Chapter 3

Operation Dual Weilder

"Vanguard, stand by for your in-flight briefing," AWACS Alamo said.

"Roger, Alamo," Katrina said.

"That would explain why we are up so early," Twister said, stifling a yawn.

"Yeah," Peppermint said. "Mckay just said to be up at 0300 for our next sortie. What a break."

"All Vanguard elements, quiet," Alamo said. "Now, as you know, the operation to establish a forward airbase will take place tomorrow. However, in order to maintain it, we need to fly some construction crews and supplies out so that we have the base up to operational status."

"Great," Peppermint said. "Just yesterday, I was glad to be up in the sky again, shooting down bombers. Now I gotta escort some construction workers? Lame."

"Double lame," Twister said.

"Can it, you two," Katrina snapped. "Continue, Alamo."

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Alamo said, "there was a change in schedule. We were supposed to fly the crews out yesterday, however, the base came under attack by bombers. Thanks to your efforts, you repelled the attackers successfully."

"Ah, you hear that, Comet?" Peppermint said. "You are a celebrity of sorts among them."

"Oh, shut up," Katrina said. "It was only one sortie. In fact, we all should be congratulated for saving their asses."

"Ugh. Vanguard, do I have to remind you to shut up and pay attention to the briefing?" Alamo said, the impatience and annoyance in his voice evident. They quieted down. Alamo sighed and continued.

"Anyway, they are flying towards us as we speak, so we are to escort them to their destination: Air Base Sigma, where we will conduct our operation. Oh, speak of the devil."

A formation of eight C/T-17 Globemasters appeared on her radar. "8 transports?" Twister said. "Even with our skills, we can't cover them!"

"I thought you might ask," Alamo said. "That is why, for this mission, we are joining Aquila Squadron on this mission. They should be entering the AO…right about now."

Suddenly, 8 new contacts appeared on her radar, and in a minute they came into visual range: 8 Sk.37s with an alternating gold and brown color scheme.

"This is Aquila 1, callsign Meteor," a new voice joined them over the radio. "Glad to be up with you again, Vanguard. Hey, new kid, the one with the stupid shooting star emblem. You're the rookie, correct?"

Katrina sighed. Rookie. Peppermint-Hair. Shooting Star. She had to endure many nicknames over the past few years, from signing up at the Federation Air Academy to flying her first jet, a measly underpowered F/T-16.

She shook herself back to the present and opened a comm. "Yes, I am the new one, and my squadron took down an entire bomber formation that would have compromised our mission, if you don't remember."

"Yeah, yeah," Meteor said, the annoyance in his voice evident. "Let's see what you have against us." He clicked off.

"All fighters form up around the transports," Alamo ordered. "Vanguard, move up front. Aquila, move to the back. That should maximize radar coverage."

"Roger," Katrina said. The three F/S-15s moved to the front and the Sk.37s tagged behind. "All set, Alamo," she reported.

"Good work, Comet," Alamo said. "This should keep things working for a while."

They flew in silence for a while, occasionally making small talk with each other. After an hour, AWACS Alamo decided to break the silence, but the news he gave them wasn't pretty.

"Attention, all fighter squadrons. We have an inbound group of bandits, bearing 180 from the transports. All of them are flashing mercenary IFFs. Cleared to engage."

"Finally," Twister said, shaking off his sleepy stupor. "I was about to die from boredom."

"You are not the only one," Katrina said. "Let's go get these bastards. Aquila 5, 6, 7, and 8, protect the transports. The rest of us, you are with us."

"I don't take orders from another squadron leader," Meteor grumbled, but he and half of Aquila split off with Vanguard all the same.

"Alamo, how many are there?" Katrina asked.

"Shit. At least 5 squadrons. Make that 4 fighters per group," Alamo grimaced.

"That's it!" Aquila 4, Dodger, said. "We're screwed! They have more planes than us!"

"Can it!" Katrina snapped. "They may have more fighters, but we have the skills to match them."

The mercenary fighters soon came into view: A motley collection of aircraft ranging from Sk.37s, F/C-16s, F/C-15s, F/F-18s, down to a pair of lowly MG-21s and T-21s.

"Ha! Those merc fools are sending in trainers?" Meteor said. "They must be getting desperate."

"They must be," Katrina said, arming her MLAAs. "But be careful. Even an old trainer can make good use of its armament."

"Heh," Meteor said. "You wouldn't say." Just then, he broke off sharply, unleashing a salvo of four of his MLAAs, which forced the group to scatter, but not before nailing a T/F-4 and an F/C-16.

"Not too shabby," Katrina said to herself. "Vanguard Squadron, engage."

"Righto," Twister said, before going guns on an F/C-15 and shredding it to pieces.

"Vanguard 3, engaging," Peppermint said, peeling away to engage a pair of F/F-18s.

Katrina took a deep breath to help soothe her nerves. It helped her during her previous sorties. "Vanguard 1, engaging," she said. She then unleashed a pair of MLAAs from the underside of her Eagle.

"Vanguard 1, Fox 3," Alamo reported. The missiles soared ahead and impacted into a pair of F/E-4s. "Splash two, splash two," Alamo reported.

Katrina then banked her plane and engaged an Sk.27 that was maneuvering out of her reach, but the pilot appeared to barely notice her, judging by the way they were maneuvering. She blew that helpless Flanker out of the sky with her guns.

"Alright, nothing too hard here," Dodger said, blowing a pair of F/C-15s out of the sky. "Just a couple of stragglers around here."

"Does he really talk like that?" Twister asked, blowing up an T/F-4 with his guns.

"Heh. He always says that when he's not shitting himself and running away," Meteor said.

"Hey!" Dodger cried, blowing up another Sk.27. "It was an issued tactical retreat!"

"You didn't just get your nickname by dodging practice shots and actual live warheads in combat, y'know," Aquila 2, Nectar, said, blowing up an F/C-16 foolish enough to tangle with her.

Ironic, Katrina thought, as she dodged some 20mm rounds from an F/E-4. Then, her heart leapt when an emergency communication came from Vanguard 3.

"Uh, guys?" he said, worry clear in his voice. "Can someone get this guy off of my ass?"

Katrina swiveled her head and saw an F/C-15 in desert camo on the tail of his Agile Eagle.

"I've got him," she said, maneuvering into position just behind from the Eagle and locking it up using her STDMs. She fired, and the Eagle was forced to deploy flares and bank hard to the right. She tailed the fighter and managed to get another solid lock. But before she could fire, the fighter turned away as well.

"Damn," she grunted, throwing the Agile Eagle left and right in an attempt to counter the adversary's moves. "This is a tough one."

Her hand instinctively reached for the switch labeled "AOA Limiter." With a push of the button, her aircraft's fly-by-wire system disconnected from the fighter. Now, she had no one to limit the moves she was going to make. She threw the fighter in the tightest turn she could have imagined, and thanks to the canards, the fighter was in position for a gun kill. She didn't waste time, filling the Eagle full of lead.

"Whew," she sighed, disabling the Angle Of Attack Limiter. "That was awesome." She could feel the blood pounding in her head, but she had been in tighter turns before. "How are we looking, Alamo?"

"One bandit remains," Alamo said, clearly surprised how they managed to fend off an entire wave of mercenaries. "Nevermind. Aquila One got them." Katrina noticed the smoking carcass of the F/D-14 tumble to the ground as Meteor's Sk.37 flew out of the smoke.

"What about the transports?" Nectar asked.

"You would be pleased to hear that the transports have made it inside the base's air defense network," Alamo said, relief in his voice evident. "And they arrived without a hitch."

"Yeehaw!" Dodger cried out. "I knew we could do it!"

"Save your enthusiasm for the upcoming battles ahead, Aquila 4," Alamo said. "All flights, you are cleared to proceed with the landing."

X

"Everyone here?" the commander of the base, a young man named Tillmin said. "Good."

The briefing software finished syncing up, and Tillman began to address the two squadrons.

"Thanks to your collective efforts, the transports arrived here safely with the manpower and the equipment necessary to capture our new forward operating base. Operations to extend our frontline will commence tomorrow, so in the meantime, get some rest. You all have earned it, especially Vanguard."

Katrina shot a smug look at Meteor across the room. The squadron leader only glared back, determined to get Katrina back.