Ch 5
Mihaly tossed and turned in his sleep. He woke up, sweat pouring down his face. He headed to the bathroom and washed up, seeing his scarred face. The face that saw too much death and blood in his lifetime.
"Not now. Not during this war." he muttered.
"You okay, grandpa?" Alma asked.
"Just a little nightmare. It's nothing." he said to his granddaughter. He didn't want anyone to know he was suffering from some post-traumatic.
Next morning came, and he was busy with his squadron getting ready for another sortie when Rosa came in.
"Mission's canceled." She said.
"What are you talking about?" Wit asked.
"You've been fighting non-stop the entire war. You need a break. Consider it an order from your commander in chief." Rosa said.
"Now that we have time off, it's time i show you guys what i told you back at the valley." Mihaly said.
Sol squadron ascended into the air, armed with different missiles than usual. The explosives were removed and replaced with a paintball round.
"Playing paintball while in fighter jets. Seems legit." Rosa sarcastically said.
Sol 2 dueled with his superior, trying to get into a perfect firing position, yet constantly failed to. But Mihaly was counting on that. He sent a morse code for Sol 4 to fire a missile at him, and watched as the missile came closer to him.
Everyone watched as the ace pulled his plane upright at a sharp angle. The missile failed to track and detonated near him, giving his wing a large pink color.
"Damn, Sol 1. That's good maneuvering. If that were a real missile, you'd still be flying." Sol 3 said.
"I'm betting the hole is bigger than the government's defense plan." Mihaly said.
"I'm right here, you asshole." Rosa said thru the comms, only to hear Mihaly chuckle in response.
"I swear. It seems I'm the grown-up, and you boys are kids playing around with state of the art fighter jets." she said, watching as the 5 aircraft continued their dogfight against each other.
The next few hours were spent with the squadron attempting to master the maneuvers required to absorb damage from a missile strike. It was going well for the most part. Mihaly then ordered his squadron to retire to base yet stayed in the air longer.
"Damn it." he muttered to himself, seeing his hands shake. They were shaking so softly, one would miss it unless they were paying close attention. Clenching his fists, he performed several acrobatics to keep his mind busy. He couldn't let his nightmares infect his mind, nor compromise his combat performance.
'Boss, you're on his six. Take him down!'
Mihaly found himself sitting in the cockpit of an old F-16, tailing a MiG-23 thru a canyon. He fired, only to see the bullets fly under the MiG and into the canyon floor. Cursing, he waited until the opportunity presented itself.
The fighter lifted up to escape, and Mihaly pounced like a hungry animal on a steak. He fired his gun for what seemed to be forever. The engine burst into flames, and the MiG tilted to the left.
'Don't do it!' he shouted. The enemy pilot ejected, right into the mountain next to them.
He woke up, his eyes scanning the room for any threats. With none available, he put his head on the pillow and entered a dreamless sleep.
'I'm sorry, Jess. You weren't lucky today.'
The sound of gunfire was heard, as Mihaly sat in the cockpit of his SU-30 firing at targets set away away from the tarmac.
"We got the nose gun adjusted. You also wanted gun-pods, correct?" a mechanic asked.
"Correct. Put them on the innermost wing pylons. I want the most accurate fire as possible." Mihaly said, a stern look on his face.
The tests continued for the rest of the day, and Mihaly was about to go on a night patrol when Rosa interrupted him.
"Mind if i join?" she asked.
"Suit up. Meet me at hanger 5." he said.
The duo headed to the fighter, heads turning as those visible saw Rosa dressed in a flight suit, heading to take flight with the feared mister x.
Rosa was elated as they lifted into the air, as fast as a rocket straight up. The clouds seemed to pass quicker than she could blink. Her stomach went into a summersault as he inverted the plane and rolled them to be upright.
"What a view. Never thought i'd look at the sky and sunset like this." She said.
"It is wonderful. Peaceful up here." Mihaly said.
"Fighting for peace." Rosa said, almost dreamlike.
Mihaly flipped open the visor and looked at Rosa. He almost felt sorry for her. She was sheltered for most of her life, while he was busy fighting wars for one regime or another.
The radar chirped, and he saw a lone contact on the screen.
"Got a contact. Probably two are flying close to merge the id." Mihaly said.
"You know this?" Rosa asked, wondering how he could determine that just from looking at the radar screen.
"Know it? I flew on both sides of the coin. It's a simple tactic. Simple in theory, harder to pull in real life. Requires precise flying from both pilots. Drones on the other hand…" he muttered, focusing on the task at hand.
Mihaly was proven right, as two F-14s approached him. The combatants merged and and began the fight. One of the tomcats attempted a turning fight against Mihaly, but the pilot sorely underestimated his enemy. Mihaly wasted no time in lining up a shot and pulled the trigger. Red hot 30mm and 20mm slugs tore into the Tomcat, destroying it with no effort.
"Next one." he muttered, looking around for the lone enemy. His radar chirped, and two missiles straddled his position, flying towards the ground.
"Damn it." he muttered, and pulled up in a wide circle.
"Why don't you go head on?" Rosa asked, struggling against the crushing g-forces.
Mihaly didn't respond, but let his flying be the answer. Thanks to flying in the wide circle, he now had command of the skies and looked at his desperate enemy who knew how fucked they were.
He dove down and acquired a missile lock.
"Fox 3." he said, pulling the trigger. His enemy didn't stand a chance as the warhead bore into the left engine and blew up, sending the remains of the plane back to earth.
"I can see why they call you king." Rosa complimented.
Mihaly didn't respond, but looked at his now shaking hands.