July 27th, 2019, 2000 Hours
Zapland, Usea
All of the 444 Squadron's senior officers were assembled in the commander's office around a single large table. Bandog was at the head of the table, rapping his fingers against the rim of the table while waiting for three people to arrive. Other people in the room included the air wing commander (Alex), the base adjutant (Michael), the advisors (Grimm, Mythic and Taipan), the air defence commander, the logistical commander and the company commander of the infantry component defending the base. Also in the room was Wiseman.
'So who are we waiting for?' The Air Defence Commander, a captain, asked.
'Trigger, Count and Avril.' Alex answered the ADC's question. Right on que, the door opened and in came the three people Alex had just mentioned.
'Are we late?' Trigger said jokingly.
'No, you're early.' Taipan replied to him, also jokingly.
'Charming. So, I see basically all the department heads are here. What's the deal?' Count noticed the obvious; save for Taipan and Mythic, who were a First Lieutenant and a Second Lieutenant respectively, everyone present was a Captain or higher.
'The regional command has decided to raise the status of the squadron from a penal unit to a regular force. As such, we're being moved further inland.' Bandog answered the question. There were a few whistles around the room. This was new to everyone.
'That's impressive, but why are we being singled out in particular?' Trigger asked.
'Because you three aren't going to be part of it.' Alex stood at ease. 'Wiseman?'
Wiseman nodded and looked at the three. 'Howdy, I'm Wiseman. I'm the commander of a unit that could use your skills in the field.'
'What sort of unit?' Avril asked.
'The Long Range Strategic Strike Group.' Wiseman answered. 'If it makes you feel any better, Commander Williams will be joining as well.'
That line gained Alex the attention of Grimm, Mythic and Taipan. Michael seemed to already be aware of this.
'You cheeky bastard. No invite?' Grimm joked.
'Hey, I was going to ask after the meeting.' Alex deflected the joke.
'I'm in.' Grimm didn't hesitate.
'Mythic? Taipan?' Alex extended the offer to the two lieutenants.
'I'll follow you, Major.' Mythic said to her original squad leader, Grimm.
'With respect, I'm staying here. This is where the Wolf Pack lies.' Taipan said, directed towards Michael. The latter smiled, as did Grimm and Mythic.
'Well. You three, you have a choice. Want to come?' Alex now directed his attention towards Count, Trigger and Avril.
Count answered instantly. 'Sounds fun. Sure, I'm onboard.'
Trigger's answer was right behind Count. 'Front-line action. Absolutely, sir.'
Avril thought about it for a second or two but her answer was solid. 'As much as I'd like to go home, you two dumbasses are going to need support.'
Alex stifled laughter before trying to speak. Count slapped Trigger's shoulder.
'Two buddies out on an adventure, eh?' Count.
'Fun. When do we ship out?' Trigger asked Wiseman.
'I'll be heading out tonight to sort stuff out with the squadron. Once we're set, and the 444 Squadron moves inland, you guys will be placed on a C-17 and shipped out to Borgo dell'Est. The court there wants to look into your cases.'
Alex zoned out of the meeting while all these conversations went on. After some logistical questions were asked and answered, and a plan of attack to the situation made, the meeting was concluded, and Alex returned to his office. He watched over the airfield for a while before going to sleep.
August 5, 2019
Time passed. The time of the 444 Squadron as a penal unit was ending. Across the base, anything of use to the military was being loaded onto C-5 and C-17 transports and being shipped out further inland.
On the flight line, Grimm and Mythic shook Michael's and Taipan's hands.
'This is where we part ways.' Grimm said to Michael. The ladder nodded.
'Just in case one of us catches the golden bullet, it was an honour sir.' Michael said to the major. He then looked at Mythic. 'You've got what it takes. Good luck kid.' Behind them, Alex approached.
'We're on a schedule, Han. You set?' He asked, approaching the Su-33M3 parked on the flight line.
'Alright. I gotta go. Best of luck.' Grimm excused himself and went for his Typhoon, also parked on the flight line. Avril was in the back seat of Trigger's F-15E, this time wearing a G-suit instead of casual clothes. Trigger and Count were exiting the hangar, dressed for flight.
'You know Trigger, I'm gonna miss this place.' Count was saying to the Eagle pilot.
'And just a few weeks back you were complaining about the shitiness of the situation.' Trigger retorted. Sometimes he found it hard to understand what was going on in Count's head.
'Yeah, but that's the fun in it.' Count shrugged. Trigger conceded that he agreed as the two separated to go to their individual aircraft. Trigger climbed the ladder.
'What took you so long?' Avril asked him as he took a seat and shut the canopy. In answer, Trigger unclipped his kneeboard and threw it over the back.
Now manned and ready, the five transferring aircraft taxiied over to the main runway. Alex led the formation. Trigger was at the back of it.
'Spare Squadron, clear for takeoff. Best of luck guys.' The ATC waved them down the runway. Alex rolled down the runway, followed by Grimm, Count, Mythic and Trigger. They rose into the air and climbed, moving north-east. They would never return to the Zapland region.
The next couple of hours were uneventful. Alex knew it was going to stay that way for a while. This was the third time he had taken this route. It wasn't until half-way along the path that he noticed something.
'Weren't we meant to have a transport with us?' He asked, mildly worried that he had forgotten something.
'I've got our resident pilot-not-pilot on board, don't worry.' Trigger reassured the squad leader. The flight pressed on. They approached the place they were going to, Borgo dell'Est. The airfield was 40 kilometres away. Alex was on the verge of zoning out when his radar warning receiver started pinging.
'The border troops have Pantsir systems?' Mythic asked. Alex shook his head.
'It's the Eruseans. Don't take chances, raise altitude.' Blaze ordered, pulling a 30-degree climb up to get above the operational ceiling of the SA-22 Greyhound's missile system. The others swiftly followed. No-one was expecting the Eruseans to be operating in the area. They were now operating at fifteen kilometres above the ground.
'Bad news. Fighters approaching from the east and west. Mirages and Gripens.' Count reported.
'Coming straight for us.' Grimm noted. Blaze checked his radar. Grimm was right. The fighters were coming right at the group. At their rate of intercept both sides would be within engagement range in a minute.
'Spare Squad, engage.' Blaze gave the order to engage the interceptors. Blaze and Grimm broke east to intercept the Mirages while Trigger, Count and Mythic broke west to intercept the Gripens. Blaze had D-model AMRAAMs for the first time since operating with the Vulture; as such, he fired before the Mirages could get into range. The missiles flew and hit. Two Mirages were destroyed then and there. The third wisely did a U-turn and retreated. On the other side, Trigger went into afterburner and personally chased down the Gripens. Only armed with the older B-model AMRAAMs and M-model Sidewinders, he was in visual range by the time he decided to fire. First off the rails were four AMRAAMs. Only one of them hit, knocking out the leading Gripen. Annoyed, Trigger resorted to the more reliable M61 20mm cannon. The Gripens fired back. Trigger deftly dodged the missiles that zipped overhead and replied in kind, ripping into the nose region and belly of the second Gripen, destroying it. Before he could focus his attention on the last Gripen, Mythic swatted it away with one of her own ARMAAMs.
'Fighters down. Form up.' Once the enemy fighters were down, Blaze ordered everyone back into formation. They were thirty kilometres away from the airport they would be landing at. The next fifteen kilometres were calm save for the constant RWR warning because of the Pantsir-S1 batteries in Erusean territory below them.
'Second interceptor, straight from the north. A single aircraft?' Trigger read out his radar display. It was indeed one fighter - one fighter that was moving extremely quickly, doing over Mach 3.
'It's moving like a Blackbird. Inbound, 30 seconds!' Count called out. Instinctively, Blaze punched his engines all the way forward to intercept it. He had a bad feeling about this. He saw the aircraft in the distance, moving insanely fast. It was jet black, distinctive of the SR-71 paint scheme, but it was much smaller. It had forward-swept wings, like an Su-47. It also had a cockpit similar to an ADF-01 FALKEN. Blaze had never seen an aircraft like it. The unknown aircraft zipped past Blaze and turned tightly to get onto his tail. Blaze read the markings on it as it passed. It was bare except for two markings. Both of which he recognised.
The Razgriz Squadron emblem.
And the personal callsign of a man who had died long ago.
The unknown aircraft shot over Blaze's left shoulder, transmitting a taunt on the radio as it did so.
'Catch me if you can, kid.' The pilot of the aircraft taunted him. It had an machine-like tone to the voice, but Blaze still recognised the accent.
'You're dead, Chopper.' Angered, Blaze released an AMRAAM at the aircraft and started chasing it. Surprisingly, Chopper didn't evade the missile, but adjusted course and blew the missile out of the air with a hidden cannon in the back of the aircraft. Unfazed, Blaze followed the drone as it dived towards the ground and fired a Sidewinder. This missile was also destroyed. Blaze fired a second Sidewinder. Destroyed. He growled. Blaze would have to do this with his cannon. The drone leveled out and Cobra-ed in an attempt to get behind the attacker. Blaze mimicked the movement and also Cobra-ed so that Chopper couldn't get on his ass. The energy of the unknown aircraft wasted for a brief moment, Blaze leveled out and fired his cannon, getting a few hits before Chopper shot off with the superior engine. First blood.
'I knew you had a demon. Let's let it out.' Chopper's voice taunted him more.
'Please.' Blaze answered with venom while waiting for his target to come back around. While Blaze couldn't outrun the drone in a straight run, his Su-33M3 had the same level of maneuverability at medium speeds. Chopper turned around for a head-on attack on Blaze. The latter waited for Chopper to get close before loosing off a torrent of most of his AAMs. Chopper adjusted to shoot most of the wave of missiles down, but two of them detonated near the aircraft and caused moderate damage.
'Damn it. Good shot.' Chopper cursed. He slowed down as he passed over Blaze's head again. Some distance behind them, Grimm, Trigger, Mythic and Count watched the battle.
'Shit, that man is vicious.' Count was amazed at Blaze's combative flight skills when he was angry. 'I couldn't stand up to that.'
Grimm was quiet. He had heard Chopper's voice on the radio.
Back in the fight, Blaze was now chasing down the damaged and wounded aircraft.
'Chopper died nine years ago over November City. What are you?' Blaze was interrogating the pilot of the aircraft. If there was a scale for anger, Blaze would have shot off the end of the chart. He fired one of his few remaining missiles at the aircraft, which of course was shot down by one of the aircraft's rear cannons. He used his own cannon to destroy the rear cannon, which left him with a clear shot from the back should he had chosen to take it.
'You're right, I did die in that stadium.' Chopper, or whoever he was, was explaining. 'In that sense, I'm not the guy you met at Heirelark. But the Belkans recovered my plane, with me in it. I dunno what they did, but I woke up in a lab somewhere.'
Blaze's face went blank. He was confused, angry and hurt. He stopped chasing Chopper's aircraft and leveled out. Chopper formed up on his left wing, where he would have been all those years ago.
'Go.' Blaze said to Chopper, if he even was. He didn't have the spirit to finish him off. In compliance, in silence, the unknown aircraft diverted away from the main group and headed south, as it had been doing when they found it. The rest of the flight went without words. Even when Cyclops Squadron appeared from the north, looking for that aircraft. One by one, everyone landed.
The first thing Alex did when he hit the ground was run for a restroom and vomit.