Author's Note: All properties are the rights of their respective owners, Marvel, Respawn, etc.

Hopefully everyone survived trying out all of their new Christmas toys or just having to put up with family. If not, well then, I'm sorry to hear that.

ScreamingStuka: Thanks for the kind words, I was having a lot of fun, especially with the gift giving sequence and keeping everyone in character, more or less anyway. Though as for having a Titanfall in Symkaria, I sent a brief PM, but it's something I'll think about. You'd need to get a strategic lift aircraft, either a C-5, C-17, An-124, An-225, or something like that, and then you would need to fly it to contested airspace in the face of enemy interceptors as well as Anti Aircraft weapons to do the drop. Awesome? Yeah, for sure, but not really practicable.

Marauder Prime: Much appreciated man. Okay, that's what I figured but I wanted to be sure. It's good to see that the joke landed though.

Alright people, this is a big one. I've wanted to do a chapter like this for a while, and doing it makes me want to do a whole story about this kind of stuff. I'm trying to write a lot of new things here, so I want feedback on it if y'all have any. And for a big chapter, I needed a big song and so I went with Sabaton, and not just any Sabaton song, the one that started it all. Primo Victoria is the title cut to their first studio album that was released in 2005. Famously, the band had to music for the song, but wanted a 'big' subject for the lyrics to match the grandiose music and settled on Operation Overlord, better known as D-Day, the invasion of Normandy in June of 1944. That started the theme of military history for the entire album, and that led to it being the theme for (almost) every subsequent album of the Swedish band.

Somewhat amusingly, they did a music video for the song in 2017 in a cross promotion with World of Tanks that sees the band operate a decked out Centurion Mk III, designated Strv 81 in Swedish service and go around shooting up other tanks. If you're a mega Sabaton fan, you can buy a digital recreation of this vehicle in the game, complete with the lead singer of the band doing some voice work. Enough of that, the song has a solid beat, but it's just a song that you can just sing along to really easily, and the music video where the music is mixed with the racket of operating a tank seems to fit together really well. Simply put, this song kicks ass.


Power Without Question – Chapter 78: Primo Victoria

In the dawn they will pay, With their lives as the price

History's written today

Now that we are at war with the axis again

This time we know what will come

Aiming for heaven though serving in hell

Victory is ours, their forces will fall!

Through the gates of hell

As we make our way to heaven

Through the Nazi lines

Primo Victoria!


Outside, Silver Sablinova could hear the sounds of the 71st Air Base more active than it had ever been before. It was not merely humming with energy, but drumming with it, a beat that seemed to shake the walls of her quarters as the silver haired Symkarian mercenary finished donning her new set of gear. Fresh from Oscorp was a set of advanced battle armor built to her own specifications, which were derived from her examination of the Marauder's own gear. It was a bodysuit with insulating layers interwoven with Kevlar to offer some protection below a set of shirt and pants in a silver, white, and grey winter camouflage pattern. Above that was a set of white armor plate, slimmer than the plate used by the rest of Sable International and comprised of a titanium backed composite that was formed around her torso, from the armored collar to the main cuirass that covered her chest and back and the bottom of the clavicle to the top of her abdomen. In addition, there was an extra plate attached over her abdomen and a belt that had the pouches for ammunition and other equipment. Strapped to that and going down to wrap around each thigh was a holster that contained her preferred pair of sidearms. Another holdover from her usual kit were her boots, but they were covered with a pair of sturdy greaves that protected her shins and knees, comprised of a similar mix of titanium backed composite as her chest plate, and attached to her right greave was her NRS-2 survival knife.

Looking up to see the clock beside her bed read 04:03, Sablinova rushed to finish so she would stay on time and began strapping on the trapezoidal micro thrust pack that latched to the armor on her back and strapped to her belt, so it fit snuggly in the small of her back, the two nozzles pointed away from her. Silver grabbed her personal Nikonov AN-94 and slung it over her shoulder before scooping up the matching winter camouflaged helmet, similar in construction to those used by other troopers, only with an additional command and control module fitted and a different polarized visor as it's faceplate that was shaped like an inverted triangle and covered her entire face rather than just her eyes.

With the helm tucked under her arm, Sablinova made her way to the door only to suddenly puase and reach out with a shaking hand to grab a folded paper she had on her desk and tucked it securely into a pouch before taking a breath and heading for the door. Today was January 8th, it was the day she was going to return home, even if she hadn't expected to do that at the head of an army of mercenaries. But she swallowed her fears and pressed forward, out of her quarters and into the predawn morning, though any peace that might have brought was shattered by the activity on the base. The rumbling of trucks, tanks, and other armored vehicles rushing as the ground elements of Operation Victoria moved to the border just a few dozen kilometers to the south. At the same time, all along the flight line, jets of every description were being worked on and tooled up under the harsh glare of floodlights as they were fueled, armed, and inspected by their ground crews and pilots.

Unlike most mornings, there were no guards or aides waiting for Sablinova, her command staff was to meet her at either the transport aircraft or join the ground forces. With purpose and pride at the scene before her, Sablinova put one foot ahead of the other and began the half kilometer trek to her selected craft. As she walked, she could see the indicator lights blink as the fighters began to roll into position, they were going to be the first to launch, followed by AWACS and then the in-flight refueling tankers that would keep the whole air operation moving. Only then would the transport aircraft carrying the 2nd and 3rd ExAACCT companies take off. In the dim light, Sablinova could make out the silhouette of the big SU-35 begin to roll forwards as the roar of jets filled the air.

With the afterburners lit, the 'Cyclone' nosed up and leapt into the air just as it passed by Sablinova, the pilot nosing straight up and streaking up into the morning sky as he skillfully kicked the plane over and banked out wide to circle the airfield as his wingmate began to roll down the runway. It was this ever-growing cacophony that only further energized the base, a constant reminder that today was not just any day for Sable International, this was the organization firing on all cylinders.

Marching up to the waiting transport, Sablinova walked up the ramp and into the red lit interior of the C-130 transport to join the other members of 1st and 2nd platoons of 2nd ExAACCT, each of whom were undertaking their final preparations for their operation. Sablinova took her position nearest to the door, stowing her rifle as the platoon's officers and NCOs got everyone organized before settling down and strapping in before the ramp went up and the Hercules began to roll. If Sable had wanted, she could have listened in and even taken command, but she was content to sit silently as the plane came to a halt, the engines thrumming at idle and vibrating the plane as she closed her eyes and tried to muster far off memories of her parents and growing up in Aniana, "time to go home," she whispered to herself as she heard the engines roar up to full power and the plane lurch forwards before picking up speed and nosing into the sky, throwing all the occupants in the cargo bay around in their harnesses as the C-130 began it's ascent.

Even as Sable remained stoic and placid, but she couldn't fully hide the way her hand was trembling as the Hercules circled the airfield as the rest of the aircraft climbed to join them. It was only as Silver felt the plane level out and she felt her nerves settle now that she knew they were past the point of no return. Reaching down, the Symkarian grabbed the comm network cord and plugged it into her helmet before slipping it on her head and waiting for the BIOS system to come online before speaking into the net. "Silver Bird to Eagle Eye, requesting a full net communication link."

There was a pause as the AWACS controller worked his way through the que of comms sent to him until he came to hers, "request received Silver Bird, stand by," he replied coolly. With resolute purpose, Silver reached down to her pouches and produced the folded paper she had stashed there earlier, and not a moment to soon. "This is Eagle Eye, net wide communication will go live in five seconds," warned the controller.

Clearing her throat and preparing to address the entire force that was now rapidly approaching the border with Symkaria, Sablinova heard a crackle of static in her helmet that signaled that she was live. "Soldiers and Airmen of Sable International!" she began firmly and she noticed the other troopers in the plane with her turn to pay attention as she continued. "We are about to embark upon a great crusade, towards which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world will be upon you and the hopes of a nation rest on your shoulders…our shoulders. Our goal is to effect the liberation of my home country, Symkaria, from the regime that took over 14 years ago. Since then, my country has become a haven for terrorists and criminal activity, but we will change that. Together, we will bring about an elimination of this tyranny and free an oppressed people."

"This task will not be an easy one," she warned earnestly, "your enemy will be formidable and well equipped. Expect him to fight savagely."

"But we are more than up to the task! We have tested our mettle against terrorists and criminals before and come out the victor! We have stood against the technological superiority of the IMC and endured! Winning in open battle, man to man, has been something you have all done before. With our air divisions and armored units in support, we are more capable than ever before. No matter what awaits us once we cross the border, we are ready."

"I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle," said the Symkarian candidly, her tone softening ever so slightly as she spoke before swiftly hardening once again. "I will accept nothing less than total victory."

With the expectations laid out, and fully expecting them to be met, Sable allowed herself to relax ever so slightly as she delivered the last line of her prepared address. "Good luck! I am proud to serve alongside each and every one of you and honored that you would allow me the privilege of leading you."

"Primo Victoria."


At the front left hand side of the fighter formation that was some 30 kilometers ahead of the transports, a pair of Flanker-Es streaked through the skies over snow covered ground, shattering the stillness of the morning at Mach 0.7. In the cockpit of the blue winged Sukhoi, Galm 1, callsign Cipher, heard the crackle of static in his ear after Sablinova's address concluded and the Symkarian's voice was replaced with the laid back drawl of his wingmate, Larry 'Pixy' Foulke, though he was better known as 'Solo Wing' for the time he managed to nurse his wounded fighter home after anti-aircraft fire had blown his right wing off. "Yo buddy, just look at the view," said Pixy as they passed over the snow-capped mountains, "there's not much difference from those countries from up here," he mused. Like Cipher, Pixy was a veteran mercenary fighter pilot. In the short time Cipher had known Foulke, he had judged his breadth of experience to have caused Pixy to be dismissive of Sablinova's motivations, but a paycheck was a paycheck, and so both were a part of the Sable International 6th Air Division 66th Fighter Wing.

Cipher was indifferent to Galm 2's opinions, he had been hired to do a job and that was what he intended to do. Looking down at the GPS on one of the displays of the glass cockpit of the Flanker-E, Cipher guided the big Russian multi-role fighter past the border and to the next waypoint on their way to their objective. "Galm 1 be advised," spoke Eagle Eye, the Airborne Warning And Control System operator, "you are past checkpoint 2 and into Symkarian Airspace. Cleared to procced," instructed Eagle Eye.

"Acknowledged," returned Cipher, "Galm team moving to engage enemy command and control," read back the element leader as he gently rolled the SU-35 and gave it some rudder to bring it onto line with their first target, a pair of buildings that served as the military command and control for the region. Destroying them should limit the coherence of the Symkarian response to the Sable International efforts and give the ground pounders an easier time of it. Because of the Hands On Throttle And Stick control arrangement in the Sukhoi, the pilot only had to shift his hand a few inches to switch radio channels back to the one he shared with Solo Wing Pixy. "Galm 2, go switches on," he ordered, "time on target: 30 seconds."

The N035 Irbis-E passive electronically scanned array in the nose of the fighter not only could track 30 aircraft at 200 miles, but could also use synthetic aperture mode to give Cipher a view of terrain ahead despite the low light outside his cockpit. As the mountains came to an end, a group of structures appeared on the LCD that showed the terrain, these were the pair's targets. "Weapons hot Galm 1," reported the red winged Flanker-E behind Cipher.

With the OL-35 Optoelectronic Targeting System just ahead of the cockpit on the nose feeding an infra red image to the targeting systems in the jet, with the target buildings being the only heat sources against the cold snow on the ground. The seekers on the pair of Kh-29D air to surface missiles also saw the target and Cipher's finger was poised over the red launch button on his stick. "Galm 1, rifle."

Pressing the button twice in rapid selection, the selected ordinance dropped off the craft as the rocket motors ignited and the missiles shot past the sound barrier on their way to their targets as Cipher heard Pixy call in his ear call "Galm 2, rifle," as two more missiles streaked past the mercenary. In a matter of moments, four fireballs lit up the sky as the weapons found their mark, wrecking the hardened structures as the two Sable fighters passed by. "Confirm multiple hits, good effect on target."

"Confirm BDA Galm 2," replied Eagle Eye before issuing their next orders. "Galm team, move to BARCAP position. Climb to angels 8 and turn to bearing 110, patrol 30 clicks east of LZ X Ray."

"Solid copy Eagle Eye," returned Pixy as Cipher pulled back on the stick, the big Flanker responding far better than it's sheer size would hint as thrust vectoring nozzles forced the tail down and the nose up as the two jets rapidly gained altitude. "It's really heating up now."


Even through her gear, helmet, and armor, Silver Sablinova could feel the wind rushing past the open door that she stood in as she waited for the light beside the door to turn green. Looking down, she strained her eyes to make out anything from the ground rushing past below as the men behind her similarly were ready to make the jump. Craning her neck to the left as she stuck her head out the door, she managed to pick out lights and a few burning fires that dotted the landscape around a few runways that signified their objective. "10 seconds!" alerted the jumpmaster as they rapidly approached the landing zone.

The first wave of strike fighters had done their job, knocking out the defensive systems to give the transports a clean approach to allow them to drop the two ExAACCT companies right beside their objectives in the hopes they could secure them as quickly as possible. A flicker of light in the corner of the Symkarian's eye snapped her from her observation to see the light beside her had turned green. Without a moment's hesitation, her training took over as she bent her knees and jumped out of the C-130. As soon as the Smkarian was clear, she leaned forwards and put her hands to her sides as she dove down towards the airfield below.

In less than two minutes, as Sable continued her descent from 2,500 meters, the rest of the 160 Air Assault tropers were out of the transports and following suit, falling towards Symkaria like a heavily armored and armed snow in their white camouflage armor. As the four transports banked away and headed back to the 71st Air Base, Sablinova refocused her attentions downwards and picked out her first objective amidst the bustle of the target airfield as she continued to fall with ever increasing speed. But as the ground rushed up at her, an ever growing fear began to well up inside the mercenary, she hadn't wanted to return to her home only to die from the impact. Squeezing her eyes shut, she only felt the sudden lurch as the thruster pack sparked to life and she pulled her knees to her chest and kicked her feet forwards. Her sudden reorientation now had her standing 'up' and the thrust of the kit pointed downwards, slowing her descent suddenly and causing her to grunt under the sudden impact before the rockets cut out and she fell the last half a meter or so in freefall, stumbling to the ground and coming to a crouch as she set about taking in her surroundings.

The warning claxons were blaring from the base as Silver looked around to see the rest of 1st and 2nd platoons landing all around her, their own packs slowing their descent much more gradually than her own. Quickly shaking off the effects of her harsher landing, Sablinova quickly unslung her rifle and gestured towards the control tower ahead of the mercenary forces, "1st platoon on me! 2nd platoon, take up positions and cover the north side! Double time!" barked out the Symkarian as her hand gestured to a group of buildings that offered both cover and good fields of fire.

As one, the forty soldiers rushed forwards to their assigned objectives, knowing that speed was critical. In what was no doubt a gamble, Sablinova had not called for the destruction of the runways or hangers. The hope was that the two companies of Air Assault forces could capture the airfield so quickly as to neutralize them and preserve them for Sable's own use, but that meant they had to be quick. "Bravo squad, from a perimeter, Alpha clears the structure, top down!" she ordered over the comms placed in the helmets of every present trooper. A wave of acknowledgement clicks came back as half the ExAACCT troopers engaged their jet packs and took the air, slowly ascending up towards the top level of the tower.

Sable meanwhile, could do no such thing with her smaller kit as she jumped at the base of the tower, the pack instantly reacting to her actions to push her up as she ascended the tower, appearing almost as if she was running up the sheer side of it. Pulling herself over the railing as she reached the top, she turned to see the eight members of Alpha hovering around her to give her cover as she readied her rifle. She needed to give no orders as they followed the prepared plan, four of them coming to Silver as the other four stacked up on the other side, with a simple hand gesture, a man came forward to strap a small breaching charge to a door and stepped back before detonating the small block of C4. A nine-bang grenade was hurled in after the explosion, the staccato cracks of the blinding explosions rippled through the tower as Sable could hear the distant chatter of gunfire before rushing inside. "On the ground! Everybody down on the ground!" she ordered in Symkarian as the squad swept into the tower from two directions. The distraught men, some in uniforms, others only in parts of theirs, and all disheveled, looked completely lost. Some complied instantly, throwing themselves down in the face of the armored attackers, and those that didn't were quickly thrown down by the mercenaries and restrained with plastic flexi cuffs. "Team 2, remain here, keep this area secure, Team 1 will secure the rest of the structure."

"Copy that ma'am," replied a Lance Corporal, "Alvarez, figure out how to keep their planes grounded and see if you can tap into their radios!" he ordered as Sable and four troopers made for the door. Moving methodically, the mercenaries swept the rest of the building, but didn't even find a soul anywhere else, managing to secure their objective without having to fire a single shot.

"Red Hawk, Green Sparrow, this is Silver Bird," spoke Sablinova, hailing the two company commanders over the tactical net, "give me a sitrep."

"All objectives secure Silver Bird," replied the commander of 2nd Company, callsign Red Hawk, "no casualties."

But the good news ended there, "Silver Bird, this is Green Sparrow. We have enemy resistance at objective foxtrot, three casualties, all wounded," reported the CO of 3rd Company. "Requesting immediate assistance."

"Acknowledged Green Sparrow," replied Sablinova as her mind raced through the options. Foxtrot was the barracks for the garrison of soldiers that guarded the airfield, and the closest other unit would be Sablinova and those with her. "Alpha, take up positions to cover us, guns west," she ordered as she herself went outside, "Bravo on me, team 2, provide cover while team 1 will make a bounding advance to that structure on my mark," she relayed over the firefight that echoed through the base, "mark!" she shouted as she rushed forwards, four more troopers followed suit while the other four cut loose, unleashing a torrent of laser fire into the barracks.

It didn't take long for the snap of bullets flying past her head forced the Symkarian to duck and weave before she slammed into the concrete of the barracks. Pressing her back to the wall, the Symkarian edged closer to a window only to turn away as a stream of gunfire erupted from it, sending rounds towards where she had just come from. Gritting her teeth from the noise, Silver waited for the stream of fire to end before whipping around and snapping up her rifle, squeezing the trigger as the weapon barked in it's unique two round burst, putting both rounds into the shooter's head as it snapped back and he fell dead. The muzzle of the rifle swept what Sable could see, and finding nobody else there, the Symkarian vaulted through the shot-out window into the quarters that lay inside. "Clear!" she called out as she moved to the door with the other four troopers at her back. Stepping out into the hallway, she was met with a squad of oncoming soldiers and immediately dropped to one knee as she furiously triggered her rifle, sending lethal 5.45mm armor piercing slugs down range that were soon joined by the other Air Assault troopers.

With that squad cut down, Sable reloaded before the fireteam advanced through the narrow corridors, with a gun covering each direction at all times until Sablinova held up a clenched fist and the troopers pressed themselves to either wall. Ahead of them was the mess, and Silver could see through the open doors that there was at least a dozen hostiles in there, all focused on engaging the beleaguered platoon assigned to take the structure. "Pop smoke!" she ordered over the chatter of assault rifles as a smoke grenade went forwards, throwing up white obscurant in the doorway. With hand gestures, Sable gave her orders to the troopers, telling those on the left wall to go left while Sable and those on the right wall were to go right. "Engage!" ordered Silver as the group entered the room, using the smoke to get to cover as Sable found herself pressed to a vending machine while other troopers took up similar positions behind the counter and opened fire.

To their credit, the soldiers responded quickly as some on both the first and second floors rounded on the attackers and returned fire, bullets and lasers flying back and forth as the tables between the two groups were shredded in the crossfire. "HI grenade out!" barked a trooper as the High Intensity energy grenade flew across the room and landed amongst the soldiers on the second floor balcony and exploded in a bright flash of red light. Sablinova saw one man, his uniform charred to a crisp as he writhed in pain as he fell over the railing and landed on a table ahead of her, his skin blackened as Sable lined up her rifle and fired, putting a burst through his head to put him out of his misery. A burst of rounds forced her to duck back into cover while her mind raced to find a way to break the stalemate and get back in the fight.

Only when she did, she did it by jumping while her thruster pack pushed her up and she climbed atop the vending machine, shouldering her rifle and snapping off bursts in rapid succession to drop a pair of soldiers on the other side of the room until the rifle bolt locked open. Not wanting to get shot, she didn't stay where she was and rolled forwards, falling off her perch and scampering behind an overturned table that the soldiers she had just shot as bullets ricocheted off the tile floor where she had been a moment before as she slid behind table and drew her pair of handguns.

The rest of the mercenaries took advantage of her bold action, some of them activating their jet packs to take advantage of the two story tall space as they hovered and fired their wrist mounted weapons at the enemies above Sablinova. But a quick burst of rifle fire sent one careening out of control and back down to the floor, inciting Silver into action as she dove out of cover and brought up both pistols, triggering them as fast as she could, not stopping even as she slammed into the floor and slid across it, still firing as she cut down the rest of the troopers on the first floor before rolling onto her back and opening fire on the remaining troopers on the second floor as the rest of the white clad combatants left the ground to overwhelm the last few holdouts until the room fell into a silence that was only broken by the radio in Silver's helmet. "Green Sparrow here, that got the pressure off us, we're coming to support now. Be advised Silver Bird, the rest of the airfield is secure."

"Acknowledged," replied Silver Sable as she went through to kick the guns away from the dead and wounded enemies on the off chance that one of them got up. More Sable troopers from 3rd company entered the building to conduct a thorough sweep, "see to the wounded and take up defensive positions," she ordered. "Our armor is coming; we have to ensure we hold this airfield through the coming counterattack."


Among that oncoming armor were the five vehicles of 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Armored Cavalry Battalion, the four T-84s and single supporting BMPT Terminator tore through the four inches of snow that covered the ground now that the Sable International attack force had successfully made its way through the mountains and was now in open country. Their next objective was a road that would take them to the airfield where the Primo force was currently digging in and 2nd Platoon was on the far right side of the 2 mile spread of Sable International vehicles advancing on the highway. Two -84s were side by side up front with the other three vehicles behind them line abreast, the Terminator in the middle of the formation and Bronco, with Truck, Kaiser, and Ludy in the front right position as Rapier 2-2.

Williamson, with his head out of the hatch of the T-84, was able to get a clear view of the formation as the chilly winter air battered his face, with the sun now halfway up over the horizon the view was something the veteran of three deployments to the middle east appreciated. But soon the rumble of turbocharged diesel engines was overpowered by the roar of jets as fighters streaked overhead. The turrets of the tanks were sweeping from side to side, the gunners scanning for anything amiss around them with their high powered optics when the high pitched voice of Smirnova broke out in Mack's headset, "holy shit!" she exclaimed, "what are those?" she asked.

Before Truck could ask for clarification, the sky was lit up as plumes of smoke erupted over a ridge ahead and to their right and soon licks of flame pushed rockets up and overhead as the Montanan replied, "looks like old Soviet BM-21s, rocket arty. Inaccurate as fuck but will mess your day up if they get it right,"explained the TC gruffly before switching the radio channel, "Rapier Actual this is Rapier 2-2, report enemy rocket batteries southwest of checkpoint Juliet, break. Request permission to adjust axis of advance and engage, over."

Rapier actual, the CO of Bravo Company, was quick to respond, "All callsigns, this is Rapier Actual, re orient attack axis 15 degrees south to support Rapier 2, break. Rapier 2 be advised, there are reports of hostile armor in your path," alerted the Captain before adding, rather gamely, "this is why we came here."

"Solid copy actual," replied the TC of Rapier 2-1, the tank directly to Bronco's left, "ready up Rapier 2, stay sharp," ordered the head of the platoon. Taking one last deep breath of the fresh air, Mack descended into the Tank Commander's position and shut the hatch over him as he felt the 50 ton tank adjust course in line with the updated route displayed on his GPS to his right. To his left, he had a composite video feed of the several camera's outside the tank, and he could cycle through them as he needed. In the middle was the display linked to the targeting system for the Heavy Direct Energy Machine Gun mounted just forward of his turret hatch and controlled by the joystick that sat in his right hand and distinctly reminded him of the old Atari 2600 he used to play when he was a kid.

Dead ahead was an old-fashioned periscope in case the cameras failed, and the Multi-Function Display that had the GPS was quickly cycled to show the diagnostics of his tank. All primary systems were online, Explosive Reactive Armor was armed, and the Active Protection System was engaged, ready to swat down any RPGs that came at them. "Ready up folks. Kaiser, make for that ridge and bring us to a stop just short of the crest."

"Right-o Truck," replied the German casually as he easily kept Bronco under control and in place amongst the advancing armor.

"Ludy, load sabot and go thermal," followed up Williamson, "eyes on that ridge." Instantly, the blonde worked her controls from her position on the left side of the turret with the gun between them, selecting her desired ammunition type before switching to the integrated thermal optic, which would make any vehicle stand out like a sore thumb against the cold surroundings.

To Mack's immediate left, a soft whir of hydraulics followed by a metallic clang caused him to turn and see one of the Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot rounds, a 3VMB22 with up to 830mm of penetration, get fed through the mechanism and rammed into the breech, which then shut with a solid 'thunk' as Lyudmila announced "up!" to indicate that the gun was loaded and hot. In addition to the anti-tank APFSDS rounds, they carried shells fitted with Multi-Purpose High Intensity Energy (MPHIE) warheads, meant to be used against bunkers, obstacles, and soft skinned vehicles. These were cutting edge shells developed by Oscorp and this would be their first use in action, the crews referred to them as 'M Fees' or just 'redheads' due to the red coloring of the projectiles. If they had to engage infantry and didn't want to use either the roof mounted HDEMG or coaxial DEMG, they had a pair of cannister rounds to turn the 125mm smoothbore cannon into the world's meanest shotgun. Lastly, the biggest explosive punch came with the Refleks Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, which could engage targets at 5 kilometers.

But Trucks focus was solely on scanning for targets on his own thermal imager, and sure enough, a white heat signature began to crest the ridge that Rapier 2 was advancing towards. There was nothing in that direction that was friendly, and as what Truck could now see was a tank crested the ridge and came to a stop, the profile matched what the intel reports said they might be facing, Chinese made Type 88 MBTs. "Gunner, sabot, tank on the ridgeline!" barked out Truck instantly.

"Identified tank, range 800!" returned Lyudmila after acquiring the target and laying the gun on the target. The laser rangefinder gave her the range as the targeting computer built into the T-84 settled the KBA-3 cannon onto it, taking into account wind speed, round temperature, range, and air pressure, among other factors to do so, all while the guns two axis stabilization kept it there as the tank trundled across rough terrain at 40 kmh.

"Fire!"

"On the way!" returned Smirnova automatically, on the 'y' she pulled the trigger, sending the sabot round downrange as the blast kicked up a flurry of snow from the ground, rocking the tank back on it's tracks even as it kept pushing forwards. The gun recoiled back over a foot right past Mack, though neither that, nor the sound of the metal baseplate of the ammunition being ejected out the back of the turret distracted him from scanning for more targets. "Target!" reported Ludy, indicating that the round had struck home, slicing through the cast armor of the turret and setting a fire by igniting what the Montanan guessed was the ready ammunition, as smoke began to pour from the hole Smirnova had just punched in the vehicle.

A second tank emerged just as the first one burst into flames and immediately came to a halt only halfway exposed. "2-4 shoot that fucker!" ordered the platoon leader informally. A fraction of a second later a second APFSDS round shrieked past Bronco, coming from the tank behind and to their right, and found its mark, knocking out the second tank inside of 5 seconds.

"Up!" alerted the gunner as a second Sabot round was slammed into the breech as Truck continued to scan for targets, but saw none.

"Driver forward," ordered Mack, who then took a breath to release the tension from the surprise engagement as Rapier 2 began to ascend the ridge until Truck could see over it with the periscope on top of the turret, "driver stop." As Bronco lurched to a halt, the TC grit his teeth as he examined the scene before him, what looked like a sizable enemy position. Some fortifications were on the side facing them, along with watch towers and various soft skinned vehicles. On the far end were the smoke plumes that indicated the BM-21s that they were after. "Gunner, load MPHIE," ordered Truck as the hydraulic and mechanical sounds of the autoloader making the switch filled the turret.

"Up!"

Internally, Williamson missed his Abrams, since the American made tank had the gun depression to engage the fortifications from this reverse slope position while the T-84 did not. "Driver advance, crest the ridge and halt," ordered Mack before adding in preparation, "gunner, MPHIE, fortifications front."

But as the Sable tank crested the ridge, Smirnova called out frantically, "tanks front! 50 meters!" Mack immediately looked down to see two more Type 88s sitting at the base of the ridge, their 105mm rifled guns looking up at Bronco.

Eyes widening at the ambush, Mack barked into the intercom, "driver forward! Go!" It would be faster to keep their momentum and not have to change gears to reverse and if they got to the slope then they could bring their own cannon to bear. The six cylinder diesel snarled as the tracks dug into the snow and the T-84 surged forwards, the front slamming down as it began its descent. A muffled 'whump' and the flying snow in the imager caused Mack to jump as an enemy sell slammed into the top of the ridge where they had just been. Quickly panning his vision, Mack noted that the Type 88 on their left had snow falling around it while the one directly in front did not. "Driver! Pass between them! Gunner…"

But Smirnova needed no further direction, "on the way!" she snapped as the gun thundered simultaneously. While the MPHIE round wasn't meant to take on heavy armor, the tank was sideways on and the round exploded with a brilliant red flash against the thinner armor on the tanks flank. The steel warped and deformed from the intense heat, caving in as the structure of the hull buckled and the slag managed to reach the fuel tanks as this tank began to burn as well.

Truck couldn't spare a moment to watch the pyre, "gunner, load sabot!" shouted the TC as he hurriedly acquired the second tank in his sight before pressing a button that automatically swung the turret around to bring the gun to bear on the reloading Type 88. "Driver, go left! Go left!" ordered Mack as he felt the turret rotate with the hull as the autoloader worked furiously as the tanks were in a race to lay their guns on target first.

He watched the turret of the Type 88 get closer through his sight as his heart rose in his chest and he grit his teeth as his foot tapped rapidly against the floor when Smirnova spoke over the com, still cool as ice, "on the way!" The 125 rocked the tank once more, launching the Sabot round into the back of the enemy MBT at point blank range, going through the armor and the powerplant at the back before hitting the ammunition in the rack beneath the turret and detonating it. The resulting explosion popped the turret into the air like a cork as a fireball erupted from the new hole in the top of the tank as Bronco was forced to come to a halt as the turret landed ahead of Mack's tank.

"Nice shooting 2-2," called out Rapier 2-1 over the radio, "Rapier 2, stand by to…"

But the orders were cut off by another frantic cry, "incoming!" Truck switched the viewscreen to show the encampment that had now come to life, sending a half dozen rocket propelled grenades towards the Sable tank platoon. Two of them were heading straight for Bronco, which was sitting sideways on and presenting the largest target possible, and before Mack could issue an order to reverse the rockets were upon them. The first was smacked down by their APS as it detonated meters away, but the second slammed into the side of the tank, detonating against the reactive armor and shaking the 55 ton T-84.

Truck was thrown from his seat and had the wind knocked out of him as he fell against the breach of the main gun and tried to get his bearings while the ringing in his ears subsided. Pulling off his headset he looked around and realized that the ERA on the side of the turret had done its job, preventing the HEAT warhead from penetrating the armor and keeping them alive. "Driver, bring us around!" shouted Mack as soon as he got his headset back on.

"Moving!" replied Kaiser as the battle scarred tank, with some of its ERA bricks missing, responded gamely and soon was presenting its toughest armor to any future rockets.

"Designate, gunner, Sabot, soft skinned. Fire, Fire MPHIE and adjust!" followed up Truck.

"2-2's been hit!" alerted one of the other TCs over the tactical net, "looks like they're okay."

"On the way!" alerted Smirnova as she fired, clearing the barrel of the loaded APFSDS shell that hit the wheel on the truck by the entrance and wrecked it, causing the entire vehicle to buckle and warp under its own weight.

"They're okay," called out 2-1, "let's not let them have all the fun, Rapier 2 advance, line abreast! Let's fuck this place up."

Mack's gunner was already at work on that second part. "Up! On the way!" she called as the gun fired again, putting the redhead round into the already damaged vehicle, leaving it a pile of twisted and melting metal.

"Driver advance, full throttle!" ordered Williamson as Bäke gunned the engine, not even replying as he focused on falling into formation with the other tanks in the platoon as they all charged forwards. On the thermal imager, Mack saw a half dozen white shapes flee from the destroyed vehicle, "gunner, coax, troops."

"Identify troops, 400, on the way!" called Lyudmila as she cut loose with the coaxial DEMG, sending a stream of red laser bolts down range while Mack opened fire with the HDEMG at his disposal, suppressing the fortifications in case the RPG gunners tried to take another shot. Even if they were, there was a rippling torrent of thunder as the three other 125s fired, putting their own shells into the fortifications and blasting them to pieces. "MPHIE up!"

Mack had just got sight of the lookout tower and was about to call it out when the platoon's BMPT opened fire with its pair of 30mm autocannons opened fire, pumping HE rounds into the thin metal construction and tearing it asunder, leaving it as little more than mangled scrap. With no more targets on the outside of the camp, Mack switched his view back to the front right as the T-84 blasted through a mound of snow that had been cleared from the camp without even slowing and crossed a trench that formed the perimeter. "Driver, slow, gunner, engage at will."

"On the way!" replied Smirnova as she triggered the coax once more, hosing down a few jeeps along with the other tanks as Bäke simply crushed the one that got in their way under the tracks of the 50 ton tank. "Identified APC, direct front, 100!" called out the gunner suddenly as Mack swung his viewer around.

"Fire cannon!" ordered the Montanan as he saw the BTR try to make a run for it.

He didn't make it very far though, "on they way!" answered Lyudmila promptly as she fired the 125mm, putting enough firepower downrange to kill the light vehicle at the same time as the rest of the platoon shot. The four simultaneous hits caused the vehicle to simply cease to exist, even before a burst of 30mm cannon fire added insult to injury. "Up."

Rapier 2 didn't stop moving either, still tearing through the small camp until they reached the far edge that looked out over a cleared out section of low ground that had the four BM-21s they were here for. "Designate, gunner fire MPHIE. BM-21, second from the right."

"Identified. On the way!" replied Ludy as the tank rocked again and the round went straight into the loaded rocket tubes, setting off a chain reaction that ripped the launcher apart just as the other three were hit by redhead shells and smoked.

The tanks advanced past the scrapyard they had created and soon found themselves back in open country, with their objective highway in sight and less than a kilometer away. "Rapier 2-1 to Rapier Actual, engaged and destroyed enemy armor and encampment, rocket artillery neutralized," reported 2-1 calmly before switching to the platoon channel and whooping excitedly, "damn fine work Rapier 2. All tanks, bounding advance to the highway!"

Inside Bronco, Mack was a bit more collected, "nice work you two," he complimented sincerely, "but look alive, this thing ain't over yet."


"Refueling complete, boom disconnected," reported the tanker crewman as Cipher heard the solid 'clunk' of the In Flight Refueling probe disengage from the Flanker-E, "you're good to go Galm 1, happy hunting."

"Solid copy Pub," replied the mercenary fighter jock before slowing and banking away from the tanker. Each of the tankers had callsigns that were drinking establishments, since they were there to sate the rest of the planes thirst, hence Pub, Cantina, Roadhouse, and others. "Form up Galm 2," ordered the flight lead as the red winged Sukhoi smoothly reformed the element, "AWACS Eagle Eye this is Galm 1, refueling complete. Returning to station," reported Cipher.

"Negative Galm 1," replied the controller, "bogeys inbound, two groups, 160 at 80, 6,000. Hot. Cleared to intercept."

Unknown aircraft coming up from the south, eighty kilometers away at 6,000 meters, with Galm team being ordered to go 'hot' or arm their weapons before intercepting them. Standing orders were to let them go if they turned tail or splash them if they didn't. "Solid copy, Galm moving to intercept. Let's go Pixy," called Cipher as he cranked and banked the big Flanker onto an intercept course. Adjusting the search and scan settings on the SU-35S radar suite, Cipher soon picked up the contacts on his own display. Two groups of two planes each were closing in on Galm Team.

"Lead group looks like it's pealing off," alerted Pixy a moment later. Sure enough, Cipher could see the group in front look like it was breaking away, leaving just the rear group to continue towards the merge with the Sable International Flankers. "Looks like it's just a two on two now. We can take 'em buddy," assured Solo Wing, who was clearly itching for a fight.

Cipher couldn't say he wasn't either as he felt at ease at the controls of his airplane, steady hands and nerves of steel armed the air to air weapons as both pilot and plane were prepared for combat. Like the pilot, the Sukhoi SU-35S Flanker-E was well suited for the engagement to come, the latest version of the long running Flanker family originally designed to combat the American F-15 Eagle, the -35S was equipped with top of the line technology befitting a generation 4.5 aircraft. In addition, it's size permitted it to carry a vast array of air to air missiles while powerful engines gave it wicked acceleration. Despite that intimidating size, it wasn't a brick, with thrust vectoring engines and fly by wire controls it could pull of some of the most incredible aerobatic maneuvers in the world. Both pilot and plane were a match for anything that might try and take them on.

But it seemed like these two Loyalist pilots were going to try.

While Cipher was trying to get a lock with his radar guided missiles, he brought the Sukhoi up to full power, holding just short of supersonic as the bogeys marched down the scope until, just as he was about to lock them up, they acted. The radar return went fuzzy as more returns came back, indicating the bogeys had dumped chaff to reflect radar as they broke away, trying to get down under and away from the Flanker radar cone as they made a diving right hand turn, taking them to Cipher's left as Eagle Eye came back over the radio. "Galm Team, bogeys are identified as Tornadoes en route to bomb the Primo force. Intercept and destroy them immediately."

The Tornado was a jointly developed European swing wing ground attack fighter and interceptor used by Germany, the UK, and Italy. Capable of carrying almost 20,000 pounds of heavy ordinance, the pair was capable of putting down a lot of firepower against Sable ground forces if Galm Team didn't stop them. "Roger," replied Cipher as the Tornadoes shot past them, some 3,000 meters beneath the Flankers. Rolling his fighter inverted, Galm 1 then pulled the stick back to execute a textbook split-s maneuver, pushing his jet into a screaming power dive straight towards the ground as he kept the stick hard back. Adrenaline pumping through his veins meant the crushing 10 g move that made his body weigh 10 times its usual 200 pound figure barely fazed him as the pockets on his g suit inflated around his legs, forcing blood to stay in his brain to prevent him from blacking out as he finished his pull out, coming out of the maneuver 500 meters above and 2500 meters behind the pair of attack craft, perfect firing position. A growl in his headset told him that the IR seeker in the nose of one of his R-74 short range air to air missiles had locked on to his prey and he called out, "Galm 1, fox 2!" as he pressed the firing button.

The rocket motor ignited as the missile shot from the rail, accelerating past mach 2 as it homed in on the trailing aircraft before it had crossed the 2 kilometers that separated the two jets and went straight up the tailpipe of the Tornado before detonating and blowing the rear half of the aircraft away. Instantly, the canopy of the stricken plane flew off and the two crewmen ejected as Cipher called out, "Galm 1, splash 1!" and sunk his teeth into the lead plane.

This one wasn't going to go down as easily however, and broke hard left as he pumped out chaff and flares to throw off any missiles that might have been heading his way. Instantly, Cipher reacted by matching the move, standing his Flanker on it's wingtip and wheeling the big jet around, thrust vectoring nozzles directing red hot exhaust from the two Saturn turbofan engines upwards in relation to the sideways plane, forcing it to pull even tighter. Cipher bled airspeed rapidly through the turn that was so tight that it caused his oxygen mask to slip down his sweat drenched face as he fought to keep his head up and eyes on the bandit ahead of him.

But at low speed maneuvering, the Tornado had a slight edge as it's wings began to lessen their angle to provide the aircraft more lift, and as the pilot continued to pump out countermeasures, Cipher couldn't get good tone on his missiles and had no prayer of pulling lead for a gun shot. As Galm 1's mind raced for a way to kill this bastard, the Tornado made a move of his own, kicking his aircraft over to reverse his turn and go hard right, taking Cipher by surprise as he tried to match the move and failed, his reactions a fraction of a second too slow as he overshot and predator became prey. "Don't worry buddy, I got him!" called Pixy as Cipher acted, leveling out and engaging the afterburners, dumping raw jet fuel into the exhaust of his engines to launch the Flanker past the sound barrier as he pulled up, intent to climb away from the slower and less powerful Tornado as the red winged Sukhoi moved in for the kill.

But Cipher wasn't out of the woods yet as his radar warning receiver began to blare in warning as a red light flashed angrily in his cockpit. "I'm spiked!" he announced as the planes built in Khibiny electronic countermeasure system went to work trying to spoof whatever radar was looking at him, "AWACS, bogey dope!" he called out, asking for the locations of any other unknown aircraft.

"Galm 1, bandits, two Typhoons. 030 range 15 at 14,000," replied Eagle Eye as Ciphers eyes shot wide open, they were directly above and behind him in perfect attack position.

To make matters worse, these were not bomb laden Tornadoes, but more modern, lightweight, and agile Typhoons. Capable dogfighters that were probably flown by the best pilots the enemy had. With a crackle of static, a transmission came out over the general channel and into Cipher's ear, "Rot 1 to Rot 2, time to hunt some wild dogs," ordered a snarling voice, "down them all!" Right after that the beeping of the RWR became a solid tone that told him 'Rot 1' had a solid lock on his jet before that was replaced with a shrill chirping that caused his pulse to spike because it meant that a missile was coming at him.

Massive plumes of chaff were dumped from his aircraft to create fake radar returns while the ECM system tried to minimize his own planes signature as Cipher executed a wingover, pulling his plane up to point his nose at the sky before kicking the jet over about 120 degrees before pulling back on the stick to bank hard over, reversing course by the time he would return to his original altitude.

Halfway through the move he caught a glimpse of the missile streaking over his canopy and past him harmlessly before a glint above him caught his attention, the two grey painted and red nosed Typhoon's dove on him, sweeping in to drop onto his six o clock. Seeing that his enemy was already upon him, Cipher knew that this move wouldn't work and changed his course of action, rolling his craft back level and pitching up, lighting the burners in an attempt to regain some airspeed before throwing the stick over rolling the Flanker as he ascended with the attempt to execute an Immelmann turn over the top of Rot.

Stopping his roll and yanking back on the stick, Cipher hung suspended by his harness as he looked 'up' at the ground in an effort to require the Typhoons that were on his tail only to see them on their backs as well, trying to match his reversal but just not quite able to keep up, but if Cipher made many more moves then the more agile delta winged fighters would have him in their sights. However, there was one move he could make that these two couldn't hope to match, a Cobra. Rolling the Flanker back right ways up, Cipher craned his head around to look over his shoulder and see the two Typhoons level out just behind him to line him up before acting. Disengaging the limiter on his angle of attack, Cipher then pulled back on the stick to force the aircraft to have an angle of attack of about 100 degrees, effectively standing it on its tail, nose slightly trailing the tail as the plane lurched up in altitude as Cipher balanced the throttle, not climbing, but rather holding the Flanker at a steady altitude as momentum carried it forwards at barely a few dozen kmh, turning his jet into, effectively, a full body air brake.

Balancing stick, rudder, and throttle, the 25,000 kilogram jet fighter hung in the air, seemingly suspended by strings as Cipher looked 'up' again to see his foes fly past, unable to slow down enough to stay on his tail. "Got you," snarled Cipher as the airflow at the tail end of his jet torqued the plane around, forcing the nose to pitch forwards and come back down into level flight as he engaged the afterburners and selected his R-77M/P/T active radar homing missiles as both enemy fighters were quickly acquired and locked onto. "Galm 1, fox 3! Fox 3!" he called out as he loosed a pair of the weapons at what was effectively point blank range, with them unable to even reach their maximum airspeed before they slammed into their targets, reducing both multi million dollar fighters to fireballs in an instant.

As Cipher winged his aircraft over to watch the burning wrecks of the Typhoons fall to the ground, he heard his wingmate come back on over the radio. "Looks like Cipher got two more. Good shooting," he commented, "I got a feeling you and me are going to get along just fine, buddy."


"Keep up the fire! We just need to hold out a little longer!" roared a Sable NCO as the platoon's rifles away at the oncoming Symkarian army units that approached the captured airfield and the Sable International defenders that were holding it. Silver Sablinova watched from the rooftop of the building she was on as the trail of energy bolts splashed against the armor of the BMP infantry fighting vehicle at the front of the oncoming attackers. The Primo force was being pressed across a wide front, with the noose steadily tightening over the last hour since first counterattack had materialized. Each had been repulsed by the well dug in mercenaries, but they had gotten closer and closer each time and it was making Silver anxious. "Kingston! Get that AT up here!"

Instantly, another trooper hustled up to the foxhole where the NCO was below Sable, the DEMG continuing to fire in short bursts from the corner of the roof where Silver was. As the BMP got closer the soldier with the heavy launcher popped up with the weapon on his shoulder and fired. A small dense ball of high intensity energy came out of the LAT-HIDE launcher and slammed into the front armor of the IFV, melting it's way through the homogenous steel plate with ease and ploughing into the ammunition for the autocannon in the turret, causing it to cook off. The fire burned hot and fast, blowing open the hatches and shooting jets of flame through any crevice the vehicle had.

But Silver couldn't savor that victory, those were the people she was trying to help after all, and because of the government that had killed her parents she had to fight them and kill them in the hope that she could help the rest. That thought didn't last long however, drowned out by the whistle of mortars that caused everyone to duck down before the salvo landed, throwing up snow with each impact, "Sergeant," called Sablinova over the radio, "pull your men back to the buildings to take cover from those mortars."

"Copy that ma'am," replied the mercenary over the radio before shouting, "2nd platoon, you heard the lady, let's go!"

As one, the dozen or so white armored troopers emerged from their dugouts and rushed back to the line of buildings as the DEMG on the roof laid down a long burst of fire to suppress the Symkarian loyalist infantry that had been advancing with the BMP and pin them down. A loud hiss and a sudden cessation of fire caused Silver to look and see the gun crew eject the spent battery and manhandle a fresh one into position. Not wanting to completely let up, Sable rose and shouldered her rifle, throwing two round bursts down range to keep the enemy suppressed until the gun could be brought back into action. Emptying all thirty rounds in a few seconds, Sablinova ducked back down just as the DEMG began chirping away once more, ripping the spent mag from her gun and fishing one of the two remaining magazines from her belt and rocking it back into place.

The Sable perimeter was held by similar arrangements of emplaced DEMGs with interlocking fields of fire covering fireteams of riflemen supporting Light Anti-Tank High Intensity Direct Energy gunners and their anti-vehicular weapons. However, ammunition was running low across the perimeter and if help didn't arrive soon then there was a very real possibility they would be overrun if reinforcements didn't arrive soon. Driving that point home was a rippling of thunderous gun fire that caused Silver to look out and see more three more armored vehicles advance towards the airfield as shells ripped past before one slammed into the building, annihilating the DEMG and its crew. With more shells doubtlessly on the way, Silver dashed away from her position, reaching the edge of the roof and jumping off, relying on her thruster pack to keep her from dying on impact.

"Reform the line!" she ordered curtly, "take up positions in these buildings, five-meter spread!" The troopers quickly complied, rushing into the bullet ridden structures while a few activated their jet packs to get to second floors or roofs. Sablinova rushed in with them and took up a section of blown out wall, "conserve your ammunition. Make your shots count!" she ordered over the radio, keenly aware that most, if not all, of the other white clad troopers were as worse off for ammo as she herself was. Still, as she rested her rifle on the rubble and let out a breath, she lined up a commander who had his torso up out of the hatch of his vehicle in her sights and waited for him to get closer as her finger wrapped around the trigger and then squeezed.

Firing at 1200 rpm, the two rounds in the burst were already spit out of the barrel before she felt the recoil from firing the first round. The two 5.45mm rounds slammed into the TC's Kevlar armor protecting his chest, the first being absorbed but breaking down the Kevlar before the second shot hit the exact same spot, punching straight through the armor and into his body, causing him to slump down into the turret of his vehicle. Before the echoing report of her burst had faded, the other troopers opened fire, throwing single laser shots downrange.

Even without their commander, the vehicle kept coming, along with the others, and fired back, forcing Sablinova to dive away as a burst of autocannon fire ripped into the brick. "AT!" called out Silver over the comm as the gunner with the big launcher fired from the second floor, sending his shot down onto the engine deck of the approaching vehicle and destroying the engine, causing the vehicle to grind to a halt as a fire broke out in the engine bay.

The other two were quick to respond, lacing bursts of gunfire across the upper floor in an effort to knock out the anti-tank weapon as they continued to close, coming within 50 meters of the Sable defenders as they poured on the fire, ammunition concerns be damned. Sablinova, slammed her last mag into place and dropped the bolt before triggering the gun and trying to hold back the oncoming tide with precise rifle fire. Most of the approaching infantry were using the vehicles for cover, but one popped out to spray a long burst from his rifle, allowing Sable to snap the AN-94 onto him and pull the trigger, quickly planting two bursts into him and putting him down as the tanks were now a mere 20 meters away. One of them swung its turret towards Sable and fired it's rocket launcher with a plume of white smoke as the Mercenary dove away before the missile impacted, throwing up dust and smoke that Sable hacked on as she got back to her feet, not even bothering to try and find her rifle and instead reaching for her sidearms.

Turning back, she saw a scant 8 meters separated her position from the nearest tank and snarled, refusing to give up what little ground she had gained in her home country, she charged forwards, jumping over the blasted apart wall with handguns blazing away. Feet trudging through the snow as she planted shots into the one soldier who stepped out to try and gun her down, Sablinova ignored the bullets rushing past her as the auto cannon on the BMP trained on her and she pulled a move she had seen the Marauder use, sliding like an American baseball player as the thruster pack pushed her through the snow and got her under the gun as it fired, the report hammering her eardrums as explosive rounds churned up earth behind her. Undaunted, the silver haired soldier leapt up, plumes of exhaust coming from the small pack as she was launched up and she pulled herself on top of the hull of the BMP.

The commander of the vehicle popped out of the hatch only for Sablinova to plant a laser bolt between his eyes before she holstered the smoking gun and pull a grenade from her pouch and arming it before throwing it down the open hatch before jumping off and rolling away. She didn't hear the explosion, but the vehicle slowly trundled to a halt before the third one was hit by the Sable Anti-Vehicle weapon on the second floor and went up in flames as well. "Contacts, 500 meters!" called out a spotter as Sable turned to see more vehicles turn off the highway and come towards them.

When their guns fired, Sablinova felt her heart sink, only the ensuing explosions weren't on the battered buildings housing the Sable defenders, but rather the shells detonated mid air in brilliant red explosions among the advancing infantry who quickly turned and ran as the tanks began to advance towards Silver. "Silver Bird this is Rapier 2, sorry we're late!" called the commander of the approaching tanks.

"Better late than never Rapier 2," replied Sablinova as she failed to suppress a smile at the sight of the oncoming reinforcements that would secure her foothold in Symkaria as reality set in.

Getting to her feet and looking at the airfield felt her smile widen and allowed herself this moment to state that, while she was far from through, she was back where she wanted to be. "I am home."

Now all that was left to do was reclaim the rest of the country.


Sable International Briefing – Sable International Fighter Wings: Equipment and Employment

Document ID: A1407 – FX2 – 191C – 3

Author: S. Sablinova, Commanding Officer: Sable International Combined Forces (CO: SICF)

Date: 18-12-30

SECRET

The greatly expanded fixed wing aviation capabilities have been the cause of much speculation and concern. Therefore, the objective of this briefing is to make clear what our capabilities are in regards to Sable International Fighter Wings, and how it is expected for those units to be utilized in forthcoming operations. It should be noted that this document will not cover Attack or Bomber Wings and focus solely on fighters.

All Sable International Fixed Wing combat aviation assets are under the command of the 6th Air Division, with previous transport elements maintaining a separate command, the 1st Air Division. There are two Fighter Wings, the 54th and 66th, each has twenty aircraft that are divided into two squadrons. All are assigned to pairs, called 'elements' that can form flights of four should the situation demand it.

These pairs are expected to complete the range of missions expected of them, including deep interdiction strike missions, interception, and air superiority. In order, deep interdiction strike will be precision strikes against point targets beyond the front lines. These are not close air support missions, as those will go to the Attack Squadrons, and if larger targets will be given to Bombers. Deep Interdiction are therefore secondary missions to Interception and Air Superiority. Interception is a purely defensive mission in which incoming hostile aircraft will be engaged and, if necessary, destroyed. Interception will be done to protect ground forces at the front lines and logistical assets behind them. Air Superiority will be missions to control the airspace where Close Air Support (CAS) and Tactical Bombing missions will take place, destroying enemy fighters that may attempt interception of our ground attack aircraft.

To accomplish all of these missions, the aircraft Sable International has equipped both Fighter Wings with is the Sukhoi SU-35S Cyclone, also known by its NATO designation of Flanker-E. A development of the SU-27 that first flew in 1977, this model features modern radar, avionics, electronic counter measures, and sensor suite. In addition, new engines give more power and feature thrust vectoring to enhance the agility. Despite the size of the aircraft, that agility is considerable and the SU-35 features what is known as 'super maneuverability' and can complete a wide gamut of aerobatic moves. A wide range of weapons can be fitted to the 12 hardpoints of the aircraft, from long range radar guided air to air missiles to laser guided bombs, anti-radiation missiles, air to surface missiles, and anti-ship missiles.

This mix of capability and versatility is what will embody our Fighter Wings, and considering the various elements of forces loyal to the Ministers include over 80 combat aircraft of varying types it is expected that both the 54th and 66th will be greatly needed once operations commence.

That is all.

S. Sablinova


Closing Notes: Hopefully you all enjoyed that, it was something a bit different than the usual, but this arc won't get picked up again for a while. This is also me trying to write new things, so I want feedback especially on the segment from the perspective of the tank crew and then on the dogfight with Cipher. Though yes, I'm sure Ace Combat fans recognized a lot of the dialogue and the two Typhoons that jumped Cipher at the end. Don't expect me to recreate AC: Zero or anything, but do expect there to be more references like these when I get back to this storyline. The tank stuff was heavily inspired by the only part of the Battlefield 3 campaign worth remembering, that being the mission "Thunder Run." Oh yeah, for those of you who have no knowledge of history, you probably don't recognize that Sable's speech was based on Dwight D. Eisenhower's letter to the Allied Expeditionary Force just before D-Day in 1944. Also, if you want a reference for Sable's armor, it's based on that worn by the ODSTs in Halo 2 Anniversary, because it doesn't look like proper ODST gear, but it works for this. Her jump kit is also not as good as Cooper's, it's on a par with those used in Apex Legends to give some perspective.

A small aside, for a long time this chapter was slated to be titled 'Declaration Day' after the opening track of Iced Earth's The Glorious Burden but I changed my mind as soon as it was actually written. Primo Victoria was a better fit I think.

But next chapter will be back to the usual cast in New York, and will be the last chapter before the DLC starts and will feature the last bits of set up, along with a few other things. That should be out in either one or two weeks. Until then, feel free to leave a review or comment, and hopefully you all have a very happy new year, and here's to it being better than 2020.

But in that first chapter of the new year, it'll be like a hand in a velvet glove that's giving just a Touch Too Much.

Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.