Despite the nervousness that Eva was feeling upon being back in the briefing room for the first time since the mission to destroy the jammer, she was just as excited for the same reason she was nervous. She knew why they were here, and the others did too. That also meant that each of them knew how high the stakes were today. If they succeeded, they'd change the entire course of the war, but if they failed, they could lose a whole lot more than the war. Eva was determined to make sure that it wouldn't come to that, though.
"Alright, everyone. This is it," Gates announced as he and Tillmin walked up to the front of the room. "Today's the day we take part in the operation to shoot down one of the Arsenal Birds." He logged into the briefing software, which seemed to have seen a significant update now that they were connected to the network again. "Let me start by saying that this mission is a key factor in deciding who wins this war. If we succeed, then the range of Erusea's air defense network will be drastically reduced." He entered in some new data, which shrunk the red circle around the Space Elevator significantly.
"And what exactly is your plan here?" Magnum asked with an annoyed tone. "You just gonna throw us expendable cons at it and hope we bring it down? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I'm not planning on dying as your pawn."
"Do you really think that's how Commander Gates operates?" Magic asked her. "Or are you just insistent on believing something that isn't actually true?"
Magnum shrugged as she leaned back into her chair. "That sure seems like what happened with Castor Squadron and Slipstream." A twisted grin spread across her face. "Although, I suppose some of you are more at fault than others." She glared right at Eva as she spoke.
Eva was about to reply, but Crosswind loudly cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Can we focus, please? The sooner we get this done, the better."
Tillmin nodded. "Crosswind's right. Rest assured, though, that you won't be having to deal with the responsibility of bringing down the Arsenal Bird. However, that's not to say this mission won't be dangerous," he warned the pilots.
"So what's the play, then?" Vortex asked. "How are we gonna bring one of those monsters down?"
Gates grinned as he entered a new set of data into the briefing software. "We're going to be using Stonehenge for a long-range attack on the Arsenal Bird," he told them. "Although, it won't be as easy as flicking a switch, pointing it at the thing, and shooting."
"I thought Stonehenge was destroyed back in the Continental War, though?" Charger said. "How are we getting it back online?"
"We're not getting the whole system back online, just one gun," Tillmin answered. "When the Ulysses Asteroid hit back in '99, a fragment from the asteroid hit one of the railguns, knocking it offline. It was still offline during the Continental War, so ISAF didn't bother to destroy it. That gun is the same one we're going to bringing online for a shot at the Arsenal Bird," he explained
Gates nodded as he stepped forward. "A small force from the Osean Military has been working in secret to get the railgun online, and now it's just about ready to fire. However, Erusea has caught wind of this, so they're sending their forces to destroy the railgun before it can fire."
"And that's where we come in?" Poet asked. "Our job is to defend Stonehenge until it's ready to fire?"
Gates shook his head. "No, no, that job is going to our old friends at the 124th Tactical Fighter Squadron, better known now as the LRSSG. However, Stonehenge is very clearly within Erusea's current air defense network, so it's essentially a guarantee that one of the Arsenal Birds will be sent to respond to the threat. That's where you come in." He took a step back and nodded to Major Tillmin.
"Allow me to explain a bit about how the Arsenal Birds respond to threats in their airspace," Tillmin began. "Since they're UAVs, they don't choose to respond to threats. Instead, Erusea has a strategic AI system that determines two things: whether or not to send an Arsenal Bird and which one to send. As I mentioned back when I first arrived, Arsenal Bird Justice is the more advanced of the two. Because of this, the strategic AI will only send it to scenarios where it's desperately needed," he explained. "The AI chooses which Arsenal Bird to send based on a wide range of parameters which can be boiled down into two categories: the perceived value of the target that's under attack, and the calculated chance that the enemy operation will succeed."
"For example," Gates jumped in as he typed more data into the briefing software. "Operation Dual Wielder back in May was a two-pronged attack by Osean forces. One squadron went secure the Chopinburg rainforest, and Nexus Squadron here went to secure Farbanti. An Arsenal Bird was dispatched to both locations- Liberty to Chopinburg and Justice to Farbanti. Both sides of the operation had a high chance of succeeding, according to the AI, but because Farbanti, being the capital, was a more valuable target, the AI sent Justice there."
Dodger groaned impatiently. "Is there a point to telling us all of this, or are you just rambling?"
"Maybe if you shut up and actually paid attention, you'd find out," Magic replied.
"If we want to take down an Arsenal Bird, we're going to want the highest chance of success possible," Tillmin continued, ignoring the pilots' bickering. "In order to have that, we want Erusea to send Arsenal Bird Liberty to Stonehenge. However, the problem with that is the fact that this operation is highly likely to draw Justice to Stonehenge. Our job is to combat this issue. You're going to be attacking a target that's highly valuable to Erusea with a high enough chance at success that it'll draw the attention of Justice before it's sent to respond to our units at Stonehenge."
"So, what's the target, then?" Vortex asked.
Gates smirked. "It's a place you've already been to before: the auto-intercept relay facility at Gnome Ravine." He zoomed in on the location in question on the briefing map. "Don't worry, though, since your job is to attract as much attention as possible this time around, you're not gonna have to fly through the ravine," he quickly assured them. "The place has been significantly more fortified since our last visit, so we're not doing this alone. Druid Squadron, a bomber unit, and Warlock Squadron, a tank unit, will be joining us for this operation. That's where your mission comes in. Your objective is to escort the bombers and ground forces to the relay facility so they can destroy it. After that, it's just a matter of whether or not Justice shows up. If it does, you'll need to engage it to buy time for the units at Stonehenge. If it doesn't, you'll have to intercept it. Is all of that clear?"
Vortex stood up and nodded. "Yes, sir," he quickly answered. "Don't worry. You can count on us. We'll get this done."
"I know you will," Gates replied. "Now, get ready to leave. Time is of the essence, and good luck. Although I pray that you won't need it."
Eva smirked. "We always need it," she joked as she and the others made their way out of the briefing room. "So we'll take it whenever we can get it." Without another word, the pilots slipped out of the room and started moving down to the hangars.
"Hello up there!" A man called out over the radio. "This is Warlock 1. The name's Captain Garth. I'm leading the tanks below you. It's a pleasure to work with you."
"This is Vortex, callsign Rogue 1," Vortex introduced himself. "Don't worry. We'll keep you and Druid Squadron safe."
"Rogue Squadron, eh?" Garth asked. "We've heard a few things about you. Gotta say I'm eager to see if you'll live up to the hype."
Eva chuckled a bit. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see." Being with actual Osean squadrons again, Eva felt at home, like she was back where she was meant to be.
"Let's cut the chatter. All units, this is AWACS Crosswind. We're approaching the relay facility," Crosswind informed everyone. "Enemy defenses will be stirring up momentarily. Brace yourselves."
"Alright, Rogue Squadron. Stay close to the bombers," Vortex instructed everyone. "Let's not fly off unless we absolutely have to. Druid Squadron, you guys ready?"
"Affirmative," a new woman replied. "We'll stay the course no matter what. You just worry about getting us there."
"Rogue Squadron, be advised. Enemy helicopters are taking off from the base, and there's a damn lot of them too. Intercept them before they can do any damage to our ground forces," Crosswind ordered.
"I'm on it," Eva quickly volunteered before anyone else had a chance to say anything. She turned away from the bombers and pushed the throttle forward. As she got closer and closer to the facility, the helicopters finally showed up on her HUD, and there were significantly more than she expected. Eva fired a 6AAM salvo at them, and even though all six shots connected, there was still a large number of them still flying.
"They're getting closer," Crosswind warned.
"I know, I can only fire so many missiles at once," Eva replied as she looped around to make another pass. She fired a pair of standard missiles and shot a few more down with machine guns, leaving just a handful of helicopters left for her to finish off in one more pass.
Garth let out a sigh of relief. "Close call there. Thanks for the help," he said as Eva passed overhead.
Eva was about to reply, but Crosswind cut her off. "All aircraft, caution. Enemy interceptors are in the air, bearing 260. Take 'em out before they shoot down our bombers."
"Roger that, Crosswind," Vortex replied. "Alright, I'll take point. Magnum, Poet, Axe, and Magic, follow me," he ordered. "The rest of you stay with the bombers in case any of them slip through."
Eva slipped back into formation with the bombers as the others broke away to engage. She looked around and took a deep breath in and out to steady her nerves. She enjoyed the break from the action, however brief it may have ended up being, but the quiet still put her on edge. Not to mention Eva hated not doing anything. She always felt like she had to be doing something in order to be productive.
"Alright, everyone. Get ready to drop your payloads," the woman from Druid Squadron ordered.
Eva looked down at the facility below and saw explosion after explosion shaking the ground. The defenses around the facility, which there were much more of after their last mission here, took quite a beating, as did the facility itself.
"This is Druid 1. Bombing run successful," the woman reported. "We've still got more, so we'll loop around for another one."
"Rogue 1 here," Vortex chimed in. "Enemy interceptors have been splashed."
"Warlock 1, we're almost in range of the facility. We'll be engaging shortly," Garth added.
"Copy all, good work," Crosswind replied. "The operation at Stonehenge has officially begun, so we're on the clock. Let's keep this momentum going so we can- ah shit," he cut himself off. "Helios projectiles inbound!" the AWACS operator warned. "I'm sending the predicted impact zone. Get out of there."
Eva looked down at the red circles on her radar hit the afterburner to get as far away as she could. She let out a sigh of relief as she made it out of their range, but that didn't stop her from continuing to put as much distance between herself and the impact zone as she possibly could.
"Helios arriving in ten seconds," Crosswind advised everyone. "Three… two… one… impact!"
Eva braced herself as the bright blue Helios explosions lit up the sky and sent shockwaves through the air. "God damn, that will never not be annoying," she muttered as she circled around back to the bombers.
"All aircraft, what's your status?" Crosswind asked once the explosions were gone.
"We lost Druid 3 and 5," Druid 1 reported. "We're still on track for another bombing run, though."
"Well, be careful," Crosswind told them. "Because we've got MQ-99s being launched from containers at the facility. Rogue Squadron, can you-"
"Way ahead of you, Crosswind," Vortex answered before he could even finish his sentence. "Rogue Squadron, let's deal with these drones."
Without another word, Eva turned sharply toward the nearest group of drones. She tried to take them down with guns initially since she couldn't get a clear shot with a missile, but the MQ-99s were proving to be just as slippery as ever. As the drones split from each other, Eva decided to go after the one she landed the most hits on. She fired a missile at it, even though she didn't have much hope that it would hit, but surprisingly, it did. A missile alert started going off in her cockpit, so she made a sharp turn and found herself behind a pair of drones, which she destroyed with two 6AAMs. Finally, Eva turned her attention to the MQ-99 behind her. She tried to lose it with various turns, but no matter what she tried, it stayed on her tail. Finally, she pulled back on the throttle and threw her plane upward in one fluid motion. As her plane dropped in speed rapidly, the drone zipped past her, and she straightened her plane back out. Once she finally had a clear shot on it, Eva pulled the trigger, sending a single standard missile forward, crashing into the last drone.
"This is Warlock 1. We're engaged with enemy ground forces around the facility," Garth reported. "That bombing run really did a number on their defenses, so thanks for the help up there, Druid."
"Well, hold on to your pants down there, 'cause we're about to hit 'em again," Druid 1 announced as she led the bombers over the facility, dropping the rest of their payloads. "Druid 1 to Crosswind, we've just used the last of our ordinance, so we're pulling out now."
"Better do it quick, Druid. Another wave of Helios missiles is inbound," Crosswind warned. "Sending the impact zone."
Once again, Eva found herself right in the center of one of the largest of the Helios impact zones. She broke off from one of the drones that had just been launched and went full speed until she was out of range. Once she was clear, she circled the outside of the facility until the burst missiles finally arrived.
"Is it just me, or are these things getting more frequent than usual?" Trench asked.
"That's a good thing," Tillmin chimed in over the radio. "It means Justice is close. Just keep fighting."
"We're almost at the finish line," Garth reported. "Just one more big push, and the facility, or… what's left of it, I guess, will be ours."
Eva barely heard Crosswind curse something under his breath. "Rogue Squadron, listen up," he said urgently. "We've got enemy strike fighters on the approach. They're coming in from the same bearing as before."
"Roger, I see them," Vortex replied. "What kind of aircraft are they?"
"Strike Raptors," Crosswind answered. "If you don't deal with them quickly, they'll flatten Warlock Squadron."
"Say no more, Crosswind. We'll take care of 'em," Charger assured him.
Eva, who was the closest one to the incoming enemy fighters, turned to hit them head-on and pushed her throttle as far forward as it could go. It didn't take long for her to spot the incoming Strike Raptors. Admittedly, Eva had never seen one before, not even in a picture. However, that didn't stop her from engaging them without hesitation. She fired a pair of standard missiles at the first of the six planes and turned away before they could do the same to her. Surprisingly, both missiles hit, but the FB-22 stayed flying. Eva waited until she put enough distance between herself and the flight of Strike Raptors before turning around to engage them again. She opted to fire a 6AAM salvo and reduced her speed as the missiles shot out from underneath her wings, breaking away from one another to go after their targets. The FB-22 she hit initially went down, and two others got hit as well, but neither of them went down. The rest all missed, though.
Eva paused for a moment, debating whether she should go after one of the planes she already hit or one of the ones she didn't hit. Luckily, she didn't have to answer that question in the end, as Lucky and Magic showed up and started chasing after the ones that hadn't been hit yet. As the other two Strike Raptors began making their way over to Warlock Squadron's position, Eva switched on the afterburner and moved as fast as she could to keep up with them, which wasn't an easy task. As soon as they were in range, Eva fired a standard missile at one and shot at the other one with machine guns, only barely managing to shoot them down before they could do any damage to Warlock Squadron. She turned back around to help the others with the remaining three FB-22s, but they already brought them down with the help of Magnum, Axe, and Dodger.
"All enemy strike fighters have been destroyed," Crosswind informed everyone. "Good work."
"Boy, I'll say," Garth agreed. "Especially that Flanker with the blue wings and the bird on your tail. You really came in clutch there at the end. You gave us all the time we needed to finish off the facility."
"Good timing, too," Crosswind chimed in. "Justice is entering the AO. Everyone get ready. This is it."
Eva looked to her left and saw a familiar shape appearing through the clouds. A few moments later, dozens of MQ-101s deployed from underneath the Arsenal Bird and began flying toward the Osean forces like a swarm of angry bees. It had been so long since Eva had actually seen one of the Arsenal Birds that she forgot how much it put her on edge.
"Alright, it's now or never," Vortex said. "Warlock Squadron, you might wanna get out of here. This might get ugly."
Garth chuckled. "You don't have to worry about us, Rogue 1. This isn't our first dance," he assured the pilot.
"Well, in that case, we need to split up," Crosswind decided. "Charger, Poet, Trench, and Diamond, we'll engage the Arsenal Bird itself. Everyone else split up and take out those drones." He was already turning toward the Arsenal Bird as he spoke. "Remember, we don't need to destroy it. We just need to keep it here until Liberty shows up at Stonehenge."
Eva took a deep breath as she turned toward the Arsenal Bird. She still hadn't forgotten about the fact that the Arsenal Bird bore the most responsibility for sinking the Kestrel II, so she could say she wasn't looking forward to getting some payback. As she climbed in altitude to reach the same height as the Arsenal Bird, she quickly turned away as two lasers underneath its wings started shooting at her. She circled back around and tried to take a shot at the first one, knocking it out with two standard missiles. Once she finally got behind the Arsenal Bird, she fired a 6AAM salvo, which went for the targets on the right side. It took out three of the missile launchers and damaged the three propellors farthest to the right. Although, it wasn't enough to destroy them.
"Christ alive, how many drones can this damn thing carry?" Magic grumbled as she twisted and turned with the MQ-101s below. "Every time I think I'm making progress, I just see another dozen more."
"Don't worry. We're almost done," Vortex reminded her. "We just need to buy a little bit more time."
Eva deployed countermeasures after the Arsenal Bird targeted her with its remaining missile launchers and fired a pair of standard missiles at one of the central propellers. She felt a slight bit of panic creep in as she heard her missile alert go off again, this time because of a drone behind her, but the alert stopped almost as soon as it started since Lucky shot the drone down.
"All aircraft, be advised. The Arsenal Bird is readying its APS. Break off now," Crosswind ordered.
Eva looked up at the ring of light that started to appear directly above the Arsenal Bird. She decided to fire one more 6AAM salvo before quickly turning away. She only barely had enough time to get away before the shield surrounding Justice went up around it.
"Dammit," Charger muttered. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"Nothing. All you have to do is withdraw from the AO," Crosswind told them. "I just received word that Arsenal Bird Liberty arrived at Stonehenge, meaning we've done all we can do."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Axe said, pulling away from the AO. "Frankly, I've had enough of this place."
"Yep, I'm with ya there, Axe," Dodger agreed as he turned to follow.
"Warlock, we're pulling out," Vortex told Garth. "Are you guys gonna be able to get out of here, ok?"
"Relax, it's like I said, this ain't our first dance, Vortex," Garth said with a smirk. "Besides, we've got an FOB not too terribly far from here. We'll be alright. Hope to see you guys again soon. I'll fight with you guys any day, especially that Blue Kestrel."
Crosswind chuckled. "Roger that, Warlock 1. We'll see you on the flip side. Rogue Squadron, RTB."
The whole time Eva flew back to base with the others, the only thing she had on her mind was whether or not the operation at Stonehenge succeeded or not. Even as they touched down on the runway, she still had no idea what had happened and judging by how quiet everyone else was being, she assumed they were just as anxious to find out as she was. As she spotted Crosswind entering their hangar, she skipped the last few rungs of the ladder next to her plane and landed on the hangar floor with a loud clop that echoed across the room.
"Any news?" Eva asked as she and the others walked up to the AWACS operator.
Crosswind smiled, which already made Eva feel at ease. "I received a transmission while we were on the way back- ok first, can I just say how good it feels to say that? Like, I've been spending months not being able to make so much as a phone call out of our area, and I just-"
"Oh, for god's sake, just spit it out," Charger said, giving him a friendly nudge on the shoulder.
Crosswind waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, alright." He looked up at the pilots. "Arsenal Bird Liberty was successfully shot down over Stonehenge."
Eva wasn't quite sure who started it, but everyone broke out into cheers and hugs. It brought her a feeling of joy she couldn't quite describe. Things finally seemed to be looking up for her and the others after months of things going wrong time and time again. Now, though, they were finally able to breathe easy.
"There is one more thing I thought you might be interested to hear," Crosswind added. "I heard about this pilot at Stonehenge who absolutely tore things up. He took on the Arsenal Bird with just one other pilot. People are starting to call 'em Three Strikes because of the three claw marks on their tail." He shrugged. "I dunno, just thought it might interest you. Anyway, it's been a long day, so I'm gonna hit the hay early."
Eva yawned as she stretched out her arms until she heard a pop. "Yeah, that sounds enticing- not gonna lie. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow." Without another word, she stepped out of the hangar and made her way into the barracks.