Chapter 17

Opening Strike

Operation Sinking Stone

February 4, 432 After Calamity

"One key element of the Cascadian military is their naval forces," Commander Mckay said, powering on the briefing software. "In order for the Federation to adequately supply our troops on the front line, we must remove the threat to our naval supply line, so here is your mission." The map zoomed in on the northeastern part of Cascadia, near a small naval port. "You are to ambush the Cascadian fleet near the city of Seletepura. Deal as much damage as you possibly can before egressing out of the AO. We don't wanna overstay our welcome there."

"Easy enough," Peppermint said, as they walked toward the tarmac to load up. "Bomb a couple of tin cans to oblivion and then flee. What could be so hard?"

"Quit screwing around," Twister said, as they approached their F/S-15s on the runway, all of them loaded up for their mission. "When you keep saying shit like that, things always tend to get worse."

"Can it," Katrina said, observing the loadout for this mission. The 4 gunpods on the Eagles were replaced with racks of UGBS-3s. Perfect for a quick hit-and-run mission. Apart from their usual standard missiles, there were only 4 MLAAs loaded on to the aircraft. "We already have the advantage for this situation. We just gotta make sure that it doesn't spiral out of control. Crystal Kingdom is counting on us." She climbed into her fighter's cockpit and sealed the canopy, shut, adjusting her air mask and her helmet. It felt good, doing this. It put her mind at ease before a big battle and one crucial battle like this one, it was important to be in the right mindset when faced with such a daunting task like this. The roar of a squadron of F/D-14s taking off was reduced to a muffled roar.

She flicked on the primary systems, starting with the computer systems that powered the plane, and then activating the engines. They came online with a steady roar, slowly increasing as she disengaged the brakes and eased the fighter onto the runway. She caught a glimpse of Argonaut's FC-8 as she slid onto the runway ahead of her.

"Control, will you kindly send me up first?" Twister asked.

"Vanguard 2, Twister! This is the control tower!" the ATC barked. "You are not cleared for takeoff. Obey orders!"

"Go to hell!" Twister snapped back.

"All aircraft taking off, watch out for Vanguard 2. He's forcing a takeoff!" the ATC replied. Katrina chuckled.

"Shut up!" Twister said. "I'll obey orders, Goddammit! As soon as Argonaut's fat ass is off the runway, we'll be good to go!"

Katrina laughed quietly to herself as she watched Argonaut's FC-8 lumber down the runway and into the sky. She then lined her fighter up and waited for the all-clear from the tower.

"Vanguard 1, the runway is clear. Go now!" the tower ordered.

Katrina opened up the throttle and the F/S-15 shot down the runway and into the sky. She retracted the gear shortly after and climbed up, putting distance between her and the base. Vanguard 2 and 3 followed behind shortly.

X

The flight to Seletepura was shorter than Katrina expected, and in no time, her fighter was skimming above the surface of the water. Katrina saw the ripples in the water as the harbor slowly came into view.

"I can almost touch the water," Twister said.

"But get too close, and you'll crash," Peppermint said.

"Not if I can help it," Twister said.

"If it does happen," Katrina said, adding in her two cents, "we'll miss you, Captain Ahab."

"Whoa, you actually read it?" Twister said, sounding surprised. "At least we won't be going down with Moby Dick in the end."

"Vanguard Squadron, altitude restriction lifted!" Argonaut called out. "Begin operation!" A dozen targets appeared on the HUD, ranging from large battlecruisers to small corvette-sized vessels.

"Vanguard, engage," Katrina said, taking her fighter up from the waves. "Sink these bastards while they are out in the open."

"You got it, lead," Twister said, popping up and unleashing his UGBs on an Aegis Ashore defense system. It caught fire and exploded. Katrina targeted a pair of cruisers moored together and made short work of them with her bombs. As she looped around to make a run on a battlecruiser, AA fire erupted from the shoreline.

"Peppermint!" she called. "The birds are online and chirping. Can you silence them for me?"

"Sure thing, Comet!" Peppermint said. Katrina put two bombs on the battlecruiser and swooped around the blazing vessel to finish it off. The AA defenses finally sputtered to life, but it could do nothing against her next two bombs. The explosion could be felt in her cockpit as she pulled away from the burning wreck. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Peppermint strafe the AA batteries and put it out of its misery with a pair of bombs.

"Thanks, Peppermint," Katrina said, as she took care of a destroyer that had attempted to slip its mornings and make its way toward the harbor entrance.

"Don't sweat it," Peppermint said, jettisoning some flares to avoid a SAM.

"40% of all hostile naval vessels eliminated," Argonaut said. "Hold on. We've got interceptors incoming, bearing 350." 4 targets appeared on Katrina's radar.

"We're not equipped properly for air-to-air," she said, taking care of a cruiser and a destroyer.

"Just try and fend them off," Argonaut said, simply.

"Fend them off?! That's all you have to say?! C'mon!" Twister cried, as he dodged AA fire to put a pair of bombs on an Aegis Ashore system and another battlecruiser.

"Just try and hold them off as long as possible," Katrina said. "We're not gonna stick around and fight any more Cascadian squadrons."

"With the way we are tearing up this place, I'm surprised the entirety of the Cascadain Independence Force ain't up our ass," Twister said, diving back and wiping out a pair of destroyers.

Katrina cautiously eyed the radar contacts as they edged closer. Once they were within range of her missiles, she caught the distinct silhouette of 4 MG-29 Fulcrums in Cascadian markings. Their olive drab camo and white nose cones were visible even from her current position.

"Twister, Peppermint, take care of the rest of the naval vessels," Katrina said, breaking off from the smoldering wreck of an LCS. "I'm gonna get in their face."

"Roger that," Twister said, as he pulled up from the wreck of a destroyer that was listing in the harbor. "Be careful out there, flight lead."

"Don't worry about me," Katrina said, arming her MLAAs. She highlighted the Fulcrum in front and loosed one. The missile was moments away from impacting when the Fulcrums split in a beautifully synced sunburst formation. The missile missed its intended target and blew harmlessly in the distance.

"Beautiful," Katrina muttered. She engaged her AOA Limiter and was behind one of the Fulcrum before they split again. This time, they split off in pairs, one to the right, and one to the left. Katrina followed the formation on the left. She expected them to split again, but this time, they didn't. She edged closer, hoping for an opening to fire her standard missiles.

"C'mon now," she muttered, her hands gripping the stick with all her might. "I know you can't keep this up forever."

Fortunately, an opportunity came for her a few moments later. The lead Fulcrum tried to break off and lead her into a position for the other Fulcrum to get a shot at her, but she was not taking that ruse. Instead, she targeted the Fulcrum trailing out from behind the lead plane. Once a solid lock had been obtained, she let it loose. This time, the missile didn't miss. It impacted the right engine of the Fulcrum, and the other one sputtered and died as its hydraulics were severed. The Fulcrum entered a death spiral and its pilot ejected. Katrina quickly refocused on the other Fulcrum as it attempted to recall the other two Fulcrums to its location. Katrina didn't give it a chance. A single MLAA put the Fulcrum out of its misery.

"50% of the enemy squadron has been eliminated," Argonaut said, that leer ever present in his voice.

"Woo!" Peppermint called. "You go, Comet!"

"Thanks, Peppermint," Katrina said, as she locked on to the other two Fulcrums and ended them with an MLAA salvo. "What's the status of the naval fleet?"

"Completely sacked," Twister said. "We're currently egressing out of the AO. Waitin' on you, kid."

"Excuse me," Katrina snapped as she dove beneath the clouds, leaving the smoking remains of the harbor behind. "I'm 35 and yet you still call me 'kid?'"

Twister just chuckled.

X

"Vanguard, I would normally congratulate you for today, but we have an urgent situation on our hands," Commander Mckay said, rubbing his eyes. "Earlier today, Rowsdower AFB detected a bunch of mercenary and CIF aircraft approaching. They then got out a radio comm saying that they were under attack. A few minutes after that, we lost total comms with both the ATC and Crosstalk Squadron. We have to assume that Rowsdower has been taken by the CIF and the mercenaries."

Katrina felt a cold knot form in her stomach. These mercs were a lot tougher than she thought.

"I also regret to report that the carrier FCG Antares has fled the dockyard before your assault," Mckay said, rubbing his eyes again. "We need to intensify our assault over the next few days. But until then, get some rest. Dismissed."

X

"Well, that was lame," Twister said. They were all gathered in the mess hall, cups of coffee in their hands, mulling over the recent news.

"More than lame," Peppermint said, twisting the lid of his coffee cup. "Now one of our most important bases is in the hand of the rebs. This is whole thing isn't in our favor."

"Well, it has to turn around soon," Katrina said, turning her attention to the news. It showed the attack on Rowsdower that was being broadcast on the military network, though some parts were heavily edited to maintain morale and secrecy. One part, though, caught and held her attention. As the camera swung to the sky, an F/D-14 zipped by and smashed two AA installations with a pair of standard missiles. As it banked off, Katrina saw that the F/D-14 had a gray and black woodland camo, and on its tail, there was a…butterfly? She couldn't really tell. But from this angle, it looked like a…

"Crown?" she whispered to herself.

"Hmm?" Peppermint said. Katrina opened her mouth to respond, but then a voice cut her off.

"Vanguard, do you have a moment?" It was Alamo.

"Yeah?" she said, chucking her empty cup into the trash can. "What it is about, Alamo?"

"Not here," Alamo said. "We'll discuss this in my FC-8."

Katrina looked at her squadron and both of them nodded. Whatever this was, Alamo wasn't taking it lightly.

They exited the base and crossed the tarmac to Alamo's FC-8, fresh from its latest sortie. Various equipment was hooked up to it, and Katrina saw a fuel truck nearby, removing excess fuel from the aircraft.

The base had some newcomers, probably squadrons that were rerouted from Rowsdower or other bases. Katrina picked out a pair of F/T-15s, a downgraded version of her F/S-15 that had similar armaments, but were not capable of having both flares and an AOA Limiter at the same time, a full squadron of 12 RF-1 Rafales, a pair of Sk.57s, and 6 VX-23 stealth fighters. Jet engines roared as a trio of prototype F/G-18 Growlers came in to land. Additional aircraft were spotted at the end of the airbase: Argonaut's FC-8, 4 Sk.57s, 8 F/F- and F/E-18s, 10 F/E-15 Strike Eagles, 12 F/C-15s, a pair of I/A-52 heavy bombers, and a quartet of I/U-95 Grizzly bombers, their contra-rotating propellers still winding down from their long flight, their turquoise and green fuselages glinting against the light of the dying sun.

"A lot of traffic here," Katrina said, watching a pair of KC-330 Voyager tanker aircraft touch down and the trio of F/G-18s taxi over to their position.

"Federation Command wants a full offensive to take place over the next few days," Alamo explained, as they climbed up the airstairs and into the FC-8, which thankfully blotted out the noise from all the jet engines.

"Emphasis on massive, sir," Peppermint said, as the door to the FC-8 closed, blocking them from the outside world. "With that much airpower, we can prematurely block out Oceania in a day."

"Yeah, but not in this case," Alamo said, booting up his station. Katrina saw a small railing rise up through the floor and a holographic projection appeared. She knew that the Federation had been developing new methods to supplement their AWACS operators, but she hadn't seen something this advanced before. Alamo effortlessly manipulated the controls and logged into the system. He then selected the latest mission file and spread it out on the display for all of them to see.

"This was today's sortie," Alamo said, zooming in on the map. "We were sent out to eliminate a convoy of escaping Cascadian soldier. Nothing special, right? We're going to prevent the spread of false information or even incriminating data. However, this isn't the only sortie that took place. Look." He zoomed out and with a dew more taps on the rail, a few more icons appeared, showing other Federation AWACS planes and their strike packages. "Multiple strikes took place around the Federation-Cascadian border. Sounds too remote for a Cascadian armored column, right?" Katrina felt a dark and cold put in her stomach take shape. Even for an Argonaut-look-a-like, this was very dark for the Federation.

"What are you suggesting that we do, sir?" Peppermint asked.

"Just pack your stuff and get ready in case this thing turns out to be true, Alamo said, closing his terminal and opening the door of the FC-8. The rush of jet engines reached their ears once again. "I've looked through your mission files, and you've been assigned to one of these missions soon."

"How cold has the Federation been?" Twister said, as they walked back. "How long has Crystal Kingdom been keeping all of this under the radar?"

"I don't know," Katrina said, as 8 familiar Sk.37s landed. "Hey, Aquila's here."

"Huh. Freshly rerouted Solana, eh?" Twister said, cracking his knuckles. "Lucky bastards don't even know what is going on."

"I wouldn't count on it," Katrina said, as they approached their quarters. "But be ready just in case."

"Righto, boss," Peppermint said, as he and Twister disappeared into their quarters. Katrina entered her quarters and locked the door behind her, also making sure to lower the blinds. She then picked up everything: Her clothing, all of her Federation flight suits, a box containing a scale model of her F/S-15, squadron patches of Vanguard Squadron and other things into a gym bag. Finally, a framed photo of vanguard themselves. Peppermint and Twister behind her, all of them in front of her F/S-15. A machine that had served her well since Oceania, and now it will serve her new purpose once again.

She stuffed it into her bag and dropped it in the corner. She then sighed, stripped down to her undergarments, and sank back into her bed, feeling the warm mattress underneath.

If the Federation was really committing these horrible things, she hoped God or even the Dust Mother would forgive her sins if she corrected the Federation's actions.

A/N: The I/A-95 Grizzly fan design was made by MontyMains on the Project Wingman Discord.