Chapter 1: Hostile Skies.
- 26th March, 1995. -
It had been one day since Belka's decleration of war on virtually every country surrounding it. No-one had any clue how hard Belka was going to strike, and, believe me, they hit hard. The worst hit country was our neighbour, Ustio, who had 90 of it's pilots wiped out almost instantly. Libero, an autonomous country and a rather small province sandwiched between Recta, Ratio and Ustio, was now under direct threat from the advancing Belkan forces. Libero, however, had a policy of not deploying any weapons to the front line, or, if it did, made sure that the force sent was rather small in size. Thus, the majority of Libero had to turn to mercenaries for aid...so they hired us. We fully well knew what we were getting in to...and we knew what we had to protect...and not just Libero, either...This is our story...
The story of Fenrir Squadron.
-Raphael Vogel.
- Tengu Mountain Range, 1127 hrs, Libero Airspace, 26th March, 1995.-
Raphael Vogel looked down at the ground below him as he sped over the mountains that divided Ustio and Libero as he sped above the earth. He spoke his thoughts aloud: "Check out the view from here...there's not much difference between those countries from up here, is there?" He was answered by a laugh. "Try saying that on the ground, sir. You'll see the difference." Raphael sighed. "It's true, Cortez. Up here, everything's just so much more peaceful...compared to down there, with Belkan troops advancing by the second...anyway...Fenrir 2 and 3, don't forget what we have to do. Intelligence states that a distress call from an Ustio squadron was intercepted around here. Our goal is to aid them and neutralize any and all enemy fighter support, understand?" Fenrir 2, Ricardo Cortez, replied with: "Perfectly, sir." Fenrir 3, Tobias Gray, merely responded" "Yes, sir." "Do you always have to be so hollow-voiced, Gray?" Gray laughed to himself. "Hollow-voiced? Hardly, sir. I only really speak when it's needed." Raphael had a very slight tone of concern in his voice. "It's alright if you talk more, Gray. You don't always have to speak by protocol, it worries me, okay?" "As you wish, sir." Cortez cut in: "Hey, Vogel. Try not to mess your plane up or anything, or Command's gonna be rather pissed." He was right- the Atlas Cheetah C that Raphael was flying in was fresh off the line. Raphael didn't want to mess it up, so he smiled, and said, "Don't worry...it won't have a scratch on it." He looked back at his wingmen, who were flying Mirage 2000Ds. Each of their planes had a midnight blue and white paint scheme, the plane's bodies being midnight blue overall with a white stripe down both sides of the fuselage, with the squadron symbol emblazoned on the tailfin, a majestic, large blue wolf, howling at an unseen moon, its jaws bloody, the words "Fenrir, 87th Air Force Unit." visible under it. Raphael was just about to speak again when he was interrupted by a new voice. "This is AWACS, callsign Overlord. The target should be just ahead." "Roger, Overlord."
It wasn't long at all before they picked up contacts on their radar. Inside his Mirage, Cortez looked down at his radar, then looked ahead. "Fenrir 2 to Fenrir 1, I've got a visual on four Hawk trainer jets and an F-4, nothing out of the...wait a minute, I'm picking up chatter!" A rather panicked voice was heard over the comm-link. "This is Raven Lead! Any and all incoming friendly aircraft, we require assistance immidiately! We need urgent support! Anyone, answer me!" Raphael cleared his throat. "This is Fenrir 1 to Raven Lead. Sounds like you need a hand. What's your current situation?" The voice was now sounding much more relieved. "Oh, thank God, some support! I was just leading these rookies on a training sortie when all of a sudden we get attacked! 6 of our pilots have been shot down! We desperately need assistance!" Raphael armed his missiles, ordering his wingmen to do the same. "Roger Raven 1, I see the hostiles now...MiG 29s...Overlord, requesting permission to engage." The AWACS replied, "Roger, Fenrir 1. Eliminate all hostile targets." Raphael called out to his wingmen, "You hear that? Time for some action!" At this, Cortez let out a jubilant "Yahoo!" Raphael smiled, then turned his head back to the HUD. "Fenrir Squadron...engage." As one, the squadron dived downwards, deep into the mountain range. Raphael looked to his left. "Gray, stay on my wing, Cortez, go help Raven Wing out." "Roger that!" He watched as Cortez broke from the formation, and went on ahead to assist the remaining Raven Wing pilots. It wasn't long before got a lock on one of the harassers. "MiG 29s...but those markings...no...they're Belkan! Those bastards! Fox 2!" A VC3 Darter flew off of its missile pylon, homing in on the MiG 29 and slamming into its right engine nacelle, exploding and ripping the MiG's engines apart on impact. Raphael watched as the MiG, ablaze, hurtled downwards, smashing into a mountain. There was no ejection. "This is Fenrir 1. Bandit down, repeat, bandit down!" Gray laughed. "There's still more, you know." A MiG 29 pilot was heard cursing over the comm-link. "Dammit! They've got support! Who the hell are these pilots? They took down Drossel 9 instantly!"
Raphael cursed under his breath. "First they invaded Ustio, now they're attacking here? This is bad!" He was yanked out of thought and back into reality, however, when the warning alarm in his plane started bleeping. "Ah, shit! I've got a bogey on my six, he's got a lock!" He turned right, sharply, hoping to get his assailant off his tail, but he was still there. He dived deeper into the mountain range in the hope of shaking him off, and even weaved through a pair of mountains, but the MiG stuck to him like glue. "Cocky little son of a-" Raphael was cut off as he caught sight of a bright orange glow behind his plane. The pursuing Fulcrum was now trailing fire, and losing altitude. It darted past Raphael's Cheetah, and he saw the pilot eject before the MiG exploded in mid-air, shrapnel flying outwards from the explosion. He looked back, and saw not a MiG, but a Mirage behind him. "Gray! Thank's for helping me out there, buddy." "No problem, sir...Fenrir 2, are things good on your end?" Cortez was with the remaining rookies and Raven 1, holding off the other attackers. He took another Fulcrum down with a well-aimed Sidewinder. "I'm doing good over here, but some support wouldn't hurt." "Roger, Fenrir 2." Raphael and Grey rejoined with Cortez, holding off any remaining Belkan fighers that opposed them. Things were going well, when all of a sudden Overlord spoke in a surprised voice, "Bombers, 3 of them...wait a minute...vector 160... they're heading in the direction of Vectus Air Base! They really are intent on destroying us...intercept them now!" Raphael objected, "But Overlord, the Ustio squadron, they-" "They'll be fine due to the lowered amount of enemy fighters. The bombers are top priority!"
Raphael sighed. "Alright...Raven 1, can you hold your own now?" Raven 1, his voice clearly less distressed, affrimed him, "Don't worry, we'll be fine. Your support saved us...now go after those bombers, we'll be fine here." "...Roger, Raven 1. Good luck." As one, Fenrir Squadron sped off in the direction of the bombers.
The three B-52s lumbered through the skies towards their target- Vectus Air Base. Thus far, they had encountered no resistance. The captain of the lead bomber smiled as he looked out of the cockpit windows, taking in the view. He was interrupted, however, by an incoming transmission. "Adler 3 to Adler 1. 7 miles to the target. The skies are clean, should be clear sailing from here." The pilot of the leading B-52 replied, "Roger, Adler 3, we'll do this in a..." He was interrupted by his navigator, speaking to the captain. "Sir! Come here, quick!" The captain sighed. "Goddamnit, what is it?" "Take a look!" The captain looked down at the radar, and saw three unknown contacts approaching at high speed. The pilot called back, slightly worried. "No friendly IFF squawk...who the hell's coming after us out here? We were informed that there weren't gonna be any enemy planes!" Suddenly, another voice sounded over the radio, panicked and fast. "This is Adler 2 to Adler 1! We've got incoming missiles, repeat, incoming missiles!" The crescendo of the warning alarms in the second bomber was clearly audible over the transmission. The lead bomber's co-pilot sounded confused. "I don't see any-" Just then, he was cut off as two SAAMs rocketed right by the lead B-52 and slammed into the rear of the second bomber, ripping the entire back section of the Superfortress apart. The pilot's screams were silenced abruptly as the remnants of the bomber exploded in a huge ball of flame. The pilot of the lead bomber looked shocked. "Holy shit! Evasive action, evasive action!"
"Fenrir 2, that was sweet!"
"Hey, Vogel, I expect the same outta you, buddy!"
"You can count on it." Raphael manoeuvered his Atlas Cheetah C behind the lead bomber. He then sent out a mocking message to the two remaining Belkan bombers in front of him: "This is Fenrir 1. "I'm afraid you're intruding on Libero airspace. I suggest you turn back before we blow the rest of you out of the sky." He was answered by a salvo of machine gun fire from the bomber's rear turret, which forced Raphael to yaw left. "Stubborn bastards...how'd they pass training with that kind of aim? Let's take care of this. Cortez, provide top cover. Gray, take the one on the left." At his words, Gray positioned his Mirage behind the second bomber, and Cortez climbed up to 10,000 feet, keeping his head on a swivel.
Inside the lead B-52, pandemonium had settled in. Warning alarms were beeping in a frenzy, and crew members were shouting orders to one another in panic-stricken voices.
"Come on, evade, evade!"
"We're outgunned, sir! We have to turn back!"
"No, damnit! We've come too far to abort now! Keep going!"
"What are you, insane!"
The pilot turned to the captain, a look of severe concern on his face. "Sir, I'm asking you again, please, give the order to turn back! We'll be massacred if we continue onwards!" The captain, head down in thought, was about to speak when a loud, worried voice broadcasted itself over the comm-link, piercing through the clamor of the crew. 'This is Adler 3, we have an enemy fighter at our six o' clock! We can't shake him off!" The crew of the lead bomber could do nothing but watch.
Gray had positioned his Mirage behind the third bomber. He hadn't launched any missiles, though; he was lining up the bomber in the gun sight. He yawed to his right, placing himself behind the bomber's right wing, and waited until the reticule rested over the first engine. When it did, he pressed down hard on the trigger, launching a salvo of bullets from the Mirage's guns. The 30mm bullets hit their target, shredding apart the first engine with ease, the second soon suffering the same fate. Tobias could hear the crew's frenzied radio chatter. "This is Aldler 3! Engines one and two destroyed! We're losing altitude!" Gray then yawed his plane slightly to the left, and, as a finishing blow, let loose another long salvo of bullets, aiming at where the wing was joined on to the bomber's body. The B-52s right wing was torn apart, and it came clean off the bomber, falling, the shredded engines flaming, to the mountains below. Gray watched as the one-winged bomber started to roll, slowly, to its left, losing altitude all the while. It rolled over thrice before crashing into the mountainous valley.
The crew of the lead bomber were silent, until the pilot spoke out, his voice stern. "Captain, give us the goddamn order or we'll die like them!" The captain bowed his head, and simply muttered, "Very well." The pilot sighed with relief, but that relief was shattered instantly as an Atlas Cheetah C flashed by under them. The pilot of the Cheetah sent out a cold message to the bomber's crew: "This is Fenrir 1. You should've fled when you had the chance, now you'll pay the price."
Inside the cockpit of his Cheetah C, Raphael sighed. "You should have run...instead you'll die." He performed an Immelman turn, so that he was heading right for the cockpit of the B-52. After recieving missile tone, he sighed once more, and called out, "Fox 2." Raphael pulled up and fired. The second and last missile homed in in the B-52, and hit the target head-on, the bomber exploding in a brilliant plume of flame.
"This is Fenrir 1 to Overlord. All bombers destroyed. Is the sky sanitized where Raven Wing are?" "The remaining Belkan fighters left the scene soon after you intercepted the bombers. Raven Wing suffered no further casualties." Raphael sighed in relief, and suddenly a familiar voice reached his ears. "This is Raven 1. We're all fine. I gotta thank you for your support, we would've been dead if it wasn't for you..." He paused, then said, "Who are you guys, anyway? I don't recognise those markings..." "We're mercenaries from Libero...that's under attack by the Belkans, too." Raven 1 laughed. "Well, I'll tell ya...you're no ordinary mercenaries."
And, inside himself, Raphael knew that was true.
As the trio flew back to Vectus Air Base, Cortez, questioned Raphael, "Hey, Captain...do you think that things'll quieten down after that?" Raphael sounded serious. "No...infact, Cortez...I think this is the start of something...something that will change us, and that will change history as we know it."
Little did he know that he was all too right.
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So, here's my first chapter, and my thanks to all those who aided me in starting this fanfiction.
R&R, please!
Note: About the Tengu and Valais mountain ranges, Libero and Ustio border each other,
so they "share" the same mountain range, but both get their own half of it, Libero's being "Tengu", Ustio's being "Valais", respectively.
Next up: Chapter 2: Death From Above.