Raven had heard legends of the Demons of Razgriz. He had heard rumours of their deeds. But he had never seen them fight, particularly their leader. Raven had skylined it all the way past the Osean through-deck cruiser and headed straight for their formation leader, who like everyone else on their side was flying an F-35B.
Blaze saw the Su-57 approach. He accepted the challenge and turned to face the Black Raven. The two pointed at each other in a mutually assured pact of destruction. Blaze pressed his singular engine into afterburner to increase the speed.
Raven noticed that the Demon of the North was picking up speed. He moved the throttle forward to gain speed in kind. The two barrelled downrange at each other doing collectively three times the speed of sound. Even a minor collision would be fatal with that much energy.
Blaze didn't waver. He was playing his entire deck by maintaining course.
Raven levelled out and kept going. Death didn't scare him, and he was sure the younger pilot would pull out of the game of chicken as the distance between the two closed.
Blaze didn't as much as move the stick by a millimetre. Death didn't scare him, not now. He had nothing to lose.
Raven leaned forward to make sure he was seeing things correctly. Razgriz 1 hadn't changed course. He shook his head and frowned.
Do it. Come on, I fucking dare you to try. Blaze thought to himself as the two got to within worrying distance.
Come on kid, it'd be a waste. Raven had his own thoughts bouncing around.
From a distance, Razgriz Squadron observed in silent horror. Snow and Grimm both knew that Blaze wouldn't back down from this. Snow found himself praying that the other guy was smart enough to break off.
When they passed within a kilometre of each other, it became clear to Raven that Blaze wasn't going to move an inch. Sighing, Raven rolled and presented the belly of his aircraft to the demon to get clear. He wasn't going to live that one down; for once, Raven had been the one to concede from a challenge.
Blaze rolled when he saw Raven turn to get out of the way. In an instance of repeat imagery from a fight 24 years ago, where Cipher and Pixy had jousted, the two passed by each other. He was disappointed but not surprised. The opposing pilot was the smart one.
'Strider, how are those Hornets?' Blaze checked in on the interceptor squadron.
'It's interesting that you mention that. Hey, how do you feel about Emmerians?' Trigger reported. Blaze was left without words for a moment. When he found something to say, he blurted it out.
'I'm sorry, who?'
Talisman scanned the hull of the vessel her mothership had detected. An Invincible-class aircraft carrier. An interesting choice, Talisman thought. Of more warranted attention were the four F-35Bs approaching her and Shadow in their F/A-18Es. She had no way of telling their identity from a distance. So she did the simple thing.
'Approaching F-35 Lightnings, this is Garuda Flight, of the Emmerian Navy. We're here to-' Talisman stated her unit's purpose, or its official purpose anyway.
'Garuda Flight, Strider 1, did you say Emmerian?' A man cut her off. A young one, Talisman could tell from the pitch of voice.
'That's correct. We're here to return Erusean and Osean POWs to their respective governments.' Talisman finished what she had been trying to say. The F-35s flew under her and Shadow. Talisman rolled to see the tail markings. They were Strider Squadron aircraft, she had seen the emblem presented to her in the past as the results of many a briefing. Strider meant LRSSG. Which meant-
'You chose a hell of a time to show up, Talisman. I've heard stories of your squadron in the 'Stovie war, major. The island's in complete anarchy.' Trigger admitted that he knew of her and her deeds.
'Can we help?' Talisman asked. Now that they were there, they had a potential purpose.
'Um, I'll patch you through to our unit commander. Hold for one.' Trigger signed off the radio, forcing Talisman to wait. She decided to approach Tyler Island. Shadow followed abaft of her tail.
'Talisman. More than anything, we need fuel and ammunition.' A moment later, Blaze was in touch with Talisman. He didn't bother with formalities, instead skipping straight to the point. Such a statement hardly surprised the lieutenant-colonel.
'We have a carrier off-shore. Stocked with JP5 and weapons.' Talisman extended a landing offer to the Osean pilots.
'I'll take that offer. Razgriz, Strider, leave the combat air space and follow those F-18s.' Blaze ordered all Osean aircraft currently over Tyler Island to leave for the Silverfish. He then went off comms, or at least went to a channel that Talisman couldn't tap into. There was silence from him for a minute, despite the fact that he diverted away from the island and followed Talisman.
'Long Caster, we'll be out of touch for a few hours I suspect. Standby and watch our grunts on the ground. I have a plan.' Blaze reported his intent to the AWACS.
'Roger. What's your plan?' Long Caster asked, if not for himself, for Cyclops Squadron and the other ships in the motley fleet they had coming along.
'The island's lost, we don't have enough troops to hold it. If we can get cooperation with the Emmerians, we've got a stable fuel, food and ammo supply for the time being. We grab the surviving marines and ditch.' Blaze explained.
'Ah, I see. We'll be standing by around here.' Long Caster confirmed he understood the plan, and let Blaze and the other pilots go. Blaze, Razgriz and Strider were now all following the two Emmerian Super Hornets. The Su-57 showed up with the group. Blaze assumed that the Felon pilot was with the Emmerians.
'Trigger.' Blaze asked.
'Yeah?' Trigger replied.
'How'd you know the Su-57?' Blaze needed to know.
'Remember the Black Dart operation? He was there attacking the Eruseans. Exact same aircraft; splinter camo, no unit or nation markings.' Trigger explained. Blaze frowned to himself. Trigger hadn't mentioned it during that operation's debrief. Ignoring that for now, he settled in as they followed the Emmerians out to sea.
Silverfish, 15 minutes later.
The recovery process was quick, for most of the incoming aircraft were VTOLs. Shadow lined up her landing approach, followed not too far behind by Talisman. By the time that Talisman had lined up her own approach, came in with landing gear extended and caught a perfect third wire on the Silverfish's deck, six of the nine VTOL aircraft present had touched down on the bow of the carrier. A tow vehicle came over to Talisman's F/A-18E, allowing her to dismount and check in on her new visitors. The last two F-35s landed, and their pilots dismounted, allowing her a proper view of all their faces. Talisman recognised a couple of faces at first, namely Trigger and Count. The two popular faces of the LRSSG. An orange-haired man turned around from talking with a female, and Talisman could have sworn she had seen his face before. It wasn't until the final pilot who had landed had dismounted and turned before Talisman recognised something. She had seen Razgriz's squad leader before.
Alex stood away from his F-35 to see that one of the Hornet pilots was approaching him and his squad. If he was remembering his foreign rank insignia correctly, a Lieutenant-Colonel in fact, which he found odd considering they were on a carrier. Dismissing it as a coincidence, Alex approached the colonel.
'Captain Williams?' The colonel asked, stopping Alex in his tracks. Captain?
'That's me.' Alex answered, standing in place, waiting for the colonel to cover the remaining distance. She got to handshake distance and offered a hand to him.
'I suppose it's Blaze to most people. I'm Lucy. I met your second in command at a conference some time ago.' Talisman introduced herself. Alex shook her hand.
'Alex. You've met Kei?' The revelation was a surprise to him.
'Yes. She was a charming woman. But to the point. Your group needs fighting supplies. Assuming we provide those supplies, what exactly is your plan?' Lucy interrogated Alex for a motive or answer. Alex put his hands behind his back in a fake formal stance.
'At the moment, I want to pull all Osean and conservative faction Eruseans off Tyler Island and compile them into some sort of fighting force. Beyond that, haven't thought of anything yet.' Alex provided aforementioned answer. Lucy scanned his posture, looking for any kind of deceit. When she couldn't find any, she took a step back from Alex.
'Noble. Kei mentioned you would do something like that at any chance. You have access to our gas, weapons and limited selection of pilots.' Lucy permitted Alex and the LRSSG to use Emmerian supplies.
'Thank you. Before you leave Lucy, I have a question.' Alex asked. Lucy tilted her head to one side, indicating that Alex was free to ask whatever questions he had. 'What interest does Emmeria have in this war? Why are you helping us?'
Lucy half-smiled. 'I'll tell you later. Right now, focus on your plan, communicate with the people you need to. Wherever you need our battlegroup located, we'll move there.'
Tyler Island, six hours later.
'Heads up, helo incoming.' On the ground at the satellite scrapyard, Taipan pointed out the approaching helicopter somewhere in the darkness. Tabloid looked up to the skies, night vision flipped down over his eyes.
'Stand down, it's one of ours.' Tabloid identified the approaching helo as an OMDF Merlin search-and-rescue helicopter. Huntsman pulled the pin for a blue smoke grenade and threw it out at the closest open area. Bandog chucked an IR beacon. The helicopter pilot saw the two markers and came in for a landing approach. Tabloid hand-signalled for everyone to get ready to board. The Merlin touched down in the courtyard. A sliding door opened with the helicopter's crew chief behind it. No-one could hear anything over the sound of the rotor downwash, but Huntsman assumed he was shouting for everyone to get on.
Huntsman turned around and ushered everyone still alive in the 444th to bust ass and move. Tabloid. Rosa. Rosa's dog. Bandog. Taipan. Keystone. Full Band. The other guards and mechanics. Finally, Champ was the last to get on before Huntsman. Huntsman stepped in via the side door, assisted by the crew chief. Once everyone was in, the crew chief shouted something through his headset and the helicopter lifted. He shut the side door and suddenly things in the cabin of the helicopter were audible again. Huntsman took the nearest available seat. He looked at the crew chief.
'Chief! Where are we going?!' Huntsman asked.
'The OFS Orca!' The chief replied. Huntsman nodded and settled in for the short adventure back to whatever kind of ship the Orca was.
From above, Blaze observed the movement from the beachhead down below via helmet-mounted night vision. The landscape was coloured a disorientating bright green. Everything was going smoothly and according to plan. The remaining Erusean garrison hadn't decided to launch a counter-attack. Even if they had, it probably wouldn't have gone well. Destroyers and a battlecruiser were monitoring for any disturbances, and they had an ample supply of shells.
'Looks like this is the last wave.' Swordsman observed. The bulk of the infantry had been returned to their ships. The last things to go were the few remaining armoured assets. The LCACs were coming for them.
'Marcus, Mythic, stay on station for these guys. Grimm, let's return to the Silverfish.' As the full-scale retreat was underway, Blaze ordered Grimm to follow him back to the Emmerian CVN.
'Copy. What do you think Talisman wanted to show us?' Talisman had invited both Blaze and Grimm to the Silverfish to 'meet someone', so to speak.
Blaze sighed. 'Nothing good.'
15 minutes later, Alex and Grimm arrived back at the Silverfish. The two Super Hornets from before were no longer on the deck; they were in the hangar. The VTOL pair touched town near the aft end of the carrier, and were quickly escorted down to the hangar bay. Even from the top of the port-side aircraft elevator, Alex noticed that there was a segment of the hangar that was isolated from the other segments. The amidship hangar section was sealed off by a large improvised wall of what Alex assumed was a form of polymer. A small swinging door was open closest to the port side. Armed guards were waiting around it. Once the aircraft elevator the two Wardog pilots were on was down to hangar level, they were directed over to the isolated chamber. Alex looked around as he moved. The Silverfish's hangar was almost identical to the Kestrel's. Unsurprising considering both were of the same ship class.
'Surely this can't end well.' Grimm joked. Alex scoffed. He was suspicious of something. He just didn't know what to expect.
'Through here, sir.' The senior of the guards surrounding the entrance ushered them through. Alex entered first. The isolated chamber was mostly empty save for some engineers, and an aircraft of foreign origin. To most people, it might have been. Alex recognised the aircraft the moment he saw it, it was that distinctive in his mind. He and Grimm shared glances. The latter knew what it was. From the corner of his eye, Alex noticed an observation tower to the side of the chamber. The windows were one-way tinted, but he gathered that someone was in there. Alex approached the drone. He was silent on the approach. Grimm followed, hands in his pockets, his face full of uncertainty.
'Well, I've been joking for a couple of months about crossing that bridge. Guess we've gotten there.' Alex poorly attempted to alleviate the mood that had befallen the two Wardogs. He had never been good at relieving humour, something that Chopper had been excellent at.
'No kidding.' Grimm muttered.
'Kid, you've never been good at moral support.' A booming electronically filtered yet undeniably recognisable voice mocked Alex. He looked at the drone chassis, the source of the noise.
'And you've never been good at being subtle.' Alex had a counter to that on hand. He looked up at the tower. 'You there, colonel?'
'I am.' Talisman replied over a PA system. Alex looked back towards Chopper, or what he assumed was Chopper. The drone had been mostly disassembled to reveal the hardware underneath, or whatever was still intact from when their fight over Bulgurdarest. In the centre of the aircraft was some sort of containment unit. Alex assumed it contained whoever was controlling the aircraft.
'So… where the fuck have you been for nine years?' Alex asked Chopper. He had taken the burden of Chopper's death for years, and he was going to be pissed if the man had been fucking around for that time.
'A tiny bit of flying. Catching up on lost sleep. Mostly being dead.' Chopper replied in his characteristic satire. Alex and Grimm both chuckled. 'Is that an archer I hear?'
'In the flesh.' Grimm replied moodily, hands still in his pockets.
'Ah come on man, where'd your joy disappear to?' Chopper was disappointed that Grimm was either annoyed or sad.
'With age comes sarcasm.' Grimm excused himself. 19 year old him and 27 year old him were two separate people almost. Grimm moved around so that he was in front of Chopper.
'Scars don't come with age. What happened to you?' Chopper asked, referring to the mini-scars Grimm had on his face. The ones he had incurred from the attempt on his life, many months ago at Fort Greys Island. Grimm tapped one under his eye.
'These came from experience.' Grimm spoke as if he was some sort of veteran, which he was in all fairness. Chopper chuckled.
'I guess that's why majors get their rank. What about you kid? Where have you gone in the world?' Chopper was impressed that Grimm had made major, and invited Alex to come around so that he could see him. Alex complied and came around.
'Don't let the rank confuse you, I haven't done much.' Alex said, arms crossed.
'Navy? You damn squid.' Chopper teased Alex for being a sailor. 'I see three of four around here. Where's Kei?'
Grimm and Alex both looked up to the roof of the hangar bay.
Alex smiled, but that smile quickly faded to nothing. Emotions started flowing. He felt numb for a second.
That numbness turned to sadness.
That sadness turned to spite.
Spite turned to anger.
And, as it had twice in the past, anger turned to rage.
'Who did this to you?' Alex asked angrily, his voice full of venom.
An hour later, OFS Orca
'I'll be glad to be flying these things again.' Count mused as he and Trigger were sorting through the back of the hangar making sure that everything they had was accounted for. They were standing around the Eagles. Trigger looked at all of them, checking the names under the canopy and ticking off on his clipboard as required.
'Dunno about you, but I'd just be happy to get off this fucking ship.' Trigger admitted that he just wanted to go back to a regular airfield. The corridors of a warship were too confined for his liking.
'Heh. But you can get away with a lot more shit around here.' Count joked. Trigger silently laughed and looked at Count.
'Are you speaking from experience, or…?' Trigger made a bad joke. Count threw his clipboard at Trigger. Trigger blocked it with his forearm while laughing, unintentionally revealing his quick reflexes. The clipboard fell harmlessly to the ground.
'Haven't had the chance. In this environment, everyone's exhausted after a mission. Even a man with my sort of stamina.' Count replied, walking over to get his clipboard. Trigger passed it to him. Outside, two aircraft landed. Trigger looked up at the deck.
'Look who's back.' Trigger mentioned the two new arrivals. Probably the two Razgriz, Blaze and Archer.
'Do you think Blaze is a good leader?' Count asked, changing the topic. Trigger nodded.
'With every ounce of my being. Everything that's happened has been out of his control, and I'd say he's done a good job to get us out of deep, deep shit.' Trigger was convinced that the veteran among veterans was a capable leader.
'Aye. He knows how to inspire devotion.' Count also thought that Blaze was good at leading.
'Anchorhead Bay tell you that much?' Trigger mentioned when they had been at Anchorhead Bay, during the Alicorn operations. He had gotten an entire carrier air wing from a foreign navy to assist them.
'Even without. I feel like I'd follow him into hell and back.' Count replied.
'Mmm. Good thing that he's guiding us as we go through.'
Above deck, Alex felt like shit as he left the cockpit for tonight. It felt like someone was driving a screwdriver through his skull. He spent as little time on deck as he could, instantly going down to the crew ready room, ignoring everyone on the way. Alex shoved all his kit into his locker, knocking a couple of things over. Once he was back into his normal uniform, Alex went to Razgriz's assigned room where he, Grimm and Marcus all usually slept. The room was empty. Alex jumped into his bunk, pulled the curtain shut and dimmed the light. Within the next couple of minutes he fell asleep.
Visions would come for him in his slumber. Visions of dogfights and missions long since passed.
