Chapter 20

Sirens of Defeat

Cascadia Independence Air Force Base Charlie

Operation Red Coast

February 22, 432 AC

Katrina had never been in a prison before, aside from a training course that she had taken that prepared her for the eventually that she'd be captured by enemy forces. Now, as she stared out at the dark corridor of the prison hall, she felt like all of that training had been for naught.

The Cascadians were tough, but not so tough in that they brought out tools to extract intel from her. She told them everything that she knew about the Federation war strategies up until her defection. They then forcefully removed all of her clothing and gave her a loose-fitting orange jumpsuit to wear before slamming the door shut. Katrina thought that she could go without the starchy and itchy orange suit, but the cold air-conditioned room had changed her mind and she was forced to put the suit on to keep her bare skin warm. They also had given her a pair of plastic slippers and socks for her feet. Food wasn't an issue either. Baked beans, microwaved burritos and a small pint of water wasn't the worst meal, as she had eaten worse things during her training sessions.

All of these had her wondering whether the Cascadians were repurposing her squadron for something big. The moment they got out of their aircraft after they landed, Cascadian MPs had taken them into custody. All of them except Alamo and his crew. The Cascadian MP who had escorted her into the brig just told her that since Alamo was an AWACS operator, he could divulge any future attacks by the Federation, as long as his credentials gave him access. Their aircraft, however, were taken to a separate part of the base, presumably to have their flight computers wiped and reconfigured for Cascadian usage by them or by other pilots.

All things considered, it was pretty fair treatment.

A buzzer. The sharp clicking of rifles and boots on the hard floor. Guards. They were probably going to drag them to the courtyard to be shot.

A lone Cascadian guard stopped by her cell door, carrying a bundle. The door unlocked with a sharp buzz, and he came into the room and gave her the bundle.

"What is the meaning of this?" Katrina said, unfolding the bundle to reveal a new air force uniform, although this time, the Cascadian flag was adorned there in place of the Pacific Federation flag. A new pair of boots were also there, perched on top of the bundle.

"You are being pardoned. Partially, of course," the guard said, turning his back to her so that she could change. "Orders from above. Commander Archer wants as many people as he needs for a mission."

Katrina nodded, shrugged off her orange jumpsuit and put on her old flight suit. It felt nice to be back in comfortable clothes. She then shrugged on the boots and laced them up.

"Done?" the guard asked, turning to face her. "Good. You and your fellow squadron will follow us." He motioned for her to follow him, and Katrina obliged. She saw Peppermint and Twister step out of their cells, both of them in their old flight suits and their own cells.

"Not looking too shabby?" Katrina asked, as they rounded the mess hall. Several Cascadian pilots shot death glares at them, but the vast majority of them looked sympathetic towards them as they collected their rations.

"This place is alright," Twister said, as they sat down at a table and quickly bit into their food. "I wouldn't mind a few more days in this 5-star hotel."

"Would recommend," Peppermint said, his burrito half-finished. "At least the food is better than advertised."

Once they finished eating, they were led to the breeding room and took the three remaining seats that were available to them. The chatter in the room died almost instantly when a man took the podium.

Commander Archer looked no different from Commander Mckay, although he looked slightly younger. Katrina heard the name bounce around a few times when guards were posted around her cell, talking about some new commander to replace the old one, who had resigned to take care of his family.

"Everyone here? Good," he said, booting up the briefing software. "We have an important task at hand, and CIF HQ is counting on us."

The map zoomed in on a city along Cascadia's western coast.

"Despite our initial attempts to push the Federation from Cascadia, the Federation always pushed us back hard, and now we are on the brink of defeat." He cleared his throat. "Now, the Pacific Federation is closing in on Presidia, our capital city, and full-on tactical retreat has been called. So, here is the mission: You are to assist the evacuation by any means necessary, and to cover the retreat of our forces so that we can regroup for a counterstrike." He adjusted his glasses and continued. "We have three new members, but I'm going to have to cut the introductions short. I'm Commander Archer, leader of this CIF unit. CIF-98, to be exact. These new guys, in question, are Federation defectors who have, wisely, turned themselves in to fight for our cause. As of today, Vanguard Squadron will be attached to CIF-98 of the Cascadian Independence Force."

Katrina couldn't believe what she was hearing. After they had bombed a Cascadian Air Force base and nearly sank the entirety of the Cascadian Navy, they were being reinstated…like that? The other Cascadian pilots in the room thought so too. A sandy-haired woman, in particular, glanced at Twister before quickly adverting her eyes back to the front. Only when Archer put his hand up did the room settle down.

"They will be sent as part of the first wave of reinforcements. The rest of the Cascadian pilots elsewhere will pick up the slack when Vanguard escorts them out of the AO."

Great, Katrina thought. They were being sent in as the guinea pigs to prove their loyalty to the Cascadians without any support from them. They had done this many times in the past without any Federation support, but she felt like this was a test by the Cascadians to prove their loyalty to them. The classic tactic. She really expected them to shoot down the evacuation transports and make a break for the nearest Federation airbase, but that wasn't going to happen. They were done with the Federation's crimes.

"We can expect Federation resistance to be heavy, so equip your planes as necessary for any air, sea, or land engagements. Suit up when ready and prepare to move out," Archer concluded, shutting down the briefing software. Katrina would feel better if she had been sent out to dig up landmines with her bare hands. And without metal detectors. "Oh, and one more thing," Archer said, as they turned to go. "Since your AWACS is undergoing repairs, you will be paired with the mercenary AWACS Galaxy, currently en route to Presidia to assist in the evacuation. We expect the best out of one of the elite squadrons of the Federation."

"Ha! Like he hasn't seen our combat records," Twister said, as they filed out of the briefing room and made their way to the tarmac.

"Yeah, these Cascadians don't trust us that easily," Peppermint said, opening the door to the tarmac. "After destroying a bunch of their shit, they wouldn't turn their backs on us for even a split second." The balmy Cascadian air hit Katrina like a hair dryer as she made her way to their F/S-15, which was luckily intact. She would be less fortunate if she had found a rust bucket like the SV-37 Viggen in its place instead of her super-manuverable fighter. The paint scheme didn't change, but the Federation roundels had been replaced by the Cascadian Air Force emblem, and the vertical stabilizers were inscribed with:

CIF-2

945712

Cascadian

Independence Force

Katrina smiled. It wasn't a big step-up from her Pacific Federation roundels, but it'll do.

She got into her cockpit and welcomed back the sounds of the turbofan engines as she coaxed the plane to life. The canopy shut, and in not time, she was rocketing down the runway and into the sky.

X

After a long and uneventful flight, interrupted by a mid-air refueling maneuver taken by a CIF C-8 tanker, Vanguard was rapidly approaching Presidia. The first thing to pop up on her HUD were the various CIF and Federation forces fighting through a slog above Presidia.

"Holy shit," Peppermint said, as Katrina saw a pair of CIF MG-29s chase down a pair of Federation MG-31s. "Call this a furball."

"Hold on," Katrina said, as she got busy with her plane's radio. "I'll try and ping any AWACS planes that are nearby." To her surprise, the first AWACS to show up on her radar was flashing a mercenary IFF signature. She then established contact with the plane and opened a radio frequency.

"This is Vanguard 1, call sign Comet, pinging friendly mercenary AWACS, how copy?" she said.

"You're that defector squadron?" the voice of the AWACS operator came back. The smoothness in his voice surprised her. "Commander Stardust told me all about you. This AWACS Galaxy of the Sicario Mercenary Corps at your service." And then, to someone else perhaps, he said, "Easy there, Dip. They're on our side."

"Copy that, Galaxy," a new voice came through the radio. An MG-29 zipped by them as they slid into formation. Katrina caught a glimpse of the paint scheme: A gray body with white stripes on the tips of the vertical stabilizers, a white nose cone, black stripes along the belly, invasion stripes on the wings, and a blue underbelly. Mercenary markings, a personal logo depicting a pair of black and blue chains with a red line through the middle, completed the mix.

"Not too shabby for a mercenary color scheme," Twister said, watching the Fulcrum dash off and engage a pair of SV-37s.

"I've seen more…colorful ones in my time," Peppermint said.

Katrina chuckled to herself as she imagined his eyes rolling. "Galaxy, got anything for us?"

"Uh, hold on a second, Vanguard," Galaxy said. There was some typing in the background. "The Wild Boar Regiment is trapped in the center square, and they need air support to break the deadlock. I'm sending their coordinates now."

"Roger that," Katrina said, closing the comm channel. "Vanguard, go and eliminate the enemy air power around the city to pave way for the SAR choppers. I'll take care of the ground forces."

"Roger that lead," Peppermint said, peeling away and jumping an F/D-14. "Vanguard 3, engaging. C'mon, Twister. Don't lag behind!"

"Okay, okay! Don't be such a pushover!" Twister said. "Vanguard 2, engaging." He peeled away and initiated a dance with a pair of F/E-18s.

Meanwhile, Katrina had managed to locate the Wild Boar Regiment and lined up an APC in her sights. Once the lock icon had settled over the vehicle, she loosened a standard missile and blew it to shreds. She then looped around a SAM warning and took out an SPAA and a tank with another standard missile and her gunpods.

"Wild Boar Actual, this is Vanguard 1," she said. "Glad we can meet again, albeit under different circumstances."

"Vanguard 1, long time no see!" General Elizabeth said. "Thanks for clearing out our deadlock." He then called out to the rest of his troops. "This is General Elizabeth. I'll be conducting the tactical retreat. All Actuals report to my callsign, and we'll get you home safely."

"Cut across backyards if you have to," an allied ground soldier said, "and if you have to abandon your vehicle, torch it."

"Route any civilians into the underground," another voice cut in. "We'll pass them off to the Independence Force when we can." So, it turned out there were Cascadian Partisans among the regular forces. Seemed some of them preferred unconventional methods when it came to fighting the Federation. Katrina pulled around an MG-29's missile lock and shredded it with a gun burst.

"To all units left in the AO, remember, if you need SAR choppers, their callsign is Jesterfield," General Elizabeth said. "The enemy doesn't have substantial AA at the moment, so call them in as necessary."

Katrina pulled around the tracers as an Sk.37 charged at her head-on in a joust. She locked on to a pair of Sk.27s heading for a pair of C/T-17 Globemaster transports, most likely carrying refugees. She tapped the trigger and fired a pair of MLAAs. They connected with their targets and blew the Flankers out of the sky, the digital pings confirming it.

"Vanguard 1, splash two," Galaxy said. "Not too bad for a Federation defect."

Katrina was about to retort, when a voice cut through the comms. "Prez! See that bandit on our ass?!"

"Yeah, I got him!" a female voice called out. "Comic, are you around to help?"

"Negative," another voice called through, also a female. "I have my hands full here!"

Katrina glanced around and saw an F/E-4 being pursued by an MG-29, catching a glance of the mercenary roundels.

"To the mercenary in the Phantom," she called out, pulling away from another MG-29 that tried to gun her down. "On my mark, break right. I'll help you nail that son of a bitch."

She waited for a few moments, and found a perfect opportunity to strike.

"Now!" she called. The heavy Phantom banked to the right, the MG hot on its tail. Not wasting a single second, she mashed down the trigger and blew the MG out of the sky with a whip of bullets from her gunpods.

"Your ass is clear," Katrina said, pulling up alongside the Phantom. She could now see the gray and black color scheme that dotted its fuselage, with its turquoise underside, and, most intently, the crown-like insignia.

"Thanks for the support, Vanguard 1," the pilot said. "I'm the leader of Sicario's Hitman Team. Just call me Monarch."

"Hey! Did you forget about me?" a shrill female voice said, clearly annoyed.

"And that's Prez, my WSO," Monarch said. "She handles weapons and communications."

"You know that I have tough fists, though," Prez said.

"Yeah, and that too," Monarch said. "Best we get back to the fight, Vanguard 1."

"Right," Katrina said, peeling off from the Phantom and hitting a pair of MG-31s with her guns. All the while, the radio transmissions grew more and more frantic.

"We still have troops left in the city, don't we?" a ground soldier said. Katrina could hear gunfire in the background.

"They stayed behind to cover our retreat, so let's not waste their sacrifice!" another soldier said. Katrina swallowed hard. Things down below suddenly seemed a lot worse than it should have been given the circumstances.

Katrina swerved around the bullets of a pursing F/C-16 and blew it out of the sky with a pair of missiles.

"Vanguard, how are you holding up?" she asked, dodging a missile alert.

"I'm holding up just fine, thank you," Twister said. "Been covering the evacuation transports with 3. Damn, these bastards are tough."

"You don't say," Katrina said, dodging the bullets from a pursuing F/E-4. "Thank God we have the skills to counter them." She pulled behind the Phantom before filling it with lead.

"They'll tell stories about this mission, ladies and gents," a mercenary pilot said.

"The Fall of Presidia," another mercenary pilot said. "Better make my place in it."

Katrina smiled, seeing the glory hound sides of these mercenaries.

"General Elizabeth, pull aggressively while we still have the air superiority," a Cascadian pilot said.

"We're using this time to sabotage roads and waterways out of the city. Evacuation operations are going well. You do your job, flyboy, I'll do mine," General Elizabeth said.

"Just a recommendation, General," the pilot said.

"These damned militiamen are complicating the battlespace. Someone get a read on who they are," another Cascadian soldier said.

"Wild Boar Actual, I'm getting SOS calls from downtown Presidia," AWACS Galaxy said. "What should I tell them?"

"We can't do anything for them," Elizabeth said, sighing deeply. Gunfire was present in the background. "Tell them to dissipate and evacuate by any means possible. Tell them I'm sorry."

"Copy all," AWACS Galaxy said. Katrina could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"Damn," Twister said. "This is not how I wanted the operation to go. Goddamn Feds."

"This is war," Peppermint said, shooting down a pair of F/C-16s. "You don't get to choose who dies and who lives."

"Peppermint's rights," Katrina said, looping out of a missile warning to put a missile into an Sk.37. "Let's focus on what we can control, alright?"

"Copy," Twister said, putting bullets in an F/C-15. "At least we can't see what is happening down there will all the chaos that's happening up here."

Katrina silently agreed with that statement as she looped behind an SV-37 to put it out of its misery with a quick gun burst. Vanguard continued its repeated barrage of quick attacks on the Federation positions, while watching Hitman Team do their work. She watched in awe as Monarch coordinated the stick and rudder of his massive Phantom to outmaneuver even the most nimble of Federation fighters.

"To anyone on this net, we have secured Takenori Square, but we have incoming hostiles!" a ground unit reported. "If we can take this place, we can direct evacuation chopper traffic here!"

"Prioritize armored units and specialists during the evacs," another CIF soldier said. "We won't make it long without them."

"Hey, what's the ROE on the police?!" a Federation unit suddenly reported. Katrina furrowed her brow. Weren't the Federation radio frequencies encrypted?

"All units, be advised that Presidian police forces are experiencing infighting. Engage only if necessary."

"All Vanguards, check your radio frequencies," Katrina said, dancing around a pair of F/F-18s and downing them with a pair of gun bursts. She then checked her ammo state. A few gun bursts and several missiles remained. Not too bad in the face of almost impossible odds. "Did you get snippets of Federation chatter?"

"I did," said Peppermint.

"Same here," Twister said. "Must be a glitch. Let's check on it when we get back to base."

"Use the wrecks as a cover," another soldier said. 'We can't afford to draw fire toward homes!" Katrina pulled away from the smoking wreck of an MG-29 just as a transmission came through.

"Stardust, Sicario has secured its areas separately. What's the call?" It was the man with a gruff voice.

"Standby," the person called Stardust said. Suddenly, Katrina's radar lit up with several long-range radar contacts, both large and small.

"Sicario, we have large contacts inbound. Looks like an airship picket," Galaxy chimed in.

"Destroyer Koteng and Destroyer Ameria," a new Federation voice joined them. "Flow on your current heading and drive the mercs out of the airspace." The frequencies on the fighter's dashboard said that it belonged to an AWACS with the callsign of Jade.

"Remember, attack these things from above and below," the gruff voiced mercenary said. "Never from behind or head-on."

Katrina pulled up above a Littoria-class and locked on to its subsystems. A yellow whip of tracers from a CIWS mount rose to greet to her, but she weaved through the rounds and launched an MLAA salvo. Once the subsystems were destroyed, she fired a long burst of cannon rounds, finishing off the airship.

"I always preferred naval ships over these things," a female mercenary pilot said. "Pain in my ass to take down."

"Are we good to down these things over the capital?" Diplomat said, as the Littoria Katrina shot down crashed on the outskirts of the city.

"Not like we got a choice," the female mercenary pilot said.

"Kennedy Hall just got torched," an allied ground unit reported. "We had an IFV platoon roll through it, so we're pulling back. That earned a laugh from Diplomat.

"This story gets more interesting," Katrina said, pulling back from the wreck of the Ameria as Monarch's F/E-4 pulled away from its newest victim.

"Hmm?" Twister said, blowing apart a pair of Sk.30s with his gunpods.

"Nothing," she said quickly, turning back to the action.

She swooped in behind the Koteng and her gunpods tore chunks away from its subsystems until it chewed into its hull, and the frame collapsed under the stress and fell towards the Earth.

"HQ, we can't get our coordinates over the secure channel!" another ground unit reported. "Where are we going?!"

"It's that damn jamming!" General Elizabeth said. "Just head north! We'll organize as best we can when we're out of here!"

Katrina swiveled her head and observed the battlespace as the mercenary and Cascadian forces were beginning to wrap up the evacuation efforts, with Federation and Allied fighters occasionally dropping out of the sky.

"Vanguard, we're almost done here," she said, lighting her afterburners. "Just cover the transports until they are out of the AO."

"Roger, lead," Twister said.

"I've got your six covered, Comet," Peppermint said, as the three of them formed around her. They tagged along for a while until a radar contact appeared on her radar: One of the last Anura-class airships somehow escaped the slaughterhouse over the city and was preparing to bear down on the evacuation convoy.

"Vanguard, target that cruiser," Katrina ordered, arming her few remaining MLAAs. "We're gonna try and take it out in one run."

"Roger that," Twister said.

"Solid locks!" Peppermint cried.

"Vanguard 1, fox three!" Katrina cried. A swarm of multi-lock missiles dropped from the Eagles and soared forward to greet the Anura-class. A chorus of digital plings confirmed that multiple subsystems on the Anura had been destroyed. Katrina switched to her two remaining standard missiles and looped around to finish the Anura off, when another pair of standards shot out of nowhere and splashed the Anura. As the fiery wreck of the Anura plunged towards the sea, Katrina saw the digital camouflage that marked Monarch's F/E-4 as he joined up with the rest of the aerial convoy.

"Showoff," Katrina muttered under her breath as she and Vanguard joined the massive aerial convoy heading out of Presidia.

"Hey, I heard that," Monarch said. "You only softened up the whale for me. That I can appreciate."

"We've done all we can, Sicario," AWACS Galaxy said. "RTB to Rosdower."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," a ground soldier said, defeat evident in his voice.

"Vanguard, we're gonna head back," Katrina ordered. "We're done here. Galaxy, we are RTB."

"Roger all, Vanguard," Galaxy said. "Hold on. I have a message from the Boss and Stardust for you."

"This is Assassin 1, callsign Kaiser, to Vanguard Squadron," the gruff voiced mercenary said through the comm. "We appreciate your efforts here today. Many of us were from here, after all, so this was a rather warm homecoming."

"Much appreciated," Katrina said, her tiredness evident in her voice.

"This is Stardust of the Cascadian Independence Force," the CIF pilot said. "I also appreciate your efforts during the evacuation. My countrymen owe you three a lot of their gratitude."

"Copy all, Stardust," Katrina said. "We'll be heading back about now."

"Roger all," Galaxy said. "May the winds guide you three to bigger and better fortunes," Galaxy said, before signing off.

Damned gloryhounds, Katrina thought with a smile on her face as the three of them peeled off and shot for the safety of their new home.

X

"I must admit,"Commander Archer said, glancing at Vanguard through the empty briefing room. "You three managed to buy the evacuation enough time to retreat to the safety of friendly airspace. Thanks to you, the manpower and intel we obtained on Federation activities inside Cascadia has been vital to our war efforts." He rubbed his eyes. "However, we have lost our all contact with any remaining units in our capital city, so expect the worst for them." He rubbed his eyes again. "We also have received special orders from Command to carry out a series of strikes in the next few days, so in the meantime, get some rest, and standby for your next sortie."

X

It was pouring by the time Katrina stepped outside the building. The once balmy air of the morning had been replaced by an eerie gray sky with rainclouds, dropping endless bullets of water onto her new world.

She glanced into the darkness, and to the shapes resembling Agile Eagles. How fast things changed. From fighting mercenaries in Oceania to fighting against the Federation, all in a matter of years, yet it felt like weeks.

The rain did offer one slight advantage, though. It obscured her thoughts from the rest of the world, and it felt good. Katrina had the arms of her flight suit tied around her waist, and her arms were taking in the cool air of the rainstorm.

A pair of footsteps behind her.

"Someone's moody."

She turned, and there was the ever jovial face of Peppermint.

"Well, somebody's up late," she said, as Peppermint leaned against the door. "Having bad dreams again?"

"Not really," Peppermint said, sheepishly, stroking the back of his head.

"Don't lie to me," Katrina said, smiling. "Then, tell me why you're up."

"Everyone is celebrating Vanguard's success today," Peppermint said, now seeming more awake. "Twister even managed to get himself hooked up to one of the Accipter pilots here."

Katrina chuckled, and the two of them lapsed into silence for a while, listening to rain fall.

"How do you feel, about all this? About anything that has happened?" Peppermint asked, breaking the silence.

Katrina paused. She hadn't really taken a second to think about what her squadron's defection might mean to Federation High Command. On one hand, it did give the Independence Force a unit who had experience fighting in a war, and it also gave them three advanced fighters to boot. On the other hand, the defection of a prestigious Federation squadron was causing alarm bells to be ringing in the minds of the Federation officers, who not only realized the loss of an elite fighter squadron, but also a drop in morale.

"That we are the most wanted people in the entire Federation?" Katrina said, rubbing her hand on her back. "That we have helped so many people, so many innocents, back there today? Then, I feel like our defection was worth something." She briefly remembered the airport they had been sent to bomb, and pictured what might have happened if they had let the bomber release its iron storm. The resulting picture wasn't pretty.

"I just-Look, it's been a crazy few days," she said firmly, slipping her flight suit back on. "Let's just concentrate on winning this damn war so that we all have a place to go home." She looked at Peppermint, who nodded.

"Agreed," he said, opening the door for her. "After you."

Katrina grinned, and vanished into the depths of the base, Peppermint following close behind.