Chapter Twelve: Polar Vortex
The sound of no less than fifteen jet engines blended with the rushing winds of the snowstorm as Falcon Squadron, joined by Eagle Squadron and Condor Squadron, raced towards the engagement zone. "Command, this is Eagle-1. We are experiencing near-whiteout conditions out here. How to proceed, over?"
"Roger that, Eagle-1," came the voice on the radio. "Unfortunately, this is as clear as it's going to get. You'll just have to hope that the enemy is as blinded as you are, over."
"Well, great," muttered Rattler. "What's next, a radar malfunction?"
"Don't jinx it!" said Jump.
"Cool heads prevail, Falcon Squadron," Vortex reminded them. "Remember, we have the drop on them this time. Be ready for anything." In truth, he had no idea whether or not this attack was being anticipated by the Xevellans, but it was better to keep the team's morale up.
After a few minutes of flying through the storm, the fighters reached the probable enemy location. It was still hard to see anything, but a flat expanse below them could be discerned. "All squadrons, be advised, we're detecting multiple bogeys in your area. Be prepared for contact, over," said Command.
"Roger that," said Condor-1. "Weapons hot, switching to manual–Woah!" Condor-1 quickly rolled to the side as a shape sped through the air past them, vanishing into the clouds. It was hard to make out the details, but from its shape, it was definitely a Xevellan ship. "Contact!"
"Well, they definitely know we're here now!" said Mayhem. Full throttle, he sped after the ship, disappearing as well. The fighters broke formation, spreading out to avoid any potential sneak attacks.
Missiles could be heard exploding in the distance as Mayhem chased down the ship. Several more of the shadows could be seen darting in and out of the storm. Joining the missiles were bursts of orange light, almost indistinguishable save for the noise. Vortex trained in on one of these ships, giving chase.
"All fighters, watch the crossfire!" said Eagle-3. The fight was turning into a free-for-all, with the Xevellans flying with little obvious strategy. But, as Vortex thought, maybe that was their strategy.
"They're trying to confuse us!" he said. "Keeping us occupied! No doubt to protect the mothership!"
"Hey, speaking of which, has anyone actually seen the mothership?" asked Condor-2. "I know they're trying to keep it hidden, but how exactly are we supposed to fight what we can't see?"
"Simple: we'll just have to lure it out!" said Tailspin. "Like so!" He then proceeded to dive towards the ground before letting loose a barrage of missiles as he pulled up. A line of explosions littered the ice below.
Jump pulled up as a Xevellan ship nearly rammed him. "Yeah, great plan there!" he said. "Maybe want to shoot a few into the sky too, see if they're above us?"
"Hey, you joke, but that could work!" said Rattler. "They've probably got cloaking, right?"
Even if they did, it wouldn't have made much difference out here. The ship that Vortex was after was honing in on one of the other planes, ready to open fire. Before it could, he let a missile fly, which collided with the ship's hull. Damaged but still flying, it darted out of sight. "Can we stay focused, Falcon Squadron?" he said.
"Focused on what?" said Tailspin. "The mothership's nowhere to be seen. I say we go with Jump's plan to draw it out."
"Hang on one moment!" Rattler disengaged from combat, rocketing straight up into the sky. "I'll see if it's hanging somewhere above us!"
"Rattler, get down here!" ordered Vortex. "You aren't in a Lightray anymore, remember?" But his squadmate didn't respond, apparently intent on flying above the storm. "Ugh…alright, keep trying to chase it out."
"Going in–keep 'em off me!" Mayhem went in for another bombing run, joined by Tailspin, Eagle-3, and Condor 5. The other fighters moved into defensive positions as the enemy ships swarmed. The missiles exploded against the ice, but there was still no sign of the mothership.
"Still quiet," said Condor-1. "Command, are you certain this is the right place?"
"Correct," answered Command, "this is the only place a ship like that could be hidden. The presence of Xevellan resistance seems to confirm this."
"He's right, team," Vortex said. "They wouldn't be fighting this hard unless they had something to lose. We'll have to come up with another tactic." Right as he said this, a ship appeared from out of the storm, firing several energy blasts at him. It came so quick he had no time to evade.
"Hang on!" Tailspin raced in, speeding between Vortex and the ship and taking the brunt of the fire. He loosed a missile as the ship prepared a follow-up, which tracked straight into its weapon. The ship exploded from the inside out, its wreckage falling to the ground below. "All good, Vortex?"
"All good. What about you?" he said. "That was a pretty fierce hit. If you need to return to base, don't worry about–"
"No, I'm fine," Tailspin replied, perhaps a little too quickly. "It's just surface damage. No systems hit."
Another voice on the radio. "Hey, uh, Condor-4 here. Is it just me, or has their assault diminished? I'm not seeing as many fighters as there were at first…" Indeed, their attack runs seemed to be drying up. Of course, it was impossible to tell how many there were, but there were noticeably less.
"They must have been using the storm to mask their true numbers," said Eagle-1. "All fighters, keep on them! We'll clear them out before long!"
Eagle Squadron resumed offensive measures, going after the Xevellans. "Orders, sir?" asked Jump.
"You heard the man, get after them!" said Vortex. "If we take out these ships, the mother might just make her grand entrance." With that, Falcon Squadron took after the enemies as well, missiles ablaze.
The Xevellan craft took evasive maneuvers, but did not retreat. Through the storm both sides raced, and once more the whiteness was full of explosive bursts. Their flying was much more erratic than it had been before, and seemed much less focused. "I think we've got them on the run!" said one of the Condors.
"As they should be!" replied Tailspin. One of the ships suddenly appeared in front of him, only for a quick missile to detonate in its weapon. "Let's show 'em what happens when you mess with Earth!"
The Xevellans were certainly on the run. Under the squadrons' united attack, their confusing movements no longer had any effect. Several more ships went down, with none appearing to replace them. But as their numbers continued to dwindle, something began to happen down in the subterranean cavern.
"Heads up, I've got movement beneath us!" shouted Eagle-3. "I think we finally ticked her off!"
"Movement? How can you tell?" asked Mayhem.
"No, she's right–down there!" said Jump. The ice below them did seem to be growing darker, as though some kind of shape was rising to meet them."Something beneath the ice is rising. Prepare for contact!"
Suddenly, with a sound like a gunshot multiplied many times over, a massive crack appeared in the ice below. It grew wider, larger, with many smaller fissures breaking off. In the very center of the plains, a shape began to rise upwards out of the ice. "Ha! There she is!" cried Mayhem.
The fighting paused as the gargantuan ship pried itself free of the ice it slept beneath. What appeared first was a spire the size of a building, piercing out of the ice like a spear, pulling the rest of the mothership with it. Almost the entirety of the chasm became visible as it appeared: the ship tapered into the spire at the very top, almost conical was its shape. A small bristling of energy cannons came to life on its sides, beginning to glow with heat. Ice and frost sloughed off of it as it rose to meet its attackers.
"It's huge!" exclaimed Tailspin. "That thing's gotta be the size of a football field, at least!" Though impressed by its size, he didn't sound intimidated in the least. "Let's take it down!"
"Careful!" Nobody was quite sure who yelled this, but immediately after, the mothership opened fire. All four cannons on the spire began shooting randomly in the general direction of the jets, which took evasive maneuvers. The Xevellan craft all coalesced around the larger one, likely to protect it, or to be protected.
"Command, we've made contact with the mothership!" said Eagle-1 frantically, flying away from the barrage. "I think this thing is beyond our ability to take down! What are your orders?"
"Just keep it busy!" This was not the voice of Command, but of Dr. Rhodes. "We've got a warship just off the coast ready to send in some surface-to-surface missiles. Just make sure that thing stays in one place!"
"Easier said than done!" Mayhem fired a few shots at the ship's cannons, which only seemed to scratch their paint. "What's stopping this thing from tearing us apart and taking off?"
"We are!" said Vortex. "Falcon Squadron, keep the heat on! Don't let it get a bead on you!" He flew higher up, above the massive ship. "Rattler, are you there? We have engaged the mothership, get down here! Rattler?"
There was only static; evidently, she was too far up. Now that the mothership had risen up out of the chasm, the storm around them had begun to dissipate, though visibility was still still low. The enormous craft rose up as well, slowly traveling further along the ice as well.
"It's on the move!" said Condor-1. "Moving to intercept!" Him and his squadron flew in front, firing missiles at what was assumed to be its command bridge. The smaller ships moved in as well, intent on protecting their leader. Although they were sturdy, the mothership's cannons were rather stiff and clunky, inhibiting its offensive ability.
"Command, what's the ETA on that air strike?" asked Vortex, unloading a battery into the ship's cannons. The missiles still weren't enough to penetrate its armor, but they were damaged, however slightly.
"Ten minutes, give or take, Falcon-1," answered Command. "We have the enemy ship on radar, but we can't fire if it moves too far inland."
"In that case, the best course of action would be to clip its wings!" Jump sped around behind and underneath the ship, firing a missile into its thrusters. The projectile exploded, but there was no sign of a hit.
"No good," said Condor-3. "The heat must have caused a premature explosion. We'll have to keep her busy some other way."
"Well, if anyone has ideas, now is the time!" said Mayhem. "This thing is really moving! I would've expected a ship of this size to be more combat-capable." Vortex surmised that the Xevellan mothership had likely been built primarily for defense, likely of the pilfered resources it contained.
"We just need to distract 'em for a little longer!" said Tailspin. "Try shooting at the smaller ships, maybe we can make it angry!"
It wasn't a great plan, but they were running out of time. Although slow by fighter jet standards, the mothership was moving quickly enough that before long, the airstrike would be rendered useless if it was allowed to keep going. Vortex and the others reengaged the smaller craft, when an odd transmission came over the radio. It was garbled and indiscernible, but the radio identified it as Falcon-5. Whatever she was saying, it sounded urgent.
"Say again, Rattler?" said Vortex. "We couldn't quite catch that, the storm must be causing some interference…"
"...found the mothership! …coming to…be advised…" As she came closer to them, the reception improved slightly. "...heading right towards you! Everyone get ready!"
"...I'm sorry, say that again, Falcon-5?" said Condor-2. "Am I correct that you say you've found the mothership up there? How are your oxygen levels?"
All doubt vanished when another transmission came from Command. "All fighters, we've just detected a massive unidentified object entering the atmosphere! It's converging on your location, be prepared for evasive maneuvers!"
Before anyone could respond to this, likely with a confused question, a crack of lightning split the sky, momentarily illuminating the skies around them. And what was revealed by this brief light was enough to chill even the hardiest of the pilots to the bone. The flash revealed a large shape hidden in the clouds above them–much larger than the mothership.
The titanic shape descended from above, cutting through the clouds like a knife, which it bore more than a passing resemblance to. It was another ship, almost as black as the storm clouds it emerged from, lined with offensive armaments. More lightning crackled along its hull and the clouds behind it as its cannons activated, and the air was filled with a low droning sound.
Jump said what everyone was thinking. "What the hell is that!?"
"I told you, that's the mothership!" said Rattler. "Wait, what were you all fighting?"
"Are you telling me this thing isn't the mothership!?" Eagle-3 shouted.
"No, hold on," said Vortex. "Something's going on…"
The cannons on the larger ship all trained on the Xevellan craft, negating the possibility of them being allied. Beams of burning white energy shot forth from them, tearing into the mothership like a hunter and its prey. The fighters began to understand the Xevellans' retreat now as the mothership hurried higher and higher away from this dreadnought, the smaller ships watching as their base was being torn apart.
All three teams watched in silence as the scene played out before them. "Command, what's going on here?" asked Condor-1," breaking the silence. "We've got another ship out here trying to take out this one!"
Rhodes replied. "Gonna be honest, we're just as in the dark as you are! Stay there for right now, but be prepared to retreat, we don't know if these things are hostile or not!"
"But what exactly are 'these things?'" asked Jump. "Is anyone concerned that another ship just descended and started shooting at the other one!?"
"Falcon-3, I think everyone's concerned about that!" said Eagle-1.
The newcomer pursued its target, which continued ascending into the upper atmosphere. "Hang on, I've got movement!" said Rattler. Indeed, several smaller ships had begun to emerge from the large one. Just larger in size than the fighters, what appeared to be personnel carriers spread out around not just the Xevellan mothership, but the humans as well.
"I'm not liking this, Command," Vortex said. "Do we engage?"
"Not yet, Falcon-1," Command responded. "We don't know yet if these beings are hostile. Wait until they make a move against us before engaging." While Vortex felt like them surrounding them was soon to lead to hostility, he nevertheless continued to circle and watch.
"At least they're more interested in the other guys," said Eagle-3. "If they really were hostile, they'd have–"
At first, nobody knew why what happened next happened. Maybe Eagle-3 flew too close to one of the ships. Maybe they were listening in on the comms, and decided this was a good time to strike. But whatever the reason, one of the mysterious ships suddenly opened fire, the beams cutting through Eagle-3's fuselage and wings. The flaming scrap went down as a distorted radio message called out, careening towards the ice below.
Like a fuse being lit, the other invaders suddenly opened fire as well. Unprepared, the fighters took several hits: Condor-1 was shot down as well, and Eagle-4 and Tailspin were heavily damaged. The large craft changed focus as well, letting the Xevellan mothership fly away and turning its cannons on the humans. More smaller ships began to fly out, smaller and more streamlined than the troop carriers.
"Commander!" someone from Condor Squadron shouted. Vortex wasn't sure who. In the chaos, it was all he could do to evade the storm of energy beams that now flew around them. They were overwhelmed.
"They're on me, I can't shake 'em!" said Eagle-2. "Engine's taking heavy damage, it's–they're breaking through the hull, critical damage–" An explosion sounded over the comms as Eagle-2's plane careened downwards.
His plane damaged as well, Tailspin made a valiant stand against the hostiles. "You're not taking me that easy!" he yelled, firing everything he had at one of the enemy fighters. No effect; it appeared to be protected by some kind of shielding. "Vortex, what now!?"
The leader of Falcon Squadron was well and truly at a loss. "C-Command, orders!" was all he could manage to say.
"Three minutes until the warship is ready to fire," came the reply over the radio. "Get out of there if you can, otherwise just try and keep it busy!"
"I'll keep you busy!" snapped Mayhem. He continuously fired at any ship that came into his sights, despite how little it was doing. Making matters worse, the large craft had begun to open fire.
Massive beams of energy rained down on the fighters, burning through the ice when they hit the ground. The air around the beams rippled with heat, enough to completely destroy a plane with a direct hit. And to everyone's dismay, a direct hit was exactly what was landed. "I've taken too many hits!" cried Eagle-4. "I'm not sure how much longer I can–" One moment she was there, the next she wasn't, her plane reduced to scrap in a moment. Over the dismayed cries of her teammates, Vortex saw something.
One of the dropships was flying erratically, swerving around in the air and not following any set path. It was as though two people were wrestling for control over it. Electrical sparks could be seen flying off of it, and for a split second, its shield became visible before disappearing. "What's going on there?" he wondered aloud.
"Dunno, but it looks vulnerable!" said Rattler, speeding over. The ship made no attempt to avoid the missiles that she fired its way. The projectiles collided with their target, blowing a hole in the craft's side. Damaged but not destroyed, it careened out of control as it spun to the ground below. Using what was left of its engine power, it held itself up just long enough to speed off into the distance before crashing. "Hostile down!" reported Rattler.
Despite this little victory, it was just that: little. There were still many more ships to deal with, and they were unlikely to get lucky with them as they had with this one. Just when things were beginning to look hopeless, a voice came over the radio.
"All squadrons, surface-to-surface missiles are in the air!" said Rhodes. "You have about thirty seconds until impact, clear the area!"
The fighters scattered. As expected, the smaller craft did not let up, continuing their pursuit. "Even if those missiles hit, it won't do any good if these things are still on us!" said Tailspin. "Leave this to me!" He quickly zipped around, firing on as many of the craft as he could to get their attention. Many of them took notice, and as he hoped, began to follow him.
"Tailspin, get back here!" shouted Jump. "You can't outrun them in the state your jet is in!" But his wingmate didn't listen, continuing to lead the ships back within the blast zone. "Vortex, he's gonna get himself killed!"
Even if Vortex had time to call to Tailspin, he knew he wouldn't listen. And as it was, there was no time. "Brace!" was all he had time to say before the strike arrived.
A flurry of missiles, each almost the size of the jets, streaked through the sky before colliding with the giant ship. Tremendous explosions ripped through the air, shaking the fighters with the shockwaves. The fireball consumed many of the smaller ships, as well as something else. Tailspin tried to outrun it, but was just barely too slow, his already-damaged plane taking just enough damage to plummet to the ground.
Before the smoke had even cleared, the large ship had called back the smaller ones, which returned within. The area of impact was damaged, though only slightly. Still, it was enough for whoever commanded the vessel to decide that the fight was not worth it. Once all the smaller craft had been returned, it began to rise one more through the storm. Rattler, Vortex, and Eagle-1 gave chase.
"Tailspin!" cried Vortex. "Tailspin, respond!" As he scanned the ground for any sign of his squadmate through the whiteout, he caught a glimpse of a parachute descending downwards.
"Don't worry, Vortex, I'm alright," he replied. "Gonna take more than that to keep me down!" His teammates breathed out a sigh, but their relief was short-lived. That ship had all but torn them apart, and they had only barely managed to fend it off.
"All squads…return to base," said Command. "Both bogeys have vanished from radar. There's nothing more we can do now."
With hearts heavy for all that had been lost, all of the remaining planes made their way back to base; there would be time to mourn later. "Command, about that one Rattler managed to shoot down…" said Vortex.
"We have a team on the ground we can send in for retrieval," Command said. "They'll locate any survivors if they can as well. Let them take care of things for now."
By now, the storm had begun to pass, and visibility was slowly but surely returning. Rattler, Mayhem, and Eagle-1 flew down from the clouds. "No good, we couldn't follow it," the former reported. "For its size, that sucker's fast!"
"Roger. You heard Command," Vortex said. "Let's regroup. This is…out of our hands now."
"I…I still don't know what any of that was," said Condor-4. "W-what was that ship? Why did it fire on the Xevellans? Why did it fire on us?"
"Don't worry about that right now," Condor-3 answered. "If there is an answer, let's just hope ground team can find it."
"He's still alive in there!" came the call. A group of soldiers rushed over to the downed plane, working to pry open the canopy and free the pilot trapped within. Beside the crash site, Luke scanned the area with thermal binoculars. There was only one spot left to check, one that they had specifically saved for last.
"Command, we've rescued all of the pilots we could," Bridge reported. In the aftermath of the dogfight, Fireteams Victor, Bravo, and Yankee had been deployed to retrieve the downed aircraft. "We're ready to bring them home." The soldiers walked away from the jet, carrying a wounded Eagle-3.
"Roger, Captain," Command said. "All that's left is to search the alien ship. Radio us if there's anything left, and we'll send a retrieval crew."
"Heard." The surviving pilots, Leon among them, were loaded onto one of the two snow trucks nearby. Several soldiers went along to escort, including Rook.
Evidently, he had misgivings about this. "Captain, are you sure I shouldn't stay here?" he asked. "We don't know who or what was in that ship, or even if they're still alive. You'll need all the firepower you can get."
"Ah, don't worry about them," said Luke, also stepping aboard. "Between Vargas and that other guy, they got all the firepower they need!" He banged on the side of the truck, signaling the doors to shut. "See y'all back at base!" Bridge nodded as the truck pulled away.
"And that just leaves us," one of the Captains said. "Fireteam Bravo, silent advance." His team crept through the snow to the top of the hill overlooking the downed ship, with the other two following close behind. Despite the snowy weather, the smoke trailing up from the wreck could just barely be made out.
And there it was: the downed alien ship. A black shape embedded in the white snow. Several figures could be seen walking around the perimeter, illuminated by red lights. "Hester, check it out," said Bridge.
Hester peered down into the valley through her sniper scope. "I've got eyes on six–no, seven hostiles. All of them are armed with some sort of energy weapon, and they appear to be securing the crash site. And they almost seem to be…mechanical…"
"What? Hang on, let me see!" At Ichigo's insistence, Hester turned the gun to give him a visual. The figures were covered in, or made from, the same black metal as the ship, and their movements were smooth yet far too stiff for any organic. But their faces were the most telling part: their only features were a pair of red eyes that scanned their surroundings. Ichigo backed away from the scope looking shocked. "Command, we got robots…" he said into his radio.
"I-I'm sorry, say again, Agent Nakayama?" asked Command.
"Robots," Ichigo repeated. "There's robots."
"I suppose this means diplomacy's off the table, eh?" said Vargas, readying his weapon.
"I don't think it ever was," said the Captain of Fireteam Yankee. "Hart? Get ready to cover our approach."
One of the soldiers, Hart, stepped forward, a rocket launcher over his shoulder. "Locked and loaded, Captain," he said, taking aim at the alien machines down below. "Just give the word."
"Once he fires, we charge," said Bridge. "We don't know what these things are capable of, and we can't afford to wait and see. At our signal, hit 'em with everything you've got. In position!"
All of the soldiers present, save for Hart, Hester, and another sniper prepared to descend into the valley and engage this unknown foe. Ammo clicked into place, guns were cocked, and deep breaths were taken. At Hester's signal, the Yankee Captain shouted "Now!" and Hart fired. And everyone charged.
The rocket threw most of the robots to the ground. A flurry of bullets flew through the air as the troopers slid down the hill towards them. Regaining their senses almost instantly, the robots fired back, lasers impacting the snow beside them. "Flank 'em!" yelled Bridge. The soldiers split into two groups, surrounding the machines.
Flimsy as they were, the robots were surprisingly hardy. That is, although easily damaged, they could continue fighting even when most of their body was destroyed. Bridge found this out the hard way as he unloaded shell after shell into the nearest one, which just refused to stay down. Soon enough, he had to reload, which gave the robot enough time to land a shot into his chest. His armor took most of the hit, but he was still thrown onto his back.
The damaged machine crawled on top of him, its gun arm transforming into an energy blade. It raised the blade above its head, but before it could strike, a sniper shot tore its head apart. Bridge shot a glimpse of thanks at his rescuer before getting up to continue the fight.
Although they seemed to have the advantage in technology, the BAINE troopers had them beat on numbers and tactics. Thanks to their sneak attack, they were able to quickly overwhelm the robots. By the time only one remained, Vargas quickly reduced it to scrap with a sustained barrage. "Ahh, now that's craftsmanship right there!" he said after taking a whiff of the gunsmoke.
"That looks like the last of 'em," said Ichigo, nudging a severed arm with his foot. "Now then, let's see if we can't glean anything from their ship…" Everyone trained their weapons on the alien craft, unsure if there were more within, or if preventative measures were in place. But even though nobody knew what to expect, what did happen was even more unexpected.
"Hold your fire! I'm not a hostile!" It was a voice, coming from inside of the ship. Everyone was so taken-aback by this that some lowered their guns. Exchanging confused glances, they gave another figure just enough time to crawl out of the wreckage. "I am not your enemy, I promise! I am simply a civilian caught in the line of fire! …Or, more accurately, I am putting myself in the line of fire willingly!"
The voice was coming from another robot, this one almost identical to the others. This one lacked a weapon, both of his arms ending in hands. His eyes also glowed blue rather than red. He stepped down into the snow, both arms above his head as the troopers pointed their weapons at him once again.
"Hold fire," said Bridge, staring at this strange newcomer. "So, you…aren't one of them?" he asked the robot.
"Not in allegiance, at least," the machine answered. "I…I imagine you all must have a lot of questions. At the risk of sounding cliche…might I speak with your leaders?"
Nobody was quite sure how to respond to this curious mechanical being. Was he an ally, as he claimed? Who were his people that had attacked them? Ichigo was the one to break the silence. "Okay, what the f–"
AN: And this, my friends, is where things go from bad to worse.
