Sorry for the delay but I have a one word reason: Work
Chapter 29: Flying Tigers, Close Call and Red Reinforcement
March 15th
The UNAF has pushed into the northern provinces of the Empire. The Empire's army was like before, easily pushed aside but the UNAF's advance was being hampered not by the remnants of the Imperial Army but by region's dragons hungry for revenge as the destruction of the Kingdom of Dragons in the Mountain Range of Snow and Ice and the death of their king at the hands of the UNAF. The dragons retaliated by attacking any villages and towns near the mountains. This is a big problem as the dragon attacks tied down large numbers of UN troops to defend the towns and villages. This meant that UNAF had fewer guns to shoot at Imperial troops. It was decided to relieve the rear by having a unit made of volunteer fliers. These came from across the United Nations mostly from Liberion, Orussia, Fuso and Karlsland but mainly Liberions made up the volunteer fighter squadron. It had the job defending the villages, towns, supply depots, supply lines, hospitals, transport planes and occasionally on the frontlines to plug gaps. The volunteers actually was a unit that was stationed in China made of Liberions and Fusoans but it was deactivated after the war but its headquarters relocated from Shanghai to Berlin after the Gate's appearance and the unit was then reactivated by first as training unit for the extra-species but when the UNAF began having dragon problems, it was upgraded to a combat unit and sent over to assist with the situation.
Northern Falmarr
Town of Pomikhiv
It was like any other day in this town in Northern Falmarr as its residents went on with their daily lives even if there was a UN supply depot in the town. In fact the citizens are grateful for the UN depot as the soldiers were much friendlier than the Imperial occupiers before them. The town was peaceful until the UN soldiers began running to their stations while sirens rang.
"Run for cover! The dragons are coming!" A farmer shouted as the townspeople ran for cover will UN troops ran for their AA positions.
"Bloody hell, this is the fifth time the week!" A Britannian MP growled as he drove his jeep to do last minute check on the town.
"They must really hate us for killing their king, huh?" A Karlslander MP said as he sat next to the Brit. Soon the anti-air gunners began firing their guns but that was not the only thing unleashing hell into the sky.
"Alright kameraden, let's show these dragon bastards our Taifun" A Karlslander Anti-Air gunner shouted as his fellow gunners readied their new anti-air rockets, "Feuer"
"Schnell! Hurry with the Wasserfall!" Another Karlslander anti-air gunner shouted.
"I want that sky filled with flak, you hear?! The entire sky!" A Liberion lieutenant barked. Soon the sky was filled with flak and rockets and missiles at heading for the dragons that were approaching the town. Some were struck by the anti-air fire but many slipped through heading for the town. Just then engine noises were heard and the gunners looked up to see fighters swoop into battle.
"Cease fire! Cease fire! The Flying Tigers are here!" The anti-air defence commander barked.
"Go get them, Tigers!" A Romagnan shouted.
In the sky
"This is AWACS Eagle Eye to Major General Chennault, there are thirty dragons attacking Pomikhiv. There is a UN supply depot in that town which supplies nearby units, defend the depot and the town at all cost" An Blue Neuroi AWACS radioed.
"Understood, Eagle Eye, we will keep the town safe" Clara Lee Chennault said as she cocked her M1917 water-cooled machine gun. Clara Chennault is the commander and founder of the UN Volunteer Squadron best known as the Flying Tigers. She is a well-respected commander and is known to make sure the job is done and done well, "Alright, let's show these dragons why you don't mess with the Flying Tigers"
"Roger! Clara, we will show them who's boss" Rebecca Neele said as she readied her BAR. Rebecca Neele was the Flying Tigers' best witch ace with 56 neuroi kills and 4 dragon kills to her name. Like the other Liberions in the Flying Tigers, she uses P-40 strikers donning the famous shark mouth. Her magic power is Supercharge which allows her to doubles the damage caused by her rounds.
"I will watch your back sis" Robert Neele radioed as he slotted in the wingman position behind his sister. He was the second highest scoring ace pilot with 49 neuroi kills and 5 dragon kills. He flies the icon of the Flying Tigers, a P-40 with shark mouths painted on the side. The Neeles were a deadly duo as they use each other's strengths and weaknesses to destroy their opponents.
"Thanks, bro" Rebecca smiled as the two Liberions dove into the dragon pack. They immediately downed two dragons out of the sky.
"Excellent shooting, now see the Black Devil of the East take out his prey" Erich Hartmann praised before he swooped in behind a dragon and closed in as closely as possible and let his 20 mm cannons open up. Erich Hartmann is the older brother of Erica, Ursula and Irina Hartmann. He is the top ranking pilot ace with 352 neuroi kills and 2 dragon kills. He has the same nickname as Erica, the Black Devil but that is the short version as their full nicknames are Black Devil of the East for Erich and Black Devil of the West for Erica. Anyway Erich is a very talented dogfighter and loves to close in as close as possible to the enemy before firing so there was no way he can miss and he just bagged his third dragon kill.
"Hey comrades, wait for me" Joseph Ledbejev said as he lined up for an attack in his Yak-3 on a dragon. Joseph is a veteran pilot with 41 neuroi kills and 1 dragon kill. He likes to attack from below which earned him the nickname, "Underbelly".
"Awrite! I shot one of the dragons down!" Fasrath cheered as she did a victory spin. Fasrath or as everyone calls her, "Scotty" because of her Scottish accent and attitude, is the first catgirl to become a fighter pilot and she was good flier with four dragon kills under her belt. She was quite bad at first because her ears hurt from all the loud noises at first but she got used to them quickly.
"Congratulations, Fasrath! You are now an ace, you are an elite pilot now" Robert congratulated.
"Why thanks, Rob" Fasrath replied.
"Damn it, I wanted to be the first extra-species fighter ace!" Iora grumbled. Iora was a zombie who was a good flier though; the ground crew now have a game to see who can find the most bits of her inside the cockpit when they come around to do maintenance of her P-40 Warhawk much to her chagrin. She has three dragon kills to her name.
"You win some, you lose some, Iora" Helgara said, "Besides you were the first extra-species to score a kill"
"True but being an ace sounds cool" Iora said.
"Oh, you will be one soon enough" Helgara said. Helgara is a holstaur, another extra-species to be trained as a pilot. She is good pilot but an average fighter but she has earned four dragon kills but she has a tendency to forget to check her surroundings and many times she comes in for landing with claw scratches or chunks of her plane bitten off. The ground crew calls her "Air Head" while her fellow pilots call her "Bait". These pilots and witches of the Flying Tigers held the dragons back and soon turned them back however the dragons did cause damage, two houses were burned and a jeep was crushed while three anti-air gunners were wounded from a dragon's swipe but no one died. Helgara had claw marks on her fuselage and her left aileron was bitten off. The townspeople cheered as the Flying Tigers headed back to their base.
"Hey look at those girls waving at us, they look beautiful" Robert said.
"You can have a chat with them later but you are still on duty, Robert" Clara said. This was the new norm for the UNAF in Northern Falmarr. Fighters and fighter witches were constantly in air waiting to defend against dragon attacks which even more random than neuroi attacks. There were days where there were at least ten dragon attacks all across the front and the rear and there were days where they were none. The randomness of the dragon attacks were causing all sorts of problems, front line troops were finding that they were constantly short on something as supply was send in rush jobs as the rear echelon rushed the loading of the supply convoy as they didn't want to be caught in the middle of a resupply job when the dragons come knocking. Furthermore, the roads were constantly filled with accidents and breakdowns as truckers and drivers would drive as fast as possible as to avoid being caught in the open if say dragons attacked. Anti-air gunners were being very jumpy as they would often open fire when they immediately see something in the sky; this led to disastrous consequences as there have been cases of planes and witches being shot up by friendly AA, some were lucky, others not so.
Meanwhile the situation for the UN fighters and witches was rapidly deteriorating as man and machine began buckle from the constant action.
March 20th
Northern Falmarr
Novgorad
Novgorad UNAF Air Field
"William, you don't have your landing gear down! Abort landing!" A tower operator shouted into his headset as he watched a P-40 pilot come into for a landing but his landing gears were still up.
"What…? OH SHIT!" The pilot tried to pull up but he slammed the tail of his plane into the tarmac which made the plane shudder before the plane skidded across the runway. Immediately the ground crew began racing to the plane to deal with anything. The pilot scrambled out of the plane as he didn't want to die in a fire or in a flash.
"Shucks, there goes another one" Xenysha "Xen" said as she looked on from her jeep. Xenysha or as everyone calls her Xen is a member of the Flying Tigers. She is a succubus but she had promised not to drain the life energy from her fellow pilots much to everyone's relief. She has six dragon kills to her name.
"That's what? The fourth time a plane crashed in just two days?" Ohirlax "Lax" said as he looked up from his newspapers. Ohirlax or Lax as everyone calls him is another member of the Flying Tigers. He is an incubus and he is Xen's cousin. He was a good fighter pilot with nine dragon kills.
"It's the damn dragons; they are not giving us anytime to rest, we are running out of supplies, spare parts and ammo" Joseph said as he walked up to the jeep. Joseph Ledbejev is another member of the Flying Tigers. He is from Orussia and a seasoned pilot with 34 neuroi kills and seven dragon kills. He is a good fighter pilot.
"Well, I hope that when the 501st, 503rd and 505th come, this will be less common" Xen said.
However even with the elite 501st, 502nd, 503rd, 504th and 505th JFWs, the dragons still attacked and caused damage. That is until 25th March when the dragons completely stopped all activities against the UNAF. This lasted for five days, giving much needed breathing space for the UNAF. Then a message came on the 1st of April, it was the dragons, they wanted a grand battle against the UN as they were in the dragons' own words, "grown bored and tired of playing with their toys". Initially this was thought to be a prank as it was delivered on April's Fool Day but when radar stations and AWACs across the front began reporting of a mass of unidentified fliers moving into UNAF held air space, it didn't take long for every fighter, witch and blue neuroi to race to meet the enemy.
Sky over Northern Falmarr
It was chaos; there were hundreds of individual dogfights as UN Aerial Forces fought against the dragons. UN troops on the ground, watched in awe and anticipation as the biggest clash of aerial might in history took place. The UN Aerial Forces fought tooth and nail against the dragon but it seems every time one dragon went down, three more took its place. Furthermore, the disruption to supply for the fighter units began to show its effect as guns began jamming or misfiring, planes began running out of ammo or fuel, strikers and engines began failing and pilots and witches were getting exhausted.
"There is too many! We can't shoot them all!" Francesca screamed in panic.
"God damn it! There is no end to these bastards!" Mio barked as she slashed another dragon with her katana, her machine gun had already run out of ammo.
"I am out of ammo!" Mami shouted as she slung her Bofors cannons and pulled out her katana.
"I am down to two belts!" Chris shouted as she fired her M1919 machine gun.
"I have run out of Fliegerhammer rockets" Sanya said.
"Running low on fifty cal ammo!" Ember shouted.
"Ten rounds for the 20 mm left!" Blaze shouted.
"Damn it, we need to end this fight now!" Gertrude growled as she used her 50 mm cannon as a club and bashed a dragon with it.
"But with what?" Shirley shouted.
"I will!" Yoshika said as she unsheathed her new katana which was made of Hivescansdra obsidian, forged by Mio Sakamoto as a reward for her Blue Neuroi Space Commando training and to replace her officer's sword which was damaged from the King Dragon fight.
"Yoshika!" Lynette shouted but Yoshika raced ahead in her Nakajima Kikka Fighter with her katana out.
"BANZAI!" Yoshika shouted as she began fighting the dragons with her katana which sliced through dragon flesh like a hot knife through butter. Yoshika had learned the way of the samurai from Mio and from Amirah, skills of close quarters combat and now she was combining the two into a deadly dance.
"Mistress, there is too many dragons for you to fight alone" Ikaros called out, "Please fall back!"
"I can't do that Ikaros" Yoshika said, "Behind us are our comrades and civilians that we have vowed to protect and I am not going back on that vow!"
"Mistress!" Ikaros shouted as she and the rest of the 501st watched Yoshika reengage the dragons while other fliers flew in to re-join the fight. Yoshika fought tenaciously against the dragons as she killed as many possible but there were too many.
"Crap, this is not good" Yoshika uttered as she fended off the dragons with her sword, killing some in the process but there were still many around her. She was getting exhausted; her magic and her stamina reserves were nearly dry as she began waver in her flight. The dragons could sense this as they pressed on their attack with more ferocity. Yoshika already had scratches and cuts from those that got too close. Suddenly she felt a wave of hot air hit her from the side. She immediately flew forward to avoid the fire breath but she was a second too late as her strikers were caught in the fire breath.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Yoshika screamed as she felt her strikers melt around her legs before they detonated from the heat.
"YOSHIKA!" Everyone in the 501st JFW shouted as they saw Yoshika fall out of the sky towards the ground.
"YOSHIKA!" Shirley shouted as she raced in and grabbed Yoshika before she hit the ground, "Come on pal, stay with me… good god"
"Shirley, did you… oh my god" Gertrude said as the rest of the 501st gathered around Shirley as she slowly touched the ground. They saw how badly wounded Yoshika was. She was bleeding all over from scratches and cuts however it was her legs that were the most horrific, they had pieces of melted metal stuck on them while parts of her skin was peeling off with the flesh underneath burnt, her feet were almost completely non-existent anymore.
"Mein Gott" Minna uttered.
"Miyafuji…" Mio uttered.
"Yoshika… why?" Lynette just began crying.
"Aw fuck, that's just wrong" Chris cringed.
"Humph… BLARGH!" Francesca vomited.
"Sacre Bleu" Perrine muttered.
"Yoshika, please no" Xaliana pleaded.
"Happy place, happy place" Garadinava said as she tried to calm down.
"Oh god no" Hanna said.
"Mistress" Ikaros said
"Sor…Sorry everyone… I failed…" Yoshika uttered before she gritted in pain.
"Yoshika!" Everyone called out as they began to tear up even Mio and Gertrude, the toughest in the unit.
"Yoshika, no you didn't fail you did good, you hear? You did good" Mio said as her voice cracked as she tried to keep it together. Meanwhile Ikaros was angry. Her mistress was now on the verge of death and it was all because of the dragons, it was because of the lizards; the overgrown lizards; the stupid overgrown lizards; it was all their fault and now they will pay.
"Uranus System activate" Ikaros said monotonously as she activated her battle mode. A halo formed above her head while her pink hair become messy whilst her wings become bright wings of light and her green eyes become red. She was now ready for war and she will show the dragons what real war is but first procedures must be followed.
"This is Ikaros contacting UNAF High Command, requesting permission to use Apollon Bow on the dragons" Ikaros requested. She waited for the reply, it wasn't long.
"Are there any allied units in proximity of the dragons?" Rommel asked.
"No, all UNAF forces had fallen behind my position" Ikaros replied.
"Then you are cleared to use the Apollon Bow however on the dragons only not the mountains" Rommel replied.
"Understood" Ikaros said as she charged up her bow, she aimed it at the centre of the mass of dragons that had gathered in front of her, waiting for her move.
"Apollon Bow, firing" Ikaros said as she released the arrow. Her aim was true as the arrow flew straight into the head of a dragon that was in the middle of the swarm of dragons. Soon the sky was engulfed in humongous white flash that engulfed all the dragons that were airborne. Then there was the shockwave and the loud boom from the explosion which could be heard at the way in Alnus.
"Oh my god… A Liberion anti-tank gunner said as he and other soldiers looked on at the explosion.
"Bloody hell" A Britannian rifleman uttered. The 501st JFW watched in muted awe and disbelief as Ikaros wiped out the dragons that were massed to attack her.
"That is Ikaros's power, her Apollon Bow has the power to destroy entire nations" Nymph said. Just then another Angeloid appeared; this one had short purple hair and wore a white short sleeveless dress that had two black lines running down the dress near the arm holes. She also had a nurse's cap on her head.
"Who are you?" Minna asked.
"I am Medical Specialist Oregano, I was called by Ikaros to heal her mistress" Oregano said.
"Oregon-what?" Shirley said as she mispronounced the newcomer's name.
"My name is Oregano but that is not important, can I see the wounded?" Oregano said as she created a table.
"Oh? Oh, yes" Shirley said as she set Yoshika on the table. Oregano immediately began scanning and examining Yoshika's badly wounded body.
"She is severely wounded and is losing a lot of blood" Oregano said in a monotonous tone as various medical apparatus began materializing around her, "Beginning operation"
"Please save her, she means so much to our unit" Lynette begged.
"Do not worry, she will be fine" Oregano said.
"The fuck?! There are more of those bastards!" Chris barked as the rest turned to see more dragons fly up from the mountains.
"These bastards were waiting for us to be too tired and swarm us all" Minna growled.
"Honourless fucking lizards" Mio swore. Suddenly the dragons were attacked by missiles and gunfire.
"What the hell?" Shirley said.
"Minna, are there any Blue Neuroi aerial units east of us?" Mio asked.
"No, all Blue Neuroi aerial units are to the west or south of us and they are heading back for their bases" Minna replied. Just the Garadinava held a hand to her right ear.
"What? Are you serious? This better not be an April's Fools prank or I will kick your sorry ass" Garadinava growled, "Understood, I will inform them"
"What is it, Garadinava?" Xaliana asked.
"It's Irvivandra or the Red Neuroi, it seems they have joined the war on our side" Garadinava said.
"You are kidding right?" Ember said.
"No this is the real deal; it seems there was a revolutionary faction in the Red Neuroi called the Red Neuroi Royal Revolutionaries and they had succeeded in overthrowing the dictatorship, and now they are here to provide support" Garadinava said.
"And you expect us to believe that?" Gertrude asked as she recalled what the Red Neuroi had done to her family.
"Just look at the evidence" Garadinava said pointing to the Red Neuroi fighters and interceptors who were destroying the remaining dragons without remorse.
"Operation has been completed" Oregano announced. Everyone in the 501st turned to Oregano and Yoshika, mainly to Yoshika and they were amazed to see her completely healed up like she was never wounded.
"Ah… what? Eh? Why is everyone here? And who is this?" Yoshika ask as she woke up. Everyone
"YOSHIKA!" Everyone in the 501st JFW dog piled onto the bewildered Yoshika as she was clueless why they were so emotional until she saw what remains of her strikers, "Did I crash?"
"Almost, Shirley raced in to save you" Lynette said as she hugged Yoshika.
"Thank you Shirley" Yoshika said.
"You are an important member of the team, Yoshika" Shirley said.
"Ja, if it wasn't for you, we would never get to where we are now" Gertrude said.
"Yeah and your healing magic feels great!" Francesca cheered. The other witches also sang praises for Yoshika well Minna playful scolded Yoshika to never do that again. There was not a dry in the unit. Yoshika then looked to the sky and saw the red neuroi.
"Is that the red neuroi?" Yoshika asked.
"Yes they are" Ember said.
"I still don't like this" Gertrude said.
"What happened?" Yoshika asked.
"It seems that the red neuroi are now our allies, Yoshika" Shizuka said.
"Excuse me, is this the 501st?" Everyone turned to see a red neuroi commando girl with her team flanking her. They noticed that she had an Orussian accent.
"Who are you?" Minna asked.
"I am Major Dragoslava Svetlana of the Red Neuroi Spartan Commandos, don't worry we are not here to cause trouble" The red neuroi commando said. The witches and Vera who had arrived during Yoshika's operation looked at the Red Neuroi. Just then Vera walked up to the Red Neuroi commandos.
"Major Vera Neckiton, Blue Neuroi Space Commando" Vera introduced herself with a grim face but it then softened to a smile as she extended her hand, "Glad to have you on-board"
"It is good to be fighting for a good cause for once" Dragoslava smiled.
This signalled the start of the triple alliance between the United Nations, the Blue Neuroi, Hivescansdra Federation and the Red Neuroi, Imperial Kingdom of Sevasta. There were some tension between the UN and the Blue Neuroi with their new ally given their past actions that had caused millions to perish, roughly 60 million dead both military and civilians for the UN alone. However those tensions were eased and defused when Blue Neuroi and UN troops and officers began being friendly to the Red Neuroi and vice versa. The dragons were completely wiped out after the devastating attack by Ikaros and the ruthless efficiency of the Red Neuroi Air Forces and Spartan Commandos at clearing out any remnants of the dragons. The UN were ticked off when they discovered that the dragons had struck a deal with the battered empire that which the Empire will give the dragons Northern Falmarr when they "won" the war only they attacked the UNAF and Blue Neuroi Forces and hamper their war efforts. However, the UNAF and Blue Neuroi proved once more they were not like any military the Empire have ever faced before. And now the UN, Blue Neuroi and Red Neuroi Fliers and soldiers who faced the dragons now got some much deserved R&R.
April 2nd
Kingdom of Angeloid
Village of E'ennor
The pristine beaches that made this village famous was being enjoyed by the UN, Blue Neuroi and Red Neuroi soldiers and fliers of the Northern Front as they had earned it after the attack of the dragons. Some slept; some swam, while others played in the sand. Radios blared music as long as possible as soldiers, witches, pilots enjoyed their break. The 501st JFW were grouped together with Shirley's daughter, Amina, Ikaros, Nymph, Vera, Dragoslava and her daughter Zenevieva as they enjoyed their beach time. Shirley and Dragoslava were sitting together as they watched their daughters play.
"I like times like these, away from war and enjoying the peace" Dragoslava said.
"This almost reminds me a trip to the beach in Florida" Shirley smiled.
"Hey, what's your name?" Zenevieva asked. Amina turned from the stick she was playing with to Zenevieva.
"My name is Amina Yeager, what is yours?" Amina asked. Shirley smiled, Amina's control on English has become very good.
"My name is Zenevieva Svetlana" Zenevieva answered.
"That is a cool name!" Amina said.
"Thanks, I think your name is nice as well" Zenevieva said, "Hey do you want to build a sandcastle with me?"
"That would be fun so yes, I would want to build a sandcastle with you" Amina smiled as the two girls began playing in the sand while the other soldiers were enjoying their time. There was nothing that could make this day any better.
