Eagle Eye's cautious voice was almost drowned out by the missile alert beeps. Cipher glanced down through the red heads-up-display and counted about 10 missile blips to the North East.
PJ questioned it, "do the enemy have electronic support again?" Then he looked in the direction of incoming missiles and almost screamed.
The pair of Nighthawks was in close range combat with the mercenaries. As they were unable to exceed the speed of sound they had taken to fighting the Galm Team by swarming around them and using the scissor technique – cutting in front of one of the Demons, and then turning to do the same in the opposite direction whilst the Demon turned. Therefore it didn't take long to work out the source of the long range missiles.
"Only four? That's not right. There's even more stealth fighters!" As PJ spoke, four more matte black fighter jets with blazing afterburners silently darted overhead. A second later the almighty scream of the eight engines followed.
PJ tracked the supersonic stealth aircraft but seconds later they disappeared from radar. PJ squinted to keep track of the distant afterburners, but a missile launched from one of the remaining Nighthawks captured his attention.
Ten seconds later the four black jets appeared on radar and screamed overhead, following the smoke trails of a dozen missiles which had missed their mark. As if tangling with two expert Nighthawk pilots wasn't hard enough, they were now suffering hit and run attacks from four supersonic jets.
"Eagle Eye to Galm Team, this isn't a turn fight. Play these fighters at their own game!"
Cipher nodded and stopped chasing the Nighthawk. PJ followed suit and accelerated away from the spiralling Nighthawks. Both of the Usean stealth attackers tried to chase the Galm Team but before long they were beyond the firing range of the QAAMs. Now they were helpless.
"Dragon Six, we'll bring them to you". The four supersonic stealth fighters had not slowed down. They banked around the face the Galm team, staying tightly in their formation. Cipher and PJ brought the fast approaching fighters to the centre of their heads-up-displays. The targeting reticule displayed the aircraft type.
"Galm Two to Galm One, the Usean squadron has four Raptors. We can do this… right?"
Cipher didn't respond. PJ just received an order to stay on Cipher's six o'clock. They charged head on into the oncoming F-22s.
"Dragon Team, the Demon has fallen into our trap. Fire all missiles"
Cipher ignored the taunt and unleashed a pair of missiles at the targeted F-22. Countless missiles sped towards Cipher's craft. Both Cipher and PJ altered their course and the missiles missed. Cipher's missiles, however, met their mark.
The pair of missiles slammed into the speeding F-22 at a collision speed of Mach 4. It produced a spectacular fireball and the matte black F-22 shattered. The pilot did not survive.
Cipher got a better look at the Raptors. Like the Nighthawks they were matte black but they were lacking the dragon depicted on their underbellies, and the orange and red swirls were thicker. The emblem of the San Salvacion Air Force had long since been painted over. A World With No Boundaries had no emblem, but the Dragon Team emblem was still embellished on the large slanted tail fins. Cipher didn't get a good look at the emblem.
"Cipher just bagged a bandit!" PJ exclaimed over the roar of the passing Raptors. The two planes flew flat and level until they had flown for an extra two miles. Then both flights turned sharply and the joust began again. This time both Cipher and PJ fired.
And both missile salvos struck their targets.
"Galm Team, enemy forces have suffered considerable damage, keep up the good work!"
The one remaining Raptor pilot craned his neck to look for parachutes. There weren't any. His colleagues, Dragon Two and Three, had just been killed.
Dragon One was furious. He hissed, "all planes, let's swarm the Demon. He has taken too many of our brothers. We'll focus on the Falcon afterwards". His Raptor darted towards the two Nighthawks. Dragon Six and Seven, the two Nighthawks, had attempted to pursue the Galm Team but their efforts had been futile. Now Dragon One, the 'Dragon of San Salvacion', was hurtling towards them. Behind him flew the Galm Team.
The lead Raptor passed the slow Nighthawks and arched high into the sky, slowing down to face the Demon Lord in a turn fight. He looped over to face the attackers but instead saw two fireballs. He grinned
"Good work, Dragon Team!" the lead exclaimed.
There was no response. He heard an annoying voice over the radio.
"Yeah! This is PJ, I just bagged a bandit, and so did Cipher".
Dragon One could do nothing but stare as the two mercenaries burst through the fireballs. All of his brothers had been downed. There was no stopping this. He addressed the Demon Lord.
"Demon Lord, A World With No Boundaries will succeed. The Sleeping King will slay you once and for all. Killing us will achieve nothing". He spoke coolly as the missile tone began to blare. He turned around for one more attack and managed to release a torrent of missiles before he was hit. As he bailed out he said nothing.
Eagle Eye skipped any congratulations, "all enemy planes are down. Proceed with the operation and pass through area B7R". PJ's plane decelerated as he joined formation with Cipher.
"I'll follow Cipher to the end!"