After Erusea's successful continent-wide offensive the Yellow Squadron was assigned to long range air superiority missions, the very missions the squadron was designed to complete. Such missions saw little resistance, the ISAF command had prohibited engagement against the aces due to the dwindling number of aircraft at their disposal. As such, the Yellows enjoyed a period of quietness and lack of action.
On September 19th 2004, the Eruseans mounted a successful attack that disabled the ISAF's early warning radar, allowing the deployment of bombers to Rigly Airbase on the continent's east coast. The objective of the new squadrons was to destroy Allenfort Airbase on the island of North Point, giving the Eruseans total air supremacy over all of Usea in preparation for the eventual attack against the remnants of the ISAF military forces stationed there. In an unprecedented attack, ISAF carrier based fighters intercepted and shot down all Erusean bombers deployed on the mission. Two weeks later, the same ISAF fighters were used in a strike mission targeting Rigly Airbase and successfully destroying the remaining Erusean bombers stationed there. They were the first recorded missions the Mobius Squadron were involved in, and also regarded as the turning point in the war.
In response to the Allied counter attacks, the Yellows were assigned more missions involving long range intercepts. The first time the Yellow Squadron and the Mobius Squadron engaged in combat over the same combat airspace was during Operation Early Bird on November 19th 2004.
"We arrived late to the combat airspace, the suddenness of the attack and poor weather hampered our response time. By the time we got there, the local squadrons had been overrun and the fuel stores creating an almighty black stretch of smoke across the sea. Once again, our arrival signalled a retreat for ISAF so we set about splashing as many of them as we could."
"As usual, we engaged with long range missiles to begin, but we only managed to shoot down one plane. We fired a second salvo, which was more successful and hit two of the slower strike fighters who still had some ordnance. But as we prepared to enter dogfight range, a trio of ISAF fighters turned off from the main force and came at us head on. It was suicidal, they came straight through our formation and we were forced to abandon our chase to deal with the three of them."
I produced an order of battle published by an ISAF source. "This was the first recorded time the Mobius Squadron and the Yellow Squadron were in the same combat airspace. Did you see them at all?"
Raccoon had an interested expression as he studied the paper. He shook his head at my question, but tapped the page. "No. But Vapour Squadron were the ones who fought the rearguard that day. We shot them all down, but they were pilots worth their wings. If they hadn't, we might have downed more planes that day."
The destruction of the fuel pipelines by ISAF forces stranded the Erusean 'Invincible Fleet' in port where it was attacked and crippled. With naval operations resumed, the next target would be the Faith Park solar generator that provided most of the power to Erusean industrial plants. Yellow Squadron was not deployed in defence of either the fleet nor the solar plant. In fact, Yellow Squadron would not engage the ISAF forces until Operation Countdown.
"That was the biggest furball I've ever seen. There were planes all over the place, half of the battle was trying not to crash into someone else." I could see Raccoon's face light up as he spoke of the fight. "Our mission was to secure air superiority along with the local squadrons in order for our bombers to stop the satellite launch, when we arrived the ISAF fighters were already airborne so we engaged straight away. My first kill was fairly simple, I dived onto the tail of an ISAF Tomcat and was immediately in gun range. My gun tore his wing and tail to bits, then I moved onto his wingman who was trying to jink me off but I got him with my gun too."
Operation Countdown, also known as the Battle of Comona Islands, was a large-scale aerial battle between the ISAF and Erusea. It even holds the record for the largest air-to-air battle in history, a record previously held by the Battle of B7R in the Belkan war almost ten years prior. Once again, ISAF deployed their Mobius Squadron, who arrived as the battle was in full swing. I wondered what the Yellow Squadron thought of the ace that was fast becoming their rival, a question I asked to Yellow Nine.
"At the time of the operation, we'd started to hear about the squadron and their flight lead, we figured it was nothing more than ISAF trying to promote the squadron's achievements to boost morale." He replied with a nod. "Our AWACS confirmed the reinforcements, and that Mobius Squadron was on the field. We continued, wary of the bolstered ISAF numbers before a particularly troublesome pilot latched himself to my six. In the confusion, our unit's cohesion had faltered slightly and I was open."
"I remember thinking, no problem. I can outmanoeuvre him. It wasn't the first time an enemy fighter had somehow gotten behind me. The missile alert came as expected and I was easily able to evade with a high-G turn. But the plane matched my moves, and stayed behind me. That's when I began to suspect that this could be that pilot. I tried another turn but that didn't work, and then I felt the plane jutter violently."
"I hit the airbrakes and he overshot. I would have pursued him, but my wing tank was leaking. Turns out I'd been hit by cannon fire, and I radioed to the others that I couldn't continue. Thirteen called off the engagement, so we reformed and headed home."
"Was it Mobius One?" I asked.
"Maybe. I caught a glimpse of the fighter as it passed me. It was an F-18, a Super Hornet and on its tail was a ribbon insignia." Raccoon shrugged. "There were several Hornets in the air, it could've been him or another Mobius pilot."
ISAF records do indeed confirm that the Mobius Squadron was deployed to the Comona Islands, and they claim that the lead pilot scored a missile hit that severely damaged Yellow Thirteen himself. Erusean battle records deny that any Yellow was hit and the squadron had to return due to lack of ammunition and fuel. However, here was first-hand information that disputed both sources.
Conflicting records are no rarity in war. When the organisation A World With No Boundaries was formed with members from multiple nationalities, the Kingdom of Sapin was quick to report that no Sapin nationals were ever part of the terrorist group. However, a battle report submitted by the Ustian AWACS Eagle Eye specifically mention a pair of Sapin fighters that were engaged by the Galm Team during an intercept mission to destroy the XB-0. Perhaps this difficulty in finding matching stories is what leads to legends such as the Demon Lord and the Ribbon Fighter rising into history?
I felt my interests in the Continental War shifting from the unheard tales of Yellow Squadron to the truth behind the Mobius Squadron. Was the legend of the lone pilot really true? Or was it another legend that arose to give a much needed morale boost to the ISAF troops? It was clear that looking through records of the war were proving to be unreliable, perhaps my answer lay with the man who sat across from me.