Fuck this chapter. Pain in the ass to write...
Things have taken into weird turn and Trigger hates it. He was literally chilling out in his cell before those guys took him for another round of interrogation, until the air raid siren wailed. He could only meet Adolfine briefly but there was a lot of question he wanted to ask but it's better to save it after this whole mess is done. The Osean was escorted… Well, dragged was probably the better term since his escorts literally dragged him off into the trench nearby the airfield leading into the bunker. He can see that several men and women are in hectic state as they armed themselves preparing for an imminent attack. Trigger had no idea who they were fighting but the only answer would be that weird looking drone he fought yesterday.
But seriously, why propeller fighters? If its the Witches, he can't question much. But why old aircraft? And then, there's the enemy they're fighting.
"Neuroi? They're attacking? Why?" He muttered under his breath. 'Just what are these Neuroi anyway? A terrorist group? A nation? A rogue paramilitary force acting on someone's payroll? A coup force? A PMC gone rogue because someone in upper management made a terrible decision like various video game companies today?' those questions kept bugging him.
Just what kind of aggression did these Neuroi have against Karlsland? Or maybe its Karlsland are the aggressors? Whatever it was sticking his nose too deep wouldn't change the fact he had no interest in this conflict.
'But I have to say, those Neuroi have some wicked drones though…' it still baffling to him why they suddenly scattered in white flakes after being destroyed, a self-destruct mechanism perhaps? 'Maybe I can ask her more about this Neuroi thing. Though, I wonder why they look at me as if I have never even heard of it?'
Eventually, they reached the bunker. It wasn't the big underground type but the usual ones for airfield point defense. Trigger doubted that this would protect him against the incoming JDAMs or even worst, FAEBs and other overpowered weapons. A single drop from those weapons could literally destroy this bunker, definitely not the best cover he wanted to be in. Especially against these Neuroi things or whatever they have in their inventory.
'Let's just hope they don't have any over powered weapons…' Trigger thought cynically.
As soonest the door was opened, he was brought in and sat down on the crate instantly. The first thing that caught him off guard was the scent that trickled his nose. The smell lingering in the air nearly made the Osean puked as soonest he was hauled into the bunker.
"God, what the hell was that smell?" Trigger covered his nose taking a breath at one time through his mouth. 'Smells like someone just finished a massive orgy or something…' the pungent smell kept entering his nostrils, not even the smell of strong jet fuel would match this one… Scanning around the bunker, he finds that there are several radios in the corner while the rest prepares a bed and some medicines. 'Huh, I thought this was a machine gun bunker… Maybe its forward command post or something…'
But that smell is still lingering in the air, just what did they do in this bunker anyway? Shat in a bucket? Take a leak at the wall? Some secret orgy or something? Whatever it is, it doesn't matter since that was least of his concern. Now, he had to wait this whole ordeal died down and hope he gets the answer from that woman yesterday.
"Just what did she meant?" Trigger cupped his chin as he puts on his thinking tinfoil hat again.
"Because things aren't exactly what's on this map!"
Those words kept lingering in his head, just what did she mean by that? Are there changes on the map in the last few hours? No, if they did then the higher ups would've notified Longcaster about this. Heck, even news channel would cover this as well. Nothing changed on the map except for some of the zone in Erusea are still under rebels and insurgents. Then, just what did she meant?
'If there's one thing that doesn't add up, it would be the drones. Seriously, I've never seen anything like that. Black and red hexagons on every parts, capable of firing PSL and TLS 360 simultaneously all around their body and disintegrate into white flakes after being shot down. Just who manufactured this thing?'
Grunder Industry was the first that popped up in his mind but it just doesn't add up. He stopped the drone from sending anymore data under that space elevator and the factory has been shut down. Osean Delta Force unit and Erusean Spec Ops Unit went into each of the facilities and they confirmed the destruction of all factories to prevent any excess data from being used by the A.I in case they survived. Then, if all of them are destroyed then how come these new type of drones appeared out of nowhere? Just what did Grunder hide more than Hugin and Munin? Do they have some sort of backup plan incase those two failed? And how did these 'Neuroi' group managed to get their hands on them? And then this country of Karlsland he had never even heard of. Just where is this country located?
The more he tried to piece the clues only to meet dead end. At this point, he's out of clues and more questions keep popping up. Especially those Witches, are they some sort of modified human or something?
*BLAM BLAM BLAM*
"What the?!" The anti-air guns snapped him out of his thoughts. The rapid shots continuously rang all over the area raising worries not only him but also the foreign soldiers. Some of them rushed out of the bunker to get a quick look at the scene. "Did they manage to pass through the defense network or something?"
Several languages could be heard playing through the radio reporting. At least one of them actually speaks in Anglo he managed to get a glimpse of what the soldiers are reporting from the front lines. It seems several of these 'Neuroi' drones are flying towards toward their airfield. Hearing their reports, the operators quickly relayed all information and orders through the network. Seeing their tenacity and hard work, Trigger was impressed.
'Huh, at least they take this threat really serious. Guess we'll be fine...' He felt relieved at the bottom of his heart but that feeling didn't last long until an explosion from afar spooked everyone in the bunker. "Okay, I take that back…"
Chaos ensues as another explosion could be heard I the distance. Initial reports confirmed that heavy casualties are coming from tank units with several deaths. Then another report came in, stating that the ammo storage for the armored forces has been blown up and still assessing the casualties in the area. Trigger could feel something was dawning upon him and it wasn't hope. Soon, the radio chatter is filled with chaos and request for assortments of assistance. The whole bunker was panicking as the situation is becoming uncontrollable. The bunker tremored as another faint explosion occurred nearby putting the Osean in far more tight situation than ever was.
"Damn, this whole situation is getting out of hand…" Trigger knew that the longer he stays there, the higher chances that he might end up dead. "Ok, now I really want to get out of this place…" sure it would lead to some misunderstandings between Karlsland and Osea but still better than being dead buried in some old bunker that smells like a dead grandma's feet. "Just how the hell do I get out?"
With his hand cuffed and being surrounded by soldiers that outnumbered him, the chances of escaping this place are pretty slim to none. If he had to bust out, he has to fight several other men either into fist fight or shoot them by stealing their gun. Trigger hated the idea of having to kill these men since they haven't harm him and the fact it would pushes the misunderstandings further between Osea and Karlsland. The only best bet is to escape while they are busy and he'll seize that moment when it comes.
Suddenly, a man in different uniform entered the bunker with a pale look on his face and quickly yelled across the room.
"GET DOWN! THE NEUROIS ARE COMING THIS WAY!"
"What?" without any warning, Trigger didn't expect what was about to come next.
Suddenly, the laser blew up portion of the bunker's ceiling causing some of them to collapse. In his eyes, several men within the bunker were buried under the rubbles. Thanks to his reflexes and training, he quickly lied down onto the floor and covered his vital parts. Trigger looked around and saw rays of light from outside pouring onto the now open top bunker. Up in the sky, several drones are flying and some are getting shot down from the sky.
Trigger sat up and shook his head as the temporary deaf came to an end, "God, if it weren't for those drones on the sky… I would've thought I died right now…" He whimpered as he pulled himself to the corner. "At least I'd be glad if I were in heaven right now." Trigger chuckled right before getting confused, "Wait, pretty sure hell fits me better…" Trigger gets up on his feet but felt wobbly due to the effect of the shockwave sending through his body.
He then heard several groans of pain, some of whimpering as if they are dying. Trigger scanned around and saw several men are lying on the floor unconscious while others are trapped in rubble and writhing in pain. Two of them were his escorts that were supposed to guard him are now laying on the ground unconscious not far from him. Seeing this situation, Trigger realized what this means.
'Wait, this is my chance to escape!' he thought. Quickly crawling towards one of the MPs, he searches for key along the belt and no sign of it. "Fuck." Trigger quickly crawls to another one and flipped the soldier around. Just as he hoped, he found the key and quickly unlocked the cuffs. "Heh, finally…" Trigger grinned like a villain character as he rubbed his wrists. "Thank god, finally! I'm starting to get rash from wearing that metal bracelet! Whatever, time to leave this place!"
The Osean got up on his feet and proceeds to exit but not before his guilt took over him. Trigger glanced at the unconscious soldiers who were still whimpering in pain. He had to admit, the guilt was weighing him down. Trigger felt sorry and wanted to help them but he knew if stayed in this place any longer, he won't be able to see another light of day.
"Sorry guys, I'll admit that I'm a jerk. But I ain't dying in this place."
Trigger quickly walks out of the destroyed bunker without looking back. It was an ass move but in order to survive, it was needed to be done. Just like back when they attacked Shilage Castle. Though, every time he reminded of that mission it brings pain in his heart. Putting all his thoughts aside, Trigger was at the very least felt glad that he was free but he was still worried about the soldiers nearby. He wondered if they're gonna stop him and question him. Worse of all, arrest him and lock him somewhere else. AGAIN. The best option would be to sneak around as much as possible to avoid being detected. Trigger prayed that his SERE training would pay off especially in the middle of enemy base. And then, there's the drones flying overhead that he needs to worry about.
"Alright, here goes nothing…" Trigger crouches down, sneaked through the trenches ducking and scanning every second in case both the soldiers and drones are nearby.
He moved in the trench with full caution. Luckily though, the trench was near to empty as most of the soldiers have retreated to a better fighting position to combat the threats. Taking this chance, Trigger quickly ran as fast as he could towards the airfield while the soldiers are busy shooting at the drones like a duck hunting event. Luckily, he managed to get out of the trench without being detected by both side but things aren't quite done just yet.
"Alright, gotta get a ride…" Approaching the hangars, Trigger quickly hid behind several crates. From his view, he saw several trucks and jeeps were scattered across the area. "Maybe I can get one of those trucks or jeeps to get out of here. Also, why are there no Humvees and MRAPs? It's not like…" Suddenly, rays of laser beams rained on the poor trucks and jeeps blowing all of them instantly. Trigger's jaw was wide opened, "OK… I guess ground vehicle is a no go then… Fuck."
As he scanned the area for any escape vehicle, several planes were rolling out of hangar, taxiing towards the runway. There were seven Hurricane Mk. IVs taxiing as they hasten up trying not to get strafe while the Neurois are busy avoiding the Flaks. Once again, questioned popped up in his head.
'Seriously, why the hell are they flying these old Hurricane fighters?' Trigger kept questioning their weird decisions. Why revert to old weapon system when the current ones are still useable even without the GPS to help them? This whole decision just doesn't make sense at all. "Where are the jet fighters? Why aren't they using the jets?!" Just as he was screaming in frustration, a screech was heard enough to deafen anyone in the vicinity.
Several Neuroi drones are coming towards the Hurricane in high speed. Before Trigger could utter a word, the Hurricanes were strafed. In a blink of an eye, four Hurricanes blew up instantly as soonest the laser beams rained onto the row of aircraft. The trailing planes were also hit, some missed and grazed the plane's airframes. The drones passed off and didn't even turned back to kill the remaining as their attack have succeeded. Out of the seven Hurricanes, four were lost, two were badly damaged and one suffered light damage. The surviving pilots quickly left their plane and went to cover knowing they would be an easy target.
"Damn, they didn't even show any mercy..." This kinda reminds him of the attack he pulled back the same maneuver against the Erusean air base at Scofields Plateau in Operation Eastern Wind. "To think I would witness it from the front row seat… I almost shat my pants…" Scanning the burning wrecks of the planes, Trigger frowned. "Fuck, everything here is old school prop. It's not like I can't fly it but it would be no match for those drones and there isn't a single plane left for me to fly…"
Just as he was cursing the bad luck befalling onto him, his corner of the eyes caught something among the rows of the wrecked Hurricanes. The Osean focused his eyes hard enough and saw one Hurricane with its engine still running. There was a burning mark right on top of the fuselage but it wasn't serious just some minor graze and the condition is still good.
"Then, that means…" Trigger smirked, "I can use that plane to get out of this place! I gotta wait for the right moment…" He looked into the skies, checking if the drones are still flying above him. After a full minute, he confirmed the drones are attacking somewhere else. His heart starts pumping harder as he was scared, worried that this wouldn't work. "Alright, here it goes…" Taking his breath deeply, he leaped out of his cover.
Like a sprinter, he rushed towards the plane with all of his stamina as his breath was burning through his lungs. Sparing not a single second to take a break and checked the condition of the aircraft, he quickly leaped into the cockpit and shuts the canopy. Trigger took a long deep breath as he tries to recover his strength. Slowly, he broke into laughter knowing that he succeeded.
"Holy shit, that was close…" Trigger checked the skies through the canopy and the sky is still clear of the drones. "Okay, okay… I got enough time." looking up at the panel before him, his face soured. The Osean had already foreseen that this plane is all analogues but now, he was skeptical whether he can fly this plane. "Fuck, I flew the T-41 and T-6A-II for basic flight training but this whole console is different breed!" Anxiety took over him instantly but he quickly cool his head and focused once again. "Alright, chill… Let's see what I can at least understand here…" Everything he learned back at the academy came flowed back to his head. Instantly, he used whatever knowledge he has to speedrun the pre-flight checks and finished the routine. "All systems are good aside from some graze and burn marks. Alright, let's get this bird on the air."
Pushing the throttle to the max, the Hurricane's engine roared to live as the engine drives the plane forward. Hitting the pedal, plane turned into a sharp right corner avoiding the smoking and burning wrecks of the planes that were blocking his way. Using the alternative route, Trigger pushes the throttle to the max now that he has the entire runway for himself. The engine roared louder as the plane speeds along the runway and as soonest it passes 150 km/h, Trigger pulled the stick back and the plane slowly flies in the air before retracting the landing gear. The altitude continues to increase and the sight before him slowly turns into blue.
"Ahahahaha! Yeah, baby!" Finally, freedom was in his grasp. Trigger was grinning non-stop like a psychopath, thinking if he should crush those drones while he's escaping. "Doesn't matter, they're dead. I'll shoot down anyone who gets in my way."
The plane continues to climb and eventually leveled at 1000 meters in the air. The drones are still engaging the ground forces and still oblivious to his presence, this is the best chance to escape from this weird country. However, things will not be easy as he thought to be. Out of nowhere, several laser beams suddenly whizzed by his canopy few inches away startling the Osean.
"Wha?! What was that?!" Trigger panicked and looked behind his canopy, "Fuck, those bastards are back!" 200 meters behind him, seven drones are approaching his tail in high speed. "Guess I have no choice, huh?!" Trigger rolled turning the plane before making a tight loop, performing the Split S allowing the drones to pass by him in high speed.
He knew that flying away would be useless as they would chase him until he's down. There's only one choice in order to stopped being pursued – engaging the enemy.
The black and red bastards are turning back towards him, now with his tail facing them again. Gaining enough speed, he quickly turned his aircraft facing the Neurois head on. It was stupid since he had seen what those lasers are capable of but that wouldn't stop him from taking it head on. As the range between the two closes in, Neurois were the first to fire. It was raining red beam everywhere in his sight but Trigger narrowly avoided the attacks and then, it was his turn to counterattack.
Setting his sight onto one of the seven drones, he fired. Several rounds of Brittanian .303 calibers flew out of the wing and damaged the Neuroi chewing every bits of layer before hitting the core. The first kill disintegrated into white flakes instantly and once again, he was still surprised to see it.
"Again, what's with those white flakes?" Trigger muttered as he watches the white flakes slowly disappear. "Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. I'm taking em' all down!" Trigger quickly performs Split S and quickly flies towards them.
Since these drones don't have standard formation, it would be easy to shoot them down if it not for their feisty lasers. Maintaining his altitude, he aimed for the closest one from his visual sighting. Approaching the Neuroi, he controlled his throttle as he kept the gunsight preparing to fire. Once he found the right angle, Trigger presses the switch releasing fiery rounds of bullets onto the drone killing it instantly.
"That's two…" Trigger breaks off and quickly scanned outside of his canopy to track the remaining Neurois.
Three of them are flying lower than he is and two of them are climbing towards his position. Several plans popped up in his head, triggering his plan of approach and possible attacks that could be taken against these drones like a complex computer. With only few seconds to spare, Trigger had decided the next course of action. Turning towards the climbing Neurois, Trigger increases the speed as he flies towards them head on once again. As the three Neuroi closes in, they fired their lasers but he was quick enough to turn his plane upside down and blast several rounds onto the three. Traces of bullets passed by the Neurois before he adjusted his aim and starts shooting again but this time, he bagged two more kills in the head on. The last one passed by and quickly turned around. But he already had expected that and pulled Immelmann turn onto his opponent. Every single G was pushing his chest down as he drove the plane in a loop before leveling his plane. Seeing the Neuroi is still in the midst of turning, it became his prey. The Neuroi was riddle with bullets as he adjusted the angle of attack allowing the bullet to follow the trajectory.
"Five down, two to go."
The Osean Ace dives down towards the Neuroi lingering at lower altitude. Controlling his throttle, he doesn't want his plane to get to fast and slammed straight onto the hard earth. At the same time, he adjusted his sight as he controls the stick towards his next target. The altimeter continues to drop as the speedometer picks up more speed. As the jet black silhouette was visible in his sight, he led the sight ahead of the Neuroi assuming that it was the correct trajectory and pressed the switch.
Multiple .303 caliber bullets spewed out of the wing and chewed the Neuroi mercilessly. He kept firing until the Neuroi slowly dematerializes before pushing the throttle to the max and climbing higher to gain more altitude. The G was pushing him again but he managed to level his plane before turning to his next target. The last Neuroi noticed that its partner has been destroyed and quickly turned around to shoot down Trigger. However, Trigger was faster. He shot down the Neuroi when it was turning at the wrong time and the fact that he has more speed to intercept it.
"Any more of those bastards?!" The Osean scanned his surrounding for any more signs of the threats. The sky was clear but full of flaks and the remaining drones in his sights were being shot down. The area surrounding the airfield was littered with flames and smokes were filling up the skies. "Guess that's all… Wait." Looking far into the horizons, several black dots are approaching the airfield. "Reinforcements? Who? Karlsland? Or the Neuroi?"
As the black dots entered his view, he was instantly surprised by the amount of laser beams firing onto his position catching him off guard instantly.
"OH FUCK!" Trigger rolled the plane off narrowly avoiding the attack before regaining his level. "Okay, it's the Neuroi." Looking at the source, he spot probably about 5 Neurois are approaching his way. "Guess I have no choice to engage those drones, huh?"
Building up the Hurricane's speed, the Osean climbs to gain altitude advantage in which the Neuroi did the same. However, they were quite relentless when it comes to shooting since those damn bastards kept raining him with lasers even at 500 meters away making him hard to find any opening to attack them. Trigger had no choice but to create some distance and avoid at the same time.
"Fuck, these guys just won't give up!" The plane flew upwards for brief moment before diving down onto the Neuroi formation. As soonest the plane approaches, he was met with the bright red lasers flashing by his plane. "Fuck!"
Stabilizing his aircraft, he tried to set his sight onto the drones but to no avail as the intense lasers raining onto him. Not to mention, their all directional lasers are making it hard for him to circle around and hit them from different angle. Thanks to that, two drones managed to get on his tail and began chasing him down.
"Shit!" he glanced between his rear view and his front in panic. Trigger sends the plane into Split S, quickly managed to get the drones away from his back but it didn't last long as three more appears in front of his plane blasting more lasers. "Damn it!"
Trigger breaks off towards right but the lasers didn't stop firing. Trigger was struggling to evade as it was getting intense. The Osean pulled the plane upwards, climbing more into the skies and into the clouds before leveling his plane at 7000 meters. Scanning outside his canopy, he can see those drones are doing the same. Going into High G turn, the Osean uses the altitude advantage and flew over them.
Thanks to their linear flying style, the drones struggled to climb in a near vertical angle which prompts them to bleed a lot of energy. With the drones are stalling, Trigger dives down towards the Neurois and began spraying hot leads with full precision. Two drones were downed instantly while the rest scattered trying to gain more energy.
"Oh no, you don't!" Just as Trigger lined up his gunsight, the Neuroi was blasted out of nowhere. "What the?!"
Suddenly, another traces of bullet entered his view. This time, he gets to see the glimpse of the plane… No, a person. Flying from a steep angle, the person was none other than what those girls had been claiming themselves since yesterday – a Witch. The witch flew gracefully and flexibly through the wind as she avoids those laser beams while shooting her machine guns at the same time. The Witch increases her speed and bypassed the Neurois before shooting two of them from the back, exposing their core and killing them.
"Damn, she's… pretty good." Trigger was awed by her performance, to avoid the lasers easily like it was a ballet and not to mention, those deadly precision. To think they can easily move with such bulky leg thingies. 'If only they put on some pants…' He thought but then, the last Neuroi popped out of nowhere and prepared to one shot the witch. "WATCH-!"
Before he could finish off, the Witch flew upwards before looping off to the back of the Neuroi drone before riddling it with bullets from her machine gun. Once again, the Osean Ace was awed by her spectacular performance. That maneuver, it literally reminded him of the Kulbit that he used to do endlessly. To think that they were capable of pulling such feat was surprising to say at the very least.
"I see… So, that's why they employed these women in their forces." Trigger lets out a dried laughter.
As an ace, he thought he had seen everything but to think that there's someone who's better than he is and not even FLYING a plane makes him wonder if such thing is actually possible in this world? He thought those leg thingies are too bulky and useless but seeing it firsthand, he had underestimated their value. But just how they handle those Gs?
"Wish I could thank her but I don't have any radios with me…" Trigger looked around the sky to look for the Witch. Surprisingly, she vanished instantly. "What the? Where did she go?" He looked all over the sky, the ground and even his rear view mirror but nothing. "Okay. Did she landed or something? Pretty sure I…"
Suddenly, a loud knock came from his left side. Turning his head, he saw the witch that saved his life. His smile and optimism was gone instantly the moment he saw the identity of the Witch. Trigger did not expect to see her right now. The Witch was none other than Adolfine Galland herself who had just saved him. Much like Trigger, the Major General was also surprised to see him. The two made a dumbstruck and confused expression as if they were looking each other in the mirror. The entire situation literally went from intense to awkward, none of them said a word. Even if they said a thing, Trigger wouldn't be able to hear or say anything since he lack the headset and microphone to reply her.
Adolfine didn't expect that the first wave was simply a decoy to fool the radar and the observing forces. To think they would disrupt their communication to delay their message was another deadly tactic by the Neuroi to catch them off guard. If this is their plan, this means that the Neuroi had already planned for a long time. But none of them expect that they would attack today.
With half of the aerial forces were decimated and lack of remaining aerial Witches in this airfield, Adolfine had no other choice but to take this matter into her own hands. She can't let them level this airfield, not while they have advanced into Karlsland this far.
"Tower, keep me posted! I'm taking down the small types!" Adolfine responded through her communicator as she jumped into the Bf109 Strikers. Just as she grabbed the MG42 and made a brief check, the communicator crackled to life.
"General, we have one plane that managed to fly and he's engaging the small types!"
"One plane?!" Just as she expected, all of the remaining fighter plane squadron has been decimated. But one plane wouldn't be enough to fend off those Neurois. Even the best Ace pilot struggles against two small types. "Damn it, he won't last long! Notify the AA crews, I'm taking off!"
"Roger that, General!"
The Karlslandian Witch quickly speeds out of the hangar and quickly flies straight into the sky. As soonest she gained enough altitude, she spotted the said plane. Just as her hunch was telling, the lone Hurricane fighter was struggling to fend off the seven Neurois ganging up on him… was her initial expectation was. The lone Hurricane fighter took out two Neurois in a single attack.
"The pilot managed to hold out against two of them but I doubt…" Once again, the pilot surprises her by killing another three consecutively. "Wha-what?" She was mesmerized by the pilot's performance as he performs maneuver that are hard to pull even in the midst of combat. "He took out three of them instantly? Just who is this pilot?!" She exclaimed.
Adolfine was impressed and perplexed at the same time. All the maneuvers he pulled are basics and nothing special but for some reason, the Neuroi still can't match against the pilot. Watching as the Hurricane dives down towards the last Neuois, she held her breath preparing to assist him when he got cornered. But alas, she didn't need to as the pilot swiftly kills the two Neurois less than 10 seconds.
"Amazing…"
The Witch's eyes widened, she had never seen such remarkable flying skill. To be able becoming an 'ace in a day' sure is an impressive feat. Perhaps, there are capable human pilots still exists in this war. Feeling a little bit joyful, Adolfine felt the need to meet this amazing pilot.
"Time to meet that pilot and…" Just as she was climbing, the radio crackled to live again.
"General, we detected five more Neurois approaching our way estimated 1000 meters!"
"What?!" Adolfine looked up into the sky and quickly peered into her scope. Activating her magic eye, she confirmed a group of five small types closing in fast. Based on the speed and direction, they are heading towards one target in the air. "Damn it, they're aiming for that pilot!"
Revving up her engine, Adolfine climbed as fast as she could towards the lone Hurricane. The Neurois had already engaged the plane and they are not giving him a single room to breathe. She knew that the plane would get shot down instantly and she was determined to not let that happened. After seeing he managed to shake off the Neurois by flying vertically, she can see that the table has turned.
"Hang on, pilot. I got this one." After the pilot bagged two kills, she swooped in and engages the rest of the Neuroi.
Firing her trusty MG42, the machinegun's high rate of fire trailed across the breeze killing the Neuroi in the pilot's sight. Noticing her arrival, two Neurois quickly rained lasers onto her but her flying skill was unmatched. She speeds up passed by the two before firing both of her pursuers at their back. Thanks to the high rate of MG42, the Neurois' armor shed like stack of papers before their cores were exposed and destroyed.
"One more…" She knew that the last one was idly flying around to catch her off guard. Just as the small type loomed out of the cloud to kill her by surprised, she had already anticipated the attack. Increasing her Striker's speed, she kicked off and made a tight loop around the Neuroi before killing it off. "All clear."
Despite all the display she had just done for the pilot, Adolfine can feel herself somewhat lacking something. Perhaps it's allthe desk job that she's been doing ever since the fall of Karlsland. There was some part of her starting to deteriorate but not that it's a bad thing. After all, another possibility is that she's already 'at that age'.
Shaking off the thoughts, she looked to the sky again. "Good thing that Hurricane is still flying." Increasing the altitude, Adolfine followed the plane as she slowly approaches the left side of canopy from below. As she rises every inch, the pilot's silhouette could be seen. He had a short black hair and looking at the other side of the canopy. 'Huh, guess he forgot to wear the flight helmet with communicator equipment. Couldn't be helped since the Neuroi attacked us out of nowhere, I should call him out to fall on my wing.'
Reaching out her hand, she knocked the canopy. As soonest the pilot turned around, the smile on her face faded. Once again, she met her prisoner AGAIN.
The two looked at each in complete silence for a brief moment. After a long awkward silence, Trigger responded by smiling and waved his hand innocently at Adolfine. The Witch on the other hand, thought differently. She quickly trained her muzzle at Trigger as soonest her senses alerted. The Osean was startled as soonest she did that and the plane briefly loses control before he grabs a hold of the stick and raised his other hand towards her in fear. Trigger's face was literally telling her that he means no harm or even any sort of hidden tricks. Adolfine, still surprised by this was trying her best to keep her emotion under control.
'WHAT IS HE DOING? HOW? WHEN? HE… KILLED THOSE NEUROIS?!' Adolfine was perplexed by this sudden revelation. 'It doesn't matter! If he's in a plane that means he's planning to escape! I need to get him land, now!' She thought as the best way to have him land would be damaging his engine which could force him to land would be shooting his engine. She hated such idea but it was the only way, "I'm sorry, Captain. But I can't let you escape. Not when I have more questions to ask…"
"General, the bombers are approaching fast!" the communicator came to life, stopping her from squeezing the trigger.
"What? Say again, tower?"
"The Neuroi bombers are closing in to your position! They should be in your view any seconds!"
Adolfine looked into the horizon and peered through the scope with her magic eye again. Four medium types are approaching with eight small types escorting the bombers. It seems easy but she can't let her sight off from her escaping prisoner and yet, she couldn't let the bombers reach this airfield either. Adolfine knew she couldn't choose to do both and there's only one choice she made.
The Karlsland Witch lowered her gun and glared at the Osean one last time before speeding off towards the bomber. If there's only one choice that mattered, it would be shooting down the Neurois. After all, hundreds of lives in Aachen are at stake.
She flew as fast as she can towards the approaching bombers and managed to catch up at the nick of time. As the General is going for head on towards the Neuroi bomber, she quickly trained her gun and fired several rounds onto the medium type. The airplane shaped Neuroi took hit not only from the front but also along its fuselage as Adolfine passed and fired at the same time. The medium type soon fired several lasers off from its red hexagon parts prompting her to evade and shoots whenever there is an opening.
'The core sits right at the tail, this should be easy…' Adolfine looped around and began pursuing the medium type's tail before firing more rounds onto it. But things aren't easy as she thought it would be. "Huh? Damn it!" She spun and rolled away from the tail as she was suddenly attacked by the escorts, two small types. "That was close. Guess I have to deal with these little ones first."
The two Neurois began pursuing Adolfine, criss-crossing through the sky and into the clouds before reappearing again. One of the small types was sitting right behind her, shooting beams while the other little bastard followed the same suit. Blasting endless stream of lasers, they thought they have Adolfine cornered… Until she deployed her flaps.
Adolfine sent herself backwards as soonest she deployed her Strikers' flap. As one of the small types passed under her, she blasted the small type using her gun like a chainsaw splitting the Neuroi in half. Spinning her body and aimed her guns backward, she aimed for the next target and sprayed multiple bullets. Since it was approaching high speed, the bullet impacted far more severe onto the Neuroi's thick skin taking more damage and entirely destroyed the core in the process.
"Now, the medium type…?!"
Out of nowhere, another small type appeared and catches her off guard from nowhere. Its red hexagon was brimming red preparing to shoots its hot blazing beam. Her mind was thinking nothing but death. Has her time finally come?
The answer was NO.
The small type suddenly blew up into white flakes as a hail of bullets struck out of nowhere. Adolfine was stunned and quickly looked to the direction where the tracers were fired. 200 meters away, a lone Hurricane fighter plane was diving down onto the incoming escorts that were approaching her. Its guns continue to blaze killing two more in the engagement. She was dumbstruck at the sight and only able to utter a single word.
"Why?" she muttered, "Why did you returned?"
Trigger had a good chance of escaping the scene. The moment she left off to intercept that bomber was an opportunity for him. He can forget all this bullshit and don't even bother to get involved in this war at all. Plus, he can make up some crazy situation story when he gets questioned by the higher ups later. Anything but this whole weird drone and witch thing. This whole mess wasn't his problem at all, what's in it for him if he gets involved? Escaping this drunken fantasy land was the best option of surviving this madness. It was the right choice.
But yet, can that woman handle all the attacks by herself? Even if she's good against those easy targets, he doubted that Adolfine might succeed even with her amazing skill.
'Should I help her?' that question kept popping up in his head. He struggled with that question as more questions piled up. 'Why should I? What's in it for me? What if the Neuroi is a legit country and my participation accidentally pushed Osea into another foreign conflict? Would she listen to me?'
So many questions and no answer, to think that the 'Three Strikes' that people revered and feared couldn't decide the course of action. What a laugh.
Trigger smacked the canopy, pain was pulsing through his fist and his eyes were burning with fiery resolve. "Fuck that. I'm gonna do what I'm also good at… Shooting down drone bastards!"
Trigger revved up his Hurricane and climbed as high as he can to the most optimum altitude he can get. He needed every meters, altitude advantage is considered important for pilots especially when they are engaging enemies with low energy. The engine roared as it brings the plane to higher altitude before he starts leveling towards the bombers formation.
"Fuck it, I'll shoot some bombers down and leave. Bet the guys at Department of Defense would make fuss about this…Heck, maybe Department of State or even Bright Hill might get involved too..."
As soonest he spotted the bombers, he begin closing in for visual identification. He was sure that these puny guns wouldn't do anything against anything modern bombers especially when it's faster than his piston aircraft. Seriously, why didn't they field any modern technology here? It's like he's living in the past.
"Whatever the reasons are, I don't… WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?" Trigger's eyes widened as his eyes were glued to what seemed to be Tu-16 bombers… with edgy looking paint scheme and some thorns and pole sticking out of its body and wings. "My god, it's like this plane went through emo phase and got edgier at the end of heart broken story arc or something…"
The Tu-16 bomber was… weird to say at least. Aside from the weird choice of black and red hexagons, there are several antennas and spikes protruding at some parts of the frame and the lack of cockpit windows suggests that it might be unmanned. Clever idea of using old gen bombers as drones but does all that weird spikes and antennas really necessary? Heck, it's as if the engineer wanted to add more 'evil' look on this thing even more.
"Whatever the reasons, they're going down. After I took out those escorts." Revving up towards the Witch, he spotted one trying to surprise her out of nowhere. "Not if I get to you first!"
The plane quickly rolled and began attacking tight angle as he fired burst of .303s onto the unsuspecting Neuroi killing it instantly. Trigger briefly looked at Adolfine confirming that she was fine and still kicking. Focusing onto the incoming escorts, Trigger swooped down with a shallow dive and shot one of the drones down before performing Immelmann and dive down using the Boom and Zoom to finish it off.
Trigger leveled his plane and exhaled deeply, "Damn it, without the G-suit it felt really hard to stay awake." He had admit, must be tough flying and fighting in this piston fighter when G-suit wasn't standard issued back then. "Whatever… Huh?" Entering his peripheral vision, Adolfine approached his plane and flew by his canopy. 'What do you want?'
The two gazed at each other. No malice or even hatred was reflected in their eyes. Eventually, Adolfine exhaled and smiled at him giving the Osean another order through her hand sign.
Take. Out. The. Bombers.
Trigger smirked and thumbed up, agreeing to her plan. Adolfine flew ahead with Trigger trailing her back. The two sped up as fast as they catching up with the bombers only several kilometers away from reaching their target. As the Osean was flying behind her, he was glad that at the very least the Witch wears pants and doesn't even bother to see her 'private battle underwear'. Not that he hates it but at the very least, they're going to war and they need better protection around their lower body.
Also, he couldn't help but distracted by Adolfine's booty in the tight pants. The ass cheek is really trying to burst out of the pants making it much delectable. Adolfine glanced at Trigger in which prompted him to pretend as if he wasn't staring at her butt. Turns out, she was giving order to attack the bomber. Trigger awkwardly thumbed up before focusing back onto the enemies.
"But damn, those booties are freaking hot!" Trigger muttered to himself.
As they approached the fourth bomber, Trigger pushes the stick downward lowering the aircraft into shallow dive towards the bomber's tail. As soonest he got his AOA, he aligned the gunsight and squeezed the switch. Several rounds smacked the bomber's tails and its left wing. He shot more rounds as he swerved his plane to the right, sending more rounds at its right wing directly at its engine. or at least what he thought to be engine.
"Hell yeah, eat lead you S.O.B!"
Then, he realized something was off. Looking at the damaged he had caused at the tail, it suddenly disappeared!
"What the?! How? I shot that tail, how come it's already fixed?! Did I missed it?" He yelled in disbelieved. It was baffling how the tail that he damaged few seconds earlier looked brand new as if it didn't took any damage. "HOW?! WHY?!" At the right time, his eyes caught the sight of the right wing he had damaged just now. The damaged right wing is now 'regenerating' and fixing the old damaged he had done. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THAT THING REGENERATES?!"
In retaliation for destroying its wing, the Neuroi lets out a defensive laser towards Trigger from its red hexagonal parts.
"OH SHIT!" he yanked the stick sending the plane rightwards avoiding the intense beam. "That thing can fix itself and can shoot laser all over its body?! The fuck is with that thing?! Does it have some sort of Nanomachines to fix it?!" Trigger furrowed his brow as he kept his sight on the black aircraft. "Just how the hell are we supposed to beat that thing?"
Adolfine zoomed in passing by his plane and pursues the same bomber. She circled around the rear section and fired hundreds of round onto the tip of the tail before the skin shattered revealing the red ruby embedded within the bomber's tail.
Trigger was surprised to see the similar object embedded within the bomber's tail. "What the? Those bombers have that weird red orb thingy too? WOAH!" Trigger quickly evaded as streams of lasers blasted to him and the Witch. "That thing suddenly went aggressive, is it because that part exposed?" His eyes looked onto Adolfine who shot some bursts onto the core but struggling to hits the target as she needed to evade the lasers at the same. "Whatever, I'll shoot that thing and get the rest of them!"
Pushing the throttle to the max, the plane goes fast as he approached the optimum range for his gun to shoot. The Neuroi's laser beam was not making it easier but Trigger easily evaded the incoming lasers before quickly aligning his sight towards the red ruby core before firing his guns. The orb took damage and it expanded before shattered turning the entire bomber into white flakes.
Wasting no time, they pursue the second bomber which was only 200 meters away. As soonest they entered the gun range, the Neuroi bomber spews out another waves of laser beams. Like they anticipated, both of them evaded the laser attacks swiftly and spun around the trajectory. For Adolfine, it was easier as she was smaller target to hit compared to Trigger who has a bigger surface area that can easily be shot down by the laser. However, thanks to his skill he managed to get close enough onto the Neuroi. Flying through the gap, Adolfine quickly fired a long burst onto its fuselage. Several rounds impacted and shattered the location of the core which was slight in front of the vertical stabilizer.
Like the bombers from before, it started being aggressive again. It launched streams of lasers across the sky forcing Adolfine and Trigger to evade the relentless incoming attacks. But that didn't stop the two from going in for the kill. Slowly approaching at an appropriate angle, the two climbed up and evaded the last streams of lasers before diving down upside down with their sights onto the Neuroi. The two shot the red orb simultaneously causing it to shatter and disintegrates into white flakes.
"Two more…" The two continues to push further as they race against time. The two bombers entered his sight as he maintains a straight line at its tail. Just as they approached, two small types escorting the remaining bombers disperse and began attacking them. "This must be the last of the escorts." Trigger fired several rounds onto the small types trying baiting them into attacking him.
Before pulling away from Adolfine, he gave a hand signal telling her to eliminate the two bombers ahead in which she responded with thumbs up. The two breaks off as Trigger focuses on handling the last escorts of the formation. As agile they are, he had seen enough to beat them. Using their speed, he quickly let the first to pass by him and performed Immelmann over behind the Neuroi instantly getting at its back before killing it. As the last small type turns towards him, it was already too late. Trigger had taken the high yoyo method and quickly locked the Neuroi in his sight killing it instantly.
"Now, that's one less problem to worry about… I wonder she's faring against the bomber?"
Trigger quickly makes his turn towards the bombers. He was expecting that the Witch is struggling to kill the weird bombers and she was but surprisingly, Adolfine had severely damaged both of the bombers. Some of them had lost their wings, vertical stabilizers and even exposed their cores. Even so, with her alone the Neuroi's counterattacks are putting her in hard time to get a clean shot on the two cores. Seeing the trouble, Trigger quickly climbs up and speeds off above the bombers before going in for shallow dive towards the bombers. However, they had noticed his 'BnZ' attacks and begin shooting their lasers towards him prompting his to climb back upwards.
"Fucking bastards!" The Osean cursed, "If this goes on, this entire town will be leveled…" Suddenly, the first Neuroi's right side exploded followed by the second bomber. "What the? That trail? Is it a missile?" Following the smoke trail, he saw the source of the launch as several spots appeared on the horizon. "Finally, some big guns… Wait…" As the spots getting closer each seconds, he can see the silhouette. It wasn't a jet fighter but rather, "Those are the Witches from yesterday!"
Dozens of Witches flew towards the Neuroi swarming every side causing more damage. Trigger was impressed by their skill. Not only able to evade the lasers but also deflecting the lasers and their 360 variable attacks where aircrafts couldn't even perform.
"Hold on, is that… A freaking rocket launcher?!" Trigger's eyes widened as his eyes locked onto one of the Witches lugging a giant box on her shoulder while launching some missiles. "Seriously, just how strong are these girls?" It was mind blowing but not the first time since he had seen a girl carried an anti-tank rifle yesterday. "Gotta say, I'm impressed that the bomber is still flying…" he watches the Neuroi continue getting pummeled with wide array of assault. "Glad these girls arrived on time..." The Osean goes on support role knowing that his guns might be useless against it.
He watches as the girls continue riddling the Neurois with bullets and rockets destroying more parts. The lasers, however, kept the girls from approaching further towards the cores. As he was worried that the girls might be zapped out of existence, he was surprised once again. The girls had this giant blue circle appeared out of nowhere deflecting the laser and even capable of using it while on the move.
"Holy shit, they have some sort of energy deflection field?!" This reminded him of the Alicorn's and Arsenal Bird's energy field except this one only covers the front. "Though, they don't seem to be using it often... Stamina related perhaps?" Just as he was mesmerized by the Witches' performance, a lone Witch passed by his side. "Woah! What the?!"
Watching the said Witch, he noticed that one of the distinct look was that she had a twintail which was definitely out of standard regulation. The auburn twintails proceeds to avoid the trails of lasers like it was a dance. Trigger was impressed as she barely uses her energy deflection field, it took a lot of effort to avoid those lasers. As soonest she closes the gap, the twintail fired several burst slightly closer to the core before breaking away as appeared from another red part. Though, the twintail didn't stop and continue pressing towards the fourth bomber and perform the same method. Again, she missed her shot.
"Whoever that girl is... She sure is reckless as hell." Trigger commented. That part really reminded of him, a reckless dumbass. "But... We're closing in to the town and the airfield. I can't just keep giving supporting fire!"
Seeing the exposed core and the girls are still struggling to hit it, his patience had reached its limit.
"Alright, I'll show you girls how it's done…"
Diving down, the plane picked up more speed as it approaches the Neurois. He intends to wrap this up in a single attack. The Neurois' laser attacks are getting relentless as he closes in every second. He spun and evaded multiple lasers flying around him. The Osean could feel his blood isn't rushing to his head causing him to have develop tunnel vision, signs that he's taking in G-LOC. Tightening his muscles, he braced in and passed by multiple Witches before aligning his sights on the red ruby orb. Seizing the moment, he blasted hundreds of rounds onto the core causing it to shatter. Turning his plane, he quickly goes in for the last kill. He repeated the same maneuver and eventually, he destroys the core.
The white flakes scattered before disappearing into thin air. Trigger leveled his plane, maintained his flight path and took a deep breath. That entire crazy maneuver had taken toll on his body but luckily he didn't blacked out from that excessive Gs that was pushing down on him. But even so, he was glad that this whole ordeal ended. Trigger then looked into his hand, it was visibly shaking.
What is this feeling? Fear? Excitement? Perhaps both? No, it was something he knew. Something he had felt even back during the Lighthouse War. The Thrill, that was the feeling. To think that he gets to taste it again real quick in another war in another country was unexpected but not that he hates it.
Shaking his head off the monologues, he looked outside where some of the white flakes are still visible.
"Real talk though, what's with this technology? What kind of weapons does Neurois utilize anyway?" Perhaps they are supplied by Grunder? "No, even as advanced as Grunder… They couldn't have achieved this in short amount of time and seriously, what's with the red orb anyway?" It was weird for him. Why the engineers would use these red orbs as the source of power for the aircraft? And what kind of materials are they using to build this Tu-16 bomber replica? Whatever the answers are, it wasn't the right time to answer. "Better get out of here before they-?!"
Trigger was stunned as Adolfine appeared to his left again. Her lips, keeping that same smug just like when they first met yesterday is still plastered on her face. Just what is trying to do? Force him down with the gun at his face again? Though, the atmosphere around her is different. Doesn't seem like she will do it again any moment…
Adolfine then thumbed up to him, probably for his assistance and effort. Trigger smirked and replied with the same response albeit reluctanty. But then she pointed to him, something that confuses the Ace pilot.
"Eh? Me?" Adolfine shook her head, keep pointing something to his other side. "My other side? I wonder… AAAAAAAGHHHH!" Suddenly, an entity with an angry face is aiming a machine gun point blank at his canopy. The Osean nearly lost control of the plane but managed to recover it but the angry woman's face didn't change. "FUCK… She's literally pissed off!"
To think that he met the woman again, it must be the worst day of his life. The angry woman pointed at the airfield, which was an obvious order that he is required to land immediately.
Trigger sighed in disappointment, "I knew I should've escaped from the beginning…" The muzzled gets closer another inch. "OK! OK! I'M LANDING, DAMN IT!"
And so, he had no choice but abide. As the Osean proceeds to land, he was accompanied by four Witches by his side and that angry Major was one of them. If there's one thing he had to say about them, he couldn't help but get the feeling that these girls are looking at him aside from the angry Major herself. While those eyes are not harboring any ill intents, he couldn't help but feeling uncomfortable with those stares. It was like he's being licked and violated over and over again. Just what's actually in their mind?
The Hurricane touched the ground, the Witches also landed trailing his plane. As soonest the plane came to halt, he could see more of them are standing by end of the runway still in their mechanical legs. He could've guessed that they are probably trying to prevent him from taking off again. Among the Witches, Adolfine was one of them. Heck, she even stands at the center ahead of all the girls as if it was representing her authority.
'Truth to be told, I hate to get out of this plane but… they'll forcefully yank me out for sure…' Trigger opened the canopy and stepped out. His heart was beating harder every second wondering if he's gonna get his ass whooped. Slowly, he jumped of the wing and he was immediately welcomed with several soldiers and ground Witches were cheering him for some reason. 'They're cheering me? But those flying Witches doesn't seem to welcome me…' The Osean walked towards the General as they met face to face.
If he were to call it intense, it doesn't feel like one as the atmosphere around her felt different. The angry Major was next to her and she still has that suspecting look in her eyes. Trigger can't blame her, he tried to escape after all. Gulping down the saliva in his throat, Trigger prepared for the worst. The angry Major was about to say something but only to be stopped by Adolfine giving a side glance before approaching him.
"That was a remarkable flying skill, Captain. Not a lot of pilots survived against medium types." The General praised, that smile never left her face.
Trigger chuckled and scratched his head, "Well, I have some experience in fighting something similar…" It wasn't a lie, that's just 'Arsenal Bird' but lite version. Nevertheless, they were still easier to defeat if only they didn't have those pesky lasers.
"But of course, I couldn't help but ask…" Her smile changed, now her face turned serious. "Why didn't you escape when you had the chance, Captain? Instead, you helped us fend those Neurois. Why?"
"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't planning to help. They're gonna get on my way while I'm escaping. Besides, I can't let woman got hurt while fighting those big bastards, can I?"
Instantly, Adolfine was stunned by his word. Even some of the girls next to the angry Major was murmuring and blushing. Guessed that his charm really worked on them. Not only the aerial witches but his charm also struck the ground Witches as well much to the soldiers' irritation. Though, some girls like the angry major and the dull twintail doesn't seemed to get fazed by his charm. Recovering herself from the gentlemanly aura, the General quickly made a fake cough.
"Even so, you tried to escape. You should be punished for your attempt…" Adolfine paused, "But, since you helped us I was thinking of something else. Be grateful for that, Captain." She smirked. "Anything else you want to add?"
"Well, you still owe me some question I need to ask yesterday. You don't mind if I ask at least one, could I?"
"Fair enough. You have my permission to ask, Captain."
"Thank you, for starters... Just what the hell is going on here?"
"What do you mean?" The angry Major, Lutozw if he's not mistaken, stepped forth and replied irritatingly. "Its war out here… Uh? General?" Greta instantly stopped as soonest Adolfine threw out her arm to the side. "Why?"
Adolfine ignored her and focused back onto the pilot, "What do you want to know, Captain?"
"Everything." His replied sternly, "The Witches, the Neurois, the red orbs, this whole antiquated equipment. EVERYTHING. Just where exactly is Karlsland and why did those Neurois started attacking you?"
Adolfine remained silent for a brief second before exhaling deeply. "Well, Captain. It seems you deserve to know everything what happened here..."
Fucking finally, now I can focus on resting for a while. Do review what went wrong. Now I can continue writing porn fiction on my other account. Its much easier than writing this hot mess.