DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OR ANYONE IN THE SPYRO UNIVERSE. ONLY MY OCS.
Chapter 45: Stormhawks
_*_*_**_*_*_*_*-8-8-8-8-8-8-8_**_*_*_*_*_*-8-8-8-8-*_**_*_*_*_*_*-8-8-8-8-8_**_*_*_
No sooner had Bertram entered the vortex of stormclouds did he recall the reason it was expressly forbidden to fly in strong storms like this. Immediately, the conflicting air currents threatened to rip the control stick from his hands and his feet felt the rudder pedals vibrate as the wind came at him from all angles. It was so dark in the clouds he and had to rely solely on his instruments to tell him his altitude, direction, and other vital information. He subconsiously strengthened his muscles so that he could keep a grip on the controls.
Through his radio, he heard his wing fighting with their controls as well. He started to wonder if he had made the right call in flying into the winds, the decision was taken from his hands however when he caught a faint flash from the clouds and banked hard right just as a burst from one of the Rotarian planes ripped through the air where he had been moments earlier. Bertram gazed about and saw the faint outline of the offending aircraft as well as the backblast from the jet engine peel from its attack route and dive back into the clouds.
"All fighters, listen up. The enemy isin the clouds. They are making use of their plane's colors to blend with the storm. There seems to be only two ways of seeing them, the cannon flash, and the engine exhaust. The devil is telling which is which." At that moment, he heard Dieter come on.
"Pardon Paladin but there is a way. Cannonfire gives off an orange burst and the tracers have a chemical in them that causes them to glow green. Jet exhaust, on the other hand, is blue thanks to the unique chemical composition of the fuel. In short, orange and green for cannons, blue for exhaust. If you take your time to identify which is which, we should be able to undo their tactics." Bertram sighed with relief at that and thanked Dieter for his input. However, flying at 500+ mph, catching a faint burst of color was difficult, at best.
At worst, damn near impossible.
Bertram glanced about in the dark clouds for a sign and then saw a brief flare of blue to his right.
"All aircraft, break formation into groups of two. Black Knight, your group finishes off the rockets, the rest of us will take out the fighters. Chaser, your with me."
Bertram and Kani wheeled their jets around and took off after the blue flame that Bertram had seen. Punching through a cloudbank, they saw a Rotarian jet trying to climb up to where the RAG was engaging the few V1s that hadn't been destroyed in the storm. Either this pilot was so engrossed in his current goal that he didn't notice the threat, or he was too inexperienced to know to never fly in straight lines. Either way, Bertram managed to bring his crosshairs neatly over the enemy jet and fired a three second burst. Not long, but just enough to send a good number of shells towards the enemy jet that, apparently, still used a solid wood construction.
His rounds impacted the fuel tank, engine, and the right wing and rudder. The fuel caught and started shooting out darts of blue fire and the engine shot a flame out of the back and siezed. The right wing broke at the midjoint and ripped away and the rudder disintigrated. The loss of power and stability forced the jet into a downwards spiral. Perhaps out of fear, or maybe hoping he had a chance, the pilot blew the lid off the cockpit and hit the silk...
...just in time for the left wing to wip around and break his back. Bertram knew he was dead the way his body folded itself in half backwards, the back of his helmet touching the heels of his boots.
Either way, he wouldn't have made it. The conflicting winds tangled his lines and whipped the parachute around him like a funeral shroud. The last Bertram saw of him, he was a white canvas-shrouded figure plummeting towards the earth.
Glancing about, Bertram saw another jet dip low as if trying to find the one he had shot down. Again, presenting a perfect angle of attack. This time, Bertram pitched up, raking the belly of the jet with his cannons. The enemy jet never rolled or evaded. As Bertram climbed past him, he rolled to see what sort of damage he had done. Lo and behold, the canopy was shattered and stained red with blood and the pilot sat slumped in his seat, a hole from a 20mm round coming up through his seat, through his groin, and up through his chest, into his neck, and then out through the top of his head. This jet didn't roll or fall, instead it simply dropped the nose down and kept dropping.
A sudden explosion to his far right heralded yet another enemy craft downed.
"This is Snowman, I splashed one."
"Snowman! Break hard left, you've got two on your tail!"
The faint glow of tracers appeared at the far end of the storm. Bertram, not wanting to lose another friend to this unit, pushed his throttle to full and wheeled his plane towards the direction of the tracers.
"Chaser, with me! Snowman, are you alright?"
"Da, Major. I'm fine, just got a bit of a fright. Heh, bastards rounds went all over the plane but not a one hit me. My plane's going to need a refit but I'm alright." Bertram didn't like the sound of that.
"Snowman, what's damaged?"
"Let's see... hold on... okay, altimeter, bearing, and horizon are good, but my coolant gauge is all over the map. Kinda reminds me of my grandfather's old steam truck."
"Paladin copies. For safety's sake, disengage and drop to low altitude and return to base. In this storm all it takes is one small flaw for you to break up and crash. Bailing out won't work either the winds'll tie your chute in knots as you fall."
"Snowman copies. Disengaging."
"Uh, Major? This is Eagle Three with the RAG, we've got three enemy fliers up here with us. They appear to have ace markings on them and- They've opened fire! All aircraft break formation!" Bertram cursed and glanced upwards, he couldn't see anything through the clouds and knew that as soon as they climbed, they would have those aces to contend with. Still, the RAG was inexperianced, not going up there would be the same as killing them.
"All aircraft, climb above the storm to link up with and protect the RAG. Black Knight, what's the status of those weapons?"
"Black Knight here, I think we got them all. We're also climbing to assist the RAG... hold it... Shit! Wolff you've got a V1 right on your ass! Paladin? Disregard that first transmission." Suddenly, a burst of static came through nearly forcing Bertram to rip his headset off.
"This is Eagle Six! I've been hit! Mayday! Mayday!"
"Paladin! Jink left!"
Bertram had just enough time to register what Kani had said and rolled right just as a flaming J33 came falling out of the clouds, breaking up as it hit the conflicting winds.
"1st Air Wing this is Hawk Eye, we have three tornadoes that have touched down in Wolfwood. Be aware of possible flying debris."
(Oh great, as if we didn't have enough to worry about before...)
Bertram glanced at his gauges and saw that he was currently at a 45 degree upwards pitch and was climbing rapidly. Finally, the clouds parted and he suddenly beheld a sight that took his breath away.
The stars in the sky as well as the moonlight made the clouds below a dull grey. They somehow gave off enough light that his regular human sight would have had sufficient light to see with, but, he remained with dragon sight as he gazed around, trying to see where the RAG and the three Rotrian aces were. Gazing right, he saw a burst of orange tracers in the distance and angled towards it and saw another J33 burst into flames.
Bertram snarled and winged his aircraft over to the nearest enemy jet and leveled his sights over the engine and fired a burst. At the last moment, the jet rolled and turned hard left, evading the shells and trying to come around on Bertram's tail.
"Bertram de Launces! I have wondered when I would have the chance to face you again! I shall savor the chance to send you plummeting to the ground just as I did your friend back in Launces!" Bertram recognized the voice and then gazed again at the jet and ground his teeth involuntarily. He felt his canines sharpen and lengthen as he recognized the jet as moonlight reflected off its markings.
"Kiln!"
Bertram shocked himself that his voice had changed to a dull growl. The radio piped up again.
"So... you are letting the dragon take over? You going to clip my wings just like you clipped Horos'? Are you going to reduce yourself to cold-blooded murder? Ha! You claim to be a better man than us Rotarians?! You are no man, you are a monster, pretending to be a man! You are a bloodthirsty, cold-hearted, monster who will turn on your countrymen as soon as they do something that displeases you!"
Had Kiln said this before Bertram had fought against his brother, he would have flown at him and probably would have killed him. But now... Now he was smart enough to realize that Kiln was baiting him; trying to get him to slip up, make a mistake in the air that would cost him his life. Bertram wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He keyed the radio.
"I may be a shapeshifter, Kiln, but I am no murderer. Not like you. I would never turn on my comrades or my countrymen. I made a vow, like my brothers, like my father, to never harm the innocent or fall to darkness. I am a soldier, I know where my loyalties lie, and I know my duty. And right now, my duty is to drive you Rotarian invaders out of my country!"
"Hmph, big words, dragon. But let's see if you are as good a pilot as you think you are."
Bertram had managed to not lose sight of Kiln's plane as he tried to loop around on his tail. Bertram managed to foil the maneuver by slipping into a spit S and bringing his weapons to bear on the Rotarian jet and firing. Kiln pushed his jet into a steep dive, just barely dodging the rounds. Rolling upside down, Bertram managed to maneuver his aircraft again on Kiln's tail and fired another burst.
Which Kiln evaded, again.
Kiln dove into the clouds, trying to make Bertram lose him so that he could come up behind him but Bertram didn't let him get the chance. He dove into the clouds as well and when Kiln resurfaced, he found the sky devoid of any sign of Bertram de Launces.
Bertram, however, was able to fly through a break in the clouds and get on Kiln's tail again and fire, missing but rattling Kiln enough that he panicked and broke into a dead retreat. Bertram pushed his engines to full power, shot in between two RAG fighters who apparently were not paying much attention to their surroundings, and closed the distance with Kiln again. This time, Bertram made sure to line up the crosshairs correctly and fired a full burst at the enemy before him.
This time, Kiln was a little slow to react and rolled his fighter to the left dodging a few of the rounds but a few of them punched holes through the right side of the tail and shredded the right rudder. Bertram was rewarded by a sharp curse that came through the radio.
"Gah, blasted wyrm... I've lost right rudder and aileron controls..."
Bertram stuck with Kiln as he corkscrewed in an attempt to evade him. He pressed down on the rudder pedal hard in an effort to yaw in behind him. The crosshairs lined up neatly over the cockpit of Kiln's fighter and moved his finger over the trigger.
"Paladin! Break right, NOW!"
Bertram jerked the controls right and rolled just as rounds that would have gone through the cockpit ripped through the fuselage instead. Immediately, a buzzer went off in the cockpit and a red light came on by the fuel gauge. Bertram tapped it and cursed as the needle slowly dropped. Another buzzer came on and Bertram went wide-eyed as the rpm gauge on the right engine dropped to zero. A loud clang confirmed his fear as the right engine stalled and shut down.
While this happened, Kiln, seizing his chance, dove into the clouds, pushed the engine to full power, and beat a hasty retreat from the battle.
A red light with the word STALL came on and blinked as well as yet another buzzer came on as Bertram tried, unsuccessfully, to restart the failed engine.
"Paladin to all fighters, my right engine is out, my fuel tank is leaking, and I've got a stall warning. Chaser, cover me!"
"This is Black Knight, confirming the last of the V2s destroyed, for real this time. Bertram, we're heading towards you, hold on!"
"This is Eagle One, I'm engaging the enemy!"
Bertram glanced to his left and saw two RAG fighters engaging the jet that had attacked him. The pilot was obviously experienced as he rolled to evade them and tried to come up behind them. However, what the RAG lacked in experience, they made up for it in sheer numbers. He didn't notice the third fighter dropping down from behind until it was too late.
The third RAG fighter fired a burst that ripped through the engine and tail of the enemy jet. The engine shot out a bright flame and seized before it dived and vanished into the clouds. Bertram gazed around for the other two fighters and saw one trying to follow him down.
"This is Paladin, I've got one on my tail!"
Bertram dove his damaged aircraft down through the clouds and the enemy followed, guns blazing. A few rounds went through the canopy but did no real harm. The stall warning was still on until he finally dropped back below the clouds. The holes in the canopy allowed rain water to start leaking in and making Bertram feel cold and uncomfortable. Still, the enemy jet didn't give up.
"I applaud you for your skill Bertram de Launces. I am Major Reese, second in command of the 666th, and I am your Executioner." Bertram growled as he gave his controls a quick test. Thankfully, in the low altitude, he could still maneuver even if he was down one engine. He keyed his radio.
"A little early to be claiming the kill don't you think Major? Normally you're supposed to shoot down a plane before you can claim victory."
"Don't worry, you'll be shot down soon enough. Marks may be the leader of our unit, but his flying is laughable compared to mine. I am Rotiart's fourth highest scoring ace."
Bertram glanced about the clouds before seeing the closer of the three tornadoes that was still on the ground and angled his jet towards it. Reese, unaware of what Bertram was doing, followed him. He evaded Reese's attacks one after the other, drawing ever closer to the tornado. He was able to see debris swirling around the funnel cloud and quickly muttered a prayer that his aircraft would hold together for just a little bit longer. The right wing started rattling and the blinking red fuel light became a solid red as the gauge dropped below 1/4 and continued to drop slowly.
He knew all it would take is one round, one spark, to set the tank off and blow the aircraft to pieces, and in the conflicting wind currents, a successful bailout would be next to impossible. As he neared the tornado, the aircraft began fighting him again, more violently than before. A quick glance confirmed that Reese was still behind him, obviously engrossed in the chase and not aware of the events around him.
It was what people called 'tunnel vision'. When you become so focused on one specific object that you ignore all else. Pilots were trained to never focus so intently on one target. In an environment where a hostile fighter could could drop out of nowhere and blast your tail out of the sky, such focus was dangerous. He angled the wings of the fighter around and started to go with the air currents. He felt a tail wind come up and push his aircraft along. Then, he saw a mass of debris coming at him and pushed down on the stick as hard as he could.
The debris field whizzed over the jet and went straight at Reese. The radio came to life with an explosion of swear words as Reese pulled back on the stick to try and climb over the field.
Too late.
Debris slammed into Reese's jet, the all wood construction groaning in the wind currents and now being struck by debris. Bertram sighed, realizing that small objects like pots and pans, and chairs wouldn't do anything. He gazed forward and saw two white lights ahead and smiled.
"Hey, Reese was it? Your ride's here!"
"What the hell are you talking about you blasted- sonofabitch!"
Reese banked right just as a bus soared by where he had been moments earlier. However, he misjudged his distance and soon his fighter wouldn't respond and the groaning of the wood got worse. Looking up from his panels, he saw he had flown too close to the tornado and was now being drawn into it. He fought with the controls, trying to get away but unable to. Suddenly, he heard the sound of glass cracking, and heard what sounded like bolts creaking.
Without warning, the canopy broke loose, and Reese felt the power of the tornado pulling at him. The straps keeping him in the seat strained and to his horror, one broke. Gazing forward, he saw another vehicle flying through the air towards him. Panicking, Reese reached down to the red handle and pulled it, feeling the seat break free and launch from the jet just as it was obliterated by the vehicle.
Gazing around, Reese saw Bertram's jet vanish from sight as he whipped around in the cyclone. He figured just hold out until the wind died down and it would safe to open the chute. There was just one thing he didn't count on.
The bus had come around again.
_*_*_*_*_*_*-8-8-8-8-8-8-_*_*_*_*_*-8-8-8-88-*_*_*_*_*_*_8-8-8-8-8-8-8_*_*_*_*_*_*8-8-8
The buzzing in Bertram's jet became a full blown whine as the alarm went off. The fuel gauge was now at empty and the rpm of the left engine dropped to zero. He gazed about and saw that he seemed to be a safe distance from the storm. The J33 was now an unpowered glider.
"Shit. I can't believe this is happening again!" He keyed the radio.
"Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. This is Paladin, I have lost both engines and am bingo fuel. I'm currently... eight miles north-northeast of Wolfwood. I'm bailing out."
Bertram released the radio and popped the canopy before flipping the jet upside down and falling free of the plane, pulled the ripcord. The chute deployed safely and he breathed a sigh of relief until he saw that he was drifting towards the lake. He splashed down safely into the lake, used his knife to cut himself free, then shifted into dragon form and swam to shore. He came up just beside a group of civilians taking shelter from the storm by the boathouse. One of them looked over to him and chuckled.
"Nice day for a swim, huh?" Bertram chuckled lightly and returned to human form.
"Yeah. Anyone got a radio? I need to check in with Royalis."
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*-8-8-8-8-8-8_*_*_*_*_*_8-8-8-8-_*_*_*_*-88-8-88-8-*_**_*_*
Kiln cursed as the damaged jet jerked again as he tried to keep control. He had been forced to retreat but had seen Killey get shot down and heard Reese's last transmission before the radio went silent. He had been part of a flight of sixteen fighters and now he was the only one left returning to the airbase. As the fighter jerked again, Kiln couldn't help but groan as he thought about what the chief mechanic was going to say when he saw the shape the jet was in.
(Hell's bells, what will Marks say about losing another entire wing? What would Mechanos?!)
For the first time, Kiln had a strong urge to simply take the jet and vanish. Callinar was said to be lovely this time of year... or perhaps that small island nation off Damoneni called Batu Batu or something like that...
His thoughts were interrupted when a flight of Rotarian fighter-bombers from the 1378th Wing formed up with him and he was forced to make a mid-air explanation as to why he was the only returning aircraft.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*-8-8-8-8-88-8-8-88_*_*_*_**_*_*-8-8-8-888_*_*_*_*_*_*-8-8-888*_*_8
Okay, so... the V1s and V2s are destroyed, the 666th was dealt yet another serious blow, losing not only their second in command but also his entire wing (with the exception of Kiln) and Bertram survives another bail out (and another impromptu bath). What is going to happen next? Well, as soon as I shake the cobwebs loose and get the gears turning again, I'll get to work and surprise ya'll.