Pilots: Kaze Squadron, 3 Element Wing, Kaze 1 (Squadron Leader), Kaze 2, Kaze 3.
Alpha Squadron, 2 Element Wing, Alpha 1 (Squadron Leader), Alpha 2.
Location: Unknown
Date: Unknown
Operation: Tranquil Flight
Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip
All throughout Kaze Squadron, their IS unit's onboard rwr systems began blaring. The trio had been painted by an enemy weapon's system and had been locked on. Soon a squadron of F-15EXs showed up on their rwr system, the enemy AWACS no longer considered the primary threat.
"Go ahead and reactivate your radar ladies, no use in keeping quiet now" Came from the allied AWACS of Alpha 2.
Soon the trio could for all intents and purposes see again in the dark and heavy cloud covered night. With their own radars cutting away at the dark skies, Kaze Squadron patiently waited for their friendly drone to arrive before they hightailed it out of the combat airspace. Meanwhile the single white IS of Alpha 1 was burning at max speed to confront the F15s. Her wingman gave her all the callouts and space she needed. It appeared that Alpha team's squad leader preferred to do things on her own.
"Flight of 6 bogeys on your 12, merge in 10 seconds" idly called out Alpha 2
With practiced instinct, Alpha 1 pulled out her light laser rifle and held the trigger onto the F15 directly in front of her. Seconds later the F15 directly in front of her had their canopy sheared and burned right off. Fragments smashing into its tail and rudder putting the plane into a flat spin forcing its crew to bail out.
Just as she crossed the wreckage, she immediately deployed her air brakes and used the PIC to do a 180 turn. Slotting herself on the six of the remaining F15s in less than a second. Putting her thrusters to max she came up on the wing of another F15 and used her harpoon to blast a hole right through the left wing, the spear retracting back into its holster on the arm via a wire. Suffering catastrophic control failure, the F15 entered a violent roll and smashed into the ocean below with tremendous rotational speed.
'No parachutes from that one' thought Kaze 2 to herself.
Four loud explosions followed by the dying whine of a fan interrupted her thoughts as she saw the incredibly agile micro missiles from the friendly AWACS smash into two F15s and their turbofans. Choking the engine full of debris which was followed by guttural sounds of the engine dying and being torn to shreds. Both F15 pilots reacted with extreme reaction speed as they punched out of their now multi million dollar glider.
The two remaining aircraft dived towards the ocean in an attempt to break the micro missiles chasing after them. Their tactics proved successful as seconds later the missiles plunged into the ocean below, unable to keep up with the ground clutter of the rippling ocean waves. With glowing afterburners the duo firewalled their engines and gunned straight for the IS AWACS floating gently above the water, too focused on the long range radar to notice the 2 large jets headed straight for her.
"ALPHA 2 BREAK!" yelled Kaze 3 as she saw everything unfold from her advanced hypersenors. However the callout didn't register in Alpha 2's mind in time. Microseconds later a salvo of air to air missiles slammed with full force into the IS. Followed by multiple rounds of cannon fire. Satisfied with their run the two F15s split in opposite directions as they passed over her. Emerging out of the explosion and dust filled cloud was a perfectly fine Alpha 2 who was still focusing on the long range radar. The IS's superior shield system effectively nullified any damage that the F15s could do. Throughout the entire ordeal, despite sending a significant amount of power to her radome, the F15s had only managed to do 2 points of shield damage after a full salvo with all munitions hitting their mark.
Streaking past her was a white flash, her wingman not taking too kindly to having her friend shot at. In an instant the white IS pulled up to the tail of the F15 that peeled off to the right. Taking her harpoon spear she launched it straight into the left engine and retracted it back. In a spectacular explosion the F15 exploded, briefly illuminating the night sky. Gunfire soon slammed into her IS as the F15's wingman had finally circled back pulling as many G's as their body could handle. Simply standing still and tanking all the gunfire she relaunched her spear, this time right at the cockpit, the pilot killed on contact immediately. No damage to the shields were registered.
"Alpha-1 new bogeys coming from the west at the indicated vectors. Angels 10, speed is supersonic" relayed the friendly AWACS to her squadmate who simply headed at supersonic speed herself along the projected vectors on her HUD to the intercept area.
Missiles soon streaked over the white IS as her wingman relaunched another salvo of micro missiles to thin out the herd of approaching F15s. A few seconds later multiple explosions dotted the dark sky, followed by streaks of chaff and flares. Closing into the merge, the IS pilot smashed her foot into the nose of one F15, while spearing another with her right arm, both planes crumpled like paper under the immense pressure and force.
"Kaze Squadron, be advised, friendly drone will be entering the airspace shortly, I currently have it on scopes. It's currently going defensive, seems that it has been engaged" Came from Alpha 2.
"Roger Alpha-2, Kaze Squadron will engage" Kaze 1 replied back with a smile on her face that was hidden from everyone.
Miles west of their position a small diamond shaped drone with two short and stubby wings attached to its rear was doing its best to jink the flight of MiG 31s hot on its tail. With the immense thrust that the Migs could provide, the only hope for the automated drone was to slowly outmaneuver its enemies and stumble its way into friendlies.
"Eight new contacts plus the friendly drone bearing from the west at angels 25, level with us, headed straight our way captain" Kaze 3 called out, finally happy that she was able to use her brand new radar to contribute to the battlespace.
"Roger Kaze 3, Kaze 1 committing. Kaze 2 form up on me. Guns only on the merge. Kaze 3 hold position and standby from drone intercept"
"Kaze 2 forming up, committing, guns only on the merge, roger"
"Hey, they seem far more livelier than usual. Just what the hell did that drone capture from the other side" Alpha 2 asked Alpha 1 through a private channel.
"I don't know, she never told me herself, only that the future of the IS and this world depends on it. Typical Tabane stuff you know how she is. Doesn't matter to me, not like we are the ones in danger here" Alpha's flight lead calmly retorted.
"She's getting worse with time" came a response from the AWACS based IS.
"You'd have to be slightly crazy to be the lead inventor of the IS"
"Kaze 1 and 2 be advised, another element of 3 has just come from the south west…. DUMP CHAFF AND FLARES NOW " Kaze 3 yelled.
"What? Missiles can't hurt the IS. You just saw one tank full salvo without breaking a sweat". Called out Kaze 2 to Kaze squad's third element while she let loose a volley of cannon and concentrated laser fire on the approaching Migs.
"No, but it'll make short work of the DRONE. PRE FLARE NOW" Kaze 3 bellowed out, her new found courage and seriousness indicating that she had fallen into the rhythm of combat. Her training finally kicked into high gear.
Just as she had predicted the new bandits let loose a volley of long range air to air missiles intended for the drone. Kaze 2 and 3's countermeasures proved successful in confusing the guidance system of the missiles as they glided into the nothingness of the cold dark night.
"Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….-BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP BEEP..BEEP" blared as Kaze 3's rwr switched from telling her that she was being tracked, to the fact that she had an active missile headed her way.
"KAZE 3 GOING DEFENSIVE" she blurted out as she hurriedly pumped chaff and flares diving for the deck. This was the first time she had a missile coming her way. Despite the IS's strong shields, her fight or flight reflex kicked in.
"Kaze 3 hold position repeat hold position, do not change vectors…..tank the shot!...shit" Alpha 2 yelled out. "This is Alpha 2… I'm committing, Kaze 3 fell for the bait….drone is wide open repeat drone is wide open with no cover"
The two newcomers to the battlefield had let loose a salvo of long range air to air missiles to distract the largest black swept wing IS. With the IS diving for the water, they had precious few seconds to firewall their throttle and intercept the drone that would be coming their way. Had Kaze 3 simply eaten the missiles, she could have stopped them dead in their tracks.
With Kaze 3 diving for the deck, Alpha 1 returning from her fight in the distance, and Kaze 1 and Kaze 2 intercepting the flight that was chasing the drone, the drone was left wide open.
Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….Pip….pip….
Another round of alarms had started blaring in Alpha 2's rwr as she noticed that a pair of B1 bombers had entered the airspace. 'Bombers…..what the hell are they doing here?'. Moments later she received her answer when a hail of missiles were released from the two B1s. Half aimed at her and the other pair at the drone.
BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP..BEEP
"KAZE 3 ENGAGE THE BOMBERS, CHAFF AND FLARES INEFFECTIVE REPEAT CHAFF AND FLARES INEFFECTIVE!. KAZE 3 COMMIT NOW!" The amount of missiles and ordinance in the air was slowly increasing at a rapid rate, sooner or later the drone would end up hitting a missile by pure chance. Furthermore missile tracking on the new missile salvo was directly connected to the radar guidance system of the bombers. Picking up on the incoming swarm of 10s to 20s of missiles, the drone dived for the deck, and in a move no one could have predicted, turned back and lit its afterburners towards enemy territory.
A swarm of missiles smashed into Alpha-2. Their warhead capabilities were still too small for her to care about the scratches that they could hardly inflict on the IS shield. However she watched in horror as the second horde of missiles tracked and gained on the drone. Just when it looked like it was about to hit, a salvo of micro missiles and cannon fire thinned the horde down. Moments later the missiles gave up their track and smashed into the ocean.
Kaze 3 had let loose her 2 long range Russian air to air missiles, she had finally fired the one of the largest warheads on the side of the IS units. Streaking balls of fire spilt from the cloudy sky as the two bombers painted a fiery orange streak through the pitch black night.
"K-...K-..Kaze 3….. I'm out of l-l-l-ong r-r-rang" Kaze 3 tried to stammer out
"Alpha flight be advised, Kaze 3 is winchester on standard long range air to air missiles. At present Kaze Squadron does not have any long range air to air capabilities beyond micro missile" Kaze 1 filled in for her shocked squadmate.
"Roger" Alpha 1 quipped now that she had finally entered the air space. Using her ignition boosts she smashed her IS into one of the Migs that had managed to trick Kaze 3. Shattering the plane apart she set her sights on the MiG's wingman and tried to harpoon it only to miss as cannon fire from another MiG smashed into her. Covering her wingman, Alpha 2 gunned down the MiG on her ally, which gave Alpha 1 the precious time she needed to pull out her laser rifle to burn a small hole through the MiG 31's engines. Just as the MiG was about to burst open, it released a radar homing missile at the drone. Ensuring that even after its destruction the missile would track its target.
Watching all of this in slow motion Kaze 1 dived to body block the missile, only for her to miss her intercept and have the missile go right past her, detonating seconds later and significantly damaging the control surfaces of the drone that was now heading deeper and deeper into enemy territory as it could no longer turn.
"NO! You AMATEUR!" a pissed of Alpha 2 yelled as she raced towards the drone trying to catch up to it before it hit the water.
Everyone's rwr had gone silent as all relevant enemies had been shot down. Then all of a sudden two missiles appeared out of nowhere tracking onto Alpha 2 and the drone. A silent launch. No one knew where the radar signals that had locked up the pair had come from. It was as if time had slowed for Alpha 2 as the first missile had struck her while the second detonated near the drone shredding its right wing off and severely damaging the fuselage. Despite the missile's best efforts however she was able to catch the out of control drone and hold it up with the IS's hands.
As she panted away, a white streak to her right followed by an explosion indicated to her that the culprit had been dealt with.
"Huff… Al-...Huff...All..Huff…elements…..mission accomplished. We can RTB after I take a breather and pull out the data core from this stupid drone" came from an exhausted Alpha 2. "Would you two help me with this" she looked to Alpha 1 and Kaze 1 for help.
"I'd rather not lug this all the way ba-" THUNK. A large crashing sound filled the air followed by a column of water. It took the women all a moment to process what happened. One moment Alpha 2 was hovering over the ocean, cradling the drone like it was her child, the next second there was a horrific screeching sound and she disappeared into the water below. The ears of each and every young woman in pain as the absolutely awful sound was heightened by their IS's hypersenors inadvertently.
"W….Wh...What the hell….." came an almost audible gasp from Kaze 2.
A/N:
"Wait I thought they were stealth, how were they tracked". Stealth tech isn't the be all end all of aerial warfare (much less IS based warfare). A stealth system lowers your profile and makes it harder to detect or differentiate you from the background of whatever the radar picks up. Its almost like wearing a mask. Sure it can hide your face for a bit, but it doesn't make you invisible. Also AC is notorious for its use of ECM and radiation, by this point they are masters of figuring out who is who realistically in an absolute hellscape of a battlefield.
In terms of the Armored Core generation, this is where things start to get a little complicated. Because there are so many different variations of ACs and what constitutes a normal vs a NEXT vs an AC things can get messy. Given that the ACs have always been at the forefront of Armored Core and the story seemed to almost accompany them, in terms of AC generation we will see something in the realm of AC V/VD in terms of height and design. But they will be far more faster and powerful like NEXTs, while at the same time not being a copy and paste of NEXTs. AC has always been about customization and hacking a machine together. However, the use of kojima technology, arms forts, everyone's favorite corporations will still be present. There will be a hybridization of VD/V technology with 4/4A. The background of the world that the AC's inhabit will be original to a sense as I feel that both the 4 and V/VD timelines lead to a dead-end in the long term. With an original worldbuilding for the AC universe, it will let me be able to tell a more nuanced and balanced story hopefully. So while the world will still be in a rough shape, it won't be to the level of "kojima particles are literally vaporizing the solid mass of the earth away making everything a desert and there's nothing we can do"
Terminology:
AWACS: Airborne Warning and Control System, essentially a plane with a giant radar that scans the battlefield for threats and information and uses it to coordinate pilots and friendly units in a battle. Very expensive, but defenseless; they are an important battlefield asset.
RWR: Simply put, a system that detects if a radar system is detecting or tracking the pilot who. Usually modern RWR systems give the direction of the radar, the type of machine operating the radar, and which one poses the largest threat. Different audio tones differentiate between what the radar is doing. For example the "Pip" sound is simply used to denote that the unit in question is tracking you, whereas a "Beep" denotes a missile/ordinance launch that is tracking towards you. Conversely, turning on your radar alerts others to your position as well. Which is why at the start of the chapter, everyone's favorite AWACS lets the team know that there's no use in keeping it turned off when getting ready for combat.
Winchester: Out of ammo