Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H or Ace Combat. If I did, then the W.I.T.C.H comics would still be printed over here. (Sighs in annoyance) And they'd be up to date.
AN: I can't actually remember precisely what rank the player has achieved at this stage in the game, so I've stuck with the one I remember and I hope it isn't far off.
Will paced the pilots lounge nervously and checked her watch yet again.
"Will, stop it ok?" Taranee snapped, looking up from the book she was reading.
"We have an interview with the press on how we managed to tie up the Razgriz, T. How can you be so CALM!" Will yelled back.
"By not thinking about it. Or at least trying not too. Which is made all the more difficult by your damn pacing!" Taranee shot back.
"Umm, what are you reading Taranee?" Hay Lin cut in, sensing an argument coming. It seemed to work.
"It's a biography of Mobius One Hay." She answered with a smile coming to her face. Will felt herself calm down as well.
"Sorry T, guess I'm just a little edgy over this interview." Will said apologetically. Taranee let out a laugh.
"Think we're all a little on edge here." Taranee replied. "But where's Cornelia and Irma. I can't imagine anything getting Cornelia ruffled and Irma would probably be practically bouncing off the walls to be interviewed."
"Irma's checking her plane and Cornelia's busy prepping her hair and make-up." Hay Lin replied calmly. Will and Taranee raised their eyebrows. "Irma said that she wanted something to keep her mind off the fact that we're about to become celebrities."
"I REALLY DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT!" Taranee snapped at Hay Lin.
"Sorry!" Hay Lin answered with her hands up.
"Hello Will, we meet again." A familiar voice cut in. Hay Lin's head snapped round so fast it actually clicked. Will merely frowned at the voices owner, a woman with a bowl cut hairstyle and black hair. Beside the woman was another woman with an identical hairstyle and looked like a smaller version of the first.
"Courtney and Bess Grumper." Hay Lin stated coldly. "What are you doing here?"
"We're here to interview the heroes who were able to go toe to toe with the infamous Razgriz." Courtney began in a pseudo sweet voice.
"Your squadron leader thought it would be good for the folks back home." Bess finished.
"After all, who else can say they went toe to toe with the Razgriz and won?" Courtney added, a malicious grin forming on her face.
"Or at least managed to hold their own." Bess added, an identical grin forming on her face.
"You know Will, I feel we got off to a bad start Will." Courtney began. "Can we start over?"
Will frowned. Then Hay Lin cut in.
"When it comes to you two, keeping as far away as possible is what I'd recommend." Hay Lin said acidly.
"Perhaps your boyfriend should've been on the Kashin, the second Hrinfaxi class sub. Maybe you'd have gone to their rescue as well." Hay Lin went very pale. Everyone knew that there had been no survivors when the Razgriz had sunk the second Hrinfaxi class submarine in the Northern straights.
"And you should watch your mouth." Irma snapped as she entered the room.
"Still as nasty as ever I see." Cornelia added with a growl.
"Cornelia, Irma, I'm only here for the interview, I'm sure we can at least get that done." Courtney asked plaintively. Seeing the murderous looks on the others faces, she continued. "At least let us finish here, the Colonel will insist on it." Will nodded. Taking a seat, Courtney asked her first question and the interview began.
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"Are you sure they'll be there tomorrow?" Lord Cedric asked into the telephone.
"Yes I'm sure. Make sure you're there." A mans voice replied.
"We'll be there." Cedric growled back. Putting the phone down, he began to draw up the plans for tomorrow's ambush on the Razgriz. Little did he know that five girls were going to mess up his plans in a way that he could not have predicted.
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The following day
Lieutenant Miranda Spiderwell, callsign Black Widow shot down the runway and felt her plane become airborne. She felt herself grin as her squadron turned towards their destination. Bringing down the Razgriz would be a pleasure, especially after the humiliating defeat they inflicted on her squadron earlier in the war. Little did she know that fate was about to throw her plans for revenge firmly out of the window.
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Will's aircraft turned towards the Osean frontlines and accelerated towards them. Following her, the other members of her flight joined her. The interview had been…difficult to say the least. The Grumper sisters had done their homework on the girls and on more than one occasion had thrown in hints that Cornelia and Taranee had only held their own because they were in fact Osean spies. Will had never been so glad to see Colonel Nerissa ordering them into the briefing room for today's mission.
It was a simple escort mission. The five of them were to meet up with a group of An-12 Cubs and escort them and their valuable cargo to Cruik fortress. Climbing to twelve thousand feet, Will saw the aircraft in question.
"Heart to Tooth Fairy, Guardian flight will be taking position to your port side. Protector flight will be covering your starboard side. Farstrike will be flying ahead of you." Will called over to the squadron of Cubs.
"Tooth Fairy acknowledges Heart. Lead the way." The leader of the Cubs replied.
Will looked out of her cockpit window over at the transport planes beside her. The An-12 Cub was a high wing transport plane with four propeller driven engines. As a tactical airlift transport, it was second to none, but it was nowhere near as fast as the planes she and her friends were flying.
A voice called out to her over the radio.
"Guardian flight this is AWACs Oka Nieba. I have a new set of orders for you. Cruik fortress has fallen to the Osean forces. Your flight is to take up a combat air patrol to cover the retreating ground forces. Farstrike and Protector flights are to escort the An-12 Cubs back to base."
Will cursed under her breath. With Cruik fortress gone, the Osean forces had a clear road to the capital city Cinigrad.
"Oka Nieba, this is Heart. I acknowledge your orders. Heading towards the co-ordinates now."
With that statement, all five members of Guardian flight turned and headed towards the new co-ordinates.
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Captain Matthew Wilson, callsign Blaze brought his F/A-18E Super Hornet into a level flight and looked at his fuel gauge. Although he had just enough fuel to get back, he would be really pushing it. Then he heard his AWACs over the radio.
"Wardog squadron, this is Thunderhead. Fly to the tanker for air refuelling. There is an allied squadron to the east of your position. They'll guide you to the tanker for air refuelling." Thunderhead paused and Blaze wondered to himself, not for the first time, how that idiot Colonel Oliver 'Thunderhead' Mills had ever made the rank of Colonel, let alone be appointed in charge of a squadrons AWACs. "Good work people. We're one step away from the enemy's capital. We can win this as long as you're with us. I can feel it."
Blaze mentally chuckled to himself. Thunderhead was notoriously mean with his compliments. In fact it was rumoured that he couldn't say something good about someone even if he tried. Blaze could hear Nagase and Grim talking over the radio. Those two he considered something of an enigma to say the least. Neither Nagase, nor Grim seemed suited to military service, their almost pacifist views were out of place on a fighter squadron. Still, they got the job done and they did it well, so he let them speak freely. Besides, Blaze reflected to himself, given all the hard work we've done, we've earned the right to let off steam. A voice cut into their conversation over the radio.
"Wardog, this is the 8492nd squadron. Can you see us? It would be an honour for us to escort you heroes. Let's go home."
Blaze spotted the squadron of F-15 Actives in front and acknowledged. 8492, 8492, 8492, why did that name sound so familiar? He was still pondering it to himself when suddenly his radar went haywire as a powerful jamming signal kicked in and the F-15 Actives fired their AIM-120 AMRAAM's at him and his flight. Breaking hard, he released a cloud of chaff behind him and the missiles missed.
"The 8492nd squadron doesn't exist!" Nagase yelled out over the radio as it all slid into place.
Looking up, Blaze spotted some fifteen enemy planes climb up to meet him and his radar was showing another twenty aircraft at least. Although he knew that the majority of the blips were radar 'ghosts', planes that weren't really there and under normal circumstances his flight would have probably been able to get out of this mess. But his flight was on its way back from a difficult mission and their planes were in desperate need of refuelling and re-arming. Turning his plane upwards, Matthew Wilson callsign Blaze turned to engage the enemy planes, determined to give his pilots a chance to get away.
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As Will and the others arrived at their new co-ordinates, Oka Nieba called them once more.
"Heart this is AWACs Oka Nieba. There is an unusual jamming field to the west of your position. I'm sending you to investigate."
"Roger Oka Nieba. On our way now." Will replied.
"Y'know he really ought to make up his mind where he wants us to go." Irma complained. "Even blondezilla doesn't change her mind as often as he does."
"Oh come on off it Osprey. It's not like he does this all the time." Cornelia retorted.
"Guys, now isn't the time." Will cut in. "We need to focus on the task at hand."
"Besides, it's not like you don't spend almost all your time on the ground arguing anyway." Taranee added in a slightly annoyed tone of voice.
Coming up on the on the new co-ordinates, Will and the others were greeted by the sight of three Osean air force F/A-18E Super Hornets desperately trying to avoid being shot down by at least two squadrons of Osean F-15 Actives and another squadron of Su-37 Terminators. Unsure of how to continue, Will decided to call Oka Nieba for more instructions.
"Oka Nieba, this is Heart. Do we have any special ops squadrons in the area?"
"Negative Heart. Why do you ask?" Oka Nieba replied. But before Will could reply her radio suddenly turned to static and the Su-37 Terminators turned towards them and fired their missiles. Will, Irma Taranee and Hay Lin broke hard, releasing chaff in their wake. Cornelia, caught off guard, broke a fraction of a second too late and the missile exploded right next to her plane, near the cockpit.
"Cornelia!" Irma screamed out as they watched her plane spin towards the ground. With a growl, Irma turned her plane towards the hostile Su-37's and accelerated towards them, missiles firing.
"Heart to all fighters. Engage the hostiles." Will growled over the radio. Turning as one, Will, Taranee and Hay Lin followed Irma straight into the battle.
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Lord Cedric Heath, callsign Cobra turned his F-15 Active hard and fired his cannon at the Razgriz leader Matthew Wilson, callsign Blaze. Blaze flipped his fighter at the last minute, causing Cedric's cannon shells to fly just under his chin. Another two members of Cedric's squadron were attacking from another two separate angles, but somehow Blaze was able to avoid their attacks with manoeuvres that didn't seem possible.
As Cedric started to turn his F-15 Active in a bid to prepare for another attack on the Razgriz leader an R-77 missile smashed into his plane and another two hit his two wingmen. Ejecting from his fighter, Cedric spotted the plane that had fired the missile fly past. An Su-37 Terminator with a heart painted on the nose. Cedric growled to himself as he floated down. Whoever this pilot was, he or she was going to pay for this.
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Irma jerked up the nose of her fighter hard and spun her aircraft round in a tight spin, releasing flares as she went. The R-73 missile that the hostile Su-37 Terminator had fired at her flew after the flares and Irma breathed a sigh of relief.
Twisting her plane around, she locked her own R-73 missile onto another hostile fighter to the right of her and fired. Less than forty seconds later, the enemy plane exploded in a ball of flame. As Irma turned her plane to engage the fighter that had attacked her, one of the Osean F/A-18 Hornets that they'd saved dived over her plane and tore the hostile fighter apart with its cannon. Pulling up alongside her, the pilot gave her a thumbs up sign.
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Taranee flipped her plane over and cannon fire from one of the F-15 Actives skimmed under her chin. Another Active pulled up across her nose as he chased one of the F/A-18E Super Hornets. Firing her cannon, she tore the F-15 Active apart and flew through the fireball. As she emerged, she spotted one of the E-767 jammer aircraft in front of her. Locking two R-77 missiles onto the aircraft, Taranee fired and tore the jamming aircraft apart.
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"Pull up, pull up, pull up" the electronic voice of Cornelia's fly-by-wire system chanted at her as her plane came ever closer to the ground. Groggily regaining consciousness, Cornelia's windscreen was filled by the sight of the ground heading towards her. Pulling her joystick back, Cornelia's uniform became soaked in blood as the g-forces she was experiencing forced a huge surge of pressure on her shoulder. Looking at her shoulder Cornelia saw a fragment of a missile sitting in her shoulder.
Barely conscious, Cornelia registered that she was heading straight for an E-767 jamming aircraft. Locking on an R-77 missile, she fired. The missile hit the 767's inner right wing engine and sent the huge aircraft spinning out of the sky.
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Hay Lin fired two R-77 missiles head on at the approaching F-15 Actives. She watched with satisfaction as the missiles hit their targets and destroyed the incoming enemy fighters. Then she was attacked by one of the Su-37's, charging in and firing it's own R-77 missiles at her.
Twisting hard, Hay Lin released a cloud of chaff behind her. Turning into a tight turn, she fired an R-73 at the offender, only to see it thrown off as the Terminator pulled a very tight turn, releasing flares in her wake.
Blasting another Active out of the sky with another R-73, Hay Lin turned hard as the Su-37 fired another missile, this time barely missing her and exploding so close it made Hay Lin's plane shudder.
Immediately in the wake of the missile the plane charged at her, cannon blazing. Hay Lin twisted her plane round hard and the Su-37 was suddenly facing her side, causing the cannon shells to miss. Deliberately stalling her plane, Hay Lin's fighter slid backwards and as the attacking Su-37 flew past, Hay Lin fired her cannon into the Su-37's exposed belly. Engine aflame, the pilot ejected and floated towards the Earth below.
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Lieutenant Miranda Spiderwell glared at the fighter that had just shot her down. A Mig 29M Fulcrum no less, with an insignia on its nose that she recognised.
"I'll get you for this, Hay Lin. You will rue the day you met me." She growled under her breath.
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Captain Matthew Wilson, callsign Blaze watched as the Belkans jamming cleared from his radar and radio. With their jammers gone the remaining Belkan fighters left the battlefield. Without their radar 'ghosts' they obviously didn't want to hang around. Pulling his fighter up alongside the plane of his rescuer, he pulled out a torch and flashed a message across to the other aircraft in Morse code.
"Switch to frequency 194." He flashed over, hoping that the Yuke pilot knew about the old common frequency for the allies during the Belkan war.
"Will do" The Yuke pilot flashed back.
Switching to frequency 194, Blaze decided to introduce himself.
"Hello I'm Captain Matthew Wilson, callsign Blaze." He called over to the Yuke pilot.
"I am Lieutenant Will Vandom." The Yuke pilot replied. "Would you care to explain what's going on?"
"Certainly! It appears that…" and Captain Matthew Wilson, callsign Blaze began to explain.
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"So let's get this straight. Belka is behind this war." Irma exclaimed to Will as they came in to land.
"Yes, it appears so." Will replied in an exasperated voice. Irma swore colourfully over the radio.
"Cornelia, you're still with us right?" Will called over to Cornelia's plane, which was trailing smoke.
"Y-y-yes …just about holding up here." Cornelia replied, blood loss making her feel faint.
"Just concentrate on getting her down, Corny." Irma added in a worried voice.
The rest of the flight watched on anxiously as Cornelia's plane touched down on the emergency airfield. As the plane skidded to a halt, emergency vehicles came charging up to her plane, sirens blazing.
"I hope she's ok." Irma said over the radio in a very hushed voice.
"Hey it's Cornelia, of course she'll be ok!" Hay Lin answered, but her voice lacked conviction and they both knew it. Cornelia had lost a lot of blood and it would really be touch and go as to whether or not she survived. As they turned towards their base, Will silently made a desperate prayer to any deity that would care to listen, that Cornelia would survive. It would be sadly ironic if she died saving a group of pilots who, only a few days earlier were her enemies.
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Nerissa growled as she listened to the report coming in from the other end of the phone. This time Will Vandom and her flight had interrupted in the plans of the Grey Men for the last time!
"Very well, I will deal with them!" she snapped at the person on the other side of the phone. Slamming the phone down, she pressed the station intercom and called Sergeant Vathek into her office. Yes, Will Vandom and her little friends would regret their interference.
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Will knew there was something wrong when she stepped out of her aircraft to the sight of Sergeant Vathek and his men facing her with grim faces.
"Lieutenant Will Vandom, Ensign Irma Lair, Lieutenant Taranee Cook and Lieutenant Hay Lin. I am under orders to arrest you for treason." He told her grimly. As Will and the others were handcuffed and lead away (violently in Taranee's case.), Will saw Vathek give her a small wink and smile. Hoping she hadn't imagined it, Will and the others were dragged off to the bases detention centre.
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Sergeant Vathek dived into an empty storeroom and after checking he was alone, pulled out his mobile phone and dialled Caleb's number. As Caleb answered his phone, Vathek began to talk.
"Caleb? It's Vathek here. We need to talk."
AN: The sinking of the second Hrinfaxi submarine is one of the missions in the game, for those of you not in the know. This is now the longest chapter I've managed to write. (I think.)