Chapter Forty-Nine: All Hope Abandon
|...|...|...|
Tyler Island, Spring Sea.
October 10th, 2019.
1002hrs.
|...|...|...|
Clouds surrounded the island as Strider and Cyclops Squadron made their approach, moving to lower their altitude at Naomi's lead so they could get a clear visual. Things seemed quiet at first, until the radar picked up several blips along their path. As soon as they were within range, before they could announce their arrival to any allies in the area, the Osean radio channel was filled with several overlapping conversations cutting through the static.
The first one they could clearly hear quickly helped paint the picture of what they were walking into. In the background, underneath the static and conversation, was the distinct sound of gunfire. "This is Tango 2-3, we're being pursued by multiple tanks and APCs!"
"They'll all go down if we don't pull back the landing craft," another voice, likely a member of one of the crews of the ships now appearing on their HUDs. "We're risking our crew by sticking around here waiting! Can you not see the enemy out there?"
"And what? We're supposed to just abandon Tango 2-3 and run with our tail between our legs?!" another voice demanded, frustrated and appalled. "If our positions were swapped you'd want to know someone was waiting to help you!"
"Something's not right…" Húxiān muttered, voicing everyone's thoughts. "Trigger, what do you make of this?"
"I have no clue what we just walked in on, but keep your heads on a swivel," Naomi said, slowing her approach and keeping a good distance between herself and the sea as she leveled out underneath the cloud cover. "Golem and Mage, you got that?"
"We're reading you loud and clear. We should be within sight of the air base shortly," Knocker replied to her, his own flight at the opposite end of the island. They probably had a couple of hundred miles off by now, but they'd arrive before long.
A new voice, another of the Osean ship crews no doubt, seemed to have quickly made a decision regarding the fate of the ground unit they were apparently supposed to be waiting for. "Tango 2-3, Wagtail, this is the Bunting. we don't have the firepower to assist you, I'm sorry. You're on your own."
"No, please! We need help!" a soldier from Tango 2-3 cried out, desperately, almost pleading. "We have wounded! We won't last much longer!"
"Shit, talk about bad timing…this is the Sunbird, we've got multiple bogeys inbound! All ships, prepare for anti-air combat!" another voice called out, warning the others, ignoring the ground troop's pleas to help them. Clearly their own survival was of more concern to them. Clearing his throat, he was quick to radio them on an open channel. "This is the OFS Sunbird! Identify yourself or we will open fire!"
"What the hell is this chaos?" Naomi muttered to herself, watching as sure enough Long Caster was able to confirm the ID of the ships before them. They were all promptly registered as allies on the IFF as soon as Strider Squadron was within proper range. Now able to see the shore of the island, there were more unknowns waiting for them and plumes of smoke for miles. One of the ships was already in flames. She tried to shake off the sight before her. "Everyone, ease up!"
"This is AWACS Long Caster of the Osean Long Range Strategic Strike Group to all Osean ships," Long Caster said, quickly responding to their demands for identification. He kept a level head, though surely he was just as confused and rattled as they were. "The aircrafts in your area entering the airspace from the north and south are our squadrons. Do you copy? They're with the LRSSG."
"Allied aircraft?! And the LRSSG to boot! Good, good…please, our retreating vehicle is taking fire," the voice of the man that had opposed the order to pull the landing ship back spoke up first. "Requesting immediate assistance! If we don't do something they're done for."
"Roger that, we're on it," Naomi said, throttling up as she approached the beach, switching over to her XSDBs, having brought them in addition to her pulse lasers just as she had during their escort over Anchorhead. She got a lock on the multiple unknowns in her HUD, waiting until they'd been identified before she fired. The four Erusean vehicles were quickly ID'd, and once she was able to target them she made a low and fast approach, firing at the last possible second and pulling up to avoid crashing into the hill. Each bomb found its mark. "This is Strider 1, targets eliminated, but…"
As she leveled out, she looked out over the rest of the island, her radar picking up multiple targets and her HUD registering the ones in range. The rest of Strider and Cyclops Squadron remained in formation, Count quickly returning to his position on her wing. He saw the same thing she did. "Well…certainly doesn't look like Osea's taken back the island."
"Can you give us a sitrep on the island?" Tabloid asked, sounding as calm as he could. Any survivors of whatever battle had gone down here were no doubt in a living hell at the moment. He knew that as well as Naomi did, but he kept his head on the mission. There wasn't anything they could do for Avril and Bandog, the only thing they could do was help what allies they could and hope it was enough. "Things don't look so good."
"They're not. Couldn't be worse, actually…we thought we had things under control, but as you can see that's not the case," the man replied with a sigh. He sounded exhausted, which made Naomi wonder when the last time he'd been able to take a breather was. "Now, our forces are scattered and on the run."
"They're on the run?" Fencer said, echoing the same thing everyone else was likely thinking. "Jeez, I thought this whole operation was supposed to be simple. Even with the communications down we shoulda seized the island by now."
"It's a long and confusing story, I'm afraid, but best I can figure is they got the jump on us…most likely from the inside, but that's just a rumor. We've been waiting here for retreating units to carry them out to safety. We were almost as good as dead, though, with little supplies and rations, but now that you're here…" he spoke quickly, trying to get right down to the point. He hesitated for only a moment before he found the right words. "I know you guys are probably just as confused and tired, but if it's not too much trouble, I have a favor to ask."
Naomi knew what was coming and she was already willing to do whatever they needed. "We came all the way here for our allies, don't worry. What do you need?"
"Thank you, we owe you," he said, sounding genuinely relieved and grateful. He quickly explained, "As you can probably tell, our retreat has been rather difficult. Partially because of this, many of our allies have been cut off. They need support and an escape route. If it helps any, Long Caster, we have some data on their locations based on what sectors they were supposed to be operating in. We'll send everything over now if it makes your jobs any easier."
"Understood, we'll do what we can," Long Caster said, quick to take control of the situation. "Alright everyone, you heard that. Let's help retreating Osean forces. Strider, Cyclops, take out any hostiles in the area. Golem, Mage, how's your approach looking?"
"We're within visual of the island and…" Clown trailed off, but he pulled himself together. He drew in a deep breath. "The air base isn't looking so good right now. It isn't safe for our helicopters to land like this, we're gonna have to cover them, too."
"It's alright, we came prepared for this." That was Colonel Beckett's voice, having taken the spare F-16 assigned to Mage Squadron for the sake of the mission. Clown insisted he take the lead, so that made him Mage 1 for the sake of this mission. Her father, Clown, Hans, and Tailor were two through five respectively. "This is Mage 1, moving to engage. Mage Squadron, we'll handle the enemies in the air, sound good?"
"This is Mage 2, roger that. Time to see what these drones have to offer," her father replied, and it felt weird hearing him under the same callsign she'd been using at the start of the war. Actually, it just felt weird having her father on an actual operation with them, but there wasn't anything to be done about that. "I have to say, I look pretty out of place over here…"
"I wish our biggest problem was mismatched squadrons…" Naomi said to herself, rounding the beach and heading towards the mass driver. They'd take the island back bit by bit, their priority now was clearing their allies out of here. First thing was first. "Strider, we're gonna head for the mass driver first. ID and take out any targets you can along the way. Cyclops, if it isn't any trouble I need you to cover us and clean up whatever we miss."
"Fine by me, Trigger, we'll follow your lead," Fencer told her quickly.
Naomi didn't answer him, moving on to Golem and Mage. "Colonel?"
"Relax with the formalities, you're in charge out here, Trigger. Just call me PJ," Beckett told her. "I'm following your lead, so if you need us to handle something –"
"No, no, you've got a good plan. Just make sure all of our helicopters are safe," Naomi said, already finding it hard not to get overwhelmed with the orders. "Golem Squadron, while Mage clears out the enemy air targets, can you guys clear out the enemy on the ground?"
"That's fine by me. We're engaging now," Knocker said.
"Good thing some of us came dressed for the occasion," Boggard made an attempt at a joke, referring to the fact he and Knocker opted for LAGMs while Faun and Footpad had their aircraft equipped with HCAA. The purpose of this was to keep things balanced, not knowing what they'd be walking into. Same principle behind Naomi flying with bombs and pulse lasers. It made things flexible.
Footpad sighed, deadpanning his response. "Yeah, nice. But right now I'm really not in the mood for jokes, okay?"
Nothing more was said as the four squadrons all sprang into action, the tone of everything making it very difficult for Boggard's comment to lighten anyone's mood. Honestly, he'd barely had any energy when he'd made the remark, and he mumbled a quick apology before everyone got to work instead of arguing with him. The only sounds were that of their own engines, weapons, and the confused radio chatter between their soldiers on the ground. Long Caster was working quicker than he had over Anchorhead to ID everything, looking to prevent giving anyone the potential to slip up.
Naomi made a dive over the hill and headed straight for the nearest line of targets while Húxiān and Jaeger made for the unknowns in a neighborhood not far off. Count paired up with Naomi as the two of them quickly locked onto the targets that had been ID'd as Erusean forces, several tanks and an APC pursuing two Osean vehicles. Naomi fired as soon as she had a lock, Count right behind her in case any of her bombs didn't hit the mark. Sure enough they both missed one of the tanks, though Tabloid and Lanza were right behind them and quickly finished it off for them.
Over at the neighborhood, Jaeger and Húxiān found nothing but Eruseans waiting within, firing on each other before quickly setting their sights on the two of them. They made a fast and low approach, looking to move in and get out as soon as they could. Two of the four targets were taken out, a tank and a SAM. Fencer and Skald each took out the remaining two tanks, all of Cyclops fulfilling the role they were given in perfect harmony with Strider Squadron. So far it was like clockwork.
A cluster of targets was quickly identified as a pair of Osean APCs trying desperately to stand their ground against the Eruseans surrounding them on all sides, and Naomi grunted as she pulled her Raptor into a sharp, high-G turn to double back and give them a hand. Her bombs locked on to four of the Eruseans, wiping out almost half of them once she'd fired. Count came in behind her, targeting two of the Erusean APCs. The first with a missile, the second with the gun. Tabloid and Lanza cleared out the remaining two and the AA gun that was about to give them a hard time, saving Naomi and Count the extra run.
"They did it! They cleared the way!" cheered one of the men in the vehicles below. "We're moving out now! Leave the dead behind!"
"We'll come back as soon as we can and send them off properly. Just worry about getting yourselves home right now," the soldier Naomi now guessed was the captain of the landing ship, Wagtail, said with a sigh. To Naomi and the others, he quickly added, "Thanks for your assistance. Our boys might just stand a chance out there, now. It's been absolute chaos…the Eruseans are even starting to fight amongst themselves."
"Lovely. The civil war has reached this place, too," Skald said, keeping his voice low. It was almost a whisper, actually.
"Well at least now we know what's going on, but…shit," Count added, sounding genuinely put off by the whole ordeal. "This place is a mess."
"Just keep cleaning up. That's all we can do," Jaeger told him, and no one said anything against it.
On the other end of the island, Golem and Mage were working to clear out the enemies surrounding the base. From what Naomi could hear from the radio chatter, it sounded like they were starting to make a dent in the enemy forces. Golem Squadron was careful to avoid damaging any of the hangars and other buildings to the best of their ability, their main targets being the anti-air weaponry the Eruseans had placed around there. It must have been some time since they chased the Oseans off of that base if they'd been able to set up a semi-organized defense network on the base.
Container trucks they'd also moved in launched smaller drones to join in with the fraudulent drone fighters, keeping Mage Squadron busy. Hans and Tailor provided cover against the fighters for Golem as they made their approach to clear an LZ, while Clown kept a perimeter around their helicopters. All the while, Naomi's father and Beckett took the enemies head on, taking down one after the other with ease but still finding it a challenge to keep up with their maneuvers from the sounds of things. The two of them didn't synergize as well as the other groups did, but it was clear they were at least familiar enough with the other to work together. Naomi was just grateful they were able to adapt so quickly.
Radio chatter from their allies started up again. "Hey, what about the wounded?"
Whoever the soldier had radioed didn't answer at first, then reluctantly offered a response. "If they can't walk, leave them. They'll…our allies will clear the way, we can come back for them."
"Oh, yeah, leave the wounded," a different man remarked bitterly. "Like that isn't gonna guarantee us a one-way ticket straight to hell."
"From the looks of things, I'm pretty sure we're there already," Naomi couldn't help but voice her thoughts aloud with a sigh. They'd only been there a few minutes and things looked even worse here than during the operation over Anchorhead. She took a deep breath, not able to bear the thought of leaving anyone behind, on the ground or otherwise. "Listen, all ground units, if your wounded can't walk then carry them!"
"Are you crazy?!" someone cried out.
"Listen, you flyboys have it easy up there, so don't go barking orders until you're down here seeing the shit we are!" the one that had given the order didn't take well to Naomi's, not that she could really blame him. "We have a fighting chance down here, and you expect me to risk the lives of the rest of my men?"
"Listen to me! We're going to cover you, no matter what, okay? Trust us! I want as many of you to go home as possible, just…" Naomi spoke faster than she could think, and while it had been an impulsive, spur of the moment thing it wasn't something that was impossible to do. She rounded the area, picking out her next target. Most of the groups were around the mass driver and on the road leading to it. Right in her path. Others were scattered but their numbers weren't as great. "Among the helicopters…we have a medevac team, do we not?"
"Well, yeah, but things aren't exactly the safest for that right now," Tailor remarked, genuinely concerned. "We can't send them in until things are cleaned up. And we'll need exact coordinates."
"That's easy enough," Hans pointed out, him and Tailor having only just finished tangling with a pair of Erusean drone fighters. He sounded out of breath, but determined. "I'm with the Major…er, I mean Trigger. We have a way to help our allies, we need to do whatever it takes."
"You all know we can all hear you, right?" Major Grimm's voice came over the radio after his brother, from aboard one of the Black Hawks. He wasn't a pilot, of course, but he still monitored everything and communicated. They'd been quiet all this time. He got right down to business. "Look, as long as you cover our guys' asses so they can get down there, we oughta be able to lend them a hand. This isn't their first rodeo."
The pilot of the medevac helicopter spoke up next, confirming this, "We trust you guys to get us down safely and we wouldn't have come if we didn't have a job to do. Get us coordinates and an LZ and we'll do the rest."
Naomi cleared out three Erusean tanks pursuing an Osean vehicle as this conversation went on, all the while Fencer kept a safe distance from a pair of AH-64s, clearing them out with a QAAM as soon as they were identified as Erusean. On the ground below them, Húxiān and Jaeger wiped out an Erusean AD tank and an APC facing off against an Osean unit. She kept tabs on her allies the whole time as she closed in on the mass driver's facility and a neighborhood just outside it, calling out to the ground forces as she'd done before, "Did you all hear that? Send coordinates to our AWACs, we'll handle the rest."
"This is the Three Strikes we're talking about!" one soldier said, the first to speak up with renewed confidence in spite of the conditions. "You see her in the air, count to three and the enemy is gone! If anyone can keep us safe, it's her!
"But what about that transmission we received…?" another spoke up hesitantly.
"You believe that shit after seeing her out there? No way. No way I'm shooting down someone willing to go out of their way like this," a third said with a scoff. He wasn't waiting around for another response. "Long Caster, right? We're sending over the coordinates. Take care of them for us."
"Roger that. We'll send them in ASAP, don't worry," Long Caster said, getting to work in no time. His voice was stern and urgent as he spoke, making it clear they were going through with the plan. "I'm transmitting the coordinates now. As soon as there's an opening, get your asses moving. They've been waiting long enough."
If anyone had more reservations they kept it to themselves, one of the commanders on the ground ordering, "Alright…gather all the wounded together!"
"You're all going home," Naomi said, turning her attention back to the battle. Though realistically it wasn't a promise she could keep, she'd do her very best to follow through on it. The idea of someone coming this far just to die anyways didn't sit well with her. They weren't disposable. "The rest of you, make sure you search every nook and cranny of the island. No one is getting left behind."
"Roger that, Trigger," Fencer replied. "Oh, and Cyclops, remember to make sure the targets are ID'd before you fire."
"The boots on the ground don't need more people shootin' at 'em," Clown added quickly, making it clear the comment went for everyone. He may not have been in charge but he was still keeping everyone in line.
The roads leading to the space elevator also led to several neighborhoods and what might have been some kind of town area, likely for those living on the island prior to the war. Chances were they'd had few evacuation points, and judging from how many military units seemed to be fighting within them Naomi had a bad feeling about the whole ordeal. She wanted to believe these people had gotten out, but if they did they'd have no homes to go back to. She recalled the accidental civilian casualties at the start of the war. Numbers that unfortunately had still seen a rise, up until she fell out of the loop.
Naomi and Count ID'd every target in their path, working with Tabloid and Lanza to pick off the Erusean forces one by one, giving their allies a much needed opening to get to the roads and get to the landing ship. Erusea had gone all out with their anti-air artillery, meaning there were likely more Osean fighters here prior to the LRSSG's arrival. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no sign of their allies anywhere, though hopefully they'd find them among the unidentified aircraft buzzing around. Most of the Osean forces were easier to find based on the information Long Caster was consistently supplied with, so any fighters they should know about would be easy enough to find. Or at least they could hope.
She kept an eye on her weaponry before and after every run, having no ability to resupply. Luckily enough for her she was certain she'd have enough bombs to clear out the ground forces, wanting to preserve her pulse lasers in the event there were enemy air reinforcements. All the bombs in the world weren't going to do her any good in that situation and her missiles could only go so far. They could only cross their fingers and pray they weren't overwhelmed, though judging from the radar they were gaining the upper hand. It was too soon to say and Naomi wasn't about to jinx them.
Naomi and Count both took out a pair of tanks each, with Lanza and Tabloid going for the SAM and AA guns set up on opposite ends of the road, freeing their allies up. However not even a few minutes had gone by as their forces began to withdraw before they suddenly halted their retreat, and one of the soldiers spoke up. "Shit…there's more over here, on the side of the road," he said, and Naomi wondered what he meant by that. When he elaborated her blood ran cold. "The bodies of dead civilians. I don't think they were a part of the fighting. Look at that, they're all lined up."
"What?" Knocker was the first one to find his voice. "They're…you're sure they're not mercenary forces or…"
He trailed off and the soldier's response was quiet. "No, they're not combatants, I'm sure of that. They're…some of them aren't even wearing shoes. I can guess what happened here but I really don't want to think about it."
"Whoah, whoah, hang on a minute," Lanza said quickly, his voice cracking on some of the words. "You're telling me they've executed their own civilians? Surely most of them were evacuated?"
"Hard to say. The war broke out so suddenly," the soldier said, sounding as though he was barely keeping it together. "There's no telling what set them off...hatred, desperation. I really don't know anymore."
Faun's voice cut through over the radio, practically boiling over with anger, losing his temper which was something he almost never did. "Damn those Erusean bastards! That's a blatant war crime, plain and simple! The hell kind of monsters would authorize that!?"
Beckett took a deep breath, each word practically forced out. "Take photos for evidence, if you're able…"
"Yeah, I'm already on it," the commander said, his voice low and shaky. He paused for a few moments, then he spoke again. "I just got the photographs. We'll head for the landing ship soon. Just…with your support, that should buy us another 30 minutes, yeah? The men say they want to at least give the children a proper burial."
The soldier's words felt like a knife going right through Naomi's chest, and she felt her throat tighten as tears threatened to form. She wasn't down there, she couldn't see what those men were seeing, but she didn't have to in order to feel the anger and grief that hit her almost immediately. It was all too easy to imagine the scene, anyways. It was easy to go about your work when you never had to face the civilian casualties being talked about, but something about being out here and hearing your own forces stumble across them made it more real than she would have liked.
Grief turned to anger and she sharply, abruptly banked to target the forces around the mass driver. Silence fell over all of them as Count, Lanza, and Tabloid wordlessly followed her while Húxiān and Jaeger, alongside Fencer and Skald, climbed to meet the Erusean fighters overhead, most of the ground forces in their path having been cleared out. All that remained were a handful of forces by the air base from the looks of things and everything surrounding the mass driver facility itself. The medevac helicopter had an opening, Mage and Golem wiping out the remainder of the forces around the base and moving to support them now. Anyone else remaining at the air base would have Major Grimm's forces to deal with as soon as their own helicopter touched down. At least they had an LZ and a base, even if the fight wasn't over.
With Naomi and Count able to split up and cover opposite ends of the facility, they were able to identify the unknowns at a faster pace. There wasn't a single Osean in the area, only outside of the facility, and the Eruseans were locked in combat with each other. Amidst all of this chaos, that wasn't exactly surprising, they'd seen it before after all. Erusean tanks firing at each other and their SAMs being launched indiscriminately at anything that flew within range. Naomi locked onto the Erusean tanks and a pair of AA guns with the XSDBs, firing as soon as she had a good tone and destroying all of them in one fell swoop.
Long Caster spoke up, the first one to do so and speak over the radio chatter between their allies. He quickly drew attention to the fact that there were only a few unidentified forces remaining. "Allied retreat is looking good. We just might be able to take this island back."
"Most of the remaining forces look like Eruseans," Count observed. "Jesus, they're firing at each other…"
Fencer scoffed. "Is all this crap the norm around here?"
"It's all crazy people!" Tailor said, sounding frustrated, shaken, and sad almost all at once. "Like we just woke up in the middle of a nightmare or something!"
"You go through war long enough you get used to it all…but this is on a whole different level of insanity," Naomi heard her father say, sounding exhausted. He kept fighting, though, having accompanied the medevac helicopter to the first set of coordinates they'd been given, helping Jaeger, Húxiān, Fencer, and Skald fend off the enemy's air support. So far, aside from what was going on down below, everyone was fine.
The Eruseans around the mass driver were just about cleared out, though as Naomi came up upon a set of containers she wasn't able to destroy them in time. Several of the drones managed to launch, taking to the air in a straight vertical climb and then spinning a few times before leveling out. It was almost like those things set out to mock every human pilot they possibly could, though she knew that was ridiculous. As annoying as they were, they couldn't be that smart. Though, from what they'd learned from that file Genette had shown them it actually didn't seem too far off. It was like Tailor said. It was like they'd woken up in the middle of a nightmare.
The drones, four of them in total, immediately made a beeline further inland to seek out the helicopters, though after taking out the containers Naomi was quick to jump on them. With her on their tail they tried to evade, some pulling insane maneuvers to end up on her tail. She ended up having to try and evade a lock while keeping on her target's tail, something that was easier said than done. It took a great deal of effort to force herself to do what she was supposed to, fighting every twinge of pain in her muscles or throughout her body to evade and keep up with the targets.
Count and Tabloid were the ones that came to her aid, before she'd even had the time to call out to them, while Lanza headed to identify the handful of ships heading towards the Osean fleet. Naomi's alerts stopped as Count took out one of the drones, Tabloid forcing the other one to break off. Once she was finally free of that nuisance, she was able to pull herself together long enough to sharply turn and cut off one of the drones, locking on and firing as soon as she could. When the drone evaded with ease at the last possible second, Naomi cursed under her breath and switched to the pulse lasers. She lined up the shot, waiting until the indicator told her she was within perfect range. Her finger pressed and held down the trigger, firing at a consistent pace as she turned and maintained her position. The lasers struck its wing and practically burned a hole right through it, sending the drone right down to the ground in a ball of flames.
Count meanwhile went after the other drone, his missile practically grazing the tip of the drone's wings. It was enough to slow it down, though, allowing his Eagle to catch up, getting almost right on top of it. He finished it off with a spray of gunfire, weaving between the plumes of smoke as he broke off, leaving the wreckage to fall to the ground below. Tabloid had similar luck, struggling to get a clean hit and having to slow it down before he could finish it off. Thankfully, that was the last of the smaller MQ-99s, leaving only the fake fighters they'd have to deal with if anything. Hopefully.
Another soldier on the ground, a different one this time, radioed them. "We count twelve dead bodies here. They seem to be upper middle class, by our best guess. The spaceport is nearby so they could be researchers and their families."
"Based on the information we got from those soldiers that surrendered, that wouldn't surprise me," one of them said, then he hesitated. "And most likely they were connected to Belka somehow."
To Naomi's surprise it was Tabloid that spoke up, an edge to his voice that she'd never heard before. The shock of the information as well as his shift in tone made the entire situation as unsettling as possible. "What did you just say?"
"It's a complicated story, frankly we still don't even understand half of it," it was the captain of the Wagtail that answered them. "As best as we can figure, it's something to do with this whole civil war and the drones. Belkan technology was used to design them, so…anyone with Belkan heritage is the enemy to them."
The shock wore off, replaced by the same anger Naomi had felt when the civilians' deaths were first mentioned. Although she knew he wasn't justifying the actions and he was just the messenger, she couldn't help but snap, "That doesn't mean a goddamned thing!"
"They're expecting the people to pay for the actions of others' with greater power, even things out of their control," she heard her father say, not loud in his anger but speaking in an eerily calm and low manner, cold and sharp. "And that bullshit is why we can't go five minutes without tearing out each others' throats. Because at the end of the day the only people that pay for this shit are the innocent."
Her own anger remained, but as she listened Naomi could feel it shift to match that of her fathers'. The only thought and feeling she could pin down was complete contempt for the Eruseans, even the ones opposing keeping this war going. Even the ones against the drones. If this was their idea of a solution then she was perfectly content to let them rip each other apart. But she knew that would only lead to more civilians getting caught in the crossfires like this. Hell, forget that, you can't even pretend this was an accident.
"What do they think mass murder is going to solve?" Naomi's question was rhetorical, and no one answered her. They probably couldn't even begin to wrap their heads around the sick reasoning these people must be using. Not for the first time, she just wanted all of this to be over. "Damn them all…I hope those Erusean bastards rot in hell where they belong…"
"Naomi." Her father brought her out of her thoughts, grounding her somewhat. He sounded concerned for her, but still equally as angry as she was. "Focus and keep your head. They'll answer for their sins soon enough."
"It's like this whole world hasn't learned a damn thing…" Beckett said, barely above a whisper. He flew alongside Tailor as the two of them moved to identify the last remaining unknowns on radar, staying focused on the task at hand.
All four of their squadrons now moved towards the center of the island to hunt down the remaining forces, everything at the base and mass driver having been cleaned out. Most of their allies were out of harm's way, the two units that had discovered the bodies having finished up with an attempt at a burial for them and moving along the road to head for the coast. They almost had the island back under Osean control, and the madness would be over soon enough.
Only a few straggler Erusean forces and some scattered Osean troops remain, the latter having been discovered not far from one of the locations they'd sent the helicopter to. A small group of Osean tanks and APCs, unknowingly opening fire on each other while one side attempted to withdraw. They paid the helicopters no mind, focusing solely on what was directly in front of and behind them.
Below one of the soldiers called out, "C'mon, let's get moving! Hit the gas and don't let up until we reach the extraction point! I don't wanna see anybody, hostile or friendly, so keep our tail covered!"
"Hey, don't they know they're on the same side?!" Húxiān cried out, sounding more scared and concerned than angry. Naomi hadn't heard her sound that worried since their hunt for the Alicorn, a situation that almost paled in comparison to how bad things were here. "Like there isn't enough friendly fire going on around here!"
"If we're not careful they're gonna kill each other before they even get to the beach!" Count added, just as appalled by the scene in front of them.
"This is AWACS Long Caster of the LRSSG to the Osean forces below. We're uploading the latest ID data, check your TAC terminal," Long Caster announced, using almost the exact same words he had to their allies over Anchorhead.
Over the radio, countless, desperate cries of 'hold your fire!' could be heard in the background as one of the commanders responded. "Confirmed! The info is from an allied AWACS, hold your fire immediately!"
"Roger, but…what are we supposed to believe?" another asked hesitantly. He sounded almost guilty because of the whole ordeal. "Who should we follow?"
"There's an Osean landing ship waiting for you on the coast. Sending the location now," Long Caster informed them, taking on a softer tone. "You guys got out alive. You have time to figure things out."
"If only things were that simple," Hans said with a sigh. So many of them had been quiet all this time, mainly the result of the stress and needing to focus, that Naomi found herself almost startled to hear them speak up. But finally it seemed the fighting was beginning to let up, and so far all of them had made it through the fight.
"Everything is looking good on the island. All that remains are a handful of Erusean forces. From the sounds of things, all Osean forces have a clear path to retreat," Long Caster told them, as good a sign as any that things were beginning to wrap up. "We haven't taken any more losses. Things look good up here so far."
"Many thanks to you and the LRSSG for your assistance, Long Caster," the Wagtail's captain said, almost as though he was speaking through a smile. Probably not a very big one, given the circumstances. He let out a breath. "We didn't have to leave our boys behind to die after all. I wish there was some way I could pay you guys back."
"Stay alive," Naomi said to him. She gave a slow blink, leaning her head back against her seat, wishing for a break. She continued once she caught her breath, only pausing for a heartbeat. She tried to lighten the mood, but in spite of her efforts she knew it barely sounded hopeful or positive in any way. "Make sure all of this work paid off, y'know? Then maybe once this war is over we can all buy each other a nice dinner."
"After all you've done, dinner and a round of drinks is on me. You all earned it," the captain responded, able to give a very breathy, light laugh.
Before their conversation could continue, Grimm's voice came over the radio, the sound of fire in the background significantly less than it had been when they'd first arrived. "We've completely cleared out the Erusean forces that made their way onto the base, and we're cleaning up the runways and hangars for you now. The base is ours again."
"Phew…alright, then, looks like all we've got is a few stragglers. Great work, everyone, let's finish it up so we can call it a day," Long Caster said, sounding relieved. However, Naomi didn't quite feel right about that, and unfortunately a few seconds later she found out why. Their radar picked up additional hostiles, and Long Caster was quick to call it out. "Wait…dammit, I spoke too soon. Multiple bogies from the east!"
"Just great…their timing tells me they're not here to bring good news," Count said with a groan.
"We need to ID them ASAP. Take them down if they're hostile!" Long Caster quickly urged.
"C'mon, let's get this taken care of. We can worry about stragglers later," Naomi said, already banking and heading towards the eastern coast. Strider, Cyclops, and Mage Squadrons all fell in behind her while Golem maintained a perimeter around the air base to provide any more cover for their allies if necessary. All of the injured soldiers were being transported there, so there was no need for them to stray any farther out.
When they all realized the targets showing on their radar were higher up, Naomi raised her nose and the others followed, flying up through the clouds that were beginning to move closer and closer to the island. When they finally broke through the clouds they got a visual on the newcomers, a few of them silhouetted against the late morning sun. But sure enough, there they were, on display on the HUD, in an almost frighteningly large formation. They all leveled out, overshooting the unidentified bombers but able to meet the fighters within the formation head on.
Naomi's missile alerts went off and she deployed her flares, ID'ing the fighter as she rolled clear and it shot past her. Luckily for her, with the rest of Strider Squadron on her wing, the Erusean Su-35 wasn't able to evade the lock Húxiān instantly got on him, firing and rolling clear of the wreckage alongside Jaeger. She was the one who announced to Long Caster who their new friends were, "We've got a visual. Needless to say, they ain't too friendly."
"Looks like Erusean bombers and their escorts," Jaeger remarked, right before they were all promptly engaged by the rest of the escorts, clearly not afraid to fight them off after the loss of their ally. Jaeger grunted as he narrowly evaded a missile lock. "And their escorts are unfortunately good at their jobs."
"Count's prophecy has come true. Take out all bombers, ASAP! Or else they'll flatten our allies," Long Caster quickly said. "We've lost enough good people today."
"Plenty more civilian casualties as well if we don't," Count pointed out with a frustrated huff. "They've completely lost it if they're willing to go this far. Precision bombing is impossible in these conditions!"
"Maybe they know they can't," Jaeger said. "And they're just trying to kill anything and everything they can."
"'Precision bombing' is a joke, plain and simple. Unfortunately, tacticians in their infinite wisdom have yet to realize this," Naomi's father mused with an irritated sigh of his own. He quickly got his head in the game, offering a bit of advice. "We oughta thin the crowd. Prioritize the bombers, but take out the escorts. They're the ones that will ensure the success of the mission. You take them out, it's smooth sailing."'
"We'll drop 'em all," Count agreed with a growl.
"Right. Trust your allies and keep an eye on each other's tails up here," Beckett said, not really telling them anything they didn't already know. It was simply a helpful reminder. "I don't have to tell any of you how difficult a dogfight like this can get."
Their squadrons split up once again, most of Mage Squadron opting to take out the escorts while Beckett instead moved in on one of the bombers. To be quite fair, there were more escorts than there were bombers. Five bombers, and at least four or five Su-35s to every one. Though the numbers were off thanks to a few kills already gotten in at the hands of Húxiān, Hans, and Lanza. Skald targeted the bombers as well, alongside Jaeger and Clown, leaving the rest of them to wipe out the escorts.
Naomi and Count had initially paired up to cover Jaeger and Clown as they tried to get close enough to the bombers, but somewhere along the line Naomi's father joined them. Count split off and went after one of the two they'd been chasing on his own, while Naomi and her father worked together to take out the second one. They were able to move in harmony with ease, like they'd always flown like this, moving together to close off any openings for their target to evade and escape their grasp. Naomi was able to outmaneuver him in the end, though they both got a lock and fired at roughly the same time. She was certain her missile struck the target just before his did, but there wasn't any way to know for sure.
Skald and Beckett had managed to get close enough to their targets thanks to cover from Lanza and Húxiān, who worked together as well as they had on previous sorties. They weren't perfect partners but they adapted to each other's flying style with ease, downing at least two or three escorts in a short window of time. Beckett stayed on the bombers, having shot one of the five down and now moving on to the next while Skald got in on the dogfighting. Clown and Jaeger had also downed a bomber each, leaving only one remaining, joining Hans as he battled with what had to have already been the fourth target he went after.
Somehow Fencer and Tailor ended up fighting together to cover Beckett as he climbed and moved in on the final bomber, which had been at a higher altitude than the others. The two of them initially worked together, but when their targets split off from one another Tailor moved to follow, earning a scolding from Fencer. He sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth. "Mage 5, if you're gonna fight with me then stop fluttering about and stay glued to my ass!"
"Ha! I've heard that line before," Count said with a chuckle as he finished off his second target. Naomi recalled the first time they had sortied with the LRSSG and Wiseman and the others gave Count a hard time, in a playful way. He'd hated it at the time, but Naomi wondered if he looked back on it the same way she did. It had only been a month or two since then, but with Wiseman gone it felt like years.
"Dammit!" Tailor snapped as his target evaded his attempts to fire on it, something he probably blamed on Fencer for breaking his focus like that. He stayed on his target's tail, managing to take it down at last in just a few seconds. He was out of breath when he continued, "Y'know, in this crazy mess I've got plenty to pay attention to other than your dirty ass!"
"Hey, I keep my ass clean," Fencer answered with mock offense. He managed a light chuckle. "You're still a hatchling whether you like it or not, so quit being a brat. I'd like to see you become an ace like the rest of us."
"God, you're why I'm grateful I'm an only child," Tailor answered, the entire exchange almost amusing. Had it not been for their circumstances, Naomi might have found it funny instead of just being exasperated by it.
Beckett finished off the last of the bombers and joined in, sounding as exasperated as Naomi felt as he joined in on Fencer's ribbing at his son's expense. "You're why I'm grateful you're an only child," he said, though he clearly didn't mean it in any harsh kind of way. "I think I would have gone insane if you'd had a partner-in-crime. Or worse, a rival…anyway, Long Caster, how are the skies looking?"
He asked that just as Naomi finished off the last of the escorts, the rest of them having been easily downed by the others. So far, their radar looked clean. Naomi couldn't find any other aircraft in the area, but Long Caster would have a better view on things than she might. He quickly confirmed the situation. "Everything looks a-okay, Colonel. All bombers and escorts have been splashed."
"It's about damn time," a new voice came over the radio out of nowhere, so familiar that Naomi felt herself almost burst with joy and relief as soon as she heard it. It was Avril. She was alive. "Hey you, dumbass with the scratches on her tail. Y'hear me out there? Since you wiped out those bombers, I'm guessin' you aren't too busy to do me a favor."
"Avril!" Tabloid responded before Naomi could, sounding like he was talking through a mile wide grin. He gave a short chuckle, the relief evident in his voice. "Holy shit! Thank God you're okay! With the state of that base you had me worried."
"This is a secure military line," Beckett observed, sounding genuinely confused and concerned, even though it was abundantly clear they all knew her. "Who on earth is this?"
"Hmm…well, you're new here, aren't you?" Avril observed, sounding a bit put off by the total stranger she was now speaking to. "I mean, I don't really have a fancy callsign like you, so you can call me…the Scrap Queen."
"Haha! Relax, Beckett, it's okay! She's an ally," Count said, just as happy to hear from her as well. He wasn't especially close to her, but Naomi knew the two of them still valued each other. If not as friends than at least as allies. "We'd know that voice anywhere, wouldn't we, Trigger?"
"Hell yeah!" Naomi said, the others that knew her having all joined in with their own cheers at her survival. That was one friend they got back alive, now they just needed one more. Maybe two if what Hans said about Kathryn going down near Tyler Island was accurate. "I can't believe you made it through!"
"You must have been through hell. It's good to have you back," Húxiān said through a laugh of her own. Her tone of voice shifted slightly as she continued, asking the question Naomi was too scared to, and even Húxiān seemed hesitant as she did. "What about Josh– I mean Bandog. Are you all safe?"
"Why, you miss me?" Bandog's voice came over the radio. He sounded out of breath, but he seemed to be forcing himself to sound like he had himself composed. Maybe just for Húxiān's sake or maybe for the sake of his own pride as well. "The three of us, Sarge included, are doing just fine. Seems all of you are okay…Sir Count included. Amazed he's still breathing."
"Anyways, onto more pressing matters, there's a bunch of people down here that could really use your help," Avril said quickly, and Naomi took notice of the sounds of gunfire and explosions in the background, along with some shouts and cries. She hadn't noticed it at first, having become used to that background noise when communicating with the ground units. "I need you to help them however you can. We ended up on the run with a group of Erusean refugees…and unfortunately our luck's just run out. They…well, we're surrounded by Erusean tanks on all sides."
"Needless to say, our future isn't looking too bright down here," Bandog supplied quickly.
"We have some intel for you, but it's hard to share it when we're pinned down like this," Avril put in, and judging from a sudden sharp, and loud sound near her Naomi guessed they were having one too many close calls down there. She was already changing course back towards the island as Avril said, "Soooo…what we could really use is some of that magic air support of yours."
"Already on it, Avril, count us in," Naomi said, throttling up and breaking through the clouds in record time, water droplets scattering over the canopy and vanishing almost as soon as they'd hit. "Send us the target coordinates, we'll take them out."
"Oh…yeah, I was just thinking about how I was gonna do that…" Avril said, sucking a breath in through her teeth. It almost sounded like she was wincing, trailing off as she tried to work the problem out.
"I'm guessing there's no chance you have a laser target indicator?" Beckett asked.
"Why on Earth would we –" Bandog started, but he was quickly cut off by a woman's voice. One that was younger sounding than Avril. Familiar to Naomi but at the same time she couldn't place her.
"Here! Use a smoke canister," the young woman said quickly, her voice high. Though she sounded scared and out of breath, there was the faintest hint of a clipped Erusean accent.
"And who's gonna run this up to the enemy's doorstep, huh?" Avril asked with a scoff. "Definitely not me and I'm sure as hell not asking any of the civilians to do it."
To Naomi's surprise, having thought it was too much of a longshot, it was Kathryn that spoke up next. "Give it here, I'll do it. Bandog can cover me."
"Kathryn! You're alive!" Hans spoke up as soon as he'd heard her voice, with a similar relieved laugh to the one Tabloid had let out. There was an edge of concern to his voice as he registered what she'd said and quickly told her, "Whatever you're about to do, please don't go out of your way to be a hero!"
Before any response to that could come, their three friends all let out startled cries of various swears, Avril's voice coming through the clearest. It was as shrill as Naomi had ever heard her voice go. "Gah! Wait, you moron! Wait! What are you doing, you dumbass?!"
1130hrs.
Rosa watched as Kathryn hesitated for barely a second after she heard the voice that came over the radio. A man that she clearly knew. Her husband, she guessed, if the ring she wore on the chain around her neck was any indication. The brief moment was more than enough time for Rosa to make up her mind, not about to risk another family suffering because of this war. Though really she'd made up her mind long before that exact moment.
She immediately snatched the flare from Kathryn's hands, shoving Avril away from her when both women tried to stop her. All three of the Oseans called out to her, but she had already taken off, kicking her heels off and sprinting barefoot towards the enemy tanks ahead. Her heart was pounding and her lungs were burning, her brain and body both aware of what a monumentally foolish idea this was, but she pushed onwards.
"Your Highness, stop!" Henri tried to call out to her, standing up in an effort to try and chase after her, but his injury and weakness over the last several days caused him to promptly fall to his knees. She glanced over her shoulder just to make sure he was alright, finding Adelaide helping him up as he tried in vain to stop Rosa's charge. "Wait!"
Rosa could barely hear anyone else's shouts, trying to keep her head low enough to avoid getting hit by any of the crossfire. Though frankly the world around her had faded to a blur, her focus set solely on the tanks down the road from them. The now uneven pavement as the result of several battles made the task difficult, especially when she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, and she lost her footing just a few feet away.
Wincing as pain shot up her leg, either the result of merely twisting it or a sprain she didn't know, her head spinning as she forced herself back to her feet. Scrapes up her legs and on her palms stung, but she kept her grip on the flare. Get up…keep going…I have to keep going. They have to save them.
Now forced to limp, she continued to move herself forward. She was almost within a good throwing distance of the tank. Running footsteps behind her were enough to scare her back into an awkward, stumbling sort of run herself, lighting the flare and throwing it as hard as she could right as the pain made her leg give out underneath her. The flare landed just shy of actually hitting the tank, a plume of yellow smoke rising into the air as Rosa began to fall. Someone caught her arm before she hit the ground, pulling her back up.
At first Rosa let out a startled gasp, bordering on a yelp, but she recognized Georg as soon as she whirled around and tried to pull herself free, relaxing as soon as she realized who it was. Avril stumbled along as a result of her own injured leg, holding the radio in her hand and staring at Rosa like she was in shock. Taking a few gasping breaths, desperate for air, Rosa swallowed and managed to pull herself together enough to call out, "Here! Attack right here!"
"Get her out of here, now!" Georg called out to Avril, quickly and roughly passing her over to the other woman as he took aim with the rifle he was carrying and shot back at the other Eruseans attacking them.
Rosa and Avril both kept their heads down as they began to hurry back towards the makeshift barricade, neither looking back. Around them, as the fight began to shift towards the Erusean military's favor, the refugees and defectors all began to sing as the roar of the Osean aircrafts' engines filled the sky overhead. It nearly drowned them out, but she was still able to recognize the tune.
It was her favorite song.
1134hrs.
"Long Caster, we've confirmed the location of the flare!" Knocker called out, the first one to take notice of the yellow amidst the endless rows of black smoke.
"That's them!" Long Caster said, and the blips on radar immediately showed up on everyone's HUD. Naomi circled back around as Long Caster ID'd each and every one with pinpoint accuracy. "All aircraft, we've updated your threat matrix via data link. Take out those targets now!"
"Don't miss, there's been enough civilian bloodshed for one day," Jaeger said, though he may have been addressing everyone when he said that.
"Go, Trigger, we'll handle the SAMs!" Count called out to her as they all followed her, splitting off and heading for the SAM sites scattered nearby.
"Watch the helicopters!" Clown said quickly, though Naomi had already seen them and chosen to ignore them. Right now her priority was on the targets surrounding her friends and the civilians they were with.
Naomi lowered her nose, pretty sure she was pushing the Raptor almost to its limit as she made straight for the enemies right in front of them. She was the first one to reach the group, switching over to what remained of her bombs. It was almost enough, but standard missiles or pulse lasers would suffice if she wasn't able to clear them all in one go. Below her, over the radio, she could hear the sounds of the refugees below beginning to sing, something that served to spur her into action. There were people down there and they were relying on her air support.
The tune was the same as the song she'd heard playing on the Erusean station Count had his radio switched to. As she realized that and recalled the memory, it was enough to somehow calm her nerves, keeping almost level with the ground as she ignored the warnings in her ear. Both to pull up and that she was being tracked by the SAMs below. She trusted her wingmen to take them out and keep them off her tail, focusing instead on locking onto the tanks and APCs gathered together. Once she had a solid lock on the first four she fired, locking on with the remaining two and doing the same before she pulled clear.
"Strider 1, bombs away!" Naomi called out, feeling her aircraft shake slightly from the shockwave below her. She kept climbing, gritting her teeth and leveling out to take care of the helicopters. The singing continued.
"Nice job! The enemy tanks are toast!" Avril cheered as the dust began to settle so to speak. All that remained were the helicopters and a handful of anti-air weaponry, the latter of which already being taken care of by the rest of the LRSSG. Avril gave a laugh. "I don't think I could even do anything with that scrap!"
Naomi switched over to her pulse lasers, using it to take out one of the helicopters overhead before it could set its sights on her. From a good distance away her father took out the second helicopter with an SASM just as their comrades finished off the last of the SAMs and AA guns, clearing out the last of the Erusean forces. Or at least the last ones that would be any trouble. They could never be too careful, though.
"Avril, how do things look down there?" she asked her friend once she caught her breath. "Is everything okay?"
"That takes care of 'em! No civilian casualties!" Avril said through a smile as some of the singing in the background stopped, a chorus of cheers at the victory now being mixed in with it. She clearly couldn't help but share in the celebration. "Nice going, I knew you'd pull through for us! Especially in that new plane of yours, which you better have a good explanation for, by the way."
"Relax, I promise the other one wasn't trashed," Naomi said with an exasperated laugh. "Glad to see you still have your priorities straight."
"Hey, you think it's easy to keep your planes flying?" Avril remarked with a tired chuckle of her own. Neither one of them had the energy to be mad even if they wanted to. Naomi had to say she missed getting chewed out by her.
"For a minute I thought we were toast." Kathryn's voice came over the radio next, sounding like she was smiling, too. "These people sure knew how to stand their ground, though. Can you hear the singing?"
"We hear them. Loud and clear," Hans said, much like everyone else finally being able to relax now that everyone was safe. He was probably dying to get on the ground by now, and Naomi couldn't blame him. She wanted to see them all, too, granted as far as Kathryn went he definitely had her beat.
"I'm glad everyone's okay, but based on what you said earlier I'm guessing our work isn't over just yet," Tabloid said with a sigh. Honestly, all of them just wanted this morning to be over. It had been exhausting, both physically and emotionally, but whether they liked it or not they still had a job to do. "So what's the intel you had?"
"We heard it from an Erusean soldier that defected. I'm pretty sure it has to do with that mass driver," Avril said quickly, pausing only to catch her breath. "He said 'the supply ships will be launched soon'."
"Hm…yeah, that is pretty valuable information," Long Caster said, sounding a little hesitant.
"Hardly sounds like good news," Count pointed out the obvious, less hesitant to trust the information than Long Caster was. "We cleaned out the area around the mass driver, but that doesn't mean they didn't have something up their sleeves."
Beckett quickly voiced his own concerns. "But can the intel really be trusted?"
"Honestly, I'd leave that one up to you. It's hard to say, but…I'd vouch for him if it really came down to it," Avril said, her tone shifting to an almost sympathetic one. "The guy said he wanted to atone for his sins. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, at least. He's done a lot for us all down here."
"It's worth investigating if nothin' else," Húxiān said, throwing her support in.
"We're running low on fuel and ammo over here, though," Skald said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "So whatever the truth is, most of us don't have the means to put up much more of a fight."
"Yeah, I'm low on ammo, too," Beckett with a sigh, several others sounding off in agreement. He paused for just a few seconds before he came up with a solution. "It's like Húxiān said, it's worth investigating. Pixy, Archer, Tailor, you three accompany Strider Squadron. The rest of us will return to base and help get those refugees some food and shelter. Any complaints?"
"That's fine by me. We'll see you all back at base," Naomi said, banking and adjusting her course to head back for the mass driver. Her own wingmen as well as her father and those remaining from Mage Squadron all followed her while the rest of their allies headed back towards the base.
A storm was moving in from the northeast, like it had followed them there. The sky was darkening and several flashes of light in the distance warned of an approaching thunderstorm. Naomi had hated flying through that storm in Yinshi Valley, so she hoped they'd be down on the ground before it fully arrived. On some level though she had a good feeling that wasn't going to be the case.
As they made their approach towards the facility, Naomi's intuition was almost spot on, as Long Caster announced something new appearing on his radar. It was hard to make out from the distance they were out, but he quickly realized what it was and marked it out on their radar. Two supply ships, ready to take off, and they weren't going to reach them before they did so. Naomi was the first to react, throttling up and closing some of the distance, but even she wasn't fast enough to get there in time.
The first supply ship was launched and on its way, climbing into the air with the other one right behind it and slipping out of range. Naomi cursed under her breath as Long Caster quickly updated them, his voice urgent. "The supply ships have been launched from the mass driver! If the supply ships make it to the Arsenal Bird they'll be able to resupply it. Knowing our luck it could probably be loaded with new weaponry we don't even know about."
"So what do we do?" Tailor called out, almost sounding panicky.
"We chase them down," Naomi said, already well ahead of the others. She flew along the mass driver, rising up into the air and keeping her eye on the radar, making sure she was on the right path. She'd be flying right into that storm after all. "We don't have a choice. The Arsenal Bird is a big enough pain on its own, if we wanna take that thing down then they can't resupply it."
"You'll have to take them down before they enter the Arsenal Bird's air defense network," Long Caster said quickly, staying on top of things even as new blips appeared on radar and Naomi's missile warnings began to go off. "You've got to hurry or you're not gonna make it. All aircraft, remain on high alert. We've got bandits incoming on radar. Trigger, you need to forget about them for now and focus on destroying that supply ship."
"Yeah, no problem…" Naomi said, her focus already on the supply ships as the cloud cover drew nearer and nearer to her. Erusean aircraft from just about all directions were on a course to intercept her, a missile fired at her forcing her to deploy flares and pull clear of its trail. "Dammit, they aren't kidding around."
"She'll be a sitting duck like this," Húxiān called out, breaking off and turning to engage the Erusean fighters chasing after Naomi. Jaeger was right behind her, quickly doing the same.
"We'll cover the ones on your six…Trigger," her father announced, also breaking off while Hans and Tailor followed suit. It was strange to hear him call her by her TAC name, but if only for the sake of others he did. "You're faster than any of us, you need to catch them ASAP. Count, make sure she doesn't go down."
"Righto. You don't need to tell me twice," Count said, almost sounding irritated. He rolled away from her wing, engaging the bandits from the north so Naomi could focus on her pursuit. He huffed. "Y'know, I'm usually pretty good at playing tag, but these guys all have a head start. Hardly fair if you ask me."
"When has war ever been fair?" Jaeger asked, and her father and Hans all muttered in agreement. "I hate to think about what happens if they get too far away. We'd never be able to catch it."
"Okay, great, thank you for the vote of confidence!" Naomi couldn't help but almost snap, their chatter not normally something that got under her skin, but at that particular moment she was full of more than enough doubts and worries to go around. She didn't need them to remind her of everything that was potentially at stake if she wasn't able to catch up to them. Though she did feel bad, none of them lingered on the matter so she didn't worry about it either.
It didn't take too long for her to catch up to the second supply ship that had been launched, catching it right before it could enter some of the worse looking clouds. She got a lock on the supply ship and fired two missiles, rolling away to try and get a better angle and by a stroke of luck narrowly avoiding getting hit by a bolt of lightning. The flash out of the corner of her eye actually startled her, so close that the crack of the thunder was almost instant. She shook it off. It wasn't anything she hadn't been through before.
"That's a confirmed direct hit by the missile! Keep it up, you can bring them down!" Long Caster encouraged her, right as Naomi took another shot available to her. The missile struck and a bright burst of blue and white light nearly blinded her, shaking her aircraft as she rolled clear of it. Helios missiles. Nothing new, but no less a pain. "Alright, one down! Don't forget about the others!"
"Did you all see that explosion just now?" Hans managed to say through a short sputter of disbelief. Naomi forgot that, as far as she knew, he'd never seen the Helios burst missiles, let alone what it looked like to blow something carrying them up. "God, is that what they've been feeding those things?"
"First time seeing it?" Jaeger asked, though he already knew the answer. "It's insane to see the amount of lengths they've gone to with their weapons."
"Sixty seconds remaining until you enter the Arsenal Bird's defense network!" Long Caster announced, and Naomi was only just now within range of it as he did. "Hurry!"
"Don't lose 'em!" Count called out, grunting as he rolled to evade a missile from one of the fighters trying to protect the supply ship. Most of them were gone and only two remained, but those two were still massive pains. He downed one of them as soon as it turned away from him and towards Naomi.
The clouds completely enveloped the supply ship and Naomi was quick to follow after them, her surroundings darkening and her canopy streaked with large pellets of rain. She was almost there. With two missiles left. Her radar struggled to get a solid lock, and right as she got the tone and pulled the trigger to fire her aircraft was suddenly thrown off course as lighting struck her. The sound was like an explosion, and just like it had been over Yinshi her instruments were going completely haywire on her. To make matters worse, ice began to form along her canopy.
Though she didn't know if the pulse lasers would work in the clouds and she didn't have a clear view, she switched to them anyway and lined up the shot where she thought the supply ship. And the moment she did, she broke out from the clouds, realizing as her HUD stopped glitching that the supply ship had put more distance between them. With no remaining missiles and no chance she was in gun range, she had to hope that the pulse lasers were enough. Once more lining up the shot, pushing her Raptor's engine as far as it could go, she fired.
Just a few seconds later the sky lit up once again and the shockwave of the explosion, coupled with the wind, shook her aircraft as she banked and turned back towards the island. Everything on her radar looked clear, and Naomi sighed and tried her best to relax some. Not that she had much room to do that. She was sweating bullets, barely able to think straight, and her muscles were stiff and sore. And she didn't even know if there was anything else fate decided to throw at them.
"Phew. Hope you're all enjoying the pretty fireworks. If this thing had any windows we could've seen it for ourselves," Long Caster said, his own voice shaking a little. He sounded alright, though. Cheerful enough that Naomi was able to crack a small smile to herself. "Nice work, team. You all really pulled through for us."
"Just a typical workday for us, right?" Naomi asked, trying to crack a joke even though she really didn't have the energy.
"Well, we got the island back under our control at least, so we have somewhere to go," Tailor said, trying to sound hopeful. "And the Arsenal Bird won't be able to resupply. That's a victory, isn't it?"
Húxiān was still trying to catch her breath as she asked, "Does this mean we're that much closer to ending the war?"
"No, we basically just prevented it from dragging on forever," Count said, sounding reluctant to admit it but he was right. "We won the battle, not the war. It won't be over that easily."
"Yeah, but we knew that going in," Naomi's father said. He sounded more worse for wear than she was feeling, and she wondered just how much he'd had to push himself this morning. She almost felt bad he'd been dragged along like this. "I know one thing. We're only going to last so long."
"We have no choice but to return to the base and hope for the best. But we were already nearly out of food and fuel. Now, after this battle, our supplies won't go much farther," Long Caster said, adopting a darker and more somber tone. An attitude reminiscent of the one he'd adopted over Farbanti. "We need to do something…"
Naomi sighed. Morale was arguably lower than their supplies. But they could worry about that later. Right now she just wanted a break. "Come on. They're all waiting. We should go back and get a debrief done."
"'All hope abandon ye who enter here'," Jaeger remarked, the fatigue weighing on him as well.
"What's that?" Tailor asked him hesitantly.
"A message supposedly inscribed on the gates of hell…" Jaeger muttered in response. Naomi recognized the phrase. It was a piece of Anean poetry, if she recalled correctly, though her memory was fuzzy. Jaeger added, "I can't help but feel it fits today a little too well."
"Guess you were right about what you said to those soldiers earlier, Trig," Count said, his own tone of voice almost identical to Jaeger's. "We really did walk right into hell."
"This isn't hell. Hell doesn't take the innocent," her father added, almost sounding scornful. He was referring to the civilians that had died, all of Belkan descent. Each and every one of them knew that, there was no point ignoring it. "On the other hand, war is a completely different story…"
No one else said anything else as they returned to what remained of the air base on the island, choosing to avoid discussing the topic any further. No amount of words was going to change what happened today, but they couldn't leave it alone for long either. Not when the family ties of some of them were considered. None of them were prepared for what they'd have to confront when they landed.
Naomi definitely wasn't.