Chapter 9
Operation Retribution
"Vanguard, I cannot stress how important this operation is," Commander Mckay said. "Today is the day we start making preparations for the end of this blasted and bloody conflict." The briefing software behind him finished loading and the progression of both sides still remained the same. "Based on what Frost has told us, the mercenaries have gathered their air power and are attempting to push us out in a massive air offensive. We cannot let them hinder our plans. So, here's the mission."
He cleared his throat. "Vanguard is to provide escort for the Federation airship battlegroup Task Force 1 in preparation for an all-out assault on the mercenary air power. By clearing out this stopgap, we can finally make for Sydney."
"Pardon me, sir," Katrina said. "I get that Vanguard is capable of handling the mercenary airpower, but wouldn't that be a little too much?"
"Indeed," Twister said. "We'd be running dry of ammunition in just the opening moments."
"That's why Vanguard isn't going alone," Mckay said. The door to the briefing room opened, and a familiar figure walked through.
"Meteor?!" Katrina cried upon seeing the man who had doxxed her on the runway. "What are you doing here?"
"What does it look like?" Meteor said, his voice much calmer than the time they had fought on the runway. "Heard some massive offensive was finally happening, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to join in."
"Does that mean you won't go around and slit throats with a medical knife?" Peppermint asked suspiciously.
"No," Meteor said, his voice calm. "I had one of my latest anger spikes."
Katrina nodded slowly. Mckay cleared his throat, and they turned to face him again.
"As I previously mentioned, Aquila and several other squadrons will be joining you on this mission. We also have several defecting squadrons from the Oceania Royal Guard joining us. We expect you to cut the head off of the mercenary war machine so that we have a straight shot at the capital. Good luck."
X
"Whoa!" Twister cried. "I've never seen Littoria-class up close before!"
"You mean the Gladeus," Katrina said. "I bet you have never seen the Zetec before." She glanced at the 205-class battleship flying off the Gladeus's starboard.
Compared to the elegant diamond-shaped biplane wings of the Gladeus, the Zetec was a true battle vessel: A twin-boom design, 4 cordium powered engines to keep its weight airborne and massive wingspan. It made the Zetec look like a vulture compared to the other ships in the fleet. Apart from a couple of 205-class battleships and Littoria-class battlecruisers, there were a couple of Anura-class and Arcion-class cruisers, all of them flanked by heavy escort. Katrina smiled. They were going to show the mercs who they were going up against.
"Alamo to all units," Alamo said. "Today, we show the Mercenary Cabal who they are dealing with. Today, we reclaim sovereign Federation territory in the name of the Federation itself. And now, I give you this order: Follow the Vanguard! Go!"
"All squadrons, prepare to engage," Katrina said, pushing the afterburners on her F/S-15, Twister and Peppermint following close behind. "Remember, you can claim your kills and glory, but protect the airships. They are valuable assets."
"Roger," Twister said.
"Righto," Peppermint said.
There were several other confirming radio calls, and then suddenly, there were several hostile contacts on her radar. "There they are," Katrina said. "All lines up and pretty." Suddenly, her radio crackled to life.
"Attention Federation forces," the voice of a man with a heavy Russian accent said. "You have illegally taken one of our fellow mercenaries into your custody. We have had enough of the Federation invading our mercenary haven. This will end here now."
"So be it," Katrina said. Her targeting computer locked onto a small squadron of the mercenary fighters and pressed the trigger. 4 MLAAs detached from her fighter and soared towards the fighters. Almost instantly, the other Federation fighters launched their missiles and took out several scores of other mercenary fighters.
"All squadrons, engage!" Katrina ordered, and the fighters broker off and chose their own targets. Katrina tailed an F/C-15 as its pilot tried to evade her missile lock. She eventually got close enough and fired her gunpods into the engines of the Eagle. Dead, the Eagle tumbled towards the Earth in a streak of fire like a meteor. The canopy blew and the pilot ejected.
Katrina then looked around and saw an F/E-18 come in and fire its gun at her. Bullets pinged off the hull of the Eagle as she tried to avoid the Hornet. Eventually, after a number of intense twists and turns, she managed to find an opening and gun down the Hornet. However, this provided an opening for a tiny formation of F/C-15 Eagles and MG-29s to slip through and head for the airships.
"Shit," she muttered. "Someone go for the fighters heading for the airships."
"No need," a new voice joined them over the comms. "This is Admiral Mathieu Bonin of the Zetec. All SAM batteries, prepare to fire on my mark." Several plumes of smoke erupted from the Zetec like a geothermal whale's blowhole, but instead of oxygen, several missiles erupted and shot toward the fighters. Some of them evaded the missiles, but the vast majority couldn't evade in time and took the full force of the blast. The fighters that did evade were taken out by the other airships.
"All hostiles eliminated," Admiral Bonin said. "All stations, prepare for anti-air combat." The other airships maneuvered forward and started to unleash their CIWS and missiles on the mercenary fighters, destroying a bunch of them. Katrina and the rest of the Federation squadrons kept the mercenary squadrons away from the airships and prevented them from grouping up and launching swarm attacks against the airships, for Katrina knew that they wouldn't survive an MLAA swarm. The fighting dragged on, with some mercenaries even scoring kills against the Federation forces. But their sheer numbers couldn't make up for the superior skill of the Federation aces, who began to wear down their numbers.
Katrina locked on to an MG-21 that was desperately trying to evade Meteor and Dodger's grasp. Once the targeting icon turned red, she mashed her finger down on the trigger and let loose 2 MLAAs. They streaked forward and struck the MG, sending it spiraling down to Earth and sending a surprising shock down Meteor's face, if she could see it.
"Hey!" he cried. "That was mine!"
"Sorry," Katrina said, swiveling back and nailing an F/D-14 with her guns. "Looks like being friends again comes with some friendly competition, eh, Meteor?"
"You're gonna wish this mission never ended," Meteor said with a sigh, breaking off with Dodger and nailing an F/C-16 with a burst from his guns.
Katrina smiled and shot down two more aircraft in quick succession with an MLAA salvo. Before she could turn to engage an Accipiter, a transmission came in from Alamo.
"We've got a situation," he said. "The mercenaries have regrouped for a push, and by God, it is a hell of a push. They are bringing in an Arcion!"
"What?" one of the Federation pilots cried. "Where the hell did they get one of those?"
Katrina grimaced. Even though she had intel that the mercs that were being supplied by the Oceanians, she still had to grasp the idea of mercs at the helm of an air cruiser. She pushed her fighter away from the spiraling wreckage of a mercenary F/C-15 and pushed toward the radar contacts. "Vanguard, let's take care of the Arcion. Be wary of its escort."
Once the contacts came into view, she highlighted the defenses on the airship and fired her missiles. They soared by and managed to eliminate some of the defenses on the cruiser. However, a CIWS turret that managed to evade her barrage turned its turret and fired. Her fighter buckled as bullets ricocheted off her hull. She pulled a sharp 180-degree turn and shredded the CIWS with her cannons. Defenseless, the Arcion plowed onward, vulnerable as Katrina prepared to finish it off with a final gun burst.
Just as she was about to finish the Arcion off, a missile warning in her headset forced her to break off as one of the Sk.37 escorts fired a semi-active missile at her. She evaded the missile using the AOA Limiter and tore the fighter apart with several well-placed bursts. Meanwhile, Peppermint and Twister finished off the escorts with a quick MLAA salvo. However, the Arcion was well beyond her reach now.
"Somebody go deal with that Arcion!" Katrina called. "It's vulnerable, so don't waste your chance!"
"Roger," Admiral Bonin said. "All stations, prepare for anti-ship combat!" The Zetec surged forward, opening up on the Arcion with SAMs and CIWS fire. However, a handful of mercenary fighters shielded the Arcion from the Zetec's fire, though these were destroyed.
"Zetec, this is the Gladeus," the captain of the Galdeus said. "We'll deal with these pests." Several missiles were launched toward the mercenary fighters, who didn't see them coming in time and were quickly wiped out. A lone MG-29 that survived was quickly shredded by the bow-mounted CIWS.
"Holy shit," Twister said. "Comet, are you seeing this?"
"Yup," Katrina said, watching as the Zetec fired a powerful salvo of missiles and CIWS fire that shredded the Arcion. Fire spread across its elegant wings, and cracks appeared across its fuselage as the cordium inside it's reactor fractured and reduced the Arcion to a fiery wreck and sent it toward the ground.
"Holy shit!" Alamo said. "We've chased them off!" There were cheers in the background as the crews of the airships and the Federation squadrons celebrated their victory.
"See? What did I tell ya?" Meteor said, sliding into place beside Katrina. "Stick with the Vanguard, and you'll make it."
"I guess you were right, boss," the new Aquila 2, callsign Tabloid, said. "These guys do really live up to the hype."
"No, thanks to you, of course," Katrina said. "Now, is this all a class act, or are you really in control of your emotions now?"
"I am," Meteor said, sighing a little. "You're right. We shouldn't be fighting ourselves, let alone fellow squadrons."
"Great," Peppermint said, sliding into place beside them. "Does this mean that your temper tantrums are over?"
"Yes," Meteor said. "I think it's time we work together to resolve this tension between us and focus on the true enemy." With that, he broke off with Tabloid and rejoined Aquila Squadron.
"You should really become a diplomat for the Federation once this shitstorm is over," Katrina said.
"Nah," Peppermint said, as he maintained formation with Katrina. "Too many political brush fires. Sometimes, you just wanna see the skies with your wingman, even during wartime."
"Hey! What about me?" Twister said, forming up with them.
"Yes, Twister," Katrina said, smiling and rolling her eyes. "We could never forget about you."
Twister just checked. "Come on now. We'll be late for the celebrations."
X
Forward Operations Base "Regal"
"Vanguard, everyone, I cannot express how excited the Federation High Command is now that we have broken the back of the mercenary air power," Commander Mckay said. "However, we are still pretty far from the end of this conflict. We have intel that the mercenaries plan to shore up their navy and their remaining forces and meet us head-on in Sydney. We are still working on a counter to this strategy. Until then, enjoy a well-deserved rest."
The briefing software clicked off and cheers erupted as they filed out.
"Good job, Vanguard," Katrina said, grabbing a bottle of beer and cracking it open on the table. "Tonight is finally the night we got some proper rest."
"Hear ye, hear ye," Peppermint said, grabbing a beer and cracking it open so hard that the cap blew off like a rocket and flew across the room. "Oops," he muttered, taking a swig.
Katrina chuckled and took another light swig. The fresh Federation beverage tasted great. The wheaty taste with a moderate chocolate finish left a great taste in her mouth.
"Taste good?" She jerked up at Peppermint's voice. His beer bottle was half empty, unlike hers, which was almost empty.
"Not a drinker?" Katrina said, ditching her empty bottle and fetching a new one from the case.
"Yeah," Peppermint said, as he set his bottle down on the counter. "Don't like wine that much either. You?"
"Drank way too much back in my Academy days," Katrina said. "Couldn't go up for a few days because of that. I hate that I have such a high alcohol tolerance."
Peppermint suddenly reached for her. Katrina momentarily lost her composure and allowed Peppermint's embrace to envelop her.
"Then let me help you," he said, plucking the beer bottle from her hands. He took a quick swig from the bottle that surprised her.
"I thought that you didn't like alcohol," Katrina said.
"I don't like an unhealthy flight lead," Peppermint said, flashing a smile at her.
Katrina smiled, and leaned in, their lips touching. Once they separated, she giggled at Peppermint's surprised look.
"W-what was that for?" Peppermint said.
"That was for saving my life yesterday," Katrina said.
"You already thanked me," Peppermint said, ditching her empty bottle in another pile of discarded bottles.
"I didn't get to thank you properly," Katrina said. Peppermint smiled.
"Well, now you did," he said, leaning in for another kiss. A throat clearing, however, interrupted him.
"Having your time, Prince Charming?" Twister said. He then broke into a grin. "Nah, you're fine, Peppermint. Looks like you have caught your tail."
"Look who's talking," Katrina said. "Any luck chasing tail yourself?"
"Yeah, I tried," Twister said, sighing a little. "I was interested in the leader of Feral Squadron, but she was interested in one of the pilots from Breakback Squadron, who is a real asshole himself." He let out a sigh again. "Well, you win some, you lose some." With that, he wandered off towards the barracks.
Katrina glanced back at Peppermint, who just shrugged.