To be honest, I don't like how it was written. Its been a while since I have written something. Heck, even this author's note have some grammatical errors in it…
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LOADING…
Its been several weeks since the end of the 'Lighthouse War'. Refugees didn't stop coming but some have left the iconic landmark returning to their homes making enough space for new batch of refugees. The war had given nothing in return for both Osea and Erusea in the end. The war that was started with bloodshed between two parties ended with both of them working together to stop the menace that threatens the humanity. Not only they managed to stop the drones from being autonomous, they managed to save several astronauts that was docking at the Space Elevator above the orbit as well.
Now everyone knows why Harling returned to the elevator. There was someone he needed to save.
With the peace accord has been signed, the war came to an end. Though, with hundreds of refugees lost their home and the Erusea's future remained bleak there are possibilities that the famed monarch country will not be able to rise for the rest of the decades to come. Even the heir of the Erusea throne, Princess Cosette D'Elise was uncertain on how to rebuild her country after what happened to Farbanti in the last battle.
Even so, everything must move on. The people of Usea continent will continue to strive forward for whatever may comes for them in the future.
12:34 p.m.
15th November 2019
Selatapura Airport
LRSSG
The Selatapura Airport finally returned to its usual busy schedule. Planes are landing and taking off, passengers are waiting at the departure and arrival hall, cheers and happiness resounding across the airport. It was the first time in a while, the sight of peace have arrived on Usea once more. For the members of the LRSSG, this was their greatest moment. They can finally return home after a year of nothing but shooting down drones, planes and steel carnage.
"Damn, I'm gonna miss this place…" Count huffed as he looked at the scene before him. "Lot of things happened."
"Yeah, wondered if Wiseman could see this in the heavens right now." Huxian added as the two of them looked into the heavens.
The lost of Wiseman hits hard to the squadron. He was the best Osean ace in this war sitting right next to the infamous 'Three Strikes'. Even the Ace himself was depressed for a moment after failing to save him. But alas, the hostilities came to an end when they befriends the squadron responsible for Wiseman's death. They are simply following orders, just like they were.
"So, you packed your stuff?" Count turned his head towards the girl.
"Yeah, you?"
"Done. I don't have much personal stuff anyway."
"How about Trigger? At least he cleaned up his bunk, right?"
Count shrugged, "Beats me, Trig' doesn't even let anyone enter his room at all."
If one were to ask who would be the oddball in the LRSSG, it would be Trigger. Despite his status as one of Osea's 'Big Shot' and also known as the infamous 'Three Strikes', things could get a little weird. There was this one time where he simply go off on his own and kill all the enemies in the vicinity ALONE. And then there's this one time where he chased a lone aircraft near the end of AO even though Longcaster told him to chase the missile. There's also the Cape Rainy raid where everyone slows down and carefully flies through the canyon and then there's Trigger who flew through the ravine with afterburner and single handedly obliterates the entire base all by himself. Literally, almost all operations involving Trigger would have a great outcome with weird methods. No one could wrap their heads around what actually happened and not even the top brass has the answer.
Well, whatever happened in the past should stay in the past. The war has finally over and that's what matters. They can finally put all this bullshit behind them. And probably not seeing Trigger doing some weird flying methods ever again… Probably.
Count checked the time with his phone, "Woah, its seems briefing's about to start. Come on."Huxian nodded and followed him.
Seeing that the briefing was nearing its time, the two decided to get into the hangar where the staffs have already gathered. All members ranging from the maintenance crew, pilots, security team, AWACS personnel, cook and various MOS are present along with their counterparts from Osean ground forces and maritime forces. It seems this ordeal was quite big.
Just as the two pilots are wading through the crowds, a familiar figure was spotted. It was a man in his mid 20s and sports regular dark hair with clean shaven face which is according to OADF's standard regulation. The man who was handsome enough to make any girls swoon due to his cool personality… The man was sitting down on a portable stool playing his smartphone with his ears stuffed with earbuds drowning the loud crowd. But most importantly, he wore black flight jacket with an iconic emblem on his back, an emblem of cryptid claw striking leaving three slashes. Everyone knew whose emblem that was and who this man would be.
Count quickly called out. "Hey, Trigger!" The man looked at Count and quickly takes off his earbuds as soonest he saw them approaching. "You're early…"
"Well, got nothing to do anyways. The satellite network haven't been restored and I can't watch favorite shows on Nutflix app." Trigger replied narrowing his eyes looking at the weak connection bar on his phone.
"Hey, cheer up. Heard from the guys that they've started launching satellite from Basset Space Center to fill up the hole right now." Huxian added. "We can still call home and tell everyone we're doing good at the very least."
Trigger shrugged, "Yeah, maybe you're right. I mean, I still haven't called my parents."
"You didn't call them?" Count raised his brow. "They could worried right now, you should give them a call, Trigs'."
Huxian nodded in agreement, "Yeah, they might've been worried about you ever since the satellite were destroyed. You should give it a try."
"Eh, I can do that later. I wanna keep it as a surprise." Trigger smirked. "Besides, I wanna keep it low since all the media kept yapping about interviewing the 'Three Strikes' and the top brass wants to make a big deal out of this."
"Well, that's PR for you."
"Eh, don't worry. I bet they'll send you in a secret box straight to your home or something." Count joked as he jabbed Trigger lightly.
"Bruh, don't give those OIA guys some ideas. They might be here right now, monitoring us! I don't wanna end up in on of their secret brainwashing facility!" Trigger narrowed his eyes scanning every corner of the hangar filled with Osean military personnel alike.
"Jeez, relax… Its not like anyone's gonna come after you." Huxian scolded but Trigger's suspicion didn't fade.
"You'll never know, Huxian. When you're at top, they'll always have plans for you even after war."
"Like what?" Count asked as he doubted with his friend's remark.
"I don't know…" Trigger shrugged, "Maybe bombing some targets in Sotoa, crash some planes in Verusa, JDAM-ing a kindergarten in Verusa, blowing up refugee tents at Space Elevator or something. Shit, I don't know."
Count and Huxian instantly shot a judging look to him. Their face literally saying 'Says the guy who blew up refugee tents in Shilage a few weeks ago…'. Sometimes, Trigger can get ahead of himself to the point that it would creep out the entire team. There's even rumours among the crew that this guy is actually psychopath due to his weird tendencies in the operations he's involved in. Sometimes, he would say he's doing it for 'points'. Something that even Longcaster himself couldn't even comprehend at all. Everyone is literally too scared to ask him. For the guys at the top? They don't pretty much care as long as he get the job done and have them winning this war. Pretty sure nothing is actually good when your top ace bombs children for the sake of 'points'.
But then again, this guy is good at suspecting people and he's practically right. After what Clemens planned for him, he became way more wary of the guys at the top. Not only the bigshot has become a valuable ODF's key asset but also a political tool among the top brass. Some are putting their bet on Trigger just so they can get more promotions and recognition from this entire war. Fucking office politics.
"Anyways, you guys got any plans when we arrived in Osea?" Trigger asked.
The two glanced at each other. Everyone wanted to return to Osea immediately and everyone had their plans once they reached their homeland. Some wanted to meet their families, some wanted a long break before getting called back for work, some just wanted to end their service and many more. But for him to ask such question was surprising to them.
"So?" Trigger asked still waiting for their answer.
"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm gonna meet and stay with my parents for a while. Plus, I'm thinking of getting an early leave before going for vacation." Huxian stated her plans.
"Me? Well, I'm getting out of Air Force! I'm looking for a good money making opportunity." Count exclaimed, "You know, start some business? I'm talking about investing into large company stocks! Casinos and tech companies! Like… Why are you guys looking at me as if if you're judging me?"
"I smell another scam scheme coming from Count…" Trigger scoffed after hearing his plan.
"Definitely, he's that kind of man after all…" Huxian narrowed her eyes as she judges him.
"Hey, I am a different man now. Alright? I'm not gonna do anything breaking the law, you know?" Despite Count retort, the two was still suspicious of him.
"Huh, kinda sus."
"Sus indeed."
"C'mon, you two!" Count gritted his teeth. Ever since he got into this squadron, he got roasted by everyone around him. Even Trigger as well. There was this one time he was called 'Chad Kroeger' or 'The Nickelback vocalist' for no apparent reason in which Trigger simply replied 'I have no idea why I said that…' or along the lines of something like that. Seeing that he can't handle the heat, Count quickly redirects the fire towards Trigger. "Okay then, Trigger. What about you? What're you gonna do when you've landed? What's your plan then?"
Trigger cupped his chin, thinking as he wondered what he should be doing once he landed. Few seconds in and then, he spoke.
"I'm thinking of sticking with the air force and deploy to somewhere else." Trigger replied nonchalantly.
The two were stunned by his line.
"Are you serious?" Count was disbelieved. "This gotta be some sort of joke, right?"
"No, I'm serious."
"Why?"
"Yeah." Huxian interjected, "The war's over, why would you want to go for another conflict?"
It just doesn't make any sense at all, this contradicts what he hated earlier about being used by the government and higher ups to do their dirty deeds. Just why would he willing to continue working and undertaking dangerous missions after what happened this year?
"I don't know why but I just want to fly a little bit longer." Trigger replied softly. There was no hint of malice or anger. 'I don't mind if they send me to Sotoa to teach some rookie pilots there or something. I mean, after flying through that space elevator… Something just resonates in me." Trigger puts out his hand towards the air as if he tries to reach something. "I finally get it why Avril wanted to see that 'deep dark blue' sky so much… I wanted to go there again. So, that's why…" Trigger pulled his hand and clenched his fist as he brought it closer to his face. "I'll stick with air force a bit longer. I wanna fly to that deep dark blue skies again."
The two didn't expect that at all. Its quite rare for him to talk about such deep things. Usually, he keeps it to himself and tells everyone when he's ready to do so. But today, he's different. Perhaps its because the end of the war that he's able to let everything out. Perhaps the stress had taken too much toll on him since he had to carry everyone in the last mission to defeat the drones. Being a bigshot sure tiresome.
Just as the two glanced at each other thinking that they were worried for nothing, Trigger continues his line.
"While I'm at it…" Trigger's face darkened and a wide grin formed on his face like a psychotic murderer. "Maybe I can start bombing some poor kids in the middle of their yards or something. Oh, maybe I get to strafe some refugees in god knows where. No, I think blowing up trucks full of civilians and wounded people could be good!" Trigger's eyes were hollowed, he soon descend into madness. "Ohohoho boy, maybe I can blow up some helicopters filled with wounded soldiers along with refugees who were running for their life! Ohoho, maybe I can drop a JDAM on the HVT right in front of their families! Just imagine their faces!"
In an instant, the heartwarming scene turns dark as Trigger's psychotic tendencies leaked out. This wasn't the first time he have said such things. He's been acting with such intent since his days with Mage Squadron. According to them, he practically laughed through the radio when it was the squadron's first encounter against Arsenal Bird. Then, when Trigger flew with Spare, everyone stopped laughing when he made a joke about civilians dying during their raid at Artiglio Port and joking about how all of them have family about how they deserved to die. That questionable behavior also leaked when he's flying with the LRSSG and they got their firsthand experience on his weird personality.
Count and Huxian are pretty much used to his behavior already along with the rest of LRSSG but no one dares to ask him if he's currently drown in his tendencies. Though, even if they are used to his behavior, his inner monologue still spook everyone around him.
Watching this weird behavior that only presents on psychopath brings both Count and Huxian to put up an painful expression while asking one simple question in their mind:
'HOW DID THIS GUY GOT INTO THE AIR FORCE?!'
No, seriously… How?
Just as Trigger's psychopath delusions was getting ahead of him, the Osean Bigshot then realizes something.
"Eh? Why the hell did I said those words?"
And here comes one of his syndrome - sudden temporary amnesia. Once again, with this kind of mental illness no one would be able to pass the mental evaluation test but somehow this guy managed to get into the air force anyway.
Just as they were questioning Trigger's mental sanity, several figures approached them.
"Sorry for being late. They haven't started yet, right?" a voice called out.
The three looked towards the source and saw three men approaching them. It was Jaeger, Skald and Lanza.
"Nope, not yet." Count replied. "Don't know what's the deal, its…" he looked at the watch to check the time. "…Its 12:50 already. Briefing was supposed to start like five minutes ago."
Just as everyone were losing their patience over waiting something important, several men in dress service uniforms walked into the scene. One of them were Longcaster as he stood next to the commanding officers. Still to this day, Longcaster's ability to maintain regular shape even after eating unhealthy food remains mystery. Soon, the hangar's shutter was close and the briefing begins.
"Good evening ladies and gentleman." The man at the center, his face full of wrinkles and his white hair showing his ageing look. This was General Shepard, one of the ODF's high commanding officer in Usea continent operations. "We all know why your here."
The Osean serviceman nodded while some simply murmured.
"Indeed, we'll be sending some of our forces home. That means you guys. You've been fighting this war for a year now and after what we all been through, you deserved it. I mean it. Every one of you deserve to go home to your loved one. Because we're heading home, TOMORROW."
Soon, the hangar was alive with the sounds cheering and clapping. Everyone was enthusiastic.
"Finally, I can get out of this shithole." Count scoffed.
"Shush!" Huxian retorted and they remained silent for the rest of the briefing.
"As we know, with the satellite's being relaunched from Basset Space Center it will take time for our GPS to be calibrated around the orbit. Our Usean allies are kindly enough to assist us in our endeavor by launching their own satellites through Comona Islands. We might not get the best and accurate direction but its better than nothing. Lieutenant, bring up the chart."
The projector was soon turned on and the screen shows the map of Strangereal where there are sets of lines ranging from their current location towards Farbanti and crossing straight into Nordlands and passing by some countries until they reach their destination which was several from Apito International airport to some bases such Hierlark AFB and Redmill AFB. Some even end their destinations in Osean bases in other countries such as Wielvakia and Sapin.
"As you can see on the charts, we'll be having separate flight path. C-17s carrying the infantries will be departing for Apito and Hierlark AFB to ease up the process. As for fighter squadrons, you'll be flying towards Farbanti for mid-air refueling before heading back towards your respective destination. Warlock squadron, Banshee squadron and LRSSG will be heading to Redmill AFB once you make a flyover the Oured to commemorate the ending of war. Chief of Joint Staff thinks its the best way to improve our trusts with the people but don't take my word for that." Chuckles and mutterings were heard among the serviceman. "Anyhow, I expect that everyone get some nice good sleep because we'll be flying off tomorrow at 0900 hours. Any questions?" After a long silent, Trigger raised his hand. "Yes, Captain?"
"What's the weather report? Don't wanna caught up in bad weather while flying."
Shepard smirked, "What? I thought you like getting an electrifying therapy after what happened in Yinshi Valley?"
Burst of laughter arise in the was totally enjoying the sight of him getting roasted.
"If you're asking if the skies are clear, then it is." The laughter stopped as the General continued, "I knew you'd be worry about that, so that's why we prepared earlier. 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron just conduct their operations few hours ago. Report says the skies are clear but that's not all." General turned his head towards the secretary and nodded. Then, the screen shows a meteorology chart of some sort. "As you can see, there are concentration of clouds forming close to the coast of Nordlands and Wielvakia. Both of the respective countries have getting showered with heavy rains lately but not as terrible as thunderstorm. Based on the ISS reports, they believed that the clouds will soon move and scattered towards Spring Sea. If you're asking me if we should worried? Yes, we should. Keep your eyes open, if its the only thing we can't beat its the mother nature herself. Anymore questions you wanna ask?"
The crew remained silent and none of them didn't asked further.
"Good, I hope every one of you return safely to Osea. Dismiss."
With that, the briefing adjourned and the hangar's shutter opened once again. All the Oseans began to make their way out of the hangar towards their respective destinations. While the rest of the serviceman are making their way out, the LRSSG sticks around for a few minutes.
"Say, wanna grab something to eat?" Trigger suggested. "I mean, we can go for a walk around Selatapura for sightseeing."
"Yeah, that could be a great idea." Skald nodded in agreement.
"I can't wait to tell my son everything about Selatapura!" Jaeger exclaimed.
"It's settled then! We're going on a trip around Selatapura!" Huxian added. Everyone in the LRSSG was pumped up until a familiar figure approaches them.
"Hold up, you six." Longcaster approaches them and instantly their faces soured. "Pretty sure I heard that you guys are going for a trip around Selatapura. Am I right?"
Count clicked his tongue, "What? Is it wrong for us to get some liberty?"
"Heh, then you guys don't wanna have some good ol' grub somewhere in Selatapura?" Longcaster looked at them as if he was mocking them about his cuisine knowledge.
"As expected, of Longcaster. The messiah of all finest cuisines!" Trigger preached as he kneeled down and prayed towards the average build man like he's some sort of messenger of cuisine god or something. But thanks to that, everyone simply enjoyed the sight and relieved. "Anyhow, what's the first spot on our trip?"
"I'm thinking of heading downtown and get some new threads. Pretty sure, I got kicked out from my old apartment." Count's word spooked of them.
"Wha?! Seriously?" Huxian was stunned, "Why were you kicked out?"
Count laughed awkwardly, "I kinda… er… Not paying the monthly rent?"
"You deserved that." Huxian replied with no ounce of sympathy.
The rest simply laughed which prompt Count to tell them that they're also had worst situation. While the LRSSG members are having their time, Trigger followed suit from behind. He watches as his fellow members as they are having fun together. The Osean began lamented that things might not be the same after they reach Osea. He won't be able to fly with some of them again especially Count. He wished that could continue flying with them but he know that won't happen. Right now, the best he could do is to enjoy these last moments with his fellow wing mates before going their separate ways.
As Trigger was following them from behind, "Guess I gotta go and see Avril…"
And so, the LRSSG went for their liberty at Selatapura.
10:41 a.m.
16th November 2019
5000 meters above sea level, entering Nordlands' airspace
LRSSG
Finally, it was the day.
Dozens of men and women from Osean Defence Forces have boarded the C-17s and en-route towards their respective destinations. Some of them cheered as soonest they entered the Nordland's airspace. Nothing could describe these emotions that they have been keeping to themselves ever since the war started.
Even so, by bringing home dozens of forces back from their AOR means lack of power projection for Osea. And thus, Osea decided to rotate a small number of forces to fill up the gap within the Usea continents fearing that 'uprising' might happen and it would threaten Osea's safety with the lost of network among their forces. Thus, they will do whatever to maintain their strength and influence in Usea.
But for Trigger and his fellow LRSSG, it wouldn't matter. There won't be war anytime soon.
Probably… Though, they do heard something is brewing in Leaseath lately which was some sort of civil war ending or something.
Long flight means total boredom since there wasn't a lot of thing to do for fighter pilots in the middle of flight especially 5000 feet in the air. Then again, the possibilities of being attacked by rogue AA following the satellites destruction is not to be taken lightly.
After LRSSG have refueled during the mid flight at Farbanti, they set off for the coast of Nordlands. According to mission planning, Warlock and Banshee squadron will be escorting several C-17s ahead of their schedule. LRSSG will be flying ahead towards Nordlands ahead of the rest to perform the honor flyover on Oured before heading to Redmill AFB.
Few hours have passed since their refueling and nothing happened.
"Damn, this flight is really aching my ass all over." Count keyed in through the radio.
"Come on, Count. This isn't your first long flight." Jaeger interject.
"Well yeah but flying all the way to Osea? That's gonna leave a lot of sore up my ass."
"You know, I have to agree with Count on this one. My back is starting to burn!" Trigger jumped into the discussion. "Wish we can at least land at Sapin or something…"
"Tell me about it. I wanna take a good hike at the Sapin hills!" Longcaster interjected much to everyone's annoyance as everyone knows his true motives.
"You just wanna get some of those Sapinish grub!" Lanza barked.
"Boo!"
"what a glutton!"
The radio was resounded with laughter and roasting from the squadron. Even some of the staffs within the AWACS could be heard roasting Longcaster as well.
"Alright then, how about I treat everyone for some grub when we land?" Everyone cheered when Longcaster claimed.
"Once again, the food messiah has spoken!" Trigger preached.
"All hail Longcaster!"
"All hail Longcaster!"
Suddenly, a new cult was establish solely based on their believe for food.
"Alright, alright everyone… Calm down." Everyone stopped cheering and giving their prayers to the foodie messiah as Longcaster about to ask Trigger the most important question. "By the way, Trigger. I've been meaning to ask this but… Why aren't you flying your F-22?"
Everyone soon realized about it, Trigger had an F-22 sitting by the hangar before leaving and even tended by Avril Meade, the 'Scrap Queen' herself. He even flew it when he was in the Spare squadron and flew it in the last operation as well. But to think he chose the F-15C instead begs the question.
"Eh, they said we're gonna make some flyover Oured, right? I mean its kinda weird to have a single F-22 in a formation while the rest is F-15Cs. That would be an awkward sight. Besides, I'm trying to lay low, remember?"
Hearing his explanation, they thought it was the most acceptable explanation they could get. After all, having an oddball F-22 in a formation of F-15C would garner a lot of enthusiasts and reporters attention. This contradicts with what Trigger had wished as everyone already knew that the 'Three Strikes' is flying the F-22. Well, that would work if he removes the mark on his current plane as well though…
"Say, what's gonna happened to the plane? Will he be flying back to get it?" Lanza inquired.
"Negative. They said they'll be sending it back to Fort Grays after repainting the tail mark." Longcaster answered, "They needed more aircraft to maintain presence in Usea. 173rd Fighter wing has an F-22 squadron rotating to Fort Grays. They'll be handing the plane to them."
"Eh, that's a shame." Count frowned.
"Why would that be?" Skald asked.
"I mean its Trigger's signature plane."
"Pretty sure, he has a LOT of SIGNATURE PLANES." Jaeger stated. It took a few seconds for Count to refresh his memory thinking what the 'father of a son' was talking about.
"Ah… Yeah… You're right."
Another thing weird about Trigger? He gets to FLY LOTS OF PLANES ranging from a simple light fighter to a freaking Erusean experimental fighter. As explained before, he flew an F-22 even on his first flight! Nobody knows how he was assigned to fly an F-22 even though the squadron was designated to fly an F-16s. To make it more surprising, he flew an A-10 during the mission in Yinshi Valley and dogfight Mihaly with it despite it being incapable of dogfighting because it was a freaking ground attacker aircraft! Guess what? He flew an Su-35 even though it was only assigned to 33rd Fighter Group that was currently deployed nearby the Leaseath-Osean border. By the time the plane arrived to the base, it was already painted with his emblem and the squadron's marking. No one dared to ask how he gets it or whose balls he needed to suck to have those aircraft assigned to him. But one thing is for sure, whoever Trigger is… He is not to be reckoned with.
"Well, don't fret about it. At least you can still fly. Right, Trigger?"
Silent. Count keyed in again.
"Yo, Trigger. You dazed out?"
Again, silence.
But then, Count heard a faint voice speaking through the comms. It was like a whisper. Listening it closely, he knew whose voice it was.
"Those bastards…" It was Trigger's. Count continue listening to his mutterings and it was spine chilling. "They took my F-22… They took my A-10… They took EVERYTHING FROM ME… THOSE BASTARDS… THEY. SHOULD. DIE!"
Worried that Trigger might snapped, Count quickly called the Osean Bigshot to bring him back to reality.
"Yo, Trigger! You okay?"
"What?"
"You were mumbling some creepy things."
"Really?" Trigger looked around him in confusion, Count who was flying by his side could see him looking around the cockpit in confusion. "Fuck… Why this keeps happening."
"You're probably exhausted from this long flight." Jaeger noted. "Guess you should get some rest when land."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Just as the worries are fading away, another problem arises. Longcaster quickly warned the LRSSG.
"Heads up, we got a storm coming close at vector 320, 1 click out."
Trigger and his team turned their heads towards the direction to see the storm. Not far from their current position, a large black cloud formation is brewing and raging covering their path and whatever is beyond. Not only it covers everything above 2000 feet but below it as well. They have never seen such cloud formation at all. There's even lightning clashing with in the clouds. This stirred fear and worries among the LRSSG members including the fearless Trigger himself. Just as Trigger was staring at the storm in awe, he heard a faint sound of nu metal music coming from the black clouds.
'I am the storm that is approooooaaaaaaching! Provoooooooking black clouds in isolation!'
Before Trigger could point it out, Count's cursing interjected before he could say it.
"What the hell? Didn't they said that the storm would be moving to Spring Sea?"
"That's what they said!" Even Longcaster was baffled by this sudden turn of events. "Hang on, I'm checking with command right now." After a few seconds, Longcaster was back on the radio. "Err... Strider squadron, you're not gonna believe this..."
"What? Tell us, Longcaster."
"Warlock and Banshee squadron passed this route earlier. They said that the storm was no longer around when they flew around this area."
Everyone fell into silent after hearing that statement. If the storm is long gone, then what is this natural phenomenon in front of them?
"Are you serious, Longcaster?" Trigger asked sternly, it must be a joke.
"Negative, they really did passed the route and right above Sapin airspace right now."
"OK, if the storm has long dissipated then WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Count exclaimed, even he was spooked by this sudden turn of event right now.
"I'm not sure, I'm trying to contact the ground base. Let's see if we can take another route or head back to Farbanti instead."
"Make it quick, Longcaster. Looks like the cloud is moving towards us right now." Trigger watches the clouds moving fast towards the squadron's direction. He only have few seconds to decide if Longcaster was taking his time too much. Also, he realized that the song had stopped playing just now. Was that just an imagination? "Longcaster, tell me what you got because I don't wanna get zapped by lightning again! And I don't wanna go into boss battle against someone who refuses to pay child support!"
"What the fuck are you talking about, Trigger?!" Count was baffled at his last few words at the end.
"I don't know why I'm saying that! Longcaster, tell me you got something with the command!"
"Negative, I can't get through to command!"
"What do you mean you can't get through to command?! Our comms are working just fine! You just contacted them earlier!"
"I don't know, there's some sort of interference!"
At this point, its starting to get baffling. It just doesn't make any sense. Trigger started to panicked worried that this whole thing might be fucked up. His only thoughts were thinking several questions - 'why would the storm coming straight towards North instead of Spring Sea?', 'why haven't they reported this sudden change?', 'why did no other squadron reported this?' and at that point it turned into 'are they trying to get rid of us?', 'did Shepard try to tie up loose ends?' and other sorts of questions but none of those are important as much as survival.
"Damnit! Longcaster, we're heading to Farbanti! We'll notify the ground forces that we're landing there!" Trigger barked, he doesn't want to lose any of his wingman anymore. The safety of the squadron is important.
"Got it! All Strider squadron, vector 290 immediately. Farbanti is 45 minutes away."
"Roger!"
"Righto!"
"Copy that!"
Soon, all of the F-15Cs rolled around and bank across the sky leading back towards Farbanti. The planes quickly increased their speed hoping that the storm doesn't catch up to them.
Just as they are far enough form the storm, Trigger checked his left and right to see anyone missing. "Longcaster, Strider squadron have been vectored to 290. All Strider members are accounted for."
"Copy, we've vectored for Farbanti as well. ETA 42 minutes."
"Roger that… What the?!"
Suddenly, their surrounded was shrouded in darkness. Black clouds and thunders cracking around the F-15Cs. None of them believed it, they didn't expect the storm to catch up with them at all.
"Are you kidding me?!" Count was frustrated as he kept scanning his surrounding that began to turn darker.
"How the hell it got even faster than us?!" Lanza wondered the same.
Soon, the comms was filled with panics and chatter prompting Trigger to take action.
"Everyone calm down! Turn on your navigation and formation lights! We're going through the clouds!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"That's our Trigger!"
Obeying his command, the planes soon lit up with lights allowing their members to know of each others' position. With the lights on, Trigger quickly ordered the planes to stay on formation albeit quite close as they don't want to risk of losing one men. However, they pretty much hated this formation as well since this would also lead into collision in mid air. Thus, this was a quite risky flight as they are stuck together in the middle of darkness with no source of light.
"Damn it! What the fuck's going on?!" Count's worries began to grew.
"Nobody knows why or how. The best is to stick with Trigger until we reach Farbanti." Huxian noted but that doesn't eased up the worries.
The situation was quiet, only the sound of jet engines could be heard. Each of the pilots are watching their distance between one another as they try their best to avoid collision. It was all eerie like one of those horror movies waiting for the climatic jump scare to come out of nowhere. That feeling was right. Something IS in the clouds. Suddenly, a whirring sound could be heard within the dark clouds.
"What was that?!" Lanza pointed out in panic. He was scared shitless.
"What?" Everyone looked at Lanza's plane.
"I heard something in the clouds!"
"Dude, this ain't the time to be joking!" Skald retorted. As if the situation wasn't bad enough already.
"I'm serious! There's-" Then the whirring sound could be heard again. This time, louder than before.
"OK, what the fuck was that?" Count's tone changed, he was scared ever than before. The sound had caused the entire squadron to worried and scared of this unknown.
"That's definitely not thunder!" Jaeger exclaimed. "Anyone saw what that thing is?!"
"Negative. I have no sight!"
"Me too!"
"Everyone, keep your shit together! Increase the speed!"
Everyone quickly followed Trigger's order as this unknown being is stalking and preying on them. Trigger's worries just grew and he hoped that none of his members died from this whole ordeal. The only question in his head was 'what the fuck was that sound?'. But he best asked himself after getting out of this cloud later. As the planes are going fast through the storm, another whirring sound was heard again but this time a single faint red light was lighting around the clouds.
"I saw a red light!" Jaeger was the first to notice. "Its gone now."
"Where?!" Just before they could look at the direction, the whirring sound could be heard again. This time from their rear.
"Its coming from our six!" Huxian looked at the radar but nothing was there. "Fuck, I can't see anything in this cloud!"
"Longcaster, tell me you see something!" Jaeger pleaded but not even he could help as well.
"That's thing's really fast! Like really fast! Wait, its gone from the radar again!"
"Fuck, where is it?!"
"I can't see jackshit!"
Just as they stares into the black clouds hoping to see what the object was, it revealed itself. Like a ghostly being, the unidentified object fly past the Striders and swiftly bank around the sky to chase them. The object was flying straight into their blind spot planning to attack.
"What was that?!" Skald shifted in his seat as he looked backward to see it but he couldn't due to the restricted sight.
However, instead of attacking it flew upwards while whirring again and leaving a bright red lights as it hides itself into the clouds.
"Some sort of a drone? I saw red lights coming from it!" Huxian reported.
Just as they are deducting, Count began putting the pieces of the evidence together: Whirring sound, red lights coming out of the airframe, moves literally in impossible way. When he reviewed all this evidence, he finally come to conclusion. Count's worse fear had just become apparent… No, everyone's worse fear have revived from the dead once more. To think that some of them still exists.
"Whirring sounds? Red lights? Hey, Trigger… Doesn't that mean?"
"No shit."
They all knew what the answer was - A drone. Not just any normal UCAVs at that. If their prediction is real, then this would the very same drone that came out of the production facility. The ADFX-10 UCAV and if its here then, they're literally fucked up.
"What do we do, Boss?"
"We fight it!"
At this point, everyone was prepared to take arms against the drone. Knowing what its capable of, its better to fight it before the UCAV gets to them. However, Trigger's order surprised them.
"NO! STAY IN FORMATION!"
"ARE YOU NUTS?! There's a drone up our ass and you telling us to do nothing?!" Everyone agreed to Count's words. It was foolish to not retaliate at all.
"IT WOULD BE DANGEROUS TO FIGHT IN THIS CLOUD! WE CAN'T SEE IT AND SO DOES THAT THING!" Trigger barked, he was not gonna lose any lives fighting in this near zero visibility. "Longcaster, we're going to reheat our engines! This Strider 1 to all planes, apply full thrusts! We're leaving this storm!"
"God damn it!"
Count wanted to argue but he knew the flight leader was right, flying in the clouds trying to kill that drone was a foolish decision. Who knows he might be flying towards the sea below? He can't even tell where's the sky and the sea ends with this cloud covering their sight.
Following their leader's order, the fighter jets quickly zoomed across the sky maintaining a straight line towards the end of the storm. All they could pray is that Erusea's landmass is beyond those black clouds. As the jets zoomed through the stormy weather, the thunders crackled along their side canopy raising more alert than it should have been. No one wants to get struck with lightning especially with a god damned drone hiding in the clouds waiting for the right time to kill them.
The whirring sound was heard again but this time, the drone takes a drastic move. Appearing out of the cloud right above them, the drone fires series of laser towards the Striders prompting them to break and evade.
"Strider 1, its coming on top of you! HIGH!" Longcaster's warning managed to saved them.
"BREAK! BREAK! BREAK!"
Instantly, the entire plane split out of their formation. As they bank across the clouds, the drone followed Trigger firing another wave of lasers onto him.
"Fuck, that bastard got on my tail!" Trigger rolled his plane away from the rest of his team fearing that it might target them as well. "I'm taking him away! Count, form up and get everyone outta here!"
"Negative! I'm not leaving you!"
"Count! JUST TAKE THEM BACK TO FARBANTI! I GOT THIS!"
"FUCK! EVERYONE FORM UP ON ME!"
With that, the rest of the Striders form up on Count and continue their journey. At the other side of the sky, Trigger was baiting the drone further away into the clouds. However, the amount of lightning and thunder crackling along his planes puts him in danger further. As the Osean ace scans the clouds and his radar for any signs of the drone, the drone loomed out of the clouds behind him and fired more laser shots but misses. The drone zoomed passes him and flew into the clouds.
But the Osean big shot isn't going to give up just yet.
"Fucking drone." Trigger increased his speed and catches up to the drone right on its six only a few meters away. With his PSL pod useless in this thick cloud, he uses his cannon. "Longcaster, I have him in visual range. Engaging."
"Wait Strider 1!"
Before Longcaster could finish, Trigger had already opened fire on the drone which most of them misses thanks to the small size. He continue to trail on its back firing flurry of rounds until something unexpected happened. The drone fired a concentrated shot of laser. Backwards.
"SHIT!" Trigger rolled his plane avoiding what appears to be a similar type of laser blast to that of FALKEN's laser. "What the fuck? Longcaster, it shoot laser backwards!"
"Come again, Strider?!"
"That fucker shot the laser from its ass!"
"You're saying it has a turret?"
"Fuck if I know! I'm going under!"
Trigger flew underside hoping to blast it from below but as expected, the drone fired the same laser from its belly.
"FUCK!" Trigger raises his altitude creating distance between the two. "OKAY, IT FIRED 360 ALL AROUND ITS BODY! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS DRONE?!" the drone didn't stop and continues to shoot waves of laser towards. As he has enough distance, he switched to his Sidewinder and locked the target, "STRIDER 1, FOX 2! FOX 2!"
The missiles flew away from its pylon and Trigger prayed that it hits the target. But alas, his expectation was burned once again. The drone fired high concentrated laser which SPLITS INTO TWO and BLEW UP the missiles. Trigger was baffle at the sight.
"Strider 1, missile connect but the drone is still on the radar! What happened?!"
"THAT FUCKER CAN SPLIT LASER INTO TWO DIRECTION!"
"Say again, Strider 1?"
"That drone… Its not anything- FUCK!"
Trigger quickly evaded another high concentrated blast from the drone. Not only its fast and agile, but also has laser that can split into. Too many questions are lingering in his mind as he struggles to beat this new gen drone. Trigger was struggling to maintain his nose towards the drone kept firing on its flurry rounds of laser coupled with high concentrated all-directional laser. He could only roll and evade the incoming attack until one of the shots landed on his left wing leaving a hole on it.
"Strider 1, disengage and vector to 276!" the battle was out of control, Longcaster don't want to risk of losing Trigger. "Trigger, disengage!"
"Negative! It won't stop until I die!"
"Damnit! Disengage Strider 1! That's an order!"
Trigger rolled the aircraft further away from the drone and decided he'll approach it with different method. Weaving through the clouds, he increased his speed and rolled his aircraft leftwards and the drone enters his trajectory. As expected, it fires another wave onto him but he easily dodges it. Switching to his AMRAAM, he instantly gets a lock thanks to his JHMCS.
"GOTCHA!"
Just before he could launched it, a red lightning struck his aircraft and the drone.
"THE FUCK?!" Trigger held his arms to close his eyes trying to protect it from the strong glare. "ARGHHHHH-"
And instantly, the plane along with the drone VANISHED from the thin air.
Longcaster instantly noticed the blips disappeared from the AWACS radar. He panicked and began yelling through the radio.
"STRIDER 1, COME IN! STRIDER 1, REPORT!" the glutton was raged, "SOMEONE GET ME WITH HIGH COMMAND, NOW! I WANT A SAR TEAM DEPLOYED TO THIS LOCATION, ASAP!"
On this day, Three Strikes vanished from the sky.
1:22 p.m.
10th October 1944
Aachen, Empire of Karlsland (liberated district)
Its been several weeks since the Liberation of Gallia and the destruction of the Neuroi nest over Paris. Gallia is being slowly healed with the help of its allies to step up and began its life as a nation once more. Surely, there are lots of things that were needed to be done to get the country up and running again. With the funding flowing in from the allies such as Brittania and Liberion are supporting the reconstruction of Gallia, the country will now serve as the backbone and the source of logistics that will be heading to the borders of the country that will soon becomes the frontline for their next objective : Berlin.
With the operation is running smoothly, several piece of Karlsland has been reclaimed. Though, none ever dared to step deep further into the hearts of Rhineland as the deepest part of the country is still under the control of the Neuroi hive, codename 'Wolf' currently resides within Berlin. As much as the Karlsland witches, soldiers and citizens are wishing to reclaim their land, it would be foolish to charge in blindly. All they can hope is wait until the time is right.
Aachen is one of the liberated districts of Karlsland. Even so, the only people that are in this town are witches and soldiers. No citizens are present due to the fact that Neuroi is still present at the area several kilometers away. Hence, this is Karlsland's primary bastion against the upcoming Neuroi attacks.
Despite being the frontline, daily life in Aachen is no different than those in normal towns of Gallia. The only difference is that only witches and soldiers are present.
And in the air traffic control tower of the airfield, the radio operator, 20 years old Johann Klins is manning the radar as usual with his fellow mates monitoring the reports that are going through the channels. It was a boring task but it could help to save lot of lives since they are practically at the front lines standing between the liberated Nederland and Belgica with the Neurois trying to invade it back. The young man knew the risk of this job but he doesn't want to sit around and do nothing. Save for the fact, that being radar operator is mostly do nothing but man the radar but at least he's assisting in the effort of reclaiming his homeland.
"Any weird things going on over there?" his partner who monitors the radio channel, Schmidt asked.
"None, so far. Its mostly ours in the air."
The area surrounding the Rhineland has been strangely quiet lately. Both Neuroi on the ground and aerial types have been getting rarer as well. According to the observation posts, the Neurois haven't been going on offensive lately but instead, there has been report of the hive's movement moving towards southern area possibly Romagna and Venezia. In other side of the story, a storm is brewing nearby Stuttgart and Witches have reported its been going on for several days already. No one knows if its the Neuroi or just some natural occurrences.
"Say, Johann."
"Yeah?"
"Heard you got a sister in the 23rd Panzer. You don't mind if you…" Schmidt smirked with devious intention. "You know…"
"FUCK OFF."
"Come on! I haven't even finished yet!"
"Fuck no! I'm not letting anyone near my sister!" Johann exclaimed. It was like what? 13th time this week alone? "Why are you so eager to get on my sister's side?"
"Come on, Johann! You know how hard it is to get close to a Witch?"
"Yeah, I know and it should stay that way!"
"Hohoho… Look at this siscon, Erhardt!"
Everyone in the control tower roasts him and laughed at the joke. Johann had a sister in the 23rd Panzer who was a witch currently stationed at Nederlands near the border of the occupied Karlsland. She wasn't particularly tank ace or anything but for these men who have a terrible luck trying to hook up with Witches they thought hitting on Johann's sister might change their luck. They even know of her existence thanks to a special delivery that was sent by her sister from Gallia at one point and it made every single men try to approach her. As a dutiful brother, it was his job to protect his sister from both Neurois and hormone fueled lecherous men.
As the roasting died down, one of the traffic controller asked.
"Hey, heard that some brass from high up is making a surprise visit."
"Oh yeah? Who?"
"Don't know, they say its a Witch."
"Oh hell yeah, you think I can score her?"
"You? No way. You know those chicks are not interested in average joes."
"Come on…"
Johann only shook his head as the tower was filled with useless chatter instead of doing their work. First they tried to tackle his sister and now, they're trying to tackle some famous witch. Some workplace he was assigned too… If their C.O walks in and they are slacking off, their commander would chew them into bits. He just wished that something at least happened. And so, with his pray the god answered. As he was monitoring the radar, Johann noticed a blip appeared from a weird direction. Checking the charts, he finds some references and began asking his fellow crew.
"Hey, is anyone surveying the storm in the sky right now?"
Erhardt checked and then he answered, "No, command told all Witches the area around storm is a no fly zone. Why?"
"I got a fast mover flying out of the storm bearing 270. Its fast, really fast."
Schmidt quickly went to his side and monitored the radar, he wasn't lying. The blip is moving faster than anything.
"Is it a neuroi?!" One of the controller asked. Panic began to fill the room.
"Maybe. Should we call for any aerial units to see if its a neuroi?"
"I'm on it."
"Hey guys! Listen!" One of the radio operators called everyone in the room and he begins increasing the volume from the radio. "We have a distress call!"
"This… Strider… Assistance… Repeat… LRSSG… Osean…"
Everyone was dumbfounded with the call coming from the radio. It sounds spooky to them.
"Eren, can you clear up the line?" Schmidt ordered and the radio operator nodded.
After several tuning and improvement, the distress call can be heard clearly.
"Air Traffic Control, this is Strider 1 of the Long Range Strategic Strike Group of Osean Air Defence Force requesting to land on nearby airstrip. I am bingo fuel and several damages on my wings. I just got out of storm. I REPEAT, this is Strider 1 of the- WHA?! SHIT! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! REQUESTING ANY ALLY AIRCRAFT IN THE CHANNEL FOR SUPPORT! I'M BEING ENGAGE BY DRONES! I REPEAT! ARGH!"
The tower was filled with silence as they were confused with the caller. Osean? Long Range Strategic what what? Drones? No one has a single idea what this means. Is this some ruse? Some secret unit by the allies? No one knows.
"So? What do we have here?"
As soonest they heard a woman voice, they turned around and two woman and their C.O, commander Gerfurst standing side by side. The first woman who seemed to be angry all the time was wearing the standard Luftwaffe uniform with brunette hair tied up in a single braid. Everyone have seen her on the paper, she was Major Greta Lutzow, one of Karlsland's ace. She seemed to be annoyed by this whole ordeal. None of the boys dared to look at her. So much about scoring a witch... As for the other one, everyone knows who she is. Stand before them is the Karlsland's top general and the leader of the all Witches - Major General Adolfine Galland. Everyone literally stood up and salute as soonest they see her. Everyone then realized that she must be the 'top brass' they're talking about.
"Huh, a distress call? Can you maximize the volume, Feldwebel?" Adolfine ordered Eren, the radio operator.
"Y-Yes, General!" Eren cranked the knob higher allowing everyone to hear it clearly.
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! YOU LITTLE BITCH! I REPEAT, THIS IS STRIDER 1 OF OSEAN AIR DEFENCE FORCE! REQUESTING ASSISTANCE! I'M BEING ATTACKED BY SEVERAL DRONES! THEY'RE CHEWING UP MY PLANE! FUCK DAMN! I'M BINGO FUEL AND MY RESERVE IS RUNNING DRY! *BOOM* FUCK, I'M ENGAGING!"
Adolfine simply cupped her chin, "When did you received this call?" She looked at the traffic controllers.
"J-Just now, Major General!" Johann quickly answered.
"Really?" Adolfine then walk towards the radar and watches the screen. She watches a single blip in the radar moving weird as it was keep spinning and turning like it was losing control. Hearing the chatter from the radio, she deducted that the fast mover might be this person called 'Strider 1'. "Major Lutzow, come and look at this."
Greta walked by her side and scanned the radar's screen, "An unknown flight, its around the edge of the storm. Is it a Neuroi?"
"Rather than a Neuroi, it might be of our 'mystery man from the radio'." Everyone looked at each other as soonest Adolfine said such words.
"Impossible." Greta rebuked, "We've already told that everyone including the witches that the area is a no fly zone."
"But aren't you interested why he's around that zone?"
"Trap set up by Neuroi perhaps."
Just as the witches are debating, Johann stepped forward and spoke. "Permission to speak, Major General?"
The two stopped and looked at the young man. Adolfine looked at his rank and nodded, "Go on ahead, Feldwebel."
"Just as soonest we saw the blip on the radar, the radio received his transmission at the same time. The pilot claimed that he came out of the storm earlier before requesting for help. I thought you should know about this, General."
Silence filled the air as the General put her thinking hat again, "Interesting… Greta, let's go." The Major General simply walked down the stairs.
"Are you going to send us to intercept that unknown pilot?"
Adolfine giggled, "You mean US."
"Wha? Are you serious, General Galland?" Greta was dumbstruck by her words. "You know that Kaiser forbid you to fly!"
"I know and that's why I'm flying."
"General!" Greta quickly catches up to her.
"I'm not gonna miss something interesting! Besides..." Adolfine simply smiled. "Something tells me that a good thing is about to happen."
Fuck me, this is why I prefer drawing rather than writing. I don't know why I love writing so many build ups that are way too long and unnecessary words that takes up way too much of time. Though, then again... I need to characterized and add a little personality to Trigger if I want to make this happen so all that info dumps are necessary. From onwards, the remaining chapters will be short. So no complaints. I want to focus on drawing instead of writing.
Also, lot of you must be noticing some unusual 'out-of-place' references throughout the story, right? Well, that's because after I read 'Ace Combat 7 missions but in greentext form' on AC Reddit by ck-pasta... It dawn to me that I should try inserting some of this references into the story since we do crazy shit in the game. So, I couldn't miss the chance to put in there. Also, I will be putting other references in a vague manner. I know this would ruin the immersion but you've seen the menu at the top of the story, you know what it means. Look forward to it though, that is if my motivation is keeping me up. Vergil would be disappointed with me since I've been slacking using hentai references lately for drawing.
Also, leave some reviews and criticism. I might not be good as how I was and I cringed at the build up too, you know? So please leave something about which part I can improve.
Also to Karaya 2/Frontline Trace, if you're happened to reading this. Please don't chew on me because I write cringiest build up and ignore all military accuracy, I'm trying my best.