Ustio, Valais Air Base, 12/05/1995, 16:00, Weather: light cloud, little risk of snow.
Undoubtedly, Iskanda would never get along with Ustian mountainous weather. One day you could believe it was summer, they could eat outside, even at dawn or at dusk. And three day later only the lead colored clouds were covering the sky and the entire base was covered in snow. Sometimes she could even understand why the Belkans who were stationed here before the secession called it nutzlos Landebahn.
Since the major push of the allied forces on the 24th of April, their operations have been nothing but CAP above the only areas they currently occupied, such as the canal Futuro or the Nord of Aarlon. They had some run-ins with the Belkan air force when they tried to intercept Oseans SR-71s with their MiG-31s. And obviously who was asked to cover then once their escort was torn off? Merc like her or anyone in Ustio's sixth Unit. Maybe they were pushing her that far to force her to make amends for the loss she caused this very day of April.
On the ground, Sapin, Oseans and Yuktobania were pushing the Belkan toward the Ustiano-Sapin border. But it was a plain area with few coverage, and Belkan CAS fighter, comprised of Su-32s Strike Flankers and A-10As were having a nice field play with the allied forces. Massive casualties were reported, and one of their reports bore bad news: the EC-865 Anacondas have been destroyed by Belkan fighters, and only one of the Tigers made it. All pilots who learned this at Valais were a bit sad for them, as they thought those stealth choppers could turn the tides a bit. Yet stealth never meant invulnerability.
And since the beginning of May they were almost stuck on this border. Ustio was a very mountainous terrain on all its territory with the North-West being the exception. It was in the plain of the North-West that Directus was located. The city itself has been founded -according to some touristic magazine she read about Ustio in her free time- around the tenth century. A pretty old city of stone and gothic cathedrals, yet it had expanded a bit outside its walls to create a new scientific and technological center. At least this city was a good mixt of old and new architecture as they describe it, not like those Osean big cities only made of skyscrapers.
Nevertheless, the allied ground forces found themselves really stuck only on the foothills of the Valaisian mountains at the South East of Ustio. The Belkan occupying them through hidden bunkers the Ustian haven't occupied for one good reason: the Belkan hid them so well that anyone trying to find them from the sky would have a hard time, even with an estimated map of the place. And they were too deep into the mountain to use conventional bunker busters. Furthermore, the few tunnels allied tried to walk through with even armored train revealed themselves to be deadly traps, the Belkan filling them with mines of all sorts or just closing some hidden doors of those tunnels and filling the said tunnels with toxic gases. Quite a gruesome tactic, but an efficient one.
So, when they were called to briefing room for a future operation just after the mess, they all had some idea of what could happen : either some mass bombing or some mass dropping of paras, the latter being the best for the people living there.
This time, the map was centered around some city named "Solis Ortus". Some arrows at the edges of the map showed some data about the city. It was three hundred kilometers at the West of Valais, three hundred and fifty kilometers from the Ustiano-Sapin border, but the main data was that this little city was only fifty kilometers from Directus. Iskanda was asking herself how a city that landlocked between seven high mountainous peaks could develop in the first place. But historical development was none of her concern right now.
" The mountain city of Solis Ortus is indeed located just outside Ustio's capital, Directus." recalled Johnson, before tipping some button, making appear a bunch of red dots on the middle of the city, three blue arrows coming from the South-East, labelled " Osean 101st Airborne division and Yuktobania fifth paratroopers division". Their unit was just represented by a hatched arrow.
" The Allied Forces will deploy airborne troops, comprised primarily of Osea's 101st Airborne Division and Yuktobania 5th Paratrooper Division, over Solis Ortus, in a surprise air and ground attack on the Belkan forces. This operation will play a critical role in Ustio's liberation. Your mission is to provide support for the airborne troops. Destroy Belka's surface-to-air defense network and all interceptor aircraft, securing a safe drop zone for the airborne troops..." Koenig summarized the objectives of the oncoming mission, while those main threat were displayed, with numbers such as rate of fire and effective range : BAWS, Flaks cannons, SAMs, Triple As, and as interceptors they could expect some MiG-31s, with anti-fighter forces equipped with F-16Cs, F-20As and MiG-29As to compensate for the lack of maneuverability of the Foxhounds.
" There are more than fifty thousand Ustians inside Solis Ortus. It's a city, not a canal with no building around. Also, be aware over Solis Ortus. Your actions will determine their fate. Good luck." Koenig indicated, wanting to have a "clean" reconquest. Even if such thing is always hard to achieve.
" Is this awareness pointed at me, or just a feeling?" Iskanda said, as the briefing screen went black. She obviously knew what Koenig was speaking about. All her life, she only loss things. Her true mother. Her freedom. The only true friends she hardly managed to get at Farbanti Sky academy. But life was made of change, and she had to accept it.
" In a matter of fact, yes. Your actions raised quite a few controversies. I mean, some Osean top brass want to give you a medal for saving their third fleet, some would want to see you shot at dawn and other don't know what to do. My point of view is you do what you had to and that's all." Koenig listed all the different standpoint over his pilot he had to defend fiercely over the phone two weeks ago.
" I got the message. I just had to prevent a few Airborne troops to be killed and they will consider me a hero." She went sarcastic a bit.
" Then I wish you the best of luck over Solis Ortus. Make Ustio proud!" Their commander encouraged them, before leaving the briefing room to go aboard their E-767 AWACS, while the pilots were leaving for their respective hangars.
And two of them had a pretty busy conversation on their way toward theirs.
" I have the same point of view than Koenig. End justify means." Her wingmen tried to cheer her up a bit.
" Gott Verdammt, I know that, Pixy. Yet it's not your mind who matters here. And even if we don't do an Ustian omelette without breaking eggs, egg's minds still matter." She argued, as they were halfway to the hangar.
As she saw the old rusty hangar that housed the Griffon next to theirs, she felt a bit sad. She better supported her allies with this 1960's plane that her X-29A. She was good at killing and destroying people, planes, and was even enjoying it, but it was far more difficult to be good at protecting people.
" Just give some time to those angry Osean top brass. If we succeed in taking Directus without too much of their help, they will reset their picture and authorize Ustio to sit at the table as a victorious nation and not as a defeated one who needed help." Pixy said, going a bit into his flights of philosophy.
" Pixy, we are taking flight into air, not into philosophy." She responded, making a bit fun of Pixy's habits to do philosophical comment, even if she could understand the logic behind it: Ustio needed to regain a status of a sovereign nation, not one dependent of Osea's wealth or military power.
" Whatever. I guess it's QAAMs only today for you?" Pixy asked, returning to a more practical subject.
" Not fully QAAMs." She said as they entered their hangar, where Pixy's F-15C was loaded with 8 XMAAs and 6 QAAMs. Her plane was loaded with 6 QAAMs and 2 small bombs which had some irregular design: they were pierced on all their surface, a bit like pumice.
" The weapon engineer who created the EPMs following Herr Thesermeister's indications had quite a hard time designing your "static" FAEBs". Herr Steller explained to Iskanda that her requirement about her weaponry has been fulfilled.
" Static FAEBs? You mean, like some kind of air mines?" Pixy try to understand how those kinds of elliptic thing could stay in the air. Naturally anti-gravity was only sci-fi things for him.
" He stated that they can hover for seven seconds over the drop point using small vectored nozzles with pressurized nitrogen, a bit like for the high-altitude maneuvers of F-104 Starfighter, if you know what I mean. After they will explode with a slightly reduce area of impact, but enough to disintegrate anything into a three hundred meters radius." Herr Steller described the new weapon to her future user.
" If you keep using thermobaric ordnance, I think mister Kupchenko will frame you for copyrighting his idea of hypersthene burst missile." Pixy sarcastically commented as he climbed into his fighter.
" Not the slightest risk. Osean intel said he was still grounded with his Wesson-UFOs over the Hadrian line, maybe due to his failure." Iskanda replied, climbing into hers and putting his helmet.
And at 16:40, they all took flight, the AWACS going at its service altitude of twelve kilometers, while the fighters went into supersonic flight. They could waste a bit of their fuel in afterburners today, as the transport unit they would be escorting was including KC-10 Extenders, in case any of the transport crafts had any lack of fuel before engaging the target area.
Seventy kilometers South West of Solis Ortus, Ustio, 12/05/1995, 17:20, Weather: clear.
They could say it was a good day and not a good day. Of course, the visibility was nice, but visibility when dropping troops was always a double-edged sword: on one hand it gave good visibility on the landing point, but it would give the enemy a good visibility on the transports. And of course, they could not afford to lose even one. But first they would have to refuel, as they had to act quick. Hopefully Belka was using his bombers in long range raids on some factory of Osea. Osea has even let a free corridor to lure them in. Surely, they would lose a few factories. But Valais Air Base was important even for them, even if it was hard for them to admit it.
" This is your personal tea waiter, what can I offer? My mother usually said that chamomile work wonder to negate the will of using thermobaric ordnance." The technician of the KC-10 Iskanda was approaching said.
" I think my flight leader would need to be geared with chamomile tanks instead of fuel tanks then." Pixy added, as he was connecting to the probe on the left of the Extender, while Iskanda was connecting on the one at the left. For a X-29A it was always harder to connect with probes than for F-15C, as the receptacle of the X-29A was behind the cockpit, so she had to fly lower than other jets to perform in-flight refueling.
" I can hear you guys, and the two of my guns are enough to pierce through even the Antonov 225 that carries the Yuktes." Iskanda threatened while letting out a small laugh.
" Hey, live me alone, Kamerade mercenary. And take care of the ground force at Solis Ortus." The pilot of the said An-225 said.
" All right, I will take care of them. Galm 2, ready for this?" She rhetorically asked, as her tanks indicators signaled her the refueling process was finished.
" Of course, I'm ready. Solis Ortus is waiting for its liberators." He replied, before disconnecting from the probe simultaneously with her flight lead, before hitting the deck toward the peaks of the mountains surrounding Solis Ortus.
The six other Ustian planes followed them on similar flight patterns, hoping that the radar Belkan net would be focused on the transport planes - two C-130 Globemaster and the Antonov-. If they succeeded here and now Directus path would be open for them in no time.
Solis Ortus, Ustio, 12/05/1995, 17:30, Weather: clear.
Even if they were longing the peak of the mountains, they knew they would be noticed. Belkans SAMs servants weren't deaf. And soon shots began to grow in number.
" This is Eagle Eye, clear me those SAMs sites in the forest. But don't put the forest on fire."
" Halo 12 roger. GPBs armed." Morgana said, opening her geometric wing along with the other F-14D her squadron contained.
A few drop latter, helped by the F-15E which choose to bear GPBs too today, the SAMs sites were destroyed, while the five other planes had already advanced over the southern part of Solis Ortus. Belkan defenses were set on few places between some buildings to shield themselves from long range missile or rockets, as these kinds of weaponry would impact on the surrounding buildings, something the allied forces wanted to avoid.
Iskanda could see the powerful net: three sites composed of one BAWS shielded by two Flaks guns and two TripleAs, while three SAMs sites composed of four launchers on the outskirt of this southern district. And of courses dozens of tanks and APCs were hidden in the area, but it wasn't their job today to take care of them. Just a few second after they arrived above the city they were targeted and a helluva amount of gun fire welcomed them. Explosive shells of Flaks and tracers' bullets were highlighting the sky.
" So much for Belkan hospitality, but I find it a bit too warm for my taste." Komyeta 1 said, as he destroyed a SAMs site using one carefully aimed LASM he fired like a rocket, without locking on.
" Same here. And their gunners are well above stormtrooper level." Iskanda acknowledged, being forced to attack vertically the BAWS and its close-range support fire. It was quite hard to repeat; she needed to climb without getting hit in the process, then do Stuka diving on her opponents, but this was even harder here as the building around the Belkan defenses were hindering her lock-on capabilities. So, she couldn't fire with accuracy from very high, and even if she could, flying higher would mean getting splashed by the explosive shells of the flak anyway.
For two or three minutes all the Ustian fighters had to resort to this tactic, doing candle climbing and Stukas-like diving. But in the end, it was an efficient tactic, and soon the Belkan defenses were nothing but fires that lighted the places of Solis Ortus. At least the transport would know where to drop their troops.
And as the seven aircrafts moved toward the area in the center of Solis Ortus, the first C-130 Globemaster began its advance toward the drop point.
"Escort Unit, this is the 101st Airborne, alpha transport. We are now entering the designated airspace. We can't return to base until we empty that transport. We are counting on you." The pilot of the first C-130 announced its arrival. Flying a bit above the roof of the mountain, with his rear door open, the plane was finally ready for troops deployments.
It was time for a final encouragement of the Airborne troops by their commander, even if it was not the nicest one.
" Get your ass into gear people! You've gotta jump or you're of no value to this unit!" Their flight officer screamed in their earpieces, as they were finishing the gearing, with already a dozen of airborne troops gathered around the back door.
While the troops were readying, the sixth unit kept destroying the anti-air unit in the center of the city. Hopefully for them, the houses there were old big bourgeois houses along large street, so it meant the Belkans had less room to hide. Some were even hidden in the bushes of the gardens of those houses. Flying slowly between the houses, they destroyed the anti-air network with great accuracy.
" Anyone showing sign of weakness will be left behind!" Their commander shouted, even if no one wanted to appear as a weak airborne trooper in the unit right now.
" If I were them, I would want to be left behind. We may have destroyed the AAs, but I bet Belka has hidden a good pack of their troops on the ground." Pixy said, while firing his guns on some Flak gun. A stockpile of ammo was hit, and this resulted in the utter destruction of the unit. He even saw burning soldier falling into a little artificial piece of water.
" Use that anger to get fired up and take 'em out! Understood? Go get 'em!" Their commander shouted them one more time, before running steps could be heard.
On their radar they could see the allied Airborne troops falling from the C-130 as a long line of blue arrows for the little time they were in the air. Still, all of this was far too still from the Belkan army. Right now all of them had obviously their radar set on long range, waiting for enemy interceptors to show up while they were heading for the third anti-air batteries, a bunch of kilometers at the North West of Solis Ortus. Those batteries would be the easiest to destroy, as they were set on the parking of small shops in this area, with small numbers of Flaks or AA guns on the metallic ceilings of some.
" There are fewer risks of hurting someone with guns here - outside the gunners obviously -." Iskanda thought before strafing a group of nicely line up Flaks, having destroyed two SAMs on the parking with missiles.
The other Ustian pilot resorted to similar tactics, flying low to avoid lock-on by the enemy SAMs, which possessed some kind of blind spot when dealing with fast moving aircraft at low altitude. The Belkan net was getting weaker with each second passing, losing both men and assets.
And as her and the other Ustian pilot were destroying the anti-air defenses, it was the time for some F-16Cs and F-20As to show up, along with the more numerous APCs and tanks that were into hiding and now were engaging the airborne troops, which doesn't have the necessary firepower to deal with them.
" This is Eagle Eye; we have got inbound interceptors and a ground counter-attack. Fighters, spread out and engage those new threats before they jeopardize the operation." The AWACS confirmed the situation, which at this point in time could very well end up in full success or in utter disaster.
" Airborne Unit here, we weren't warned there would be such a great concentration of troops. Please do something!" One of the paratroopers said, before being interrupted by suppressive gunfire.
" All right, these are your assignments for our counter-counter-attack. Halo 10 and 12, go provide some CAS with your GPBs. Halo 7 will join you once he finished dealing with the Belkan batteries. All other airplanes, climb and intercept me the enemy crafts ASAP!" Koenig ordered, to which the pilots responded with a simple "Roger" or "on my way to intercept those Belkans".
The Belkan fighters possessed a two-tone light mountainous camo, with a more brownish colors and grey underbelly for the F-16Cs while the F-20As had a more greyish camo with dark navy-blue underbelly. They managed to sneak up under the AWACS surveillance by using the same tactic as the Ustian fighters : hitting the deck and flying in the valley between the mountains, which offered them radar coverage but restrained their number, as only few fighters could come from those valleys at the same time. There was only six of each type, for now, but those numbers could vary very fast.
" This is Komyeta 1, Fox 3!" Valentin said as he got a solid lock on the enemy forces. He was not the only one firing his XMAAs, and one volley of four fighter - two F-15Cs and two Su-33s - were enough to shatter the enemy formation, which end up in only two F-20As running for their lives.
" Galm 1 here, pursuing the bandits." She said as she caught up with the Belkan crafts, firing one missile on each of them before outrunning them and finishing them with guns head-on after she pulled an Himmelman.
" Good work people, but I think this is only the beginning of our worries. Ustian sympathizers on the ground just report to our forces that Belka was sending two armored trains from Directus. Komyeta squadron, go deal with it, you're the heavy hitters today." The AWACS relayed the data, as the threats on the ground were reduced by precise GPBs dropped from the F-14Ds or through Stuka-diving by the other fighter not equipped with precise ground ordnance today.
Still, missiles and guns were enough to dismantle most Belkan tanks and APCs. And by the time Halo 7 came back from the northern area, most tanks were destroyed. However, even with all their care and awareness, they couldn't just hit the units. Some building had crumbled a bit due to shockwaves, and this added to the wreckage greatly slowed the advancement of the Osean forces. And of course, Belka was not going to let them have a peaceful dropping for the second Globemaster.
"Escort Unit, this is the 101st Airborne, beta transport. We have fighters closing from all sides! Hurry!"
" Sorry, but with their darkened paintjob and the cloud in the valleys around Solis Ortus it's not easy to see them coming." Halo 5 quickly apologized before firing a volley of XMAAs toward the Falcons.
" Eagle Eye to all units, do not worry, Yuktobania has just announced some good news. The siege of Wesson is almost finished, and henceforth they can redirect a squadron of Strike Flankers."
" Es werde nie genug!" (it won't be enough!) a Belkan F-16C pilot retorted, as he and four comrades were climbing toward the Globemaster. Taking into account the fact that almost all escorts were currently engaging the overwhelming Belkan aerial forces, they almost had the element of surprise here. They did not inflict that much losses, no allied was shot down, but many were hit by some gun burst of the small nimble fighters. If the Fighting Falcon was considered bypassed by the more modern fighter the sixth unit pilots were flying into, the Belkan training allowed them to keep pace with their enemies.
But they forget two planes. One, who was climbing just behind them, a F-15C with a red wing. Even before the war he was known as a great mercenary. He wasn't an official knight of the round table, but he was able to survive there. And Eagles were always faster than F-16Cs. Only ten seconds after he tossed that line the Belkan leader could heard his alarm blared.
" Galm two, fox three." Pixy said, as he released a volley of missiles upon his enemies.
Yet only two were shot down. And now the remaining F-16Cs were in range for their standard IR-guided missiles. They could have fired their XMAAs if this freaking Belkan merc wasn't here. But they should have tried.
" Beta transport, Flares, now!" shouted the AWACS operator, as the three Belkan fighters fired their missiles.
And as they fired, Pixy began to wonder were his flight leader was. When he climbed to track those Falcons, he saw her dispatching two F-20As with a QAAMs and a pair of missiles, but then he lost sign of her as he passed through some clouds. But only five seconds after he began his questioning, she made speak of her.
" Galm 1, adjust your heading, you gonna impact us!" the pilot of the Globemaster screamed in panic, seeing without any needs for radar the black and white X-29A rushing toward his craft. And he has already depleted half of his flares, the situation couldn't get worse.
" Stop panicking you Osean mongrels. Just fly steady and stop pulling of flares on my mark." She responded, before kicking the afterburners.
" Damn, what's she gonna do? Drop a FAEB behind us?" The copilot asked with a bit of fear, fully aware that their armor could not withstand such damage.
" This idea went through my mind at some point, but not yet." She kept her steady path. Pixy had to disengage, targeted by SAAMs of Belkan Tigersharks. She decided to fly at the right of the Globemaster, gliding with her airplane tilted between the fuselage and one of its engines. At some point she quickly saw the slightly afraid faces of paratroopers seeing this fighter flying dangerously close to their transport through its windows, but it was only for mere seconds.
" This was close." the copilot commented, the wing below which Iskanda just flew being shaken a bit by the thrust of her dual engine.
" Stop the flares, now!" She ordered, hoping that this time they would listen to her.
The flares ceased for a second, hopefully the Falcons were recharging at this very moment. However, the next second their radar locked to a very different target: they thought this X-29A would collide with the Globemaster, but it did not. And now it was charging toward them gun blazing and missile armed. Caught off guard, the one at the center of the three-plane formation was hit by a powerful twin gun burst. The two over quickly switched to XMAAs, as they were five hundred meters behind the lead plane, but the nimble fighter was quick enough to evade them.
" Galm 1, missile evaded. That was pretty close." Eagle Eye commented her very short hairpin bend.
" It's not like if we were in B7R. Those dummkopf are nuts compared to the ones I fought there." Galm 1 grinned, letting a small smirk of sarcasm.
The two surviving Falcon tried to converge their gun to have a good firing solution, but they failed when the X-29A pull out a barrel-roll while diving. This make them completely overshoot, as the forward swept-wing fighter flew below them. And as they had slowed to better aimed their target, they only had the time to do a half-turn before two QAAMs sealed their fate.
" Thanks for this merc. We are jumping now." The commander of the airborne troops ordered, and a great number of parachutes was seen as they jumped in the void.
" We are the best; we are the best." One soldier said while jumping.
" They are the proudest soldier ever." Pixy described, after losing the two Tigershark nailing him by using his greater thrust and pulling out a looping to get behind them, before dispatching one with a quick burst of gun and in the same time firing a pair of missiles.
" I thought Belkan were the proudest on this strange, real earth." Komyeta 2 recalled.
" Belkan pilot in B7R yes. But I respect those people who willingly do some chute while for us a chute means a defeat." Pixy explained, while leveling up next to his flight leader, before following her on a quick dive on a trio of falcons who were trying to fire on the airborne troopers.
They dispatched one each with gun, and the third, who maybe had better reflexes, managed to lose the two missiles they sent. But one QAAM was a bit harder to avoid, and he was down by it. This little dogfight was now finished, with the Belkan attackers destroyed. However, the Allied aircraft were not untouched even if they had no losses until now.
" Halo 12, 14 and 7 have suffered quite nasty hits today, and they already dispatched all their special air-to-air and air-to-ground ordnance. Retreat authorized; they should be enough paras on the ground now to be able to deal with the Belkan remnants." The AWACS suggested, seeing their airplanes with respectively forty, fifty-five and fifty percent of damage.
" Roger, withdrawing from combat airspace. Do not see this as an opportunity to best our kill count, Galm 1!" Halo 12 responded.
" I don't have the needs, Frédégonde. Mine is already higher than yours since I returned from B7R." Galm one retorted, as she moved toward the final transport, the Yukte Antonov to escort it.
" Damn, I swear next time it's a B7R op I go with you just to make sure I best you!" Halo 10 insisted heavily to support her wing mate.
" Like if you could." Iskanda mused. Even if they were great pilots, she had some doubts about their abilities to joust with someone with the skills of Kupchenko or one of the great knights of B7R.
Ustio, Solis Ortus, 12/05/1995, 18:00, Weather: clear.
The three damaged fighters had safely retreated. And for some time, only allied fighters were in the sky. The Yukte crafts were approaching, with an ETA of fifteen minutes.
Hopefully the mountain range was preventing any chopper attacks: they were too high for their engines, apparently. Or that's what Galm 2 thought, as he wondered why the Belkan did not use them. Of course, Belkan interceptors could still arrive, but they would be spotted as soon as they left the valleys to climb and attack them.
" We have lost a bit of ammo during the jump." An Osean soldier complained, his voice partially covered by gun shots.
" My team is pinned down in sector E-5. Snipers hiding in the bell towers of the town hall." Another Osean voice transmitted, while some screams of agony were heard over the waves, as the precise shots of the Belkan snipers were cutting through the Osean ranks.
" Eagle Eye here. Planes, go gun down those snipers." The AWACS ordered, and soon the fives bell towers of the town hall were sighted as gun only targets. Of course, the Sukhois could have reduced those snipers to smithereens in only one rocket launch, but the damage would have been unbearable historically speaking.
" Roger. We will be as precise as the "white death." Komyeta 2 acknowledged, quoting the name of an infamous sniper of some Yukto-Romnyan war.
" Aim well, the facade of the town hall is an important historical site." Halo 5 specified, as the five planes were approaching from all sides.
Some snipers decided to drop their gun to resort to more efficient weapons. And as Galm 2 gunned one to the East of the town hall, he saw his leader be forced to turn around to avoid a shoulder-mounted SAM, this making her missed her attack. She quickly climbed to lose the missile and kept climbing for some time right above the bell tower roof, being in the blind spot of the Belkan snipers. Then she hit the deck and fired her dual gun. The roof of slate collapses on the snipers, killing them instantaneously.
" One precise shot, Galm 1. Even if your methods are quite a bit too rash for my point of view." Thesermeister said, as he gunned down the last sniper net, taking advantage of the chaos Iskanda's attack had created.
" Sorry for this bell tower, put the slate bill on mine" She responded, as she climbed back to a higher position where her radar was less obstructed by the mountains.
" Damn, slateception." Halo 5 made fun of the situation, which cause Galm 1 to let a little sarcastic laugh.
However, if he really knew the situation here, no one, even him would have been laughing. They thought all snipers have been killed. Not all of them. One was hurt, but still alive. He only had one bullet remaining. And he decided to shoot it right when Halo 5 fly right in front of the town hall, the fighter firing a pair of missiles on a tank a bit further.
The canopy of his F-15C was shattered to pieces by the heavy caliber bullet. Thousands of glass parts cut him through his flight suit, causing a leak of the fluid that was usually compressing his body when doing high-g maneuver. By luck, the bullet has only gone through his right foot. No major arteries were hit, but it was painful as hell.
" Halo 5, respond. What happened?" The AWACS operator asked. This time Johnson was truly worried. Well, not as worried as when Iskanda chose to fight Kupchenko for fun, but still very worried about the fate of the fighter and the pilot in it.
" Fucking sniper. My avionics are fried, and I think I will have to count my toes this evening." The wounded Ustian pilot swore.
But this lucky shot was the last straw of this soldier. The soldier in his green two-tone camo was quite visible on the grey slate. And two gun bursts of Iskanda's guns were enough to cut his body in half, with both part falling from the roof.
" This is the C company of the 101st. Confirming death of all snipers."
Meanwhile, Halo 5 had managed to level up his fighter, but he couldn't fly very high or very quick due to the loss of his canopy. Only the compass was still working on his fighter, the only non-electronic indicator. He knew this battle was over for him right now.
" Eagle Eye to Halo 5, Koenig order you to retreat. We need living pilot to celebrate our future victories, not martyrs." Johnson transmitted, and the fighter took the way toward Valais Air Base.
" Roger. Komyeta team, Galm team, good luck finishing this operation." Halo 5 answered, with terrible cracking due to his wrecked radio.
" I hope he will not have radio failure." Komyeta 2 wished, as he rejoined with the other pilots.
Their forces were now reduced to half its initial size. If more Belkan reinforcements arrived, even the Yukte announced squadron would not ensure the fate of this battle. The only thing the Belkans were going to ensure was that the allied victory would be a pyrrhic one. Maybe this time Galm 1 and her wing mate had succeeded in protecting the troops transports, but the losses on the ground had been quite high, and their own losses in the air weren't mounting only because there was no Belkan interceptors in the vicinity to splash the retreating Eagles and Tomcats.
Solis Ortus, Ustio, 12/05/1995, 18:15, Weather: light cloud coverage.
Some fog was beginning to appear on the mountains near the city as the sun was now getting low. The visibility was slightly decreasing, but to counter this the Yukte crafts were finally in sight. Eight Su-32s Strike Flankers with a two-tone grey camo and red wingtips were entering the airspace. Their call sign was Molotok (Hammer).
" Molotok leader here, sorry for being late, but we had to make a little change of way to refuel after the battle over Wesson." The Yukte pilot explained, as they unite with the sixth Ustian Unit.
" Don't worry, Belkan were quite quiet in the intervals. But I would not gamble my next payment than the situation will not last long." Thesermeister said to his former compatriots. He was still a bit uneasy to fly alongside them, as he and his brother were technically aircraft stealer.
" Well, I don't know if they have good hearing or good timing, but I have two flight of Belkan crafts on my radar right now. MiG-29As Fulcrums and Strike Flankers." The AWACS put an end to the current talks.
" They do not know when to give up, do they?" Molotok 3 rhetorically asked, knowing the answer was obvious.
No response was given. The four remaining fighters began their climb toward the Belkan Fulcrums, which had a pale grey paint job to reduce visibility at long distances, and the eight Yukte crafts lowered their altitude, going the shortest way available for them. Both allied teams had the enemy aircrafts now well identified, with six MiGs and ten Sukhois.
" Time to see who's the best in Strike Flanker." Molotok 4 taunted the Belkan pilots.
" Du wirst wie ein Molotov Cocktail verbrennen, du Wodka Trinker!" (You will burn like a Molotov cocktail, you vodka drinker) One Belkan fighters replied, mocking the name of the Yukte squadron.
And five second later, the fragile balances of forces which slightly favored the allied forces was fully shifted by the arrival of a new kind of threat.
" Eagle Eye to Molotok squadron, warning. The local resistance managed to send us a notice through the Oseans forces. The valley where the Belkan Flankers are coming, it houses the railway toward Directus. And the Belkan have some armored trains." Johnson reported the data that had been sent to him just ten seconds ago.
" Csuka. Where is that train?" Molotok leader worryingly asked, even if it was too late.
Both Su-32s squadron were already in the valley, with only four kilometers between them. And just a bunch of seconds later all hell break loose. Entire volleys of SAMs and Flaks welcomed the Yuktes, while the shockwaves were partially dissipating the fog in the valley.
But the Yukte didn't turn around, they followed their duty willingly, firing their respective air-to-ground ammo while evading the Belkan air-to-air missiles. Hopefully for the Yuktes, the Belkan craft engaged them only with XMAAs, not willing to be hit by friendly fire. Still, the Belkan fire began to be successful, as one of the Sukhois was hit by the shrapnels of the Flak square in his left engine. Losing thrust and stability, the Yukte craft tried to flee, but was down by a pair of XMAAs.
" Molotok 4 down. Chute sighted, the Osean troops on the ground should be able to recover him." Eagle Eye said, interrupting the talks for some seconds, being mainly comprised of fire and avoiding indications.
In response to the down of one of their wingmate, the Yukte attacks become fiercer, firing all they had on the enemy armored trains. As the Yuktes were strafing and shooting the turrets of the train, the Ustian fighters had come closer to the Fulcrums. Close enough for the Fulcrums to engage them with SAAMs. A numerous volley forced the Ustian pilot to either dive or climb to evade the precisely aimed fire. Quickly, the interceptors began trailing the allied aircrafts, with some remaining aircrafts going reinforce the Flankers in their fight against the Yukte forces.
And on the Yukte side, victory was not really nearby. Two other downed planes had greatly decreased their strength, despite having put one armored train out of commission, destroyed half the weaponry of the other, and downing five Belkan Flankers. The Fulcrums which just arrived on the battlefield immediately downed two more Yuktes.
" Eagle Eye here, only three attackers remaining. Forget the Belkan craft up there and come support our allies."
" All right, I have just two SAAMs spammers being me. I will get read of them. Komyeta team, use this opening." Galm 1 complained, as she evaded the fast but not very agile missile.
She flew straight ahead for some time, evading the Fox 1s by hairpin bend. Then she pulled her head-to-tail maneuver while firing a QAAM on each Belkan fighter. The one on the left was utterly destroyed, but the other managed to avoid a direct hit, but his heavily damaged engine doesn't allow him to outrun the X-29A for long. Five seconds later a dual gun burst put an end to his misery.
The two Su-33s had managed to lose their opponents during this time and were now firing all their long range armament on the Belkan attackers and the train. In result, the five remaining Belkan Su-32s were shot down, and two LASMs struck the train, blowing him in pieces. Komyeta 2 finished the scattered survivors of the train crews with rocket fire. Sighs of relief from the Yuktes could be heard on the radio, as they could finally take a breath from this fierce fight.
Meanwhile, the Galm team dealt with the four Belkan Fulcrums. The two who were trailing the allied Su-33s chose to attack Iskanda from the front, but it revealed to be a deadly mistake for them. The nimble fighter dodged their attacks with ease, while one of them was struck by a missile, barely evading the second of the pair. Iskanda quickly flew between them, before pulling a head-to-tail maneuver, putting her in the right position to fire one more missile at the already damaged Fulcrum, and going full afterburners on a strafing run for the last one.
Pixy choose to resort to a slightly less rash way to deal with his enemies: He outrun them before pulling an Himmelman, and firing at them with XMAAs. The two Belkan fighters scattered, running for their lives. Only one of them manage to outmaneuver the missile, only to fall on the crosshairs of Galm 1, which had just gunned down her opponent. She quickly fired a pair of missile head on. If the first only struck the right wing, shaking the Fulcrum, the second went for the canopy, and Iskanda could only see a fighter broken in half falling to his death after the explosion.
" Great. Galm 1 to Eagle Eye, Belkans have been terminated." She confirmed her kills.
" You kinda' stole this last kill, leader." Pixy said, as he leveled up next to her.
" Sorry, I will leave you one kill over Directus then." She promised, before laughing a bit.
" Molotok leader here, I hope that's the last of them. Another armored train and we were toast." The Yukte described the poor situation of his squadron. He only saw two chutes on the five losses.
" I am afraid it is not. There are three railways, and only two trains. Something is wrong. Wait… the engineers in Aarlon just sent some data they were able to decipher right now. Displaying on your onboard computer." The AWACS operator reduced the hope of a victory even more.
Solis Ortus, Ustio, 12/05/1995, 18:20, Weather: light cloud coverage.
The new weapon was something they had oblivious reason to be afraid of. As the Axe and Hammer logo quickly appeared, they only waited five second as the data was sent. RTLS was its designation. Railway Tactical Laser System. They didn't have much time to study the documents than the latter arrived on the third railway.
It was a big self-propelled train, with a central turret bearing two small tubes, looking like astronomical telescopes. The front and haft part were bearing four smaller turrets, supposed to act as SPKs according to the intel. Still, they only had few data on this new threat: range, rate of fire, locking capacity, all of this was unknown. And the onboard gunners decided to take full advantage of this.
" Feuer an den Kosak!" The commander of the unit ordered.
" Ver. Frequenz gesetzt. Feuer, jetzt!" (Roger, frequency set, Firing, now!")
The allied pilots could only see the trail the laser burst leave in the air, as it ionized the air on its path a bit. And they could do nothing but dive on it as they saw the three port engines of the Yukte Antonov blowing into pieces. The heavy transport fell like a stone, and a few seconds later hit the surrounding mountains in a great explosion. Even if there were projects of laser-based weaponry in all countries, it was the first time they saw one on the battlefield, and with such firepower.
" Eagle Eye to all unit. Be careful. Prioritize hit and run tactics and avoid flying in straight lines." Johnson suggested. He hoped now that the AWACS was out of range of this RTLS, but he wasn't truly sure due to the lack of intel.
" Molotok leader here, it's time to drop the Hammer on the Belkan train society." The Yukte said, firing a volley of XAGMs on the train but they all explode in mid-air.
" I admit even their light laser have good firepower." Valentin conceded, as one of his LASMs was reduced to dust by the laser.
" Those lasers are weird. Why we do not see bright beams like in movies?" Iskanda asked, having thought laser weaponry would be at least a bit like in sci-fi.
" I guess they used high frequency pulse lasers instead of laser beams, it's more efficient in the field of energy per shot." The scientific response came from Thesermeister.
" Molotok squad, on me. Going for a saturation attack." Alekseï said. He doubted those lasers could intercept the full force of a rocket launch and eight XAGMs.
" Roger. Cover us, Galm!" Molotok 5 acknowledged, flying in erratic pattern to break the lock of those turrets.
But as the AWACS was busy trying to figure out the weak spots of this new threat, and also figuring if they were or not in range of the latter, some low flying Belkan crafts managed to slip through their surveillance. The Molotok squadron -or what was left of it- began its attack, ignoring the Belkan fighters. And the allied fighters were too busy doing hit-and-run missile attacks, even if they did not hit anything. They were forced to fly outside their gun range due to the good tracking abilities of the RTLS. Molotok 6 learned the impossibility to do strafing runs on this kind of enemy the hard way : he had managed to saturate for a while the laser defenses with his XAGMs and missiles, and even to damage one main turret, but as he broke off from his attack he was reduced to shreds by the laser. All allied aircraft saw then what high frequency pulse laser do to airplanes. It was like being hit by a very fast and powerful gun but with very little caliber. Parts of the Strike Flanker literally exploded projecting metallic debris in its path before the fuel tanks overheats critically due to the laser fire and turn the fighter in a fireball.
The Galm team kept firing as the Yukte were closing, before turning to evade the deadly discharges. Then they turned again toward the RTLS, zigzagging to avoid the laser fire as they all attacked together. The RTLS disappeared behind a heavy cloud of smoke, but this time the defense mechanism had been oversaturated. Still it did not go down without heavily hitting all fighters. All suffered nasty hits, especially the bigger Sukhois. And at the moment that should have been the final fight, the final boss of this mission, hell decided to break loose again.
" Warning, high radar spike!" The AWACS warned but too late, having been distracted a bit too much by this technically advanced foe.
" Fox 1!" And "Fox 3!" could be heard as six MiG-31s open fire on the damaged allied aircrafts. The enemy formation was of seven aircraft, with the leading aircraft bearing an onboard jammer that had helped them bypassing the AWACS surveillance.
And as they all had lost a great amount of energy, all Sukhois went down one by one. Hopefully four chutes were sighted, and the aircrafts exploded far away from the city. Now the Galm team was only what was left. Even if on the radar map they could see Osean reinforcements coming from the recently retaken Wesson they would be on their own for some time.
Iskanda's X-29A was not as damaged as when she arrived from Farbanti, but she knew that if she pushed the plane too far it could have bad consequences for the aftermath of today. As the Foxhounds came closer to engage with the two fighters, they thought they would deal as quickly as the four Sukhois they just dispatched, their camo and roundels began visible. They bore a bright white camo with blood tainted leathers on the wingtips, and they were identified as the "Scharlach Schwan" squadron.
" Schwan leader, we had then cornered. Let's take them down and enter in the legend." Schwan 3 said, enthusiastic. They would succeed were the major had failed.
" Beware cornered and wounded beasts. It's said they usually behave with temerity and without fear." Iskanda calmly replied, her spirit illogically cooled by the thought of how she was going to take them down. She had grown some mad strategies since the battle of Futuro canal.
" It should be easy to kill then." The latter pilot responded. However, he was taken aback by the moves of this X-29A. Instead of fleeing, she was going head-on on their leader, which had a slightly less maneuverable aircraft due to the onboard jammer it was carrying.
Despite the SAAMs and XLAAs that were fired on her, she kept her path. Pixy fired his last XMAAs in the hope that they would at least force the enemy formation to disband, reducing the fire Iskanda was going against. She felt her aircraft shaken when a gun burst cut a bit of her left wing, but she managed to recover from the stall, but with her airplane inverted. Yet in this position she just had to tilt just a bit to shoot the enemy leader. Which she did with her gun and a missile. Immediately the jamming was off, and she could track the remaining fighter way easier than before. Made furious by the loss of their leader, a great number of MiG-31s was chasing her - In fact, almost the whole squadron, as Pixy was dueling with one particularly good member-.
" You will pay for what you did, du geld-hungrige Söldnerin!" Schwan 2 said, indeed out of himself after his loss.
" This beast need to be slain to save Directus!" Another said, anger filling his voice.
" Wounded and cornered beast are more dangerous. Yet beheaded ones are only dangerous for themselves." Iskanda taunted the Belkan fighters, ensuring that they would climb to follow her.
In her climb she had to avoid vertically launched XLAAs and SAAMs, but this was made easier by the fact that those missiles were not made to be launched in this fashion. So, they weren't as quick as usual, yet she was avoiding them by the skin of her teeth.
The enemy pilots were a bit puzzled how this little prototype managed to maintain his advance on their heavy interceptors designed for supersonic flight. She was whirling around their gun range, barrel-rolling vertically, toying with death, this cold lady. But this game wasn't made to last. Arrived at nearly ten kilometers, she stopped her ascension, and dropped the two "static" FAEBs. She felt great pain when she pulled out a head-to-tail maneuver, gravity adding to the G-forces. Still, as she was getting out of red sight, she saw the Foxhounds almost covered in blood for an instant as they crossed their path. Of course, no one saw the two small bombs hovering around.
" Ignition in 4, 3..." She laughed while counting their final countdown.
" Wachte mal was passiert?" Schwan 6, the one who was battling with Pixy asked, as he saw a violent and bright explosion reducing his comrades to dust as they were about to dive on the X-29A.
He disengaged Pixy to head for his leader. However, this move allowed Pixy to circumvent him, and the latter fired two missiles on him. And while he banked right to avoided them, he did not see the final QAAM of Iskanda coming right at his big air intakes. His fighter turned into a fireball immediately.
" Eagle Eye, reinforcements confirmed down, I ensure you this time. No more enemy coming from anywhere." The AWACS announced the end of the mission.
" This is Mage squadron, I guess we are arriving too late. Damn those Belkans." The Osean reinforcements leader cursed, as he could do nothing but watch from his F-15C, being the escort of two old C-5 Galaxy who were carrying light airborne vehicles to help clear any last Belkan resistance.
" The situation is fine now, Mage leader. Drop the airborne vehicles on the set point and it will be it. Komyeta team has been recovered by the Airborne troops, and the Halo squad made safely to the base. Galm team, mission is over, let's go back home." The AWACS finally ended their mission, and the two mercenaries turn to the East, toward Valais. Both had their plane damaged, but not as much as their pride, due to them not being able to save even one Flanker or the Antonov.
" Until next time then Mage squadron." Galm 2 wished.
The Osean turned away too, as Solis Ortus had no available runway long enough for their fighters. Little did they know their next encounter would be something no one in both squadrons could have foreseen right now.
Valais Air Base, Ustio, 12/05/1995, 19:30, Weather: freezing fog.
The back travel was way quieter than the forth one. They were only two to come back in the end. Of course, the sixth Unit itself hadn't suffer any losses in matter of men, but their material damage was quite great. The Osean and Yukte forces deployed there had suffered huge losses, as the Belkans on the ground had almost never surrendered. And the losses of the Antonov and Molotok squadron wasn't helping in the balance of forces.
Still this much quieter travel was a bit harder due to the damage they sustained. Especially when they refueled on the Osean KC-10. Their damaged aircrafts were vibrating heavily at low speed. Iskanda was taking the full instability of her airplane, who did not possess great numeric compensators. If she could gain enough money at the end of this war, and obviously if she survived it to the end, she would maybe go for the Berkut. The plane of her current arch nemesis, who was for a moment capable of jousting with her.
And to add even more difficulty, the valley was now filled with low altitude clouds, creating a dangerous freezing fog. They almost landed blindly, guided only by some bright red lights on each side of the runway. As she taxied her aircraft to her nearby hangar, she could only see bravery in the pilots of the E-767 landing after them. It was definitely a hundred time harder to land such a massive airplane in this kind of fog. Hopefully it did not have to taxi, being instead move by a small tractor.
This time no one slipped on the runway, as it was only wet but not iced. But they could clearly feel the cold on their way to the briefing room. It was a joint debriefing, as two of their pilots were now stuck in Solis Ortus. Only S/VTOL crafts could land there. The best opportunity to retrieve them would be to wait until Directus was taken and pick them through the railway.
" This aerial bridge operation was a success. Solis Ortus has been liberated, and soon the whole republic of Ustio will be. Today we obtained victory, despite our losses." Koenig said, with the map of Solis Ortus filled only by blue dots instead of red ones during the mission briefing.
" And our wounds." Francis added, his wounded foot in a caster.
" The medics report that you will not be able to fly for at least a week." Johnson began the bad news.
But it was not him who would announce the worst news. In fact, despite having retrieved the Axe and Hammer factory in Aarlon, they could not have many supplies here due to the low number of cargo craft available. And of course, the Osean front was terribly in need of supplies after the long siege of Wesson. After the debriefing, Koenig patched them on the event which occurred there. Hopefully no Wesson-UFOs were deployed or even sighted, but there again Belkans never went down without gruesome fights. All great lakes which were connected by canals to the Futuro canal had been turned into marine graveyard by the massive usage of mines, especially in the tight canals connecting the lakes between each others.
This time again, like a month ago, it was Herr Steller who brought the worst news.
" Steller, when you show up during end of briefing, it's always to bring issues." Pixy pointed out, before the chief of the maintenance crews had the time to say anything.
" Sadly, it's the case. We have no weapon or material issue to repair the planes, but a time issue on our hands."
" Why do we have such an issue? It's not like we were going to take back Directus tomorrow." Iskanda asked, sharing what she considered to be nothing but a foolish assumption.
" Mater de facto yes. The high command had decided we take back Directus ASAP for oblivious reason. One, Solis Ortus was not the better point to take, the city being landlocked and without airport. It was more a symbolic victory than a strategic one. Furthermore, the Belkan could launch others armored trains if we do not react quick. And Directus has now a brand-new rebuilt military airport, as the Belkan had to reconstruct the former we blew up to delay their ground assault." Johnson explained the current situation. Despite facing two global superpowers, Belka was still inflicting massive losses, and the Belkan forces would need only one failure of the allied forces to fight back.
" When did you learn that?" Fred wondered, not understanding why they only brought that thing now.
" Just one quarter of hour ago, we deciphered an encrypted message of the allied GHQ in Oured." Johnson replied.
" And we prefer to avoid sharing it over the waves for discretion issues." Koenig apologized for having kept this under secrecy.
" Ja, und all of this has brought us one damned time issue. We cannot, even if we worked all night long, repair four heavily damaged fighters and two moderately hit ones for the attack of Directus tomorrow. Also, Amiral, it's up to you to decide." Herr Steller exposed the great amount of punishment their fighters received today.
" I see. Repair the Galm team. Sorry for the Halo squad, but I have already two downed pilots and I don't want any more. Osea said in the encrypted message they were going to send some CAS squadron who did great today in Wesson, they will need aerial support. Now, dismissed, peoples, and be ready for the liberation of Directus tomorrow." Koenig concluded the briefing.
He saw the pilots left the briefing room, some with sad faces as they just learned they won't be there to liberate the city they lost two month ago. At least they had the possibility to rest a bit. Because him won't. He had a battle to plan, as they would need the long-range air defenses to be downed to call in the urban CAS squadron. And right now, he only had problems, without any solution.
Hopefully for the pilots, the radio crew manage to get them a video link with the temporary base in Solis Ortus, allowing them to talk with the downed Komyeta pilots.
" I'm sorry we cannot speak about the next op, Thesermeister." Pixy said when the latter asked how the debriefing went.
" I see. But it did not require to be a tactician to understand the obvious." Thesermeister replied.
" How is the weather?" Viviana asked an innocent question, as they couldn't talk that much about military operation on this not very encrypted line.
" Always better than at Valais. It would be hard to have a worse weather." Alekseï replied.
" And how is it with your Kameraden ?" Pixy wanted to know how official Yuktes were seeing Yukte mercs. He knew that some Belkan officials had respect for their mercenary counterparts, but they could be count on a severely wounded hand.
" Quite good. They are too young to know the roots of the war in Romney, so kein problem you would say." Thesermeister answered, being at ease when he thought he would be judged by his countrymen.
" And they have brought some good vodka in their survival rations." Alekseï added, showing a bottle of the Yukte ''little water''.
" You're lucky then. Have a good rest. I hope train worker will be striking today." Pixy said, implying it would be good not to face another armored train or even worse another RTLS tomorrow.
They even talked with some Osean and Yukte paras, which mostly congratulated them for their support, even forgiving them their failure at protecting the Antonov. The crew had managed to bail out before the crash. They hadn't been found yet, but this was always some losses less.
After these long talks and a good meal, the pilots could finally rest. All? Well, not all, as at sometime late on the night Iskanda was awakened by a crazy idea and immediately went to talk about it with Koenig. Yet, what is the difference between craziness and genius?
End of chapter. I change the mission because I found it without major difficulties, even in ace. Or is Pixy too good at doing his job in this mission? I don't know. So i turned a bit the tide… Feel free to like, comment, review, follow and subscribe
01/08/2019: some grammatical mistakes fixed...
13/01/2020: some more grammatical mistakes fixed using word...