Three Strikes

by bluebellwren

Naomi Foulke - TAC 'Trigger' - the latest in a line of air force prodigies, becomes the OADF's scapegoat when she's wrongfully accused of murdering former President Harling. In the midst of war against Erusea, she's sent to a penal unit to atone. Determined to redeem herself and swiftly end the war, she finds herself facing threats from all sides as she grows from prisoner to hero.

40. Battle Of The Giants

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Battle Of The Giants

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Farbanti, Erusea.
September 19th, 2019.
1720hrs.

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It was late in the afternoon when the battle began, the city and sky painted gold as if for the occasion. The eight Eagles that made up Strider and Cyclops came in high over the surrounding hills, breaking through the clouds at full throttle. Below them, the clash for power had already begun on every front, from land to sea to sky, just like they were told. It was now or never, the operation — appropriately dubbed Operation Giant's Step — being the last desperate attempt from both sides to end the war. Even though it had only just begun, with so much at stake it was obvious that it was shaping up to be a very long and hard fight. Not that they had reason to suspect any less.

Several of their targets came within visual range, looking to be more Erusean squadrons flying in for support. The battle hadn't been going on long enough for them to have had a serious number of losses, which meant Erusea was already going all out. As the LRSSG made their approach, remaining in formation as the radio chatter from their allies started up, Naomi couldn't help but let out a small scoff. "Well, well, looks like they started the party without us. Long Caster?"

Their AWACS let out a light chuckle at her comment. "Looks that way to me, Strider 1. And it looks like Erusea brought more guests than we anticipated. Our troops have already engaged at Farbanti Reconstruction Park, Silver Bridge, and the Submerged Area. They've already been met by heavy resistance, so we need you to help our boys out any way you can in those three locations. The return line is to the north, so head that way if you need to refuel and resupply." He paused as they continued to draw closer to the enemy, then took a deep breath. "Alright, it's time. You're clear to engage, commence the operation. Our friends are counting on you. Stay safe, everyone...and good luck out there."

Wiseman picked up speed and the rest of Cyclops followed, their squadron taking the lead. He let out a light laugh. "Lately, as your company commander, I've felt some of you young bucks comin' after my championship belt," he said to all of them, his voice a perfect mix of amused and cocky. "With the past few operations, you've really started putting the pressure on me. So I think I'm gonna go out there and run up the score a little bit, just to show you guys how it's really done."

"Heh, that's weird," Count replied in a teasing tone, remaining in his place in the formation on Wiseman's wing. "It sounds to me like you're challenging us to a competition, Wiseman."

"I trust I can count on all of you to keep up, right?" Wiseman answered in the same tone of voice, earning a snort from Count and stifled laughs from the others. Their leader chuckled. "Ha! Alright, y'all, let's get out there, take care of business, and come back in one piece!"

"Roger that! Strider Squadron, engaging!" Naomi called out, throttling up while her wingmen followed. There were several targets, mostly together in groups, all tangled with other Osean squadrons, and it looked like Osean forces were outnumbered. It would take some catching up, but hopefully the LRSSG could change the tide of battle and make it a fair fight. Naomi led Strider Squadron for the first group she saw; two squadrons, one made up of MiG-29s and another of Gripens.

While Cyclops Squadron broke off and made a move on a squadron of Su-47s that were giving their allies a hard time, Naomi and the rest of Strider simply flew head on at their opponents. The Erusean squadron was spread out, but chose to meet them in the same fashion. They closed in on one another fast, a spray of gunfire flying past Naomi's canopy. She easily evaded, hearing the solid, steady tone that told her she had a lock. Her own radar alerts told her the enemy fired a missile already. Naomi fired as fast as she could, rolling to the side as soon as she did and narrowly avoided getting her right wing clipped off.

As she leveled out, she heard the rest of Strider Squadron let out cheers and Long Caster quickly announced that Naomi had successfully destroyed the target, and Jaeger had also bagged one. Lanza and Skald paired up as they maneuvered around one another and the last two Gripens. The two enemies split up in different directions in an attempt to outmaneuver them, but Lanza and Skald matched their movements and followed. As the Gripen made a dive, Lanza made an even sharper one and pulled up, almost right on top of him. He braked hard and swiftly took out the enemy with the machine gun. Meanwhile, a well-placed shot from a missile Skald had fired and the remaining Gripen's wing tore clean off. The pilot had no choice but to bail out, likely to be picked up as a POW later on.

"Haha! Nice shooting, boys!" Naomi called out to them, so far liking the way things were going. They didn't have time to celebrate yet, though, and they couldn't let their guard up either. Missiles and machine gun fire was coming from every direction, and they'd be toast if they lost focus for even a second. She took a good look around the battle field, having a clearer view of everything going on now. Erusea had gone all out in preparing. They had air, ground, and naval support. There were even AA guns and SAM sites set up on top of buildings in the submerged area. They had to be desperate. Naomi sighed. "This is gonna be a long day. Everyone keep your eyes open!"

Nearby, Cyclops Squadron was handling the Berkuts with ease. Count was actually working together with Wiseman, not flawlessly but with almost as much ease as he had flown with her. She couldn't help but feel a bit proud of her friend, who a few weeks ago would never have been able to read Wiseman's maneuvers well enough to follow along with them. Not because he wasn't a good pilot, but because he was too damn stubborn to. But he hadn't even badmouthed him in a while, at least not in a way that showed he still resented him. Whatever Wiseman had said to him the other day, it must have really had an impact on him.

While Wiseman went after one of the enemy aircraft, Count moved with him to cover him and help corral the opposing squadron. Not far from them, Húxiān and Fencer tangled with their own opponents. It didn't take long to take out the Erusean squadron. There were five Berkuts, and they'd already wiped out one and evened out the odds. As Wiseman lined up a shot on the enemy he was chasing, the enemy's wingman tried to make a move on his tail. Before the Berkut could fire, Count climbed high and then swooped in on him, guns blazing. He dealt a good deal of damage, but fired a missile for good measure before rolling clear of the explosion, continuing his dive and pulling up at the last possible second.

The maneuver had given Wiseman time to finish off his own target, and the company commander gave a quick laugh as he regrouped with Count and the others. "Fancy shooting, Count. Looks like you're officially back in the saddle as Cyclops 2, eh? Good to be flyin' with you again, partner!"

"Picked up a few extra tricks while you were gone, too, from the looks of things," Fencer added with a light chuckle. Then he decided to join in on the teasing with a joke of his own. "Try not too show off too much, though, cowboy."

The rest of Cyclops all laughed at the comment, and Strider Squadron let out a few scattered chuckles of their own at Count's expense. Unlike them, he wasn't as amused and let out an irritated scoff before he sarcastically replied, "Cute. No, that's real funny, you two."

He pulled a few extra laughs out of them, but they quickly put their heads back in the game and moved on to the next targets. While all of that had been going on at Cyclops' end, Naomi and the rest of Strider Squadron had set off after the squadron of MiGs from earlier. These guys weren't as fresh as the Gripens, though they still had some tricks up their sleeves. They definitely hadn't been here as long as most of those on the battlefield had been, Oseans and Eruseans alike. They'd all be exhausted before long, but Naomi didn't plan for that to happen for a while. If they just focused on their job and kept their priorities straight, they'd be done in no time.

It didn't take long to wipe out the MiG-29s, seeing as the things were maneuvering about as well as a brick compared to Strider Squadrons F-15s. They were making a move on the Osean ground forces, which was hardly a fair target. They were surrounded by Eruseans on almost all sides, with everything from tanks to helicopters. Strider Squadron chose to split up, with Naomi and Skald going after the fighters, and Jaeger and Lanza making a run on the Erusean ground targets.

Naomi switched over to her pulse lasers while Skald made use of the QAAMs that his plane had been equipped with. He fired a pair at one of the MiGs that started to dive for their allies, one of them missing but the second one making a perfect hit on the MiG's tail. A trail of smoke began to follow the now damaged enemy fighter, but he didn't pull out of the fight. Skald moved in for the kill, throttling up and closing in, firing the machine gun and shredding one of the enemy's wings. The pilot punched out, and Skald rolled his Eagle clear of the burning wreckage and the pilot's chute.

In contrast to the fighter than Skald had tangled with, Naomi's target didn't care to continue his original task and continue trying to attack the Osean's below him. He left that up to his remaining wingman and the Erusean attack helicopters. Instead, he decided to face Naomi in a dogfight, which wasn't anything new. In fact, by now she probably should have expected it, even from the aircraft that were supposed to be handling anything but air-to-air. There was always that one guy that refused to bend no matter what. She had to hand it to them, Eruseans were a resilient bunch, but Naomi was getting real tired of them never knowing when it was time to quit.

Unfortunately for the MiG pilot, Naomi was able to easily outmaneuver him. He fired a missile in an attempt to hit her straight on, promptly following up with a round of gunfire. They seemed to favor this move a lot, but Naomi wasn't about to hesitate and get herself killed. She pulled up, sharply yanking the flight stick in her hand, and brought her Eagle into a climb before rolling and leveling out a good hundred feet above the enemy MiG. He shot past her previous position and she waited before engaging the afterburner and diving for him. The enemy made one last attempt to evade as Naomi lined up her shot, pulling the trigger and activating the pulse lasers. A few hits and he had no choice but to bail out, his plane igniting into nothing but a burning wreck below him.

By now, the remainder of the enemy MiG squadron had realized that their wingmen had gone down and they began their retreat. That was only half the fight, as the Erusean helicopters and anti-air weaponry were still alive and kicking. Naomi's missile alert was blaring in her ear, though Lanza had managed to take out a couple of the targets. In the time Skald and Naomi had been dogfighting, Lanza and Jaeger had moved on to the attack helicopters. They swiftly took out a few of them, making use of their SASMs. One by one, they hit their targets, giving the enemy a wide berth as they did so. The pilots of the remaining helicopters obviously saw it best not to stick around and to cut their losses while they could, beginning a withdrawal from the enemy airspace soon after their allies went down.

Of course, that wasn't to say that they were leaving their men on the ground defenseless. Naomi checked her radar and it looked as though enemy reinforcements were well on their way, while Long Caster confirmed her suspicions. "Alright, listen up," he said, grabbing their attention. Strider Squadron regrouped, circling around the park while Long Caster spoke. "As you can probably tell, our forces below you are moving in to capture Farbanti Reconstruction Park. They've already been met with heavy resistance, since it seems the enemy was fast to detect them. And there's more enemy reinforcements inbound, ETA in five minutes, maybe more. Take it a step at a time, give our guys what air support you can, then go from there."

"Roger that," Naomi said, surveying the battlefield below. The enemy was spread out along the streets, atop the hospital, and at several points throughout the park. She couldn't help but notice the outline the paths below made, forming the shape of an ornamental rose in the park around an obelisk. It was something one could only see from the air, or perhaps catch a faint glimpse of from the top of the surrounding buildings. Shame it had become a war zone. She hoped nothing damaged it too badly during the fight. There would be enough for Erusea to fix in this city after the war without losing one of their precious landmarks.

That wasn't Naomi's priority, though. There were four targets in the park, two tanks, an AA gun, and a SAM site, which would be easy enough to take care of. On the highway that led to the outskirts of the city, and that would lead right to the Osean army's current main location, there was a pair of tanks and an APC. Most of the others had been taken out during Lanza's initial run, but the few that remained still posed a threat. The tangle of roads surrounding the buildings held a few surprises in the form of more anti-air weaponry and what looked to be one or two more tanks. It wasn't going to be a difficult fight, given that ground targets were usually easy pickings.

As they circled one more time, Naomi quickly spoke up. "Jaeger, Skald, you two handle the enemies in the park and along the main highway. Take them out before they can reach our allies! Lanza, you're with me. Follow my lead. Everyone got it?" There was no hesitation as they all responded, Jaeger and Skald already splitting off. She held back a smile, trying to stay focused and serious, even though she was quite proud of them this early on. "Good. Keep our guys safe! We're counting on you! Lanza, let's go!"

"Right behind you, boss!" Lanza said, following her closely as she pulled a hard turn and the two of them lined up their shots.

Naomi went first for those closest to their allies, and Lanza wasn't far behind. She made a dive, while Lanza had already lowered his altitude, and they quickly closed in on their targets. Naomi was within range first, firing a missile before switching targets and firing again, pulling up as soon as her missiles found their marks. Two AA guns went up in a blast of smoke and flames, and she brought her plane's nose up and left the rest to Lanza. He made slight adjustments to his fighter's angle, carefully picking off each target. One was an APC, the other a tank. He hit the APC with a missile, no problem there, but the tank was still moving after he hit it so he fired the machine gun in hopes of finishing it off.

The hit stopped the tank soon after, a portion of it igniting and seemingly causing a chain reaction. He let out a victorious whoop as he pulled up to join her. "Alright! They didn't stand a chance!"

"Let's not get too cocky, Lanza," Jaeger advised with a light chuckle, although he and Naomi both knew that Lanza wasn't completely wrong. Still, better not to get ahead of themselves and lose the fight. Skald and Jaeger, being as cool under pressure as they were, would have no trouble with that.

It didn't take long to clear the park, with Skald making a low approach and quickly firing a missile to wipe out the last remaining tank. He pulled up before he reached the line of trees around the park, regrouping alongside Jaeger. He didn't sound quite as amused as Lanza and Jaeger did when he spoke, clearly still focused on the mission, but he wasn't as serious as usual as he said, "Well, regardless, that takes care of the park. What now, Captain?"

"I think one more run should finish them off," Naomi said, checking the blips on her radar and taking a quick look at the targets on her HUD. There wasn't much left, and it definitely wasn't anything that would be difficult to deal with. Checking her ammo reserves and switching from her missiles to her pulse lasers, she checked to make sure Lanza was still at her wing while Jaeger and Skald approached. "Lanza, you and I can take care of them. Jaeger, Skald, do you mind providing us with some cover just in case?"

"Not a problem," Jaeger said as he and Skald stood by and let Naomi and Lanza finish up.

It didn't take long for them to get done with that. They came in low, just above the rooftops of the higher buildings, and quickly took out the targets. Naomi switched back from her regular missiles over to the pulse lasers and quickly wiped out an enemy APC in the streets followed closely by an AD tank that had been behind it. She pulled up and watched as Lanza finished off the remaining enemies, flying in low and firing his machine gun all the way. The Erusean forces probably didn't even know what hit them.

Below, radio chatter from their allies on the ground broke out, their voices mixtures of awe and fear. One of the soldiers spoke quickly, clearly winded from the ongoing fight. "Our air support stopped the Erusean advance! Are we gonna be able to pull this off?"

"You kidding me? Half the enemy is already down!" another Osean responded, sounding as though he was smiling ever so slightly in spite of the obvious fatigue. "That LRSSG really is something! I'm sure we can do it with them on our side."

"Whaddya mean 'half', Ramirez?" The new voice belonged to someone that Naomi immediately recognized, and it sounded as though he found the conversation between his men funny. In the background, some faint shouting and sporadic gunfire on the ground could be heard, as well as what Naomi could only assume was the sound of their own jets flying overhead. The two soldiers gave shouts of 'sir!' as Major Grimm chuckled and took over the radio. "Strider Squadron! I thought I saw those three strikes...the sun made it a bit hard, but I caught the wing, too. Nice work on those tanks."

"Just doing our job, Major," Naomi said, glad that he was doing alright. She knew he'd probably be fighting down below, but they couldn't pick favorites among their allies, so she had put it out of her mind. Half-joking, she said, "Besides, we couldn't let you have all the fun out here."

He didn't respond to that with anything more than a light laugh, instead speaking next to his superiors and the other ground units. "Roger, the park'll be secured in no time. The Osean bigshots cleared the way!"

"Haha! Looks like Strider Squadron is trying to take all the glory again!" Fencer called out to Cyclops Squadron with a laugh as he performed a roll, downing an enemy fighter. While Naomi and Strider had been working to help their ground troops, Cyclops Squadron had taken on the anti-air weapons along the lower part of the highway and atop the buildings around the submerged area. Unfortunately they still had fighters to worry about, but they didn't seem at all concerned with that.

Long Caster was quick to interrupt their conversation, urgency in his voice. "Enemy backup inbound! Forces are headed for two separate combat zones. Our fleet has engaged with the Erusean Navy, and they're being pinned down by enemy air support. Our ground forces at Silver Bridge are also being met with heavy resistance from the enemy reinforcements," their AWACS said, taking a breath. "We need to split our forces in two and meet both threats at once."

"Damn, that was a fast response. Not surprised, this place is important to them, after all. Whew...the choice is yours, Trigger," Wiseman said quickly as he and the rest of Cyclops Squadron reformed, ready for whatever decision Wiseman or Naomi made. "Head for either area. Cyclops Squadron can handle the other one."

She weighed her options, knowing that it didn't matter which choice she made. They were all well-rounded pilots, regardless of their own personal dogfighting and flying styles and combat skills. Although Lanza would be more than happy to take on some ships, that idea wasn't appealing to her. She'd had her fill of shooting at ships after their battle over Anchorhead, and she didn't even want to remember what it was like facing the Alicorn. Judging by the blips on her radar and what her HUD was showing her, though, there was plenty of work to be done at Silver Bridge and she could do with some regular dogfighting after the last few weeks.

"I think it's your turn to take on some sea monsters, Wiseman. You did sit out that mess with the Alicorn," Naomi said through a smirk, using the same teasing tone that he and Fencer had used on Count. The comment earned a few scattered snickers from the others, notably from Count. She banked to the right, pointing the nose of her aircraft towards Silver Bridge. "Strider Squadron'll handle the buzzards over the bridge. That good with you, Major?"

"Well, you make a good point. Truth be told, I was feeling a little left out from your fishing trip," Wiseman said with a light chuckle, not bothered by the banter. Naomi saw the four shapes of Cyclops Squadron's fighters, silhouetted by the sun, turn in unison as Wiseman led them towards the ocean and the fleet waiting for them. "The bridge is all yours, Strider 1. We'll back up the fleet and take out the other threat. Long Caster, you wanna fill us all in on the situation?"

Long Caster didn't have to be asked twice, quickly giving them a rundown on the situation. "Our fleet is currently trying to clear the way for the landing ships, but have been pinned down by the Erusean Navy. As for the Silver Bridge, the men on the ground are struggling to break enemy lines, and Erusea's reinforcements are giving them a real beating," he told them, pausing to take a deep breath. "We've got aircraft in addition to you all, but our numbers are still less than ideal. We're counting on every single one of you, so stay focused."

"Well, good to know there isn't too much pressure," Count said with a snort. He didn't try and argue, though. "Oh, well, let's get this over with. Húxiān, you mind helping me out?"

"The mighty Count is asking for help? That's somethin'." In contrast to Count, Húxiān was far more eager and enthusiastic. Before he could respond to her joke, she laughed and added, "Hehe, wilco, Cyclops 2. Let's do this!"

Naomi turned her attention away from their other allies as Strider Squadron closed in on the bridge. The ground forces weren't scattered like Naomi would have expected them to be, but they had been pushed back a great deal by the enemy's air support. Their advance was halted, and they probably felt like they were in hell down there. Erusean squadrons circled them like vultures, having picked off a tank or two, but their main focus was on the other Osean aircraft. Hopefully they could keep them distracted long enough for the Osean Army to continue their advance.

There were several Erusean squadrons, mostly consisting of A-10s and Harriers. A few MiG-21s and Su-34s were also mixed in there as well, though it looked as though they were preparing to withdraw. They weren't giving their allies too much trouble, so it looked like the A-10s and AV-8Bs were the biggest problem. Not that there was much Naomi expected them to be able to do in terms of dogfighting. All they were doing now was trying to make low altitude runs on the ground forces and having to break off when the Osean fighters came to the aide of their allies.

Once Strider Squadron was in visual range of the enemy, Naomi did a once-over of her radar just to be on the safe side and have a better idea of what they should do. She was able to quickly get an idea of what sort of pattern the Erusean planes would fly in. They didn't seem to have the nerve to face the Osean planes in a real dogfight, even if they did pay more attention to them than to the guys on the ground. The Su-34s and MiG-21s were getting picked off with ease, while the A-10s and Harriers were making feeble attempts at counterattacks. They'd haphazardly fire machine guns, one of them making an attempt to actually hit them with a missile. However, that little warning shot was met with a head-on missile hit from an Osean F-15E...that was one down, but about twelve more to go.

"Alright! Support's finally here!" an Osean pilot cheered, a tad out of breath. "Strider Squadron, right? We'd appreciate a hand out here. We weren't expecting them to be so slippery, but I guess that goes to show you not to underestimate the enemy, especially when you're tired. They may be flying attackers, but they're no pushovers." He paused, and gave a half-laugh, half-sigh. "But...I guess you guys probably already knew that. I feel a little embarrassed by this, come to think of it."

It was Jaeger that responded, an understanding tone. "You guys have been out here longer than we have, so I imagine you're tired. They had some pretty tough fighters earlier. Why don't you all head to the return line and we'll take over here, sound good?"

"Heh...roger that. Salamander Squadron, we're pulling out. Let's leave it to our friends," the pilot said, a number of his wingmates responding by disengaging and forming up. Naomi recognized Salamander as the allied squadron that had helped them defend Stonehenge, but she didn't know them personally. She wasn't surprised they'd been deployed again to help with Farbanti. Just about everyone was supposed to be here, though she couldn't help but wonder why more of the IUN wasn't helping out. Salamander Squadron's help was more than welcomed, but she was hoping for more familiar faces than what they got. It certainly would have helped make up for their lacking numbers compared to what Erusea had waiting for them.

Now wasn't the time to concern herself with that, though, as they had a mission to carry out and she had a squadron to lead. Their allies on the ground and her wingmen flying alongside her now were her top priority, and with Salamander pulling out it made Strider the main defense against the enemy. They weren't close enough to fire, yet, but it wouldn't be much longer before they were within range of the enemy. Naomi needed to figure out what would be the fastest way to mop up the enemy, and she only had a few seconds to do it. Not a problem.

She made note of where their allies were and where the enemy was, and then took as good a look at the terrain as she could. It was hard to tell from the altitude she was at, but the buildings below resembled a residential area. There were groups of what she assumed were houses, neighborhoods that were spread apart with a few scattered apartment or office buildings. Maybe a few stores, even, but she couldn't be sure. Beyond the sections they'd separated the city into for the operation and besides her knowledge on Farbanti's notable landmarks, she wasn't sure if she was entirely correct in her assumptions. Still, those definitely looked like houses. At least nobody was in them.

"Strider Squadron, listen up!" Naomi called out to her wingmen, quickly returning her focus to the enemy. They were practically right in front of them by now. "Here's the plan: the four of us will split up. I think Salamander probably tired them out, but their attempts to chase them off put them on their guard, I'm guessing. They're not stupid, so they probably won't try and pick a fight with you, but don't let up on them. Hit 'em hard and fast, everyone got it?"

"Understood, boss!" Lanza said through a smile, the others quickly following with their own acknowledgements. They didn't sound tired yet, thankfully, the excitement from before still present in their voices.

The four of them maintained their formation before they spread out and broke off, splitting in separate directions to head for their target of choice. Naomi and Lanza went low, while Jaeger and Skald maintained their altitude from before and cut the other Erusean aircraft off from defending their allies and making a move for Lanza or Naomi. The Eruseans were caught off guard by Strider's sudden arrival, not having time to react before they were put in the crosshairs.

Naomi first went for an A-10 that had been diving for the ground troops below. When the pilot had taken note of Strider Squadron's arrival, and likely was warned that he was being tracked on radar, he began to ease up and looked as though he was going to turn and retreat. Naomi was in machine gun range, and with a subtle tilt upwards to line up her shot she pulled the trigger and braked hard to avoid overshooting the target, or worse, colliding. The Erusean pilot's reflexes were too slow, and her gunfire struck the aircraft in its engine. Trailing smoke, the pilot was quick to punch out and Naomi saw the plane go down.

She pulled clear, taking a deep breath. That was one more down, and some of the others had began to retreat, but there was still a fair amount left to go. About seven or eight, from the looks of things, but she didn't think they would be much trouble for her wingmen. They were holding their own quite well, not seeming to have any difficulty against the attackers. It was going smoothly against them, like Naomi had thought, given that they were built and equipped for air-to-ground, not air-to-air. They still put up a fight when they could, though.

While she scanned the battlefield for her next target, Lanza met another A-10 straight on, firing a pair of missiles faster than the enemy could open fire with the machine gun. The A-10 and Lanza both banked in opposite directions, the A-10 maneuvering slower than Lanza's F-15 and only managing to evade one of the missiles that had been fired. The other hit the tip of his wing and his plane began to spiral. Naomi didn't see if he bailed out or not from where she was, but she saw the plane go down into the area below.

Naomi noticed a pair of MiGs hanging around, trying to chase down Jaeger while he went after the Harriers. She figured she'd get rid of them so they wouldn't be a nuisance, and Skald had the same idea. Together they split them up and drove them in different directions. The MiG-21 that Naomi went after made a break for the clouds in an attempt to lose her, but she followed, trying to get a solid lock on her target. The cloud wasn't going to go on forever, even the enemy pilot must have known that. Droplets of water scattered across her canopy, making it a bit difficult to see, but the second she broke from the clouds she heard a solid tone. The water cleared and she adjusted her angle so she was in a better position, and then fired her missiles.

Both of them missed, the Erusean pilot releasing flares and making a hard turn to avoid them. Naomi realized after that the angle she had fired at did give her a bit of a 50-50 chance at hitting the target, but she wasn't about to waste much time and let him get away. Cursing under her breath, she matched the turn and got on his tail, following him as he pulled a few more turns in an attempt to lose her. She wasn't about to let that happen, and as soon as she had the shot she took it. Switching weapons and arming her pulse lasers, it didn't take long for her to find her aim and fire. A few hits and the wing broke off like it was nothing, leaving a trail of smoke and flames behind.

He wouldn't be able to recover from such a thing, and as Naomi brought her plane back around to their allies, she saw Skald finish off his wingman, looking as though he hit the engine with a missile. Looking around, Naomi was satisfied with their work. That was the last MiG and the remaining A-10 was retreating, clearly seeing that he was outnumbered with the rest of his squadron out of the battle. That left a pair of Harriers to deal with, since they apparently didn't know when to give up. They also seemed to have more confidence in their dogfighting abilities while exhausted than any sane pilot would.

One of them came for her, trying a hit and run approach with his attack. Naomi's missile alert blared in her ear and she gave a frustrated growl before she quickly dropped her flares and rolled just in case. She watched as the missile lost track of her, craning her neck to see where the enemy plane was right as it shot past her. He began to circle back around for another run, but Naomi wasn't planning on letting this drag on any longer. She quickly recovered and countered his movements as he tried in vain to get another lock on her. They approached each other head on, the warning in her ear beginning to find a steady rhythm. Wonderful.

Naomi switched to regular missiles, preferring to finish this quickly. As soon as she had a missile lock she fired, then banked to the left to get out of the enemy's path. She immediately leveled out in time to see the wreckage of the enemy plane hit the ground, letting out an almost relieved sigh. Just as she finished off her target, Lanza made quick work of the other Harrier. It wasn't hard to dodge the poor attempts made at hitting him, and with a few rolls and one final, swift turn, Lanza was on his tail and immediately fired. The missile hit, and the plane promptly rolled to evade. One of them grazed the tip of his wing, and he made the safe choice to eject, something the other enemy pilots had attempted as well. Who knew what condition he'd be in after bailing out, what with the battle still raging.

They could worry about that later. Right now, they were low on ammunition and it looked as though the ground troops had the rest of it covered. Strider wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer, and she figured that Cyclops would need a breather, too. Long Caster confirmed this as his voice cut in over the radio as Strider Squadron regrouped. "We've got more reinforcements on radar, ETA is looking to be less than about fifteen minutes. If anybody needs to refuel or catch a break, now might be the time to do it."

"Damn, they just won't let up on us, will they? It's worse than it was at Stonehenge. God, I hate desperation," Fencer said with a huff, and Naomi couldn't help but agree. From the way the radar was looking, Cyclops had their hands full at the moment. Slowly but surely they were beginning to gain the upper hand, though, so even if the battle continued at the rate it was going, they still stood a chance. They'd been preparing for this push to the finish line for months, and Naomi knew that Osea wasn't going to let up either.

Naomi turned her nose towards the direction of the return line, relaxing a little thanks to the lack of any immediate danger. "Wiseman, I'm going to head back with Strider Squadron to refuel and resupply. Can you handle everything until we get back?"

"Roger that, Trigger," Wiseman replied quickly. "We've got things handled for now, and Salamander should be due back any second now. Y'all go on, just don't take any detours."

"Right, we'll try and avoid the tourist traps," Jaeger joked, earning some snickering from the rest of the LRSSG as Strider regrouped and began to withdraw from the battle. As the stifled laughs finally stopped, Jaeger followed up his comment with a bit of reassurance to their company commander. "Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it."

While it wasn't an eventful flight, they at least had a nice view on the way back to the return line. The sun was continuing to dip lower as the afternoon dragged on, the hills and mountain range below and around them being painted shades of gold, pink, and even some blue and purple. There unfortunately wasn't much time to enjoy it, given that the base was a recently captured Erusean base not more than a five minute flight from their AO, assuming they pushed their engines and fuel reserve a bit.

The base itself was tucked safely into a drab spot on the opposite side of the mountains, and thankfully hadn't been deemed important enough by Erusea's forces to try and take it back. They seemed to have most of their forces confined to the coast and the area surrounding Gunther Bay where the space elevator was located, which meant that a tiny Air Force base almost on the edge of their territory wasn't very special to them. Much like the situation with Cape Rainy, Naomi guessed. Compared to much larger bases, this one held little immediate strategic importance to anyone except for Osea. Hell, she heard they only had a C-17 or two assigned to them, let alone any sort of fighter squadron for their defense.

Once they radioed in their arrival, Strider Squadron was promptly guided in to land and directed from their. It wasn't a long process. After they finished their landing, just like at Anchorhead, the crew promptly got to work on refueling and rearming. With the urgency of the ongoing operation, the crew didn't waste any time with the task. Naomi and the others stayed strapped in their cockpits, engines still running, while the ground crew worked to cautiously and quickly go through their procedures.

Naomi didn't know how long it took to go through all of that, but it didn't feel like much time passed by before they were marshaled forward and cleared for takeoff soon after. Strider Squadron took off one by one, the weary soldiers at the control tower granting permission to return to the operation and wishing them luck as they left. Naomi had to admit, they needed all the luck they could get. Things may be going their way for the time being, but she knew not to underestimate Erusea. She couldn't shake the slight feeling that they had something up their sleeves, and only time would tell for sure.

As they returned to the AO, various chattering from their allies filled the comms, either communicating back and forth between their commanders, issuing orders, or requesting support. It looked as though Erusea's backup had arrived at last, as expected. Naomi checked her radar and HUD, getting a rough estimate of how many new enemies were there. She remembered how many were on radar when they left and it looked like three or four new squadrons had shown up, not counting some new hostiles in the submerged area. Naomi quickly spoke up as they continued to close in. "Strider Squadron is reentering the AO. Long Caster, Wiseman, how's everything holding up?"

"Good, you're back," Long Caster said, his tone a blend of its usual professional urgency with a slight edge of relief to it. He continued. "We've got new hostiles. F-14Ds and F-15Js, a squadron each and both armed to the teeth. We don't have much time left, and if our ground forces get pushed back any further then our operation to capture Farbanti could be in jeopardy. Eliminate the enemy before they can touch our guys, and be careful."

"Y'all got back just in time," Wiseman put in with an out of breath laugh. "Think you can finish off the fleet while we head back to resupply? Salamander is providing cover for the ground forces at the park and the bridge, but those F-14s are going to give our fleet hell as soon as they get the chance. They've got some cruisers left and an Aegis or two, but it shouldn't be much work." He added in a lighter tone, "Just enough to keep y'all from slacking while we're gone."

Naomi still wasn't a fan of any sort of naval battles, and their recent operations certainly didn't improve her opinions on them, but she found herself smiling a bit at the comment. "Ha! Wilco, Cyclops 1. We'll clean up the rest. Gotta get our score up somehow," she said, still smiling slightly. Not like they had much of a choice. He practically ordered them to do it, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. "Hey, Lanza, you ready to have some real fun?"

"Haha! Damn straight I am, Trigger!" Lanza said through a laugh, still as ready as ever when it came to any sort of air-to-surface fighting.

The four of them throttled up, making a careful pass over the city, then the submerged area, and after that they were over open water. The sun hit the surface of the water, giving the dull, dark blue water a bright golden shine in several places. Naomi once again was grateful for the protection they had against the sunlight. While it would have been a nice sunset to enjoy, being blinded in the middle of a battle was the last thing she wanted. Hopefully this battle would be over before the afternoon was and the beauty of the sunset wouldn't go to waste.

As Strider Squadron arrived over the fleet, they were met by a still ongoing fight. A squadron of four F-14s was attempting to make a pass on the allied ships, and without any missiles to spare, Cyclops only had their machine guns to discourage the enemy. The fleet was left to fend for themselves, both the Erusean and Osean ships opening fire periodically. Missiles, bullets, and smoke continued to rise into the air, but neither seemed to be making any significant progress. The Erusean fleet had taken the largest blow by far, but they were continuing to fight with everything they had. Or so it appeared. But they weren't going to be able to keep this up forever.

Strider Squadron broke formation, Skald and Lanza going in low and targeting the two Erusean aegis vessels on the edge of the fleet while Naomi and Jaeger went for two of the Erusean fighters. Naomi went for the one making a move to get on Count's tail. Realizing this, Count made a sharp turn and pointed his nose towards her at the last second. The two banked in opposite directions to avoid colliding, but there was just enough time for Naomi to lock on and fire a pair of missiles before the enemy pilot realized what they were doing. They hit head on, and the F-14 went down in a fireball towards the sea, prompting a victorious shout from Count.

Jaeger came to Fencer's rescue, allowing Fencer to break off from the fight and follow Count to the edge of the battle to wait for their wingmen. The enemy tried to lose him, attempting a few sharp rolls and turns, but Jaeger wasn't a pushover. He stayed glued to his tail the entire time, taking his time to make sure he wouldn't miss. He switched to his SASMs once he was in a good firing position and promptly fired two of them. One hit his tail, and when he turned to evade the second it dealt a glancing blow to the same spot, courtesy of the explosion from the missile. The pilot avoided the fate of his wingman by punching out, and both he and his RIO safely bailed out. If one could consider it safe under the current circumstances.

Cyclops Squadron used the opportunity to begin their withdrawal, Wiseman leading the way. "Alright, Trigger, we're pulling out now. Keep our fleet and your men safe while we're gone. I trust they're in good hands."

"Try not to miss us too much, Trig," Count added smugly. "We'll be back before you know it! Oh, and you better not take all the juicy targets like you did at Anchorhead. You and Lanza went berserk and I ain't falling behind again."

"Pfft, like you even had a chance, Count!" Naomi retorted, stifling a laugh. She switched to her pulse lasers, ready to take on the remaining fighters and finally get the Erusean ships off of their allies' backs, Strider following her. With an air of smugness of her own she said, "I'm not making any promises, hotshot, so you better hurry back."

Count chuckled, amusement mixed into his voice as he spoke again, "Haha! Righto, Trigger!"

With that, Cyclops Squadron took their leave, leaving Strider Squadron to mop up the remaining enemies. Thanks to Lanza's efforts, there was only one Aegis-class remaining, and what looked like two battle cruisers. Add in the two remaining F-14s and it seemed like it would be easy work. Nothing they couldn't handle on their own, but if Erusea was saving their best tricks for last (and that seemed to be the case) then Naomi could only pray that Cyclops made it back before the final enemy wave arrived. She also didn't know whether she was hoping Mr. X would show, or dreading the idea that he might.

Returning her focus to the battle, but keeping her eyes and ears open for any new threats, she brought her plane around and switched her target from the ships below to one of the remaining enemy fighters. As she did this, she heard a member of one of the ship crews below let out a dark chuckle. "Three Strikes is in the sky! Ha! Too bad for those guys..."

Another voice chimed in, the captain by the sound of things, seeming to rally his men. "You hear that? Three Strikes is here to finish things off! Lady Luck's smiling on us, boys! We can win this, so get your asses moving!"

Naomi couldn't help but smirk a bit at the comment, but she stayed focused on the mission. She made quick work of the first F-14, having surprised him after he made an attempt to lose her in the clouds and fire on the Osean flagship. Sticking to his tail like glue, the two moved quickly, and Naomi readied her shot. Once the circle on her HUD turned red, she pulled the trigger and fired carefully, striking the F-15 in his wing. Like the others, he and his RIO safely bailed out, but it meant that their wingman was alone to face the music. Outnumbered with nowhere to run and no one to help him. It was almost too easy, but they still couldn't risk letting their guard down.

She went after him next, although he was determined to go down fighting. He weaved through the missiles and gunfire from the ships, relentlessly targeting any Osean he could get within range of. But his movements were erratic, and his missiles were destroyed by the Osean CIWS or he was forced to pull up and fired too late. Jaeger flushed him out, letting a spray of gunfire loose and chasing him away from their allies, which allowed Naomi to get into a better position after being unable to find a clear shot. She was within missile range, but he was still trying and failing to shake her off. As soon as she heard the solid lock-on tone she fired two missiles, not sure whether they would hit but taking the shot anyways.

Luckily for her, he wasn't able to evade the missiles, and both hit him. It looked as though the aircraft got snapped in half after the engine ignited, and Naomi scanned for any sign he made it out. Either he wasn't fast enough to eject or he was too stubborn too, either way, he and his RIO went down with their plane. Naomi swallowed down the brief stab of guilt and pity and turned away from the wreckage. She leveled her fighter out, and took a look over her HUD to check the remaining enemies.

Skald and Lanza flew in low once again to finish their attack on the remaining Aegis vessel. It was Lanza that led the charge, flying in low enough to practically touch the water's surface. He closed in fast, firing a pair of missiles before he braked hard and pulled up at almost the last second. Skald flew in behind him, firing a pair of missiles as well. The CIWS only managed to knock one out of the sky, the other one soon finding its mark. An explosion went off, smoke rising up from the ship as it began to list. Lanza and Skald circled around to make sure it was done for, and Skald announced their kill. "Alright, nice! That's one more down!"

While they celebrated their victory for a moment, Naomi turned and went for one of the battle cruisers, flying in as low as she was willing to risk going. She made sure she kept steady and level, she figured the fastest way to take it down would be with her pulse lasers. But just in case, she didn't want to use them unless she absolutely had to. So she switched back to her regular missiles and picked up speed, wanting to hit and run. Once they realized what she was doing, their attention turned from the allied ships onto her and her missile alerts began to go off.

"Shit!" Naomi cursed, releasing flares and pulling up, banking to get out of the way. She was practically right on top of the ship by now, and without much of an option, she went for perhaps the worst one. Without many other options, she gained some more altitude before she pulled a high-G turn and then brought her plane into a dive. Now she not only had to deal with the warnings to pull up, she also had to handle the damned beeping sound that told her she was being tracked on radar. Ignoring it, she listened for the sound she actually wanted to hear and instinctively reacted when she finally heard it, firing as soon as she did.

Once she fired her missiles, she pulled up once more to avoid crashing and to escape the barrage of missiles they chose to fire at her at that exact moment. The last thing she wanted was to get shot down, especially right now. Or have to replace her plane. She'd come this far and she wasn't planning on going down today. She grunted as she made yet another high-G turn, feeling more strain than from the start of the battle. The missiles from the battle cruiser streaked past her, and she circled around to go in for a second run. It was much easier, since her first hits had done a number to their defenses. All that was left now was to put it out of its misery.

She came in at the same altitude she had tried before, a bit more cautious of her approach and on edge. They didn't seem to have any tricks left, though, so as swiftly as she could she came in, fired like she had done before and watched what came from it. The ship shared the same fate as the Aegis vessels from before, and with smoke and fire rising from various areas across the formerly intimidating battleship, it was stopped in its tracks and slowly began to sink. She almost felt as bad for the crewmen aboard the ships as she did for the pilots that went down, even if the Eruseans never knew when to back down. Who was she to talk, though? She was just as stubborn as they were.

While she had been focusing on that, Jaeger had gone after the other remaining battleship, working in tandem with the Osean ships and relentlessly firing at it. It fought with the same vigor, its captain probably desperate for success. She'd seen firsthand and more than once what desperation and fury looked like, and it was obvious that the Eruseans planned on fighting to the last man if it gave them even a slightly greater chance of success. It didn't take long for the ship to get overpowered, one end completely exploding while the rest of the ship remained more or less in one piece. Naomi couldn't help but feel relieved, as that was the last thing that had stood between them and the success of the operation.

"Long Caster, the enemy fleet has been crippled!" Naomi called out as her wingmen let out shouts and cheers of their own. Their was a surge of pride and she failed to fight another smile from forming. All of Strider Squadron was doing well...actually, all of the LRSSG was doing well today. Now they just had to get through the rest of it.

Long Caster took a moment to reply, and judging from the back and forth radio chatter it sounded as if he was verifying that the Erusean fleet had been stopped. Once he was sure there would be no surprises in store for them in terms of the fleet, he responded. "Nice work, Strider Squadron. The Erusean fleet has indeed been crippled, however we can't celebrate just yet. There's a third wave of enemies inbound, and along with that, the captain of the landing ship Ptarmigan has confirmed that there are small boats hiding in the submerged area. They shouldn't be anything they can't handle on their own, but it wouldn't hurt to take care of them before the new hostiles arrive."

"Roger, we'll do what we can," Naomi said with a nod, looking down at the ships below her before she turned and craned her neck to get a view of the city. Smoke was rising from several positions throughout it, and it looked like more enemy helicopters had taken to the skies. Salamander Squadron was still providing air support for the time being, but from the sounds of things they had to send some pilots back to base. She sighed. "What's Cyclops Squadron's status?"

"They're on their way back. ETA is five minutes," Long Caster answered her.

"I think we can manage without them for a little while longer," Skald said, but there was an edge to his voice Naomi didn't often hear from him. She soon found out why when he added, "Unless there's some other reason you want Cyclops back. Or maybe it's someone, eh, Captain?"

At the sound of her wingmen laughing in response to the remark, Naomi felt a sharp pain and realized she'd bit her tongue out of surprise. She rolled her eyes, a little disappointed Jaeger hadn't come to her defense, but she tried to brush it off. As taken aback as she was by their teasing, it was hard to suppress a laugh of her own and she ended up giving a half-laugh as she answered. "Pfft. You assholes think you're really funny, don't you?"

Jaeger was the first to compose himself, obviously still smiling as he spoke. "Alright, you two, knock it off. We've still got a mission to complete," he said, ever the voice of reason. The laughing promptly died down as Lanza and Skald both managed to simultaneously respond with their own 'yes, sir's. Once they'd quieted down, Jaeger called out to Naomi, "Trigger, I'd say it's about time we finished up here. We've got other allies that are in need, after all."

Naomi nodded, yawing to the left slightly so that her nose was turned back towards the city. The others followed suit. One look at her radar and what enemies she could see on her HUD and she quickly came up with a plan. "I think we should split up for the time being to wipe out any enemies that are left over from the second wave. This should keep us from getting spread too thin when the last of the reinforcements get here. Skald, you come with me to provide cover for our ground forces below. Lanza, Jaeger, you two take care of whatever's lurking in the submerged area. And go sparingly on your special weapons if you can, because I get the feeling you'll need some extra firepower later."

"Okay, sounds good to me, boss!" Lanza called out, the excitement he had from before returning to his voice. He was the first to split off, wasting no time in following through with the order and probably looking forward to another chance to pick off some boats. Once he'd broken off from their formation, Jaeger followed not long after, and the four of them went on in their respective directions.

While the two of them flew to the submerged area, Naomi and Skald made their way back to the city to back up Salamander Squadron and the men below. When they arrived over the government district, Naomi looked to her radar and then her HUD to assess the situation. The men on the ground were advancing much better than before, but their approach had been halted once again by Erusea's army. A number of tanks, radar vehicles, APCs, and AA guns had been pulled out from god only knows where. She guessed this was part of their last resort. If Osea got ahold of the main government building, forgetting the palace and a handful of already captured locations, then Erusea would be out of options.

Skald right away went for the helicopters, switching to his SASMs and firing one each at a pair of them before braking and pulling away once he made sure both missiles hit. Naomi switched to her pulse lasers and took out the last one herself, earning some cheers from the pilots that remained of Salamander Squadron. Their leader gave an awkward laugh. "Damn, looks like the LRSSG is savin' our asses again. I feel bad about making you do all the work, but those damned helicopters were armed to the teeth and...well, we're almost out of ammunition. Erusea had twice what they have waiting now before we got ahold of them."

Naomi glanced over at where the remaining planes of Salamander Squadron were flying, circling around the area. She was a bit surprised they were still here, given that one of them was barely flying straight and was quite clearly trailing smoke. Good thing these planes held up well, probably thanks to the mechanics Osea had on their side. As Avril had shown her time and time again, it would be hard to do the things Naomi and her fellow pilots did if it wasn't for the intelligence and skill the guys on the ground put to use. Still, it was also up to the pilot to know their plane and not push it if they didn't have to. And Naomi wanted as few casualties as they could manage out here.

"No sweat, sir, you did your job well," Naomi answered him quickly, eyeing her radar for her next target as she spoke. Without waiting very long, she continued. "Cyclops Squadron is on their way back from refueling and resupplying, so you and your men can take it easy from here on out. You won't be able to stay in this fight much longer if you lose any more pilots, and I for one would like as many people as possible to make it back."

There was some hesitation before Salamander's leader answered her with a sigh. "You're probably right. I suppose there's not much left for us to do, since we're low on numbers and fuel," he finally answered, a little dejected. He tried to find a brighter side, though, as he complied with the 'order' she had given him, adding in a lighter tone, "I'm tired anyways, and right now I'd kill for some dinner and a hot shower. Phew...Salamander Squadron pulling out. I wish you all luck with the rest of the operation...heh, not that you LRSSG guys really need it, right? We'll see you back at base."

While Salamander safely exited the airspace once again, Strider Squadron made quick work of the remaining enemies. Lanza and Jaeger both made some daring maneuvers between the ruins of buildings in the submerged district, from pulling sharp turns between the buildings to avoid missiles from the gunboats to even bringing down some debris from smaller, more damaged buildings within the area on top of the ships. It was a risky strategy, but Jaeger had figured it out after accidentally firing at the base of an almost completely sunken building and causing what was left of it to give in and crumble onto the very end of one of the ships.

Meanwhile, Naomi and Skald used a hit and run tactic on the tanks and AA guns, quickly locking on, firing, and pulling up while the other came behind and did the same, picking off what the first didn't hit. Their teamwork paid off, having quickly cleared the area along the bridge for their allies to continue pushing forward. At this rate, they'd be finished with the operation in no time. Only a few enemies remained camped out in front of the GHQ, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. It was the likely incoming air support and probably tougher anti-air vehicles that concerned her. The resistance from the enemy seemed to be weakening, and while that was a good thing, it didn't really sit well with Naomi. They had to be waiting for something.

It was easy to mop up the ground targets, and after a few runs they had quickly mopped up the remaining targets. Lanza and Jaeger finished up shortly after in the submerged district, with Jaeger wiping out the last of the boats before pulling up to rejoin Naomi and Skald. In the time it had taken them to clean up what was leftover from the second wave, Cyclops Squadron had made their return to the operation area, their four planes just barely visible specks as they made their approach. Wiseman announced their return, sounding quite pleased with the work that had been done in his absence. "Damn, looks like the four of you didn't waste any time while we were gone."

"I thought Count told you to leave some for us, Trigger!" Fencer said, his voice a mix of impressed and amused. There was a second before he added, "At least tell us you left more than scraps for us to pick over?"

"There's no need to worry about that, believe me," Long Caster answered him as the four planes from Cyclops joined Strider. Everyone listened up as he quickly began to fill them in on the updated situation. "We've got more backup spotted on radar, but it looks as though this is gonna be the last of 'em. We've almost reached the Erusean GHQ, but they've got forces positioned directly around the area as their last line of defense. They have additional air support as well. Rafales and Su-37s. Keep your guard up and take them down. Your air support has considerably weakened organized resistance from the Erusean army, and the operation is nearly complete. All you need to do is see the rest of it through."

"Understood," Naomi said, both relieved and disappointed. While she didn't exactly want a bigger and badder threat to deal with, especially not now, she had been worried and prepared for a much more difficult fight than this. It was too easy, and that was both good or bad. Either way, after this operation they would probably find themselves with some downtime, and the first thing she was going to do was grab dinner and take a nice, long nap. She cracked a small smile. "Let's finish this...I'm ready to go home."

"Damn, we must've really made a dent in their forces if that's all they've got left to throw at us," Húxiān said with a slightly dark chuckle, sounding cockier than she usually did. It was hard not to agree with her, though. "If we keep it up, then this'll bring the war to an end for sure."

"You're telling me," Count said with a short laugh of his own. "Once we get back to Osea, they'll treat us like heroes...man, that's gonna feel good."

"Heh. I don't know what medals they've got waiting for you, but if you want one, you better come back in one piece!" Wiseman said, a slightly stern edge to his voice. His tone softened as he opted to give them a little pep-talk as the enemy air support made their arrival. "Alright! This is it, y'all. Just one final push and we're there. Let's show 'em what we've got!"

Without needing another order, both Strider and Cyclops moved in unison to face the arriving enemy air support. They kept a tight formation before splitting off in pairs to take the enemy on. Cyclops went for the squadron of Rafales, while Strider went for the Su-37s. Count and Wiseman made a move for the Rafales first, working together to split them up and chase them down, while Húxiān and Fencer went for the stragglers before they could realize what was happening. The Eruseans weren't stupid, and quite obviously weren't tired either, and it didn't take them long to figure out the plan and react accordingly. Trying to even the odds, once they would get away they'd try and even successfully get one of Cyclops to chase them. It was to even the odds, make it a one-on-one battle instead of two-on-one like they kept trying to do.

Naomi and Strider Squadron almost received the same treatment from the Su-37s, but it seemed that they were more interested in a fight than their allies, with the one that Naomi assumed was the leader making a beeline for her while his four wingmen were left to handle Lanza, Jaeger, and Skald. The enemy fired as soon as he was in range, and Naomi had to think fast and quickly roll out of the way, feeling herself jerked slightly in her seat at the sudden movement. She gritted her teeth, frustrated by the head on tactic, and circled back around as the enemy pilot did the same.

Every time he was within range, he'd fire at her, not bothering to waste time with strategy. Unless his strategy was to have her constantly thrown off thanks to all the back and forth she was doing between evading and actually trying to dogfight. Naomi was a little annoyed by this, especially since it felt like she was being mocked by the enemy. Luckily for her, two could play at that game. As the two of them came back around to face each other, she throttled up and fired at him. He evaded, not having a chance to fire back, but unlike him, Naomi wasn't looking to toy with her opponents. And right now they were practically the only thing standing between her and some R&R,

As the Su-37 pulled up in an attempt to lose her in the clouds, she followed him and took advantage of his mistake in turning his back on her. He gave her the opening she was looking for, and she didn't intend to pass up the chance. Naomi stayed glued to his tail as they both climbed and then leveled out, eventually leading her through the clouds and her attempt to get a missile lock promptly failed. Regardless, she tried to stay on his tail, and she succeeded for the most part. They broke from the cloud cover, thankfully not in there long enough to ice up. It didn't take long for Naomi to get her bearings back, and right as the enemy fighter began to break and try and escape, she got a lock on and fired a set of missiles. She didn't actually expect it to be that easy, and she was prepared for another chase, but to her amazement both missiles hit before he could evade.

Even if it was unexpectedly easy, she wasn't about to complain. The easier the squadron was to take down, the faster they could finally call it a day. While she had been busy, Skald had managed to take out one of the enemy's wingmen. He'd surprised the enemy, taking him on to get him off of Lanza's tail so Lanza was able to focus on the enemy fighter he was chasing. The enemy wingman had tried to fire on Lanza, but he abruptly evaded and gave Skald a chance to come from behind. As he banked and rolled out of the way, the Su-37 moved to follow, and while he was fixated on Lanza it allowed Skald an opening. Before anyone in the enemy squadron could react and come to their ally's aid, Skald had already fired and both missiles he fired connected with the target. Naomi couldn't see where it had been hit, but the pilot had no option left but to eject.

Lanza was now able to focus on his own job without having to evade, as the remaining two fighters were occupied with Jaeger. Since Skald had Lanza's back covered, Naomi went to give Jaeger a hand. She throttled up and turned her nose towards Jaeger, who was currently giving the two Su-37s a run for their money. He hadn't managed to do much else but get a glancing blow on one of them with the machine gun, but he was constantly evading their own attempts to shoot him down. He would roll then dive, and frequently circle back around once he'd lost them, trying to keep their attention on him and probably waiting for a stroke of luck so he could get a solid lock. It was actually almost entertaining to watch.

"Jaeger!" Naomi called out to him to get his attention, both fighters trying to get on his tail. They were actually practically glued to him, but he managed to keep them at awkward firing positions so he was just barely safe. If they really wanted to, then they could drag this damned dogfight out all day. But Naomi was getting sick of this battle, and she wasn't looking to be out here running in circles all night. "Bring them over this way, Strider 3!"

"Wilco, Strider 1, I'm on my way," Jaeger replied, not bothering to ask for any sort of clue as to what she might have planned. He clearly was trusting her to handle it however she pleased, and she was glad he was willing to do that. He banked and brought his plane around, leveling out and throttling up as he now flew towards Naomi. The Su-37s followed exactly as planned, right on either side of fighter and both of them seeming in competition for their next kill. They were right where Naomi wanted them.

She matched the speed Jaeger was flying at, and flew towards him at an angle that would bring her own Eagle uncomfortably close to his. And uncomfortably close to the enemy fighters. She didn't know if Jaeger was going to trust her or break when she came towards him, but she if the Su-37's pilot moved the way she wanted then her plan would work. It was a game of chicken, more than anything, and either way gave her the upper hand. If the enemy broke off, she could split him from his wingman and give Jaeger a break. If he kept going, she could just fire and hit him head on. Naomi only could pray that either of them could move out of the way fast enough afterwards and avoid a collision. That would be a more creative way to finish up, but she had plans and she kind of had to be alive to do them.

Right before they passed each other, Jaeger did choose to break in the opposite direction to play it safe, and it actually brought the Erusean fighter into a better position than Naomi was going for. He ended up reacting slower than his wingman, and instead of mirroring Jaeger's movements, he ended up splitting off at the last second in the opposite direction. She couldn't help but let out an irritated sigh as he shot past her. While she knew he might do it, it wasn't the ideal way for her plan to go, but she could work with it.

As soon as it happened, Naomi braked hard and rolled. She struggled to look over her shoulder, trying to get a better idea as to where her target might be heading, but she assumed he was going to head back towards Jaeger. She was startled when she heard an alert go off in her ear, one that told her that her assumptions were wrong. In a split second, she chose to risk stalling and pulled a hard, high-G turn. The aircraft seemed to shudder in protest, and her own body was starting to reach its limit. The maneuver got her out of the way of the enemy missile, and she promptly added more speed once her plane completed the turn, not really wanting to have to recover from a stall.

Carefully maneuvering, she got herself into the position she wanted, her nose pointed directly towards the enemy's. He wasn't backing off, and she knew he was probably waiting for the right moment to attack himself. Head on attacks were far from the smartest strategies she ever performed, but she liked to think she was good at them. Naomi's missile alert went off, around the time she was within lock on range, and she could actually see the missile coming for her. She took a chance and quickly rolled to the side, firing two missiles as she did. There was a shockwave from an explosion, and she couldn't be sure if it was from her missiles successfully hitting or from the enemy's missile hitting her.

Once she finally leveled out, though, and she became less dazed and reassessed her surroundings, she felt a familiar rush of relief. The sound of Long Caster and the others proudly announcing the kill filled her ears, and she was able to catch a glimpse of the enemy plane going down. It looked as though Lanza had finished off his own challenger as well, and a quick check of her HUD and the radar confirmed this. Naomi eased up on the engine, leaning her head back against the headrest of the ejection seat, wanting nothing more than to call it a day. "This is Strider 1...that was the last of the Su-37s. Cyclops, how are things over there?"

Cyclops Squadron's dogfight had moved further over the city, and she couldn't really see how well they were all doing from where she was. It looked as though they had the upper hand, though. It took a moment before anyone spoke up, but Wiseman finally responded, albeit distractedly. "We've got two more. Argh, dammit! Cyclops 3, watch your ass!" Wiseman practically bellowed at Cyclops, but it was everyone that instinctively reacted, Strider Squadron quickly regrouping and moving towards the area. "Count, Húxiān, go after that last one!"

Now that Naomi and the others were closer, they caught the last few moments of the dogfight. Húxiān and Count quickly cornered their target, giving him few places to run to. The Rafale's pilot made a reckless decision to try and turn to face them, but Count fired before the enemy could and the plane went down. Fencer had been caught off guard by the other remaining Rafale, and Wiseman came to his aid as quickly as he could, finishing him off. Unfortunately, not before he got a good hit on Fencer with the machine gun.

"Shit!" Fencer spat out.

"Long Caster, scratch the last Rafale," Wiseman said with a sigh, Cyclops Squadron regrouping. Naomi and the others were only just now getting into what would have been firing range, and she found herself feeling a little guilty for doing nothing. Had they let their guard down? It didn't matter now, they could only hope no serious damage had been done. Wiseman seemed aware of this, and taking a deep breath, he softened his tone. "Fencer, is everything okay?"

"Well, my pride's a little hurt," Fencer replied, seeming rather annoyed with the situation but sounding as though he was unharmed. He didn't take long to continue. "I'm a little shaken, but it looks like everything's still functioning properly. From what I can tell, all the instruments are working properly. I'm not losing any fuel, and the engines seem fine. And the plane's still in one piece. I might not be able to risk a lot of intense dogfighting, but I'll live 'till the op's over."

"Good, so long as you're still in one piece," Wiseman said, everyone sharing in his relief on the subject. They all returned to formation, circling around the battlefield as they did. It looked to Naomi as though there weren't any other hostiles in the area, at least none that the army and their naval power couldn't take care of. Wiseman must have realized the same thing that she did, but none of them let their guards down again as he radioed Long Caster. "Long Caster, how 'bout an update?"

There was silence on the other end, save for the background chatter among their allies on the ground, but after about a minute Long Caster's voice came over the radio. "Alright, all allied aircraft and units, listen carefully. This is Long Caster. We now have the upper hand; the enemy headquarters is almost ours. The operation to eliminate all enemy satellites is also underway. All going according to plan! The end of the war is in sight!" Everyone practically erupted into cheers, not lacking in enthusiasm despite their fatigue. Long Caster waited for them all to die down before he added, "Think of something you'd like to eat, guys, 'cause I'm buyin'!"

"Ha, righto!" Count replied through a smile. "Man, I can't wait. I'm starving."

"Same over here. I could go for a three-course meal right about now," Lanza said almost longingly, following up with a groan.

"Man, c'mon, y'all, don't jinx us!" Wiseman said in a slightly pouty tone of voice, one that the others couldn't help but laugh in response to.

Their snickering filled what would have been a dull silence, but Naomi couldn't join in. Her gut was telling her that something wasn't right, and no matter what the others said, she couldn't shake the feeling. The same feeling she'd had earlier. Was it luck that it was this easy? Was she just worrying for nothing? She should have been celebrating. She was happy everything went well, far more than she was showing. Naomi tilted her head slightly so she was able to look out towards the water. The sun was lower in the sky now, not far from dipping below the horizon. Hues of purple and pink were beginning to mix in with the orange and gold, telling everyone that dusk wasn't far behind. She should have felt hopeful and relaxed now they were at the day's end, but she wasn't.

Maybe there was part of her that was disappointed it was so easy, or perhaps her own exhaustion was playing a part in her worry. Either way, she wasn't as relaxed as she may have looked. She lifted her head from the headrest, looking over at her allies. Their laughter was beginning to die down now, and she put on a slight smile. She pushed her anxiety and doubt out of her mind for now, seeing no reason why they couldn't relax a little and take some pride in a job well done. No casualties. And that was good enough for her. When the snickering finally stopped, she gave a tired chuckle of her own, "Y'know, Wiseman does have a point."

"Ah, yeah, you're right," Long Caster said, seeming slightly embarrassed by it but laughing it off nonetheless.

Naomi smirked a little, realizing one thing that she'd almost forgotten about. "I am kinda curious about that competition from earlier, though. What'd we win?"

"Now, hold on there, hotshot," Húxiān interjected with a snort of laughter. The light and playful edge didn't leave her voice as she asked, "What makes you so sure Strider Squadron won that, huh?"

"Ooh, she's gotcha there, Trig," Count added in his own cocky voice, which certainly didn't help matters. Naomi managed to keep herself from laughing, not wanting to encourage him. "Besides, I thought we were competing individually?"

"How's that fair to the rest of us?" Lanza asked, sounding out of breath. Most likely from his laughing earlier. "What with you three bigshots always working too hard!"

"Alright, alright! That's enough, y'all need to settle down!" Wiseman said through a hearty laugh, and Naomi felt her smile widen at that. The others gave short laughs of their own, but they eased off and let him continue. He paused to think for a second, then went on. "Now, considering that you all pulled your weight out there and then some, how about I treat all of you tonight? The base where we're heading is in territory under Osean control, and the local towns are pretty friendly to us since we ran off the Eruseans for 'em. I'm sure there's a place to grab a drink or two. If Long Caster's got dinner, then drinks are on me! You earned it!"

"Alright! Now we're talking!" Skald said eagerly, and the others soon followed with their own cheers and whoops. Now, Naomi felt relaxed, hearing all of her wingmen genuinely excited again. They'd been happy before, but this time they were loud and hopeful and had something to look forward to. It was what she was used to, and for a moment, she had forgotten about her previous concerns. She'd forgotten that she'd ever been worried, and she laughed. Wiseman laughed, too.

But the moment was short lived, and Naomi felt a chill suddenly run down her back when Long Caster spoke again, but there was something different in his tone. It wasn't light. There was concern, and everyone was quick to settle down. "Wait a minute...we're picking something up on radar. New bogies— no, five Su-30s inbound!"

"Dammit, is that...?" Wiseman sounded frustrated, and even fearful, but he didn't bring himself to finish his thought.

Something clicked in Naomi's head, some sort of feeling. The dread went away, leaving an empty pit in her stomach. She felt angry. The blips drawing closer on radar, matching the location of the silhouettes over the ocean. Her muscles tensed again, and her free hand tightened into a fist. Gritting her teeth, she finished Wiseman's sentence through a growl. "It's Mr. X!"

There was one plane flying ahead of the others, making a low approach and practically touching the water as he came for one of the Osean ships. The ships opened fire, but it didn't look like a single shot hit the aircraft. He closed in quickly, like a bird of prey swooping in for the kill, firing a pair of missiles at the closest ship. An explosion followed before he sharply pulled up and expertly weaved through the gunfire from the allied ships. As if it was nothing, perhaps just to put on a show, he performed a Cobra maneuver and dived straight towards the other ship. Finishing it off in a similar manner, he continued his flight towards the city, four more aircraft now joining him in a tight formation.

The LRSSG squadrons had split and circled around, keeping their own formation as they took on separate approaches. Perhaps there was some hope that they'd be able to corral them, but something was telling Naomi that they had more tricks than before. There were five of them now, unlike the three they'd met over Yinshi Valley, and the weather was on everyone's side. His movements seemed familiar, but also different. He moved differently than she had remembered. But that didn't matter to her. She kept her eyes trained on their formation, pushing aside what fears she had. This is it. I'm putting an end to you right here and now.

Mr. X and his squadron flew over the Osean ships once more, before the five of them climbed higher into to sky, turning together in one fluid movement to face Strider Squadron head on. Naomi took a breath. Had they singled her out? They couldn't know from that distance, there was no way they could. If she couldn't see their markings from here, there was no way they could see hers. It was coincidence. She wasn't going to let herself be intimidated by him. She wasn't going to cave.

Below, the crews of the ships seemed panicked, though they tried to maintain their composure as they spoke. "Captain! We've just lost Ship 3 and 4! We're taking heavy damage!"

"It's like this monster is toying with us! We've got to do something!" another officer added. "Do we still have our air support!"

"They're up there...I just hope they can take him on..." the captain of the flagship muttered.

"LRSSG! We have an emergency order from mission command!" Long Caster's voice joined the chatter, the others fading to the background. There was urgency and sternness in his voice at once. "Bring down Mr. X! I know it's a tall order, but HQ wouldn't ask if they didn't have faith in you. And I have faith in you, too. You've all faced harder battles than this, and you've come this far. Cyclops, Strider, stop Mr. X! I know if anyone can do it, our aces can! Go!"

As he said that, Naomi and Wiseman led the charge, throttling up as their wingmen followed. Mr. X and his squadron — Sol Squadron — were pitched at an angle, and as Naomi and Strider Squadron reached them, they picked up speed and split their formation, several feet over Strider. She followed their movements with her eyes, having to crane her neck as they streaked through the sky side by side. Unfortunately, she had a perfect view of their impressive movements. They weren't fatigued and they were more experienced, clearly more disciplined too. But what they lacked in that manner, Strider and Cyclops made up for in numbers and determination.

Naomi grunted, and quickly pulled a high-G turn before pulling up, so she was facing them as they scattered across the battlefield before they came back around to properly fight them. They didn't move in pairs, but their maneuvers still appeared coordinated as they moved in opposite directions. Wiseman quickly called out to them, having come up with a proper plan faster than Naomi could have, at least right now. "Don't go at 'em alone! Two or more on each target! Count, you're with me! Fencer, go with Húxiān, and Húxiān, make sure you keep him covered. I don't know how well he can hold up. Trigger! Keep your cool! I know you can handle this!"

Wiseman's words seemed to bring her focus away from the anger and fear she currently felt, reminding her that she still had her wingmen with her. She took a deep breath, quickly issuing orders to her own squadron. "Right...Jaeger, Lanza, you guys know what to do. Skald?"

"I've got your back, Captain," Skald said firmly, keeping his voice steady and calm. As Jaeger and Lanza broke off, Skald followed Naomi closely as he had done before. She trusted him in this fight, even if she wasn't as in tune with him as she was with Count. Unlike her and Count, though, he could keep his cool without trying. Whatever he was feeling now, Naomi knew that he wasn't going to let it take over, and the same could be said for Jaeger.

As the experimental squadron circled around them, not firing or trying to fire, but simply taunting them, Strider and Cyclops went on the offensive. Each pair went after one of the escorts, but Naomi had a different target in mind. She got a visual on Mr. X and the moment she did, she went for him, with Skald right behind her. She ignored the pit in her stomach, and ignored her body's protesting every move like it had done the last time they'd faced Mr. X. There was only one thing that she cared about, and that was taking this bastard down. Even though it seemed as though Skald was having a hard time keeping up with the two of them as they pulled into a sudden, steep climb, Naomi didn't waver from the flight path.

He was more agile than she remembered, and faster as well. Every turn seemed to be done on a dime, which wasn't unusual if not for the fact that it seemed...inhuman. She switched weapons to her pulse lasers, cursing herself for not changing to SASMs like the others. She knew something didn't feel right and she kept with the single most stupid weapon she could have picked. Sure, it would have worked in a normal dogfight against normal pilots, but manually aiming at these guys was insanity. Still, she had to do it. Naomi waited, she waited until she was sure she could stick to him. She had the shot...almost there. Her grip stiffened as she readied herself to fire...

"CAPTAIN! ON YOUR THREE O' CLOCK, EVADE!" Skald's shout broke her focus, and she promptly heard her missile alert go off as one of the escorts flew in from her right. She broke as soon as she could and he flew past her, Skald promptly chasing after him to allow her to recover. It also allowed Mr. X to get away, and she silently cursed her stupidity. Skald took control of the situation, not ordering her but advising her. "Trigger, we're never going to get a clear shot on Mr. X unless we take care of these damned escorts. They've got their flight envelopes nailed down...they're not messing around, but we don't have any other options."

"You're right, Skald. I should have known they'd cover him," Naomi said, a little shaken by the experience, but mostly due to frustration. As Skald and Mr. X's wingmen came back around, Naomi circled about and joined in on Skald's pursuit. "C'mon, let's get this guy finished off. That way we can get rid of the real threat."

Skald was closest, firing two missiles and then a pair of SASMs, which would have been overkill in any normal situation. However, the movement worked for the best thanks to his timing. The enemy fighter tried to dodge them with a Kulbit, no doubt a move he'd learned from their leader, but he was too slow to counter the SASMs, and while one only dealt him a glancing blow, the other directly hit the tip of his wing. It slowed him down a bit, albeit not by much. But it was enough.

Naomi was the first to turn and follow him, making a high-G turn. The only reason she and the others were probably able to push themselves was courtesy of a much needed adrenaline rush, and the movement hardly fazed her. At least, it wouldn't immediately. She had a vague awareness of a throbbing pain in her stomach and shoulders, but she ignored it. The enemy fighter's mobility wasn't as good as before, and it was easy for her to get a lock on him.

When she fired, he managed to evade, leading her to use the pulse lasers as a last resort. Not the best option, but the only one she really had. Having to manually aim was an annoyance, but she'd had plenty of practice. She lined up the shot, managing to keep him directly in the center of it while Skald kept him from having too many places to go. She pulled the trigger and fired, trying to aim for his damaged wing. Her shots hit him right where she wanted, and with his wing smoking he braked so she and Skald would overshoot. However, he didn't try to fire. Instead, as Naomi and Skald circled back around, she saw him make the decision to eject. Whatever happened to him now, she didn't care. He wasn't their problem anymore.

Count and Wiseman worked together to take on their target, with Count staying glued to the guy's six while Wiseman went for a head-on approach. The two of them seemed to have worked out some timing, and they'd already figured out his flying style well enough to counter most of the time. Count managed to graze him with the machine gun, catching him off guard long enough for Wiseman to get into position. Count got a lock first and fired an SASM and two missiles, while Wiseman did the same a few moments later. It was hard to tell which ones hit and which didn't, but the pilot ejected while his plane crashed and burned to the ground. As it did, Wiseman gave a victorious yell, "Ha, gotcha! Lights out!"

"Damn...even the guy's lackeys fly like champions," Count said, out of breath. He seemed to become aware of the remaining two, and he wasn't pleased. "Ugh...who even are these guys? It's like they're not even human!"

"Doesn't matter," Wiseman said with a huff. "We have to everything we can to stop them. Mr. X is on a rampage, and if we keep letting him run wild and eat through our forces like that, then Osea doesn't stand a chance in hell. Whatever you do, do not let your guard down!"

Jaeger and Lanza were struggling with their own target. It seemed like the first two of the wingmen were less experienced, but these two were almost at Mr. X's level. By the time anyone registered what they were trying to do, they were too slow to counter. And that was the goal. Naomi and Skald moved in to help their wingmen, but everything happened in the blink of an eye. Jaeger had to evade, and he left Lanza on his own while he shook off the missile that had been fired. By the time his plane circled back around, Lanza had almost gotten a clear shot, but like the other Sol pilot, this one pulled off a Kulbit maneuver. Only this time, as the plane shot over Lanza's Eagle, he evaded Lanza's missile. As soon as he leveled out, he throttled up and fired a pair of missiles, following up with the machine gun for good measure.

Lanza let out a startled shout, moving to evade and dropping flares, but he was too slow. One missile hit him just shy of the engine, taking out the left elevator that had been left as a prime target when he'd banked to evade. Jaeger flew in to chase the guy away from him and keep him from finishing the job. Although Lanza was still flying, he didn't say anything, and he eased up on his engine. He was a sitting duck, and Skald let out a furious shout to break him out of whatever daze he was in. "Lanza! Lanza, goddammit, you moron! Talk to us!"

After a few seconds, Lanza groaned and spoke up. His voice was strained, and he sounded as though he was in pain. Alerts sounded in the background as he spoke. "I'm fine...but I don't think...argh...I—I can't stay in the fight. My plane's toast and my head...well, I think I'm bleeding. I kinda hit it really hard."

Naomi felt another chill, along with a feeling that was a mix of relief, anger, and worry. She took a deep breath, knowing that he couldn't stay in the fight like that and whatever had happened meant he probably couldn't make it back to base. "Strider 4, you did what you could. I need you to eject, Lanza. I want you to make it home."

He let out a sigh, sounding reluctant but not arguing. "Roger that, boss...heh, try to keep Skald from doing anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Shut up and bail out while you can still talk. I'll never forgive you if you don't make it back," Skald said, attempting to joke but failing to keep the shakiness from his voice. Lanza didn't argue, and a few moments later they caught sight of his parachute, telling them that he safely made it out. The plane was done for, but Naomi couldn't have cared less about it, so long as Lanza was safe and sound. At least, for the most part, anyways.

"Strider 4 has safely bailed out," Naomi said, eyes flicking towards where Jaeger was chasing down the one that had shot down Lanza. He could never take him down on his own, and Naomi and Skald needed to get back in the game if they had any chance. They'd been too late before, but Naomi wasn't about to let anymore of her men get shot down. But she needed to know how Skald was holding up first. Even if Lanza would be okay in the end, he was still Skald's buddy and she needed to know he could still focus. "Skald?"

"I'm right behind you, Strider 1." Skald practically snarled out the words, sounding angrier than she'd ever heard him. It was worrying her, she didn't want him to lose his cool, and as if reading he could read her thoughts he said, "Don't worry about me. I'm perfectly calm. Now let's go and take these bastards down and win this. Lanza deserves that much, and if he can't fight for himself then I'm going to do it for him. Whatever it takes."

"Heads up, you two! I'm bringing him your way!" Jaeger called out, and Naomi and Skald both readied themselves and jumped on him as soon as they had an opening. The three of them quickly got into a groove, maneuvering as best as they could and working to get a clear shot. They countered the enemy's movement as soon as they could, managing to successfully stay glued to him, but they'd never be able to get a shot like this. And they all seemed to realize this. Jaeger spoke up first. "Skald, you get him from the front. Trigger and I will stay on his tail and keep him cornered!"

No one argued, not that they had any better options. It worked when Wiseman and Count had done it, so no reason why it wouldn't work now. As Skald broke away to pull the same trick Wiseman and Count had, Naomi and Jaeger made sure that they kept Mr. X's wingman from getting away, causing him to dodge missiles or their radar locks only to end up right in the line of fire from the other. As Skald came about, facing the enemy Su-30 head on, Naomi and Jaeger fired simultaneously and Skald fired immediately after. "Fox 2!"

It was Skald's missile that hit, and the enemy fighter's engine was hit. He made the smart decision to eject, and that left only his wingman and Mr. X. Long Caster quickly spoke up, "That's one more down! Finish them off! Our allies are suffering heavy losses! Mr. X can't hide behind his allies forever, give him no choice but to face you!"

"Fox 2!" both Húxiān and Count called out simultaneously as the two of them, right in the nick of time, fired at the remaining escort. By now, all of them moved in on him, giving him nowhere to run to. He tried to keep fighting, or at least get away, but Wiseman made a dive from the clouds and surprised him, firing on him with the machine gun. They eased off of him as he pulled back from the dogfight, no longer actively trying to fight any of them. As his plane practically limped around the edge of the city, it took a few seconds of pointless circling before he bailed out.

All of them let out victorious cheers, and Long Caster's voice rose above the rest of them. "Scratch the last escort!"

"Stay focused, everyone! We've still got that monster to slay!" Wiseman called out to them. He was right, and he sounded determined, but there was still a hint of concern in his voice. Mr. X had done quite a bit of damage to the Osean allied forces, but it didn't seem like he'd made a very large dent. It looked to Naomi as though he'd just been up to his usual habit of toying with his targets, but now that he was warmed up for a real fight, he was on his own. He seemed to realize that, having pulled up and circled around from his location over Silver Bridge. Wiseman took notice. "Alright, everyone, we've got his attention now! Let's do this!"

Cyclops and Strider's formation scattered as soon as Mr. X reached them, having crossed the battlefield at a ridiculous speed. Naomi wasn't sure she'd ever seen anybody fly that fast...well, she had a bad habit of pushing her aircraft's engines like that. But the way he maneuvered when he reached them reminded her of that drone, which made her think there was more to this Mr. X than met the eye. Not that she'd doubted that before, but now it was even more obvious. What the hell had he been doing since the last time they'd faced one another? Whatever it was — whatever he'd done — it made him a bigger threat than he was before.

As the seven of them split off, each one heading in different directions to try and get a shot as Mr. X circled their group, it seemed as though he was trying to decide which one of them was the easiest target. And once he spotted Fencer's plane, moving slowly and with lacking mobility compared to the rest of them, he moved in for the kill. He carefully maneuvered around them, dodging their feeble attempts at a missile lock, and fired the machine gun at Fencer. Fencer grunted and hurried to evade, not moving as well as he was earlier. That didn't stop him from countering, though, turning around to engage as soon as he had a chance.

Fencer pulled a high-G turn, managing to get onto Mr. X's tail. He matched his movements as best he could, having a slightly more delayed reaction. Naomi didn't know how much damage he'd taken, but he still put up a tough fight. He managed to fire an SASM at him, and although it didn't hit it still gave the others time to attempt their own attacks. One by one they moved in, firing haphazardly whenever they got a lock, in hopes that something would hit. Naomi lined up a shaky, longer-ranged attack with the pulse lasers and managed to hit his wing with a couple of the shots. Even if it was only two shots, she was surprised she'd pulled that off, not expecting anything to hit from where she was.

Mr. X acted as though it hadn't even touched him, and he promptly led Fencer into a prime position before he pulled off his signature Cobra as though it was nothing, firing two missiles once he was directly over Fencer. Both of them hit, and Naomi felt like their was a rock in her throat. She wanted to shout, but she was too taken aback to do so. The amount of relief she felt when Fencer's aircraft emerged from the smoke, his plane practically falling apart, and spoke up was almost immeasurable. "This is Cyclops 3. I've been hit! I've got to eject. I let you down...I'm sorry. Good luck!"

"No sweat, Fencer, you did well," Wiseman said, and Fencer gave a short grunt of acknowledgement before he punched out. And right in the nick of time, too, as the fire from Mr. X's hit engulfed the rest of the aircraft's body, igniting the entire thing. It blew up and debris fell to the ground in several fireballs. Wiseman let out a relieved sigh. "Cyclops 3 has bailed out safely. Don't worry, he's gonna make it out just fine. Or at least, he should. But..."

"Wiseman, I don't know what we can do but we need to do something," Naomi said quickly as Mr. X flew over and circled around the submerged area, leaving them with a chance to regroup and hopefully with time to plan. She kept her voice level, but her entire body felt like it was trembling. The iron grip she had both her fists in, with one on the flight stick and the other drawn up and pushing into her stomach, probably wasn't doing much to help her. Her knuckles had probably gone white by now. "We don't have the option to run from this."

"I know. Listen, Trigger, real talk, here...if we keep it up as is, someone's not going to make it home. And all of this will be for nothing," Wiseman said, speaking firmly but his own exhaustion finally given away in his words. He didn't hesitate before continuing, the determination from earlier coming back. "Like you said, we need to do something. And we need to do it fast. So, I'm going to act as a lure and get you a clear shot. Meanwhile, you're going to shoot down Mr. X. Got it?"

"What?!" Count sputtered in disbelief at the words. "What the hell kind of plan is that?! That's suicide! Do you have a death wish or something, Wiseman? Trigger, don't tell me you're gonna just let him do it!"

Count was practically pleading with her, and Naomi thought it was an insane plan just as much as he did. But she didn't have any better ideas, and it seemed all of them knew this was their last option. She let out a frustrated growl, banking to follow Wiseman as he changed course towards the submerged area where Mr. X was waiting for them. Probably deciding which of them he was going to go after next. Ignoring Count, she radioed Wiseman. "Cyclops 1, roger that...let's do it. I'm not going to let you down."

"Goddammit!" Count spat, and there was a muffled thud that could be heard. It sounded like he'd slammed his fist down or kicked something, and Naomi winced slightly when he raised his voice. "You dumbasses are both insane!"

He turned to follow them in spite of his protests, soon after joined by Jaeger, Húxiān, and Skald. Naomi didn't know if this would work, but apparently the others trusted Wiseman enough to go along with it regardless. She only hoped one of them might be able to get a hit on him. The others flew along the edge of the area while Wiseman took the lead, approaching Mr. X quickly before flying by him at top speed. He passed by him so close that they nearly collided, and the movement actually seemed to catch him off guard. He dodged as soon as he could, and it took him a minute before he made a sharp turn and began a pursuit.

"Alright, he grabbed the bait! Time to take him for a ride!" Wiseman cheered as Naomi and the others took this as their cue to move in. It seemed Wiseman wasn't about to make it easy on him, and he made a barrel roll before pulling into a steep dive. He pulled up right before he crashed into the water, taking the opportunity to weave in between the ruins in the district. Mr. X followed him, matching him move for move as they maneuvered between the buildings.

Naomi began her own pursuit once they came around, the others firing only to distract him. She didn't want to have to fly so close to the water, let alone with added obstacles, but she wasn't about to let Mr. X get away. Wiseman and Mr. X climbed up over the buildings and into the sky as they reached the edge of the area, and that was when Naomi got her ass into gear. There wasn't any hesitance now as she throttled up, gritting her teeth as she followed them. Within a matter of seconds she was behind Mr. X, but she had to wait. She couldn't hit him at this angle, because she knew he'd find a way to dodge whatever she threw at him in a heartbeat.

The three of them continued to climb before Wiseman turned sharply and pushed his nose down again. Mr. X moved quicker, having the advantage of whatever post-stall capabilities his Su-30 had. Naomi started her turn and then descent sooner than they had, wanting time to catch them. The others were waiting at a lower altitude for them, and it may have seemed like they were just flying around doing nothing, but she trusted them to have a plan.

As they approached the water (much to Naomi's frustration) and Wiseman once again led him through the buildings, she got an opening. Stay calm...wait for it. The familiar rapid beeping followed promptly by a solid tone made her react on instinct, and she fired a single missile and waited before she fired the second. He dodged both, but just as Naomi had assumed, the rest of their allies had a plan. Using the terrain to their advantage, they maintained a higher altitude and all three of them fired on Mr. X. The thing was, they knew they weren't going to hit him, but they were going to hit the building in front of him. It was Húxiān that announced the new opportunity. "Trigger! Do it now!"

Naomi realized the chance this gave her, and she pitched the nose of her aircraft up. The timing had to be just right. Mr. X had no choice but to brake, and hard, in order to avoid getting crushed as the building began to crumble into the water. He pulled up, but his reaction was slower this time. Without even realizing it, he flew right into Naomi's line of fire. She fired two missiles, immediately switching to the pulse lasers and following up her firing with a few shots from that. Mr. X dropped flares and the missiles lost track of him, but he didn't have the time to dodge the shots from the lasers. Naomi hit the same spot she had before, and while it didn't cripple him, it did damage his wing. He was trailing smoke, but he didn't show any sign of giving in now.

"Target hit!" Long Caster announced. "Strider 1 scored a hit! There's no way he can keep this up forever!"

"Haha! Nice flying!" Wiseman praised her, but there wasn't any time to celebrate. Mr. X caught up to him, but Wiseman didn't lead him through the ruins this time. Naomi followed them, but she didn't know how long they could keep pushing like this. They were flying almost as fast as their engines would allow them. They could keep it up, maybe even kick things up another notch, but they were low on fuel. Wiseman began to turn, clearly intending to do another run like that. "Man, this is one stubborn bastard! He's on my tail, but he won't fire. Waiting for the perfect shot, eh? Sorry, stranger, but my kids won't let you have it! Trigger, let's go! Give him one more!"

"Almost there!" Naomi called out, hoping she could manage the same thing again. Low on fuel, low on ammunition...but she remembered Lanza and Fencer, and then Wiseman and Count and the others. They were all trusting her, and if she messed up then they were done for. She wasn't going to let that happen, no matter what. One way or the other, the King of the Skies had ruled for long enough. Wiseman dove, and for a few seconds she had a shot. Naomi hadn't switched back to her missiles, but they wouldn't have done her any good. She moved quickly, now within machine gun range, and she fired. "Dammit! I missed! I'm gonna try something, bring him back around."

"Right. I just hope I can keep this up," Wiseman said, but in spite of how tired he sounded, he continued to maneuver his plane the same way he did before. Mr. X followed like planned, while Naomi flew alongside them and gave them a wide berth. She eased up on the throttle, trying to figure out the best way to get in a shot on him. Wiseman made sure to keep up the same speed he'd been going, apparently relying on outrunning him to keep the guy from getting too comfortable. "Alright, Trigger, any time now. The rest of you, cover our allies in case he gets bored. Or worse, gets away."

While the other three complied with the order, Count let out an exasperated sigh. "Enough with your air show, Wiseman! You're pushing it."

Right as he had said this, Wiseman pulled a hard turn while Naomi moved in without a word. She fired at him, but it was in vain, and she gave a frustrated huff as the chase continued. She couldn't help but agree with Count. At this rate, they were basically just stalling for time while the ground forces tried to finish the operation. It wouldn't be long before Mr. X got bored with them, and this back and forth was making that a more and more likely option. Wiseman, on the other hand, laughed Count's comment off and replied in a playful manner. "Aww, Count, that's sweet. I never knew you cared."

"Wiseman..." Count started, almost saying it as a warning.

"Man, can't believe that. You're all grown up...I'll even let the wisecrack slide!" Again, Wiseman tried to brush it off and keep the mood light. How he was able to sound so cheerful and still fly the way he was astounded Naomi. There was something else in his voice though. Maybe it was the slight hint of exhaustion and strain when he spoke, but his movements were starting to get sloppy. Naomi's were, too, and she felt dazed. But his words...it didn't feel or sound right. Something about it made her worried.

"Hey, I'm being serious here!" Count raised his voice again. "You can't keep this up forever!"

Naomi knew he was worried for them, and she was worried too, but they needed to focus. They were tired, but they could still fight. She ignored Count, as did Wiseman, while she broke off from Mr. X's tail and turned back to the submerged area. "Wiseman, lead him through the ruins again. I might be able to pull that same trick we did earlier, and if not then...well, at the very least he'll have to think about his movements more. And he'll probably have his attention divided."

"Heh, looks like both of my hatchlings have grown up...alright, Trigger, let's go. I want you to finish this," Wiseman said. As Naomi circled the edge of the city, flying over the crater that sat beside it. She waited, watching as Wiseman lowered his altitude and began to weave once again through the buildings. Naomi steeled herself and followed, rolling hard and pulling a high-G turn not only just to keep up but to avoid face-planting into a building, or worse, into the water.

All the raw skill, talent, or determination in the world wasn't going to help her right now. Her nerves were shot, her body was sore, and the only thing she could hear now was the faint sound of her aircraft's altitude warnings going off underneath the ringing in her ears. Her focal point was on Wiseman, not on Mr. X, giving her a clear goal to keep moving towards. She tensed up and made a high-G turn to follow them as they reached the edge of the city. Wiseman brought them into a climb and Naomi followed, grinding her teeth the whole way. She pushed on the throttle with everything she had in order to catch up to them. To hell with the engines.

Naomi's heart was racing and her head was pounding, but she felt a flicker of hope as the distance between the three of them began to close. Almost there. Just a little further. She listened, waiting, and finally the sound she noise she was listening for sounded. That familiar steady and ear-piercing tone. As Wiseman pulled away, maintaining a steady altitude for a few seconds before his nose pointed downward, Naomi fired on Mr. X before she broke off from him. She looked up, as far up as she could, and she smiled. For a second, she thought she had him. There was no way he was going to dodge it, or even have time. But as fast as the feeling had come, the dread from earlier came crashing down.

Suddenly, Mr. X's plane arced and the missiles did as well, but there was only so far they'd go. As he reached the tip of the arc, Mr. X rolled as though it was nothing and both missiles shot past him. The movement brought him practically on top of Wiseman, and as soon as Naomi noticed this she instinctively reacted. Even though he was further away, it sounded like Count reacted to it too, and both of them made a move to cover Wiseman. Naomi would reach him faster. He was practically right in front of her, but she wasn't within range to fire on Mr. X yet. No, no, no. He had to buy her more time, and without thinking she yelled out, "WISEMAN! Shake him off, NOW!"

"Shit! I can't shake him! But if I just..." Wiseman said, but like Naomi he hadn't been expecting Mr. X to react that way. They shouldn't have gotten so sloppy. He began to turn, probably intending to try and engage him on his own, but he was too slow. Mr. X countered his movements, making slight adjustments to his angle. And he fired. "Almost...just a bit longer! —"

By now, what remained of Strider and Cyclops had closed in on Mr. X and Wiseman's location, and they all cried out in vain. "Cyclops 1, missile! Missile!"

"Evade!"

"Wiseman! Missile closing!"

His words were cut off, and static followed as the missiles made a direct hit to his engine. Mr. X broke off as Wiseman's plane exploded midair, and Naomi's chest suddenly felt tight. She stared straight out at the sky in front of her, at the smoke and what debris was left from the explosion as it fell towards the sea below. She became aware that she'd stopped breathing, and she felt like the world around her had disappeared. Vaguely she made out words. Húxiān's cry of confusion, Jaeger and Skald's dismayed shouts. But where was Count? Her surroundings came flooding back to her, eyes stinging, and the panic from before gripped her once again. She took in a sharp breath, swallowing what felt like a rock.

"Shit." Long Caster's voice was the first she heard clearly. His own voice was strained, but he steeled himself and continued. "Cyclops 1 is down..."

"Wiseman!" Count yelled out in vain, his voice cracking slightly. When no response came, his tone became angrier. He saw what happened but he didn't sound willing to accept it. It didn't feel real, not to him and not even to Naomi. But it was. Count yelled anyways, the firmness in his voice wavering towards the end. "Dammit! Eject already, Wiseman!"

"I-I'm sorry, Count," it was Jaeger that spoke up, reminding them all that whether they liked it or not, what had just happened was very real. He tried to stay calm, but the only way he managed that was by practically whispering. "His...his plane exploded."

"But...shit..." Count's voice trailed off, though if he had actually said more than Naomi had stopped paying attention.

"Goddammit!" Naomi cursed under her breath, her voice shaking. Her eyes stopped stinging, but something wet rolled down her cheek as she lifted her head. She didn't know if it was a tear or sweat. All of the guilt and anger that she'd left to build up over time was beginning to reach a boiling point, but she knew she had to stay strong. In the distance, that damned Su-30 practically danced through the sky, flying back towards the city. Naomi managed to add enough speed to turn, but she hesitated once her nose was back towards the city. Her eyes narrowed on the silhouette of the enemy aircraft, and she switched her weapons to the pulse lasers. "Argh...Strider, Cyclops, we still have a job to finish! Let's take that bastard down."

"Cyclops 2...er, Count. I know you're angry, but you've got the lead, now," Long Caster's voice was soft, almost as if he didn't want to accept it himself, but they all knew that the battle wasn't over.

The announcement caught them all off guard, but Count seemed especially shocked. They'd all snapped out of their shock long enough to form up behind or beside Naomi, and as Húxiān took her place on Count's wing, he managed to stammer out a protest at his new position. "But...Wiseman, he was...I can't...ugh, dammit!"

"Negative, Cyclops 2!" Jaeger spoke up next, far more commanding than he'd ever been. He was the most experienced out of them, and the first to get a clear head back. Whatever he may have been thinking, or what he may have felt, he was still trying to push through until the end. He quickly added, pressing the urgency of the situation. "Count, snap out of it. You're the lead!"

"No! I...I'm not..." Count's voice was strained and panicked, and Naomi felt some sort of ache in her chest as his own grief began to creep into his voice. "This isn't...I-I can't do it! Trigger should take command!"

"Goddammit, Count, don't you get it?!" Húxiān snapped at him, her own anger at the loss of her squadron leader now being directed towards Count. He stuttered out a short, surprised response, but she didn't give him a chance to protest before she practically blew up at him. "Wiseman is dead and if we keep waiting around forever to take out that bastard then even more people are going to die! So, pull yourself together, already! The duty is yours, whether you like it or not! You wanted to be a leader so bad? Well, here's your chance, hotshot!"

"Húxiān, stop it! Save it for Mr. X!" Skald said, more than a little angry himself. "And Count, she's right! You have the lead. Do it!"

"That's...that's impossible!" Count began, now starting to sound frustrated.

Naomi had been quiet up until now, but she needed him to lead what was left of Cyclops and she needed him to calm down. She couldn't lose anymore people, and she wasn't about to lose Count. Not after all they'd been through. No. I can't let that happen. Not him...I won't lose him. Naomi called out to him next, but she wasn't forceful like the rest of them. Not soft, she still spoke as firmly as she could manage, but she knew he'd react better to her than the others. "Count! If we let Mr. X go here, then all of this will have been for nothing. Wiseman knew he had a job, and now that job is yours. I need you to look after the others, and cover our allies. Without you...without you, I can't keep fighting."

"Trigger..." Count hesitated only a moment more before he seemed to find his resolve and the courage he needed. There was only a short pause, and when he spoke again his anger and determination was clear. "Alright, Cyclops 4, form an element! We need our top gun if we're going to take out that bastard."

Húxiān sighed, whether from relief or exhaustion Naomi didn't know, but she clearly shared in Count's determination. "Wilco, Count!"

"Trigger, if we're going to do this, we've gotta do it now," Jaeger said to her. He followed up with what sounded like a scoff, sounding unusually angry and vengeful. "Look at him, waiting for us to make the next move. He's taunting us like it's some sick game to him."

"I know..." Naomi took a deep breath, trying to stay calm for the sake of her wingmen. They needed a leader right now, and she and Count were the ones they were looking to. They needed to be strong and trust them, now. Not that there was much of a choice, but better to know their doubts her set aside for now. "Here's the plan, so listen up! Jaeger and Skald, cover our allies on the ground. I don't know if Mr. X has gotten bored with them yet, but just in case anything happens, you are their last line of defense. Count, Húxiān, the two of you are going to form a perimeter to catch him if anything happens to me. If possible, I don't even want him to have a chance to reach our allies."

"Trigger, are you sure you can handle this solo?" Skald asked her, his voice wavering between frustration and concern.

Naomi sighed, looking ahead and mentally preparing herself for the fight. She didn't want them to be worried, so she couldn't let them know that she was. "Doesn't matter if I do, I don't have a choice. Just focus on your own jobs, and I'll handle this bastard, whoever he is. King of the Skies or not," she replied. As she did a check of all her fuel and ammunition, she tried to ignore her own doubts. Something had to give, because they couldn't last much longer. They were almost flying on fumes at this point, but she had enough ammunition left to last. The others probably did, too. "Now, you all know what to do. It's time we got this over with. Count?"

"Righto, Trigger. Húxiān and I have got you covered," Count said firmly, sounding more focused than he had earlier. "Let's finish him off for Wiseman!"

As Naomi, Count, and Húxiān throttled up and headed towards the submerged area, Skald hung back and hesitated until Jaeger sighed and broke off. He didn't argue, and unlike Skald, he didn't have any doubts. If he did, he kept them to himself. "Strider 2, let's get in position. All we can do is rely on our best pilot, now. I know she'll pull through...and Trigger? Good luck."

Naomi didn't answer, but she gave a firm nod and silently promised them she would take him down. One way or the other. They were her responsibility, and she wasn't going to let anyone come between her and then. She meant what she had said to Clemens when they'd spoke with him. And Mr. X had tested her patience one too many times. As Count and Húxiān finally broke formation and took up their own positions, Naomi went straight for Mr. X. He moved to evade, but she didn't fire. She had other plans for him.

Her head-on tactics may be foolish and amateur hour in the eyes of some, but all she had to do was get in one good shot. One good shot that he couldn't evade. If that meant they played a little jousting game, then so be it. As she got within range to fire, she suddenly rolled away from him, then turned back to try and do the same thing again. It seemed as though she was trying to take a page from his book and toy with her prey, but if it seemed that way, she didn't care. On her second attempt to bait him, she passed by him as closely as she could come, making an attempt to strafe him as she did. Whether or not she hit him she didn't know, but it seemed that finally got his attention.

As soon as she was sure there was enough space between them and she had enough time, she braked hard and made as tight of a turn as she could. Once again, she barely managed to make the turn, and she felt a rush of relief that she hadn't stalled out. She yawed to the right, then the left just a tad, making sure she didn't screw this up. Throttling up, she took a deep breath and lined up. As she did, her HUD seemed to glitch and disappear for just a moment. She brushed it off, figuring it was just exhaustion playing tricks on her.

Almost directly in front of Mr. X, she had a clear shot to fire her pulse lasers at him. She lined it up, carefully, waiting for it to go red, then she pulled the trigger. Right as she did that, Mr. X fired his machine gun and a moment later her missile alert went off. She only had a few seconds left to spare, able to see him fire a missile in an attempt to hit her. But a few seconds was all she needed. She fired, at first not sure that she hit anything, but she saw Mr. X's wing begin to trail smoke only a heartbeat before she broke off. Naomi and Mr. X both banked, not before Naomi took a hit from his machine gun in her wing, but she dodged the missile he'd fired. Barely.

"Target hit! Target hit!" Long Caster cried out, the relief in his voice unmistakable. The rest of the LRSSG soon joined in with their own relief and encouragement.

"Damn!" Húxiān breathed out. "That was close...man, I could never keep up..."

"Alright!" Skald added in, finding enough energy to join in with the others.

Naomi groaned, gritting her teeth to fight back the headache she was getting. All of this was harder than she expected, but she wasn't done yet. Long Caster voiced what was probably on everyone else's mind, spurring her on with a firm order. "Now go finish the job!"

"Get Mr. X, Trigger!" Jaeger urged.

"Can she really keep this up? It looked like she took some fire," Skald said, obviously hesitant to share his opinion but nonetheless concerned.

"It's fine, have a little faith in her. Go, Trigger! Shoot it down!" Count called out next, right as she circled around and got a visual on Mr. X again. Any lingering doubts and hesitation dissipated, and it was Count's words that had set her at ease the most. "You can do it! In fact, you're the only one who can!"

Mr. X was no longer flying as recklessly and with as much ease as he had done before, his aircraft still trailing smoke from the pulse lasers. Naomi moved in for the kill, within range to get a missile-lock. She had switched weapons back to her standard missiles and fired, but he managed to roll out of the way. Naomi followed him, switching to the pulse lasers again, figuring she'd have an easier time finishing him off. "Come on, you bastard...wait, what—"

As soon as she had lined up the shot and prepared to fire, her HUD glitched again, this time the radar went blank and it was followed by a high-pitched, distorted scratching sound before it went quiet. Neither allies or enemies showed on the HUD or radar. The Su-30 in front of her no longer registered as a target, and Naomi watched as it flew past her and out of sight. Naomi jerked instinctively, trying to follow, but without any sort of indicator of her range or anything anything she fired would just miss. Frustrated, she lurched her body forward and slammed her fist against the controls as hard as she could. "SHIT! Long Caster! Cyclops, Strider, respond! What's going on?!"

Confused chattering had already spread throughout their group as one by one the others HUDs and radars followed suit. Count was the first to speak up with a confused and angry shout. "Dammit! What the hell was that?!"

"This is Cyclops 4, my HUD is glitching out," Húxiān informed them quickly, confirming the same issue. The others sounded off one by one after her.

"Same over here. My radar just suddenly turned off..." Jaeger said as well, trailing off.

"I can't get my data to update, and I've lost radar contact," Skald was the last to speak up. From the ground, radio chatter continued, though some of it was oddly garbled. Their allies seemed to be okay, in spite of the problem.

"Shit..." Naomi muttered as all of them regrouped as best they could, flying over the city once. She lowered her altitude and slowed down, hoping all of them would fly to her. She was the easiest to identify, after all. Thank god for that stupid red wing and those strikes. Lifting her visor, she brought a gloved hand up to quickly wipe the sweat from her brow before she put her hands back to the controls. "Can any of you tell me what the hell just happened?"

There was silence for a few seconds before Húxiān took notice of something. "L-Look at the sky! Towards the sun!"

Naomi looked out at the ocean, the sun beginning to disappear, then she shifted her gaze upwards as something higher up caught her attention. There were several bright, flickering bursts of yellow and white lights, all scattered across the sky. Stars were beginning to come out for the night, but these were clearly closer than any star. At least, any star Naomi had ever seen. The bursts of light flickered in place for several seconds before they slowly expanded, and it looked as though fragments began to fall from it. They looked almost...pretty, if not for the situation. And how eerily close they looked to the atmosphere.

"What is that?!" Jaeger sounded as though he was in awe of the display, and Naomi couldn't help but see why. Even given the circumstances.

"A star? No, maybe an explosion?" Húxiān suggested, but then she paused and added. "Wait, if that's what's causing us trouble, then...you don't think it could be—?"

All of the puzzle pieces seemed to click together and the realization dawned on Naomi. "The satellites..." Naomi muttered, and the others went silent. She furrowed her brow. "But, if it was just Erusea's, then we shouldn't be having any issues. Something doesn't feel right."

At last, Long Caster's voice came over the radio. "Listen up, this is Long Caster. We've just lost our real-time connection with mission command. It's not just mission command, though...I'm not getting any response from outside our LOS," he told them, bringing about more questions than he did answers. Nobody interrupted, and he gave a short sigh and added in a slightly more positive tone, "Farbanti is now under Osean control. Thanks to you all, the operation was a success. I'm afraid that we didn't get the orders that should have come after the operational success, though. I'm sorry about that."

"I don't think it's your fault..." Skald commented, huffing slightly. He didn't sound as bitter as he probably could have, though. He had other concerns. "What do we do now? And what about Lanza and Fencer?"

"We'll guide you all to the scheduled airport. We still have a base to go to, thank God, and most of our allied forces will probably be heading there first," Long Caster replied quickly to set his mind at ease. "I got a response from Major Grimm's unit just before everything cut out. They managed to safely retrieve Strider 4 and Cyclops 3. There's a hospital in the city by the IUN base we'll be heading to, and I'm assuming they'll try and head there. At least, I hope they will. I'm sure there are safer options, but according to the message they aren't in need of too much critical care. I'm sure they'll be fine."

They all went silent, but Naomi was glad to hear Fencer and Lanza were alive. She didn't know what to expect when they saw them again, if they saw them again. With their communications as patchy as they were, there was no way they could be sure of anything. And if everyone's IFF had gone ballistic, then any refueling and resupplying along the way was most likely out of the question, too. Naomi was tired and in pain, starting to physically and mentally crash. The others were probably in the same boat. But a new voice caught her attention, one that set her on edge again.

"Can you hear me on this channel, Osean craft?" the stranger spoke, his tone serious and his voice a bit gravelly. A strange chill went down her spine, and an odd mix of dread and recognition seemed to follow. The others began to mutter, but as Long Caster started to demand the stranger identify himself, he interrupted and did so willingly without any prompting. "This is General Mihaly A. Shilage, leader of Sol Squadron. It may be a foolish move to broadcast my identity to you like this, but I have a message for Three Strikes. Or, would you prefer I called you Captain Foulke?"

Naomi's anger began to creep back up, building a knot in her throat. She looked around wildly, but she couldn't tell one speck in the sky from the other at this point, let alone identify a specific fighter right now. She wasn't surprised he knew her name, but the mocking tone he used when he said it made her sick. "You bastard! How'd you get this channel? Or...what...goddammit!" Her head was pounding, and her voice was shaking slightly. "What the hell do you want from me?!"

"I want to give you a message," Mr. X — or General Shilage, now that he confirmed his identity — confirmed coolly. "I can say, after Yinshi Valley you caught everyone's attention, including mine. It's been a long time since I've faced someone that matches my skill. And is reckless enough to do whatever it takes to win. You've done a good job living up to your heritage, it seems. Either that, or you're just lucky. And make no mistake, it was only luck that saved you today. I look forward to our squadrons facing each other in the skies again. And when that finally happens, I don't intend to lose."

"What in the world..." Húxiān muttered under her breath, the only one to voice their thoughts.

General Shilage ignored them, and announced to his allies and anybody else that was listening, "This is Sol Squadron. Head home. It's not safe to stick around here if we lose our base. Oh, and good luck...Three Strikes."

"Hey! Dammit, we lost the signal...I'm sorry, Trigger, he's out of range," Long Caster said, but Naomi couldn't find the words to answer. Her mind had blanked. His tone had changed from the positive one earlier, now resigned and even almost bitter. "All aircraft, leave this airspace immediately. There's nothing else that we can do here."

"Negative! They've got a debt to pay!" Count argued, not bothering to hold back his own anger. "After what he just said...after what he did, goddammit!"

"Count...we all feel the same way," Long Caster said calmly. "But we don't have the supplies left to chase after him. I'm sorry, but we have to take this one step at a time."

"So, Wiseman died for nothing?" Count demanded, his voice beginning to crack. He was barely keeping himself together, and the same probably went for the others. But his anger and grief made Naomi feel a stab of guilt once again. God, how the hell did this happen?

Naomi closed her eyes, turning her plane towards the direction of the return line. Towards the mountain range. "Let's just get to that base," she said with a heavy sigh, nobody saying anything more as they all formed up and followed her. Naomi felt her eyes beginning to tear up, she closed her eyes to let them fall and took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn't fall apart on them now, not when they would probably need her most. I'm sorry...Wiseman...Count...Lanza...all of you. I couldn't keep my promise.

---

Author's Note: Three months and more than an entire afternoon later, the chapter is finally finished! I had hoped to have it out sooner, but I've been in the process of moving these last few months and as a result I have been really busy (and stressed) and haven't been able to write a lot. But things have settled down for now so I finally sat down and got this finished.

I didn't think the chapter would end up being this long, and to tell you the truth I struggled with it a lot (and if I hear the extended version of Battle for Farbanti one more time my ears will probably bleed). I got stuck in so many places, and because of that I'm worried it might disappoint or seem anti-climactic. I am still mostly satisfied with the outcome, though. I also probably slipped up in some places, so if you spot any mistakes I missed then please let me know. Regardless, I still hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll get the next chapter started soon!

But for now, I'm exhausted, so I'm gonna take a breather. Y'all take care!