his delayed ass up.", Baja whined
"Please?", I added as I noted more blips on my radar, "More enemies detected, engaging"
"Roger, finish them off.", came the acknowledgement from Bartlett
"I still can't figure out where they're from.", Nagase remarked
"Are they here to get back at us for those drones or what?", Chopper said
"Back again, hope you're ready to fight this time.", Bartlett butted in aggressively
"Fox two, fox two!", I yelled, "You guys gonna fight with me or leave them all to me?
"Fox two!", looks like Bartlett decided to fight too
"Where'd they come from? Are they with that other group we ran into?", Chopper said, oblivious as usual
"Fox two, fox two! And splash one!", Bri yelled before Chopper could even finish his question
"Thanks for that...stealing my kills.", I muttered under my breath
"No problem", Baja replied as I took down the last aircraft. We formed back into formation when Thunderhead butted in again
"Picture clear, all hostile aircraft destroyed. Keep your heads on a swivel.", he informed as I saw a SAM fired from the recon ship below us. I opened my mouth to warn Nagase, who happened to be flying by, but as soon as I did Bartlett started yelling
"Watch out Nagase, they're down below us too!", our captain cautioned as the missile followed her every move. I watched as Bartlett swooped in behind Nagase and the missile locked on to his plane instead. He rolled the plane over as the missile hit his left wing.
"Captain!", Nagase exclaimed
"Hey! Save the waterworks. I'm just gonna bail out here. We can replace these things. It's getting the crew back alive that counts. Make the call to scramble the rescue copter, and my reserve plane, okay?", Bartlett said in a reassuring tone as, again, Blockhead butted in.
"Warning, warning! Wardog squadron, return to base immediately! Refuel and rearm, then get back in the air immediately!", he practically screamed at us
"But the rescue copter isn't here yet", Nagase protested
"Leave that to the rescue team, the enemy has declared war on us!", Thunderhead said as I swear my heart dropped out of my ass. We turned and burned back to the island, landed and were debriefed while our planes were being refueled and rearmed.
The reconnaissance UAV and the unidentified fighter aircraft that bounced us during the mission have been shot down. The country of origin of the ship is still unknown but it has ceased operations in our maritime defense zone and has departed the area. Once we sanitize our coastal waters we will conduct a SAR mission to find Captain Bartlett, who was shot down. Furthermore, the Union of Yuktobanian Republics has officially declared war on the Osean Federation.
We weren't even briefed before we took off and sped northeast to Port St. Hewlett. The only information we recieved was that the Yukes had simultaneously launched an offensive when they declared war. The Third Osean Naval Fleet was being attacked right now.
A/N: No, you're not hallucinating. It's been 6 months but I posted a new chapter! Football really kills your motivation, so does school. Constant relationship related fights kill it too. But, I finally found my copy of AC5 and got this and Narrow Margin written down. Expect it soon.