Flying on his own above icebergs forming close to the island in front of him, Blaze scanned the landscape while also occasionally looking down at his GPS tracker. He was looking for the fjord that the DSRU was trying to get into and destroy. So far Blaze had been in the air for half an hour, having taken off early in the morning to actually get there. Because of the risk of radar detection, Orca had positioned itself 200 kilometres from the coast to avoid both land-based and aerial detection networks. Strider and Cyclops Squadrons were back on the carrier. This mission only required a single aircraft. Blaze exhaled and thought back to the briefing.
June 14th, 2019, 0530 Hours
Operation Executive Scan
Ice Creek
'We're here, now we've got to meet our Marines on the ground and find them an access point into the base. There are probably maintenance shafts on top of the creek and near the front of the docking bay door. Look for these. If there are none, report back to the carrier and we'll switch to Plan B.'
Easy enough. Blaze checked his GPS. If it was correct, he would be passing over the heads of the Marines squad now.
'Rapier, this is your air support, you there?' Blaze used the frequency he had been assigned to contact the team.
'Welcome to the frozen wastes of hell, Strider 1.' Rapier's response was nothing short of what Blaze expected from a Force Recon operator.
'Thanks. Need an entrance?'
'Are you armed with bunker-busters?' The ground operator asked. Blaze frowned.
'I have Hellfire AGMs if that counts.' Why the hell would I need GBUs? He thought to himself in confusion.
'Good enough. There's a ventilation port on top of the mountain that leads all the way inside. Problem is, we can't get in because of the machinery operating inside.'
'And this is where I come in?'
'Yes sir. There's also a shitton of snow up there. Shoot something powerful enough into it, and the entire thing collapses in an avalanche.'
'Oh, I get you. Can you designate the point I need to hit?' Blaze understood. If the snow fell into the ventilation system, it would shut down machinery and keep it shut down until someone cleared it by hand. The Eruseans were not known for their system reliability.
'Give us about ten minutes to get there.'
'Copy, standing off.' Blaze navigated amongst the snow-covered cliffs at low speed while he waited for Rapier to designate the target. River flow and glaciers had cut valleys through the islands that he could fly through. Blaze zipped through all the ones in the area, practising on his tight space flying ability and getting a feel for the general controls of the F-35B. He had very little experience with the F-35, having only used it once in the Circum-Pacific War over Cruik Fortress. Blaze inhaled and exhaled heavily as he pulled a turn back out to open water. Thoughts of a prior mission took him back several years.
The Razgriz Straits
November 14th, 2010
Operation Long Harpoon
'Well this place looks uninviting.' A younger Alex noted the water and ice below the four-ship formation. The view was universal in every direction for miles.
'It's the Razgriz godforsaken Straits, kid. Place is uninviting as places come.' Chopper in the rear position, flying an F-14B, replied to the state of the area.
'I gotta agree with the captain on this. This place is unnerving.' Grimm agreed with Alex. The formation was running a mixed bag of aircraft.
AIRCRAFT
Wardog 1/Blaze - Su-27 Flanker
Wardog 2/Edge - Su-35 Super Flanker
Wardog 3/Chopper - F-14B Tomcat
Wardog 4/Archer - F-14B Tomcat
For the past day and a half, a Yuktobanian super submarine had been bombarding Osean landing forces from the icy waters of the Razgriz Strait. The OIA and the Osean Army believed that the shooter was a second Scinfaxi-class submarine. The Hrimfaxi. Wardog had been assigned to travel from Sand Island to the Anean continent to deal with it.
'Alex, do you think the Estovakians know that the Yukes are shooting from their waters?' Kei asked.
'Doubt it. I don't think they'd admit it even if they did know.' Alex replied. The Estovakians had good relationships with Yuktobania, and not so much with Osea.
'Wardog, stay at low altitude and fly towards the submarine fleet.' Thunderhead cut the conversation off before it continued any further. 'You are restricted from flying above 1,000 feet. We can't risk our surprise attack being detected.'
'I'm getting chills. This northern sea is where the Demon of Razgriz came from.' Chopper mentioned the famous - or infamous - story.
'I still need to read that book.'
'Razgrizā¦' Kei.
'Heh. There's no way that could have been the Razgriz.' There had been mentions among the men back at base that the submarine based in the straits was the persona of Razgriz. Chopper vocally disagreed.
'Hold your chatter. Commencing comm out procedures shortly. Maintain radio silence.' Thunderhead formally raised the EMCOM barrier.
'Aww. Guess I'll cut off the mic and try talking to myself.' Chopper was disappointed. Alex chuckled. Poor bastard. Alex flipped a switch on his dashboard to cut off his helmet microphone. From there, the only noise to keep him company was the roar of his twin turbofan engines and the howling of outside wind. Despite it being winter in the Northern Hemisphere, weather conditions were calm. For now.
The formation dived closer to the ground and sped up to get to the Hrimfaxi faster. If they wanted the submarine destroyed, they would have to strike at it hard and fast while it was on the surface. The Emmerian Navy was on standby with anti-submarine warfare aircraft should it try to escape west, but the realistic chances of them finding the sub in these conditions were extremely low.
About halfway to the target, the tactical display on Alex's Su-27 updated with a beep. He checked what had changed. In every direction surrounding the Hrimfaxi were a new series of hostiles. Submarines. Picket submarines. Alex cursed. They were most likely about to be detected. As Wardog Squadron zipped over the first barrier submarine going at speeds above Mach 2, his suspicions were found to be correct. An electronic whine happened and then dissipated for someone to start talking on the radio net.
'This is Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell, the advisor to HQ.' The Army officer started speaking. Must have been something serious to break radio silence. 'That picket submarine just sent off an enemy detection notice. The Hrimfaxi's gonna dive in one minute. Attack immediately!'
'Hey, I can talk again.' Chopper was the first Wardog member to speak.
'Wardog, push it.' Alex put as much thrust as he could into his engines and shot forward over the SAM that the submarine fired at him. He could outspeed the missile, leaving it in the snow and ice.
'Ten clicks out.' Kei said for the record. At this range, their ECM could detect and read the radio communications between the various submarines.
'Enemy planes! Halt all resupply operations!'
'Enemy planes? We're still in the middle of our mission!'
'Dammit! How did they sniff us out?'
The Oseans made it with weapons release range of the Hrimfaxi.
'Wardog, fire!' Alex released a pair of cluster bombs at the super sub. Chopper and Grimm used armour-piercing 2000lb GBUs. Nagase was flying their anti-air cover and didn't have air-to-ground munitions.
Hrimfaxi's midships region erupted in a cloud of grey smoke and a large series of explosions as the two cluster bombs broke open and unleashed the explosive charges held within. The GBUs were less flashy but more damaging, their penetrators ripping past the outer skin, through the pressure hull and into vital internal systems. They had made it in the nick of time, the Hrimfaxi going under as the last bomb hit the sub.
'That bastard is diving!' Chopper.
'Damage on enemy submarine unknown.' Nagase.
'That thing has to be taking on water.' Alex had remembered what happened to the Scinfaxi. She had taken a beating from GBU strikes alone. ECM detected radio transmissions again.
'This is Submarine Squadron Command. Emergency report from our ground forces in the front line.' There was a pause. 'The enemy is undertaking a large-scale offensive. Attack the enemy forces with long-range missile strikes from the Hrimfaxi. Urgent. Transmitting target coordinates.'
'Moment of truth.' If the sub fired without surfacing, the operation would be a failure. Alex held his breath.
'This is Hrimfaxi. We cannot comply. We're unable to launch missiles underwater due to battle damage.' The comms officer on the super sub replied. Wardog was in luck.
'What's the point of your existence if you don't fire now?!' The squadron commander was getting increasingly desperate. 'They're penetrating our defensive lines as we speak! Hurry up before they overrun our allies!'
'Emergency surface. Hold on to something!' The Hrimfaxi transmitted. Wardog waited over spaces of open water. 'Once we surface, launch the missiles and unmanned drones.'
'Eyes open, unload on the fucker once she surfaces!' Alex ran all of his sensors to make sure that he saw the sub as soon as it surfaced. Nagase, Chopper and Grimm were all equally aware. No-one wanted to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of Osean soldiers. The first one to see the sub was Nagase.
'The Hrimfaxi's antenna has appeared above water. It's surfacing!' She said, pinging the location with a sensor pod. Alex watched that area. He saw white in the water shortly followed by tons of water being thrown upwards as Hrimfaxi surfaced swiftly and violently. As quickly as she had surfaced, she launched a single missile and a series of vertically-launched fighters from containers located in the stern of the boat.
'Hrimfaxi launching burst missiles!' Thunderhead called out the launch before anyone else did.
'Kei, Grimm, deal with the fighters! Chopper, let's hit the sub!' Alex quickly gave tactical orders to everyone before diving towards the Hrimfaxi with his cluster bombs armed.
'Copy that, kid.' Chopper followed him in the attack. Weapons popped out from the Hrimfaxi's hull. AA guns and SAM batteries. She was well kitted. Before they fired at the offending aircraft, Alex released a pair of clusters specifically targeted for those AA weapons. Explosions rattled over the entire weapons deck as the charges exploded. Behind him, Chopper aimed for the stern of the ship, going for the reactor core that powered the sub. Two bombs tumbled from his F-14 down to the Hrimfaxi. Both bombs hit their mark, shaking the submarine and dislodging various electronic, hydraulic and mechanical mountings.
'This is Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell, advisor to HQ. I'm getting your info in real time from our tracker satellite. Time your attacks to-'
'Already on it sir.' Alex cut the colonel off as he rapidly turned around to avoid a missile from one of the surviving SAM launchers. He came in for a second run with the cluster bombs, cutting across the middle of the sub. A third cloud of explosions rocked the deck of the Hrimfaxi, destroying or disabling the remaining anti-aircraft weaponry.
'Christ, this thing is tough. Grimm, need your GBUs down here.' The damage that the sub had taken was impressive and would have sunk any other submarine and just about any other surface vessel. Highly pressurized air shot out from the flanks and stern of the Hrimfaxi. She was flooding her ballast tanks and preparing to dive.
'She's diving kid!' Chopper struck the stern with missiles to little effect.
'I know!' Alex released the last set of cluster bombs he had in a straight dive. The charges funneled out and hit the starboard side engine pod. This time the hull visibly buckled as its structure was compromised by repeated bomb hits.
'Hrimfaxi! You're dealing lethal damage to the Osean Army. Give me one more shot! Drive them back to the coast line!' Submarine Command was still transmitting.
'Captain, ballast tanks are damaged, unable to submerge!' The damage control on the Hrimfaxi was having difficulty dealing with flooding. Wardog's attacks were taking their toll.
'Forget it, we'll deal with them above the surface!'
The stern of the submarine appeared above water before the rest of it. She was imbalanced in the water. The moment the midsection of the sub appeared above water, a missile shot out of a central VLS cell.
'Hrimfaxi launching burst missile!' Thunderhead called it out. 'Wardog, it's heading your way!' The guy's tone was urgent, very urgent.
'Uh oh.' Grimm captured Alex's thoughts in one line. The latter dived down from high altitude over the Hrimfaxi, missiles and guns armed, despite the approaching threat of the burst missile over their heads.
'Alex, what are you doing?!' His actions concerned Nagase greatly. He didn't reply. The submarine had to be sunk, and soon, otherwise the juggling act of evasion would see someone sent into the drink. Alex kept diving. He launched his missiles and fired a long burst from the cannon into the missile storage area.
'10 seconds to impact!' Alex had ten seconds to climb from a hundred metres to five thousand. At the last possible second he yanked back on the stick to face his engines towards the sea, put as much thrust as he could into the engines and started to accelerate upwards.
5. Alex passed the one kilometre mark.
4.
'Climb kid, climb!' Chopper was rooting for him.
3. 2 kilometres.
2. 3 and a half kilometres.
1.
'BLAZE!'
Alex closed his eyes as the warhead of the burst missile detonated in several white flashes. The Su-27 shook violently, hit by the shockwave of the explosion. He kept his eyes closed for a couple of seconds.
'Blaze, returned to radar.' Thunderhead. He had survived, if only by the distance of a hair.
'Bloody hell.' Chopper was relieved.
'Captain, that was too close!' Grimm was also relieved.
'Alex, are you insane?' Kei was probably relieved but she sounded more annoyed.
'Wardog, let's finish off this fucking sub!' Alex cut the ceremony short and dived towards the Hrimfaxi for the final killing blow. Nagase, Chopper and Grimm all followed behind him. Alex loosed off missiles at the point he had hit before and leveled off. Nagase blind-fired some missiles and used her cannon. Chopper and Grimm had the most devastating attack, both hitting the Hrimfaxi with a pair of GBUs each. There was a gut-wrenching explosion below as something big detonated within the hull of the sub.
'All this damage from four planes? How is this possible?!'
'Reactor's going critical, we need to abandon ship!'
'Look! The Razgriz story was true!'
'That's not possible.'
As fires raged internally, a part of the external hull was blown clean off by an internal explosion. Hrimfaxi started listing rapidly to the stern. She was sinking.
'Command, this is Hrimfaxi, we are sinking!'
'Hrimfaxi, it appears you're up against Razgriz itself out there.'
'Looks like they were the real Razgriz, not us-'
The final words of the captain were cut off by a rapid series of major explosions tearing what was left of the Hrimfaxi apart. Her various fragments splashed out for several hundred metres in all directions as the remaining central mass slipped beneath the surface. The threat was gone, and with it the might of the Yuktobanian Navy.
'You there Blaze?' Kei's voice called out to Alex.
'You there Blaze?' Nine years later, the deeper voice of a Marine replaced it.
'Yeah, sorry.' Blaze rubbed his eyes. 'Say again your last.'
'Target has been marked via IR beacon. You're cleared hot.'
'Copy.' Blaze flipped down his visor and switched from visual to night vision, looking for the pulse of light that the beacon would be making. He found it. The target was a mountain of snow overlooking the top of the mountain. For the noise factor, Blaze decided against using missiles and let off a few short bursts of cannon fire into the base of the mount. This was enough to destabilize the mount and send heavy layers of snow roaring down the mountain side and to where it needed to go.
'Good effect on target, Strider 1. That's all we needed. Proceeding to enter the base.'
'Rog. Have a good day Rapier.' Blaze gave his farewell to the Marine Recon team on the ground and turned back for the Orca, his operation complete for today.
