Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 39- Dogfights
(July 9, 2021, evening)
As the sun begins to set over Beleriand, the combat in the sky is raging as fiercely as ever. The fighters and Great Eagles have been fighting the dragons for hours now. Transports and convoys through the portals had allowed the Allies to get the airbases in Nevrast operational again, allowing pilots to land in order to refuel and rearm before jumping back into the fight.
Over Dorthonion, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Lackland wings over into an inverted position and dives for the deck as a dragon breathes a stream of flames at him. The dragon flaps its wings harder and propels itself after him.
Lackland levels off at about 800 feet and punches the throttles. The dragon pursues him, moving with a speed Lackland wouldn't have thought of as possible for an animal.
"This is Chiefs 3! I've got a dragon on my ass!" Lackland shouts over the radio. In order to avoid confusion of too many callsigns, aircraft are flying with a callsign of their squadron nickname and a number. Squadrons without a nickname were assigned one for the identification system.
A second later, Lackland hears a voice over the radio, speaking in a distinctive French accent, saying, "Hold on, Chiefs 3. We're coming!" A second later, Lieutenant Colonel Stephane Gensoul and the rest of his flight come streaking in in their Mirage 2000s. Gensoul locks up the dragon and fires a pair of MICA missiles. The other Mirages of his flight add six more missiles to the flurry of missiles. All eight missiles impact the dragon, wounding it and especially damaging its wings.
Seeing the dragon is wounded, Gensoul throttles up and closes on the dragon. Switching over to his 30mm cannons, Gensoul lines up the dragon in his gunsight, and at a distance of 600 yards, squeezes the trigger, firing a 2 second burst. A total of 74 rounds of 30mm ammunition are fired from the cannons, and most of the rounds hit the dragon. The dragon roars as the rounds tear into it. One round hits a small gap in the scales at the back of its skull caused by a missile impact and enlarges the gap before another round hits the same spot. The round penetrates into the dragon's skull, killing it almost instantly. The now dead dragon plummets from the sky.
Lt. Col. Lackland quickly rendezvouses with his wingman, who he'd been separated from by the dragon attack, and together, the two Strike Eagles form up with the Mirages.
"Thanks, Frenchie," Lackland says over the radio.
"You're welcome for us French saving your American asses," Gensoul responds smugly.
Right then, Lackland's wingman sees another dragon over Dorthonion, heading for the area where the French Army's units are dug in in south-eastern Dorthonion.
"Got another dragon, one o clock low, about 16 miles out," he calls out over the radio.
"Copy that. Frenchies, with us," Lackland ordered. Lackland throttles up, and the two Strike Eagles streak towards the dragon. The four Mirages follow close behind, ready to fight.
The dragon is readying itself to attack the French troops on the ground when it notices the fighters coming in. The dragon roars and turns towards the incoming fighters. As it closes the distance, the dragon opens its jaws and breathes a stream of flames at them.
"Scatter!" Lackland orders. The two Strike Eagles pull up as tight as they can streak up over the flames. Two of the Mirages dive while Gensoul and his wingman break hard right. All six fighters avoid the stream of flames.
Gensoul and his wingman snap back towards the dragon, trying to get their noses pointed at the creature. As they bring their noses around, Gensoul sees that the dragon's belly is alight, and it's preparing to breathe fire again. Gensoul immediately switches over to his Magic-II missiles, gets a good tone, and fires both his Magics. The two infrared missiles are able to lock onto the heat the dragon is putting out. One missile hits the dragon right on the hose, forcing it to recoil, and the other hits the dragon on the belly, hardly affecting the dragon, but the shock of the explosion does make the dragon recoil a bit.
"Contain that beast! It doesn't go anywhere near the troops! Then we kill the thing," Lackland orders as he snaps his Strike Eagle into a looping turn to get his nose on the dragon.
The dragon tries to move back towards the French troops. However, the second pair of Mirages quickly gets between the dragon and their troops, firing their 30mm cannons and scoring a few hits on the dragon's wings. The dragon roars in anger and belches fire, but the Mirages easily avoid it.
Lackland goes over his remaining ordnance. He had earlier expended some cannon rounds and two AMRAAMs trying to bring down another dragon. His Strike Eagle had been loaded with 6 AMRAAMs and 4 Sidewinders when he took off, leaving him with 8 missiles left and about 350 cannon rounds. He just hopes that's enough to kill this dragon.
Lackland finally gets the dragon on his nose, with its back to him. Lackland locks and fires all four of his AMRAAMs. The missiles impact seconds later on the dragon's back, tearing into its wings and hammering its back. At the same time, two more AMRAAMs from Lackland's wingman and two MICA's from one of the Mirages hit the dragon's legs, slightly wounding it.
"Keep it boxed in!" Lackland shouts over the radio. The fighters keep circling around the dragon while Lackland remains perched about 5,000 feet overhead watching carefully and waiting for the right moment.
Gensoul and one of the other Mirages bank in and each fire their last two MICAs at the dragon. As the missiles impact, one of the other Mirages streaks in, firing its cannons. The rounds hit the dragon, and one tears through one of its talons, making the dragon roar in anger.
Lackland watches as the fighters keep the dragon from moving too much. Then, as his wingman fires his last two AMRAAMs at the dragon, Lackland sees his chance and dives at the dragon.
As the AMRAAMs hit the dragon, Lackland locks up and fires two of his Sidewinders. The missiles hit along the dragon's neck, causing it light wounds. The dragon roars in anger as Lackland switches over to his cannon. Lining up his gunsight, Lackland squeezes the trigger. His M61 cannon springs to life, firing 261 rounds. The rounds impact along the dragon's neck, many deflecting off its scales, but some managing to penetrate and tear into dragon's flesh. The dragon bellows in agony as blood begins to spill from its neck. The dragon ties to fly away, but Gensoul flies in and fires his 30mm cannons, scoring more hits along the neck. The dragon, already wounded badly, succumbs to the wounds and falls from the sky.
"Yes! Splash one!" Lackland shouts over the radio.
"I think I deserve half credit, American," Gensoul responds, drawing some laughs as the fighters all start to climb to look for new targets.
(Dimbar airspace)
On the ground in Dimbar, Marines cower as two dragons, one rather small but the other of a medium size, make a fire pass. The two dragons let out jets of flame, incinerating several hundred Marines.
The dragons pull up, ready to slowly loop around for a second attack. Then, from behind them, they hear a roaring. Looking behind them, they see an F-4 Phantom closing in behind them, about ten miles out and closing in.
The Phantom is an F-4E brought out of the Boneyard for service with the USAF. Flying in the pilot's seat is 1st Lieutenant Tanner Boyd. Boyd had joined the Air Force after the war started, and after finishing pilot training, was assigned to the Phantom. In the backseat is Captain Riley Halters. Halters had been a WSO in the Strike Eagle before the war, and been transferred to the Phantom shortly after the start of the war.
The pair had just returned from rearming in Nevrast. Now, Boyd and Halters have their sights set on these two dragons.
Boyd calls back, "Lock 'em up, Riley!" he says. Halters quickly works the radar controls, trying to gain a missile lock on the smaller of the two dragons.
It only takes a few seconds before Halters says, "I got it! Shoot!" Boyd grins as he squeezes the trigger. The Phantom shudders as two AIM-7 Sparrows drop away from the Phantom and ignite. Boyd then adds a third Sparrow to the volley for good measure.
The Sparrows guide straight down towards the smaller dragon, easily as small as the Phantom itself. Though Boyd had worried about the Sparrows not guiding properly or malfunctioning, all three Sparrows find their mark and their 80 pound warheads detonate. This dragon is young enough that its armor is not strong enough yet to withstand such punishment. With the missiles all hitting within a very small spot at the base of the dragon's neck, the punishment is enough to kill the young dragon.
"Splash one!" Boyd calls out over the radio. He throttles up and closes on the lead dragon.
However, the dragon is ready for this. It spreads its wings out and turns to the side. Boyd is moving too fast. Boyd recognizes it, banking slightly to the left and shooting straight past the dragon.
Knowing he needs distance in order to react, Boyd extends out to the north-west four miles before he pitches up, splits the throttles while applying rudder and coming back down in a wingover manuever.
As Boyd moves back towards the dragons, he suddenly spots a pair of F-16s flying past the dragon. The F-16s are painted with Romanian markings, and a second later, Boyd hears a call over the radio in a Romanian accent, "This is Warhawk R3. Out of weapons. Returning to base to rearm."
"Warhawk R3, this is Yellowjacket 7, the USAF F-4 Phantom 6 miles north of your position. You have a dragon close to you. I need you to find it, pass in front of it, and then climb sharply to 10000. It'll give me a clear shot," Boyd says.
"Copy you, Yellowjacket, 7," the lead Romanian pilot says. Looking around, he quickly sees the dragon. Throttling up slightly, he and his wingman bank towards the dragon.
The dragon roars in anger as the F-16s streak past it right in front of its face, putting out flares to draw its attention. The dragon flaps its wings, starting to chase the F-16s. However, after a quick countdown, the two F-16s pull up into an almost 80 degree climb and shove the throttles into afterburner. The F-16s accelerate heavenwards, and the dragon begins climbing after the two fighters.
Boyd grins as the dragon does just what he wanted it to do. Boyd pushes the throttles into afterburner, accelerating past Mach 1, and streaks towards the dragon. Boyd locks up his last Sparrow and fires it at the dragon.
The Sparrow tracks smoothly on its target and hits the dragon when it's about 4,000 feet up. The dragon roars in anger, then spots Boyd's F-4 barreling in its direction.
The dragon stops its pursuit of the F-16s and turns away from Boyd, diving towards the ground. Boyd, who is now within three miles of the dragon, within range for his AIM-9 Sidewinders. Boyd powers up the Sidewinders, and quickly gets a tone. At just under three miles, Boyd squeezes the trigger and launches the two Sidewinders. Both missiles strike the dragon on the back, wounding its wings.
Boyd growls in frustration as he closes on the dragon. Seeing he's closing too fast now that he's going almost 800 miles an hour, Boyd pulls the nose up and flies a long, swooping barrel roll to keep himself from overshooting while he tries to figure out what to do. His two remaining Sidewinders, both M variants, are having a harder time getting a tone on the dragon now that both the dragon and Boyd are so low to the ground. Boyd knows he has to have a really good tone for his last two Sidewinders to inflict critical wounds on the dragon.
"Sidewinders aren't gonna be enough. I'm going with the gun," Boyd says to Halters. He switches the armament control over to his cannon as he closes on the dragon.
Down on the ground, some US troops see the dragon coming at them. However, the dragon flies right overhead, roaring in anger, completely ignoring them. Then, second later, the reason for that is revealed when Boyd's F-4 streaks overhead with a roar, banked slightly left, the glow of the afterburners coming from its massive J79 engines.
Boyd is now closing on the dragon at about 750 miles per hour, and is now within a mile and a half. However, the problem now comes with getting a firing angle. Unlike the strafing missions he's performed so far with his cannon, he needs to focus on a specific target, and with the gun mounted under the nose, it's going to be hard to get a good firing angle with the Phantom's long nose obscuring the dragon when Boyd tries to pull lead..
Remembering a brief instruction session he and his squadron had with some Vietnam era Phantom pilots who flew E models, Boyd banks slightly further, orienting his nose just below the dragon's plane of motion and begins pulling lead as the distance between him and the dragon closes. Once he has pulled enough lead, and with almost no time to spare to fire before he overshoots the dragon, Boyd briefly rolls up, then rolls back down, his gun now on the same level as the dragon, and squeezes the trigger, firing an almost 3.5 second burst.
A total of 341 rounds of 20mm ammunition hurtle towards the dragon. Almost two thirds of the rounds successfully find their target, with most hitting the dragon on the forward half of its body. The dragon's wings take multiple rounds and parts are shredded. Multiple rounds batter sections of its scaly armor, and some finally penetrate, driving deep into the dragon's flesh. The dragon bellows in agony as Boyd shoots past it. Boyd levels off and pulls back on the stick, pulling the F-4 into a climb. Glancing back, both Boyd and Halters glance back and see the dragon falling towards the ground. With a massive impact, the dragon slams into the ground, and doesn't move again.
"Yes! Splash 2!" Boyd declares. Both of the men have the biggest smiles on their faces, knowing they just killed two dragons by themselves. Despite flying a much older, very outdated plane, they had claimed something very few other pilots could say so far. The two celebrate in the cockpit as Boyd turns the Phantom back towards Nevrast for another rearming and refueling.
(July 10, 2021, midday)
Over the plains of Anfauglith, Colonel Creeden streaks low over the desert plain, so low that he's kicking up dust in his wake. Creeden grits his teeth as he holds his course for 20 seconds before pitching back into a steep climb while glancing back at his target. Ancalagon.
For 21 hours now, the air forces of the Allies, along with Earendil and the Great Eagles, have been battling Morgoth's host of dragons. The weaker dragons had faller quickly, but the more powerful ones had proven to be tough challenges.
The massive aerial battle had begun over the Ered Wethrin, but had since spread all across Beleriand. Fighters were engaging in dogfights with dragons from Hithlum to Thargelion, and from Dorthonion to Falas. The sky of Beleriand is being torn apart in the fiercest of aerial battles, and most of the those on the ground, on both sides, can only watch.
Not all, though. Allied forces on the ground have tried to contribute in any way possible. This especially became possible after reinforcements arrived in Nevrast, which included a US Patriot missile brigade, which had so far claimed two dragons that attempted to attack Nevrast.
The dragons had even tried twice to take the fight to the fleet off the course. The first time saw a very young dragon surprise the fleet and damage the destroyer USS Mahan with a fire attack before being shot down. The Mahan, though not badly damaged, was forced to retreat back to the portal. The second attack involved two much larger dragons attempting to attack the battleship Wisconsin and her escorts. However, the Wisconsin's escorts shot the dragons out of the sky with a volley of almost 80 Standard Missile-2 SAMs.
By now, of the original army of around a thousand winged dragons, only about 300 of them are still alive. Fighter jets are still fighting dragons across Beleriand. However, the main battle is now over Angband itself, as the Great Eagles, Earendil, and Allied aircraft are fighting the leader of the dragons. Ancalagon himself
A massive force of fighters has gathered to attack Ancalagon, and routinely are switching out for new ones as fighters run out of ordnance. Currently, all 36 F-22s of the 1st Fighter Wing, along with the 18 A-10s of the 74th Fighter Squadron, have assembled to fight Ancalagon. Along with them are 12 Super Hornets from VFA-32, two dozen Eurofighters from the RAF and the Luftwaffe, a half dozen South Korean F-15Ks, and several Bulgarian MiG-29s.
As Creeden looks back, he can see the dozens of assembled fighters darting all around Ancalagon, missiles and guns flashing. Allied aircraft have been hammering Ancalagon with every weapon they have for hours now. The dragon's massive bulk comes with added bonus of the strongest armor of any dragon to ever live. However, after being hit by hundreds of missiles and thousands of cannon rounds, along facing attacks by the Great Eagles and Earendil, Ancalagon is starting to weaken.
Creeden looks back as Ancalagon looses a massive jet of flame at several of the F-22s darting in front of them, but the Raptors easily speed out of the way. Two A-10s dart in towards Ancalagon's head, firing their 30mm cannons. Several rounds break off two of Ancalagon's teeth, and the dragon roars in anger as the A-10s dart away.
Creeden loops back towards Ancalagon. As he does, he sees two Bulgarian MiG-29s about a thousand feet above him. Refocusing on the dragon, Creeden ripple fires three AMRAAMs right as the two Fulcrums each fire a pair of Alamos. The seven missiles impact along Ancalagon's right front leg. This leg has taken heavy punishment over the battle, and is weak enough that the missiles are able to cause some very minor wounds. Ancalagon just roars in anger.
Two South Korean F-15Ks streak in towards Anacalagon, firing several heat seeking missiles. Behind them is Thorondor himself and several Great Eagles. As the Korean missiles hammer away at Ancalagon's armor, the smoke and force of the impacts distract the dragon, allowing Thorondor and his Eagles to approach unseen.
With great cries, Thorondor and his Eagles attack Ancalagon, slashing at him with their powerful talons. Ancalagon roars in anger, but Thorondor and the Eagles fight back against his attempted strikes, beating with their wings and slashing with their talons.
Creeden moves towards Ancalagon's head. So far, most of the pilots have avoided going too close to his head for fear of getting incinerated. However, Ancalagon is weakened and distracted enough Creeden is willing to risk it.
Seeing Ancalagon's massive eyeball, which is itself about the size of a C-130, Creeden decides that's his target. Creeden sets course right Ancalagon's head, and even as Ancalagon is thrashing around, tries to line up his eyeball in his gunsight. Finally, at a range of 1,800 feet, Creeden squeezes the trigger, firing a 1.6 second burst before he is forced to pull away to avoid hitting Ancalagon.
The cannon rounds tear into Ancalagon's eyeball. The eyeball is torn up as blood pours from it. Ancalagon roars in pain, as well as anger from losing his eye. Creeden's F-22 shoots just a hundred feet over the dragon's head, barely missing it.
Several more F-22s and a half dozen Eurofighters streak in towards Ancalagon from head on and fire a volley of 20 AMRAAMs and Meteors towards the dragon. The missiles hammer along his head and neck, making Ancalagon roar in anger and pain away from the pain. In seconds, six A-10s comes streaking in, firing their cannons at Ancalagon. A number of the depleted uranium rounds manages to penetrate some of the weaker spots in Ancalagon's scaly armor. Ancalagon roars in anger and breathes out another jet of fire, managing to catch one of the Super Hornets flashing past him, melting it in midair.
Two more Raptors and two more A-10s, along with a pair of german Eurofighters, slash in from the side, firing a volley of missiles and cannon fire. Ancalagon opens his maw and bellows with anger, belching fire that almost melts two F-22s.
However, their attack gives Earendil the chance he needs. The Mariner has been watching the battle, firing arrows from his ship when needed. Now, he charges in with his ship. VIngilot rams Ancalagon's snout, the metal prow splitting open the dragon's nose. As Ancalagon roars in anger, Earendil fits three arrows to his bow. The arrows glow with power from the Silmaril upon Earendil's brow. As Ancalagon tries to shield his remaining eye from the bright light of the Silmaril, Colonel Creeden leads several F-22s in firing their remaining missiles against Ancalagon. The hammering of the missiles makes Ancalagon open his mouth to start roaring in pain and anger. Taking that chance, Earendil fires his three arrows down Ancalagon's throat. The arrows tear into the flesh of the inside of the throat.
Ancalagon lets out his loudest roar yet at the agony. Seeing his chance, Earendil now draws his great sword as Vingilot flies in. Standing upon the prow of Vingilot, Earendil waits until his ship is right underneath Ancalagon's lower jaw before driving the sword upwards. The sword, engulfed in light and some lightning that has swirled around the blade, drives into a weak spot in Ancalagon's armor where some scales have slightly separated from multiple missile impacts.
Ancalagon roars with pain as the sword enters its skin, the power of the Silmaril and the lightning Earendil summoned to the blade entering its body. Then, just for the finishing touch, Colonel Creeden dives in towards Ancalagon's head, armed with just his two Sidewinders left, and fires both of them down Ancalagon's throat.
Ancalagon roars and thrashes about in the sky from the agony. Then, a light seems to go out in Ancalagon's eyes. As it does, Vingilot rams into Ancalagon's throat. From the blow, Ancalagon's body gets a little bit of backwards momentum, and begins to fall backwards through the sky. As the pilots and Eagles watch, Ancalagon falls from the sky, finally crashing onto the peaks of Thangorodrim. As they watch, the stone peaks seem to shatter and the earth around the mountains shakes, sending boulders down the slopes. The peaks and towers of Thangorodrim begin to crumble and shake as they break under the body of Ancalagon.
In the air, the pilots are sitting in shock, just enough situational awareness to keep their planes flying while their eyes are fixated on Ancalagon. Then, finally, Colonel Creeden is able to speak up and say softly over the radio, "We got him." Then, slowly increasing in volume, he continues, "We got him. We got him! WE GOT HIM!"
The radio begins to explode in cheering from the pilots as the realization that they finally killed Ancalagon hits home. The news spread quickly.
On the ground, tens of thousands of troops, even ones hundreds of miles away, are aware of Ancalagon's death. Cheers of triumph begin to erupt among Allied troops as fear and panic begins to spread through Morgoth's army. At the Fen of Serech, the battered 77th Infantry Division begins forming up to launch an all out charge towards Angband. Meanwhile, all the remaining fighters in the air continue their fighting against the remaining dragons.
Over Angband, Colonel Creeden stares down at the fallen body of Ancalagon as it lies on the ruined towers of Thangorodrim. Finally, after a battle he thought would last for days, Ancalagon is dead. Soon enough, the rest of the dragons will fall, and the way to Angband will be wide open.
And, I'll end the chapter there. I hope you liked this one and the descriptions of aerial combat I gave, and that the battles were well written. I tried to give Ancalagon justice in terms of his power and weight without it being too long or the aircraft too outmatched.
Next chapter will be the final assault on Angband and the capture of Morgoth, finally ending the war. However, the story will go on for up to 10 more chapters after that until it ends.
Next chapter will be up soon. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!