-x-
Legendary Aces
Chapter 43: Anea Landing
-Music of the Tides-
-Blaze-
Gracemeria
0800hrs 10 December 2015
After I got off the phone with Yami, Lily, and Mom, I immediately took Monica and headed to the hospital. We arrived at about 0800. The guards let us inside, but the woman at the receptionist desk refused to admit Monica.
"But you have to let her see a doctor! Can't you see how sick she is?" I argued.
"I don't care." The woman was a young corporal in the Estovakian Army, barely twenty years old, but she was standing her ground. "I have orders. I cannot admit any Emmerian military personnel or their dependents without authorization."
I pulled out my Pandoran identification. "How's this for authorization?"
"Paragon carries no weight here," she said. "Now you can either leave or I can have a guard escort you out."
I grunted to myself and reluctantly lead Monica back out. As soon as we returned to the catacombs, I got my satellite phone and called Lily.
"Princess? Happy Birthday!"
"Ha, thanks. You said you can talk to that Estovakian Lieutenant Colonel, right? The hospital isn't going to admit Monica."
"Yes, I can talk to him. Go to the Central Station and I'll have him meet you there. Before I talk to him, I need you to know one thing."
"What's that?"
"This is probably the only favor I'll be able to get out of him. After this, you'll be on your own."
"That's fine, Lily. Thanks."
"Good luck, Princess."
After ending the call, I went to tell Monica that we're going to meet somebody. Rei and Jessica wanted to come. Jessica almost cried, but Monica managed to calm her down. I wish I could take her with us, but it was risky enough for Monica to be meeting with an Estovakian Air Force officer.
The trip to Central Station wasn't too long. It only took us about fifteen minutes to walk there. I saw an older man that looked to be in his forties already there. He was in an Estovakian Air Force uniform. I had Monica stay back out of sight while I approached him.
I noticed both his rank and pilot insignia. "Lieutenant Colonel Victor Voychek, I presume?"
"You must be Lieutenant Colonel Kye Akari," he responded. "I was surprised when I received the call from Miss Venturi."
"Thanks for coming."
"I would rather you tell me what it is you want before thanking me. I am not yet sure if I can help you."
I gestured at Monica for her to come over. "This is a friend of mine. She's the wife of an Emmerian pilot. Since she is an Emmerian military dependent, the hospital will not admit her without authorization. Can you get her in?"
Voychek glanced over to Monica. "What is wrong?"
"We don't know."
"I'm not injured, but sick," Monica said.
"I have a small bit of medical training, but I couldn't figure it out," I added.
"You don't appear to be sick," Voychek said.
"I'm getting weaker and the pain is getting worse every day," Monica explained. "It hurts everywhere. The pain is bearable now, but it doesn't stop."
Voychek maintained his composure, but I could tell he was surprised by the look in his eyes. "I have never heard of symptoms like that."
"That's not everything either," I said. "Please, can you get her into the hospital?"
"Yes. I will escort you in myself," Voychek said. "A car is waiting outside of the station. If you would like, we can ride to the hospital together."
"Thank you."
The ride to the hospital was much quicker than before. When we arrived, Voychek reprimanded the Corporal at the front desk and lead us to the best doctor there.
"This is Major Sofya Romanov," Voychek introduced us to the doctor.
-Talisman-
PFS Polaris
1000hrs 3 January 2016
"I'm sorry, Marcus, can you handle it alone for now?" Marcus wanted to go do check-ups on our planes, but I had something else in mind. "I was going to call my mother on the big monitor in the video conference room."
"Oh, alright. I'll go on ahead then."
"Ciao."
Marcus split off toward the hangar deck and I went on to my own destination. The room was already empty by the time I got there.
I turned on the screen and called my mother, but it was my daughter than answered instead. "Momma!"
"Hey, sweetie! Mommy loves you!"
"When is Momma coming home?"
"Hopefully soon, sweetie. I miss you so much!"
"Aunt Yami!" The twins pushed their way onto the screen and sandwiched Yuko between them. "Aunt Yami!"
"Hey, girls, I hope you aren't being too rowdy for your Nana. Where is Nana?"
"I'm here, Yami," Mom said as she pulled the girls a few feet back. "They are rambunctious when they're all together. Ren and Kenji are here, too. Ren is about the only one that's not bouncing off the walls."
"Well, she is older, so I can see that," I said. "Can I assume Zen and Chopper are there, too?"
Mom nodded and moved to the side to let Zen and Chopper greet me.
"Hey, little sister," Zen said. "How's it going?"
"Oh, it's going. I wish I could come see you guys."
"It's pretty boring over here. You're hogging all the fun over there in Emmeria."
"Yeah, yeah, but too much of a good thing is bad, you know?"
He shrugged and was interrupted before he could say anything else.
"Hey, Dad!" Kenji came running. "Let's go play airplanes! I wanna beat Ren!"
Zen looked back at me with an apologetic smile. "Gotta go."
"Kenji!" I called out to him.
"Hi, Aunt Yami! Bye!" Kenji had grown a lot since I last saw him. It had been since before Estovakia invaded Gracemeria. I bet Ren had grown a lot, too. Thinking about those two made me wonder how much Rei had grown. Those two were only a couple months younger than Rei, so I could imagine Rei fairly well. I didn't get a chance to see them before the war started.
As soon as Zen and Kenji left, Chopper took his turn. "Hey, Yami. How are you?"
"I'm good, you?"
"Good, gooder, and goodest."
"How's life on Sand Island?"
"Well, Bartlett's been drilling the nuggets pretty hard. Nagase and Grimm have been helping him. They miss her and the squirt a lot. I do, too."
"Momma!" Yuko was jumping up and down in front of Chopper to see me better.
Chopper reached down and picked her up. "By the way, Yuko is really good at that jet simulator video game."
"That's right, I am!" she cheered.
"That's my girl!" I said. "Are you gonna beat Aunt Kye when she comes back?"
"I'll win!"
Chopper laughed with us. "Haha, you go, Yuko!"
"Airplanes! Airplanes!" The twins were dancing around Choppers legs while shouting out, "Airplanes!"."
"My, my, that game is getting popular," I said.
"I better take these rowdy kids and go play." Chopper said. "Doran's gonna owe me a favor next time he's here. I'll see you, Yami."
"Take care, Chopper."
Chopper let Yuko down and led the three girls out. Only Mom was left.
"You seem to have your hands full, Mom."
"Don't I? It's never boring when they're all here." She walked over to the door and locked it to ensure nobody would come in. I raised my eyebrow at her. "I picked up Takeshi's tracks."
"You did?" I almost didn't know what to say.
"He was at an airport in Aurelia earlier this morning. He boarded a flight headed for Apito International. He's coming to Osea."
"Can you..."
"I've already sent veteran agents to Apito to wait for him."
"Don't make him come by force. Just have them tell him that I want to talk to him, but make sure they don't mention Yuko."
"Anything else?"
"No, that's all. Maybe that'll pique his interest."
"Alright. The flight will be landing in the early afternoon. I'll call you back when I hear more."
"Thanks, Mom." I glanced at the clock on the wall. "Well hey, I gotta run. Marcus was wanting to do some check-ups on our planes."
"Okay. Be careful, Yami."
"Love you, Mom!" I ended the call and headed to the hangar deck.
-Liliana-
PFS Polaris
1415hrs 25 January 2016
The sound of steel clashing was refreshing. Marcus and I were standing on the outside of the tower on the Polaris watching Princess Yami and Shadow go at it with their swords. They were using iaito swords to fight, or swords with a blunt edge.
"Wow..." Marcus had trouble keeping his jaw up while watching the two. "That's..."
"Pretty good, aren't they?"
"I've never seen anything like it. First we find out that she's one of the top ranked pilots in Pandora, and now this?"
"Would you be more surprised if I told you what kind of steel those blades are made from?"
He shot me a skeptical look.
"Alright. The type of steel doesn't have a name. This nameless steel is made by Princess Yami's grandfather, Hiroto Akari, who is a master blade smith. The technique he uses to craft swords is known only to him. Even if it isn't as high tier as the original method, it it's still the strongest steel in the world."
"Original method?"
"The original method has been lost through the generations, though we do have one relic of the original method. It's an heirloom of the Akari family. Princess Yami's older sister has it."
"That sounds expensive."
"There's no way to value the sword. She has refused offers that you wouldn't expect a sword to bring. The highest offer she got was six and a half billion in Osean zollars."
"Did you say billion? As in B? As in nine zeros?"
I nodded. "It's the holy grail of swords, and ironically enough it is named Jouten, which means God or Supreme Being."
"I can't say I'm jealous, but that's pretty impressive either way. So you and Shadow are joining us? I thought Pandora couldn't help us."
"That's right. We're both Emmerian. While I cannot sanction a Paragon operation to assist Emmeria, I can fight for Emmeria as a Lieutenant General of the Emmerian Air Force, though I cannot act on Pandora's behalf while I'm here. Because of that, I had to leave somebody else in charge. The President wasn't too happy."
"Your second in command?"
"I don't really have a second in command. I am the Supreme Commander, and below me are a group of National Commanders that command our forces in their respective countries. For example, Princess Yami's grandfather in Osea, General Charles Bartlett, is the Commander of the Osean Sect of our joint duty military. In times like this, when I cannot fulfill my duties as the Supreme Commander, I have to pick one of my National Commanders to temporarily take my place."
"So basically, you have several people tied for second in command."
"In a nutshell, yeah." We quietly watched Princess Yami and Shadow for a few minutes. I could tell Marcus was deep in thought. The man seemed to always have something on his mind.
"I have a question. It's bugging me."
"What's that?" I asked.
"I was surprised when you and Shadow showed up in the same planes Yami and I fly. That's not what was bugging me, though. Your planes have the same paint scheme as ours. I figured our scheme was Yami's personal design, so it threw me off when you also showed up with it."
"Oh, actually, that's not Princess Yami's design." I pulled out my cell phone and opened up a picture of Master Layla's plane from the Belkan War. "This is Master Layla's F-15 that she flew in 1995 during the Belkan War."
"It's the same!"
"Master Layla was so fond of the F-15 that she took the X-03's design and incorporated everything into the F-15. While the F-16X and F-18X that Windhover and Avalanche fly were upgraded with X-03 technology, the F-15P was built from ground up to be an F-15 version of the X-03. The full name for it is the F/X-15 Paragon Eagle, though we like to just shorten it to F-15P where the P stand for Paragon."
"The color is a little different though."
"Yeah, that's not by accident. Master Layla's original color is a greyish blue, but she had a lighter blue used on your planes to match the Emmerian flag. And you look closely, you can see the various Ustio markings on Master Layla's plane where there are Emmerian markings on ours."
"Could Yami have used a different paint scheme?"
"She could have if she wanted to, but she liked Master Layla's paint scheme."
"Ah."
"Whew!" Princess Yami said as she and Shadow finished their spar. "I haven't had that much of a workout in a while. I'm glad you two showed up yesterday. You're a life saver in more than one way."
"I'm glad we can help, Princess." I took two towels out of the bag and threw one to each of them.
"Really though, you suddenly show up with just what I needed to iron out my plan for tomorrow's mission. And you brought me the cute little Shadow who I can play with."
"I still think it's funny that you call her little even though you're younger."
"Yeah, but I'm taller!"
"You're also meaner," Shadow said quietly.
"Hey!"
Marcus and I laughed at the two of them.
"Well hey, I need a shower," Princess Yami said. "You guys want to join me?"
Marcus raised a suspicious eyebrow at Princess Yami, which she shot back at him.
"Really?" she mumbled at him with her head cocked to the side.
"Honestly, I never know with you."
"Touché. I suppose you *could* join us if you wanted to... but that might look suspicious..."
"My turn to sarcastically say 'Really?' with my head tilted." He started to walk away slowly. "Have fun."
"That was interesting," I said.
"It's all in good fun," Princess Yami said. "Come on, let's go."
-Briefing-
"I'm about to go over the mission contents.
"Finally the day is near. We have organized enough troops and intelligence to retake the mainland. Soon the Emmerian military will initiate an operation designed to take back the Emmerian mainland. Our forces on the mainland are growing more exhausted as each day passes. If we don't act soon, they will be wiped out completely.
"Our bridgehead for disembarking troops on the mainland will be established at Rargom Beach, on the western tip of Anea. We're sending in units by air and sea. This is going to be a large-scale mission. So do all you can to see it through to the end.
"This mission will be divided into multiple units: Two hovercraft units bringing our landing units to shore, and a fleet of ships to attack the enemy from out at sea. Our hovercraft unit needs support in order to bring in the landing unit safely, and for taking over points on the ground. Our fleet needs support in order to thoroughly defeat enemy forces close to the sea or in the vicinity of oil fields. It would be to our advantage if you could rush to various attack points and take them out before our units have to deal with them.
"Captain Yami Akari will now go over the strategy for our air units."
"Right. With the addition of Emmerian Air Force Lieutenant General Liliana Venturi, call sign Seraph, and her younger sister, Captain Aliana Venturi, call sign Shadow, Garuda Team is now a full four man squadron like the Windhover and Avalanche squadrons. This gives us just enough air units to cover all three operations.
"For Operation C, which includes our fleet's assault by sea, the Avalanche squadron and one secondary squadron will be providing general air support. Your primary objective is to take out any air bound threats to the fleet. Seraph and Shadow will also be taking part in Operation C, but will serve as a deep penetration strike team. They are both highly skilled pilots, ranked in Pandora's top ten pilots, so they will be fine diving deep into enemy airspace. Their primary objective will be to eliminate targets on the oil platforms, targets with anti-air capabilities, and if possible, targets with anti-ship capabilities.
"For Operation B, which includes Quox Armored Battalion's landing to take Ortara the airport, the Windhover squadron and one secondary squadron will be providing air support. They will focus primarily on anti-air combat, but will perform air strikes called in by Quox.
"For Operation A, which includes Warlock Separate Battalion's landing to take the central coast. One secondary squadron will be providing air support. Talisman and Shamrock will fly ahead and use Seeker missiles to quickly take out a large number of the enemy ground forces then proceed to take out any targets with anti-air capabilities. After that, they will fly over to Operation B and eliminate anti-air capable targets there before our helicopter unit goes in to take the airport. After that they will then float between Operations A and B as needed. The secondary squadron for Operation A will strictly stay with Warlock.
"Avalanche squadron and the Operation C secondary squadron will be loaded with a mixed anti-air and anti-ship armament using AIM-120s and AGM-84s as their special weapons. Windhover squadron and the Operation B secondary squadron will be loaded with a mixed anti-air and anti-ground armament using AIM-120s and AGM-65s as their special weapons. All four Garuda pilots will be carrying a pure anti-air build using AIM-120s for their special weapons, except for Garuda 1 and 2, who will both be carrying two Seeker missiles. The ADM system will make up for the lack of anti-ground targets after the Seeker missiles are deployed.
"Ghost Eye will brief our three secondary squadrons and assign them to their respective operations after we are done here. That is all."
"Thank you, Captain Akari. Swift and accurate execution is extremely important in this mission in order to gain a secure foothold. Don't hold back. Show us what you're made of out there."
-Talisman-
-Mission Start-
Kijera Oil Fields, Rargom Beach 40'45'30"N 50'56'07"E
1405rs 26 January 2016
"Take a look. It's the mainland," Marcus said.
"Yeah." I muttered quietly. *Watch out Gracemeria, here we come.*
I was only about five thousand feet up, but the lower clouds were still eye level. They loomed over the land and sea like some ominous angel of death.
"Ghost Eye to all forces. We're about to start the landing operation."
"This is Warlock Battalion. We'll be disembarking on the central coast to take over a stretch of land there."
"Quox Battalion here. We're set to disembark on the west side, take control of Ortara, and have another unit take the airport behind us."
"This is flagship Marigold of the 2nd fleet. We are set to destroy the enemy fleet positioned near those oil facilities."
"Garuda Team, your job is to eliminate any threats posed to our forces in each of these combat zones. Begin operation."
"You mean our job is to go by the strategy I briefed us on."
"Sorry, that's right, Talisman."
"You better not be playing pong up there."
"Not today. There's too many things going on in this mission."
"Indeed. Marcus, let's go. We need to drop our presents before Warlock lands." I said as I hit the throttle.
"Roger that, Talisman."
We flew over the landing ships and straight to the mainland. "Ready, set, blow shit up." We fired all four of our seekers missiles at once. In midair, each one split into four and automatically proceeded to enemy targets.
Each one exploded with an incredible force. They resembled a mini-nuke, just without the mushroom cloud. The actual explosions weren't gigantic, but they did destroy all targets within about five hundred feet. The real danger was the shockwave component. The shockwaves were five times larger than the explosions and carried nearly as much destructive force.
I saw several tanks and other vehicles getting thrown around like ragdolls, as well as a few enemy planes that were low enough to get hit. The planes were knocked out of the sky and most of the vehicles were incapacitated. We just hit them with sixteen powerful shockwaves with an effective range of about twenty five hundred feet. I think they forgot the "and Destroy" part of "Seek and Destroy" when they named this thing.
I heard several Warlock soldiers saying things like "What the hell was that?", "Did that just happen?", and my favorite "Do it again!"
"That was the Air Force doing business boys. Our job just got a lot easier," Warlock Leader said. "We're disembarking to take over the coast. Air units, I know you pretty much just nuked them, but there's still work to do."
"That there is," I said.
"About half the enemy forces are down," Ghost Eye added. "Looks like this'll be an easy ride for our forces coming ashore."
"Marcus, cover me for a moment, I need to setup our targets." I said as I pulled up and headed up in almost a vertical climb. "We're going high for a minute."
"Roger."
After breaking thirty thousand, I leveled out and started working on my second radar screen, picking out each individual target we needed to take out before Warlock and the second squadron caught up.
An Estovakian broadcaster came over the radio while I was working. "Our duty as Estovakians is to take the cowardly Emmerian military, who in great arrogance provoked us into battle, and..."
Then he was interrupted by the Independence Radio. At first it was just noise, but the DJ finally spoke up. "Okay okay, hot shot. Some people never change... Well folks, once again these airwaves have been reclaimed by the Emmeria Independence Radio!"
"Damned Estovakians. I'll raze their whole country and finish what the damn meteor shower started..." Liliana grumbled. She had a long fuse, but when she got pissed off, she was somebody to watch out for.
"Whoa, Lily!" I said. "That's a little harsh."
"If they want arrogant, I'll show them arrogant."
"Easy, it's just propaganda."
"I know, but it still pisses me off."
I took a quick look at my radar and saw a few Estovakian planes, but there was no way of knowing their altitude just by looking at the radar, so I flipped my plane over and looked down at the ground.
"Looking out like this... the sky looks like the ground and the ground looks like the sky. "Haha, you're all upside down!" I could just feel the glares from the others.
After confirming that there were no planes up here, I flipped back upright and went back to work on the targeting data.
"Are those sea forts? Air units, clean up the sea for us," Warlock Leader requested.
"Air Force, take 'em out quick! I can't swim, you know!" another Warlock soldier added. "That's why I joined up as a tank operator!"
"Marcus, go. I'll be fine. I'm almost done."
"Don't take too long. You're a sitting duck like that."
"I'll be just a moment."
I glanced to my right and saw him bank to head down toward the ground. I punched in the last few targets, including the sea forts, and sent the data to Marcus.
"Heads up, Marcus. Incoming data. Ghost Eye, get the targeting data for the anti-air shit in Operation B."
"Will do, Garuda 1," Ghost Eye said.
"I've received the data. Launching ADM," Marcus said.
I banked and headed straight down just as his ADM launched. *Wow, the ADM looks awesome when it fires.* I almost felt weird with that being my first time seeing an ADM from the back. Marcus was probably used to it already.
He took out four of the sea forts and a few SAMs with his launch. I took my turn and got the rest of the sea forts. "You should be clear, Warlock."
"Roger that, Garuda. Thanks," Warlock Leader said.
"We're coming up on the landing point," the LCAC unit reported. "All personnel, prepare to disembark."
"Warlock Battalion preparing to disembark. We've taken no damage, thanks to Garuda Team. Let's get this party started!"
"Then we must resist these cowardly acts, even if it means the blood of our..." The Estovakian broadcaster came on the radio again.
Thankfully, DJ Zed was quick to interrupt the Estovakian guy again. "Come and dance with the angels! All that worn out propaganda is at an end! Today's broadcast is brought to you by the one and only DJ Zed!"
"Lily, are you okay?" I asked.
"Hmm?"
"The Estovakian..."
"I just tuned him out that time. Too busy to worry about that stuff."
"Right."
"Disembarkation complete," the LCAC unit said. "Thanks for your patience, Quox Battalion."
"Move! Move! Move!" the Quox Leader was loud. "Advance forward and form a line."
"Whoa!" I yelled as I dodged an incoming plane. "Haha, that was close!"
"Talisman, are you alright?"
"Yeah, but I bet that guy just pissed his pants!" I laughed.
I swooped down to just a few hundred feet above the ground and took a look at the Warlock Battalion. A few of them waved at me. I would wave back, but I knew they wouldn't be able to see me.
I pulled up just in time to dodge an incoming missile from a SAM vehicle. There were sixteen anti-air targets left, just enough for two ADMs. "Marcus, launch an ADM at anti-air vehicles only. I'll clean up the rest after you're done."
"On it." I fell back and watched his missiles fly. I got all giddy inside as they split off and flew toward their targets.
"That's pretty awesome to watch. You should have told me it looked this cool, Shamrock."
"I didn't want to distract you."
"Well, it *is* a pretty good distraction actually... heh." I got my head back in the game and fired an ADM to finish off the rest.
"I'd like to give a shout out to our brave armed forces fighting on our behalf. Here at Emmeria Independence Radio, we support you 110%!"
"It's good to know somebody is on our side," Marcus said.
"Wand Communications have made it ashore. Setting up antennae for ESM," a Warlock soldier reported.
"They're pretty well off over here now," I said. "Let's head over to clear up the anti-air targets for Quox and the helicopter unit. Ghost Eye, do you have the targeting data I asked for ready?"
"Yes, it's ready. Sending it now." The targets that he picked out turned from red to orange on the radar.
"Nice touch making them a different color. That's much better than making separate operation tabs for only a handful of targets."
"I thought you might like that."
"I still don't approve of you playing pong in the middle of the mission."
"You're not going to let that go, are you?"
"I might if you can install it on my second screen here."
"You just want to play it, too."
"Maybe."
"Haha, come on, Ghost Eye, you can't give her Pong!" Marcus said. "She can already fly circles around everyone. If you give her pong, she'll play that at the same time. That's really adding insult to injury."
"Marcus! I'm hurt by your words!" I said.
"Admit it, you'd do that."
"Indeed. Hey look up ahead." I saw something out in front of the Quox Battalion.
"Captain, there's a single tank out ahead of us," one of the Quox soldiers reported. "Is that Sergeant McKnight?"
"You bet it is. That's one brave SOB," Quox Leader said. "You can all learn a thing or two from him."
*I like his style.* I banked and flew over the lone tank while simultaneously launching an ADM at the nearby anti-air targets. "Woohoo! Go, McKnight!"
"Well look at that," Quox Leader said. "McKnight got even Garuda's attention!"
"We've got the enemy ground forces in view. Take out every last one of them." That was an Estovakian!
"Hey, Windhover, you around here? There's an incoming Stovie squadron."
"Yeah, we're here, and I see it. Intercepting now. Oh and... Hey!" He flew over me upside down and waved.
"Ha, nice one," I said.
"This city is practically our backyard. We gotta drive out these Stovie bastards," Quox Leader said.
"These men are incredibly stubborn." An Estovakian soldier said. "They should have stayed in Khesed."
I sighed. "They'll learn the hard way that we will not give up."
"This is Yellow Jacket. We'll be flying escort for the transport choppers. Special cargo unit moving to recapture airport. Garuda Team, we need you to deal with anything in our way."
"Roger that Yellow Jacket. We're in the process of clearing out anti-air threats right now."
Marcus just fired another ADM and took out several more AA Guns and SAM vehicles. There were only a handful of targets left, enough that I could finish off with a single ADM, but I didn't get the chance. Marcus wrapped it up himself.
"Look at you hoggin' all the fun."
"Just doing what needs to be done," he said.
"Yeah, yeah."
"We're taking enemy fire! It's no good, McKnight. We're gonna get killed."
"We're in a hell of a mess here. Pull out and join up with the others!" McKnight said.
"We'll never make it! We're done for!"
"Hey, we've still got a chance!"
"Here's that chance, coming. I've got your backs," I said as I launched my fourth ADM and took out the enemy tanks firing at McKnight.
"Go! We're in the clear!"
"The Estovakian flag looks pretty ugly flappin' around in that city," A Quox soldier said. "Garuda, keep doing what you're doing, huh?"
"Yep."
"Where is our anti-aircraft fire? Swat down those annoying flies!" an Estovakian soldier said.
"Our transport chopper is about to fly over Ortara," Bird Eater reported. "Destroy any anti-aircraft artillery you can find in the vicinity."
"We destroyed it all. You should be clear all the way to the airport."
"Looks like Garuda made quick work of those enemy anti-air forces. Now it's our turn," Quox Leader said.
"There are more targets at the airport." Yellow Jacket reported. "Garuda, can you do something about that?"
"Definitely."
"Garuda Team, I've already pinpointed the AA Guns and SAM vehicles around the airport. I'm sending you the data now. Beware of the enemy jammer aircraft."
"Roger that." I said. "Marcus, take care of the anti-air targets. I'll fly up and destroy the jammer."
"On it."
The jammer plane was at almost twenty five thousand feet, so it took me a moment to fly up there. It had no protection, though, so it was like shooting a sitting duck full of holes. My radar cleared up right away. As I turned back down, I saw two SAMs and four AA Guns remaining. My fifth ADM cleared them up quickly.
"Garuda Team, there are two enemy squadron inbound for Warlock," Ghost Eye reported.
"On it." I turned to the east and blasted my afterburners.
"Enemy forces are almost eliminated," a Warlock soldier reported.
"Just a little more," Warlock Leader added.
"More is what we're here for," I said. "We'll clear out the enemy planes."
"Roger, Garuda. We'll round up the last of the ground forces down here in the meantime," Warlock Leader said. "Let's get on it!"
"Yeah."
The two enemy squadrons had already gotten over Warlock and started fighting our secondary squadron. They were bunched up enough to lock onto all eight with the ADM. I had two ADMs left after firing at them. Three of the enemy planes managed to avoid the ADM missiles, but we would soon fix that.
"Three left, Marcus."
"I'd say their outnumbered."
"Technically they outnumber us."
"But we outgun them."
"Let's get 'em."
We barreled into the dogfight. The first target didn't last long. He flew in a straight line for half a second. That was more than enough time for me to gun him down. Marcus had similar results with his target. I started to go after the last enemy plane, but one of our secondary squadron planes managed to shoot him down.
"Nice shot," I said.
"We've taken control of the coast," Warlock Leader said. I flipped over to take a quick look around. There was nothing left moving of the enemy forces, and nothing was on my radar. "We couldn't have done it without Garuda's cover."
"Yeehaw!" another Warlock soldier cheered.
"We've taken control of Ortara and the airport," Quox Leader reported. Thanks for the great cover, Windhover."
"And thanks for covering the anti-air artillery for us, Garuda," Yellow Jacket added.
"It's great to be back in Ortara! Home sweet home, baby!"
-Liliana-
"Take a look. It's the mainland," Marcus said.
"Yeah," Princess Yami muttered quietly.
I hadn't set foot on Emmerian mainland in months. It felt wrong. I couldn't help but wonder if Estovakia's allies really would escalate the war if I had Pandora come back up Emmeria and end this quickly. Maybe Emmeria didn't need the help, though, with Princess Yami on board.
"Ghost Eye to all forces. We're about to start the landing operation."
"This is Warlock Battalion. We'll be disembarking on the central coast to take over a stretch of land there."
"Quox Battalion here. We're set to disembark on the west side, take control of Ortara, and have another unit take the airport behind us."
"This is flagship Marigold of the 2nd fleet. We are set to destroy the enemy fleet positioned near those oil facilities close to the sea."
"Garuda Team, your job is to eliminate any threats posed to our forces in each of these combat zones. Begin operation."
"You mean our job is to go by the strategy I briefed us on," Princess Yami said.
"Sorry, that's right, Talisman."
"My fleet is about to destroy all enemy ships and eradicate any sign of a sea threat. We're leaving the skies to you, Avalanche."
"Roger that, Marigold. You're safe in our hands," Avalanche replied.
"This is Garuda 3, call sign Seraph, and Garuda 4, call sign Shadow," I said. "Shadow and I will be flying ahead to take out strategic targets."
"Roger that, Seraph," Avalanche said.
I hit my throttle and pulled up to about twenty thousand feet to fly over the enemy territory. All of the targets on the oil platforms had already been marked in a separate operation tab for us, so we didn't have to take the time to mark them ourselves.
I glanced over to the North West and saw the results of the Seeker missiles. "Did you see that, Shadow?"
"Yes."
"The Seeker's results were better than I expected."
"Our duty as Estovakians is to take the cowardly Emmerian military, who in great arrogance provoked us into battle, and..."
*What the hell is this?*
The broadcast was quickly interrupted by another. "Okay okay, hot shot. Some people never change... Well folks, once again these airwaves have been reclaimed by the Emmeria Independence Radio!"
"Damned Estovakians." I couldn't hold back my anger. "I'll raze their whole country and finish what the damn meteor shower started..."
I heard Shadow gasp at my threat.
"Whoa, Lily!" Yami said. "That's a little harsh."
"If they want arrogant, I'll show them arrogant."
"Easy, it's just propaganda."
"I know, but it still pisses me off." I had to get my mind on something else. Luckily, we were over a group of targets strategically arranged on the oil platforms. There were just enough to justify using an ADM.
"An Emmerian fleet is approaching the oil facilities. Moving to intercept."
"Switching to AGM-84s," Avalanche said. "Target is enemy fleet."
"They're coming at us from the air as well. All anti-aircraft units stay on alert."
Our LCAC Unit reported that they were coming up on the landing point, but beyond that, I tuned them out and focused on my mission.
"Shadow, take the targets on the oil platforms to our direct north. I'm going to get the ones to our northeast."
"Okay." I could barely hear her.
"You need to be a little louder on the radio. I know you're a naturally quiet talker, but I need to hear you clearly out here."
She cleared her throat and spoke up. "Roger, Seraph. Moving to attack."
"That's better."
The Estovakian broadcaster started up again, but I forcibly ignored him this time. Instead, I watched my radar as several targets disappeared at once from Shadow's attack.
"Lily, are you okay?" Princess Yami asked.
"Hmm?"
"The Estovakian..."
"I just tuned him out that time. Too busy to worry about that stuff."
"Right."
The LCAC Unit started to report something about Quox, but I tuned them out so I could focus on taking down the targets I had just locked on to.
"Shadow, there's one more group of anti-air units littered on oil platforms directly east of me."
"Roger, Seraph, I'm on it," she said. She was speaking very clearly now. It was odd hearing my little sister like that, but good at the same time, though I'm sure she won't do it on the ground.
"The Estovakian fleet's about to collapse," the Marigold Staff reported. "All thanks to our great air support!"
"The Emmerians are driving us back. We've got to hold out!" the Estovakian Fleet said.
Shadow launched her ADM and finished off the oil platform targets. I breathed a sigh of relief and decided to check the overall radar to see how the other operations were going.
"Captain, there's a single tank out ahead of us," a Quox soldier reported. "Is that Sergeant McKnight?"
"You bet it is. That's one brave SOB," Quox Leader said. "You can all learn a thing or two from him."
*How about that? That McKnight guy is doing the same thing as Shadow and me.*
"Woohoo! Go, McKnight!" Princess Yami cheered.
"About half our targets are down. Keep up a steady stream of attacks," the Marigold Captain reported.
"The Gardeniya has been immobilized. All personnel abandon ship! She's going under!" the Estovakian Fleet said.
"Shadow, let's go. There's still targets on the shore we need to take out."
"Roger, Seraph," she said as we pulled up and headed for our targets.
There were several targets here. "There's all sorts of missile launchers here. I wasn't expecting there to be Estovakian ships up here, though it's not surprising. We can't take out the ships with the AIM-120s or the ADMs unless we want to focus fire them with a single ADM, so we'd better stay up high and leave them for the others."
"Don't worry, Garuda. We've got the ships," Avalanche said. "We'll be up there in a minute."
"Roger that." I set my ADM to launch two simultaneously, causing my eight target lock to expand to sixteen targets. "Shadow, cover the west end."
"Roger."
"Things are lookin' good for us. Garuda Team, Avalanche Squadron, bring out the fat lady!" the Marigold Captain said. "Most of the enemy fleet's been destroyed. We're about to mop up what's left."
I launched two more ADMs and destroyed another sixteen targets, ranging between AA Guns, SAM launchers, and trucks with anti-ship launchers.
I cut around and met up with Shadow as soon as she finished her side. She ended up using four more ADMs, too. *That was a lot of targets.*
"Garuda Team, can you head back to the Marigold and provide air cover?" Avalanche asked. "I had our secondary squadron come with us to clear out the Estovakian ships up here."
"Of course," I said. "All ground based units capable of anti-air and anti-ship combat have been destroyed, so you should be in the clear."
"Thanks."
Shadow and I headed back down to the Marigold, though there was only one enemy squadron to destroy, and they weren't very good, so it took almost no effort to chase and gun them down. We didn't even need to waist missiles on them.
After clearing the skies, we took a short flight down and flew between our ships.
"Whoa!" We managed to startle a few sailors.
"This is Avalanche. All enemy ships near the shoreline have been sunk."
"Mission accomplished," the Marigold Captain said. "We love your work, Garuda, Avalanche. Moving on to support the main force."
With our part done, Shadow and I could hang back and watch the fireworks for a little bit. Judging from the targets left on the radar, Yami and Marcus's groups were just about done.
"We're taking enemy fire! It's no good, McKnight. We're gonna get killed."
"We're in a hell of a mess here. Pull out and join up with the others!" McKnight said.
"We'll never make it! We're done for!"
"Hey, we've still got a chance!"
"Here's that chance coming. I've got your backs," Princess Yami said.
*I knew she'd come to their rescue.* I watched the radar as several targets vanished from a single spot.
I started to tune them out again and flew up high above the clouds, or at least above the low lying clouds. It was quite a sight to behold. There were clouds above and below, and I could see parts of the shadows the lower clouds were casting on the land and sea. It was a beautiful sight.
I stayed up high until Ghost Eye started shouting about reinforcements. "Enemy reinforcements detected on radar. They're approaching our landing unit at high speed. We can't let anything happen to our landing unit. Drive back the enemy and provide cover."
"Talisman, this is kill or be killed," Marcus said.
"I'm not dying today," Princess Yami said.
"Enemy forces detected on radar," A Warlock soldier said. "Approaching from both land and sea.
"Tank Battalion, advance," Warlock Leader ordered. "Prepare to intercept anti-aircraft vehicles."
"We've confirmed enemy reinforcements here. They seem to be equipped with radar," A Quox soldier reported.
"Fine with us!" Quox Leader said. "Fire away!"
"Some of the airborne enemy reinforcements are coming this way," The Marigold Staff said.
"Prepare to engage in anti-aircraft combat." The Marigold Captain ordered. "Stay on alert for anti-ship missiles."
"Shamrock, Windhover, let's get 'em," Princess Yami said.
"Roger!"
"Shadow, let's go. Avalanche, you're with us," I said.
"Roger!"
"Our special forces have taken the airport. You're clear to land there for supplies," Ghost Eye reported.
I headed straight north toward the enemy reinforcements. They were mostly Nimrods so the ADMs wouldn't be as effective as the AIM-120s. As soon as I was within range, I switched to my AIM-120s and launched four of my ten at once. Only one missed. Shadow took down four and swooped around to finish off the last one before we got into a dogfight with their escorts.
"Those pilots have something special. Approaching him in haste will get us killed," an Estovakian pilot said.
"Not all of us are male..." I mumbled.
"Fight with everything you've got. We can't afford to surrender this place!" another Estovakian said.
"You don't have a choice," Princess Yami said.
"Talisman, we've almost got 'em," Marcus said.
I gunned F-14 after F-14. *Man, they've got a hard on for F-14s.* It felt like I shot a million of them down, though in reality it was only about six. Six more got shot down by Shadow and a few by Avalanche.
"That's all of them," Princess Yami said.
"We're done here, too," I added.
"All enemies have been destroyed," Ghost Eye reported. "Mission accom... wait, there's four high-speed bogeys in bound. They're headed straight toward Talisman and Shamrock."
"Only four, huh?" Princess Yami said. "They're either stupid or good. Lily, Shadow, you two better head up here."
-Talisman-
"Only four, huh?" I was suspicious about that. "They're either stupid or good. Lily, Shadow, you two better head up here."
"I've ID'd the targets. They are Estovakia's ace Oryol Squadron," Ghost Eye reported.
"Roger that," I said.
"The lead plane is the one that shot down Pegas, Edinorog, Drakon, and Kentavr. If we can take them down, we'll be hailed as heroes of our country," the Oryol Leader said.
"I took down something called Edinorog?" I asked.
"Edinorog Squadron was among the escorts over Vitoze. You took them down before I could even warn you about them," Ghost Eye said.
"Oh. Huh. Not much of a squadron then."
"Princess, we're here," Lily said as she and Shadow fell into formation with Marcus and me.
"Princess?" the Oryol Leader laughed. "This should be easy."
"Be careful, Captain. They took down Pegas, after all," one of Oryol's wingmen said.
"Well guys, there's four of them and four of us. Sounds like even odds."
"Then you're outnumbered, Garuda," Oryol said.
"I'll take their loudmouth arrogant leader," I said. "You three have fun with the others."
"Roger."
I hit my throttle and flew at Oryol straight on. I banked right at the last second to avoid crashing into him and pulled up in a High G turn to get behind him.
He somewhat anticipated that, and was already turning to avoid me, but I was faster. I pulled a second High G turn and caught up to him. I flipped upside down flew straight over him.
"Eat it, sucker!" I flipped him off.
"What the hell?"
I slowed down just enough for him to shoot out in front of me and fired one of my AIM-120s. My missile hit him square in the engine and exploded, sending his plane spiraling to the ground in a fireball.
I swerved around just in time to see Yami gunning down her target, followed soon by Shadow. Marcus was last, but only by a few seconds.
"Good job, guys."
"I saw you flying above that guy. What did you do?" Marcus asked.
"I flipped him off."
"Top Gun?"
"Yep."
"No sign of the enemy on radar," Ghost Eye reported. "They've been wiped out completely. Mission accomplished."
"We're finally back on the mainland," Marcus added.
The Radio DJ cut in before anyone else could say anything. "This just in! Apparently our heroes have made it back to the mainland! This just in, folks. I heard our angels are flying in from Khesed." A beautiful song started playing in the background. "I'd like to dedicate this one to some tough soldiers out there, "A Brand New Day". A song for a new dawn beyond the darkness. From now on you can count on me, Zed, here at the Emmeria Independence radio, to fill you in on how they're doing! Whoa... Just heard some gunshots. Peace out!"
"Let's go home. Back to our loved ones," Marcus said.
That made me almost sad. I couldn't go home to mine. Though, I suppose he couldn't either.
-Post Mission-
Enemy forces on Rargom Beach have been annihilated, and the landing operation has ended successfully. We are finally able to provide full relief and support to our exhausted forces on the mainland. The Emmerian military is in position to advance towards the center of the continent, combine with our forces fighting the resistance, and take out Estovakian Forces.
Garuda Team, you've really earned a great name for yourselves here. Pull yourselves together and get ready for some action up there. We don't want this to be your last mission.
-Melissa-
Desert Highway, Emmeria
1730hrs 26 January 2016
*I had no idea.*
*I should have thought more about the kind of people who would be traveling to Gracemeria, now that we're in the midst of war.*
I glanced over at the person driving the car. *Her name is Ludmilla. She was an Estovakian medical student studying in Nordennavik, a neutral country.*
The car broke down, and Ludmilla was trying to fix it. *Her boyfriend is a soldier in the Estovakian military. She firmly believes that going to Gracemeria will somehow reunite them.*
*It took a long time to get even that much out of her. Most of the time, she hardly says a word.*
*We're certainly an odd pair of travel companions, two women, hopelessly in search of their loved ones.*
After she finished trying to repair the car, she got back in and attempted to start it. It was stubborn.
*Maybe it's the language barrier...*
I got behind the car and got ready to push it. "Ready when you are," I said. She nodded at me and tried again as I pushed.
*...but talking doesn't seem to be our strong point. But I feel we share a common goal that goes far beyond words.*
I pushed the car as hard as I could, and it put out a little smoke as it managed to just barely come to life.
-Talisman-
PFS Polaris
1830hrs 26 January 2016
"Really? I can go?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"That's right. You've earned it. We don't have any missions planned for the next week, so you can have a full week of leave," Ghost Eye said.
I couldn't help but hug the man. "Oh, thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" *I can go home and see my baby girl!*
-Grey Ghost-
Osea, a beach near Bana City
"So the Emmerians have gained a foothold on the mainland, have they?"
"Yes, My Lord. Just earlier today. The Pandoran dog was joined by two other Pandoran dogs."
"Which ones, specifically? Name them."
"Liliana Venturi and her sister."
"I see. Estovakia is losing ground and now they have a full squadron of capable pilots to contend with. What would you do, girl?"
"What do you mean, My Lord?"
"If I instructed you to knock over the dominos, so to speak, what would you do to buffer Estovakia?"
"Direct support is out of the question, since the Atlanteans would find out quite quickly. Perhaps bolstering their information would be the best option, and perhaps throw in a nuclear weapon for fun. That has succeeded in causing trouble before."
"Indeed. I like it. Good job. Send the order."
"At once, My Lord."
The girl started to walk away, but I wasn't done with her. "One moment, girl."
"Yes, My Lord?"
"The tablet over there," I pointed at the nearby table that was just out of reach, "I placed it there earlier before going to the restroom. I need it now. Hand it to me."
"Yes, My Lord." She bent down to pick up the tablet and put her nearly-bear bottom on display for me. She was wearing a rather small swimsuit bottom, rather than the undergarments for her maid uniform.
"I see something you don't normally wear, girl."
She immediately straightened up and turned toward me. "Apologies, My Lord, I-"
"Calm yourself, girl. I know what your intentions were. I did instruct you to attempt to seduce me, did I not?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Is this not an attempt?"
"It is, My Lord."
"Whether I consider this attempt successful or not depends on if you are wearing the matching top."
"I-"
"Not yet, girl. I order you to remove all clothing you are wearing that is not considered swimwear."
The girl said nothing, but her reddened face spoke for her.
"I will consider this attempt successful and allow you to wear swimwear for one week if you are wearing the matching top. However, if you are only wearing the bottom and thus your breasts are not covered when you finish removing all non-swimwear pieces, then your attempt will be a failure and you will be suspended for one week. You may refuse if you will fail and do not wish to show me your bare chest, but the suspension will be two weeks. Your choice, girl."
"Failure would result in either embarrassment and one week of suspension or simply two weeks of suspension?"
"Yes."
"But, My Lord, I would not be embarrassed at all if you were to see my bare chest."
"I had a feeling you'd say that. Very well, two weeks of suspension either way. So what is the answer?"
The girl removed her maid uniform and was indeed wearing the matching top. I smirked as I examined her bikini clad body.
"Does My Lord approve?"
"I do. Well done, girl. I see you have been exercising. I like the muscle tone. It's just enough to be attractive without taking away from your womanly charm. As promised, you may wear swimsuits for one week. Consider today the first day of said week."
"Yes, My Lord."
"I expect a different swimsuit each day in a different style. You have permission to use the business account to purchase them if necessary. You must meet my expectations with each one."
"Yes, My Lord."
"Now go send the order."
"Yes, My Lord."
