Chapter 11

The Battle of Sydney

Sydney, Australia

4 months into the Oceanic War

11:11 A.M. Local Time

"All actuals, report in," Alamo ordered.

Katrina looked out at the massive formation out of her canopy and at the rapidly approaching city of Sydney.

"Copy you clear, Alamo," she said. "This is Vanguard Squadron, standing by."

"This is the Wild Boar Regiment standing by," General Elizabeth said.

"Admiral Bonin here. We are sealing off the airspace in and out of Sydney."

"Captain Torres here. We have the waterways blocked."

"This is Aquila Squadron standing by," Meteor said.

"Command, this is AWACS Alamo. We are ready to commence the operation," Alamo said.

"All callsigns, commence the operation," Federation Command said. "Show those mercenaries who the true rulers of Oceania are."

"All squadrons, engage," Katrina ordered. "Divide and conquer these mercenary fools." She then set her sights on a lone mercenary F/E-4 and blew it apart with a well-placed gun blast. The other Federation fighters then split off and began picking apart the mercenary fighters. The airships began to move forward and began to pick apart the fighters at an increased rate.

As Katrina used her AOA Limiter to accelerate away from the burning wreckage of an Accipiter that she shot down, a transmission came through from Alamo.

"All Federation forces be advised: The remaining mercenary airpower is inbound. 3 airships and heavy escort."

"All stations, target those airships. Clear the way for Vanguard and the other squadrons," Admiral Bonin said.

The Zetec and the other airships launched their missiles at the remaining airships: A pair of Arcion-class heavy cruisers and a Littoria-class battlecruiser. They impacted the defenses of the airship and left smoking craters in their place, which left them vulnerable as Katrina came in and finished them off with a quick gun and MLAA burst.

"Woohoo!" Katrina cried as the wrecks of the airships made landfall and exploded.

"Ohh," Twister said, pulled out of a dogfight with an F/C-15. "That's not gonna be good for property values. Is the opera house intact? I kinda wanna visit it later."

"Settle down," Alamo ordered. "You are even lucky that thing crashed in an open field."

"Thank goodness," General Elizabeth said, "because we are up to our necks here with the mercenary ground forces! Care to lend us a hand?!"

"Roger that," Alamo said. "Vanguard and all available squadron, support the Wild Boar Regiment as they secure a path to the Capital Building."

"Wilco, Alamo," Katrina said. She then selected an LAV out of boredom and shredded it with a missile. She then selected a pair of tanks and put them out of their misery with a gun pass. But as she pulled out of her attack dive, she noticed she wasn't going to make it without clipping her vertical stabilizers on the overpass. She fought down a scream and rolled the Agile Eagle on its backs, and her fighter shot under the overpass and out into the cityscapes. She then had to barrel-roll in order to avoid a neighboring skyscraper, and then ascended to a safe altitude.

"Holy shit, Comet!" Peppermint cried. "How the hell did you pull off something like that?"

"Instinctual behavior," Katrina said, dodging fire from an enemy SPAA. Though truth be told, she couldn't believe that she had pulled off a maneuver like that as well. "Continue to engage the enemy, Vanguard 3."

"Roger," Peppermint said. His fighter turned and vanished into the cityscapes, the sun glowing off its canopy.

Katrina popped flares and the AOA Limiter as she avoided an enemy SAM before destroying an enemy tank.

"Thank God," Elizabeth said. "That was the last hostile for now. We're continuing the advance. Thanks for the support, Vanguard!"

"Our pleasure, General," Katrina said, circling around and watching the sunrise over the battlefield. She was admiring the Federation fighters soaring around the capital, taking care of the last of the mercenary air power and the Wild Boar Regiment as they steamrolled through the mercenary opposition and gained a foothold with each step, until a transmission from Alamo reinstated her attention.

"ALCON, be advised: The last of the mercenary naval power is now moving out of port. All squadrons, support the First Battlegroup pronto!"

"Roger," Katrina said, diving in on the naval vessels and tearing a cruiser to pieces. The Dejanus and the other vessels, on the other hand, were tearing the vessels to shreds with well-placed railgun bursts and torpedo salvos.

"All of our ammo, all of our weaponry!" Torres ordered. "Don't let the Cabal live! Cut the head off of the snake here!"

Katrina soared away from the wreck of a destroyer and watched as Meteor and Peppermint took on a destroyer and a cruiser separately. Finally, Twister came in and finished off a cruiser with a quick burst of gunfire.

"ALCON, this is it!" Alamo said. "The final remnants of the Cabal have withdrawn to the Port Authority building! Prepare to eliminate that scum once and for all!"

"Roger," Captain Torres said. "All batteries, prepare to fire on my mark!"

The barrels of the Dejanus swung and trained on the lowly building, preparing to reduce it to rubble. A menacingly orange glow emitted from the barrels as the railgun capacitors charged up.

"Wait, hold it!" Alamo said, suddenly. "We are receiving a transmission from the Cabal! All units, stand down!"

"Copy," Torres said. "All stations, stand down!" The orange glow from the barrels of the Dejanus faded as the ship held its fire. A transmission came through on an open frequency, for which Katrina was thankful.

"This is Commander Alston of the Mercenary Cabal," a tough and tired voice came through on the comms. "We surrender."

"Just like that?" Katrina asked. "Is that it?"

"Woohoo!" one of the pilots said. "The war is over!"

"Did we really win?" another pilot cried. "Yeah, we did it!"

"Hold it!" Alamo cried. "We have a bogey inbound from the north, one Sk.30!"

Katrina then heard her headset light up with missile warnings. She pulled her fighter into a tight roll as the missiles soared under her fighter. She then looked up and saw the fighter: The same Sk.30 that had shot down Nectar a few months before.

"It's that bastard merc again!" Peppermint cried.

"Here for a rematch at last," Katrina said, cycling through her remaining armaments: 2 standard missiles, 4 MLAAs, and a sufficient amount of bullets.

The Sk.30 didn't fire but stayed on a forward heading towards Katrina.

Suddenly, a transmission came in, and a familiar voice came through.

"Miss me, you Federation scum?" Dragur 1 said.