Operation: One Pair
Roca Roja
July 4th, 2019 1800
"So…one more time, what's the plan again?"
"Tabloid…..I swear to god." Prez growled into her mic. "We are barely a klick away from the AO and you're asking this again."
"Look the last two times had way to much jargon. Once more, I do not have any military training."
"Okay…Simple terms. We're hitting the south most base first. It has an airfield. We hit that as hard as we can. Not as many enemy fighters to deal with. Then it's open season on ground targets."
Tabloid is silent.
"Tabloid…." Prez turns in her seat, staring at Tabloid's Mirage 2000-5. "Tabloid…Spare Eleven!"
"Yeah! Yeah, sorry. Just…looking at my radar. Figuring out which way is south and all that…" He sighed over the coms. "This is frustrating."
Trigger chuckled slightly, checking everything once more. "Tabloid, just follow us, and you'll be fine. Prez and I can keep an eye on you."
Prez tilted her head slightly, "Yeah, we said we would Tabloid. We don't go back on our promises."
Tabloid was quiet for a while, then cleared his throat. "Yeah…alright, thank you."
Prez chuckled slightly, giving Trigger a thumbs up. "We're all set. Curious to see what these LASM's will do."
He returned her thumbs up, then turned back and got comfy in his seat. He was on edge, this mission was going to be tough, and they may loose a few pilots. Convicts or not, they were all pilots here.
The coms crackled to life. "Spare Squadron, this is the FOB for operation One Pair. You're on your own for most of this. We hope you live up to your reputation. We'll move our ground forces into the AO once we've got the intel we need." There was a long pause, Prez was even taking a breath to crack a joke, but the FOB cut back in. "You may be criminals, but you're flying a dangerous mission. Our return line is open to you. We'll supply you with whatever you need." The coms closed.
"Huh…what'da know, some people do have a heart." Count cut in and chuckled. "Maybe they realize how good we are?"
"Some Welcome." Bandog huffed into the coms, upset. "All Aircraft, spread out and attack."
"So, we're clear to attack then? I thought the regular forces were going to clean things up?" Count's nervous voice was rare, but it never came without merit it seemed.
"It's just like before. We blow the shit outta everything!" Champ's excitement was a complete opposite to what Trigger was feeling.
"Sharp as a tack, aren't you, Spare Eight?" Bandog's smug voice came over the coms again. "Regular forces can reduce losses if you tenderize the target. If you can't handle that, just fly and be a target."
Count chuckled at that.
"Spare Squadron, engage, weapons free." Bandog cut his coms.
"Alright, this would be a great place to make the cash flow, to bad this ain't Sicario." She flipped the master arm switch, the center weapon bay opened.
Trigger chuckled, doing the same and making sure Prez had control over what she wanted. "Would love some extra cash honestly." He took a deep breath, angled the X-02 to the left a little. "Trigger and Prez, Spare Fifteen, engaging." Then punched the throttle, they hit max speed within less than a minute. Speeding towards the Erusean runway, hoping to catch them unaware. "Prez, targets up ahead."
"I see them!"
Trigger glanced left, he looked at the rough sketch of a map he and Prez had made on their way. Two runways, running north to south, nestled between two long mesas. Hit it first, then head for the canyon base. If they hit that hard enough, then onto the mountain base further west. He made sure they were headed towards the south side of the runway, angled them a little bit higher, then let the afterburners do their work. Pushing them through some clouds, the runway came into view
Prez picked her first target, an AA gun at the end of the runway, just out of range. "Here we go…Trigger keep her steady." She bit her lip slightly, finger on the trigger, waiting. "Come on…" She watched as they closed in, twelve thousand meters, ten thousand, eight thousand… "Locked on! Spare fifteen," She slammed the trigger. "Fox Two."
A slight clunk could be heard as a LASM was dropped out of the weapons bay. It fell for only a second before it ignited and roared across the desert.
She took no chances, chose a new target, an oil tank by the looks of it, locked, fired. "And again, missile away!"
Both missiles hit seconds later, destroying the AA gun before it could even fire. The oil tanks detonated into a ball of fire.
Trigger smiled, but he heard the roar of jets in the distance. His eyes snapped to the right, two F-16's taking off, two more, pulling onto the runway. "Got interceptors taking off." He banked the X-02 right, slamming the trigger for the machine guns. Tracers ripped across the sky, smashing into the closest F-16, sheering it's tail wing off. Pulling back on the stick he banked the plane even more to the right. Leveling out the plane, he locked onto one of the F-16's waiting to take off. Two taps of the trigger, two missiles. They sped off down the runway, smashing the F-16 into a scrapheap. The last interceptor sped up a little, trying to take off, it was met with a blaze of machine gun fire from the X-02.
Prez took the chance to fire off a LASM at another collection of oil tanks. Cheering as it burst into flames. "Hell yeah! These missiles are amazing!" She grinned as fired off another one into an AA cannon. She glance behind them as they flew by, squinting slightly. "Hey Trigger, there's some bombers trying to get away."
He glanced left, and sure enough, three Tu-160s were taxiing to the runway. He pulled back on the throttle, extending the Wyvern's flaps, slowing them down as they passed over the airbase.
Bandog cuts in over the coms, sounding as smug as ever. "You're hitting three locations. Some have air power, so their threat levels may vary. Think of the best way to rob them of their ability to respond. Use those empty heads of yours. If you die to fast, you won't even be useful as targets."
Trigger frowned deeply. Don't think anyone was looking to die fast today. But hey, here they were, out on the edge of death with no support. The missile alert went off. He rolled quickly and banked right, away from the base. An air to air missile went wide. The last F-16 was already on them.
"Motherfucker, that missile was a tough nut to crack." Prez frowned slightly. "This guy is pissed! He's right on our ass!"
He glanced down at the radar, sure enough, the F-16 was right on them. Another missile alert. "Damn it." Trigger smashed the throttle again, he needed to take out those bombers. If they got away, the resupply base would be fucked. He banked the X-02 and went into a wide turn, trying to trick the F-16 to follow him.
The interceptor didn't fall for it. They rolled as they tilted their nose up, looping around to get back behind the Wyvern.
"Piss off!" Prez growled at the F-16. She took the chance to fire off two LASM's at the Airbase again, destroying the control tower, and a radar tower in two balls of fire. "There, that should slow down the bombers a bit."
"Would love to complement you…" Trigger slammed the stick forward, sending them into a dive at the ground. "But!"
"God damn it, TRIGGER!" Prez felt her stomach drop to the desert, "So glad I didn't eat on the way here." She caught the missile's signal, slammed the arming key for the defensive ECM. The sidewinder wavered a bit, then spiraled out of control. "Got it! Go!"
He nodded, then rolled, pulling back on the stick to level themselves out. The lock alert went off, he sent the X-02 banking right to avoid the lock. Passing over the runway, and going past the airbase. He saw the rest of Spare squadron in a ball up ahead, perfect cover, either the F-16 gives up the chase, or gets chewed up.
Prez noticed a few targets on the ground, she locked onto one curiously. "Bandog…what we got here?"
"Transport trucks. They're not a threat, but feel free to take them out."
Champ cut in, "Leave them to me. Bullying the weak is kind of a speciality of mine." He sounded so proud of himself. So smug.
Prez just frowned at that. "Well…I mean he's not wrong I guess?"
"What're the odds of getting out alive?" High Roller sounded extremely concerned. Maybe he had noticed how everyone else looked before.
"That's for you to figure out Spare Seven." Bandog just huffed. "You usually do a good job of that."
Trigger was getting them closer and closer to Spare Squadron.
"Speaking of which. Hey Trigger, you need some help there?" Clown's smug voice cut in over the coms.
"Nope."
Count laughed. "You sure? I might help you out…if you want to ad-"
The F-16 detonated in a resounding boom as a missile gutted it.
Count growled in anger. "Wait what?! Who the hell did that?"
A laugh filled the coms. "Finally! Got em! Jeez Trigger, you weren't joking earlier when you told me to try to keep up." A Mirage with a single sin line on it flew up next to them.
"Nice kill Tabloid!" Prez laughed gleefully. "I'll apologize for Trigger, he can be a little, Crazy? Gung-ho? Daredevilish?" She looked over at Trigger.
He glances back at her. "What?"
"Well it's true. You're quite the hotheaded." She just giggles slightly.
Tabloid laughed as well. "Well I'll keep trying to stay with you."
Trigger rolled his eyes, then looped the wyvern, rolling halfway through to level out the fighter, heading back to the airbase. "Tabloid."
"Yeah Trigger?"
"Keep up the good work." He slammed the throttle again, hitting their max speed once more.
Prez did a quick scan, the only thing left was the bombers, she had destroyed everything else with the LASM's. She chuckled. "Just need to take out the bombers, then this base is history."
Trigger rolled again to get them into line, just above the runway, the three bombers were slowly taxiing to the runway, one already starting to take off. Trigger opened fire with the machine gun. Angling the nose a bit so he could hit at a distance. While he did, he let his missiles lock onto the third bomber, and fired.
The first bomber exploded seconds later, riddled with tracer rounds, the third took the two missiles in stride. It kept rolling for a bit, then, the bomb bay detonated.
Trigger flew by, taking the precious seconds to extend the variable wings and flaps. The X-02 slowed down quickly, then stalled. Trigger pulled back on the stick, flipping them around, then kicked the throttle back in. Unstalling the Strike Wyvern, missiles locked onto bomber number 2. "Fox Two."
The last bomber crumbled to the ground with a thud as it's fuselage ruptured.
"All bombers destroyed before takeoff? Who did that!?" Champ's surprised voice came through the coms.
"That would be Trigger. Boxed them in and took them out, don't need to worry about them hitting the resupply base past the return line now." Prez's calm voice had a bit of pride in it as well.
Spare Squadron lit up the coms.
"Trigger again?"
"Trigger, you're rockin' it hard!" Champ sounded actually impressed for once.
"You slowed them down." Trigger smiled, turning slightly towards Prez. "Take some credit."
She just shrugged, chuckling lightly. "Hey, that's only one base. We've got two more." She winked quickly at him. "Think you can keep up?"
"Cut the crap! There's work to do."
"Right right, we're still working on it Bandog!" Count paused slightly, a small grunt heard over the radio. "Alright, scratch one hostile!"
"That was fast Count, keep up the good work!"
"I'm out though, returning to resupply." Count's SU-33 banked around, heading towards the return line.
Full Band apparently decided to jump in as well, following Count. "How are we supposed to work without ammo? I'm heading back."
Trigger raised an eyebrow at that, granted the X-02 could carry a lot of munitions. So, maybe his view was a little biased. He hadn't seen them fire that many missiles. In fact, as he turned, he could see air to air missiles on Count's plane. They were up to something…he just knew it.
"Nice try. This stuff isn't for you guys." Bandog's smug voice cut in once more. Always talking down to them, no respect, even though he was perfectly safe far above the battle.
"Let's be honest here. Irregulars like us aren't allowed to resupply." Count's response was as smooth as ever, always kissing ass. "But in your heart, you want us to smash that base. Am I off?"
There was a long pause, then Bandog sighed deeply, "You're gonna wish this mission never ended."
"Well, Looks like Bandog's finally come around." Tabloid's pleased voice was a blessing.
Trigger let out a deep breath. "Strangely, yeah. Makes things actually possible for us."
"Spare Fifteen, Spare Eleven."
Trigger just tapped the mic in response.
"Yeah Bandog?" Tabloid swallowed audibly.
"Hostiles in your area are nearly wiped out. Get moving to a more crowded area, try to catch some more led." He chuckled. "You did nothing more than just destroy one of three sections."
Prez grumbled, "Copy…" She closed the coms, sighing. "What they hell…Count gets let off easy. We get talked down to."
Trigger nodded with a huff, it was bullshit really. Checking his sketched out map again, he reviewed their plan of attack. The next base was in a network of canyons, filled to the brim with AA weaponry. This was the tough one.
"Marking priority targets." The radar updated from Bandog. The canyons ahead filled with red dots.
"We finally have a read on the targets, they're in one hell of place." Tabloid's confidence filled the coms.
"You're giving me another shot? Must be my lucky day, I'll take it from here."
"Why're you acting like some bigshot, Count?"
"Trigger's the one who did most of the work back at the airbase."
"Why're you so proud of that, Full band?"
Full band quickly cut his coms.
Trigger just shrugged, opening a closed radio connection. "Tabloid?"
"Yeah? Whats up?"
"You ready for this?"
"I'm as ready as I can be." The sound of straps and buckles being checked filled the coms.
"You sure? I'm fine with you backing out on this." Trigger paused, thinking of his next words carefully. "Rather have you back at base tonight."
"Trigger's right Tabloid, this is going to be difficult. AA is dug in everywhere and maneuvering is going to be tight. If you don't feel ready, sit this one out. Please." Prez's worried voice was almost soothing.
Tabloid was quiet for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Yeah. I can do this. I think I just needed a moment…Thanks guys."
"No problem!" Prez flashed a thumbs up. "Hit it Trigger!"
With a smile, Trigger quickly pushed the throttle, setting it to same max speed as Tabloid's Mirage. While technically speaking there was no squad leader. That just meant it was easy to pick and choose who you wanted to watch your back. "Spare Fifteen, Spare Eleven, engaging."
"Copy that." Bandog had gone back to being bored. Made you wonder what he was actually doing up there half the time.
Trigger watched as they rushed past a small outpost, dashing for the canyon entrance. "Prez? You ready?"
She laughed, it was hearty and full, filled with excitement. "Are you joking?! This is going to be awesome! It's going to be just like that old movie!"
He thought for a bit, he couldn't put a finger on it though. "What movie?"
"Oh you know! That old space one…where they fly through the metal canyon to blow up the space station?"
"Whaaaat? No…Never heard of it." Trigger laughed a little bit.
"Oh…huh…thought everyone has seen that at least once."
Static cut in. "Can…Can we focus on the target?" Tabloid's worry was palpable.
Prez laughed, "Pfft, Tabloid, I could do this in my sleep." A ringing sounded through the cockpit. "Here we go boys! Hit em where it hurts! Spare Fifteen, locked on, Fox Two, Fox Two!" She tapped the trigger twice, two starfire missiles dropped out of the bay and ignited.
Seconds later, two more LASM's from Tabloid's Mirage joined Prez's. The four missiles roared towards the canyon entrance, then split off. Seconds later, four explosions ripped the base's forward defenses apart.
"Spare Eleven, SAM down, AA gun down. Spare 15, AA gun down, tank eliminated…and a group of warehouses are burning. Good kills, good kills. Keep it up and I might give you guys a break."
Prez and Tabloid cheered.
Trigger grinned at that, he took a deep breath as he felt the cold rush of adrenaline. "That a promise Bandog."
"Sure."
"Copy that." With that he punched the throttle just a little bit more, speeding into the canyon. Bridge, SAM, radar tower.
"Spare Fifteen? What are you doing?"
"Earning that break." Trigger cut off coms to Bandog, angling the X-02 up he let off a long burst of machine gun fire, locked onto the Radar tower, then fired a missile, locked onto the SAM, fired a missile, then another burst of tracers. Seconds later, all three targets burst into flames, the bridge falling apart as the X-02 flew over the remains, then dived down. Releasing another growling sidewinder at an aa gun. "Fox Two."
Full Band's shocked voice came over the coms. "Trigger's taken out one of the AA guns too?"
"Trigger you gotta save some for us!" Prez laughed, she saw her next target as they leveled out in the canyon, a group of air defenses, along with a grounded helicopter. "Locking on." She smiled and fired away, two missiles flew across the canyon. The first missile turned another AA gun into a ball of fire. The second detonated, taking an AA gun and the helo with it.
"Nah, not feeling it." He chuckled as he banked the X-02, firing the machine gun before he even finished the turn, focusing on a second bridge. He loosed a missile into the radar tower to his left, then pulled the flaps. "Prez, Tabloid, up ahead. All yours."
"Ohhhhh fuck yeah!" Prez cheered as the group of AA guns and tanks ahead of them opened fire.
"Shit…Copy." Tabloid let loose with his LASM's.
Trigger let loose with the guns.
Prez unleashed hell with her own missiles.
"What the hell…Shit…confirmed kills on AA guns and ground targets. Spare Fifteen and Eleven. You just decimated an entire armored column." Bandog actually sounded impressed for once.
Trigger watched as the rest of Spare started their attack on the canyon base. He frowned as a squad of harriers took off to intercept, he fired a missile at them. But of course it missed, as he knew it would from this angle. They had done good damage, but it wasn't enough. The remaining SAM's and AA opened fire on Spare Squadron.
Tabloid cut in through the coms, "Missiles inbound! Evade!"
"I'm being shot at! What is this bullshit?" A newer pilot growled slightly as they weaved through missiles and gunfire.
"Break off! It's messy over here, you're likely to crash if you dive!" Prez's worried voice took over the coms for a second. "Break off! Now!"
"Negative." Bandog's voice was a fierce interruption. "Don't worry about crashing. Worry about your sins."
"You freelancing as a priest now as well as a jailer?" Count's voice dripped with sarcasm and annoyance.
Bandog just huffed in response. "You know the rules. Engage or suffer the consequences."
Spare Squadron did the only thing they could, engage the enemy. A collection of missiles, bombs and machine gun fire started to hit the canyon base.
"Shit!" The Harriers had closed in on Spare 10, "Hostile has a lock! Need help!" The same new pilot from before.
Tabloid sighed. "Our attack angle is limited. We'll have all remaining AA at our backs! I don't think we can…"
A deep breath…a cry for help…Trigger's hand twitched. "Tabloid, exit the canyon ahead, take out what you can along the way."
"Oh? Alright…where you going?"
"To help." He folded in the variable wings and smashed the throttle forwards, nose angled up. The Strike Wyvern was suddenly screaming across the sky, right at the squad of Harriers.
"Ah! Damn it Trigger!" Prez had to brace herself against the sudden G-forces.
"Sorry…" He squinted as he tilted the X-02 just a little higher. "Guns, Guns, Guns." Three bursts of tracer fire ripped across the sky. Two of the harriers shook from the impacts, the third dodged at the last second. Trigger banked left, getting right on the third Harrier's tail, hitting a high G turn to get a lock.
Prez made some adjustments, then suddenly, the lock tone kicked in.
"Spare Fifteen locked on."
"Thank you Bandog." Trigger grinned as he fired two missiles, the sidewinders quickly caught up to the Harrier. "Get out of my skies." He pulled back on the stick, stalling out the engines and looping them around, he completed the post stall by booting the engines to full speed. Heading straight for the other two Harriers.
Count scoffed over the radio. "Damn enemy, hiding in a place like this. They could at least make themselves easier to hit." He was headed in a dive for a SAM site.
A ball of fire erupted in the sky.
"Spare Fifteen, bogey down, good kill."
"Wait what? Bandog you keep saying when they're getting kills. What about me?"
"There's a bet going on, I'm not loosing money for incorrect statistics." Bandog's voice was smug as ever.
Trigger smiled, Maybe they would earn that break. One of the Harriers had gone after Full Band, so he decided that one would have to go first. He loosed a burst of tracer fire, it flew over the Harrier's canopy.
Rolling in response, the Erusean jet then banked away.
"Prez, get me a lock." Trigger gunned it, speeding after the Harrier guns blazing.
"Guh…Right right…" Prez breathed quickly, trying not to black out. "Hang on…almost there."
Trigger eased up on the turn a bit, the X-02's gun went wide, but a few lucky rounds sheared through the Erusean's right wing. Causing the pilot to have to wrestle for control.
"Got it! Good tone!" She punched in the command, the X-02's radar homed in on the Harrier.
The moment Trigger heard the lock tone, he opened fire. One growling sidewinder roared across the sky, it spun slightly as it was launched away.
The Harrier banked left, then right, then rolled.
Trigger frowned as he followed, his sidewinder was having a troubling time. He fired a stream of machine gun fire, trying to help out the poor missile. Before he could react, the Harrier was missing a wing and plummeting to the ground.
Prez raised an eyebrow and looked around. "What…where'd the missile go?"
The air shook as something exploded.
The last Harrier tumbled down towards the ground, fire and smoke spewing out from it's wrecked engines.
"Spare Fifteen. Confirmed, two bogeys down. Damn Trigger…you didn't have to go that hard on them." Bandog sighed heavily. "Fine…head to the return line, take your break. You've more than earned it."
Trigger smiled. "Thank you Bandog." He tapped his mic twice, then switched channels. "Tabloid, head for the return line. We've got our break, five minutes. Tops."
"Well damn…got to watch the show you put on." Tabloid quickly fell into formation with the Strike Wyvern.
Prez chuckled. "Yep, that's what we'll do when the war is over. Couple of convicts doing airshows for all the kids and aircraft lovers of the world." She paused, humming slightly. "Think they'll let me work on a ADFX Morgan?"
"Never know." Trigger shrugged, banking the X-02 east. The return line was a little ways away, but he didn't max out the speed. He wasn't ditching Tabloid, the guy flew well.
Bandog cut through once more. "Okay, all that's left below you is piles of rubble. Look for more enemies. Let's see if they can't hit you this time."
Spare Squadron cheered. Sure enough, the second base was basically gone, only one AA gun remained.
High Roller's voice came through, tired and worn. "I know the base commander makes a big deal whenever a new mission comes in, but it's just one after another, like that was the plan all along or something."
"Battle doctrines. Something happens, they tell you what to do next. Osea has one. It probably says where and when pawns like us will die."
Tabloid's answer was correct. Though Trigger had no idea what Osea's were, he was IUN before all this. Maybe he could read up about it? Though he did hope there wasn't actually anything in there about where they'll die.
"You mean, they already know the next strategy?" Full Band's curiosity could be heard klicks away. The man loved knowing what was going on.
"Hold up, Hold up. Let's make a bet. Whoever guesses the next strategy wins. You can get in on this too Bandog."
Trigger could have sworn he just heard a pen click come over from High Roller's com.
"Maybe you guys need to cool your heads off in solitary." Bandog was back to jailer mode, barking at anything they said.
"Let me look into this 'Doctrine' thing." For once, Full Band was the one oozing confidence.
"Man you're delusional."
Full Band chuckled. "A bribe is all ya need to get into a terminal. It's amazing how many people write their password on a note by their desk. Gathering intel is all about getting access."
Trigger raised an eyebrow at that. If that was how Full Band was getting his intel, then he could have some interesting stuff that he wasn't telling the rest of them about. Especially if he had managed to get into the Base Commander's files, that could be very useful. Trigger reminded himself to ask about that later as they crossed the return line.
"Spare Fifteen, Spare Eleven, this is the control tower, make your landing check."
Prez took over. "Copy that tower, we're coming in." She closed the coms. "Just bring us in nice and slow Trigger. I just want to check a few things, get a drink, and make sure they stock us up on ammo."
He nodded, this shouldn't be to difficult.
Trigger stood in front of the X-02, sipping a bottle of water through a straw. He really should keep his mouth shut. Well…he usually did, but that didn't stop the world from fucking him over.
"No! No! No! Hell no! Who the fuck was the dumbass who taught you how to load munitions?!"
"So…so…Sorry ma'am. It won't happen again I swear!"
Prez lightly smacked the guy upside the head. "It better damn well not! You almost blew us all to hell! These Starfire missiles have an effective blast radius of six meters. Seriously…where the hell is the crew chief?" She had the poor guy held by the collar and had gotten right up in his face.
"I don't know Ma'am! He's off readying the other squadrons. We're just trainees!"
"Motherfucker…." Prez let the guy go, and raised her voice "Alright you Yuppies! Gather around, I'm going to show you how to properly load munitions if it's the last thing I fucking do on this green fucked up earth."
Trigger just sighed deeply and shook his head. Some break they had gotten.
Tabloid's jaw might as well be on the floor with how fast it had dropped, that was two minutes ago. His mouth was still wide open.
Trigger nudged him, then took a single hand, ring and middle finger together, index and pinky splayed out. Then touched it to his shoulder, and immediately moved his hand forward.
Tabloid stared at him for a moment. "What…what?" He shook his head.
"Whats up?"
"Oh! Sorry Trigger…" he shook his head then pointed to Prez, who had gathered seven trainee ground crew members around. "Is she usually like this?"
"Mostly yeah."
"Really? No wonder she's so damn good…I had heard you two did your own maintenance checks. But Count kept saying they were just rumors." He laughed. "Didn't trust Count's word of course. But, I'll admit, I was curious."
"Well, we did." Trigger just shrugged. "It needed to be done. Avril was busy."
"Who?"
"Scrap Queen." He rolled his eyes, then paused, sipping again as he watched a jeep drove towards them at high speeds.
"Ohhhhh…huh, maybe she is warming up to us. Or at least you two…speaking of which, think you and Prez could give me some pointers on doing my own maintenance?"
Trigger looked at Tabloid for a moment, then nodded. Hell, it would help out Avril more, and she was the backbone of Spare Squadron. Though he thinks very few would actually admit it. A screech of tires made him jump slightly, his head snapped towards the sound, squinting at the jeep that had just slammed on the breaks.
An officer jumped out of the jeep. "You two!"
Trigger slowly pointed to himself, eyebrows raised.
"You from Spare Squadron?"
Two nods.
"Thank god, what the hell is going on out there! Your AWACs won't tell us anything, your base commander won't answer our calls, and we're waiting to know what the intel you've found is."
Trigger paused, then looked to Tabloid for a moment.
Tabloid just shook his head and shrugged quickly. "I dunno what's going on!"
"What? What do you mean you don't know what's going on?" The officer's face fell, almost looked like he was going to cry.
Tabloid shook his head. "No no, sorry. I mean more that we don't know why out AWAC's isn't communicating intel. Especially since two entire bases are neutralized."
"Wait…two of the bases are neutralized? I thought you were running recon?"
"Aggressive recon." Trigger cut in, then went back to watching Prez and sipping his water.
"What my squad member said is accurate. We're working to draw out the full AA strategy of the Erusean forces in the area."
"So…two of the bases are basically destroyed?"
"Mostly yes."
"Well then…thank you…" The officer paused, one hand held out.
"Ah, Tabloid Spare Eleven." He shook the officer's hand, then motioned to his right. "This is Trigger, Spare Fifteen's Pilot."
"Ah, I see. I've got to hand it to you, what you've said is some of the best news I've heard all day. If you do get more solid intel, could you send it over to this radio frequency?" The officer handed over a slip of paper. "It would help us in the long run. Since no one else seem to want to provide us with details…"
Tabloid took the paper and nodded. "Of course! Sorry to hear that things aren't going as planned."
"Tell me about it…" The officer went to leave, but stopped. "So…how did you take out two whole bases?"
"I mean the first one was mostly Trigger and her." Tabloid pointed to Prez, who is slapping the hand of a Trainee who was tightening a bolt to fast.
The officer pauses and looks at what has become a makeshift classroom. "Wait…I…" He looks at the scene before him for a good two minutes, but then shrugged. "I'm not paid enough to question this…Thanks for all your hard work so far. Let me know if you need anything else on that radio frequency I gave you." With a sigh, they turned around and went back to their jeep.
Tabloid smiled and waved. "He was nice."
Trigger chuckled and downed the rest of his water. "Prez."
"Eh?" She paused in her work for just a moment, not even looking over, unlike her class of Trainees who all looked to him.
"You got two minutes." He crumpled up the water bottle and put it in his pocket. "Tabloid, let's go make sure all your new munitions were loaded properly." He walked off towards Tabloid's Mirage.
"Alright! Two minutes! I want to see the rest of these Starfires loaded properly!"
The Trainees jumped into a flurry of movement.
Trigger smiled, if anything, it was an entertaining break for him.
"So…how did your class go?" Tabloid chuckled as he opened up the coms.
Prez rolled her eyes, making sure the landing gear had retracted properly after their take off. "It went well, they were good kids. Just needed some guidance."
"Well, sounds like you had fun?"
"I did." She chuckled. "It was nice to be able to just work on a plane. Though Scr-" She cleared her throat. "Avril. Did one hell of a job on our Strike Wyvern here." She checked her helmet strap, then nodded. "Right then, Trigger, you good to go?"
"Absolutely. We're hitting the third base, hard." He gave a thumbs up to Tabloid. "Alright?"
"Copy that Trigger!" Tabloid waved from the cockpit of his Mirage, then returned the thumbs up.
"Spare Fifteen, Spare Eleven." Prez gave her own thumbs up. "Engaging!" She opened the coms with a grin. "Hey Bandog, we're done with our break. All rearmed and ready to kick ass."
"That…was fast." Bandog's shocked voice came through with curiosity. "There were a few interceptors that came out of a tunnel in the third base while you were gone, not much else has happened. Spare Squadron hit the front part of the base, but the rear is still kicking."
"Thank you Bandog, we'll head there ASAP." Prez closed the coms and took a deep breath. "God I wish we were being paid for this." She flipped the master arm on once more. "We're armed and ready."
Trigger took a deep breath and opened up coms once more.
"Nothing but trouble this mission. I'm frayed"
"Why are you complaining Count? I've barely seen you do much at all! I took out all the trucks at least." Champ sounded pissed beyond belief.
"Champ…you've been focusing on the ground to much, I've been focusing on the air."
"Dunno about that, I'm willing to bet that you've just been minding your own business up there." High Roller chuckled. "I'd bet a lot on that."
"You haven't done anything at all High Roller!"
The sound of someone clearing their throat came over the coms. "Actually Count, High Roller has shot down two planes and taken out five AA guns."
"What the hell Bandog?!"
"I told you, I put good money on this mission Count. I won't be loosing due to inaccurate numbers."
"This is Spare Eleven, enemy base dead ahead." Tabloid's worry was setting in a bit again.
For good reason to, Bandog said the rest of Spare had hit the front, but it was barely damaged. "Right, On me, we're going in." Trigger barely even had a chance to get comfortable as they were spiked with missile alerts.
"Shit! Trigger get us the hell outa here!" Prez popped flares, focusing on ECM, she deterred most of the missiles.
Tabloid popped flares, rolled, then dived outa the way, quickly retreating. "Damn it, we can't do this from the sky, we need ground troops."
Bandog cut in with his usual anger. "Spare Eleven, just do your job. Take out Anti Air weapons that get in the way. I'll keep telling you as much as I like, engage!"
Trigger stayed with Tabloid, following his Mirage. Something didn't feel right. Why have long range SAMs out in the open like this? Why not do it at the other bases? The canyon base was tough because it had to be attacked from the above, but go through the canyon and it was a breeze. There was something else. He just couldn-
"Aircraft approaching at high speed! Bearing 280." Bandog's gruff voice took over the coms once more.
Trigger pulled up his radar. There was a full formation! At least fifteen to sixteen! Bandog was right, they were moving really fast. Trigger paused, squinting against the sunlight to get a better look, he could see the planes making their way towards the AO. They were so small, almost like the…Trigger's eyes widened as the shock of his realization came over him. He opened up the squad coms a second later. "They're drones! Stick together!"
"Confirmed, twenty one bandits inbound. They appear to be MQ-99's."
"These must be the infamous drones!" Full Band sounded more impressed than panicked.
"They can dogfight without pilots?!"
Champ angrily cut in. "Machines are not replacing humans."
"Calm down. They're just obstacles in your way. Don't forget your original mission!" Bandog's frustration was getting to everyone now.
Trigger took a deep breath, they had precious time before the drones got here. "Tabloid, Prez"
"Yeah?"
"Eh?" Prez looked up from her equipment.
"We need to hit that base. Or we're all screwed."
"Whats the plan then? Those SAM's aren't going easy on us." Prez's voice was concerned.
"Fly low, fast, hit them, then loop around."
There was a second of silence, broken by Tabloid. "Right. Let's do it."
"Copy that!" Trigger banked the X-02 and dived. "Prez…you ready?"
"Fuck! This is going to suck!" She opened the weapons bay and readied two LASM's. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be honestly."
Trigger nodded, then hit the throttle. Shit had gone from mostly calm to batshit insane. He checked his radar again, the drones were barreling down on them. It was now or never.
"Almost there Trigger…come on…come on…" Prez bit her lip as they got closer and closer, a few tanks fired at them, but Trigger dodged the shots easily. She looked up quickly, the drone formation was getting closer and closer. "Fox Two! Fox Two!" Finally, she heard the lock tone. She tapped the trigger, switched to a group of AA guns, then tapped the trigger again.
Tabloid fired two of his LASM's as well. All four missiles sped across the desert, the were already so low to the ground that the missile's jet wash kicked up sand everywhere. Leaving a miniature smoke screen for them to fly through.
Before the LASM's could even hit, the X-02 was in range. Trigger released two missiles and strafed the front line with machine gun fire.
Explosions ripped through the final base's front lines, multiple shockwaves rushed out over the desert.
"You've done a fair amount of work to their ground units, but I see some of you still have ammo." Bandog went back to being bored "Continue with the attack, keep yourself nice an exposed until I say otherwise."
Trigger smiled, might as well give Bandog some excitement.
Count laughed over the coms. "You really are good at murdering people, Trigger. To easy for someone who's used to killing presidents."
"Ex-presidents." Full Band's correction was quick and too the point.
"So what's the difference?"
Prez cut in. "The difference is that he didn't do it jackass."
"Whatever he's still got three sin lines." Count cut the coms once more with a sigh.
"God damn it!" Prez pouted and fired off another LASM, then, she noticed the mountains getting very close. "Umm…Trigger?"
He had a plan, he wasn't going to pull up right now. Even as he saw Tabloid pull up to go over the mountains.
"Trigger! Pull up!" Prez was a little panicked. "Trigger! Pull the fuck up!"
"Trust me…it'll be okay." He eased up on the throttle a bit.
The mountains got closer and closer. "No no no no no no no no NO!" Prez shut her eyes, expecting everything to go dark and the world to fill with pain. But…there was the occasional flash of light. Then the coms crackled to life
"Trigger crashed! Drooling idiot!" Bandog started cussing up a blue storm.
"No! He flew into the tunnel! He's crazy." Tabloid laughed. "Oh my god! I've never seen something like that!"
Prez's eyes shot open, just in time to see a SAM truck explode. The X-02 shook as it spewed tracers down the tunnel. "What the fuck…" A lock tone sounded in her ear, she looked at her targeting. Sure enough the Starfires were locked onto another SAM site, just outside of the tunnel. It had the perfect shot on them, however it was facing away from the tunnel entrance. She tapped the trigger, and watched as the SAM site detonated, smaller explosions quickly following after it.
Trigger smiled slightly to himself. "See, told you." He pushed the X-02 into max speed, guns blazing as they exited the tunnel, engaging the ground forces at the rear area of the last base.
"There he is!"
Champ gave out a hearty laugh. "The Murderer's done it again!"
High Roller sighed slightly. "I'm going to have to rethink the odds."
Trigger flew the Strike Wyvern through the mountain canyon, taking out whatever ground targets he could find.
Prez saw a fuel dump near the edge of the base, she put a few LASM's into it, then watched it go up in smoke. "Ha! Suck it Erusean Bastards!"
Trigger rolled quickly as the missile alert went off. Two missiles impacted the ground around them, "Tabloid! Time to climb." He pulled back on the stick.
"Copy that!"
"Prez?" Trigger glanced back at her for a second.
She was pressed back into her seat from the G-forces, but looked at him. "Yeah?!"
"Don't worry to much about ECM, just fire LASM's at the remaining ground targets when you get a chance."
"Against drones! Hell Trigger you're going to fucking need ECM! There are twenty one of the fuckers, they out number us and can swarm us right?"
"True…" He started messing around with the instruments getting everything set for high G turns. "But I've dealt with these before." They had finally gotten close enough for a lock he loosed two missiles into the swarm of drones. This mission had turned into a full blown furball.
Full band grunted over the coms, a missile narrowly missing him. "Did the jailer know about the shitstorm he was sending us into?"
Tabloid sighed. "Penal units are just pawns."
"That lying son of a bitch!" Champ growled over the radio. "This is to much! I'm out of here!"
"Don't pretend like you deserve any better! Continue with the operation!"
"Gah! Fine guard dog! But you owe me!"
"I don't owe you shit Champ."
Trigger got right behind a drone, banking into a high-G turn to stay on it. He opened fire with the machine gun, but the drone quickly banked left. "Fuck." He followed after it.
"Trigger! I'm keeping up with you!" Tabloid was panting slightly, the high-G turns would be taking a toll on him. "What do you need?"
Trigger tilted his head. "Fire a missile when I do." He got his lock tone. "Fox two."
"Fox two!"
Tabloid and Trigger's missiles went after the single drone. Trigger's missile took the lead. The drone tried to bank right to avoid Trigger's sidewinder, and it did. But Tabloid's missile came in and gutted it.
"Nice shot guys!" Prez cheered.
"Woooohooo!" Tabloid laughed. "Oh that was nice!"
Trigger nodded. "Stay safe. They like to swarm you, so flying in a pattern will keep you safe if you need to take a break. Fly fast too."
"Right, thank you."
"This is Spare Seven. Shit! Someone get this enemy off my tail!" High Roller sounded panicked.
Trigger looked around for him.
Count provided zero info. "I can't I've got my hands full too!"
"High Roller! Missile! Shake it off."
Trigger heard an explosion below him, he rolled slightly…an F-14 was chasing after High Roller. What was a tomcat doing here?
"Goddamn it! I'm hit! I'm still at the table!" High Roller's left wing was ripped up, but he was still flying.
Trigger dived down, machine gun on full auto.
"Ahhhhh Trigger what the hell!" Prez braced herself against the sudden G-forces. Even released a starfire, at the F-14. "Fuck you!" It was unguided, but fast.
The F-14 released another missile, then broke off. It was headed straight for High Roller's plane
Tabloid's panicked voice filled the coms "High Roller! Missile! Another one!"
Prez cut in. "High Roller! Eject! Pull the yellow handles on either side of your seat! Now! Now! Now!"
There was the sound of panicked looking, then a pause. "Right! I've got a bet on me getting ou-." The radio went to static.
Champ gasped. "Hey! Someone's down! Who is it?"
"It's High Roller! He's been taken out!" Tabloid's answer was filled with pain.
"Don't piss your pants over one aircraft being down."
"Shut up for once in your life Bandog!" Prez growled out her words. "Come on…pull it, pull it." She watched as High Roller's F-16 spun out, it's other wing sheered completely off.
Trigger couldn't watch anymore. His heart was beating like crazy, his breathing was deep, he felt nothing but rage. He canceled out the dive with a quick roll, then leveled out, opening fire at the F-14 once more. It rolled to dodge and banked away.
"What happens to a bet when the banker's out?" Tabloid sounded a little concerned. If not completely broken.
"It's voided, you moron."
Prez gasped, "Not yet it's not!" The F-16's canopy flew off the fuselage, an ejection seat blasted it's way out of the wreck. Then a pure white parachute started to slowly drift in the air. "Hell yeah!"
"Thank god, he did it!"
Spare Squadron cheered.
"Bandog take coordinates! Might as well stay busy up there!" Prez glared up at the sky, she couldn't see him, but she was sure the AWAC's could fell her cold hard stare.
"Right…right." Bandog cleared his throat. "Wouldn't want a prisoner getting away…Got the cords."
Trigger rolled once more as they banked after the F-14. He gunned down a drone they passed by. "Good tone, Fox Two." He released one Sidewinder, then another a few seconds later. Slamming them into another high-G turn as the F-14 banked right, popped flares, then rolled into a loop.
"Trigger! We overshot them!" Prez finally got a lock on a ground target, then released a Starfire. Not even caring if it hit.
"Damn." Trigger cut the engines into a stall, then rolled and flipped the X-02. He found the F-14 again and punched the throttle to full. "You're not getting away…ace of Erusea."
"Wait that F-14 is an Ace?!" Prez checked her hud.
Tabloid gasped, as a Spare Squadron plane burst into flames. "Another man down!"
The X-02 was right on the F-14 again. "Yeah…has to be an ace." Trigger rolled their plane into place, right on the F-14's tail. Then fired two more missiles.
The first went wide when the F-14 rolled, the second got a boost from Prez's ECM and struck an engine. Ripping through and sending metal pieces flying. But the F-14 just banked into a stall, then headed right for them. Guns blazing.
Full Band panicked. "There's no point! Retreat!"
"Follow your orders! Continue the operation! Deserters will be punished!"
"If anyone wants to die, let 'em." Full Band banked away from the battle, heading east for the return line.
Trigger growled as he rolled the X-02, he fired his own machine gun in return. A good old joust to the end.
Brownie's old radio suddenly kicked on. "Three lines? A Wyvern! You can't take us down!"
"Crash where I can't see, Tomcat." He fired a sidewinder, then a LASM. The growling sidewinder roared ahead, the Starfire paused a moment, then ignited.
"This isn't even a fight! You wanna lose all your pilots Bandog?" Champ's anger slammed into the coms. "I'm out!"
"Shut up! Engage!"
"Wait! Hey!" Prez was shocked, why had Trigger fired a Starfire?
The F-14 popped flares, knowing Trigger's sidewinder would find that to be the better target from this angle. "No!" They didn't see the Starfire until the last second. It ripped into their intake stabbing through important machinery. "What? How did yo-"
Ka-Boom
The air shook as the F-14 was ripped apart in the explosion. No one ejected. The parts that were left fell to the ground, carried away by the battle, unseen.
Champ snapped. "Try and stop me!" He cut his coms, then retreated, covering Full Band.
"I'm getting behind Trigger, stick with the best if you want to survive." Tabloid came up to fly on Trigger's left.
"Poor decision on your part, I've still got top score." Count chuckled.
"Count? Man, you're useless." Tabloid laughed. "Are you even seeing what Trigger has done?"
Prez sat there in shock. "Trigger…how did you…that was…unguided?"
Champ cut into the coms. "Everyone knows you inflate your numbers Count."
"Spare Eight! Engage or face punishment!"
"Keep yappin' away little guard dog."
"You'll pay for this." Bandog growled out his words, then closed his coms.
Trigger took a deep breath. "Dunno…just…felt like firing a gun."
Prez tilted her head, she wanted to say something. She saw the change that had happened there. It happened twice in this engagement. Everything was going crazy, it was getting harder to keep up the conversation.
"Looks like we're the only ones having fun out here. Trigger, the bet's still on, whoever has the highest score, wins. Let's settle who's best once and for all." Count's prideful voice cut in once more.
"Fine then…Hope you're ready Count." Trigger heard his missile alert go off, then flew into a loop. The MQ-99 overshot him, he came back around with the machine gun blazing. Riddling the pencil shaped drone with holes, until it's engine cut out. The drone plummeted to the ground. "I won't go easy."
Count chuckled. "You're not like the ones who scurried back to base Trigger. I'll give you that."
Tabloid cut in. "Count! Bandit on your six! Missile incoming!"
"Shit! Okay." Count rolled his SU-33, popping flares as he did.
Tabloid came in behind and fired a missile into the drone, causing the small fuselage to rip apart on impact.
Count sighed, as if nothing had happened. "If only I could bring a radio to lift my spirits."
Trigger chuckled. "Get a Belkan made one." He banked after another drone, he fired a missile. Then waited.
Prez doubled down on her ECM work as three missiles roared towards them, two went way off target due to her expertise. The last was avoided with a simple missile.
Trigger's target dodged the missile, exactly like he had hoped. He opened fire with the machine gun again, his finger hurt from pressing the trigger in so much. But the drone didn't stand a chance. It burst into flames.
Tabloid's voice was a welcome distraction. "Spare Fifteen downed another! That's three!"
Prez gasped. "Jesus Trigger! Where the hell did you learn all this shit?"
"The lighthouse." Was his only answer.
Prez tiled her head at that, popping flares once more. The lighthouse? Where Harling died? She didn't want to hurt him…but now she had to know what happened there. He knew these drone's every move. She was beginning to doubt the headlines that drones would replace humanity. She jumped as explosions rippled through the air.
"Nice job Trigger, thats five!" Tabloid laughed. "Oh my gosh! I've only gotten three!"
"Still a good number." Trigger's voice was calm, almost soothing.
Count cut in. "I've shot down six."
"Bullshit. You're still on two."
Count coughed, choking on air in shock. "Hey! You sure your radar's working right Bandog?"
Prez laughed. "I'm sure it's working right Count! You just gotta accept the loss here. Alright?"
Trigger smiled, rolling into a climb, he watched as Tabloid downed another drone. Tabloid was doing great honestly. He saw two Drones fly by the X-02. "Prez, get me a lock on those two." He looped back and rolled to straighten them out.
"Right!" She got to work improving their tracking.
Trigger banked left hard, then right, keeping pace with the two drones.
Bandog's voice cut in, "Never thought I'd say this, but you're doing a hell of a job Spare Squadron."
Count laughed, "Adulation from the guard dog. I'm touched."
"Don't make me take it back. Eradicate the rest of 'em."
"Copy that." Prez smiled. "Hit em now Trigger! You too Tabloid!" She had figured out how to support Tabloid a little bit from short range.
Trigger fired two missile, each one at a different drone. Both drones went to bank away from the missiles. Trigger banked hard in the same direction, but a higher angle. Then opened fire with his machine gun. Tracers flew across the sky.
Both drones froze up, their programing was simple, survive as best as they could. But they took an action to dodge, which led them into another threat. The second that took them to process the situation was their death warrant. Two balls of fire lit up the sky.
"Seven down! Thats more than an ace!" Tabloid cheered.
Prez grinned. "You're still not doing more than me Trigger."
He chuckled. "Well, I guess I really can't compete."
A single tone came through the coms."Okay, you've hit the enemy base enough. We got the intel we need, operation is complete. Head back. The Bastards that flew off are going to wish they were never born. You guys get a pass."
Trigger looked down at the final base, it was a burning wreck.
"Damn right." Count chuckled slightly.
Tabloid sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if we're thrown in solitary too."
Full Band cut in, "Hey who wants to bet who goes into solitary?! Thats what that gambling nutjob would say if he was still here!" He laughed.
Bandog "Where's your sense of humor guys? Your buddy is making a joke, laugh already."
No one laughed. It was dead silent for a long time.
Prez tapped Trigger's shoulder. "Hey. How you holding up?"
Trigger looked back at her as he banked the X-02 East, back to base. "I'm fine…just…relieved High Roller is okay."
"Same." She sighed. "We need to get everyone to sit down and figure out how each of their ejection seats is set up."
He nodded slowly, the paused. "Tabloid."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"You got that radio frequency from earlier. Tell them where High Roller is. Someone needs to pick him up."
"Right. Sounds good." Tabloid closed off the coms.
Prez took a deep breath and sighed. "Hey Trigger, I'm going to catch some shut eye back here. Okay?"
"Huh?" Trigger looked back at her. They were just passing over the FOB.
"I…I can't sleep in those solitary cells. I'm afraid Tabloid will be right…murphy's law and all that."
"Ahh, go ahead. It'll be fine." Trigger switched over what systems he needed from Prez's side to his. "Shouldn't be to eventful of a flight."
Prez giggled. "Trigger…what did I just say?"
"Right right," He rolled his eyes and laughed. "Murphy's law and all that. Don't worry, it'll be fine." He followed the rest of the squadron while Bandog handled the logistics.
"Thanks Trigger." Prez lowered her visor and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. This was nice, it was a hellish war. That factor hadn't changed, but Trigger…Trigger was nice. He wasn't some asshole like most of the people in Spare Squadron. Well…they weren't all total assholes.
She chuckled lightly.
They really were growing on her. Tabloid and Avril especially. Trigger though…
No…
Trigger was more that than. Trigger was her friend through and through. There was no way she could deny that. She considered him a close friend already. They hadn't know each other that long, and yet. The moment she met him in that transport, she felt a connection. There was something about him that just made him…
Screeching static filled her head, she awoke with a start, her head throbbed. Only an hour had passed. She screamed and tried to rip her helmet off. She could barely make out Bandog's panicked voice.
"I—Figh—This is Os—Four Four—Spare Squadron—read back an—You are on in—acknowledge?"
Trigger was frantically trying to fix the feedback as well.
Prez finally unlatched her helmet and was about to rip it off when the coms went dead silent.
Then suddenly, after almost a minute. Someone opened coms.
Prez quickly checked the radar. Eight Planes, flying in formation behind them, slowly gaining on them.
Someone cleared their throat over the coms, it still came through with static. "Ahem, Attention."
Prez froze, her blood ran cold. "No…" She knew that voice.
Even with the static, she instantly recognized that voice.
How could she forget? The laughter. The fire. The blood. Abandoned in that forest…only to be met with him… "No…No no no no no no!"
Trigger looked back at her.
Coms Crackled to life once more. "Attention…criminals and dissidents. This is Crimson One. Of the IUN Peacekeeper Crimson Squadron. I come to offer you a deal. Hand over Robin Kuo, Aka, Prez into our custody. Force her to eject immediately, or be wiped away from this earth."
Prez felt her body shake. She had just found a friend! A new place to belong! Somewhere where people actually cared about her! Talked to her! Laughed with her! Then here comes this bastard! Wanting to rip it all away from her!
"This is your only warning. Not that you dogs deserve any."
Tears poured down her cheek, she could barely breathe, let alone think…This was it! Wasn't it? She would loose everything again. She looked up slightly…Trigger was there. Staring at her. "Trigger…" She froze.
If…if she didn't eject…He would die…she…she couldn't let that happen. Not after everything she just figured out. She didn't want her friend to die trying to protect her. Hell…not even Spare Squadron deserved these threats.
She took a deep breath, and pulled up her visor. Trigger jumped slightly when he saw her eyes. "Let me go…I'm not worth it." She reached for the ejection lever. "I'll go."
Before she could react. Trigger's hand had snatched hers, holding it tightly. "Trigger! Let m-" She froze. Trigger had ripped off his mask, and lifted up his visor. His eyes were full of worry, shock, and determination. "No! No no no! I'm not worth it! I'm not worth your life!" She tried to break out of his hold. She couldn't. She pouted at him. "What the hell man! I'm not worth your life!" Her throat was raw and dry. She coughed lightly. Glaring at Trigger.
Trigger shook his head. "You are…We're sticking together, remember? That means no matter what. I've got your back."
She squinted at him shaking her head. "Why?"
He smiled. It was a bright smile, full of warmth and care. "My flight instructor always said to fight for what I believed in…" He chuckled. "Never did before…But now. I can fight for my friend. Thats always something believe in, right?" He held her hand tightly. "How about it? You got my back?"
Prez squeezed his hand back, then used her free hand to wipe away her tears. "Y-yeah…absolutely." She sniffed. "Always."
He nodded. "Can I let go of your hand now?"
"Yeah." She nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm not going anywhere. Promise." She gave his hand another squeeze.
He slowly let go of her hand. She instantly wanted it back in hers. Now was not the time though. She took a deep breath. "They're a tough squadron to beat. Are you ready?"
He nodded. "Ready." Then, he reached down to the old radio, and pulled out a mic connected to it. "Anything you want to say to him? We're going to need him to shoot at us first."
She took the mic in hand, removed her mask, and put it right up to her mouth. "Hey Crimson."
"Ahhh the criminal speaks! You've been ver-"
"Hey! Asshole, I wasn't done."
"You dare?!"
"Yeah I do! I got a message for you! Fuck off!" She grinned ferally as she booted up her ECM suite.
Trigger laughed, "Oh shit! Nicely said."
"How dare you! You've wasted your chance! This is all on you Miss Kuo, each death today is on your hands! Crimson Squadron, Engage!"
Prez smiled. Now it was her turn to pull out all the stops.