Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Combat.
Blue Skies Unknown
Chapter 8
Pipeline Destruction
Artiglio Bay
Spare Squadron was coming in from the estuary. The port was in sight.
"Alright folks, all bets are placed! Now let's see who gets to blow up the most tanks!" High Roller said.
"Let's do this!" Champ said, "I won't let Trigger have all the fun!"
"Oh really Champ? You don't know what you're dealing with!" Trigger said.
"Can't you two take this seriously?" Count asked.
"You're one to talk, Count." Tabloid said, "Trying to save your own ass."
"Says the guy who almost tapped out." Count said.
"The lot of you, cut the chatter and attack." Bandog said, "Just destroy the facility."
They dove down before leveling off. Trigger pushed the throttle forward, going on full afterburner. He could feel the thrust of his plane pulling his body back. The adrenaline was kicking in. He aimed for the first oil tank he had his eyes were set on. He fired a missile at the oil tank. Then he fired another one at another oil tank across the one he had fired upon. Then he fired up his machine gun at a third oil tank, ripping it with bullets. The oil tanks exploded.
A chain reaction soon followed.
One after the other, the adjacent oil tanks exploded due to some shrapnel shredding into the tanks and the flames igniting the oil. The oil facilities around the tanks went up in a geyser of flame. Some nearby ground vehicles were caught in the chain of explosions. He quickly saw an Erusean F-15C coming at him. It was coming at him dead on.
'My first customer and he's already asking for one!' Trigger thought.
He turned his plane toward the F-15 and shot a missile at it. The missile slammed into the jet and blasted the front of it off.
"Woooh!"
"Went up like a firecracker!"
He turned his attention to a tanker. He was about to go for it, but then he caught a glimpse of a LASM (Long Range Anti Ship Missile) coming off of Full Band's Hornet. The missile penetrated the deck and exploded inside the hull.
"Sorry Trigger, the tankers are mine." Full Band said.
"They're yours. The oil facilities are what we're really after." Trigger said.
The oil workers were being evacuated as bombs, missiles, and bullets came down from the Osean planes above. SAMs and AA guns were firing on the planes as they swarmed over the harbor. A missile hits an oil tank and explodes, causing a chain reaction tore the facility as it went up.
"Hurry! Get out! She's gonna blow!" An oil worker said.
The oil tank he was running from quickly exploded after a missile struck it.
Tabloid dropped a bomb onto an oil facility and then turned his plane to another oil facility. He then dropped another bomb on that facility before turning to the next one. He looked down and saw the port burning as Trigger's F-15 dive bombed the place with missiles. Champ was firing his air to ground missiles at the facilities as well.
"Bandits inbound." Bandog said, "And what do you know Trigger, I think they're your fans, seeing as how they're flying F-15s."
"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Trigger asked, "If so, you're gonna have to try harder than that."
Trigger turned for the bandits, leaving the others with the oil facilities.
"Man, Trigger must be really into murdering people." Full Band said.
"No shit! He killed Harling, remember?" Champ said.
"Good point."
Trigger sighted the bandits, there were 9 Erusean F-15Cs coming in. He heard a missile warning. He was quick to break and engaged the enemy fighters. He chased an F-15 while another was coming to help. He heard a good tone and fired a missile. The missile struck the F-15 in front of him. The fighter exploded and went down. Trigger backflips his plane, the fighter behind him slips past him. He heard a good tone and fired. The missile hits the Eagle. The explosion destroyed the plane and sent it plummeting like a fireball.
'These guys are nothing to me now!' Trigger thought, 'I'll tear them down!'
"He's on me! I can't shake him!"
"Radar spike! He's got a lock!"
"Shit! SHIT! NO—!"
BOOM!
"D-Damn that bastard with the three scratches! He took them out within a blink of an eye!"
"Who the hell is he?! An ace?!"
Erusean Strategic Command
"What?! It's him again?!" An Erusean commander said.
"Yes sir! The one with the three scratches! The same one the EASA reported!"
"And that he and that squadron with the scratches are attacking Artiglio Bay?!"
"Yes sir!"
"Shit! If they take out the harbor, our fuel supplies will get cut short!" The commander said, "What about the drones?"
"We're scrambling all of the reserve drones from the nearest airbase, but I don't think they'll make it in time!"
"Damnit… and the fuel isn't the only thing I'm worried about!" The commander said, "The weapons we were going to send to the mass driver on Tyler Island… if we lose those..."
Artiglio Bay
"Damnit!" An Erusean Soldier cursed, "What do we do?! The enemy has us surrounded!"
"We gotta get everything moving!"
"Out there?! That's suicide!"
"No. The sandstorm Inessa 2 is coming! We can use the sand as cover to stay off of their radar."
"Are you kidding?! We'll have less visibility if we go in there!"
"We have no choice!"
"Bad news Spare Squadron," Bandog said, "The mega storm Inessa 2 will be entering the AO sooner than expected, so wrap this up."
"Great, more sand." Trigger said.
"What? You don't like sand, Trigger?" Count asked.
"It'll screw with the radar, that'll give the enemy the means to hide in the sand." Trigger said, "Until that storm passes, they'll be no more than blips that just randomly appear and disappear on radar, meaning that they got an escape route they can use."
"An escape route? Through the storm?" Champ asked, "Oh you gotta be kidding me!"
"No, that sounds tactically plausible. I can spot some roads they could use to avoid detection." Full Band said, "I read about it somewhere."
"I'm not sure if we can trust that intel." Count said.
"It's either Full Band's intel or your shitty lies." A Spare pilot said.
"Hey, at least I make an effort to scam you idiots. Full Band can't make up a decent lie." Count said.
"Cut the chatter, or it's off to solitary." Bandog said.
Trigger watched as a helicopter was firing missiles at his plane. He quickly turned his plane to the helicopter and heard a solid tone. He shot a missile from his plane. The missile hits the helicopter and blasts it out of the sky. He shot up another oil facility, causing an explosion.
"Hey Trigger, you want to know why this war goes on forever?" Tabloid asked.
"Oh no…" Champ groaned.
"Here he goes again…" Full Band said.
"It's all because countries exist." Tabloid said.
"Oh no, don't feed me that A World Without Boundaries bullshit." Trigger said.
"Oh no, that's not what I'm saying." Tabloid said, "All I'm saying is that because countries exist, war exists and eventually perpetuate themselves until the heat death of the universe… or one side gets crushed or calls it quits while a mountain of corpses is being burnt."
"Well you should be thanking our good citizens for giving you cons a warm meal." Bandog said, "Inessa 2 entering AO."
"Hurry! Get the trucks loaded! We'll use the storm to get the fuel out of here!" An Erusean Officer said, "Hurry! Hurry!"
A warhead was being covered up with a cover.
Meanwhile in Osean Strategic Command…
"General Shepherd, our satellites have picked up twenty trucks moving into the storm." An officer said.
"Twenty fuel trucks?" General Shepherd asked, "I want those trucks neutralized. Not one of them is to get out of the AO. Tell Bandog that."
"Yes General."
General Shepherd strokes his chin with his fingers.
'Twenty trucks that we didn't notice? What are they up to?'
Artiglio Bay
"They want us to take out all of the trucks?" Trigger asked.
"Exactly, now get those trucks or all of you are getting thrown into solitary." Bandog said.
The signals of the trucks were blinking all over the radar.
"Damn… looks like we'll have to fly in the sandstorm." Trigger said.
"What?! Are you nuts?!" High Roller said.
"He's right, High Roller, we may have to do it to find the trucks." Full Band said, "Sand breaks up now and then and the only way we'll find the trucks is to go in there and get up close."
The squadron headed down towards the deck and began to fly into the sandstorm. The wind resistance was dragging the planes off course. The pilots used their rudders and elevators to keep themselves steady while forwarding their throttle a bit to accelerate to fight the wind resistance. Trigger couldn't see a damn thing in this sandstorm. He had only his instruments to use. His radar was picking up a truck.
He got a good tone and fired.
"So you think we'll make it out?"
"We better or—"
"Missile!"
"Shi—!"
BOOM!
'One down…' Trigger thought.
"Alright! I bagged one!" Champ said, "Hey High Roller, wanna bet who can get the most trucks?!"
"Alright, guess it wouldn't hurt." High Roller said.
"Spare 2, where the hell are you going? That's Erusean territory!" Bandog said.
"I'm looking for targets, that's where I'm going." Count said.
"Count, you get back or I'll have you tossed in solitary when you get back!" Bandog said.
"There goes Count, once again." Tabloid said.
"Guy should be glad he ain't on death row." Champ said.
"Shut it, both of you." Bandog said, "Spare 2, Count, turn back."
"Alright, fine! Geez." Count said.
"There, was that so—you damn idiot, you brought drones with you!"
"What?!"
"Aw hell no…"
"Drones again?!"
"I blame this shit on Count!"
"Wait, what? This has nothing to do with me, I swear." Count said.
"Yeah right!"
'Wait a minute… that makes it three times… that can't be a coincidence anymore…' Trigger thought, 'Is it possible that the drones only show up if we happen to intrude upon Erusean territory? Does it mean what I think it means?'
"All of you hide in the sandstorm." Trigger said.
"Wha—?!"
"Is Mr Murderer losing it?!"
"Listen, if we hide in there, their radar won't be able to pick us up." Trigger said, "Our radar is having difficulty finding the trucks. Their radar must work just like ours."
"And in that case, we can just suck away from the drones." Count said, "Trigger, are you an Erusean spy?"
"No, I just figured it might work that way." Trigger said, "Stick with me and you'll make it, right?"
Everyone was quiet.
"Ok, so who's gonna deal with the drones?" Count asked.
"Champ, you and me, let's do it." Trigger said.
"Hell yeah!"