"It's official: the Kingdom of Erusea is now at war with the Osean Federation."
Those words made Eva's head spin. When she had first shipped off to the Usean continent, the last thing she was expecting was to get caught in the middle of a war. The thought of Erusea attacking Osea also made her nervous. She sincerely prayed that her mother was ok. Living in Oured meant she was probably right in the middle of it all. The thought of her mother getting killed in a bombing raid sent her down a series of concerns and doubts, but she quickly found herself snapping back to reality as Waller continued to speak.
"However, we may be able to bring this war to a quick conclusion personally." Waller logged into the terminal, and the three beeps signaled the activation of the screen. The map of Usea had most of the continent filled in as red, with only a small part of the eastern coast colored blue. The screen zoomed in on Farbanti. "Currently, we're on a course for Farbanti, Erusea's capital. You're going to be conducting a night raid. Meteor Squadron will seize air superiority in the skies, while Nexus Squadron eliminates any ground forces. Your objective is to clear the way for our ground team, Eclipse Squadron, to seize the Erusean Military HQ."
Eva nodded, mainly to herself. It seemed like a simple enough operation, although she doubted that it would end that way. But besides that, there was something about this operation that gave her a bad feeling that she couldn't quite describe. Of course, this feeling was reaffirmed by what Waller said next.
"There's more. As I mentioned earlier, Erusea carried out precision strikes all across Osea and Erusea using advanced drones launched from containers, MQ-99s. We believe there will be some present at Farbanti as well. These drones are highly maneuverable and very dangerous, so be on your guard if you engage them." The tone in Waller's voice was probably more severe than Eva had ever heard before. It was crazy how quickly everyone's mood shifted in such a short amount of time, Eva included. "We're still not ready to strike yet, so you have five hours to prepare yourselves as needed. You're all dismissed."
Everyone stood up and slowly filed out of the briefing room, and they all made their way toward the mess hall.
Eva sat at a table in the mess hall with the others. She stared blankly at the wall in front of her, thinking about the myriad of doubts in her mind. Frankly, Eva wasn't sure what to think about any of what was going on. The whole situation just felt surreal. Like it was all some bad dream. Suddenly, Lucky's voice next to her took her out of her thoughts.
"Huh?" Eva asked, having not heard a word of what everyone was discussing.
Lucky smiled as he nodded to Domino. "I was just telling them how badass you were today. Only one sortie and you're already almost an ace."
Eva felt her face get red. She wasn't good at getting praise. "I didn't really think much of it at the time. I just flew." It made sense in her head, but the way she said it made her less confident that it would get her point across.
"You definitely did some impressive flying out there," Vortex said. "Honestly, I'm proud of you."
Eva was about to make some sheepish reply, but Domino spoke first. "From the way these guys are talking about you, it sounds like Erusea isn't gonna know what hit them."
"Just enjoy the spotlight while you can, Diamond. Because tonight, I'm gonna make your numbers look like child's play," Charger said with a grin.
"Oh, whatever. We all know you're just talk." Magic nudged him.
Charger feigned an offended look. "You think so little of me? I'm hurt. How about this then, let's make a bet: whoever gets the most kills tonight wins ten bucks." He extended his hand.
Magic shook it without hesitation. "Oh, you're on. It looks like I'm gonna be making easy money tonight."
"Says you," Poet chimed in. "I want in on this bet too."
"How about we make it a squadron-wide bet?" Vortex suggested. "Everyone has to pay the winner ten bucks." He looked to the others to see their response.
Lucky shrugged, not as interested as the others, but he still had his signature enthusiasm. "Sure. It's something else to do in the air at the very least."
Eva, on the other hand, was eager to get in on the action. "Let's do it!"
They all continued their playful banter for a while, and it made Eva feel at ease. It certainly distracted her from all of her worries about the war, which was what mattered most to her at that moment. Their conversation carried on for several hours. By now, the sun had long since disappeared behind the horizon, and stars blanketed the night sky. Suddenly, they all looked up as Waller's voice sounded off over the intercom.
"Nexus Squadron and Meteor Squadron, report to the hangar and prepare for takeoff," he said.
Everyone stood up, and Eva's heart started pounding again. Eva hoped that if this war was going to carry on for a while, that she would get over this nervousness whenever she went into the air, but she wasn't holding out too much hope for that to happen.
All twelve pilots quickly made their way to the hangar together and started getting prepared to take off. Eva did a quick check of her F/A-18 and climbed in after seeing that it was ready to go. At firsts, she was a bit hesitant to bring QAAMs into a mission where her squadron was mostly engaging ground targets. Still, the only alternative was LASMs, and Eva didn't know what kind of ships they were going up encounter or if there even were any ships. Besides, if she did end up in a dogfight with an MQ-99, then QAAMs would come in handy.
Eva taxied onto the flight deck with Lucky as Magic and Poet just finished taking off. They did some last-minute checks with the Control Tower, and they quickly got up into the air. They accelerated to catch up and move into formation with the rest of the squadron and started flying northeast to Farbanti. After a few minutes, Meteor Squadron caught up with them.
"Eclipse Squadron was just taking off as we left, so we've got a few minutes to secure their LZ before they arrive," Domino said.
"Good. Remember, we've got the element of surprise, so we've gotta make sure that we use it. We want to take out as many targets as we can before they have a chance to react," Vortex replied.
As all twelve aircraft continued their flight to Erusea's capital, the pilots tried to reduce the tension with banter like before, but nobody's mood seemed to be changing. After a while, they all gave up trying and carried on in awkward silence.
Finally, the two squadrons were within reach of Farbanti. They split up into their two formations and split up.
"Waller, this is Nexus 1. We've arrived at Farbanti, and we're engaging now."
"Roger that Nexus 1. Give 'em a wake-up call they won't forget."
Eva saw targets start to appear on her HUD. As expected, most of them were on the ground, but none of them expected to see enemy fighters in the air.
"What the hell? How did they know we were coming?" Eva asked.
"We can worry about that later. For now, engage the enemy. Leave the fighters to Meteor Squadron," Vortex quickly replied as he was already diving down to destroy a SAM site. "Everyone split up into groups of two. We'll cover more ground that way. Charger, you're with me. Diamond, you and Magic deal with those AA guns near the submerged area. Poet and Lucky, you guys deal with the tanks at the park."
Everyone split up into their groups and went to their targets. Eva and Magic flew next to each other toward the ruined buildings. Eva took a deep breath in and out as she focused on the AA gun in front of her. She put her finger on the trigger and waited until she was in range. The green box around her target turned red, and one solid beep sounded off to inform her that she had a lock. Eva quickly squeezed down on the trigger, and a single missile soared through the air, crashing into the AA gun and destroying it instantly.
"Hey, Charger. I've already got one down," Eva said with a grin.
"Pft, just one? You're falling behind Diamond. I'm on three," Charger replied.
Eva frowned. She flew past the submerged area and looped around, focusing on an AA gun on top of a building. She briefly looked over at Magic, who had just destroyed another AA gun and was locking onto a second one. Just as Eva fired a missile, killing her target. There was a beeping in her cockpit, a missile warning.
"What the hell? I've got a missile coming at me?" She pitched her plane up, almost straight up.
"Shake it off, Diamond. Where's it coming from?" Vortex asked.
Eva frantically scanned her radar as the missile got closer. Finally, she saw it, two signatures out in the water. "It looks like there are two boats out on the water. One of them must have a SAM site on it," she explained.
Before Vortex or anyone else could say something, Torch's panicked voice cut through the air. "Onyx, you've got a missile on you. Shake it off!"
The voice Eva could only assume belonged to Onyx responded with a grunt. "Shit, I'm hit! I can still fly, though. For a little while, at least." he finally said.
"Not a chance, I don't want you dying. Torch, head back with Onyx," Domino said assertively.
"Wilco, sir. Come on, Onyx, let's go," Torch responded.
There was a moment of pause before Onyx finally spoke. "Fine," was all he said.
"Waller, Meteor 6 is hit, I'm sending him back with Meteor 2," Domino informed the captain.
"Roger that. Nexus Squadron, Eclipse Squadron just landed at the AO, and they're making their way to the HQ. Ensure they make it there," Waller said.
"Wilco. Everyone, finish up with what you're doing and form up on me," Vortex said to his squadron.
"Vortex, what's that down there?" Charger asked all of a sudden.
"I'm not sure. It looks like the containers on those trucks are doing something," Vortex replied. "Let's go and get a closer look.
Eva destroyed another AA gun and went up into the sky. She craned her neck towards Vortex and Charger's direction to see what was going on, but she was too far away. She looped around and headed straight down toward another gun, destroying it before quickly pulling up again. After regrouping with Magic, the two pilots made their way over to Vortex's position. Suddenly, five new contacts appeared on Eva's radar below Vortex and Charger, and they were quickly ascending. They moved in a way that Eva didn't even know was possible. They were able to make such sharp turns on a dime, and they accelerated so quickly.
"What the hell are these things?" Charger asked, clearly struggling to keep up with these new contacts.
"They're drones. No doubt about it," Vortex said in a very matter-of-fact way. "Meteor Squadron, you've got MQ-99s coming at you!"
"Roger, we see them," Domino replied. "We'll try to keep them busy. You guys protect Eclipse Squadron."
Eva and Magic formed up with Vortex and Charger. Lucky and Poet quickly followed suit. More drones started getting launched up from below, and they quickly engaged Nexus Squadron. Eva found herself being tailed by a drone that was quickly locking onto her. She weaved around in the sky, and for the most part, she was able to break the lock, but the drone was still on her tail. Eva quickly spotted another drone heading her way. Within the span of a few seconds, she switched to her QAAMs and fired one directly at the drone, destroying it.
"We've gotta destroy those containers. Otherwise, they'll just keep launching more UAVs. Charger, take Magic and Lucky, and destroy the containers. Poet, Diamond, you're with me. We've gotta deal with these drones," Vortex said, quickly getting his thoughts together and taking charge.
"Shit! Waller, things aren't looking good here," Domino said, suddenly. "Meteor 3 and Meteor 5 are both hit too. I'm sending them back as well. Meteor 4 and I are forming a rearguard to give them time to pull out."
"Just hang in there. Eclipse Squadron is almost to the HQ," Waller replied with a hint of desperation in his tone.
Eva let out a sigh of relief as she finally got the drone off her tail. She made a tight loop around and saw her former pursuer with another drone heading over to Poet's position. She quickly fired another QAAM at the first drone and two standard missiles at the second one.
"Charger, shake that missile!" Magic's panicked voice suddenly cut into the radio.
"Dammit, it got me. I'm hit," Charger replied with a worried edge to his tone.
"What's your status, Charger? Can you still fly?" Vortex asked, ensuring that he kept his calm.
There was a slight pause before Charger finally replied. "Yeah, I think so, anyway."
"Alright, do you think you can hold on until we're done?" Vortex asked him.
"You don't gotta worry about me, Vortex. I'll be fine," Charger replied.
Eva let out a sigh of relief knowing that Charger was still ok, but it didn't change the fact that they were severely outnumbered. She spotted a drone heading right for her, and she turned to face it directly, quickly finishing it off with a QAAM.
"Vortex, what's our plan here? We can't keep doing this." Eva tried to hide the concern in her voice.
"We've just gotta keep Eclipse Squadron safe," Vortex told her.
"Vortex," Domino cut in. "Meteor 4 is hit, and I'm running low on missiles. I'm sorry, but we're pulling out." There was a deep sense of regret as he spoke.
"It's ok, just keep your guys safe, we'll be fine," Vortex assured him.
"What the hell? Oh my god, no!" Lucky's voice contained a level of fear that she had never heard from him before.
"Lucky, get ahold of yourself and talk to me," Vortex said clearly and concisely.
There was a brief moment of silence before Lucky finally spoke. "I- I didn't- I would never-" It was clear that he was shaking.
"Eclipse Squadron is down!" Waller cut in. His voice was laced with a mixture of shock and frustration.
"I swear- Vortex I swear- I would never-" Lucky fumbled over his words.
"Just tell us, Lucky," Vortex said calmly.
"My missiles went crazy. One of them… hit Eclipse Squadron, and the other hit a civilian building- but I didn't try to. Please, you've got to believe me."
"Nexus Squadron, you've got enemy aircraft approaching from the northeast. Fall back to the carrier. We've suffered too many losses," Waller said.
Eva broke off as she destroyed another drone and formed back up with Vortex. Together, all six aircraft left Farbanti. Nobody said a word as they flew back to base. It was dead silent, but nobody had anything to say. None of it mattered anyway. They had failed their mission, and they had done so in the worst possible way.
Author's Note: Just a quick thing I wanted to clarify so I don't have to do it later, during the debriefing of Mission 3 in the game, they mention that Osean fighters mistakenly targeted civilians. I decided to have that happen here as opposed to during Operation Dual Wielder for story purposes. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the chapter.