As Eva followed the rest of her squadron into the briefing room, the first thing she noticed was Major Tillmin. Specifically, it was what he was wearing that stood out. Rather than being dressed in his officer's uniform that he usually wore, he now had on combat fatigues, a plate carrier, and a helmet.
Magnum snickered as soon as she saw him. "I hope you realize how ridiculous you look," she taunted him.
"What's with the getup?" Poet asked as he and the others sat down in their usual seats.
"I'll explain in a moment," Tillmin assured them. "For now, I'll let Commander Gates get the briefing started." He nodded to the base commander and stepped back, allowing him to take the floor.
Gates walked over to the computer and started up the briefing software. "As I'm sure you're all aware, the main threat to all of our operations here has been the enemy's drones that respond to nearly every move we make." He sighed. "We can't be sure since we have no way of contacting Osean command, but it's safe to assume that the main forces are experiencing this as well. Fortunately, we may be able to help them out a bit."
Tillmin stepped forward. "The reason these drones are always so quick to respond to our attacks is due to an auto-intercept system Erusea developed," he explained. "Essentially, it works like this: If enemy aircraft are detected flying into Erusea territory, and they don't respond to Erusea's IFF, drones are automatically scrambled to intercept the enemy aircraft." He placed friendly blips on the briefing map in the east and moved them into Erusea's territory in red, which were quickly shot down by a group of red blips he placed. "Naturally, Erusea had to put a barrier in place which would determine when to check the IFF of enemy aircraft," he continued, typing onto the computer. "That barrier is right here." He placed a wall down running along the Usean Continent where Erusea's red met with Osea's blue. "As you can see, it's completely impenetrable, or at least, it is for now," he added with a smirk. "Your mission is going to change that." Tillmin stepped back, allowing Gates to sit down at the computer.
"Major Tillmin brought us a lot of valuable information when he defected, and among that information was the locations of many key targets. One such target is right here," Gates said as he zoomed the map of Usea into an area southwest of their base.
"What is it, exactly?" Vortex asked. "What makes it such a special target?"
"It's a communication and data relay facility," Gates explained. "This isn't just any comm facility, though. This is where all of the launch orders for the auto-intercept system go through. Unfortunately, we won't be able to outright destroy it without attracting too much attention. This will be risky enough already. That's where Major Tillmin comes in." He zoomed in further on the map, displaying a clear view of the facility.
"The first step is actually getting to the facility. As Commander Gates said, we don't want to attract too much attention. Already we run the risk of bringing the Arsenal Birds down on us, as well as auto-intercept drones, and potentially that experimental fighter. Basically, we need to minimize the amount of time between the enemy detecting us and the moment we're in range. In order to do that, you'll need to make your approach from in the Gnome Ravine."
"Hang on. Back up," Slipstream cut him off. "Are you telling me that you want us to approach this facility from inside a ravine?"
"If there were another way in, we wouldn't be doing this," Gates assured him. "Unfortunately, we don't have a choice if we want to get this done." He leaned in front of the computer. "You'll make your approach from the east, keeping your altitude below 600 meters up until you reach the base," he explained. "Once you've made contact, you'll clear the ground defenses and allow Deviant Squadron to land and breach the facility, accompanied by Major Tillmin."
Axe scoffed. "We really just gonna let the guy who just defected two weeks ago back into enemy lines with a gun?" he asked facetiously.
"I've known Major Tillmin for years," Gates assured the pilot. "I trust him with my life. Once he's inside the facility with Deviant Squadron, they'll make their way into the main hub, where Major Tillmin will punch a hole in Erusea's auto-intercept system, allowing Osea to slip through said hole without any issues."
"Remember, time is of the essence here," Tillmin reminded them. "This is a crucial target for Erusea, so they're going to make sure that they don't lose it. The sooner we exfil, the better chance we have of getting out alive."
"Are there any questions?" Gates asked, looking around the room. "No? Then let's get going."
Eva took a deep breath as she lowered her altitude, following Vortex's lead as they approached the ravine. She felt herself getting butterflies in her stomach as she approached the entrance to the ravine. Reducing her speed, she kept herself in formation and her finger off the trigger.
"Rogue Squadron, Castor Squadron, you're approaching waypoint one," Crosswind informed them. "Reduce your altitude to 600 meters. You're also forbidden from using weapons until you reach the facility."
"Roger that, Crosswind," Vortex replied. "We'll see you on the other side."
"Hopefully," Slipstream added. "I still think this is crazy."
"Oh, come on, Slipstream," Lucky teased him. "Out of all the things we've done, this is probably only about the third worst idea we've had."
"No, no, I'm actually with Slipstream on this one," Magic chimed in. "This is a terrible idea."
Eva smirked at the exchange but didn't add anything to it. Personally, she was excited about the mission. Obviously, she was nervous. Flying through a ravine was not only risky but crazy. At the same time, though, there was something in the back of her mind that she couldn't quite describe that made her feel actually eager to fly through a ravine.
"Rogue, Castor, you've passed through waypoint one. Radio silence is in effect from here on out," Crosswind ordered before cutting his mic.
Eva gripped her control stick and rolled onto her side, making the first sharp turn to the right. She quickly leveled out her plane again and continued straight, staying right behind Lucky as she kept her speed just high enough that she wouldn't stall. She held her breathing steady, locking her eyes on the next turn. At the moment, the ravine was fairly wide- enough that they could probably have three planes spread out, even though they stayed in a mostly single-file line. However, Eva had a feeling that was going to change very soon.
The next turn wasn't as sharp as the first one, but it did have another one almost immediately after it. Eva increased her altitude to make sure she didn't stall and crash into the bottom of the ravine and inverted her plane, pitching back down only a few dozen meters before passing over the altitude restriction. She rolled around over onto her front side and let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that they had another shot of mostly straight flying, with a few areas where the ravine jutted out on either side, which Eva remedied by rolling her plane onto its side.
The next turn saw Eva's worries realized, as the ravine got significantly narrower, not to mention bendier. She lowered her speed to get the maneuverability she needed to make the turns but nearly stalled in the process. The next hurdle was an outcrop of rocks at the top of either end of the ravine, which forced everyone to dive down even further. Eva flew less than a hundred meters above the ground, and at that moment, she remembered how much she hated low-altitude flying. The ever-constricting walls of the ravine didn't help either.
As soon as she could, Eva raised her altitude back up to about 300 meters, where she immediately had to make another tight turn. After that, though, she was relieved to see the ravine start to widen again. After continuing, she let exhaled sharply as she and the others finally laid eyes on their destination.
"Rogue, Castor, you've made it to the facility." Eva wondered if Crosswind knew how glad she was to hear his voice after the long and tense silence during their ravine flight. "Radio silence has been lifted, and you are weapons-free," he informed the pilots. "Clear the way for Deviant Squadron."
"Quit worrying, Crosswind," Magnum said dismissively. "There's hardly any ground defenses here. I thought you said this was an important target."
"Let's cut the chatter," Vortex stepped in before anyone else could reply. "Remember, time is of the essence here," he reminded them. "Let's get to work."
"Roger that. Rogue 10, engaging," Eva replied, climbing up to a higher altitude before diving back down, taking out the first two AA guns in their way.
As expected, the monotonous beeping of the missile alert in Eva's cockpit went off, and she instinctively pitched up before rolling around and turning to avoid the missile. As soon as the alert quieted down, she angled herself down again and destroyed the SAM launcher that initially fired at her. Surprisingly, though, there weren't many ground defenses. After only a few minutes, they had already taken everything out.
"Deviant Squadron, the way is clear," Vortex reported. "Hope you're ready to make this trip quick."
Deviant 1 laughed. "Don't you worry, Rogue 1. We're all ready to go here, even our special guest."
"You just focus on doing your job," Tillmin cut in. "This isn't my first rodeo. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."
Eva circled around the main facility as the helicopters carrying Deviant Squadron touched down on the ground. She looked over at her radar every few seconds to make sure there weren't any more incoming hostiles, but at the moment, it was clear.
"This is Deviant 1; we've made contact inside the facility!" the ground leader reported. "This old guy is surprisingly good with a pistol," he remarked.
"Copy that, Deviant 1," Crosswind replied. "Keep us updated on- wait… what the hell?"
"What's up, Crosswind?" Charger asked, concern creeping into his voice.
"I've got allied fighters on the radar, coming in from bearing 140," the AWACS operator said. "Eight Su-35s."
"Allied fighters?" Eva echoed. She felt a flicker of hope rising into her chest. Could it be possible that they were finally about to regroup with allied forces? After all of this time stuck behind enemy lines, was it about to be over?
"Osean fighters, this is the AWACS Crosswind of the Air Force Base 262. What is your affiliation?"
No reply came from the friendly fighters, but Eva and the others formed up to greet them all the same. At the moment, Eva didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. All she could think about was getting back to some semblance of normalcy, which is why she was caught completely off guard when the approaching Su-35s started to get a radar lock.
"Hey, what the hell's going on?" Magic asked before Eva could get the chance. "Why are they locking onto us?"
"Osean fighters, hold your fire!" Crosswind cried out. "We're friendly, goddammit!"
"We may be friendly, but I don't think they are," Neutron observed.
"No shit!" Axe exclaimed. "What gave you that idea? Was it the machine gun tracers? Or was it the missiles?"
"Knock it off, Rogue 4," Crosswind barked. "All aircraft, break off. Head straight at bearing triple zero."
"Fly straight?" Magnum asked. "I knew you hated us, but now you're not even trying to hide the fact that you wanna kill us."
"Just goddamn do it!" Crosswind snapped. "If you fly that way, I can know which of you is actually friendly and which of you is hostile."
Eva broke deployed flares and banked right to get the Su-35 off her tail. She throttled up as high as she could go and turned to the direction that Crosswind specified. They put some distance between themselves and the enemy fighters, but the Su-35s were quickly gaining. Eva felt her heart pounding in her chest as the radar lock warning turned into a missile warning, but all she could do was fly straight.
"Crosswind, we're not getting any younger here," Threes said impatiently.
"Just hold on a second. I'm sending the ID data," Crosswind replied, equally as impatiently.
As soon as Eva heard a high-pitched ding in her cockpit, she turned up and to the left, looping around to face the now hostile Su-35s. The first fighter in her sight was facing right at her. They both fired missiles at each other, but Eva managed to evade just before she got hit. The other fighter, however, was not so lucky. With the first fighter down, Eva swooped back down and put some distance between herself and the rest before looping around again.
"What the hell? More contacts incoming on radar," Crosswind announced before he finally realized what was incoming. "It's Helios projectiles!"
Several light blue balls lit up the sky and shook Eva to her core as she rolled away from them. "Goddammit," she muttered. "Just what we needed."
"Crosswind, what the hell is going on up there?" Deviant 1 asked. "We can feel the explosions from inside the facility."
"Don't worry about it, just focus on your job. Everything up here is just fine," Crosswind said before turning his attention back to the situation that was, in fact, not fine. "More Helios projectiles inbound!" he warned. "Sending the predicted impact zone."
Eva looked down at her radar and the red circles that just appeared. She immediately broke off from the Su-35 she was chasing and flew straight out of the impact zone. She circled around and fired two missiles at one of the enemy fighters that was just escaping the Helios' range. One hit, which allowed her to slip behind it and finish it off with a few shots from her machine gun, only seconds before the next wave of Helios missiles shook the sky.
"I think this is the part of the mission where I realize, faster than you guys, that this is not worth it," Dodger announced as he turned toward the bearing that they came from.
Slipstream let out a heavy sigh. "You know… I don't why we're surprised by this anymore. I mean, it's fairly obvious that you're just totally spineless, so it should come as no surprise whenever you run away like a coward."
"Quit chastising him and focus on taking out this last fighter," Vortex barked.
"Oh shit," Crosswind muttered. "Major, what's your status?"
"I've successfully punched a hole in the auto-intercept system, but for some reason, it's not showing me where the weak spot is," Tillmin reported. "If you give me a few more minutes, I should be able to find it."
"Nope, scratch that. You're done now," Crosswind told him. "I've got eyes an Arsenal Bird entering the AO. You guys have got to get out. Like, right now."
Tillmin paused for a moment before responding. "Shit. Roger that, we're returning to the choppers."
"We just dealt with the last fighter," Lucky reported as he pulled away from the explosion. "So, we're waiting on you guys to get out of here."
"Well, there's no need for all of us to stay here. The faster we get out of here, the better," Vortex said. "Magnum, take Axe, Poet, Lucky, Diamond, and Trench, and RTB through the ravine," he ordered. "Everyone else, we'll stay here to cover Deviant Squadron's retreat."
Eva formed up behind Magnum's F-15 in a single-file line, letting out an exasperated sigh as she and the others followed her back through the ravine and back toward their base.