"Well, it's officially been two months since we arrived here," Magic said as everyone sat waiting in the briefing room for Gates to show up.
"And, yet, we're still here," Poet added, sinking into his chair. "I'll be honest, when we first got here, I was expecting this to just be a quick pit stop."
"Quit your bitching," Axe jumped in. "You think we like it here or something? We've been stuck here since before the war started. We'd like nothing more than to be able to leave, to go home, but no. Instead, we're here, being Osea's pawns."
Crosswind scoffed from across the room. "Maybe you shouldn't have broken the law then," he said with a smirk. "Actions have consequences, you know."
Vortex sighed and stood up. "Look, none of us want to be here. That much is painfully obvious." His gaze shifted between both sides of the room. "If we want to get out of here, we've gotta work together. We stand a better chance of-"
Magnum cut him off, jumping to her feet. "We already tried your kumbayah bullshit, Vortex. Now Slipstream is dead because of it, so save your breath."
Vortex paused for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Magnum, I get you guys are frustrated, but we're on the home stretch. Major Tillmin is sifting through that data as we speak," he reminded her. "It's only a matter of time before we know where the location of this jamming facility is, and when we do find it, then we can destroy it, and we'll be one step closer to ending this."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Gates said as he and Major Tillmin entered the briefing room. "And that's precisely why today is a special day."
"Wait, you found it, then?" Eva asked, her eyes practically lighting up. "We know where the jamming facility is?"
Gates smiled as he nodded. "Indeed we do. We also have a detailed analysis of what kind of defenses are stationed there, so listen up." He nodded to Major Tillmin, who went over to the computer and logged into the briefing software.
Once the map of Usea appeared on screen and synced with their satellite data, Gates took a step back and looked the map over from top to bottom. When he saw that everything was ready, he took a step to the side and gave Tillmin the floor to speak.
"As Commander Gates said, we've finally cracked the decryption on the intel we pulled out of San Salvacion," Tillmin began. "We've received loads of helpful information, most notably, the location of the comm-jamming facility that's been hindering our ability to contact reinforcements." He leaned in front of the computer and entered a set of coordinates, which the screen zoomed in on. "The facility is located here, at the Meriton Highlands. Luckily for us, it's located just outside of the Arsenal Birds' air defense network." He brought up the range of the Arsenal Birds, displayed by a red circle. Just as he said, the Meriton Highlands were just out of their reach.
"Well, I guess that'll make it easier, knowing that we won't have to deal with any serious reinforcements," Charger said as he studied the screen.
"Not so fast," Gates jumped in. "Just because the Arsenal Birds aren't going to be responding doesn't mean there won't be any serious reinforcements." He paced over to the front of the room. "Not only did we find out where the facility was, but we also learned what kind of defenses it has guarding it. Firstly, it's still protected by Erusea's auto-intercept system, so it's almost a guarantee that MQ-99s will respond. Although, thanks to your work at Whtie Valley last week, it'll probably be less than usual."
"That's not our concern, though," Tillmin continued. "In addition to that, there'll also be an elite squadron on standby if the facility reports an attack. They're called Huldra Squadron, and from what little of their files we have, they're not people you wanna cross." He displayed various images showing several Su-47s, all sporting the same gray livery with a brown trim. "There's also the issue of the defense provided by the jammer itself," Tillmin carried on. "As you get closer to the facility, the jamming will get stronger. Not only will this affect communication, but it'll also jam things like your radar and your weapons' ability to lock onto targets. This means you'll have to either use unguided weapons or fire manually."
"Most importantly, there's a heavy amount of anti-air situated around the jammer. It'll be practically impossible for a whole squadron to even make it to the jammer, let alone get close enough to take it out," Gates added. "That's why we'll be sending one of you in alone while the others wait nearby in case something goes wrong. Diamond, you'll be the one that undertakes this mission."
"Just one plane?" Lucky asked. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"If there were any other way, we'd be doing that. Trust me," Gates answered. "Besides, if anyone can pull this off, it'll be Diamond."
Magnum shrugged. "Better her getting shot down than me."
"Diamond, are you sure you're alright with this?" Vortex asked her.
Eva paused as she thought long and hard on the question. On the one hand, she had done an operation like this once before already. However, the stakes were also significantly higher this time around, and although she didn't exactly agree with Magnum's sentiment, Eva had to admit she had a point, even if she didn't mean to. If it was just her going, then that meant that nobody else would be at risk of dying.
Finally, she nodded with a determined look on her face. "Yes. I can do this," she answered in a concise tone. "Besides," she added, lightening her expression a bit. "It's like they said, if something does go wrong, you won't be far off to give me a hand."
"Right then. Listen up. There's a specific way you're going to have to do this," Gates told her, looking back at the screen. "As I said before, there's anti-air all over the mountains. You won't be able to get close without getting shot out of the sky. The only feasible approach is to neutralize the defense systems by cutting their power."
Eva nodded slowly as she processed Gates's instructions. "Alright, so how am I gonna do that?" she asked.
"With the extensive amount of anti-air in the AO, Erusea needs a considerable amount of power to keep it all operational," Major Tillmin explained. "And to reduce the risk of overloading the grid, they don't have all this power coming from one big plant, but rather, several smaller ones scattered throughout the area." Tillmin marked several red dots on the map as he spoke. "If you destroy enough of these plants, the anti-air systems will go offline, allowing you to move in and take out the jammer."
Eva shrugged. "Sounds simple enough," she said. "I've just gotta keep my distance from the AA while I'm knocking out the power, and I should be golden."
Gates shook his head. "If only it were that simple. Remember, your radar will be offline once you get close to the jammer, meaning you won't be able to actually see where the power plants are. Your best bet will be to follow the power lines connecting them all, but above all else, remember: this mission is critical to our fate. The outcome of this mission determines whether or not we inevitably run out of supplies and get stranded here or regroup with allied forces, so I wish you the best of luck out there."
As the pilots all made their way down to the hangars, Eva felt herself getting increasingly nervous the closer she got to actually doing this mission. At the time, she felt like it wasn't going to be much of a hassle at all, but now, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Save for the operation at Mt. Lambert back on the Kestrel II, Eva's squadron always had her back. This time, though, she'd be on her own. By the time they reached the hangars, Eva was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice Charger putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Well, kid. You better be safe out there," he said, pausing before giving her a smirk. "Well, about as safe as you can be diving headfirst into enemy territory, that is," he added.
"Remember," Lucky told her. "We're gonna be just a few minutes away, so if something goes wrong, just hang on, and we'll be right there."
Eva smiled. "You guys worry too much. I'll be fine," she assured them. In actuality, she was probably more nervous than they were, but she wasn't going to let that show. Besides, she appreciated their concern.
"I mean… can you really blame us for worrying when shit seems to hit the fan every other mission for us?" Magic asked, raising an eyebrow in Eva's direction. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Arsenal Bird showed up even though this place is outside its range."
"No matter what happens out there, just know we've got your back," Vortex said with a reassuring smile. "So go out there and show 'em what you're made of, kid. I've got faith in you. We all do."
As Eva started to climb up into her cockpit, she noticed Magnum walking up to her, which made Eva genuinely curious. She expected some kind of sarcastic, witty response. However, Eva was still open to the possibility that she might be looking to make amends and wish her luck, however unlikely it might actually be.
As Magnum looked up at her with a cocky grin, Eva already knew what to expect. "Don't die," Magnum sneered. "Or actually feel free to. Quite frankly, I'd prefer it that way." And at that, she walked away.
Eva took a deep breath as she put her helmet on. "Pleasant woman," she muttered under her breath.
As she started going through her pre-flight checks, Eva only found herself getting more nervous. It almost felt as if it was getting more difficult to breathe. At the same time, though, she felt a bit excited deep down. With this mission out of the way, she'd be one step closer to going back to Fort Grays. Just as it happened every time she thought about the base she once called home, her mind went to Trigger. Part of her still hoped that she'd be able to help him, to clear his name, but with each passing day, that hope dwindled. Finally, she switched on her engines and looked at the open skies as the hangar doors slowly opened.
"Well," Eva murmured to herself. "This is it. It's do or die." She looked around at the others getting in their planes before slowly taxying onto the runway to take off.
"Ro… en… you're… in… target… We'll… unab… municate… destroy… facil," Crosswind's voice was barely audible over the static cutting in over the radio.
"Great," Eva muttered under her breath as she lowered her altitude. "That's real reassuring." She paused and took several deep breaths in and out to steady her nerves. "Ok," she said as she exhaled sharply. "I can do this, I can do this, I can do this," she told herself over and over again.
Eva kept her eyes glued to the ground as she flew at low speed. She squinted at the snow-capped mountaintops below, trying to make out any difference in color that might indicate the location of one of the power plants. Suddenly, she saw tracers shooting up from the ground in her direction. Eva jerked the control stick to the left and took evasive maneuvers, luckily only getting hit by a single stray bullet. She circled the area, looking for the source of the AA fire before diving down toward it with machine guns. With the AA gun out of service, Eva pulled up and continued her search for the power plants. Luckily, it didn't take her very long to find power lines leading to the first electrical plant, which she destroyed with an unguided missile.
"Alright," Eva said between deep breaths. "One down, five to go. That wasn't so hard," she added with a smile, trying to instill some confidence in herself.
As if on cue, Eva saw a missile heading straight for her. She only narrowly had enough time to roll onto her side so it would shriek past. Tightening her grip on the control stick, Eva made a long loop around the rising smoke coming from the destroyed electric plant and spotted the beginning of the long trail of power lines. She pushed the throttle ever-so-slightly forward and put about 200 meters of clearance between her plane and the ground as she started following the power lines to her next target. The SAM launcher that fired at her earlier took another shot, but Eva managed to evade it with relative ease with how far away it was. As soon as she spotted the second electrical plant, Eva climbed to a higher altitude and reduced her speed. Just as she expected, another AA gun started firing at her, and another SAM launcher fired a missile in her direction. Once she saw the missile, Eva sped up again and dove down toward the defenses. After lining up a shot on the AA gun, she fired a missile and pulled sharply up as she gunned down the SAM launcher and the second power plant.
"Dia… ot dro… position… ing 190… areful," Crosswind's staticky voice warned Eva, only barely able to get the point across.
Eva looked down at her radar, which only displayed her position, and turned toward the direction Crosswind specified. At first, she didn't see anything, but as she went further on, she made out the distinct shape of five MQ-99s speeding toward her. Eva angled herself to face them head-on and started firing her machine guns as soon as she was within range. The first one went down without any resistance, and the others split up once they got close. Eva looked around frantically until she finally laid eyes on the next closest drone. She turned up and to the right, keeping her eyes on her target throughout the turn until her plane was aligned with her vision. She let a few quick bursts of machine-gun fire go until the second MQ-99 went up in flames. Just as Eva made a high-G turn to search for her next target, she heard the distinct sound of a missile missing its target by only a few meters, followed by the drone that fired it. As the MQ-99 zipped past Eva, it put itself right in her sights. She tried to take advantage of the situation by destroying it with machine guns, but the drone quickly realized its mistake and turned away. Eva tried to follow after it, but one of the other drones intervened, passing over her and landing several hits with its machine guns.
After briefly checking to ensure her plane was still alright, Eva turned to get behind the third drone. The MQ-99 made one sharp turn after another. Eva was barely able to keep up with it. She was getting the occasional shot or two in with her machine guns, but it wasn't enough. Out of the corner of her eye, Eva could see another drone closing in on her with machine guns, so she pushed down on the throttle. As her speed increased, she closed the distance between herself and the drone she was chasing so she could take it out, all while the second one missed her entirely. Eva broke left away from the drone that just passed her and saw the one she hit earlier heading straight for her. The MQ-99 got in a few hits before it went down, but none of them seemed to hit anything vital. Finally, Eva looped back around to finish off the last drone. It tried to fire a missile at her, but since the jamming was affecting it too, it shrieked right past her, but Eva made an effort to evade it all the same. As the two aircraft got closer and closer to a collision, she took a chance and fired a missile without a lock before jerking her plane out of the way, only narrowly avoiding a collision with the drone as it exploded.
Eva took several deep breaths as she turned back toward the power lines leading to her original objective. "That's that out of the way," she said softly between breaths. "Now, let's finish this."
The flight to take out the following three electrical plants went very smoothly, much to Eva's surprise. For the most part, it went about the same as the first two: take out the defenses, destroy the plant, follow the power lines to the next one, rinse and repeat. After having to spend far longer than she would've liked tangling with drones, it was a change that she definitely appreciated. As the final power plant came into view, Eva felt her heart pounding in her chest. All that stood between her and destroying the single thing that kept her and the others from contacting allied forces was a single, defenseless power plant. Eva lined up the shot and fired a single standard missile. As soon as the missile crashed into the ground, she pulled up and turned toward the highest part of the mountains, where she could see the jammers even from where she was.
"Alright, here we go!" Eva said, raising her voice in tandem with her speed as she pushed the throttle all the way forward and pitched her nose up. The jammers were all place in a straight line along the ridge, making it easy for Eva to pass over them with machine guns and unguided missiles. "One more to go," she announced to herself as she looped around to finish it off. Eva lined up the shot but waited for a moment. She took a second to savor the moment before finally firing a single missile.
Once the explosion hit, Eva's systems lit up; radar, IFF, the works. She took the opportunity to destroy all the static defenses guarding the now destroyed jammer, including XSAMs, SPCs, AD Tanks, and even an Aegis Ashore.
"Holy shit, I've got green across the board," Crosswind announced, his voice coming in crystal clear. "This is beautiful!"
"Good going, Diamond!" Vortex was the first to praise Eva. "I knew you could do it."
"Is that it, then?" Magic asked. "We're finally able to contact friendly forces?"
"Indeed we are," Crosswind confirmed. "But we can do that once we all get back to base. For now, let's all regroup and- ah dammit. I knew it was too good to be true. Diamond, you've got four bogies headed right for you. Looks like it's Huldra Squadron."
Eva glanced down at her radar, and, just as Crosswind said, four enemy contacts were heading right for her. "They're a little late to the party," she observed. "Don't know why they're even bothering."
"Well, it's too late now. They're already about to engage you. Just hold them off as long as you can, Diamond," Crosswind ordered. "Rogue Squadron, get in there and help her out."
Eva sighed and turned toward the approaching enemy aircraft. After a few moments, they properly displayed on her HUD as Su-47s. Right off the bat, Eva fired a salvo of 6AAMs at them, but they all maneuvered sharply away from the incoming missiles, dodging them with ease. As the Berkuts broke formation to engage, Eva turned and followed after the lead plane. She tried to hit them with machine guns, but they were maneuvering in a way that kept themselves just outside of her sights. She was about to get closer when her missile alert started going off. Eva glanced over her shoulder to see all three of the other planes were behind her and had fired missiles. Yanking the throttle back, Eva pitched up sharply into a kulbit as she deployed countermeasures. She straightened her plane out behind the other three and fired a pair of standard missiles at one of them, but they deployed countermeasures, and all three split away.
"Damn, these guys are good," Eva muttered. "I can't get a hit on 'em."
"Just hang in there, Diamond. We'll be there soon," Lucky assured her.
Eva nodded, even though they couldn't see it, and turned toward one of the Su-47s that was heading straight for her. They both fired missiles just before they passed each other, but both missed their targets. Looking around, Eva spotted another enemy that was moving in a relatively straight line. She broke off from the one she was pursuing at the time and went for the seemingly easier target. She started by firing a single 6AAM at them, but the Berkut evaded it with ease. Eva continued to chase after them, firing missile after missile and making all kinds of sharp turns. Suddenly, her missile alert went off again, and Eva looked down at her radar to see the other three Su-47s on her tail.
"They're using one as bait so the others can get on my tail," Eva realized. She smirked, finding herself making a mental note of the strategy. "Not a bad idea." Eva looked over her shoulder at the three Berkuts behind her. "Alright, then. Let's see how you like this."
Eva dropped her speed dramatically and pitched up, throwing her plane into a cobra maneuver. She started accelerating as soon as she had room behind the three aircraft and pitched back down. As quickly as she could manage, Eva fired a pair of standard missiles at the plane in the middle. With barely any time to react, the Berkut failed to evade the missiles and exploded in mid-air. Eva tried to hit the other two in her immediate range with 6AAMs, but they broke off as she fired, moving at too sharp of an angle for Eva's missiles to follow. Instead of chasing after either of them, Eva decided to switch on the afterburner and go after the plane that served as bait earlier. She followed the Berkut as it pitched up and started to loop around, holding her finger above the trigger until she had a clear shot. However, after about thirty seconds of chasing the Berkut around, Eva decided to look for an alternate plan. Eventually, she fired a single missile at the enemy fighter and tried to anticipate its movement. Luckily, it paid off, and she a clear shot on them. She fired another standard missile, which hit them, but they kept flying despite that. Before she could finish them off with machine guns, the other two Su-47s forced Eva to break off as they chased after her with missiles.
"Rogue 10, the rest of Rogue Squadron is entering the AO now," Crosswind informed Eva. "You should have a visual on them in one minute."
"About time," Eva remarked with a smirk. "If you guys don't hurry up, I might just take 'em all out before you get here."
Another missile alert grabbed her attention, and she instinctively pulled straight up to avoid the missile heading straight for her. The Berkut chased after her, firing another missile as soon as they matched the angle Eva was flying at. By the time it got close to her, though, she had already turned back down in a loop. Once she straightened her plane out, she went to target the Su-47 she hit earlier, but another one came up behind her and flew right past. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Eva quickly switched to her 6AAMs and fired two missiles at each of them. The plane directly in front of her went down with ease, but the other one, who had more time to evade, broke the first missile's lock and nearly got the second off their back, but they weren't quick enough fell out of the sky. Eva turned toward the last Berkut, which was facing her head-on, and got ready to fire another missile. However, before she got a chance to fire, several missiles came at the Su-47 from the side. The pilot evaded most of them, but one ended up hitting its target. Eva looked to see who fired the missiles to see the rest of Rogue Squadron passing over her.
"Told ya' we'd make it," Poet said in a teasing voice.
Eva scoffed. "Yeah, after I took out all but one of them," she countered.
Poet chuckled. "Touché," he replied as he and the others turned to engage the last enemy fighter.
With ten pilots chasing them, the last Huldra pilot didn't stand a chance. As their plane fell from the sky, Eva grouped up with the others as they moved back into formation.
"Crosswind, are we clear?" Vortex asked.
"Affirmative," the AWACS operator answered. "All hostiles in the area have been eliminated, RTB. Once we get back, we'll all make the call to allied command together."
Eva could hardly contain her excitement. After all the work they put in and all the people they lost, they were finally one step closer to going home.