1700 Hours local time, July 21, 2019
444th Squadron Air Force Base, Zapland, Usea
'Much as I would prefer being in the cockpit with you guys, you need an AWACS out there.' In the adjutant office, Captain Michael Huntsman Webber was printing off photos. Sitting at Michael's desk, Alex sat upright in one of the chairs located around it. Sitting at the same table, Grimm scoffed.
'And I thought you enjoyed being in the back. Anyway, where are we going?' Grimm both insulted the captain and asked a question.
'Artigilo Port. It's a fuel refinery station used by the Erusean Air Force for their UCAV bastions.' Webber answered, returning to the table with the photos and a cup of coffee and sitting down. He passed the photos to the two senior officers. Alex grabbed them and glanced at them.
'Jeez. That sandstorm isn't going to do us any favours.' Alex mentioned the storm that had been kicking around for a day or two. Inessa 2 or something along those lines.
'Meteorology know where this thing is forecasted to go?' Grimm scanned the image more closely. It was a big storm.
'Chances are it'll be at Artigilo by tomorrow afternoon.' Webber answered the question.
'Grimm, look at the port.' Alex slid one of the photos to Grimm, his finger on a concentration of ships in the port. 'Cargo ships, oil tankers and an entire flotilla of frigates. They've running an operation.'
'Yeah. Naval assets are hard to come by that far south. This must be something big.' Grimm agreed.
'Aye. Ought to pay them a visit?' Webber stared at the two in his office.
'Let's do it. I'll round up the guys.' Alex stood up and left the office.
July 21, 2019, 1900 Hours
Operation Three Of A Kind
Artigilo Port, Usea
'We all awake? Yes? Good. In case you haven't already heard, Colonel McKinsey was dismissed as base commander, so I'll be running briefings from here.'
'But that's besides the point. Up to this point, the biggest threat facing Osean forces in the field has been Erusea's drone network. We're going to change that tonight.'
'The Eruseans have a number of refineries around the continent processing fuel for their drone bastions. The largest of these is at Artigilo Port. Under the cover of night, we're going to slip in and level the facility, the tankers and anyone who tries to intervene.'
'Because of the scale of this operation, we'll be running several different squads. I'll lead Razgriz Squadron to take on any fighters in the region. Count, Keystone and Trigger, you guys take Anvil, Badger and Cobra to clean up ground targets after the bombers are done. Hammer takes the bombers and carpet bombs the facility. Understood? Good.'
Alex looked at the pilots he had assembled for the mission. 40 fighter aircraft, and even a few bombers that the Scrap Queen and Trigger had pieced together. That was almost the entire squadron save a couple that Alex was leaving at the base for defence. They got to the flight line where the aircraft were being prepared. Some of the pilots were there by the time Alex made it; even some unofficial pilots like Avril, who now had her own flight uniform.
'Avril, you set?' Alex called out as he made a beeline for his Su-33.
'Ready as I'll ever be.' The mechanic answered, climbing up the ladder of the B-1B bomber she would be flying. Alex shook his head and climbed into his Su-33. Start electrical, start engines, close canopy, check flaps, weapons and sensors, Alex reminded himself of his startup procedure. Across the airfield, the air was filled with the sounds of engine ignitions.
AIRCRAFT
Razgriz 1/Blaze - Su-33M3 Enhanced Flanker-D
Razgriz 2/Archer - Typhoon FGR.4
Razgriz 3/Taipan - F-15E Strike Eagle
Razgriz 4/Mythic - Typhoon FGR.4
Anvil 1/Count - Su-33 Flanker-D
Anvil 2/Tabloid - Mirage 2000-5
Anvil 3/High Roller - F-16C Fighting Falcon
Anvil 4/Champ - MiG-29A Fulcrum
Anvil 5-12 - F/A-18E Super Hornet
Badger 1/Keystone - F-16CJ Block 52 Viper
Badger 2/Full Band - F/A-18E Super Hornet
Badger 3-12 - Su-35S Flanker-E
Cobra 1/Trigger - F-15E Strike Eagle
Cobra 2-12 - F-4E Phantom II
Hammer 1/Scrap Queen - B-1B Lancer
Hammer 2-3 - B-1B Lancer
It took 10 minutes to get everyone airborne. Blaze and his squad were the first out and didn't wait, moving towards Artigilo at just under supersonic speeds. By the time everyone was in the air, the sun had set.
Hatties Desert
Spaceguard Turret Network
Marcus Snow cleaned his face with a handful of water. It didn't help to remove the sweat that was coming out of his pores by the bucketload.
'Christ.' He said to himself. Snow had just woken up from a troubled period of sleep. A nightmare had haunted him. Someone knocked on the door to the dorm that he was using.
'Commander Snow?' A man called out. One of the Trident Squadron pilots. Snow walked out of the bathroom attached to the dorm and opened the door for the fellow pilot. It was a lieutenant.
'Christ.' The lieutenant started. 'You look like you've seen a ghost.'
'Bad dream.' Snow waved it off casually. 'What's up?'
'Phobos called in. The engineers are on their way.' The lieutenant answered, in the at-ease stance.
'ETA on their arrival?'
'Four hours, give or take a few.'
'Brilliant.' Snow inhaled. 'Anything else?'
'I was going to ask you about your dream, but that's a story for another day.' The lieutenant said honestly. Snow shook his head and chuckled.
'You ever had death dreams, lieutenant?' Snow asked the lieutenant. The lieutenant frowned.
'Can't say that I have, sir.'
'It was one of those. I saw my death. The Space Elevator was there. A lot of Erusean and Osean pilots fighting these fancy-looking unmanned fighters.' Snow explained. The lieutenant stood in the doorway, listening intently.
'Probably is a dream, then. I doubt precognition is a thing.'
'Yeah, you're probably right.' Snow admitted. He closed his eyes for a second.
International Space Elevator (ISEV), Usea
And in the span of a second he jumped right back into the dream. Snow was flying in the cockpit of his F-14D. It had the black and red camo that he had used back in 2010 as part of the Razgriz Squadron. Around him were a score of other pilots. Erusean Su-30s in a black and orange paint scheme. Razgriz pilots around him; Blaze, Archer and a third pilot going by the callsign Mythic. Alongside a plentitude of other Erusean and Osean squadrons. The sun was setting, and they were on a direct approach to the Space Elevator.
'Razgriz, engaging.' Blaze said over the radio.
'Strider, engaging.' An unknown voice to Snow.
'Sol, engaging.' Another unknown voice.
'Spare, engaging.' More unknowns.
'Ghost, engaging.' Yet again more unknowns.
'Galm, engaging.' This voice, Snow had heard before. Cipher, Blaze's uncle.
'Chopper, engaging.' The last voice was also one Snow knew. The voice of an old Wardog Squadron member that he had replaced.
In the distance surrounding the Space Elevator were two aircraft, advanced unmanned combat aerial vehicles. They saw the approaching attackers and flew out to engage. They were alarmingly nimble despite their size. Mounted laser beams fired from their noses, hitting two Spare aircraft at once and destroying them both instantly. Razgriz Squadron, including Snow, fired their long-range missiles at one of the drones. Most missed, but one of Snow's Phoenix missiles connected and caused moderate damage.
'Hugin's been tagged, finish it.' One of Strider's members pointed out. Snow, Grimm and someone going by the callsign Trigger went after Hugin while everyone else focused on the second drone. Trigger took the lead and fired a barrage of missiles from the internal bays of his F-22 Raptor. Grimm did the same from his Typhoon. Snow fired at the drone with his gun, clipping one of its engines. Damaged, the drone did a on-the-spot Kulbit maneuver and fired its missiles. Grimm and Trigger were too close for the missiles to effectively target them. Snow was a much better target. The missiles streaked towards him.
Airspace near Artigilo Port
In the real world, Blaze and the 444 Squadron's massive strike wave approached Artigilo. Considering the makeup of the force, he was surprised the Eruseans hadn't seen them on radar or by other methods of scanning.
'Five minutes to strike. Hammer, you better be on our tails.' Blaze said partly to the entire task force but mostly to the three B-1B Lancer bombers that would be unleashing most of the hell on the base. Each were carrying eighty-four Mark 82 five-hundred pound bombs each; 252 bombs in total or 126,000 pounds of explosive. If that didn't wipe out the area, the attack squadrons would mop up remaining targets.
'Right behind you, Commander.' The leader, Avril, answered. Blaze smiled. For being a civilian, she was doing well at her job.
'Good.' The squadron proceeded forward. They went feet wet and followed the coast to the target area. Blaze's IRST pod picked up targets on the ground as he crossed the horizon. Oil stacks, refinery factories, cargo ships and warships. There was a remarkable lack of aircraft in the region for the area being the key refinery for southern Erusean operations. Shame, Blaze thought as they got closer.
'All elements, High Light, High Light.' Blaze gave the keyword on the radio indicating the start of operations. He pushed his engines to afterburner and shot forward. Grimm, Taipan and Mythic did the same, as did the bombers trailing them. The B-1Bs were supersonic-capable aircraft.
In the cabin of her Lancer, Avril exchanged altitude for speed and dropped down to a more suitable bombing height.
'Bombs armed?' She asked her Offensive Systems Operator, a short red-haired man.
'Armed and ready.' He replied.
'Okay. Hammer Flight, form up for bombing run.' Avril ordered her two wingmen. The other two formed up a hundred metres off each side. Their bomb bays were open, ready. Doing Mach 1.3, Avril lined up the bombsight on the target and gave the order.
'Drop, drop, drop.' She and the other two hit the firing switch. Little dark-green cylinders fell out of the bomb bays, falling rapidly towards the ground-based infrastructure. Due to the speed of the attack, there was a lot of dispersion between impacts.
It didn't matter in the long run. Even at three kilometres above ground level, Trigger could see many fireballs absolutely ruin the area. In a few seconds the entire area was covered in smoke, both from the impacts and from the oil fires that lit up. Trigger snapped back to his objective; the seven frigates and two destroyers that were assigned to protecting the oil tankers. A significant force that Trigger and the F-4s following him were about to swat.
'Cobra Squadron, form up for attack run.' Trigger ordered the 11 trail Phantoms to follow him, lining up on the vessels. His Strike Eagle was equipped with a combination of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and HARM anti-radar missiles. The Phantoms for the most part had the same weapons.
'All hands, fire.' Trigger gave the drop order and in sync four Harpoons per aircraft were released, their jet engines lighting and boosting towards the warships. A total of 48 missiles, more than enough to cause significant damage to every ship there. The formation turned out to sea to avoid the air defence zone around the vessels as the Harpoons shot forward. As they got to within a few kilometres of the ships, tracers erupted from CIWS mounts. Some of the Harpoons went down in a ball of fire, knocked down by the uranium-cored 20mm shells. There wasn't enough CIWS fire to get all of them. The first vessel to get hit was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate. Trailing away from the missiles, three Harpoons entered through the stern, shattering engine mounts and knocking out electrical systems. Explosions rocked the ship.
The ship that took the brunt of the wave was also a frigate, a smaller Garcia-class vessel. She was running perpendicular to the missiles and as such caught 18 out of the 42 missiles that made it to hit something. The result was the ship recoiling before exploding in a gigantic fireball, the hull shattering and shooting into the skies. In the darkness of the night, it almost looked beautiful. Overall, the missile strike got its intended job done. All of the warships in the region were now either sinking or crippled.
'Anvil, Badger, the path is clear.' Trigger reported to the cleanup squadrons led by Count and Keystone.
'Righteo, moving in.' Count confirmed the order.
'Badger Squad, follow up Cobra's cleanup.' Keystone also confirmed the order. They and their squadrons passed underneath Cobra, heading for the unarmed and now-unprotected tanker vessels.
Further inland, Blaze was monitoring radio chatter while also remaining cautious of any interceptors being scrambled to counter the attack.
'Huntsman, Razgriz 1, any response from airbases inland?' Blaze contacted their AWACS aircraft.
'Nada. Either the Eruseans haven't picked up on the attack or bases are out of commission.' Huntsman answered. Instead of being in the cockpit of an F-15E as a squadron leader, the captain was now in the mission centre of an E-3 Sentry AWACS.
'Go figure. They probably didn't have time to react.' Grimm noted. Blaze agreed. With the amount of firepower the Lancers had dropped on the base, there probably weren't many people left on the ground. Or, based on the victory cheers of Cobra Squad, in the sea.
'Tankers have been axed. I think that's everything destroyed but I can't tell because of the smoke.' Count. True to his word, Anvil and Badger Squadrons had devastated the remaining ships in port. Blaze turned back towards Artigilo and the now idling aircraft. Everything was either coated in smoke or on fire, or both. A job very well done.
'All squadrons, mission complete. Return to base.'