The dull buzzing of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye's twin six-bladed engines was barely audible through Lieutenant Commander Jason Nellen's headset, his eyes focused on the three dozen dots on his display, the massive blob of foul weather they were about to fly into. "Camelot 1-1, this is Windstorm. NOAA information updates show abnormal weather conditions to be worsening. Be prepared for heavy winds, low visibility, and heavy snow. You ever flown into a Siberian Blizzard before?"
Cruising at nearly 30,000 feet, the Hawkeye was well above the Blizzard that the thirty-six unlucky planes from U.S.S Ronald Reagan's Tophatters Squadron were being deployed into. "Fuck no I haven't, Windstorm. I don't think I've ever been this far north! Seriously, why are we even doing this? Russians suddenly can't take care of themselves and we're the first ones sent in?"
It was December of 2013, and a Russian Air Base on the Siberian Coast had broadcast a Distress Call on open frequencies for less than an hour before going dark, giving little in the way of information and not replying to any return calls. "You know about as much as any of the rest of us do, Ronin. Hell, maybe it'll be like that movie Crimson Tide, eh? Please tell me I'm not the only one who's- Wait one, what the hell?"
Fragmented radio chatter poured through his headset as the Hawkeye moved into position almost directly above the storm. "Я не успеваю! Что это за штуки?" It was times like this that Nellen was extremely glad he was trilingual. "Еще три выше, берегитесь!"
"Shit, okay." the Lieutenant muttered to himself, swapping back over totally to the Tophatters frequency. "All Camelot Elements, AWACS Windstorm. We have intercepted chatter indicating Russian Aerial Forces engaging unknown hostiles within the storm. Standby for further updates, and prepare to engage."
"Right, right, alright, fuck, I hope my Russian's not too rusty..." Nellen muttered, swapping frequencies once again. "Для всех, кто работает на этой частоте, это Циклон ДРЛО ВМС США. Мы получили ваш сигнал бедствия и готовы помочь, какова ситуация?"
The response was almost immediate, and spoken so quickly it was difficult to keep up with. "Американцы? Черт побери, здесь приветствуется любая помощь! Эта буря возникла из ниоткуда пару часов назад, и военно-воздушные силы использовали ее как прикрытие для атаки на нашу базу. Кажется, они используют беспилотные летательные аппараты, более маневренные, чем все, что мы когда-либо видели!"
Swapping frequencies again for a moment, he called up the Tophatters again. "Camelot, Camelot. Flagging Russian IFF's as friendly, unknowns as hostile! Be aware, hostile forces are allegedly using super-manoeuvrable drone interceptors for aerial combat! RADAR is unreliable in the storm, and radio contact will be intermittent, be careful and good luck!"
Written 12/17/21