Chapter Thirty-Six: Shell Shocked
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Cape Rainy Air Base, Erusea.
September 16th, 2019.
0700hrs.
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The early morning celebration only lasted a little over an hour before Strider Squadron had made the decision to go to turn in. With not much time to really clean up and settle in after their raid, some of the soldiers had been tasked with clearing out the barracks or as many as they could and stripping the beds. Everyone was provided with a sleeping bag to use instead, and everyone was grouped together to save as much space and work for later. If the beds were full, you slept on the floor. Naomi, being among the higher ranking officers residing at the base for the time and being the only woman there, had been offered a room of her own but she turned it down to save space.
So, all of Strider slept in the same room. Jaeger took the bottom bunk, Lanza took the couch in the room, and despite Count's arguing Naomi had taken the floor and given him the top bunk. Her squadron and their comfort came first, and since she was the one in charge then she simply ordered Count to take the bed. Last thing she wanted was him sleeping on the floor and then complaining non-stop about being uncomfortable for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, they didn't get to sleep in for very long. The internal alarm clock that they all seemed to share from being in the military woke them up at six in the morning after what could only be considered a nap. They didn't really need much more than that. Naomi had functioned on less and the others had as well.
After they were up, they headed straight to the mess hall to find that Long Caster and Major Grimm were already up. Outside, soldiers were taking shifts between eating breakfast and moving on to working, and sleeping. The Erusean soldiers, now officially POWs, were being prepared for an Osean transport to move them to a camp where they'd probably stay and be interrogated until the war's end. Naomi also thought she heard a couple of the marines mention shipping them off to the penal base set up in Tyler Island to work alongside Osean prisoners, which wasn't a very comforting thing for anyone to hear. Prisoners or not, she doubted that they'd allow Eruseans to actively work with them. It was really nothing more than a rumor, and one that she didn't concern herself with for very long.
As they entered the mess hall, Long Caster and the major greeted them with friendly smiles. "Hey, you're finally up!" Long Caster said, gesturing with his cup of coffee. Beside him sat a plate of reheated pizza, several slices, which he seemed to be working his way through. He pointed them towards the closed off kitchen area. "Plenty of pizza and drinks left over from last night if you're in the mood for breakfast. We made some fresh coffee, too. You'll have to drink it black, though. Probably some other things in there, too, if you want to look through all the freezers in there."
"Well, that sounds good to me. Think I might just take advantage of that," Jaeger said with a sigh. He looked to the rest of them as he headed towards the kitchen, pausing to ask them, "Anybody want anything while I'm in there? Food, coffee?" When everyone promptly answered 'yes' at the same time, Jaeger chuckled and started walking again. "Alright, alright. I'll see what I can find while I'm back there. You three can just wait here, if you want."
Lanza broke into a jog to catch up with him once he was about halfway, calling out, "Hey, wait up! I can give you a hand!"
As the two of them disappeared into the kitchen, Naomi and Count decided to take a seat at the nearby tables. Since nobody else was in there but their rather small group, Naomi chose to take a seat atop one of the tables, crossing her legs underneath her so she was in a more comfortable position. Count rolled his eyes at her choice in seating and sat down in a chair that was right beside the one she'd be sitting in. He turned it so that they both were facing Long Caster and Major Grimm and leaned back with a sigh. "Ugh, this has been one hell of a morning," he groaned, briefly leaning his head back to rest it on the table before looking out the window. "At least we have a nice view to look at while the sun rises, right?"
"Yeah. They've got a real nice setup going on here," Naomi said, taking a look around the room. Much like the mess hall at New Arrows, there was plenty of natural light courtesy of an entire wall lined with windows. From where the windows were facing, there was a very distant view of the coast that Naomi could just barely make out through the trees. The ceiling in the mess hall was raised up which allowed for the windows to be higher, and it created a bit of an echo. There was an Erusean flag hung over the door to the mess hall entrance, which would likely get removed before the day's end, and one decently sized TV that was hung on the only other available wall. It was turned off and likely wouldn't be working any time soon. Naomi chuckled, turning buck to her companions. "Guess they were pretty comfy here. For a while, anyways."
"Well, this is all ours, now. For the time being, anyways," Major Grimm said with a smile. "I hear the LRSSG and the IUN are planning to team up again to take over Farbanti, which means that you'll probably be heading to another base pretty soon after." Naomi and Count looked at each other, likely sharing the same thought. More moving. And they probably wouldn't have a chance to settle in, either. The major picked up on the sudden shift in the mood when Long Caster became suddenly subdued as well. He quickly tried to fix his mistake. "No need to look so down, though. Osea is planning on holding on to Cape Rainy, and once we get to Farbanti, well...we'll be that much closer to ending the war. We'll be back to normal lives and schedules in no time."
Long Caster perked up and nodded in agreement. "That is true! Not only that, but capturing this base means that Osea can start moving more troops in to take more control and maybe even free up some of the towns that have been occupied by Erusean forces. Pretty soon, Erusea might be overpowered. It's going to take one hell of a move to pull them out of this once we get to Farbanti..." He suddenly seemed embarrassed as he realized what he was saying. He chuckled. "We shouldn't get too cocky, though. But, speaking of moving troops in, Wiseman and the others should be here later today. Probably within the next few hours."
"Just great..." Count grumbled, obviously not too thrilled about Wiseman coming back, not that Naomi really expected him to be. He groaned. "Really not looking forward to being back on the guy's leash."
Long Caster and Naomi didn't get an opportunity to respond, as Jaeger and Lanza had emerged from the kitchen shortly before Count finished talking, Lanza struggling to hold three plastic cups while Jaeger walked beside him with his own cup and a box of leftover pizza. When they reached the table, Lanza's expression turned to one of relief and he set the cups down on the empty table beside the one Count and Naomi were sitting at. Jaeger set a cup down as well, along with the box of pizza. "This was the only one left and there's not much, so get what you can," he said, opening it and sliding it towards Count.
Naomi reached over Count, much to his annoyance as he had to lean back, and grabbed a slice before settling back into her seat. He furrowed his brow, making a face of confusion and perhaps amazement. "You had like...two slices before we went to bed. How are you still hungry?" he asked her. She didn't answer him, just shrugged in response so she didn't have to talk with her mouth full. Count's expression changed to an amused one and he shook his head, eyes lighting up. He slowly looked away from her and nodded to Long Caster. "I think Trigger's planning on stealing your reputation, Long Caster."
Like Naomi, Long Caster didn't answer as he had already finished the plate of pizza he had when they walked in and was reaching for another couple of slices. Lanza laughed as he passed Naomi and Count their coffees, grinning as he said, "Yeah, I seriously doubt anybody's ever going to outdo Long Caster when it comes to eating. No offense, Trigger, but you should probably just stick to flying."
Major Grimm smiled as well, nodding in agreement. "I'll agree with him there. I spoke with my brother after he got back to Fort Grays the other day, and I hear that he and Kat had a hard time keeping up with you. Having seen those two fly in battle before, I'll tell you that that's something right there. You and your squadron keep that up and you'll be real heroes once this all is over," he said, although he wasn't telling them anything that they hadn't already heard from other people. Naomi wasn't so sure that they wouldn't just fade into irrelevance once the war was over, though. That's what happened to everyone before them, and there was no way that the same wouldn't eventually happen to them.
The major didn't give her very long to think about it, taking a quick sip from his coffee cup before a realization hit him. "That reminds me, we brought someone along with us. Someone else that you and I are both familiar with."
As if on cue, someone knocked on the open mess hall door and everyone turned to see who it was. Peering in from outside was a rather nervous looking man with a camera, surprised by everyone staring at him. Naomi recognized him, though, even if it had been months since she'd seen him. And she'd seen so little of him to begin with. But even if he had changed in that time, the camera that hung from his neck and the curious look in his eyes gave him away. A grin spread across her face as she called out to him. "Genette!"
Her four friends from the LRSSG turned to look at her, obviously stunned by that. Jaeger was the first to speak up after a couple of seconds. "You know him?" he asked her, as if the fact that she knew his name didn't give that away.
"You've sure got a lot of friends..." Count said, sending a suspicious and almost annoyed look Genette's way as the journalist ventured further inside the mess hall, making his way over to them. Count looked away from him and up at Naomi. Irritably, but trying to brush it off and seem like his normal, aloof self, he asked her, "So, how do you know this guy?"
Naomi was about to answer, but she was struggling to find the words. Genette had reached them at this point, though, and kindly offered up an explanation. "I'm Albert Genette," he introduced himself, holding out his hand for each of them to shake. He went on after they all cautiously accepted the greeting. "I'm a freelance journalist, specializing in military affairs. I'm sure you're probably aware of the...incident that happened at the Lighthouse that the captain was involved with. I've got some friends among different news outlets and I helped keep the press off her back and out of the way during her court martial, and part of the reason she was sent to a penal unit instead of...worse alternatives, though I'm not sure you could really thank me for that."
Although he was hesitant and seemed to feel some sort of guilt for only being able to secure her a spot at the 444th, Naomi was actually a tad grateful. It kept her from completely wasting away in a regular prison, and without it she'd have never met Count and Tabloid or anybody from Spare, nor would she have gotten any recognition from the LRSSG. She had hated the experience, but that wasn't to say something good hadn't come out of it in the end. She gave Genette a small reassuring smile, and noticed that Count now seemed to have a different look on his face. He wasn't smiling like Naomi was, but he didn't seem bothered by Genette now.
Before anyone could say anything else, Jaeger cut in. "Hold on...are you telling me that they let a civilian tag along on a special forces operation?" he asked slowly, obviously appalled by the idea but trying to keep a level tone. Naomi hadn't thought of it until he said something, but the rest of them seemed to slowly come to the realization as well. It wasn't a very responsible decision on Major Grimm's part, even if the two did seem to go back about as far as the major's brother and Genette went. Jaeger and Long Caster both gave Major Grimm a pointed look, however, as Jaeger voiced his own concerns in a stern manner, "Don't you think that's a little risky, Major?"
"Normally, I wouldn't have agreed to it, but Genette's been involved in his fair share of sticky situations," the major shrugged, an understanding look on his face. He knew why they were concerned, even if he didn't share their concerns. "He's been through a lot more than you might think. The guy's pretty tough and he knows how to handle himself, keep his head down, and stay out of harm's way. He's got experience. For once, I wasn't concerned with tag-along. And trust me, I've had more than one civilian I've had to worry about before, even outside of wartime." He grunted softly as he adjusted his sitting position, cracking a smile as he said, "Ask anyone. I haven't lost a guy, yet, and I don't plan to."
"You make a good point, but things can change in an instant in a war," Jaeger pointed out, and Naomi could tell that he wasn't trying to start an argument. Just make a point. He finally leaned back in his own seat. "It's better to play it safe, rather than pay for it later on."
Genette let out an awkward chuckle. "I appreciate the concern, but this isn't my first rodeo. I may not have done any actual fighting, but I've been through dogfights and naval battles and bombings and I've always come out unscathed. Luck's just always been on my side, so I've never seen any reason to worry too much," he said. There was sort of an added heaviness to his voice that Naomi didn't notice until he got to the last part of what he was saying. It seemed to her like he wasn't telling the whole truth, but there always seemed to be more to what Kathryn, Clown, and Hans had said. She was getting real tired of everyone around her always holding back parts of their stories, but she was learning to live with it. It was probably a story for another day, anyways.
"Well, I'll bet there's a real good reason you came all the way out here," Lanza said with a grin, nodding to Naomi. She blinked, but wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. The others seemed to know, though.
When Naomi looked to Genette, he smiled and explained himself. "Well, I stayed at Fort Grays for a while, but they were sent on lower scale missions, usually just providing minor air support once in a while. See, the IUN is using some of their forces to try and punch their way through to the space elevator, but as you can guess...that's not really working. But after a while, they were held back more and more frequently because all of the larger operations were being handled by none other than the Long Range Strategic Strike Group. When I heard about your squadrons' efforts, specifically that of Three Strikes, I knew I had to try and get a story. So, Major Grimm's brother set me up."
"You came all this way, volunteered to go on several dangerous operations, all because you wanted a story?" Count asked, raising an eyebrow. He seemed mildly impressed, though Naomi knew it took a bit more than that to earn his full respect. She wasn't even sure she had it yet. Her wingman chuckled. "That's a pretty brain-dead thing to do, don't you think? Besides, what makes you so sure we'd even give you one to begin with?"
Genette blinked, looking Count over. His eyes flicked to the patch on Count's flight suit that had his name and rank written on it, then he looked back up. Perhaps a little nervous and unsure, still, Genette asked, "Er...Lieutenant O'Connor...you're the one they call 'Count', right?" Count nodded in reply, frowning slightly. Genette looked very happy to have gotten it right and went on with a smile. "Well, I've always been intrigued by the air force and I've found that our country's pilots very often have the best stories to tell. When I heard of Cyclops and Strider Squadron's actions from other troops, especially after the loss of the first Arsenal Bird, and then saw you guys in action over Anchorhead, I knew for sure that it was worth the risk. I want to interview everyone, though I know I'll have to wait for the rest of your unit. At the very least, I'd like some photos."
They all looked to Naomi, who in turn looked to Long Caster. Without Wiseman there, they were the ones in charge and the decision making was up to them. Long Caster shrugged and gave her a look that told her it was her call. She looked to Genette, knowing he came all that way and she'd hate for his efforts to be in vain. She couldn't very well make a decision like this without Wiseman, even if she knew that due to the nature of their missions and for their safety the location and dates of their operations wouldn't be shared. Naomi quickly decided to compromise. "How about we wait for our company commander to get here and he can make the decision?"
He considered it, then nodded with an understanding smile on his face. "Well...I waited this long, I suppose an extra hour or so won't hurt anything."
Naomi returned the smile, then she added to them all, "And I'm pretty sure that we aren't the only ones with a couple of interesting stories. So, in the meantime, how about we catch up?"
1200hrs.
It was much later that morning when the rest of the LRSSG finally arrived, Naomi's father among them. Seven F-15s and two transports arrived at Cape Rainy, everyone quickly getting into gear for work that day. One transport carried everyone's personal effects, because although they wouldn't be staying at Cape Rainy for very long they would be moving to a different air base after they finished taking the capital. Chances were they would be staying there until they got further orders, which meant everything had to be moved. However, it wasn't just their own belongings that had been dragged all the way from New Arrows. The transports also carried supplies, food and equipment, that they would need and that the soldiers that would be staying at Cape Rainy would be needing.
Arrangements had been made for everyone by noon that day, even the POWs would be leaving to a new base before long. Wiseman, Hawkins (who came aboard the transport along with some other New Arrows base personnel), Major Grimm, Long Caster, and Genette had all vanished inside HQ shortly after their arrival to discuss more formal business. Genette had only gone along to speak with Wiseman and Hawkins about publishing an article on the LRSSG. While they had done that, everyone else worked to unpack and get everything settled in, helping the ground troops move supplies and damage from the night's attack. Overall, it wasn't a hectic morning.
Once they were done with that, a young lieutenant had called all the pilots and Avril and Bandog into HQ, stating that they were ready for the debriefing. Without any argument whatsoever, happy to have an excuse to get inside and out of the cold. Naomi had hoped the temperatures would rise once daylight came and the rain had stopped, but the weather had other plans. At least it actually felt like fall compared to the still comfortable climate on the far eastern side of the continent. She didn't mind the change, she just wished it had been more gradual. Hell, Naomi would have happily taken the heat from Zapland if it meant the change would be easier to adjust to.
After a short walk, they made it to Cape Rainy's HQ, filing inside the briefing room. It was smaller compared to New Arrows, but the same bright lights and giant touch screen right as you came in. There was also a window that looked out at the runway. Erusea had a lot of state-of-the-art equipment, much like Osea had at their bases, but Long Caster and Major Grimm were still working on connecting Osea's computers to the rest of Erusea's systems. Luckily for them, there was a whiteboard on the wall opposite of the window that Wiseman was writing things on. It probably wouldn't be their only source of information and explanation for a while, but knowing how fond Long Caster was of better technology, it was unlikely it would be that way for long.
Wiseman and Hawkins were discussing something as everyone entered the room, stopping and turning to look at them as they noticed them. Wiseman gave a friendly smile in greeting, as usual, and everyone returned it. Except for Count. As everyone gathered around, taking seats at the plastic tables that had been set up for seating, they had to turn to look at their commanders and the whiteboard. Once they had all settled down, Wiseman spoke up. "Great, you're all here! I hope Strider enjoyed their night flight. How was it?"
Lanza leaned back in his seat, glancing at Skald. "Any of you ever see the movie Stealth?" Skald, Wiseman, and a few others nodded in reply. Lanza shrugged, as if the crazy, nerve wracking flight through a valley, in the dark, could just be brushed off. "It was like that, except nothing bad happened and we weren't trying to kill each other."
"Well, it was an idea that was pretty far out there, but I'm glad the four of you managed to pull it off," Wiseman said with a light chuckle. "I hope you save some of that drive for Farbanti. We're gonna need it."
Hawkins stepped in to officially get the debrief started. "Yes, Major Wiseman is right. Excellent work on the night raid, all of you. Unfortunately, this is just one last step. The real work has only just begun." He nodded towards the window, where troops were outside working still. "Our naval forces are arriving from the Osean mainland, mostly submarines and a few cruisers. Many of them will be taking part in the mission to capture Farbanti and they'll be ensuring that this base remains Osea's for the remainder of the war as well. This may not have been a very exciting operation, but it was an important one, as this base will serve as a frontline platform for our mission at Farbanti. We're almost at the end of this operation, and we'll be getting our final orders within the next few days. I'd advise you rest up while you can."
"I don't know about the rest of you, but that's exactly what I was planning on doing," Jaeger said with a quiet laugh, shaking his head slightly. "In fact, I was even thinking of taking a nap after lunch. I'm getting a bit old for crazy nights like that."
"Really, old man? Please, I thought we all agreed that was practically nothing compared to our last mission," Count said in a teasing manner, laughing slightly. He looked up at Wiseman. "Can we get out of here, now, Wiseman? I haven't eaten since like...three this morning."
"There's just one other thing to go over, and then you're all free to go, Count," Wiseman said with a look of understanding on his face. "We have a specific set of orders laid out by the guys back in Oured, but we need to start making preparations once we take Farbanti. I'm sure some of you might know the situation at Tyler Island. Officially, as of this moment, there's a cease fire at the island but from the way things are going, it isn't going to last much longer. Now, Osea more or less converted our base on the island into a penal unit, though they're hoping to change that soon enough as they move regular forces in. That being said, it's as close to the space elevator as Osea has been able to get since the IUN's operations there, which is why Erusea is starting to push back harder than ever."
"What do we have to do with that?" Tabloid asked suddenly. "Last we heard, the situation on the island is basically a silly game of tug of war. Why should the LRSSG waste our time with it?"
"They're planning to ship their remaining prisoners back to Osea and that means they're going to lose a lot of personnel," Wiseman quickly replied. "That's for the better, if you ask me, but they've been toying with the idea of sending some of the IUN squadrons down there to fully take back the island. We have an operation taking place at the same time as our attack on Farbanti, to take out Erusea's communications satellites and hopefully give us the upper hand mid-battle. At the same time, our forces going to make a push to drive out Erusea's forces on Tyler Island. Once we finish at Farbanti, we might end up relocating to Tyler Island. Hopefully we'll be able to destroy that second Arsenal Bird."
"Isn't the operation at Farbanti supposed to end the war?" To Naomi's surprise, it was her father that spoke up, a look of concern in his eyes. Everyone looked to him, and he continued without hesitation. "If their capital falls and their communications are cut off, then they have no reason to keep fighting. Even if they were foolish enough to send the last Arsenal Bird directly into Osea's frontline, they'll have still lost too much. It seems like an unnecessary step, relocating forces and all that, doesn't it?"
"We're just trying to take some preventative measures," Hawkins said, a little nervously, almost as though he didn't quite agree with the idea but had no choice in it. "We aren't saying that we'll have to take on the Arsenal Bird, we just want to take back Tyler Island so Erusea doesn't get cocky. There is a mass driver on their side of the island, and if they continue to hold that and get shipments then the Arsenal Bird will likely have enough armaments to last them for a while. With that, their drones, and that Mr. X and his squadron that you've run into, they might be able to win even without their capital and communications."
"Okay...so, if they're moving the IUN there then why are you telling us this?" Naomi asked suspiciously, furrowing her brow. "This is really starting to feel like more of a briefing than a debriefing. What gives?"
"Well, it is a bit of a briefing. For two of you, anyways," Hawkins explained. "There's an air raid taking place tomorrow to push Erusea's forces back in to line, and we're planning on sending a few people to the island ahead of time. We'll be heading there once our operations here in Erusea have been completed." Naomi was wondering who he was referring to, and he noticed Hawkins glance to Bandog, who had been sitting next to Húxiān, and then Avril, beside Tabloid. The realization set in before Hawkins even finished what he was saying. "Miss Mead and...Bandog will be going to the island before we go to Farbanti. The exact date, however, we aren't quite sure."
Almost everyone began muttering under their breath, looking towards their two friends. Fencer was the first to protest, frowning and looking to Wiseman. "What for? Don't we need them here?"
Wiseman sighed, glaring at Hawkins. A glare that told Naomi that Wiseman wasn't consulted on this decision, and he clearly wasn't happy about it, either. "Tyler Island's mechanic was...lost in an attack a few days before the cease fire. The only squadron they have there is made up of prisoners who have been grounded. Even then, they won't be there much longer. They'll be shipping the IUN forces to the island as soon as possible, and they need someone to maintain their aircraft. As for Bandog, he'll go through a refresher course to officially become an MWD handler. From there, he and Sarge will be making sure our boys on the ground don't end up walking into a minefield. Quite literally."
"Hold on just a damned minute!" Tabloid raised his voice slightly, and Naomi noticed that Avril wasn't saying anything to protest the idea. Tabloid continued, his anger seeming to build. "Their mechanic was killed, so you're going to send her in there?!"
"Not definitely," Hawkins almost snapped. "The decision will be up to them to make, but I need one by tomorrow so I have something to tell General Perrault and the others." Naomi inwardly groaned upon hearing Perrault's name, but everyone went silent from there and said nothing. "Now you're all dismissed. Go and think over what I said, and Cyclops and Strider...you all take it easy. I'll inform you when we get an update." He looked around at them as they all reluctantly stood up, then turned to the whiteboard to scribble something down. Distractedly, he half-ordered, "Wiseman, you go with them as well. I'll let you know if we need your help."
Wiseman sighed and led the way out of the briefing room, out into the somewhat messy hallway. Once everyone was out, he shut the door behind them and they made sure that he knew exactly how little they liked the idea. It was Húxiān that spoke first, glancing to the door before she crossed her arms. "You actually agreed to that idea, Wiseman? You're just going to ship them off without any sort of support?" she asked, voicing what everyone else was thinking. "You don't think that's even a slightly bad idea?"
He took a deep breath. "It wasn't my idea, Húxiān. And it wasn't Hawkins' idea either." Without explaining himself, he started down the hall, not even looking back as he told them, "Alright, come on. We need to talk."
Everyone looked at one another and then to Naomi. She didn't like the idea, but she understood the reasoning behind it. Reluctantly, she started to follow Wiseman, seeing no reason not to. The idea wasn't what she wanted to hear, considering the good day they'd been having up until this point, but they may as well listen to what Wiseman had to say. The only way anyone would calm down is if they discussed it. Wiseman was usually good at bringing people around. It worked with her, and it was starting to work with Count.
The others slowly began to follow her and Wiseman, tense after that 'debriefing'. And Naomi was pretty sure that Wiseman understood that he wasn't going to be hearing the end of this very soon. He wanted to talk, and that's exactly what they were going to do. Whether he liked what they had to say or not.
Erusean Air and Space Administration, Erusea.
1300hrs.
Dr. Schroeder stared almost judgmentally down at the package that had arrived for him earlier that day. He knew exactly what it was, but he was holding off on opening it as it just meant some more possibly needless work. And more work that Schroeder was really dreading at this point. The more he looked at the bigger picture, the more he began to realize that their work was only enabling the war to continue longer, and it was only continuing to fuel the fire that General Parrish so happily kept burning. There was also the matter of Mihaly's granddaughters, the eldest of which continued to send him dirty looks whenever he was trying to work and the two happened to be around. She knew the same thing he was starting to figure out, and she made sure he knew that she was well aware of his conscious decision to ignore his gut instincts.
The two generals had met a few days before shortly before Parrish had gone off to Tyler Island, likely to give Georg a hard time. Schroeder never liked when the facility got visitors, especially when those visitors worked with or for General Parrish. Even worse when it was Parrish himself, but unfortunately Schroeder valued his work too much to speak against him. The order was the same every time. Keep pushing Mihaly, and send the flight data in immediately. If Parrish knew just the kind of work it took to even get the data in the first place, and how draining it was on just about everyone, then maybe the man would have given them more time and patience. But perhaps that was just wishful thinking on Schroeder's part.
Sighing, Schroeder finally stepped forward, pulling his hands from out of his coat pocket and removing the pocket knife that he'd started to keep on him. With Parrish's visits having become more and more frequent, and the fact that the stress of running things and the decision making that came from it causing the good general to apparently become more easily unhinged, Schroeder had figured it best to keep something with him. Not only was it a handy tool when it came to work he may have to do around the hangar to get things to function properly, but it provided him with a means of self defense in case he and Parrish had another confrontation and things didn't go as smoothly as they had before.
As he moved to open the box, which contained a newer and hopefully much better G-suit for Mihaly, Schroeder hesitated. Only for a moment, long enough to second-guess his decision to open it. It should have been a simple choice, simply unpacking the suit and getting everything connected and up and running by the time Mihaly was ready to sortie again. But it wasn't that easy. The suit Mihaly had now was still holding up during the tests and mock dogfights they had done, so Schroeder wanted to test it in real combat before he started wearing out this one. It was more exact in the specifications, thanks to Schroeder's more precise calculation and instructions, and it was supposed to be more durable. But Schroeder wanted to use it as a last resort. The only problem was that it may be too long before they could give the other suit a real test in combat.
Shaking his head and pushing any more concerns away, Schroeder unfolded his knife and began to cut into the box. Right as he did, he was interrupted once more, only this time it wasn't his own thoughts that were giving him trouble. The rest of Sol Squadron, Mihaly's four wingman, entered the hangar. The four were talking quite loudly, and the sudden disturbance caused Schroeder to flinch slightly. He looked up, adjusting his glasses slightly as he watched them walk inside, at first paying no attention to him. From the looks on their faces, they seemed to be troubled by something, which seemed to be what they were carrying on about as they continued their conversation.
Seymour and Wit had led the way inside, Wit abruptly stopping and spinning on his heel to face Hermann as the latter said something that Schroeder hadn't been able to make out. "It may be small compared to a base like this in both size and importance, but if Osea manages to take control of the north then Erusea will lose the war," Wit said with a huff, and Schroeder narrowed his eyes at the comment. Something had happened, not that it was hard to tell.
"In all fairness, Wit, why should we care what happens to Osea or Erusea?" Seymour asked his friend, a frown forming on his face. "Hermann's got a point. This may be a big deal for Osea and Erusea, but it's not something we should care about. Seriously, I say to hell with both of them."
Wit crossed his arms and gave an irritated scoff. "I figured that you of all people would see why, Seymour. You're the one usually going on about this!" When Seymour said nothing and the others gave Wit a quizzical look, he was quick to explain himself. "Look, I'm not thrilled to be fighting for a country that isn't mine. But whether I like it or not, until things change then this is the only way I can fight for them. And if Osea takes out the capital as well, it won't be long before the fighting moves to Shilage and Voslage. If it isn't our fight now, then it's going to be eventually."
Although it probably wasn't any of his business, curiosity got the better of him and Schroeder spoke up. "Is there something going on?"
The four men turned to look at him, surprised looks on their faces. He guessed that they weren't expecting him to be there, but given that he was always there and he usually ignored him, the more likely option was that they didn't think he'd say something. Wit glared at Hermann and Hermann returned it, much to Seymour and Roald's exasperation. It was Roald that spoke up. "Actually, yes. We just got out of a briefing. Osea took Cape Rainy early this morning, courtesy of Three Strikes. And since Three Strikes and her squadron are likely sticking around and Osea's going to be making themselves at home, HQ has decided to just let them have it, even if this puts the capital at even more of a risk."
"And it seems that I'm the only one around here that doesn't want a fight," Hermann practically snapped. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. "Three Strikes is a nothing pilot compared to General Shilage. If Three Strikes is involved in the attack on the capital, then we can take her out with no problems. We've all seen how good the general is at putting Oseans in their place. They may be stronger, but Erusea's smarter and we don't let power go to our heads. And yes, that 'we' includes us, Wit!"
Schroeder blinked and frowned. Something about what they were saying just wasn't adding up properly. "If you're staying out of it, then what was the briefing for?"
"Osean forces are moving in to Tyler Island. I believe that fighting there is probably going to be starting up again sooner," Seymour answered, almost dismissive with the answer. Unlike Schroeder, there was no reason that the news would worry him. But many Belkan scientists and soldiers that operated alongside Gründer Industries, not just Georg (who Schroeder considered to be somewhat of a friend), were still at the island working with Erusea and making sure that the Arsenal Bird and the drones that they had stayed up and running. Seymour was probably only vaguely aware of this. He continued, taking brief note of Schroeder shifting standing positions in an almost anxious way. "Uh, it's not a big deal, though. However, they want us to be on alert while they monitor the situation. If any more Osean fighters are picked up on radar, they want us to intercept them. That's all."
"Right..." Schroeder distractedly replied, keeping his voice perfectly level and his expression as blank as always. He glanced towards his computers, wondering if he should try getting in touch with Georg and getting a possibly better update on the situation. Of course, he didn't really want to with so many people around. Nearby, Simon and Massa were looking over Mihaly's fighter just as he had asked them to, making sure none of their systems were acting up. He might have to ask them to hurry that along, knowing that Mihaly would want to be ready to fight at a moment's notice. Schroeder clenched his jaw. Mihaly...is he ready for a real dogfight?
Schroeder turned back to the group of pilots. "How did Mihaly seem? After the briefing, I mean."
The four exchanged a look, all hostility towards each other fading. Wit shrugged, smiling ever so slightly. "He seemed like...well, like Mihaly. You know how he is. Same old King, always ready for a fight, no matter what or where," he answered. Schroeder tried not to look too displeased by the answer, letting out a light sound of acknowledgement and nodding. That was exactly what he was worried about. It wasn't that he didn't think Mihaly would handle himself, it's just that his body had limits and the man was too stubborn to care. Wit, completely unaware of Schroeder's concerns, allowed his smile to grow as he glanced outside and then looked back at Schroeder. "You can ask him yourself. Reason we're here is because he wanted us to make sure we're ready to scramble if we have to."
Sure enough, when Schroeder looked up, Mihaly was walking into the hangar with an almost grim look on his face. Outside, Ionela and Alma stopped suddenly after trying to say something to him. Without another word, Ionela turned sharply and began to walk back towards the main building. Alma let her arms fall to her side, for the first time in a long while she wasn't holding her stuffed bear. She looked side to side, likely seeing who was in the hangar and it looked like she wanted to follow after Mihaly, but Ionela raised her voice and sternly called for her sister. Alma's expression changed to one of annoyance and she sent one last glance towards their grandfather before she rushed after her sister.
Based off of the exasperated and perhaps sympathetic looks that the rest of Sol Squadron gave Mihaly and each other, Schroeder guessed that this was a common occurrence as of late. It did seem that Mihaly's granddaughters had been rather short with him, surprising given that they were usually very close to their grandfather. In a way, Schroeder felt a bit guilty for playing a small role in this. He did know that Ionela had gotten in a fight with Mihaly, as Massa was the only girl that Ionela could confide in and he'd overheard the two of them talking. If not for Mihaly's determination and perhaps desperation to keep flying and eventually face his newfound rival then Ionela wouldn't have been upset with him. It was Mihaly's stubbornness that Schroeder only encouraged that caused the two to be at odds.
As soon as Mihaly reached his wingmen, everyone was quick to make it seem as though they had taken no notice of the mild disagreement that had taken place. Mihaly greeted the pilots with a nod, saying nothing to them as he walked over to Schroeder's work station. Schroeder maintained a consistent blank expression even though he was surprised by Mihaly walking straight towards him. He started to say something, a question, but Mihaly cut him off before he was able to get it out. As usual, Mihaly took the direct approach. "The experimental fighter your company was partnering with Erusea to work on. The Strike Wyvern. They completed it, did they not?"
It took a second for Schroeder to remember what Mihaly was talking about, but once he did he recalled that, alongside the F/A-18 drones that Georg had sent from Tyler Island a new, advanced fighter based off of an older Erusean design had been sent along with it. Mihaly and Sol Squadron was unaware of its presence there, but they likely knew it existed as the project had been announced many years before the war. Schroeder hesitated, wondering why Mihaly was interested in it enough to not even greet Schroeder in a normal manner. Schroeder finally decided to go with a less direct approach. "Yes...I believe so. I wasn't involved with the development of it, so I can't say for sure. Why do you ask?"
Mihaly sighed, glancing towards his Su-30SM. "There's only so much I'm capable of with my plane. I'm bound by its limitations and its weaknesses, not my own. I can't move as well as I used to be able to, and this plane is nothing but another object holding me back." The look on Mihaly's face, or rather in his eyes, was one of frustration but also of hope. "I need another option. A more advanced and agile aircraft that I can have better control over. Perhaps then I may have better luck against Three Strikes the next time we meet."
Schroeder narrowed his eyes, wishing there was some way he could get into Mihaly's head. Some way to understand this man. But there just wasn't a good way to do that. Still, he didn't want to disappoint him entirely. He wouldn't let him fly it, not yet. Not unless it was a last resort. He needed to test the G-suit under normal circumstances and in a real battle, and then they would move on to the newest one. And if it held up with Mihaly's regular fighter and Schroeder thought it was necessary, then an upgraded aircraft probably wouldn't be completely ruled out.
The real question Schroeder wanted an answer to was just how badly did Mihaly want Three Strikes dead? Ever since he'd found out his foe's true identity, he had more confidence and determination. Schroeder thought the entire pursuit was pointless. Knowing that Three Strikes was the child of a well known Belkan terrorist didn't exactly mean very good things, though Schroeder knew this wasn't a grudge that Mihaly had towards the family. The rivalry was between Mihaly and Three Strikes. But you could never be too careful. Schroeder could only sit there and keep his finger's crossed, almost helplessly praying that Mihaly wouldn't take this too far. There wasn't much chance that his hoping would do much, given that lines were always crossed during times of war. Everyone knew that, Schroeder especially.
At last, he came to a decision. He looked over at his assistants, making sure they were continuing their work, before he let out a sigh and shoved his hands into his pocket. Mihaly stood still, watching as Schroeder moved out from behind his computers. "Come with me, General. I have...something to show you." Mihaly followed him after a few seconds of hesitation, though he seemed suspicious in some way. Schroeder didn't care much about it. Besides, so long as Schroeder kept everything under control and his work actually paid off, then Mihaly wouldn't ever have to fly the new fighter. At least, that was the idea. There was no way to guarantee that it would work.
And what if everything was for nothing? Schroeder couldn't help but wonder. If General Parrish had his way, though, hopefully they'd never have an answer to that.
Cape Rainy Air Base, Erusea.
1403hrs.
Avril had kept quiet during the entire conversation with Wiseman. She didn't actually like the idea of going to Tyler Island without the rest of the LRSSG, mainly due to how dangerous it was. Even if they joined up later, there was still enough time for things to go wrong. And she got the feeling that something wasn't right. But at the same time, she had already made her peace with the possibility of going to the island, back when she was still working alongside Spare and was a part of their unit. She probably would have been dead by now had Wiseman not brought her and Tabloid back. But, then again, her luck on her own had lasted her this far. First a crash landing (which one could argue was really bad luck) that she survived, then being nothing more than a disposable asset while surviving countless bombing runs and trips to solitary at Zapland. Tyler Island would be nothing compared to that.
Even if she said 'yes' and chose to go there, to wait for the others to come once Farbanti fell, there was something holding her back. She'd noticed that Tabloid had been the most outspoken against the idea, and it made her feel guilty for actually considering going. When they had originally been shipped to Tyler Island, she knew she'd have at least one person on her side. Tabloid could be a real idiot sometimes but he had proven himself to be a good friend. But she wouldn't be accompanied by him. She'd be stuck with Bandog, who she and the others barely trusted. Trigger might be more neutral with him, but he hadn't one anyone else over and he wouldn't convince Avril that he was good any time soon. The same seemed to go for Count, and to a lesser extent, Tabloid.
Still, it gave her a chance to finally get some real work done. And she'd finally be free of Bandog's constant presence. If she was stuck with him as her only friend on a base still home to many convicts, at least he had a couple of good things going for him. One, she wouldn't have to work around him and babysit him all the time if they left. Two, at least he had that stupid dog of his to keep them safe, assuming Bandog actually cared about her enough to sic Sarge on anyone that may pose a threat to them. Then again, he might still be upset about her throwing that wrench at his head...on several occasions. Avril wasn't sure what to do, but she could try to get along with him until the others got there.
As the others wrapped up the conversation inside the hangar, Avril stood outside the door. She looked up at the sky, which was clear for the time being, and absentmindedly she raised a hand up in the air and focused on that. It was something her father had always told her to do whenever she felt lost or lonely, though she had been much younger when he'd told her about it. With him always away due to his work, eventually being deployed to fight at the frontline during the last war, Avril was usually left alone with her grandparents a lot of times. The idea was that the hand raising was her and her father's special way of communicating. All she had to do was look up at the sky, whenever, and just think about what she wanted to say to him and he'd hear it.
In hindsight, the entire idea was so childish and silly, but Avril went along with it. And after he died, the sky remained her only connection to him, but it was always just out of reach. Her mother had already been gone before her father died, then her grandparents followed them and Avril was left alone. All she really had left were the sky and the weird group of friends that she'd made thanks to prison, of all places. But she could really use some parental guidance. Her whole life she'd made it on her own, and she had to make this choice on her own, too. And she wanted to, but there were so many risks. And then there was Tabloid and the others, and she couldn't just leave them. Avril sighed, looking up at the sky. You'd all tell me I'm thinking too much...and being stupid about all of this. Wish I could actually hear it from you, though.
The sound of footsteps brought her attention away from her own thoughts and back into reality, and she stopped reaching for the sky and turned around to see the others emerge from the hangar. They all wore pretty sour expressions on their faces, and Wiseman wore a sympathetic one as he walked out. It was Tabloid that walked straight to Avril, Count and Trigger following him alongside Húxiān and Bandog. Wiseman and the others hung a few feet back, probably not sure if they should be a part of the conversation or not. Tabloid was the first to speak up as soon as he reached her. "So, they just dropped this bomb on you, too? You didn't know about any of it?"
He sounded tired and Avril nodded her answer before giving a short, almost deadpan reply. "Yeah, nobody told me anything. I was just as surprised as you are." Her eyes flicked up to Bandog and the others turned to face him as well when she addressed him. "I noticed that you didn't seem too shocked by the news. Is there something we should know about or are you going to wait until there's another 'accident' before you tell anyone about it?"
Bandog scowled when Count gave him a disapproving look as well. He shifted uncomfortably, noticing the same thing that everyone else did. Sarge was back in his temporary room so she wouldn't be in the way, which meant that if someone decided to, say, break his nose then there would be nothing stopping them. And if he was holding something important back, then Avril would gladly do just that. Bandog sighed. "I put in for a transfer a while ago," he admitted, glancing at Húxiān as though he was worried she'd be upset. "Face it, I'm not doing any good here. I figured I should go where Sarge and I can actually help out and Colonel Hawkins agreed to try and find me a good post as a handler."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Trigger asked him, blinking. She raised one eyebrow, crossing her arms as she turned to face him all the way. "Did you know about the rest of their plans? Did you know they planned to send Avril with you?"
"No, of course I didn't," Bandog answered shortly, rolling his eyes. "I'd have no reason to ask, either. It's not like Mead and I would have any reason to be shipped off together. It's not like I'm thrilled about it."
Count let out a sigh. "He makes a fair point. Besides, Avril hasn't agreed to anything, yet."
At this, Avril took a deep breath, knowing that they weren't going to like what she had to say. She shifted her weight around for a bit before settling on her uninjured leg. "Actually...I think I'm going to go. If someone has to go, may as well be me. I saw what the IUN's planes looked like after that fight, and they barely took any damage. They could use a bit of an advantage during a battle," Avril said flippantly, trying not to make the situation sound serious at all. She may have been nervous, but she wasn't about to let any of them know that. The others turned to look at her curiously, while Wiseman and the older pilots seemed surprised. Avril shrugged. "It's not like I'll never see you guys again. Once you're done at Farbanti, they'll probably send you straight our way. It's really not a big deal."
Tabloid looked concerned, and he took another step towards her before he spoke again. "Are you sure you want to do that? If the fighting really does start up again, there's no telling how bad it'll get. If it was chaos then, it's going to be just as chaotic this time."
Avril rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "It's not like I can't take care of myself, Tabloid. Again, you'll only have a couple of days to wait before the rest of the LRSSG comes. And it's not like I'll be alone, I'll..." She hesitated, looking towards Bandog. The two of them made eye contact and both frowned, likely sharing the exact same thought about the company they had. I hate this. Avril kept her annoyance in check. "I'll have Bandog."
"Just so you both know, there's no need to feel an obligation to go. We could still make good use of your talents here," Wiseman spoke up from where he was standing. For the first time since Avril met him, she was actually a bit grateful for what he had to say. It seemed to put Tabloid at ease a little bit, as well as Count and Trigger, and if it worked then Avril was happy that he said it. Wiseman looked around at them, understanding the problems they all had with the situation. "We just want to take things one step at a time, and from the way things are going...well, we want to cover all of our options. You two will be more of scouts than anything. If it gets too bad, Osea will withdraw everyone from the island. But...it's not an idea everyone is on board with. It's just the best one we have right now, outside of our operation to take Farbanti."
She looked to Bandog and looked him up and down. After about a minute, the two came to a mutual, silent agreement and they both took a look around their friends. "I'll go," Avril said with a firm nod. She looked to Tabloid, who took a deep breath and looked away from her. He kept his expression blank, but Avril knew that he was worried. So, she tried to reassure him as best as she could. "It'll be fine, Tabloid. I can't stay cooped up around here. I deserve a bit more action, y'know?"
"I just...wish I could go with you," Tabloid said, glancing at the others. He let out a weak laugh and gave her a smile. "Who else will help me put up with these assholes?"
Avril managed an amused smirk as he gestured back at their friends. Although Count and Trigger looked a bit offended by the comment, they also seemed a bit understanding of the situation and gave Avril and Tabloid sympathetic looks. Avril decided to try once more to reassure him and the others. "It's temporary. We'll all be back together before you know it, givin' Erusea and Osea a hard time," she said, attempting to joke but not really doing a very good job of it. She took a step forward, doing something she'd never done before and rested a hand on his cheek. He looked up and once she had his attention she moved her hand to his shoulder. "Tabloid. It's gonna be fine."
Tabloid sighed and shrugged, putting on his usual grin and straightening his posture a bit. He glanced at her hand, almost nervous, and Avril decided then to take a step back. Once the awkwardness seemed to die down, Tabloid took a deep breath and nodded. "I know you can handle yourself. I just want you to be careful," he said quickly. "Even if it is only a few days, there's no way of knowing how fast things will change. This is a war, after all."
"Tabloid's right," Trigger said suddenly, and the look on her face was more serious than it usually was. "Not to mention how badly things have been on the island in the past. It's split in half right now, but Osea or Erusea could suddenly get the upper hand. Once that happens...well, it's like Tabloid said earlier. It's just one big, stupid game of tug of war. You can't take too many chances out there."
"Don't worry, we've already taken that into account," Wiseman said, taking a couple of steps toward them. "We're giving them a couple of days to prepare, and the Osean base on the island is already making accommodations for their arrival. Hopefully everything will go smoothly, but we do need to work on some things. Just in case it starts to go south before we get there."
Avril and Bandog both nodded and Bandog spoke first. "Alright. Let's start getting ready, then."
Spring Sea, Near Tyler Island.
1700hrs.
"Golem Squadron, Mage Squadron, continue on your current course. You should be arriving at Tyler Island within the hour."
Sky Keeper's announcement was of little comfort, as the entire day had been a rather boring and stressful one for everyone. It was supposed to be a patrol of the air space around Tyler Island, though it was more of a reconnaissance mission than anything. The temporary cease fire was soon to come to an end, as in spite of the Erusean and Osean force's attempts at reaching an agreement, one of the Erusean government's higher ranking members called off the negotiations on the island. Apparently the king had authorized it. The fighting could start again at any minute, and there were rumors that Erusea would be pushing back harder in order to keep the mass driver and the surrounding facilities on their territory.
With an operation soon starting to take the capital from Erusea and hopefully begin to cripple them, the IUN was moving everyone around. They brought Gargoyle Squadron and the newly reestablished Skeleton Squadron to Fort Grays and were sending Golem and Mage to a forward base near Erusean territory. They were most likely going to be taking a back seat again, in favor of the LRSSG. Ever since the joint operation to take down the Alicorn had come to an end, the IUN was back to being nothing more than fodder for cheap patrols and testing the Arsenal Bird's defensive range. Now, hopefully, they might be having an opportunity to do a bit more.
Kathryn sighed and leaned her head back, maintaining her position in formation with Clown and Grimm. Further ahead, Golem Squadron was leading the way. Once they were done with their mission at Tyler Island, it was off to that other IUN base to wait around for something else to do. PJ and some other staff were already there. Last she heard from Genette, he and Jacob's unit had met up with the LRSSG at a temporary base and he would probably be following them the rest of the way to Farbanti. This meant they would get a chance to see him again. At least, that was the idea.
Truth be told, Kathryn wasn't exactly sure what she thought of the LRSSG. After the heated disagreement they'd had in the air and the fact that Kathryn had been proven wrong, her pride was more than a little hurt over the entire thing. Maybe she felt threatened by Naomi and the rest of the unit, or maybe she was upset that she'd basically gotten lectured like that. Either way, she wasn't looking forward to seeing them again. She'd made it clear to Naomi that there weren't any hard feelings over it, and really there weren't. Kathryn was just still trying to sort out her own feelings on it. It started to seem like she was more upset with herself than she was with Naomi. Over the last few nights, she had avoided talking about it, and she and Grimm hadn't brought it up. She had no idea how he was doing, but he seemed to be in roughly the same boat.
As the flight went on and Kathryn was left to her own thoughts, she started to grow tired of the silence. It just felt weird. Had this been years before, there would have been plenty of chatter. Hell, she was surprised that Golem Squadron was being so quiet. Usually Boggard would have started driving everyone crazy by now, which reminded Kathryn of Chopper's antics, but he was just as bored as everyone else it would seem. It got to the point where Kathryn needed a break from the boredom and her own thoughts. She let out a huff and broke the silence. "Hey, anybody have any idea how long we've been up in the air? Because I hate to say it, but I'm ready to call it a day and go to bed."
"We've been at this since...what, a little before noon?" Knocker spoke next, sounding a little bored himself. "Just keep pulling through. We'll be done in just a little while."
"Maybe so, but I still wish something exciting would happen." That was Boggard. It was nice to know that he was still his usual self. Kathryn had quickly figured out exactly how everyone behaved and worked together, and Boggard maintained the title of the thrill-seeking jokester of Golem Squadron. Boggard sighed. "Seriously. After we helped out Trigger and them, I don't think anything is going to top that. Talk about crazy."
"You should be grateful that this mission is so slow," Grimm said suddenly, almost scolding them although he kept a level head. "If there was any activity, then it'd be bad news for us. Surprise dogfights aren't exactly the best way to finish off a long day. Trust me, we'd know all about that. Wouldn't we, Blaze?"
"Yeah...I guess so," Kathryn answered. Truth be told, she was on Boggard's side here, but she had to act mature and as though she wasn't too eager for a fight. In a way, she was actually disappointed by the lack of action. She was tired, bored, and not to mention that she felt absolutely useless.
With her almost distracted reply, both Grimm and Clown seemed to figure out what she was thinking. Clown was quick to confront her about it, never one to hold back if he had something to say. "Oh, c'mon, Kid. You're not still upset because Trigger yelled at ya, are you?" he asked, but Kathryn didn't answer. She still didn't think she was, as there wasn't a particular person she was upset with. Clown went on without waiting for her to reply. "If that's not it, then would ya mind letting us in on why you've been so weird lately? You've barely spoken since we took off today."
Kathryn hesitated, but eventually she answered with the first thing that came to mind. "Boggard makes a good point, that's all. It'd be nice to have a little more action," she said. After a pause, she added with a quiet laugh, "I guess that last battle just spoiled me a little."
If either Clown or Grimm had anything else to say about it, they didn't. After a couple more minutes of silence, Kathryn was actually a bit relieved when an alert went off, announcing something new on their radar. However, anxiety was quick to set in among the group, as they already ran the risk of bumping into Erusea's drones if they slipped up and passed over the line that triggered them. Footpad spoke up, radioing their AWACS. "Sky Keeper, this is Golem 4. Looks like we have some approaching aircraft and they're coming in pretty fast. They friendlies or what?"
"Hold on...looking into it now. I don't think any of our allies were supposed to be this far out today..." Sky Keeper answered slowly. It sounded to Kathryn as though he was a little suspicious. They waited patiently, preparing for the worst in case they had to deal with an unexpected fight. The newcomers were closing in quickly, and it didn't take long for Sky Keeper to figure out what they were and what they wanted. "What the hell? Five Su-30s are approaching your location."
"You said Su-30s, right?" Knocker suddenly demanded.
"That's right. You do not have permission to engage right away. All aircraft, hold your fire," Sky Keeper ordered sternly in response to Knocker's question. Everyone let out their own protests against the order, but they all maintained their formation as the Su-30s continued their approach. Kathryn didn't like this. It seemed off, just sitting and waiting for the enemy to approach. They were all ready for a fight, but apparently Sky Keeper insisted they have visual confirmation before they attacked.
It didn't take long for the squadron to close in on the IUN's position. The glint of the sun on metal could be seen as five fighters made their approach head on. One of them was notably faster than the other five, and Kathryn guessed and quickly figured out that he was likely their leader. Two of the fighters flew past Golem and Mage's left, the other two by the right, and the lead plane pulled up slightly and flew straight down the middle, directly above them. Kathryn tracked his movements, turning in her seat to look behind her, making out what she could of the fighters turning back around and regrouping. The warning of the enemy tracking them on radar caused an instant reaction in all of them, and when Knocker and Clown shouted 'BREAK!' at the last second, no one hesitated.
Five pairs of missiles shot past them, several of them just barely avoiding a hit from them. Mage and Golem split into two different directions to evade the enemy and ready themselves for a retaliation, watching the enemy squadron split and prepare for yet another attack. The livery of the planes was rather interesting from what Kathryn saw of it. Four were dark gray with the Erusean roundels on their wing tips and an emblem that she couldn't make out. The lead plane, on the other hand, was the same dark gray, but the tail and wingtips had been painted orange. She'd heard Knocker and the others talk about a plane like this before, and it didn't take long before they recognized it.
"Boggard, Blaze, you may be getting that excitement that you wanted," Faun said, almost in exasperation. "Captain...that plane look familiar to you?"
"He sure as hell matches the description. Time to settle a score," Knocker full on snarled the response, but he didn't make a move to engage right away. "Sky Keeper...permission to engage..."
"Permission granted. These guys could be trouble later on," Sky Keeper said, sharing a bit in Knocker's hostility, but not on the same level. "All aircraft, attack!"
Everyone paired up and picked a target, separating the enemy squadron to make them easier to fight. Knocker went straight for the lead plane, firing right away even though the enemy plane evaded like it was nothing. Boggard and Footpad paired off to go after one of the other fighters, though they worked together and seemed to be waiting for the right shot to come along. Faun managed to strafe one of them as he picked out which one he would go for, but it seemed to have no effect on his enemy. Grimm and Kathryn paired up to separate the last two and then split them off and chased them in different directions. Clown, with little warning, pulled around and went to assist Knocker.
It wasn't much of a dogfight, with the IUN squadrons' offensive attacks failing. All the pilots on both sides could do was evade, although the Su-30s had much better agility and more skilled movements than Golem and Mage. It didn't seem like they were trying at all. What it did seem like was that they were mocking them, toying with them and tiring them out like they were prey. Kathryn didn't like that at all, but she wasn't about to lose her nerve. She kept an eye on her radar an on her allies while also watching out for her target, something she did with ease, having learned to multitask during a battle long ago, during her time leading Wardog.
The enemy fighter she was tailing made a hard turn and flew directly towards her, firing a missile as it did. She banked and did the same while the fighter copied her movements and went in the opposite direction. Neither her missiles nor the Erusean's managed to connect. Nearby, Knocker and Clown were both struggling with the lead plane. Knocker had already taken a hit from a missile, but he wasn't trailing smoke and he seemed to be flying alright. Clown had been on the receiving end of some machine gunfire, but he seemed fine as well. Boggard and Footpad had scored a small hit on the fighter they were chasing, whereas Faun hadn't succeeded in dealing anymore damage to the plane he was after.
Grimm had been chasing his guy for a while, to the point where he let out a frustrated shout when the missile he fired failed to hit the plane once again. He fired once more, and this time the Su-30 deployed its flares and, just for good measure, braked hard. It flipped into a vertical position and drifted backwards, nearly colliding with Grimm's F-16 as it did so. "What the hell?!" Grimm let out a surprised yell as the Su-30 leveled out behind him. He didn't even have time to process exactly what had just happened before the enemy plane fired, and he couldn't evade. One missile hit his plane and he made a startled cry that caused a chill to run down Kathryn's spine.
It looked as though the enemy was about to finish him off, as Grimm's mobility was affected by that hit. He wouldn't be able to evade in time, and Kathryn was too far away to reach him. She had her own problem to deal with, having to roll to get free of a missile lock. Grimm grunted as he tried to lose the Su-30, but he didn't sound like he was having much luck. "Gah! This is Archer! I can't evade, requesting support!" Grimm managed, his words strained. "Please, anybody!"
Kathryn wanted to help him, but she knew she couldn't get there in time. Her own missile warnings were going off and she felt herself suddenly thrown forward when her plane shook. Shit. Kathryn grunted in pain as she pulled herself backwards to avoid hitting her head against the instruments in front of her. She didn't think she would, but instinct made her pull herself back. Although she didn't have to look to know she'd been hit, she needed to assess the damage. One quick look told her it wasn't bad, and she didn't worry about her own status for very long, pulling up and quickly looking around the skies for her husband. He made one last call for support, then tried as hard as he could to get free of the lock the enemy had on him.
She finally got a visual on him again, in time to see Clown come to his aid right before the enemy could make another attempt to hit him. Kathryn let out a relieved sigh as Clown forced the enemy to break off, firing his machine gun and managing to graze him while Grimm began to fly away, trying to get to the outside of all the fighting. There wasn't anywhere he could really retreat to, so he had to find a way to stay out of the fighting somehow. When the enemy tried to pursue him, Clown quickly put an end to that. "Why don't ya pick on someone else and stop going for the easy target? C'mon, let's dance, you jackass!"
The Su-30 couldn't go after Grimm thanks to Clown's efforts, and Kathryn had a reason to fight harder. Angered by the relentless pursuit and the back and forth fight they were in, Kathryn made a high-G turn so she was facing her own rival. She went all out as soon as she had a lock. Her F-16 wasn't exactly evenly matched with the Su-30, given that the Erusean fighter seemed to have a lot of extra work put into it for it to move like that, but Kathryn had experience. She knew how to make things work in her advantage. With some split-second strategy, she was on his tail and she waited until she had a solid lock.
One second. Two. He started to turn, anticipating her firing at him and trying to get away before she did. Kathryn smiled a little to herself. Too soon, kid. She matched his movement, going a little further but managing to stick to his tail and keep in perfect firing range. She throttled up, firing once she was almost right on his tail, then she pulled up and rolled away. The sounds of Golem cheering told her the missiles hit, and when she pulled around in case he tried for a counterattack, she saw that that wouldn't be a problem. Kathryn hadn't destroyed the target, but she had damaged his plane enough that he couldn't keep fighting. He started to withdraw from the fight after a brief moment of what looked like hesitation, and the plane Clown had gotten a couple of gun hits on followed him.
From there, Kathryn thought it would be easy, but it looked as though she'd caught the enemy leader's attention. Knocker was struggling to keep up, and the lead plane broke away from him with ease, heading for her instead. He opened fire immediately and Kathryn rolled to evade, barely recovering before he came back around for another run. Knocker followed him, but he was barely able to match the enemy. He was slower and took a more direct, head-on approach when it came to attacking. He was blinded by his own personal vendetta against this pilot, whoever he was, and Kathryn could understand that. She'd been in the same boat many times before.
But if this enemy ace (at least, she assumed he was an ace) wanted to pick a fight with her, then Kathryn wasn't going to hold back. A squadron reflected their teaching and, through that, they reflected their leader. And no pilots worthy of any honor went after retreating planes, especially damaged retreating planes. This pilot's wingmen threatened her and they'd nearly killed Grimm. Damage or no damage, Kathryn would show them how a real pilot fights. Admittedly, she'd had a surge of adrenaline when the squadron arrived, and that was probably the only thing keeping her from getting shot down. "Knocker! Think you can cover me? Maybe one of us can get a hit on this guy if we work together," Kathryn called out.
"We can try," Knocker panted out. He let out a frustrated huff as he tried to catch his breath. "This son of a bitch is pretty stubborn, though."
"Kathryn, please be careful," Grimm called out to her, half pleading with her. "These guys are skilled. There's no telling what their leader's like."
"Well, they haven't met me when I'm pissed off," Kathryn answered while she planned out her next attack. She had to be quick about it, otherwise she couldn't make the shot. Based off of what she'd seen of the wingmen and their fighting, her best bet of hitting him was head on. In reality, it was easier said than it was done. Taking a deep breath, willing her little plane to hold itself together for a little while longer, Kathryn turned and tried to get the fight going. It seemed like her new challenger was watching her movements, trying to figure her out, as he hesitated when she came at him. Knocker had his tail, keeping him from going back, and then Kathryn was coming straight for him.
He fired at Kathryn and she fired at the exact same moment. She managed to evade, whereas he wasn't so lucky. She got a hit on him, though it wasn't much, and it seemed as though that was the last straw for him. Or he just wanted to finish up and go home. He ignored Knocker and tried to split Kathryn away from him so he could take her on two on one. She had no choice but to go back to the weaving and feeble dodging. It seemed to go on forever, and during her turning and circling she managed to hit him a couple of times with her gun, but having nothing to do but run, wait, and hope for the best was frustrating. Her original strategy went out the window.
Knocker jumped in after a minute or two of watching and he fired as soon as he had a lock. One missile hit and Kathryn realized that she could bait him, for a little while, anyways. Just long enough that Knocker could get another hit on him. If they worked it right, they might be able to shoot him down. It seemed the ace had other plans, though, and he fired a regular missile followed by two QAAMs. One QAAM found its mark and Kathryn yelped as she made the stupid mistake of bracing for the impact. Another hit like that and she'd be done for, but if she was going down then she was going down fighting. She pulled her F-16 into a vertical climb, and although she couldn't pull a fancy post-stall maneuver like the Su-30's pilot had done, she wasn't out of ideas.
She braked hard and brought her plane into a regular stall. Lucky for her, the Su-30 overshot and when she picked up enough speed to recover, she had him in her sights. He was even faster to figure out the amateur maneuver she'd pulled and was already in a dive straight towards her. Kathryn did notice that his movements were far more sloppy than they had been when they had started this dogfight, a sign that he was tiring out. She'd give him props for resilience, that much was for sure. Already resigned to her fate, just wanting the fight to be over, she stayed on her course. Both of them fired at the same time and her missile missed. Her opponent's did not.
Her plane shook and various warnings began to blare in her ear, all around the cockpit. She grunted, leveling out, waiting for the guy to come back around and finish the job. But to her surprise, it looked as though the enemy squadron had finished having their fun. Sky Keeper made sure this was the case before he said anything. "Enemy squadron is withdrawing from the airspace. You managed to damage them enough, but obviously at a price...Golem, Mage, do you think can you make it to the base further inland?"
"Dammit..." Knocker cursed. As quickly as the enemy had arrived, they vanished in the blink of an eye. Their flight lead gave a frustrated yell and it sounded like he slammed his fist against something. He quickly regained his composure long enough to check on everyone. "Blaze, Grimm...you two took the most damage. Can you still fly."
"I'll be fine. I might have a shaky landing, but I'll be able to make it back to base. It's her you need to worry about," Grimm answered quickly, and as expected he decided to put her on the spot like that. There was concern in his voice as he radioed her. "Blaze...Kathryn, are you okay?"
Kathryn closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. She already knew this plane wasn't going to come out of the fight. "No. I mean, physically I could be better, but I'm just a little shaken up. My plane...I can't make it back to base in this thing. The engine's probably gonna give out before we even make it back to base. There's no real point in even trying."
"Kid, you're not actually going to do what I think you are...are you?" Clown asked her, sounding as concerned as Grimm was.
"I'm going to bail out," Kathryn confirmed. She bit her lip, knowing there were probably easy and less dramatic solutions, but she couldn't think of any at the moment. She felt dizzy and lightheaded. She wanted to throw up. "I'll drop it in the ocean. Put in a request for a rescue and get out of here. I'll be fine."
"What? We're not going to just leave you like that!" Grimm raised his voice at her, something he didn't often do. He stumbled over his words for a moment, probably working up the courage to keep shouting, and he finally got out what he was going to say. "I'm not gonna leave you! Now isn't the time for you to start following in Bartlett's footsteps, not out here, in the middle of nowhere! Do you know how close we are to enemy lines? What if they get to you first? If it's happened before, there's nothing to stop it from happening again!"
Kathryn paused for a moment. With another breath, she spoke again, far more stubborn and stern than she had been before. "Technically...technically I outrank all of you. Don't make me order you to leave. Don't think that I won't, either."
"Please...Kathryn, I can't leave you. Don't ask me to do that." The pain in Grimm's voice, how strained and shaky it was, made Kathryn feel a pit in her stomach. She hated doing this to him, and she hated that the exact thing he'd been worried about was happening. But there wasn't anything else to do.
"I'll be fine," Kathryn answered, trying to keep her voice steady. He didn't answer her, and she was actually grateful for this. She didn't have much time, and she was already starting to have a difficult time keeping her plane in the air. "Knocker? Clown? Are you on board with this?"
"Fine. If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do," Knocker finally decided, and Clown muttered in agreement. "Sky Keeper, put in a request for rescue. Send them her coordinates. Golem, Mage...we should get out of here. They may have called drones in to finish the job. And for the record, I hate this plan."
"Then why agree to it?" Clown growled, sounding furious.
"Because there's no other choice!" Knocker shot back, quickly silencing any further protest. "She can't make it back in that plane. Even if she did, it'd never fly again. This is her only chance."
"I'll be back. Getting shot down has never stopped me before. No reason why it should, now," Kathryn said, trying for a bit of optimism.
"Mage 2, rescue request sent. You'll be home in no time. Just hang tight. And...good luck." That was the last thing she heard from Sky Keeper, or anybody, before she had no choice but to bail out. She was shot from her plane, and she watched her allies retreat from the airspace one by one. Among them was her husband, and she knew that he and Clown were probably cursing her and themselves the whole way. Kathryn didn't know what would happen to her and she didn't care. They were safe for now, and that was all that mattered.
You wanted something exciting. Well, here you go. She heard that thought in Grimm's voice, knowing that if she lived through the rest of this war, he was going to lecture her on this. Next time, she would be more careful about what she wished for. Kathryn closed her eyes, feeling physical and emotional pain and exhaustion as she fell closer and closer to the ocean below. I'm sorry, Hans.