Chapter 2

Charge Assault

"Everyone here? Good," Commander Mckay said, starting up the briefing software. He was not too shabby for being well over 40 years old. A pair of reading glasses were perched on his nose, and he had the distinct air of a commander who had been through multiple wars.

The screen overhead finished syncing with the satellite data and the map of Oceania was shown, with the territories occupied by Federation, Oceanian and Mercenary forces were outlined in dark blue and red.

"As you can see, we have been on the defensive for far too long," Mckay said, outlining the Federation territory, which was mostly restricted to the far western coast. "Federation forces have taken a beating ever since we tried to launch a counteroffensive. Fortunately, we have some good news."

Several blue arrows appeared on the screen and were heading towards them. "The Federation has dispatched an airship battlegroup and the First Naval Battlegroup that will rendezvous with us a few days from now. However, until then, we are entirely on our own."

He rubbed his eyes and then continued. "Vanguard, your mission today is to take out a squadron of bombers and ground troops heading to one of our airbases. We have only recently commandeered this base for our usage, and it is imperative that this base remains in operation, otherwise we lose the front."

"Sir, consider it done," Katrina said.

Mckay smiled. "That is just the easy part, Vanguard."

"Sir, I never said that this would be easy," Katrina said.

"I was just about to get to that," Mckay said. "We have confirmed intel that there are at least 2 squadrons of mercenary pilots that are going to be escorting these bombers. That's where you guys come in. Protect this base from the bombers, and we can finally be on the offensive."

X

"Vanguard Squadron, you are on point," Mckay said. It was an hour into their flight, and they had yet to find a single bomber.

"Copy that," Katrina said. "We are ready to go."

"Excellent," Mckay said. "I'll let the AWACS take over from here." He closed the channel.

"This is AWACS Alamo. Vanguard Squadron, you are now under my command," a new voice said over the comms. Out of the corner of her eye, Katrina saw an FC-8 slide into position beside the rest of Vanguard Squadron. Like the Agile Eagles, this aircraft was colored similarly, with a turquoise hull and orange stripes running the length of the aircraft.

"Roger, Alamo," Katrina said. "This is Vanguard 1, ready to receive orders."

"Heh," Alamo said. "Let's see if you live up to the hype." Several targeting icons appeared on her HUD. "Multiple I/A-52s and escort fighters detected on radar. Terminate them with extreme prejudice."

"Roger," Katrina said, arming her weapons. "Vanguard Squadron, engage. Let's make some scratch."

She hit the afterburners, and the Eagles soared away from the AWACS and on towards the slow-moving bombers. As soon as the first targeting box was highlighted in red by the AWACS, her fingers were already on the trigger.

"Vanguard 1, Fox 2!" she cried. Two standard missiles rocketed out from under the Eagle and soared towards the bomber. The bomber deployed flares, but it wasn't enough to counter the missiles, which slammed into the right-wing of the aircraft, dislodging it. The bomber plummeted towards the ground like a stone, smoke trailing from its wound.

"Vanguard 1, splash one," Alamo said. "But don't get cocky. The show has just started."

"Quit your bitching, Alamo," Twister said, as he popped off two missiles at an approaching F/C-15. "We're going, we're going."

"Roger that, Vanguard 2," Alamo said. "Just a heads-up that I'm the one who determines if you show up on the radar as hostile or not."

"Oh, please," Twister said, dashing away from an MG-21 that had charged at him head-on in revenge for the loss of the F/C-15, which was spiraling down to Earth in a haze of flame, the pilot having long since ejected. "Send the whole Federation at me! I can take those suckers on!"

"Vanguard Squadron, focus," Katrina interrupted. "The sooner we get rid of these bombers, the sooner the offensive opens."

"Roger, dodger, Comet," Twister said, shredding the Fishbed in half and turning to focus on another I/A-52. Peppermint also had his fair share of kills: First taking out an I/A-52 with guns, then swerving back to take out an escort and another bomber. Within moments, he locked on to another Eagle and decimated it with a quick but precise gun burst to the engines.

"Smooth work, Peppermint," Katrina said, turning back to face an F/E-18 and blowing it apart with two taps from her wing-mounted gunpods.

"Whoa, Peppermint," Alamo said. "You sure have a fair number of kills today. You gunning for Twister's spot?"

"Nah, you know how he is," Twister said, blowing apart another I/A-52 with a quick missile shot. "Damned overachiever. You know how many kills Icicle got before he got shot down, did ya?"

"I know that," Peppermint said, blowing apart another escort fighter. "He was in a different squadron when this first started. But then, his squadron got massacred, and he was the only survivor. Thus, we came in, just out of the Academy, and assigned to the Vanguard Squadron."

"A question," Katrina said, demolishing another bomber with a tap of her guns. "Why is the squadron called Vanguard?"

"It wasn't called Vanguard in the beginning," Twister said, taking out another escort, an Sk.27. "It was called Orion or some shit, but then we earned that nickname because we always led multiple squadrons from the brink of defeat to victory."

Huh, Katrina thought. Very subtle.

The resistance from the enemy escort fighters was dwindling rapidly. After a while, the only fighter left was an old F/C-16. Katrina locked onto the aircraft with one of her MLAAs and fired, only for the radar-guided missile to miss the fighter. Twister and Peppermint attempted to shoot it down with their munitions, but the fighter dodged these expertly.

"Argh," Peppermint grumbled as he maneuvered behind the fighter to take a shot. "This guy is an ace."

"Of course," Katrina said. "It's like I said: A good pilot can make good use out of an old or new aircraft." She rolled her fighter on its back and fired a missile. This time, the missile connected, but the fighter pulled away, smoking from its engine.

"Damn," Katrina said, rolling upright and firing her guns at the Viper. This time, the fighter exploded into a cloud of smoke and flaming shrapnel. She barrel-rolled to avoid the debris and formed up with the rest of her squadron.

"Whew. That was a close one, Comet," Twister said, breaking away from the smoking carcass of the last bomber.

"Yeah, but I made it in the end," Katrina said. "AWACS, are we looking clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Alamo said. "The picture is clean. Vanguard Squadron, return to base."

X

"Good job, Vanguard," Mckay said. "Thanks to your efforts, the base and our front were prevented from collapsing into a war of attrition. Two days from now, we will begin preparations for an offensive that will capture and establish a forward operations base so that we can push the Mercenary Cabal off of this continent once and for all. We are reporting similar successes across the fronts today as we are breaking through the lines of the Oceanian Royal Guard and the Cabal. Until then, get some rest. Dismissed."