Ok time to continue this story, thanks for the reviews by the way. They
make me want to write even more, and I'll try to make the chapters longer
than before but I can't promise anything so, sorry. Oh well, since people
tell me my battles are pretty explicit I better keep up the more or less
good work. Now then about Mana as the female main character...all in good
time my friends all in good time...she'll show and she'll be connected to the
present storyline soon, so don't worry. Oh and about Shinji, it is to my
belief that the identity of the pilots of Evangelion were known only in (1)
All of Tokyo-3 (Couldn't be helped) (2) All of Nerv and (3) high spots of
some other organizations thanks to spying and infiltration (Kaji, Mana,
etc.) As for the rest of the world, that information must have been kept
highly confidential. What sense would it make if the people knew the
pilots, it might have brought them heroism but also some assassination
attempts from organizations against the war (Don't ask me, but there were
bound to be some in existence). And finally, Even though some people of the
army and Seele knew, they only heard it as a rumor and were asking Gendo to
confirm it...I'm pretty sure that's what happened near the beginning of the
series. Ok now that the explanation is out of the way (I hope it helped
some of you) its time to continue the story.
The Artillery Coast
The entire Dragon Squadron was sitting in a room alongside of the Raven squadron waiting for their briefing to commence. One week after the last mission, they were now about to start a new mission. Shinji and Seer were the respected aces now and they were close to getting a new promotion and their own squadrons. Both of them smiled at the thought continuously and knew that they would be trying even harder than before in order to get that rank.
Finally, three men entered the room as soon as the lights dimmed. They were Charlie, John, and one other person. There was in fact one other squadron in the room that neither the Raven squadron nor the Dragon squadron had met before. They were the Raptor squadron, consisting only of F-22's. Their CO was Greinhurst Jaxen.
"Morning everyone" Charlie said and then continued "We have been given a new and incredibly important mission right now; we are going assist many other squadrons while we try to take over a relatively small island. We need to use this island for a mission later on in the future. There are soldiers being sent on small boats towards the location, but the entire coast is infested with artillery fire and anti aircraft weaponry, making landings by air or sea close to impossible"
John then walked up and spoke "There will be other squadrons all over the coast all around the island and they will be doing the same as us...destroying all of the artillery and all of the anti aircraft weaponry. Unfortunately, there are a large number of SAMs in the area, thus using bombing raids and such will be a bad idea. Our decision is that all of the fighters should try to prioritize an attack on the ground forces, as for the air resistance that we'll encounter...don't worry about them until one is right behind you"
Greinhurst finally spoke up at last "Teamwork and wingmen-ship will be most important now. There are 8 pilots in the Dragon Squadron, 7 pilots in the Raven squadron, and 9 pilots in the Raptor squadron, making a total of 24 planes...we will have 6 squadrons with 4 planes in each of them. We'll give you the pilots that are grouped together when we get into the air...is that clear?"
After seeing that there were no looks of doubt or any other questions in the air, he dismissed the group of pilots and sent them to their planes. Every plane made it into the air with no problems whatsoever, and a full tank of fuel. The radio suddenly called out "This is Greinhurst, Dragon squadron will fall in with their own assigned wingmen...Next, Dust Raptor will join up with Blood Dragon and Knight Dragon...Tear Raven will also join the two same planes" After that was said one plane from both Raven and Raptor squadron, respectively, then flew towards Seer and Shinji.
John then came on the radio once all the squadrons were assigned "Knight Dragon will lead his squadron...Grey Dragon will lead his squadron..." Shinji didn't listen to anything else, once he heard his call sign and the word lead in the same sentence time froze for him. "Knight! Hey, Knight!...It was going to happen anyways, this is a test to see whether or not you can lead a squadron into battle...come on man!" Seer kept trying to snap Shinji out of his present reverie before Shinji answered "This is Knight...f*squak* ... *ahem*. Fall into a Diamond formation, Blood Dragon will be behind me, and I want Tear Raven on the right...that leaves Dust Raptor right besides Tear Raven ... understood?"
The planes quickly took their positions and then Charlie came over the radio "This is Grey Dragon, Knight Dragon's squadron will fly alongside of Mirror Dragon's squadron during the battle, don't mix up the squadrons try to keep to your squadrons and avoid confusion, but don't let another friendly plane take the fall easily" Shinji then began to edge his planes towards Jessie's group of planes, they were in the same formation.
"M-m-mirror Dragon? This is Knight Dragon, we got your back" Shinji called through the radio feeling more than a little nervous. Jessie smiled to herself as she answered "Roger that 'shy boy', we appreciate the help" Shinji pulled his head back suddenly, he then thought 'no one's called me that since...' small pictures suddenly flashed through his mind, all of them containing Mana Kirishima in them.
Shinji immediately shook his head 'that's in the past for now, at least until I return to Tokyo-3 or meet Mana again...if she's alive'. "Knight Dragon, this is Mirror Dragon...we're nearing the coast with all the artillery weapons, I see some SAM's and AA guns right behind them...do you copy?" Shinji shook his head and answered "Roger that, Mirror Dragon, I have a visual on the weaponry...you got a plan?"
Jessie giggled "You better believe it...my team will take care of the SAM's and AA guns, you guys work on the Artillery...lets just keep to those jobs shall we?" Shinji was about to agree when he thought of something "Those SAM's and AA guns are mobile, meaning there are more of them in the center, and your job might not finish for a while...and enemy planes may become a factor later on. If planes arrive, we'll take care of them and you continue up with the SAM's and AA guns, if you've cleared them off, even for a short time start a bombing raid over the artillery fire"
Jessie frowned suddenly and called through "What makes you think I have bombs?" Shinji chuckled "Your plane is moving more sluggish than it should, you must have quite a payload inside...why not use it yourself?" Jessie was silent and then gave off a nervous chuckle "It was just for a last resort, but back to the mission...if you are fighting planes then I'll bomb the rest of the artillery...I hope you get some before me"
"Of course we will, how else are we going to get paid?" Seer suddenly said over the radio and then Charlie came through the radio "All right now...I'm happy your in high spirits, now be careful and just finish the ground forces if the skies are clear, if not then you'll should work hard during your dog fight...I know you've already decided on your positions so good luck and god speed...over and out.........OH! Crap I nearly forgot, we have another plane taking care of the confirming kills, it'll be our 'Sky Eye' in the E- 767, they'll also be our CO. Be sure to follow their orders"
"This is Sky Eye, all squadrons confirmed and accounted for...planes are still on the ground, try to take out the Artillery while you're doing so...we'll be expecting some good fighting today so don't disappoint us" Shinji sighed at the last comment "Disappoint you? I still don't know what I'm doing in this plane" Seer laughed out loud "It's because I talked you into it!" Seer then continued to laugh, to which Shinji just sighed again in exasperation.
"Hey Knight Dragon, this is Tear Raven, I got something weird on my radar, can you check it out?" Shinji immediately looked down to his radar as Tear's own radar screen downloaded on to Shinji's screen. "What the?" Shinji immediately explained as he looked at the radar "I...think...they're close to fifty SAM's moving towards the East" "Oh Damn it!! They're a patrol of SAM's the strongest ones around, and we get to fight them...whoopee" It was Dust Raptor who said that.
"This is Mirror Dragon...don't worry we'll handle them...but I think you may have to think about something other than bombs on the artillery" "Affirmative Mirror Dragon, Sky Eye here, we'll accept the bombings of those SAM's, the other planes should take the SAM's close to the Artillery...message received, your all cleared to engage your targets and any dangers found, go to attack speed and good hunting"
The planes immediately hit their after burners in order to cut the distance between them and the shoreline as soon as possible. "This is Tear Raven, I've got the SAM's on my scopes, and their moving towards us, repeat! The SAM's are moving South! Be alert for SAM's and their missile shots" Shinji took a deep breath and then led his squadron to the part where their location was assigned. "All planes under Knight, we're going to lower altitude and shoot with bullets only, we need to try and save our missiles, if we can focus on a group of targets all together then we can destroy our targets with little problem, keep your eyes open to see if you get into radar lock, if you do then you have to break off immediately and wait at point 221 for the rest of the squadron, clear?"
Shinji waited for all the acceptances to this plan and then lowered his altitude. The rest of the planes followed, and began their attack. They were able to destroy 3 artillery weapons in one pass, they then moved around and lowered their altitude for the next pass. They destroyed 4 other artillery weapons easily; it seemed as if the mission would be a breeze. "Sky Eye, this is Knight Dragon, how many artillery weapons are found in our area?"
"Sky Eye here, we've counted 24 still functional artillery weapons, but we've also got enemy planes on our long-range radar coming in at top-speed. They'll be in your position in about 5 minutes, try to destroy as many of the ground artillery as possible and then attack the planes, when we tell you that they've reached your position" "Roger that Sky Eye, keep us posted" Shinji called in as his squadron went in for another pass.
Then suddenly Tear Raven's and Dust Raptor's HUD's began to flash red. They both pulled out quickly and left Seer and Shinji to become the next targets...they were made targets but not before 2 more artillery weapons were destroyed then they pulled out. "This is Blood Dragon, Mirror Dragon we've got company SAM's on the hill in your sector...what's up!?" There was no answer as Blood Dragon called for Jessie again but still there was not answer. "This is Sky Eye, report in, Mirror Dragon......What's happened to Mirror Dragon, does the rest of the squadron know?"
Pabu suddenly answered "Sorry, I'll raise altitude and check around" Shinji and Seer waited at the rendezvous for the answer from Pabu. "This is Sky, I see were Mirror is, she's been downed near a large number of destroyed SAM's, probably from her bombs...her plane is completely intact though, and I think I see life inside the cockpit. Can we send a rescue team?"
"Affirmative, but we'll need an escort for the chopper, by the time it reaches Mirror Dragon's position, the planes we'll be there for sure" Sky Eye answered with a serious voice and Shinji immediately answered "This is Knight, I'll handle escort with the chopper" "Dust Raven will help out with the escort as well"
"Agreed, Knight, Dust head over to the carrier and wait for the chopper to take off, Blood Dragon you lead the squadron now, Sky you lead yours" Seer nodded and flew his plane in front of Tear Raven's and lowered his altitude. "Tear, take aiming into greater consideration now, and be careful try to hold out as long as possible if you get locked on"
"Blood hold on, I have some bombs, they were for a last resort like Mirror, but now we should use them...do you agree?" "Tear you better start on that bombing run I'll take care of the SAM's and AA guns near your bombing run, make every bomb count" Tear immediately gained a little more altitude while Seer lowered his own altitude. Seer spotted 3 SAM's mounted on a hill with a perfect view and a perfect target. "Here goes nothing, firing on a SAM" "Confirmed, 3 SAM's destroyed by Blood Dragon...good shooting"
"This is Tear my bombing run is finished and the artillery is devastated...there are only 4 or 5 artillery left functioning, this area can be named clear after we finish the rest of the artillery" Sky Eye called in immediately "You don't have time, the planes have reached your position from the north, break off from the artillery and prepare for a dogfight...6 enemy aircraft, I think 2 of them are choppers...Their heading towards Mirror Dragon's downed position!"
"This is Blood Dragon, me and Tear will head out to Mirror Dragon and take care of those choppers" "Blood Dragon, you are cleared to go, but be warned, there are still a number of SAM's in the area that are scattered around and damaged but still functional enough to attack...but the rescue team is out and heading your way, hold off the enemy and clear the SAM's for about 2 minutes...after the choppers are downed focus on the SAM's and stay low, they can't hit you if your low enough"
"I read, Tear! Follow me and try not to pull up, you get me?" Seer then hit his afterburners and flew towards Jessie's present location. They found her MiG-38 planted on the ground with little damage to anything other than her right wing, the spot where it landed on. There was no smoke coming from the plane, thus there was no danger of the sudden explosion of Jessie's plane. "Tear, follow me make sure you're at least 1500 feet, that'll be enough to stay out of radar contact, while we destroy the SAM's and the choppers"
"Roger that Blood, I'll follow your lead" Seer then leveled his plane at around 1000 feet and quickly began to bank to the right and the left while he fired on the SAM's...Tear did the same and was able to finish off the damage done by Seer. "This is Seer, I've got a tallyho on the choppers, their 1 military chopper and another pickup chopper, Tear lock onto the pickup chopper, I'll handle the military one" Tear then moved to an angle suitable for shooting at the pickup chopper.
"Radar lock on the chopper, Fox 2!" "Sky Eye, chopper downed by Tear Raven, chopper downed by Blood Dragon, warning, planes coming in from above, and the rescue team is here, they've been armed with bombs be ready to raise altitude" "Blood Dragon here, Tear, follow my lead and stay below the correct altitude, get ready to pull out"
"Blood! We can't stay! The planes are here and they're locking on to me!" Tear was trying to lose his predator by banking right and left, Blood also moved around but was stopped by another enemy plane. "Tear, do not pull up, I repeat do not pull up...I'm trying to get there, but I've run into another plane, hang on"
"Blood! I can't shake him, I gotta pull up, damn it! This guy is too fast for me!" Indeed the pilot behind Tear was fast and very skilled, he must have been an ace, then Tear pulled up. "Damn it! Tear, get ready to eject the minute you get a missile right on your tail, you hear me!?" Tear nodded as he piloted his F-18 through the air, and then suddenly got a locked on signal. Tear immediately began to move around evasively but it was no use, there was more than one SAM locked on to Tear. Then, a missile was launched and Tear ejected as soon as he got signal of it.
"Sorry about that Blood Dragon. I had no choice" Tear said over his radio towards Seer as his parachute lowered him to the ground. Seer sighed in relief and called back "It's not a problem just go and wait for the pickup by Jessie's aircraft, check on her to make sure she's ok" Seer immediately banked to the left and got the ace in his sights. "I got business to take care off right here, right now!" Seer immediately sped his aircraft up even more in order to reach the ace pilot, as soon as the ace saw Seer following behind him, he also began to fly around.
Unfortunately for Seer, the ace could fly higher into the air without worry of being shot down. "Hang on Blood! I'm comin!" It was Shinji and Dust Raptor coming at full speed. "Sky Eye, this is Knight Dragon, requesting immediate bombardment of the specified areas"
"This is Sky Eye, request is approved but keep to the outskirts of the entire field" "Roger that, Sky Eye, bombardment has commenced. Dust, take the opposite flight path as me and begin your bombardment, that should make things easier for Blood Dragon" "Roger that Knight Dragon, I'm on my way"
"This is chopper Raid, were coming in for the pickup, hold that fighter off for just a little while longer" Seer nodded and began to feel the sweat build up on his brow. He kept his eyes on the sky and looked the ace that was flying around continuously. Seer had to shoot down that plane but he also had to protect Jessie's downed aircraft. "This is Tear, I've made it to the crash site...Jessie is just fine, there are no major injuries and no broken bones, but she's stuck under the cockpit, I'm gonna try to get her out"
"Good luck Tear, I'll keep you guys protected" Seer then looked up at the ace and lowered his voice "somehow". The Ace then suddenly dived and charged towards Seer, Seer banked towards the opposite direction, and hit the afterburners at full throttle. "Blood Dragon, this is Knight, the bombardment is finished on the outer edges around the crash site and most of the center is clear, you are clear to raise altitude in the designated sectors sent". Seer sighed in relief as the information downloaded, when he got the closest spot that was now clear, he flew towards it at a low altitude.
It was possible that the ace did not know that the position was clear, but more likely than not, it was looking for a challenge and wanted to fight on fair territory. As soon as Seer reached the clear spot, he pulled up and flew along the edges of the clear area until his plane was facing the enemy plane. They were both F-16's, and obviously both had their ace wings, although one had them for a while now, and the other just got them.
"Blood, this is Knight, the chopper has reached the crash site, but other enemy planes have arrived...that ace is yours until we can take out all the planes...God speed my friend" Seer smirked as he answered "Thanks for the info, and for the luck...I won't let you down" Then the two planes charged at each other by hitting their afterburners. They both moved apart at the very last second, but the ace was lucky and flew a complete U turn with no problems. Thus, Seer was being followed by an Ace, and didn't have many bullets on him.
Seer then flew his plane near the ground, and the ace followed skillfully and with incredible ease. Seer suddenly pulled up and tried to do a summersault, hoping to catch the enemy off guard, but it didn't work. As soon as Seer pulled up, the enemy pulled up as well and followed Seer through the summersault. Seer was still in trouble, but he decided to bank to the right and then the left continuously.
Seer then did another summersault but this time, halfway through, he turned his F-16 and pulled up to do another summersault. The ace didn't expect it, and Seer was finally behind the ace once he finished the second summersault. Seer pushed down on the nose and once he was level he right the aircraft with a roll. The ace quickly banked to the right as Seer tried to lock on with his missiles. The ace was moving too fast for a lock on missile, so Seer tried to use his guns and what was left of the bullets.
Through anticipation and sheer luck, Seer fired and hit the ace's only engine. The engine was on afterburner but now the flames died out, although there was some thrust coming from the engine. The ace then banked to the left in order to catch Seer off guard, but instead Seer finished the rest of his bullets and struck the aces engine once again.
The plane was beginning to slow down considerably, Seer was finally able to lock on with a missile. "Blood Dragon, radar lock......Fox 2!" The missile was launched and struck its target dead on. "Sky Eye here, good shooting Blood Dragon. Skies are clear of the enemy, and the coasts on all sides have lost their artillery, the soldiers are on their way to take over the base, you are all cleared for RTB, take a long rest you've all earned it"
******************************************
After all the squadrons had landed, along with the chopper carrying survivors, there was a big cheer coming from the crewmembers of the entire ship. Charlie came up to Seer and Shinji, "You've done very well, and this will be sent to the commissioners, I'll make sure you get your own squadrons if it's the last thing I do, and you should get some missions partnering you up" Seer and Shinji chuckled and then sighed, then Charlie continued "Until then, however, you will both get a long rest, maybe a month, what do you think?"
"FINALLY!!!" Seer yelled out suddenly, Shinji smirked and nodded "We really need it" Charlie laughed and nodded, "We'll send you to some air force barrack somewhere in Tokyo-3, you should get some relaxation there" Shinji's world stopped right there and then he knelt to the ground, causing Charlie and Seer to wonder although Seer really did know. "Shinji are you ok? Listen even though you're going to see some old friends, and you may wonder if their even alive, you have to face it and move on, you can't do this to yourself, besides I'm goin with you. I don't think there'll be much of a problem, right?"
"Well if that's the problem, then Seer is right...besides you'll have a few days to give it some thought, and then you'll fly towards Tokyo-3...we'll keep you updated on the war.........I just wonder why Tokyo-3 was made as the top decision" Charlie continued to wonder on the last thing as he walked away from the two friends. Shinji smiled "I might see Misato, Asuka, Rei, my mom even...I might even find Mana........." Shinji suddenly began to give some thought to the last thing and began to smil even more, then he suddenly ran down into the ship and began to look for something.
________________________________________________________________________
What is Shinji looking for? Is everyone that Shinji cares about still alive and waiting for Shinji's return? And how about that promotion? Well, I'll write about most of these things in the next chapter. As for the rest of his friends, I'll explain what's happened to them too. C ya later Hawk Strife
The Artillery Coast
The entire Dragon Squadron was sitting in a room alongside of the Raven squadron waiting for their briefing to commence. One week after the last mission, they were now about to start a new mission. Shinji and Seer were the respected aces now and they were close to getting a new promotion and their own squadrons. Both of them smiled at the thought continuously and knew that they would be trying even harder than before in order to get that rank.
Finally, three men entered the room as soon as the lights dimmed. They were Charlie, John, and one other person. There was in fact one other squadron in the room that neither the Raven squadron nor the Dragon squadron had met before. They were the Raptor squadron, consisting only of F-22's. Their CO was Greinhurst Jaxen.
"Morning everyone" Charlie said and then continued "We have been given a new and incredibly important mission right now; we are going assist many other squadrons while we try to take over a relatively small island. We need to use this island for a mission later on in the future. There are soldiers being sent on small boats towards the location, but the entire coast is infested with artillery fire and anti aircraft weaponry, making landings by air or sea close to impossible"
John then walked up and spoke "There will be other squadrons all over the coast all around the island and they will be doing the same as us...destroying all of the artillery and all of the anti aircraft weaponry. Unfortunately, there are a large number of SAMs in the area, thus using bombing raids and such will be a bad idea. Our decision is that all of the fighters should try to prioritize an attack on the ground forces, as for the air resistance that we'll encounter...don't worry about them until one is right behind you"
Greinhurst finally spoke up at last "Teamwork and wingmen-ship will be most important now. There are 8 pilots in the Dragon Squadron, 7 pilots in the Raven squadron, and 9 pilots in the Raptor squadron, making a total of 24 planes...we will have 6 squadrons with 4 planes in each of them. We'll give you the pilots that are grouped together when we get into the air...is that clear?"
After seeing that there were no looks of doubt or any other questions in the air, he dismissed the group of pilots and sent them to their planes. Every plane made it into the air with no problems whatsoever, and a full tank of fuel. The radio suddenly called out "This is Greinhurst, Dragon squadron will fall in with their own assigned wingmen...Next, Dust Raptor will join up with Blood Dragon and Knight Dragon...Tear Raven will also join the two same planes" After that was said one plane from both Raven and Raptor squadron, respectively, then flew towards Seer and Shinji.
John then came on the radio once all the squadrons were assigned "Knight Dragon will lead his squadron...Grey Dragon will lead his squadron..." Shinji didn't listen to anything else, once he heard his call sign and the word lead in the same sentence time froze for him. "Knight! Hey, Knight!...It was going to happen anyways, this is a test to see whether or not you can lead a squadron into battle...come on man!" Seer kept trying to snap Shinji out of his present reverie before Shinji answered "This is Knight...f*squak* ... *ahem*. Fall into a Diamond formation, Blood Dragon will be behind me, and I want Tear Raven on the right...that leaves Dust Raptor right besides Tear Raven ... understood?"
The planes quickly took their positions and then Charlie came over the radio "This is Grey Dragon, Knight Dragon's squadron will fly alongside of Mirror Dragon's squadron during the battle, don't mix up the squadrons try to keep to your squadrons and avoid confusion, but don't let another friendly plane take the fall easily" Shinji then began to edge his planes towards Jessie's group of planes, they were in the same formation.
"M-m-mirror Dragon? This is Knight Dragon, we got your back" Shinji called through the radio feeling more than a little nervous. Jessie smiled to herself as she answered "Roger that 'shy boy', we appreciate the help" Shinji pulled his head back suddenly, he then thought 'no one's called me that since...' small pictures suddenly flashed through his mind, all of them containing Mana Kirishima in them.
Shinji immediately shook his head 'that's in the past for now, at least until I return to Tokyo-3 or meet Mana again...if she's alive'. "Knight Dragon, this is Mirror Dragon...we're nearing the coast with all the artillery weapons, I see some SAM's and AA guns right behind them...do you copy?" Shinji shook his head and answered "Roger that, Mirror Dragon, I have a visual on the weaponry...you got a plan?"
Jessie giggled "You better believe it...my team will take care of the SAM's and AA guns, you guys work on the Artillery...lets just keep to those jobs shall we?" Shinji was about to agree when he thought of something "Those SAM's and AA guns are mobile, meaning there are more of them in the center, and your job might not finish for a while...and enemy planes may become a factor later on. If planes arrive, we'll take care of them and you continue up with the SAM's and AA guns, if you've cleared them off, even for a short time start a bombing raid over the artillery fire"
Jessie frowned suddenly and called through "What makes you think I have bombs?" Shinji chuckled "Your plane is moving more sluggish than it should, you must have quite a payload inside...why not use it yourself?" Jessie was silent and then gave off a nervous chuckle "It was just for a last resort, but back to the mission...if you are fighting planes then I'll bomb the rest of the artillery...I hope you get some before me"
"Of course we will, how else are we going to get paid?" Seer suddenly said over the radio and then Charlie came through the radio "All right now...I'm happy your in high spirits, now be careful and just finish the ground forces if the skies are clear, if not then you'll should work hard during your dog fight...I know you've already decided on your positions so good luck and god speed...over and out.........OH! Crap I nearly forgot, we have another plane taking care of the confirming kills, it'll be our 'Sky Eye' in the E- 767, they'll also be our CO. Be sure to follow their orders"
"This is Sky Eye, all squadrons confirmed and accounted for...planes are still on the ground, try to take out the Artillery while you're doing so...we'll be expecting some good fighting today so don't disappoint us" Shinji sighed at the last comment "Disappoint you? I still don't know what I'm doing in this plane" Seer laughed out loud "It's because I talked you into it!" Seer then continued to laugh, to which Shinji just sighed again in exasperation.
"Hey Knight Dragon, this is Tear Raven, I got something weird on my radar, can you check it out?" Shinji immediately looked down to his radar as Tear's own radar screen downloaded on to Shinji's screen. "What the?" Shinji immediately explained as he looked at the radar "I...think...they're close to fifty SAM's moving towards the East" "Oh Damn it!! They're a patrol of SAM's the strongest ones around, and we get to fight them...whoopee" It was Dust Raptor who said that.
"This is Mirror Dragon...don't worry we'll handle them...but I think you may have to think about something other than bombs on the artillery" "Affirmative Mirror Dragon, Sky Eye here, we'll accept the bombings of those SAM's, the other planes should take the SAM's close to the Artillery...message received, your all cleared to engage your targets and any dangers found, go to attack speed and good hunting"
The planes immediately hit their after burners in order to cut the distance between them and the shoreline as soon as possible. "This is Tear Raven, I've got the SAM's on my scopes, and their moving towards us, repeat! The SAM's are moving South! Be alert for SAM's and their missile shots" Shinji took a deep breath and then led his squadron to the part where their location was assigned. "All planes under Knight, we're going to lower altitude and shoot with bullets only, we need to try and save our missiles, if we can focus on a group of targets all together then we can destroy our targets with little problem, keep your eyes open to see if you get into radar lock, if you do then you have to break off immediately and wait at point 221 for the rest of the squadron, clear?"
Shinji waited for all the acceptances to this plan and then lowered his altitude. The rest of the planes followed, and began their attack. They were able to destroy 3 artillery weapons in one pass, they then moved around and lowered their altitude for the next pass. They destroyed 4 other artillery weapons easily; it seemed as if the mission would be a breeze. "Sky Eye, this is Knight Dragon, how many artillery weapons are found in our area?"
"Sky Eye here, we've counted 24 still functional artillery weapons, but we've also got enemy planes on our long-range radar coming in at top-speed. They'll be in your position in about 5 minutes, try to destroy as many of the ground artillery as possible and then attack the planes, when we tell you that they've reached your position" "Roger that Sky Eye, keep us posted" Shinji called in as his squadron went in for another pass.
Then suddenly Tear Raven's and Dust Raptor's HUD's began to flash red. They both pulled out quickly and left Seer and Shinji to become the next targets...they were made targets but not before 2 more artillery weapons were destroyed then they pulled out. "This is Blood Dragon, Mirror Dragon we've got company SAM's on the hill in your sector...what's up!?" There was no answer as Blood Dragon called for Jessie again but still there was not answer. "This is Sky Eye, report in, Mirror Dragon......What's happened to Mirror Dragon, does the rest of the squadron know?"
Pabu suddenly answered "Sorry, I'll raise altitude and check around" Shinji and Seer waited at the rendezvous for the answer from Pabu. "This is Sky, I see were Mirror is, she's been downed near a large number of destroyed SAM's, probably from her bombs...her plane is completely intact though, and I think I see life inside the cockpit. Can we send a rescue team?"
"Affirmative, but we'll need an escort for the chopper, by the time it reaches Mirror Dragon's position, the planes we'll be there for sure" Sky Eye answered with a serious voice and Shinji immediately answered "This is Knight, I'll handle escort with the chopper" "Dust Raven will help out with the escort as well"
"Agreed, Knight, Dust head over to the carrier and wait for the chopper to take off, Blood Dragon you lead the squadron now, Sky you lead yours" Seer nodded and flew his plane in front of Tear Raven's and lowered his altitude. "Tear, take aiming into greater consideration now, and be careful try to hold out as long as possible if you get locked on"
"Blood hold on, I have some bombs, they were for a last resort like Mirror, but now we should use them...do you agree?" "Tear you better start on that bombing run I'll take care of the SAM's and AA guns near your bombing run, make every bomb count" Tear immediately gained a little more altitude while Seer lowered his own altitude. Seer spotted 3 SAM's mounted on a hill with a perfect view and a perfect target. "Here goes nothing, firing on a SAM" "Confirmed, 3 SAM's destroyed by Blood Dragon...good shooting"
"This is Tear my bombing run is finished and the artillery is devastated...there are only 4 or 5 artillery left functioning, this area can be named clear after we finish the rest of the artillery" Sky Eye called in immediately "You don't have time, the planes have reached your position from the north, break off from the artillery and prepare for a dogfight...6 enemy aircraft, I think 2 of them are choppers...Their heading towards Mirror Dragon's downed position!"
"This is Blood Dragon, me and Tear will head out to Mirror Dragon and take care of those choppers" "Blood Dragon, you are cleared to go, but be warned, there are still a number of SAM's in the area that are scattered around and damaged but still functional enough to attack...but the rescue team is out and heading your way, hold off the enemy and clear the SAM's for about 2 minutes...after the choppers are downed focus on the SAM's and stay low, they can't hit you if your low enough"
"I read, Tear! Follow me and try not to pull up, you get me?" Seer then hit his afterburners and flew towards Jessie's present location. They found her MiG-38 planted on the ground with little damage to anything other than her right wing, the spot where it landed on. There was no smoke coming from the plane, thus there was no danger of the sudden explosion of Jessie's plane. "Tear, follow me make sure you're at least 1500 feet, that'll be enough to stay out of radar contact, while we destroy the SAM's and the choppers"
"Roger that Blood, I'll follow your lead" Seer then leveled his plane at around 1000 feet and quickly began to bank to the right and the left while he fired on the SAM's...Tear did the same and was able to finish off the damage done by Seer. "This is Seer, I've got a tallyho on the choppers, their 1 military chopper and another pickup chopper, Tear lock onto the pickup chopper, I'll handle the military one" Tear then moved to an angle suitable for shooting at the pickup chopper.
"Radar lock on the chopper, Fox 2!" "Sky Eye, chopper downed by Tear Raven, chopper downed by Blood Dragon, warning, planes coming in from above, and the rescue team is here, they've been armed with bombs be ready to raise altitude" "Blood Dragon here, Tear, follow my lead and stay below the correct altitude, get ready to pull out"
"Blood! We can't stay! The planes are here and they're locking on to me!" Tear was trying to lose his predator by banking right and left, Blood also moved around but was stopped by another enemy plane. "Tear, do not pull up, I repeat do not pull up...I'm trying to get there, but I've run into another plane, hang on"
"Blood! I can't shake him, I gotta pull up, damn it! This guy is too fast for me!" Indeed the pilot behind Tear was fast and very skilled, he must have been an ace, then Tear pulled up. "Damn it! Tear, get ready to eject the minute you get a missile right on your tail, you hear me!?" Tear nodded as he piloted his F-18 through the air, and then suddenly got a locked on signal. Tear immediately began to move around evasively but it was no use, there was more than one SAM locked on to Tear. Then, a missile was launched and Tear ejected as soon as he got signal of it.
"Sorry about that Blood Dragon. I had no choice" Tear said over his radio towards Seer as his parachute lowered him to the ground. Seer sighed in relief and called back "It's not a problem just go and wait for the pickup by Jessie's aircraft, check on her to make sure she's ok" Seer immediately banked to the left and got the ace in his sights. "I got business to take care off right here, right now!" Seer immediately sped his aircraft up even more in order to reach the ace pilot, as soon as the ace saw Seer following behind him, he also began to fly around.
Unfortunately for Seer, the ace could fly higher into the air without worry of being shot down. "Hang on Blood! I'm comin!" It was Shinji and Dust Raptor coming at full speed. "Sky Eye, this is Knight Dragon, requesting immediate bombardment of the specified areas"
"This is Sky Eye, request is approved but keep to the outskirts of the entire field" "Roger that, Sky Eye, bombardment has commenced. Dust, take the opposite flight path as me and begin your bombardment, that should make things easier for Blood Dragon" "Roger that Knight Dragon, I'm on my way"
"This is chopper Raid, were coming in for the pickup, hold that fighter off for just a little while longer" Seer nodded and began to feel the sweat build up on his brow. He kept his eyes on the sky and looked the ace that was flying around continuously. Seer had to shoot down that plane but he also had to protect Jessie's downed aircraft. "This is Tear, I've made it to the crash site...Jessie is just fine, there are no major injuries and no broken bones, but she's stuck under the cockpit, I'm gonna try to get her out"
"Good luck Tear, I'll keep you guys protected" Seer then looked up at the ace and lowered his voice "somehow". The Ace then suddenly dived and charged towards Seer, Seer banked towards the opposite direction, and hit the afterburners at full throttle. "Blood Dragon, this is Knight, the bombardment is finished on the outer edges around the crash site and most of the center is clear, you are clear to raise altitude in the designated sectors sent". Seer sighed in relief as the information downloaded, when he got the closest spot that was now clear, he flew towards it at a low altitude.
It was possible that the ace did not know that the position was clear, but more likely than not, it was looking for a challenge and wanted to fight on fair territory. As soon as Seer reached the clear spot, he pulled up and flew along the edges of the clear area until his plane was facing the enemy plane. They were both F-16's, and obviously both had their ace wings, although one had them for a while now, and the other just got them.
"Blood, this is Knight, the chopper has reached the crash site, but other enemy planes have arrived...that ace is yours until we can take out all the planes...God speed my friend" Seer smirked as he answered "Thanks for the info, and for the luck...I won't let you down" Then the two planes charged at each other by hitting their afterburners. They both moved apart at the very last second, but the ace was lucky and flew a complete U turn with no problems. Thus, Seer was being followed by an Ace, and didn't have many bullets on him.
Seer then flew his plane near the ground, and the ace followed skillfully and with incredible ease. Seer suddenly pulled up and tried to do a summersault, hoping to catch the enemy off guard, but it didn't work. As soon as Seer pulled up, the enemy pulled up as well and followed Seer through the summersault. Seer was still in trouble, but he decided to bank to the right and then the left continuously.
Seer then did another summersault but this time, halfway through, he turned his F-16 and pulled up to do another summersault. The ace didn't expect it, and Seer was finally behind the ace once he finished the second summersault. Seer pushed down on the nose and once he was level he right the aircraft with a roll. The ace quickly banked to the right as Seer tried to lock on with his missiles. The ace was moving too fast for a lock on missile, so Seer tried to use his guns and what was left of the bullets.
Through anticipation and sheer luck, Seer fired and hit the ace's only engine. The engine was on afterburner but now the flames died out, although there was some thrust coming from the engine. The ace then banked to the left in order to catch Seer off guard, but instead Seer finished the rest of his bullets and struck the aces engine once again.
The plane was beginning to slow down considerably, Seer was finally able to lock on with a missile. "Blood Dragon, radar lock......Fox 2!" The missile was launched and struck its target dead on. "Sky Eye here, good shooting Blood Dragon. Skies are clear of the enemy, and the coasts on all sides have lost their artillery, the soldiers are on their way to take over the base, you are all cleared for RTB, take a long rest you've all earned it"
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After all the squadrons had landed, along with the chopper carrying survivors, there was a big cheer coming from the crewmembers of the entire ship. Charlie came up to Seer and Shinji, "You've done very well, and this will be sent to the commissioners, I'll make sure you get your own squadrons if it's the last thing I do, and you should get some missions partnering you up" Seer and Shinji chuckled and then sighed, then Charlie continued "Until then, however, you will both get a long rest, maybe a month, what do you think?"
"FINALLY!!!" Seer yelled out suddenly, Shinji smirked and nodded "We really need it" Charlie laughed and nodded, "We'll send you to some air force barrack somewhere in Tokyo-3, you should get some relaxation there" Shinji's world stopped right there and then he knelt to the ground, causing Charlie and Seer to wonder although Seer really did know. "Shinji are you ok? Listen even though you're going to see some old friends, and you may wonder if their even alive, you have to face it and move on, you can't do this to yourself, besides I'm goin with you. I don't think there'll be much of a problem, right?"
"Well if that's the problem, then Seer is right...besides you'll have a few days to give it some thought, and then you'll fly towards Tokyo-3...we'll keep you updated on the war.........I just wonder why Tokyo-3 was made as the top decision" Charlie continued to wonder on the last thing as he walked away from the two friends. Shinji smiled "I might see Misato, Asuka, Rei, my mom even...I might even find Mana........." Shinji suddenly began to give some thought to the last thing and began to smil even more, then he suddenly ran down into the ship and began to look for something.
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What is Shinji looking for? Is everyone that Shinji cares about still alive and waiting for Shinji's return? And how about that promotion? Well, I'll write about most of these things in the next chapter. As for the rest of his friends, I'll explain what's happened to them too. C ya later Hawk Strife