Chapter 12

Confrontation

"You?" Katrina cried out in surprise.

"Me," Dragur 1 replied. Katrina could practically hear the sneer in his voice. "I'm not about to let you have your victory without a price."

"Why do you want this?" Katrina cried. "The war is already over!"

"Yes, the war may be over, but MY war isn't," Dragur 1 said. "My battle, for which MY SQUADRON fought for before you Federation fucks SLAUGHTERED them! I don't know what ideas you are having, but peacekeeping ain't one of them." With that, he turned and let two missiles loose.

"Peppermint, evade!" Katrina cried, seeing the missiles track towards Peppermint's fighter.

"I see 'em!" Peppermint said, pitching his fighter up and popping flares. The two missiles soared past him, giving Katrina the opportunity to lock to Dragur 1's fighter and launch 2 missiles at him. However, both missed as Dragur 1 decoyed them with flares.

"You are quite the entertainer," Dragur 1 said, "but the show is over with this next shot." Both fighters blew past each other, but Dragur 1 decided to play dirty. He fired another pair of missiles and his gun at the same time, forcing Katrina to immediately hit the AOA Limiter and flares, which allowed her to quickly fixate a lock on Dragur 1's aircraft. But she didn't fire, only waiting until she was up close and then fired. Her last pair of standard missiles rocketed off the rails and at the same time, she switched to her guns and fired. The F/S-15 rattled as thousands of bullets escaped its gun. The bullets didn't miss and impacted the Sk.30 in many places. One missile missed, while the other impacted the right engine and shattered it into an empty husk.

"No!" Dragur 1 cried, as he broke off, smoke trailing from the various bullet holes and the shattered engine.

"It's over, Dragur," Katrina said, bringing her fighter alongside the smoking Sk.30. "Land and surrender already. Or better yet, eject. That fighter ain't gonna last for long."

A dark chuckle escaped Dragur 1. "You think I would be foolish enough to surrender myself to power-hungry tyrants like you? No, for as long as I have my squadron with me, everything is possible, including the total annihilation of pathetic Federation scum like you!" Suddenly, he snapped his fighter downward towards the city.

"After him!" Katrina cried, slamming her fighter in the same tight downward spiral and following Dragur 1 through the cityscape.

"Wait, Comet!" Peppermint called. "He's baiting you into a chase!"

"I know!" Katrina called as she followed Dragur 1's fighter as it slammed this way and that through the skyscrapers, constantly checking over her shoulder as she looked out for the telltale sign of the squadron's F/C-16s. "Just focus on finding his squadron!"

"Uh, hate to interrupt here," Alamo said, "but I am detecting no more inbound mercenary fighters."

"So we are dealing with a schizophrenic psycho of a pilot?" Katrina grunted as she slammed her fighter around another building. "Great."

"Come on now, Dragur 2!" Dragur 1 yelled, oblivious to the fact that he was talking on an open radio channel. "Come on now and get the bastard!"

Katrina ignored the mad rants of the delusional mercenary pilot and attempted to line the crosshairs on the Sk.30 as it frantically maneuvered between the buildings at breakneck speed. Finally, she got her piper beneath the plane and fired her guns. They carved a path through the air and struck the Flanker, impacting it everywhere, and managed to take out the remaining engine, which forced Dragur 1 to pull out and ascend outwards towards the sea.

"It's over, Dragur 1," Katrina said, "Surrender already." She pulled beside the smoking and heavily damaged aircraft, its paint scheme smeared everywhere, the Mercenary Roundel not even visible. It was now a shell of its former self.

"You think that I am going to go down that easily?" Dragur 1 said. Katrina could hear various alarms going off in the background.

"Yes, you are," Katrina said. "Look around you. The Federation has you surrounded."

"No!" Dragur 1 cried. "Not just yet!" Without warning, the Flanker suddenly nosedived toward the ocean.

Katrina hit the AOA Limiter and followed him in. The waves rushed up towards them as the distance shrunk. "Dragur 1, stand down!" she ordered, queuing up her guns and remaining MLAAs.

"Dragur 2! Where the hell are you?! Hurry up and shoot this bitch down!" Dragur 1 cried.

Katrina locked the Sk.30 up, but didn't fire if the fighter decided to make use of its AOA Limiter and evade her gun and missile shots.

With a final scream, Dragur 1 tried to pull up as the PULL-UP warning began to blare in Katrina's headset, but by then, it was already too late. His fighter slammed into the ocean and vanished from sight.

Katrina used her AOA Limiter and pulled up, narrowly avoiding the same fate.

"Holy hell," she muttered to herself, glancing back at the remains of Dragur 1's Sk.30. There was nothing left other than a few fragments of his fighter.

"You okay, Katrina?" Peppermint said, forming up with her, Twister following behind.

"Yeah," Katrina said, panting loudly. "Still breathing."

"Good," Alamo said. "Because we can confirm that the Capital Building has been captured, which means Oceania is ours once again!" There were cheers in the background as Katrina and Vanguard circled the city.

Katrina ripped off her air mask and took in a gasp of fresh air. The fight with Dragur 1 had almost drained her energy. Her heavy breaths were louder than the radio chatter through her headset.

"Comet, are you fine?" Peppermint asked, pulling up beside her fighter and sliding into position.

"Yeah," Katrina said. "Just a little tired. That guy was a tough nut to crack."

"You can say that again," Twister said, sliding into place beside him. "Though that bastard deserves it for trying to mess with the Federation."

Katrina didn't say anything, but just flew in silence around the capital, watching the scores of other Federation aircraft circle around their newly reclaimed territory.

"On the plus side," she said, trying to break the tense atmosphere, "the Opera House is intact." She glanced at the unique structure as they flew over it, thankful that the Calamity that had engulfed the world avoided this particular spot.

"Whew," Twister said, a sigh of relief in his voice. "You know, there is also a bar I am keen to try out. The locals say that it makes some of the meanest margaritas and cocktails down here, along with some steak that'll make your mouth water. Race you." With that, he lit the afterburners of his Eagle and soared towards the airport.

"Hey!" Katrina cried. "Get back here, Vanguard 2!" She lit her own afterburners and chased after him, Peppermint following close behind.