"Break left Gargoyle 3." I called out tracking the drone glued to my fellow pilots tail.
"Come on Mage 2 take the shot."
"Mage 2 fox two" As i let a single missile go flying and watched in no small amount of satisfaction as the drone went up in a ball of fire. We had been fighting the drones since the arsenal bird arrived and sent our plan down the drain.
"Trigger how's Brownie looking." Came Knocker over coms.
Doing a quick look over of her F-18 noticed a few bullet holes and the tail hook missing. "Uh She's got a few new holes in her bird and no tail hook but looks fit to fly, what happened?"
"One of those little bastards got the jump on me when the arsenal bird used it shield, Im fine though."
"Alright Mage 2 you and Brownie form up together, and yes thats an order Golem 2."
"Copy that sir." Brownie said as she formed up off my wing.
"Attention all aircraft command has ordered a complete withdrawal." Came Skykeeper over the radio getting sighs in relief from some.
"So they finally got their heads out of there asses they should of done it sooner." I said sourly still pissed at skeleton squadrons needless deaths.
"Save it for the debrief people, Mage you and Golem escort our allies out of hear."
"Trigger you and Brownie escort the damaged aircraft back myself and Golem can handle the rest." Clown said breaking off and moving to assist Golem.
"Copy that" was all I said as my misfit of aircraft squadron turned and head away from the fighting,
We got halfway to the safety of friendly lines when I noticed something I had missed in my haste to get out of the combat zone, where was the drones and I wasn't the only one just noticing it ether.
"Trigger have you noticed anyth- OH SHIT!"
Before I could say anything let alone react Gargoyle 1 and 3s craft suddenly exploded in front of me. "Fuck Skykeeper what just happend?"
"I dont know theirs nothing on my scope wait Golem 2 break now missile from the rear."
Looking behind me I saw Brownies plane limping along with what was now a considerable amount of damage saw the missile headed straight for her. What I did next still can be counted in the dumbest things I ever did, I put my bird in between her and the missile and took it,
"Damn that sucked but at least im still flying." I said to myself.
"Good reflexes maybe this won't be as dull as I originally thought." came a voice I didn't know over the radio.
"Great whos this asshole." I asked no one in particular as an Su-30 with orange wing tips screamed past.
"Mage 2 Whats going on?" Clown asked worried.
"I took a missile but im still flying."
"Can you dissingage?"
"Negative Skykeeper if I leave Brownies a sitting duck."
"Fuck just get out of here Trigger ill be fine."
"Sorry I told you before you can't run me off." I said as I move into a more defensive position near Brownie.
"Shit here he comes again." Skykeeper reported.
Putting myself into a roll to the right I saw a missile pass by and moved behind Brownie once again.
"Tell me why continue to protect this pilot when you could simply fly away and live." the unknown voice said through our comms.
"There my wingman my friend that makes them family so you want them you gotta go through me first." as I said this he passed again so throttling up to full I chased just as I got a lock and sent two SAAMs at him he pulled an kulbit and launched his own payload at me. All I felt was the impact as the missiles hit the darkness.
As I came to after what felt like hours id later find out It was only seconds, I went into recovery mode and barely pulled up before hitting the rainforest below. Quickly checking my systems I concluded my eagle was still fit to fly but was slightly sluggish on acceleration, then I saw the damning words most hope to never see WEAPON SYSTEMS OFFLINE.
"Shit" I said to myself and prepared to radio I was out I when I heard Brownies panicking cries over the radio.
"Someone help me support, Trigger, Nick Help!"
Looking up I saw the Su-30 taking its time lining up the kill shot and decided to hell with it i'm going down swinging and pulled up underneath him and thought " Well looks like i'm not avoiding the shinny plane this time." and with that thought pulled up hard. As our planes bounced off each other his rounds went wide. Upon regaining my bearing I once again move between him and Brownie wincing at seeing the spider web looking crack covering a good chunk of my canopy.
Opening up my comms again I said "Try that again asshole i'm still here."
"Interesting" was all he said as he turned and left the operation area.
"Hostile has left the airspace and all allies are home free." Skykeeper said thus letting us know our fight was finally over.
"Trigger Brownie status now." came Knocker over the comms.
"Im dinged up pretty good but ill make it home its Trigger i'm worried about."
"Don't worry bout me now im good to go looks worse than it actually is."
"Trigger your missing a Fucking engine."
"So that's why that gauge is just spinning, any way i'm fine I swear just a little banged up now lets head back to base."
FORT GRAYS AIRBASE
As soon as I landed I began the long taxi trip to my hanger and slowly climbed down the ladder as soon as I was in side. Giving a quick sorry to the ground crew who looked close to tears at the state of my eagle I started to make my way to the debriefing room."Thank god I denied medical attention they'd only give me a worse headache, I'll see them after the debrief." I thought to myself when suddenly I was almost tackled by a crying Brownie
"Don't you ever do something so stupid again you hear me." she said as she cried into my shoulder. "I thought I lost you after that guy hit you with that missile."
Rubbing her back and tightening the hug she had me in I said "Dont worry im right here and like I said before you can't get rid of me that easily."
Slightly chuckling I looked down at her and realized something id been trying to keep down for awhile now I'd fallen for her, putting those thoughts away for the time being I said "Well Lieutenant Jones how bout we make our way to debriefing and we can talk after?"
"Yeah lets go the others are already there by now."
As we entered and sat down I noticed we arrived before the base commander. Sitting in my usual spot by the front I was surprised when Knocker came over to me and sat a hand on my shoulder.
"Kid I want to thank you for keeping Brownie safe for me, but if you ever do that again ill let her have you got it?"
"Yes sir." I said quickly, seeing his eyes change from thankful to full on hard-ass in a split second.
"So you feeling ok there Trigger?" Clown said as he sat down next to me.
"Yeah just sore and a headache that i'll get checked out after the debrief."
"Good and i'm proud of you Trigger it could of went way worse but didn't thanks to you." as he said that I felt a small sense of pride well up.
As we all sat down the base commander finally arrived and began to speak "Alright now people I know it's been a long day but let's get this started then you can relax."