Chapter Thirty-Five: Special Delivery
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New Arrows Air Base, Eastern Usea.
September 15th, 2019.
2300hrs.
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Naomi groggily slumped down into her seat in the briefing room, a cup of coffee in her hands and probably looking like she was ready to kill anyone who spoke to her. She was fine with early mornings, but this wasn't morning. She wanted to be back in bed, where she had been about thirty minutes ago. The lights were bright and yet her body knew she should be sleeping. Besides, at least then it gave her mind something other than her friends' departure to think about. The IUN and Specter Squadron were long gone, probably already back at Fort Grays Island by now, and she had to get back to work. So there she was, tired and bored.
Wiseman wasn't there yet. Hawkins hadn't arrived either, and neither was her father. Her father she could excuse, given that he was likely more than happy to keep sleeping. The only person that was there, on time, was Long Caster. He was busy right now dumping sugar into his coffee. Naomi usually put a good amount of sugar in her coffee as well, or at least just enough to get it to her liking, but Long Caster had gone through at least ten sugar packets and it didn't look like he planned on stopping any time soon. That morning, Naomi had wanted her coffee as strong as possible, so she was drinking it black. Count had poured some cream into his, and Lanza was almost rivaling Long Caster with how much sugar he was using. Jaeger had opted for black coffee as well. She slowly realized how much attention she was paying to what they were doing and quickly turned to her own drink. If she was that tired and bored then she really needed to hurry up with her own coffee.
She guessed that they were flying in the same formation as they had when they were taking out the IRBMs in Sierraplata, otherwise Count wouldn't be there. She didn't mind having him still flying as her number two. In fact, she welcomed it. Might as well enjoy it while it lasted. While she had grown accustomed to working with the others, and having Count in the same squadron had helped ease her into the change. But the initial reason for him flying with her no longer really applied. Unless Wiseman thought differently. It didn't matter either way, so long as everything went smoothly and everyone got back okay. Honestly, she doubted anything could possibly be as crazy as their last mission was, so she was fine with whatever lineup Wiseman had for them.
After a while, everyone had taken their seats. Count sat on Naomi's left and Lanza on her right. Jaeger sat beside Lanza. Once Long Caster was finally satisfied with the way his coffee tasted, he stepped up to start up the computer. Everyone sat mostly in silence and drank their coffees while looking expectantly at Long Caster. Once he had the screen and everything ready for the briefing, he was quickly aware of them watching him. "Relax, you guys. Wiseman will be along shortly. He had to stop by Hawkins' office."
"Lemme guess, the base commander is still stuck with paperwork?" Naomi asked after taking a swig of coffee, grimacing slightly at how bitter it was compared to what she was used to. "I mean, we've barely seen him."
"I honestly don't care whether or not he does the briefing. Seriously, if you ask me our base commanders are way too involved. I don't like it," Count said, propping his elbow up on the armrest and leaning his head against his fist. "I say that so long as he isn't hiding anything, like McKinsey and Clemens were, then he can stay in his office. It's not like he's the one laying his life on the line."
Something about the tone that Count used made Naomi think he was a little bitter that Hawkins hadn't been of more use during their hunt for the Alicorn. In fact, Hawkins had been pretty absent, even after they found out about Clemens' actions. He wasn't hiding something, but he probably could have actually been on their side a little more. She could understand why Count wouldn't want him around now that things had settled down. Long Caster didn't argue with him, but he didn't agree either. "I'm sure he has his reasons, Count. He's got lots of responsibilities, just like everyone else. You make a good point, though."
No one said anything else on the subject, instead choosing to sit in silence for the remainder of the time while they waited for Wiseman. Just as Naomi finished pouring herself a second cup of coffee and had sat back down, the door opened and Wiseman stepped inside. He was looking rather cheerful considering what time it was, and he greeted them all as such. "Good, you're all here. And awake for the most part," he said to them, noting that Lanza was struggling a bit more than Naomi to stay awake. He sat up once Wiseman entered the room, though. Wiseman looked at the screen, then to the four of them. "Well, what say we jump right into the briefing, huh? The sooner this gets done, the sooner you can all go back to sleep."
They all muttered in agreement, and Jaeger asked, "Are we back on our original course to Farbanti?"
"That's the plan, anyways," Wiseman said, pulling up the screen as usual and marking down the area of operations. "With the loss of one of their Arsenal Birds, then the destruction of their ballistic missile base, and then with the Alicorn's mutiny and subsequent destruction, Erusea is running out of ways to counter our attacks. We're taking full advantage of that, and now is as good a time as any for the Osean Army to bolster their power to eventually help take down the Erusean capital of Farbanti."
As the path they would be taken was shown on screen, Naomi chuckled and crossed her arms. "Well, it looks like our long-range strategy is starting to enter its final phase. What all do we have to do from here?"
"Yeah. After everything we've had to do already, surely there isn't much left," Lanza said, narrowing his eyes on the screen. He leaned back in his seat, still focused on the screen before his eyes flicked to Wiseman. The expression on his face was almost worried, but in a comical way. "Right? Please say I'm right."
Wiseman chuckled as Long Caster zoomed in on an area to the northernmost part of Erusea. "Well, you're not wrong," he said, and Lanza seemed hopeful for a moment. "It's simple, but not very straightforward. Our objective is to attack and capture an Erusean air base in Cape Rainy in Northern Erusea." The operation area was now shown, with a display of the base and the nearby valley. Wiseman continued, the screen now showing the enemy's locations. "Now, it may not look like much, but this important base is at the forefront of our strategy to establish control of Farbanti."
"Seems pretty straightforward to me," Count commented. When Wiseman and Long Caster exchanged a look, Count frowned. "There's more to it than that, isn't there?"
"Afraid so, Count," Long Caster answered with a sympathetic smile.
"Here comes the part where I explain why y'all had to get up so early," Wiseman answered, nodding to Long Caster. The camera zoomed in on the valley that led to the base, and Naomi realized how narrow it actually was once you looked closer. She knew exactly what was coming next, as soon as the digital arrowhead charted the course through the valley. "Under the cover of night, our plan is that Strider Squadron will invade from the valley to the south and mount an air assault on the area."
"We...have to fly...through the valley...in the dark?" Naomi asked slowly and through gritted teeth, dreading the entire thing. She looked down at her coffee and grumbled, "I hate this..."
Count nudged her with a smirk. "Oh, c'mon, Trigger. I thought you liked pulling off stupid stunts like this. If you can fly through a marine platform and a tunnel and a submarine, I think you can handle a valley."
"There are a couple of conditions to this," Wiseman interrupted before Naomi could reply. "The enemy's observation field has eyes on the skies above the valley, so your altitude will need to be restricted." The screen zoomed into the valley, showing the estimated altitude limit. "If you go over a certain altitude, the enemy could spot you, ending the mission in failure. Keep that in mind. Additionally, this is partially a joint operation. Basilisk Team, a unit comprised of soldiers from the army and marine corp, will be arriving after the initial attack to secure the base. You may be familiar with one of the ground unit commanders. Major Grimm. He assisted over Anchorhead and he'll be joining Basilisk tonight."
"Alright!" Lanza said with a smile. "Be nice to finally get to meet him in person!"
Wiseman smiled, but he continued with the briefing. "Strider will get through the valley first, and once you arrive you are to take out the enemy's air defense forces as soon as possible and wait for the support squadron. When the air defense forces are neutralized, the helicopter squadron should arrive carrying the ground troops. Once they land, they'll be taking on what soldiers remain at the enemy base and taking them prisoner. The main plan is getting control of the base, which unfortunately means that getting through the valley is only half your job. After all of that is said and done, Cyclops Squadron and a transport plane should be along to help set up home base. We should be along sometime later that morning, provided everything goes according to plan."
"Well, if you ask me, after flying through that valley the rest is gonna be a piece of cake," Naomi said, finishing off her coffee and getting up to get in one last cup before their flight. She stretched as she stood up, fighting off a yawn. "Here I was thinking that nothing would be able to top everything that went on with the Alicorn." Count and the others followed her, standing up and briefly glancing at the screen as it now displayed the roster before switching to the LRSSG emblem as usual. Once she had her coffee, she turned to face the others, sighing before putting on a smile. "Well, boys, let's hurry up and get outta here. I wanna go back to bed..."
"We'll see you guys later! Good luck out there!" Wiseman called after them as they exited the room, Long Caster behind them.
They all replied with their own 'goodbyes' before the door shut. Naomi may not have liked how crazy the operation sounded, and she definitely didn't like the idea of flying through a tight valley. In the dark. In a very expensive plane...at low altitudes. But aside from not liking it, she felt pretty good about it. Provided everything ran smoothly, which didn't often happen for them, then they'd have no trouble. They just had to keep their fingers crossed. Count had a point. After what they'd been through in just a few days, this would be easy in comparison.
Cape Rainy, Northern Erusea.
September 16th, 2019.
0200hrs.
After a surprisingly short night flight, in which they made sure to avoid contact with any enemies, along with a nerve wracking, nighttime aerial refueling process, Strider Squadron arrived at the entrance to the valley early in the morning. Basilisk Team's helicopters were well on their way, on their radar and trailing a short ways behind them, having met up with them a few minutes before their initial approach. The moon was bright that night, not full like it had been a few days prior, but large enough to provide a decent amount of light. Not that very much of that light made it into the space they had to fly through. A little bit of it bounced off of the surface of the river, at least from what Naomi could see, but not much of it really illuminated the path they'd be taking.
It was fine, though. They had more than enough resources to guide their way. They may not have actual, natural night vision but their equipment did have it, and Naomi was very grateful for whoever designed that. Technology was an amazing thing, until it started thinking for itself and fell into the wrong hands. That was when it worried her, for obvious reasons. Enjoying the last few minutes of silence she would probably be getting for the next hour or so, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes until her thoughts were interrupted by Long Caster.
"Strider 1, you have passed through waypoint one," he informed her, and she groaned to herself as she prepared herself for the unavoidable. "Strider Squadron, your fun is just beginning. No weapons until you reach the enemy base. All aircraft, reduce altitude. We have altitude restrictions from here on out." Long Caster, unlike them, seemed surprisingly well rested. Lucky him. He could probably sleep on his job if he really wanted to. He was awfully quiet on the way over. However, he didn't give her a chance to continue that train of thought before he went on. "Keep altitude below 600 meters, otherwise this entire operation will head south real fast."
"Roger that. Guess we've got enough to deal with tonight, don't need to add anything to the list," Naomi said, leading the way as she began to lower her altitude. She tried to ease up on the throttle, something she wasn't used to doing. In here, she'd need to be very careful with her speed. She couldn't very well just charge right through going full speed or else she'd lose too much control, but if she went too slow then one hard turn could cause her to stall and then she'd slam into whatever object managed to find her first. Either way, she did not like this one bit. "Talk to me, boys. How are you doing back there?"
Lanza was the first to answer her question. "I didn't drink enough coffee for this. I'm worried my nerves are gonna screw with my mind or something, make me mess up."
"I get what you're saying," Count answered in agreement. "Ugh. I wanna go back to bed."
"You three could really benefit from a more optimistic outlook," Jaeger said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "It could be much worse, especially after what you've been through these last few days. And on the bright side, this is one step closer to Farbanti. After that, I'm sure Wiseman will give us all a break for a couple of days. If we're lucky, anyways."
Naomi smiled to herself a little but didn't say anything, not that there was much else to add. No one else said anything, either. Preparing herself, she led the way into the valley, quickly checking everyone's position as they began their descent. They broke from their usual formation and flew in the only way they could, single file. Naomi, then Count, then Jaeger, and Lanza took up the rear. The helicopters hung back for the time being. Once they entered the valley, Naomi made sure to keep an eye on her speed and altitude. Her speed wasn't the biggest concern she had, though. She could maintain a steady speed, it was the altitude that worried her the most. A little over 300 kilometers. Yeah, that oughta do it. Just don't raise your nose and you'll do fine, she thought.
Long Caster radioed them again. "Alright, you're all doing good. Just maintain your current course and be careful. Basilisk Team should be following you shortly."
"Strider Squadron, this is Basilisk 1. Long time no see, huh? It's good to be working with you again," the new voice was familiar, belonging to Major Grimm. They moved him fast, if he was taking part in the operation here. Special forces guys really don't mess around. The major continued. "Our current ETA matches yours. We'll catch them off guard, but can we secure the LZ quickly? I don't doubt you, I just could use the reassurance."
"Don't worry, we'll get you down safe, guys," Naomi said, carefully dodging a rock as the valley began to twist, now having to fly in a quick zig-zag motion to avoid the corners. Once they were in a straight away, at least for a few seconds, she relaxed a bit.
Count spoke up next, mostly speaking to Basilisk, "At least, that's our plan anyways. What happens on the ground after that is up to you. Honestly, I'm worried you're short on men."
"There's no need to worry about that," the major answered in a surprisingly light tone. He sighed. "Everyone here's already signed their wills."
"Hey, cut it out! That ain't funny," Count almost snapped at him, obviously not one for dark humor. Naomi wasn't a fan of it either, but whatever kept the guy going.
Major Grimm brushed Count's response off with a dry, tired laugh. "Yeah, sorry about that. I never was good at jokes," he answered. With a short pause, and a comment from somebody else aboard the helicopter with him, he finally said in a much more determined voice, "Okay, we'll follow you in. Good luck."
"Understood. We'll see you soon," Naomi said to him, glancing down to check her radar and noticing that Basilisk had finally started moving. She quickly returned her attention to the valley, finally figuring out a good speed and steady altitude to keep from crashing and to feel comfortable. However, once she finally got into the groove of things, something else caught her attention and she was rudely reminded of why you should never get your hopes too high up. Or start thinking something was easy. "Dammit! Just what we needed...everyone, there's a searchlight up ahead. Two on the rocks, one on a helicopter. Watch out for 'em!"
Long Caster's voice cut in, stating the obvious and warning them, "Stay out of their sight! If they catch you then it's game over."
Naomi swiftly pulled up as much as she could and rolled between them, lowering her altitude and making a high-G turn to get back on course and to get free of the cliff face. From there, she should be fine. There were a couple of bridges set up along the way, likely for a railway. That's what it looked like to her and it didn't seem the safest for driving over. If it wasn't for a train then she couldn't imagine who would want to take a car across it. Too easy to lose control and crash. The same could be said for the plane she was flying, but at least if she had enough preparation then she could get out. Hopefully.
She lowered her altitude even farther to duck between two searchlights, banking right and braking to avoid the third one lined up. Another zig-zag. This was getting ridiculous. Naomi grunted as she made the turn, then another one, and then one more. Another straightaway, however short it was. Finally. She slowed down once more, having added some speed to keep from stalling and to make the turns a bit smoother than they otherwise would have been. Already she was tired of this. "Long Caster, any idea on what our status is? How close to the base are we?"
"You're coming up on waypoint three. The valley's about to get narrower. Be careful," Long Caster told her.
"Oh, wonderful..." Naomi said with a huff, picking up speed and twisting through the next set of searchlights. It was crazy how many lights the Eruseans had set up through this valley, and for what? Even if it was the most likely route someone would take if they were trying to slip in undetected, it still seemed excessive. The simple option, which Osea had obviously not gone with, would be to come in through the river or from the sea. Easy enough to avoid the searchlights in either place. And were they automatic or were the people manning them deaf?
Suddenly, Count broke through the silence with a bored huff. "When can we take on the final mission? I'm starting to get tired of all this," he said and Naomi couldn't help but roll her eyes and crack a smile. She couldn't tell if he was being annoying intentionally or not, but she'd take the good mood over the tension any day.
"This is the last step, Count. We'll take the enemy base and use it as a bridgehead," Long Caster replied. A bit more embarrassed than before, he went on. "I guess we weren't too clear on that in the briefing. Once we take the base, then it's off to the capital."
"So, all of you watch yourselves out there," Jaeger advised, not like they needed the reminder. "We're going to need everyone we can in Farbanti and likely for whatever comes after that. Wouldn't want to lose anyone along the way, right?"
Count scoffed. "Yeesh. Without Wiseman around, everyone wants to play the mother hen, huh? Or give orders out like they're the company commander himself." He paused as their squadron rounded a corner, weaving through a couple more searchlights. Then he suddenly chuckled. "The best thing about Strider Squadron is that our leader at least lets us off the leash once in a while." And in a teasing, playful tone he added, "Even if she never does know when to stop running her mouth."
Naomi let out an indignant laugh. "Don't make me try and pull rank on you again, Count. And you really are one to talk, especially since I don't think you ever stop," she retorted, though she kept her tone light. She'd learned her lesson. Unless she absolutely had to, she wasn't going to try pulling rank on him. She respected him too much for that, and she didn't want to get on his bad side again.
Luckily for her and perhaps for everyone else, Long Caster interrupted them before Count could make a comeback. "Alright, alright. Settle down, you two. You can flirt when you're on the ground, but right now you've got a mission to finish." Both Naomi and Count let out surprised snorts and were confused and taken aback by his comment. Jaeger and Lanza, on the other hand, seemed very amused by it. Long Caster continued. "You've passed waypoint three. You're coming up on the base. Imposing radio silence. To avoid detection, we won't be able to talk again until you're over the base. Continue to keep an eye on your altitude and make sure you're aware of the rest of your surroundings. There are still plenty of dark spots that can sneak up on you. Just keep following the valley and you'll be done in no time."
With that, everyone went silent, and Naomi was left with nothing but her own thoughts. She didn't like not being able to talk to anyone. Radio silence sucked. Maybe it was a good thing that she didn't have much of a chance to focus on that, since the closer they got to the base, the more narrow the valley became. And the more narrow the valley was, the more searchlights seemed to be set up. So many that Naomi's eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the changes in the light. Even if her visor allowed her to see things clearly outside, it didn't change that the light was still bright. She didn't really enjoy being blinded one minute and then nearly crashing the next.
Almost getting caught by the first searchlight, she had to have split second reactions, rolling and turning in between the lights to avoid getting caught. Her wingmen were having the exact same trouble, and she was pretty sure that they were almost spotted as well. Once she was clear from those, she relaxed a little and slowed down. The valley was barely wide enough to fit through, and one wrong move and they'd be gone. She wished now that she hadn't drank so much coffee, otherwise she might have a steadier hand. Or maybe the coffee had nothing to do with it and this was all entirely due to her nerves. As she made a hard and very tight turn, and then another, she had to pick up more speed again and was reminded by the automated voice to lower her altitude.
The valley had a wide area where they turned, and then the path went back to being narrow with search lights placed just about everywhere they could manage. It would have been easier if she could just slip right through them, but they moved in such a way that she had to be careful with the timing of any maneuvers she had to pull. This had to be the last stretch. She picked up speed, banking to the left to avoid the terrain as her altitude warning went off, the annoying automated voice a very unwanted distraction. She managed to slip right between the first two lights, then rolled between the next three, lowering her nose and flying underneath the three after that, then she made what she hoped was one of the last turns and maneuvered carefully between the final searchlights, almost getting caught by them.
She performed another roll, carefully adjusting her speed and making one last turn before several blips appeared on her radar and already began tracking a nearby target. Long Caster's voice came over the silence. "Strider Squadron, you've passed through waypoint four. Radio silence has been lifted! You're almost at the base!" Long Caster informed them.
Naomi let out a sigh of relief once their four fighters were clear of the valley, and she quickly raised her nose and turned to assess their battle field. They didn't have long before the enemy would wake up and start firing back, and it also wouldn't be long before Basilisk Team showed up, so she needed to be quick about this. Naomi was first out of the valley, and Count led the way for the other three. Once her wingmen emerged, they fanned out like a flock of birds finally able to fly outside of their cages. Count chuckled. "We made it! That was quite the roller coaster ride."
"Well, let's get through this. C'mon, guys, it's time for their wakeup call!" Naomi announced, selecting the first target she was going to go through. Time to hand out the tasks of the day. "Count, you and I are going to take out their air defenses. Jaeger, you handle the aircraft before they can take off. Lanza, you take care of those ships and then come and help out over here. Everyone got it?" They all sounded off that they understood. She smiled. "Good. Strider Squadron, commencing attack!"
"Remember: the longer it takes, the worse off we'll be," Long Caster said. "Hurry up and finish them off."
"Righto! Let's give 'em a beating!" Count said as they all dispersed and moved in on their targets.
First order of business were the AA guns and the SAM sites, plus a couple of other vehicles they had laying around. Naomi wanted to get rid of those searchlights, too, but she figured those could wait. What good would being able to see their squadron be if the enemy couldn't do anything to retaliate? Together, she and Count began to pick off what they could. Lanza made quick work of the gunships, quickly joining Jaeger in the main attack on the base. After the first hits on their base, it seemed the Eruseans had woken up and were starting to mount a resistance. The AA guns started to fire back, the searchlights came on, and enemy aircraft were starting to take off.
Naomi was strafed by one of the AA guns, only because one of the searchlights was stubbornly trained on her, allowing them to get a clear shot on her. Cursing under her breath, she pulled a hard turn to both evade the enemy anti-air fire and to line up a shot on the searchlights. "Alright, I'm gonna take out a couple of their searchlights, that way they have to work a bit more if they want to actually hit us," she said to her wingmen. "Count, I need you to cover me. Take out what you can."
Count was already doing just that. "Don't worry, I've got it."
Not really worried too much about them shooting her anyways, she left that to Count and targeted the searchlights closest to the enemy's weapons. She didn't want to take them all out, just on the off chance that they may have to use them later down the line. She had no idea how long the LRSSG would be staying here, even less of an idea of how Erusea would react to losing one of their bases and likely their capital. They might be a prime target before long, and it would be nice if they had something on their side. She took out the ones that were causing the most trouble as Count managed to take out about half of their anti-air weaponry. By the time she was finished, they didn't have much farther to go.
"Shit! We missed a couple...heads up, we've got some aircraft taking off!" Lanza called out with a frustrated growl as a couple of Apache helicopters and MiG fighters took to the skies.
"Well, looks like they finally decided to wake up for real," Long Caster mused, not seeming too concerned by it. Probably because it was an easy enough problem to fix. "Looks like they're pulling out more vehicles, though. Guess they had more up their sleeves than we thought." Naomi tangled with their air support, trying to take out the fighters first and worrying about the helicopters later. Count continued to provide cover and eventually she started to switch between the enemy aircraft and helping Count and the others with the ground targets. After a couple of minutes, Long Caster spoke again, "All SAM sites and AA guns have been destroyed. I'd keep an eye out, though, in case they're hiding more."
"Knowing the Eruseans and their over-the-top defensive strategies as of late, I'm expecting a lot more than this," Jaeger said with a sigh as he joined up with Lanza to provide some assistance with the fighters. Once they got the MiGs' attention, Naomi and Count broke off to go and get the helicopters that had taken off and were already heading to intercept the arriving team. As he left, Jaeger quickly added. "I really am only adding to what Long Caster's been saying. We need to be careful, especially with a high stakes operation coming up after this."
"Don't worry, Jaeger. We know," Naomi replied.
They didn't have a chance to continue on the subject for much longer, as Major Grimm spoke again. "This is Basilisk 1. We've arrived in the AO. Landing now."
"Roger that, Basilisk 1," Naomi replied, assessing the area. There were still some Erusean forces hanging around, already working to pull out any reinforcements that they could, and it looked like they were pretty determined to keep the base. No surprise there. They were just doing exactly what Jaeger and Long Caster predicted they'd do. She sighed and radioed her wingmen. "Well, looks like Long Caster jinxed us. They're going pretty hard now. Let's take them out before they jump on Basilisk."
"Be quick. Gotta deliver on time, or the pizza's free," the major joked again, his tone much lighter than it had been before. Naomi found it funny, privately hoping that they actually brought some pizza with them. She was really hungry, and if her schedule was already going to be thrown off, then having dinner for breakfast at almost three in the morning really couldn't hurt anything.
Unfortunately for the major, Count was still unimpressed. "Your jokes haven't gotten any better."
Basilisk 1 chuckled again. "I really thought that one would do it...ah, well. Long Caster, we're landing now. Doesn't look like there's too much to clean up, but don't let your guards down."
Naomi didn't know if the last part of what the major had said was directed at them or at his own men. Maybe it was both. Shrugging it off, noticing their allies hovering and preparing to land one by one, Naomi focused on wiping out the last of the enemy helicopters before she and Count turned around to take out the new ground targets. They took out the extra SAMs first, knowing that those would give them the most trouble. It looked like they chose to roll out some tanks this time around, which was not surprising but it was frustrating. It wouldn't have been so frustrating if they were all in one place, but they had five of the things and three of them were guarding the main buildings and the control tower and the other two were over by three transport planes they had parked beside the main hangars.
That caught Naomi's attention. There was nothing over there. No movement from any of those hangars. It had all been from the three beside the HQ. The transports weren't taxiing and no one had gone anywhere near them, which is why Naomi hadn't targeted them. There wasn't a point if they were just sitting there, and they could always use the extra aircraft. So why send tanks to guard them, unless there was something on them that the Eruseans didn't want Osea to have. Once the operation was done, Naomi was going to make sure that she brought this up to the others. But that could wait. As suspicious as it was, they still had a job that needed to be done. One problem at a time.
She ended up pairing up with Lanza to wipe out the tanks while Count and Jaeger took out the APCs and remaining AA guns. Naomi decided to switch to pulse lasers to take out the tanks, since the reload time was almost instant compared to missiles. The machine gun worked, too, but against a tank it would take a while. And she really wanted to do as little aiming as possible. It was lazy, and she knew that, but she was tired and wanted this operation finished as quickly as possible. Within a matter of minutes, the enemy ground forces had mostly been wiped out. Everything that they could take out from the air, anyways. Naomi sighed. "Alright, Basilisk. The ball's in your court now."
"Roger that, Strider 1," Major Grimm answered as the last of Basilisk Team's helicopters touched down. She assumed they were hopping out now, guns at the ready, prepared to face whatever Eruseans still felt like fighting. The sound of the base's air raid sirens could be heard in the background, along with distant, distorted shouting from Erusean soldiers as the major radioed his men before they officially started fighting, "Everyone, no matter what happens, trust your allies and keep moving! This base is ours for the taking! Ready? GO!"
The sounds of gunfire drowned out everything else, and all that Strider Squadron could do was fly around and wait for the end result. But just when they thought that everything was going to be going just fine, more hostiles decided to show up. Probably all that was left of their ground forces had been pulled out. Two APCs, a pair of AA guns, and a single AD tank were hardly a proper fighting force, but Erusea was desperate at this point. Before even being told by Long Caster to attack, Naomi and the others eagerly jumped right on them and took them out in about a minute. That should have been the end of it, but then an alert went of and Long Caster announced, "Picking up more enemy fighters. A squadron of Su-35s! They must be reinforcements that were called in. Take them out!"
"Where are they?" Lanza asked, and a quick look around showed no signs of enemy fighters. They were on their radars, though.
They soon realized that they didn't need an answer to his question, as a squadron of four fighters suddenly flew out of the clouds, having used them as cover to help mask their approach. Naomi silently scolded herself for being so stupid and waiting around like that when they could have just flown where the fighters were showing up. I hate night operations. She made a hard turn to try and intercept the fighters, the enemy squadron having already opened fire and made an attempt attack. They strafed the ground, but thankfully didn't hit anything. "Strider Squadron, let's go. Whatever it takes, keep them off of Basilisk."
"Shit! You guys see those fighters?!" exclaimed a soldier on the ground.
"Calm down and keep shooting!" another one ordered. "Those two Osean bigshots will take care of them for us!"
Naomi ignored their chatter and went for the first enemy fighter she saw, forcing him to break off from the others. However, he was obviously not keen on letting her shoot him down and made it as difficult as he possibly could for her to get a lock on him. While she was chasing him, a warning went off that let her know that the enemy was tracking her. She didn't have to stop her pursuit and evade, though, since Count quickly came to her aid and wiped out the enemy fighter. "This is Strider 2! Enemy down!" he called out with a laugh. Smugly, he added. "I believe that's another for me. You sure you can keep up Trigger, or are you tired already?"
"Since when were we competing?" Naomi asked him. Without waiting for an answer, she pulled a high-G turn to cut off the enemy fighter's attempt to get out from in front of her. She gritted her teeth, but she managed to get herself a clear shot. Once she had a lock, she fired, and the enemy was gone. Once she looked around, she saw that Jaeger and Lanza had handled the last two. It wasn't over yet, since more blips were showing up on radar. Of course that wasn't all that they called in. Then it would have been too easy.
Long Caster announced the arrival of more hostiles, just as expected. "Two groups of enemies approaching. AH-64s, approaching from the south through the valley, and the others from the southwest." The group from the valley had already emerged and launched an attack on Basilisk's helicopters, firing a missile at one of them and blowing it up. Presumably, everyone was off of it and that only served to make a statement, but it wouldn't be long before they tried to hit the others. And if anyone on the ground got caught by the fire from the explosion itself or from some flying debris then it would be all over. Long Caster made sure they understood this. "Strider Squadron, get some goddamn support there now!"
Erusea had sent quite a few helicopters their way. Eight with one group and five from the other, all of them planning on making sure that Osea's mission failed. Desperation. That's all it was. As the flames from the destroyed allied helicopter began to die down, radio chatter picked up on the ground. "Dammit! This is 2-2! We're stuck. If we move then we're dead...we won't be able to capture the base at this rate!" one of the leaders shouted and Naomi was trying to wipe out the closest group first, meaning Basilisk was starting to get swarmed. The others began to fan out to take them down, but the helicopters managed to evade a couple of missiles before finally getting taken out.
"Keep your heads down!" another man replied gruffly. "Three Strikes and her squadron will take care of the enemy!"
"Shit! Hang on, guys!" Naomi called out to them, evading a missile from one of the enemy Apaches. The group nearest to Basilisk, the larger of the two, was resorting to machine gun fire to try and hit something more than a helicopter. Reassessing the situation, she counted up the remaining enemies. The helicopters really weren't much of a match for their fighters and there weren't many left. Only two left from the group of five and six from the group of eight, though they were very, very determined and resilient. And surprisingly agile for something that looked so...clunky. That was what Naomi always thought of helicopters, even if they weren't like that. Planes, on the other hand? Fighters were streamlined, built for speed and precision. Helicopters always struck her as being sturdier but not something she wanted to fly. The lack of an ejection seat was an especially big turn off. Still, these Erusean pilots seemed to know what to do to get the result they wanted. They definitely were not bad pilots.
Major Grimm's voice came over the radio next, the sound of gunfire causing some interference. "That's it! If we take out those two, we can force our way inside the facility...problem is, we've got those stupid helicopters giving us a hard time." He paused, then he spoke again, directly addressing Naomi this time. "Captain Foulke? Any chance you could speed this along? Not complaining, I'd just really like to get something out of the night's delivery. Otherwise all that hard work was for nothing. Not to mention, we'll be all out of pizza."
"Sorry, Major. I'm on it now," Naomi replied, turning to take out the larger group instead. "Strider, new plan. Count, you're with me. We take on those helicopters together. Lanza, Jaeger, you two cover us and make sure that they don't have any more surprises waiting for us. Everyone got it?"
"Righto, Trigger," Count said quickly. "Let's go lend pizza guy a hand."
The four of them split off in two, with Count and Naomi heading towards the enemy as fast as they could. They started attacking as soon as they were in range, each taking out one in their first pass. "Be careful, you two. The enemy's tracking you on radar," Long Caster warned them right as the warning inside of their own cockpits went off. Lanza and Jaeger took out the last of the northwest group and then made sure to jump on the extra ground targets that Erusea somehow kept pulling out of nowhere. They must have been hiding more than Naomi thought. And a lot more than it looked like this base could store. She figured that going through all those extra hangars and the warehouses was going to be a priority.
As she and Count circled back around for their second and hopefully last run, Naomi switched her weapons. She realized how much of the night had been back and forth between missiles and lasers and how she'd barely even made a dent in her machine gun ammo. Count was the first to finish off his remaining two from the group, using a missile each on them and skillfully switching from one target to the other to wipe them out almost simultaneously. His plane was loaded with SASMs as a special weapon, which Naomi hadn't even noticed him use. The others were carrying the same thing, but they hadn't felt the need to use them apparently. Or she just didn't notice it.
Naomi slowed her own speed to target hers, wiping the closest one out with her machine gun just to give the gun a little love. She felt weird thinking that and feeling bad for not using it, but she chalked it up to exhaustion doing most of the talking. From there she finished off the last one with the pulse lasers, since they were better at a longer range. "Long Caster, this is Strider 1," she said as cheerfully as she could, taking a look around the area. It was clear of hostiles. Naomi let out a relieved sigh. "We've achieved air superiority."
"Well, that takes of that," Lanza chuckled as he and Jaeger regrouped with Naomi and Count. "Nice work."
"Good job, Strider Squadron. That air support was right on the money. There don't appear to be any more hostiles in the area, and we can't see any on the way," Long Caster reported quickly. "Basilisk Team, you shouldn't have to watch your backs anymore."
"Great! I get to finally send my boys in to ring the doorbell!" Major Grimm chirped. In a more serious and determined tone he began to shout more orders out to his men, "Alright, let's keep pushing the enemy on their heels. There's still quite a few enemies holed up in there. However, we can't afford to wait any longer. Trust your buddy, trust your instincts, and no matter what happens we keep going. Got it?" There came a collective shout of 'yes sir!' in the background. "Good. We start running on the count of three!"
The countdown was rather slow, but once it was over another leader's voice shouted the order to move forward. "Begin the assault! If anyone resists, kill them!" he practically snarled, and Naomi remembered that they'd be up close with their enemies. They'd see the faces of the enemy before they killed them. If it came to that. That had to leave some scars. She shuddered a bit, and continued with their 'patrol' around the base, since they had nothing else to do but fly around and wait. The others followed her movements as they listened to the chaos going down on the ground.
First, more gunfire and explosions sounded on the ground again. It reminded her of the botched operation at the space elevator when Harling was killed and Sea Goblin's ultimate demise that day as well. The sound and shouting, anyways. Thankfully it seemed that Operation Werewolf was actually going to turn out to be a success. The gunfire continued for a bit, then there was the rapid fire communication between the men on the ground. "Contact, two o' clock! Go! Go! Fire!"
A pause and more gunfire, then the another guy growled, "Tear down that barricade!"
From there the small explosions had stopped and there was nothing but the sounds of people shooting back and forth. A faint clanking sound, like a bullet ricocheting off of something close to the radio as the frenzied communications continued. Now it was coming in short bursts. A bit of shooting here, then a pause, then it picked back up. About thirty seconds the first time and then it started getting shorter and shorter. At last, there was one very quick burst of rapid gunfire and then complete silence. Naomi and the rest of Strider Squadron waited a good minute before they said anything. At last, Jaeger carefully spoke up. "So...how did it go?"
Naomi bit her lip as they waited for an answer from anyone. After what felt like forever, Major Grimm finally responded with a sigh, but he sounded very proud nonetheless. "This is Basilisk 1! The base is ours! We have control of all major functions."
"Glad the pizza was on time," Count said in amusement, likely through a smirk. Naomi managed a tired smile at the comment.
Long Caster let out a relieved huff. "Phew. Roger that, Basilisk 1. That's the best news I've heard all night," he said. "Mission accomplished."
"Sounds like all of your men made it through safely," Naomi said to the major, knowing that things were a little tight for a couple of minutes. And it was partly her fault.
"Looks like they can shred those wills, huh?" Count asked him, referencing the dark joke from the start of the mission.
Major Grimm let out an almost overly dramatic sigh. "I'm already getting an earful from the men over the needless paperwork."
Count let out a tired but genuine laugh. "Hahaha! No joke..."
Everyone joined in on the laughing, but it quickly died down. Major Grimm was the first one to recover from it and changed the subject back around, sounding like he was talking through a smile as his chuckling died off. "Okay, go ahead and begin your approach. We'll do the flight control."
"Roger that," Naomi said as she banked to circle back around to the runway. "Come on, guys. Time to call it a night."
0330hrs.
Naomi was the last to make her approach, finding herself caught in the light rainstorm that had rolled in. The name Cape Rainy really wasn't a misnomer. She watched the water roll along her canopy, actually finding it pretty relaxing, until the soldier put in charge of guiding them down pulled her back into focus. "Strider 1, this is Basilisk. The runway is clear, you have permission to land," he informed her, very cheerful about the whole thing. "The party is on as soon as you get here."
"Roger that, Basilisk. Beginning landing now," Naomi replied with a small laugh, banking to line herself up for her approach. Most of it was instinct, but it was helpful to have him guide her through the motions since she didn't have the best visibility. First thing she noticed as she lowered her altitude, though, was the small town that she didn't catch on the map. It didn't look to be a part of the base, but it did look as though everyone had been woken up by the commotion. She had no difficulty seeing the buildings clearly through the dark and the rain, that was for sure. Hopefully somebody would be able to go and set their minds at ease. They weren't a part of this fighting after all, just civilians living nearby.
"Reduce your speed," the control tower guy advised and she followed his instructions. Her nose tilted upward slightly so her back wheels would hit the ground first. She could just barely make out the shapes of the allied helicopters, either dropping down supplies or preparing to land themselves. "You're past the guidance limit, make a visual landing from here." She did exactly that, and in a matter of seconds she touched down, feeling a slight shockwave from the subtle impact. From there she continued reducing her speed until her plane finally came to a halt a bit farther along the runway, closer to where Count and the rest of her squadron had stopped. The soldier chuckled. "Right on the money, Strider 1," he said. Likely to his comrades, he added, "Strider 1 has landed. Let's go and greet her!"
After going over some checks to make sure everything was okay to leave, she opened the cockpit and removed her helmet and the rest of her flight gear. There wasn't anywhere to put it for the time being, so she just dropped it onto her ejection seat and carefully climbed out as the crew helping on the ground provided her with a ladder. The rain definitely wasn't severe, just a little heavier than a decent drizzle. One thing she noticed right away was how much colder it was here than back at New Arrows. The rain did nothing to help, hitting her face at the same time as a gust of wind and causing her to shiver from the unexpected chill. Not how she wanted to end her evening, but the change could be a good thing.
Taking a look around, she noticed some light from an extremely bright flashlight and spotted the rest of her squadron and Long Caster standing around with a couple of other men. Nearby, armed Osean soldiers were escorting several now captured Erusean soldiers. They walked very slowly, a couple of them limping but not too severely. She guessed some injuries on both sides were to be expected. Ignoring that and the very, very cold rain, she thanked the men that helped her out and made her way over to where the others were standing, off to the side of Count's plane. She could hear faint conversations coming from just about everywhere, and there was a lot of activity. Way too much for this early in the morning.
When she reached them, the conversation died off and they all smiled and greeted her in different ways. She stopped beside Count and shuffled near him so that she was pressed up against his arm, still shivering but at least getting some warmth from him. To her surprise, he didn't protest it or anything, so she went ahead and tried to find a way to start a conversation up with everyone. Once she'd stopped shivering, she smiled and straightened up a bit, looking the man that was holding the flashlight up and down. In the light provided, she could see that he had reddish-brown hair but she couldn't make out what his eye color was. The patch on his chest read 'Grimm'. No doubt about it, this was him. He had a much broader build than his brother and some noticeable differences, but they both had a very soft and warm smile. "You must be Major Grimm. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Please, the pleasure is all mine, ma'am. I've heard a lot about you and your squadron. I hear you and I have a couple of mutual friends," the major said with a wider smile and Naomi nodded. Major Grimm continued. "Well, that aside, I'm glad this operation is over and I'm glad you're all here because I am starving and there's a whole box of extra cheese pizza in there with my name on it." He chuckled. "Unfortunately, that won't stop a group of hungry marines and army guys from digging into it. So, how about we head to the mess hall before it's all gone, huh?"
"Wait, you guys weren't just pretending about the pizza?" Count asked him, raising an eyebrow.
Major Grimm just shook his head with a laugh and motioned for them to follow. Long Caster was the first to follow, with Lanza right behind him, eagerly asking the major, "Hey, you got any cola to go with it?"
"What's a pizza party without some soda?" the major asked with a playful smile. "Can't promise it didn't get shaken up in that landing, but we do have it."
"Aww, hell yeah!" Lanza cheered. "I love you guys!"
As Jaeger, Naomi, and Count began to file out and follow the others towards the mess hall, she heard one of the Osean marines say to the Erusean soldiers, "All prisoners of war will be treated in accordance to international law. We even brought pizza, if you're hungry." The three of them looked over their shoulder then at each other, laughing the comment off as they followed their friends. The evening was certainly a strange one, but things seemed to turn out alright regardless of that. Now it was time for some pizza and then a nice, long nap.
Author's Note: Sorry about the wait for this. I wanted it to be out last week but then writer's block happened. But I'm back now and hopefully things will be easier because I have loads planned starting from the next few chapters and moving onward.
No idea when the next update will be out, but it shouldn't be too long this time and I say that in full confidence because I've got a lot of free time on my hands now (I've actually been lucky enough to have had to make very few adjustments to daily life). That being said, I really hope everyone's doing alright, keeping safe, and staying calm!
Thirdly, to the guest reviewer Riptide who left a very lovely review a few days back, I just want to let you know that your review made my day and I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far! I loved hearing your feedback and I hope you stick around and enjoy what's to come!
Oh, and lastly, to everyone, if there happen to be any other RWBY fans out there then I'm happy to announce that I posted the start to a new fanfic, CAMO! I recently finished the series and I had to get the prologue to the story off my chest, which is another reason why this chapter took a bit longer. That being said, the story is set several years before the main series and will follow a team made entirely of OCs as they make their way through life at Atlas. Just the prologue is up for now, but I'm working out some ideas for continuing into the first chapter. And to anyone who is not a RWBY fan and worried that I'll abandon this story, don't worry. Three Strikes is still taking top priority!
Again, I hope everyone is doing alright and staying safe and healthy! I also hope you enjoy the chapter!