Crimson Red Arrows- Chapter 2
Fifteen minutes later, the squadron arrived at the arranged refueling point. A KC-130, the inflight refueling version of the famed C-130 Hercules, awaited them there, flying in a large holding pattern. John was surprised at the level of protection this tanker was reccieving. He knew that these were always protected, as they were basically flying gas tanks, but he had never seen one surrounded with eight Black Eagles, high performance Korean-made air superiority fighters. As the flight approached the tanker, the lead three harriers slowly separated from the rest, their pilots handling their throttles with finesse, matching their speed with that of the tanker. There were three long, black hoses with drogues on the end extending from three parts of the aircraft. As the harriers closed in, each pilot activated a switch that extended a long refuling probe. Finally, each plane connected with it's respective hose and fuel began pumping into the aircraft.
"Good morning, Captian. This is Major Brian Riley, U.S. Army" said a voice over the intercom.
"Good morning sir. What's going on? Why was my squadron called up at this time at night, and why do you have such powerful escorts?"
"Well sir, the situation is like this. At approximately 2100 last night several of our infared spy sattelites picked up a huge amount of movement coming from the Soviet naval bases near Muramansk. We called the Soviet embassador, but he said that this was a regularly scheduled exercise in the North Atlantic. However, the next time our sattelites were able to take a pass, the ships were not in the scheduled exercise area but in fact several miles south, heading towards our coast at high speed. We went again to contact the ambassador, but he had apparently caught the last plane out of town. President Dougan called Premier Romanov directly, realized that the Soviets had begun to attack, and oredered our missle system online. However, it appears that the soviets had sabotours in our missle defense system, and the silos were destroyed before we got off a single shot. You now have the job of defending New York from the Soviet fleet. This would explanin the loadouts your planes were given. It seems that they have already taken Long Island, and are using it as a staging point. Your job is to sink any ship you can find in the harbor that is not American, especially the SS-18 battlecruisers, codename Dreadnaughts. However, be aware, they are well escorted with SS-13 class friggates, codename Sea Scorpions. These are excelent anti aircraft vessels, and I would warn you to be wary of them. Also, there are reports of Soviet MiGs in the area. Once you are in the operating area, tune your radio to the special operations band and the SEALs and Special Agent Tanya will be able to act as spotters. Any questions, Captian?"
John pondered this for a moment. The soviets are really attacking? he thought. Danm. "Sir, what kind of friendly support can we expect?"
"The carrier USS Wasp is currently in the hudson river, along with the Aegeis cruisers Ticonderoga and Arliegh Burke, and the destroyers Oliver Hazard Perry and the brittish destroyer HMS Marlborough. There are also Patriot missle sites set up throughout New York and New Jersey. However, as the soviets may have knocked out power to the area, do not expect too much out of them. Anything else?"
"No sir."
"You may now break radio silence as you see fit. Good hunting, Captian."
"Thank you, Sir." At this, the tanker finished pumping gas and released the lock. He pulled back on his throttle and steered down and away from the tanker, making room for the rest of the squadron. He began to think about the invasion. My god, all the people in New York, and my friends, and-no, I can't think about that. I have to keep my mind on the mission. Can't get all emotional. He began to think of the best way to sink a fleet in New York harbor. After flying in formation for another 10 minutes, he tuned to the Spec Ops frequency, hit the encription button, waited for it to syncronize, and then hit the transmit button:
"Scorch to group: Alright, this is the plan. We cruise in at nominal atltitude until we reach the edge of radar range. At that point, we drop down to treetop level. As we approach the city, we will divert North and come in over the water along the edge of Manhattan Island. I will take the Hudson River to the left with Taco, Zippo, Magnet, Shotgun, OJ, Smokey, and Doughboy. Xena, you will take Flash and the rest of the sqadron to the right along the Harlem River. If you run into any fighers, remeber that you can hover, and they can't. Hide behind buildings if you have to. We will form a pincers around the fleet at the end of the harbor and blow those reds right out of the water. Watch for bridges- I don't want any accidental collisions. Don't turn on your radar until you're sure that the reds know we're here. Surprise is key. Acknowledge, group."
"Yes sir!" Shouted 16 voices over the radio.
"Alright, were going in!" At this, the squadron dipped their noses sharply down and screamed toward the water. They leveled out about 30 feet above Long Island Sound, and then banked sharply north towards the state of connecticut. The planes popped up over the beach and wove in and around, dancing ever so closely and dangerously near each other and the ground. It seemed as if they were playing chicken with the buildings and trees, flying seemingly intentionally towards the obstacles. Glass shattered as jets roared past, mere feet from the windows. People were knocked to the ground by the power of the vibtations. Leaves were stripped from trees. Nevertheless, the skil of the pilots oughtweighed the danger of the flight. After thundering over Connectucut and then the Bronx, they screamed over the hudson river and split into to groups. The first streaked left, soaring under the Manhattan bridge and south along the Harlem River, neither in the Bronx or in Manhattan. Scorch and the second group banked to the right, low over the water between New York and New Jersey. Scorch concentrated very hard on keeping the aircraft stable and low as he carefully zipped under the George Washington bridge. He then noticed little specks on the horizon. Don't fire just yet-he thought as he powered up his ASM-125 Harpoon anti-ship missles-they could be the friendlies... A little closer...come on...
"This is USS Wasp to US Marines aricraft! We are under attack! Require immediate assistance!" Cracled the radio suddenly.
"Scorch to Wasp wilco! Approaching from the north! Watch your fire!" Scorch was now in his element. He expertly swiched tagets from the group on the left side of the river to the one on the right, and selected the missle on pylon four. A group of small boxes appeared on his heads up display, each box surrounding a blip on the horizon. He used the hat on the throttle to select a target. The long one in the center of the group looked important. I hope I get someone important, he thought. The lock on tone began to ring in his helmet.
*BEEP_____BEEP__BEEP_BEEP_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*
"SCORCH, FOX ONE!"
Fifteen minutes later, the squadron arrived at the arranged refueling point. A KC-130, the inflight refueling version of the famed C-130 Hercules, awaited them there, flying in a large holding pattern. John was surprised at the level of protection this tanker was reccieving. He knew that these were always protected, as they were basically flying gas tanks, but he had never seen one surrounded with eight Black Eagles, high performance Korean-made air superiority fighters. As the flight approached the tanker, the lead three harriers slowly separated from the rest, their pilots handling their throttles with finesse, matching their speed with that of the tanker. There were three long, black hoses with drogues on the end extending from three parts of the aircraft. As the harriers closed in, each pilot activated a switch that extended a long refuling probe. Finally, each plane connected with it's respective hose and fuel began pumping into the aircraft.
"Good morning, Captian. This is Major Brian Riley, U.S. Army" said a voice over the intercom.
"Good morning sir. What's going on? Why was my squadron called up at this time at night, and why do you have such powerful escorts?"
"Well sir, the situation is like this. At approximately 2100 last night several of our infared spy sattelites picked up a huge amount of movement coming from the Soviet naval bases near Muramansk. We called the Soviet embassador, but he said that this was a regularly scheduled exercise in the North Atlantic. However, the next time our sattelites were able to take a pass, the ships were not in the scheduled exercise area but in fact several miles south, heading towards our coast at high speed. We went again to contact the ambassador, but he had apparently caught the last plane out of town. President Dougan called Premier Romanov directly, realized that the Soviets had begun to attack, and oredered our missle system online. However, it appears that the soviets had sabotours in our missle defense system, and the silos were destroyed before we got off a single shot. You now have the job of defending New York from the Soviet fleet. This would explanin the loadouts your planes were given. It seems that they have already taken Long Island, and are using it as a staging point. Your job is to sink any ship you can find in the harbor that is not American, especially the SS-18 battlecruisers, codename Dreadnaughts. However, be aware, they are well escorted with SS-13 class friggates, codename Sea Scorpions. These are excelent anti aircraft vessels, and I would warn you to be wary of them. Also, there are reports of Soviet MiGs in the area. Once you are in the operating area, tune your radio to the special operations band and the SEALs and Special Agent Tanya will be able to act as spotters. Any questions, Captian?"
John pondered this for a moment. The soviets are really attacking? he thought. Danm. "Sir, what kind of friendly support can we expect?"
"The carrier USS Wasp is currently in the hudson river, along with the Aegeis cruisers Ticonderoga and Arliegh Burke, and the destroyers Oliver Hazard Perry and the brittish destroyer HMS Marlborough. There are also Patriot missle sites set up throughout New York and New Jersey. However, as the soviets may have knocked out power to the area, do not expect too much out of them. Anything else?"
"No sir."
"You may now break radio silence as you see fit. Good hunting, Captian."
"Thank you, Sir." At this, the tanker finished pumping gas and released the lock. He pulled back on his throttle and steered down and away from the tanker, making room for the rest of the squadron. He began to think about the invasion. My god, all the people in New York, and my friends, and-no, I can't think about that. I have to keep my mind on the mission. Can't get all emotional. He began to think of the best way to sink a fleet in New York harbor. After flying in formation for another 10 minutes, he tuned to the Spec Ops frequency, hit the encription button, waited for it to syncronize, and then hit the transmit button:
"Scorch to group: Alright, this is the plan. We cruise in at nominal atltitude until we reach the edge of radar range. At that point, we drop down to treetop level. As we approach the city, we will divert North and come in over the water along the edge of Manhattan Island. I will take the Hudson River to the left with Taco, Zippo, Magnet, Shotgun, OJ, Smokey, and Doughboy. Xena, you will take Flash and the rest of the sqadron to the right along the Harlem River. If you run into any fighers, remeber that you can hover, and they can't. Hide behind buildings if you have to. We will form a pincers around the fleet at the end of the harbor and blow those reds right out of the water. Watch for bridges- I don't want any accidental collisions. Don't turn on your radar until you're sure that the reds know we're here. Surprise is key. Acknowledge, group."
"Yes sir!" Shouted 16 voices over the radio.
"Alright, were going in!" At this, the squadron dipped their noses sharply down and screamed toward the water. They leveled out about 30 feet above Long Island Sound, and then banked sharply north towards the state of connecticut. The planes popped up over the beach and wove in and around, dancing ever so closely and dangerously near each other and the ground. It seemed as if they were playing chicken with the buildings and trees, flying seemingly intentionally towards the obstacles. Glass shattered as jets roared past, mere feet from the windows. People were knocked to the ground by the power of the vibtations. Leaves were stripped from trees. Nevertheless, the skil of the pilots oughtweighed the danger of the flight. After thundering over Connectucut and then the Bronx, they screamed over the hudson river and split into to groups. The first streaked left, soaring under the Manhattan bridge and south along the Harlem River, neither in the Bronx or in Manhattan. Scorch and the second group banked to the right, low over the water between New York and New Jersey. Scorch concentrated very hard on keeping the aircraft stable and low as he carefully zipped under the George Washington bridge. He then noticed little specks on the horizon. Don't fire just yet-he thought as he powered up his ASM-125 Harpoon anti-ship missles-they could be the friendlies... A little closer...come on...
"This is USS Wasp to US Marines aricraft! We are under attack! Require immediate assistance!" Cracled the radio suddenly.
"Scorch to Wasp wilco! Approaching from the north! Watch your fire!" Scorch was now in his element. He expertly swiched tagets from the group on the left side of the river to the one on the right, and selected the missle on pylon four. A group of small boxes appeared on his heads up display, each box surrounding a blip on the horizon. He used the hat on the throttle to select a target. The long one in the center of the group looked important. I hope I get someone important, he thought. The lock on tone began to ring in his helmet.
*BEEP_____BEEP__BEEP_BEEP_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP_BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*
"SCORCH, FOX ONE!"