Ace Combat: Joint Assault
Chapter 4:Red and Black (Bravo)
A/N: Guest: I'm glad you found out my reference to the Area 88 OVA. I hope you like the rest of the chapters and my fics. :D
Boso Peninsula, Japan, November 29th 2015, 15:00 Hours; Weather: Sunny, few clouds
After returning to Tenryu Base to switch their planes, Antares 1 and Antares 2 were piloting a Tornado IDS with a grey paintjob and black radome, and a grey and green Mirage 2000D, respectively. The Rigel squadron had rearmed and refueled their planes while they were at the base.
-GSDF, can you hear me?-said Canopus.-This is Burford, from the M42 squadron of Martinez Security.
-I have been informed of your participation. This is Colonel Yamagami of the Eastern troops.-said Colonel Yamagami.-Our forces are currently deployed along the coastline, engaged with hostile ground forces. We're grateful for your military support.
-Rigel squadron, Antares squadron, you all heard the man.-said Canopus.-Once you arrive at the combat zone, you are to provide aerial support for the SDF immediately.
-Nice, an air-to-surface op. This one's gonna be fun!-chimed Rigel 2.
-Oruma, you forget. Air-to-surface is my specialty too!-replied Rigel 3.
-I have yet to understand the fun in picking ants off the ground.-said Rigel 4.
-They pay us to hit targets that can't even fly.-answered Rigel 1.-There's nothing to complain about.
-I'm not as fixated about money as you are, Captain.-replied Rigel 4.
-This is the first air-to-surface op for Antares 2. Antares 1, Rigel squad, provide all necessary support.-said Canopus, as the MPG appeared in the pilots' HUDs, this time with the "JGSDF" label.-Check your MPG for GSDF damage reports. Do not let that gauge fall to zero.
-To all SDF personnel. It's our duty to protect Japan.-ordered Yamagami.-Do not rely too heavily on PMC support!
-This is no good!-said Antares 2.-My radar shows Armored Personnel Carriers, AA guns and tanks. The GSDF can hold the APCs and AA guns with ease, but the Valahian tanks are going to crush them. Not to mention they've got Ka-52 helicopters, too.
Twelve tanks were approaching the combat area from the beach, while the APCs and a group of eight Ka-52 attacked the GSDF and the AA guns covered them.
-Antares 2, you and I are going to attack the tanks before they reach the GSDF positions.-ordered Antares 1.-Rigel 1, Rigel 2, you will take out the APCs and AA guns. Rigel 3 and 4, cover us while we attack.
-Hmph, sounds like a good plan.-said Rigel 1.
Antares 1 and 2 attacked the tanks. Antares 1's Tornado IDS was armed with GPBs, which were lethal in precision attacks. In a single pass, two tanks had been taken out by a couple of GPBs. Antares 2, whose Mirage 2000D was armed with UGBs, did not have guided bombs, but her plane was designed for low-altitude strikes. She dropped two bombs over a couple of tanks, taking them out with unerring accuracy.
Rigel 1 and Rigel 2 were taking out various APCs, and Rigel 3 and Rigel 4 had already shot down all the Ka-52s. However, the GSDF were suffering substantial damage, with 15% of their forces already lost.
Fortunately, the Valahian tanks were destroyed in three passes by Antares 1 and Antares 2, who then proceeded to take out a handful of APCs who were lagging behind. Antares 1 and Antares 2 fired their standard missiles on the enemy APCs and strafed the rest of them.
-All hostile ground forces in the area have been eliminated!-reported Antares 2.
-We've managed to hold our lines.-reported Yamagami.-Thank you for the support.
-Just doing our job. Although, it looks like we can't celebrate just yet.-replied Canopus.
-What the...? There is a large fleet coming in from the east!-reported Antares 1.-It's massive!
-They don't know when to give up, do they?-asked Yamagami.
-Well, let's teach them a lesson.-answered Rigel 1.
-Enemy reinforcements offshore. Be careful.-advised Canopus.
A fleet comprised of twelve landing ships, eight frigates, four cruisers and two AEGIS destroyers were approaching to the Japanese coast, with a squadron of eight Su-33s escorting them. Additionally, a group of eight F-14Ds were escorting a group of four Tornado IDSs with multi-tone brown camo and metal grey radome and four Mirage 2000Ds with sandy brown and grey camo and black radome, which were heading directly towards the GSDF forces in the coast.
-Rigel 1, Rigel 3, Rigel 4, take out the enemy fighters.-ordered Canopus.-Rigel 2, Antares squadron, take out the enemy vessels.
-Understood!-replied the six pilots.
Rigel 1 headed towards the fighters covering the fleet, while Rigel 3 and Rigel 4 attacked the attacks fighters and their escorts. Rigel 2, Antares 1 and Antares 2 attacked the enemy ships. Rigel 2 focused on the landing vessels, while Antares 1 attacked the AEGIS and the cruisers, and Antares 2 attacked the frigates. Antares 2's LASMs made short work of the enemy frigates, sinking them with ease. Antares 1 and Rigel 2's SODs were more than enough to either cripple the enemy ships or sink the landing vessels.
However, after the Antares squadron and Rigel 2 spent their LASMs and SODs, the AEGIS and the cruisers were still floating and half of the landing ships were still intact, and closing to the beach rapidly. The three planes attacked them with standard missiles and guns. The damaged AEGIS and cruisers sank rapidly, with the landing ships taking two hits before sinking. Meanwhile, Rigel 4 had taken out the F-14Ds, while Rigel 3 had taken out the Mirage 2000Ds and Tornado IDS swiftly, and Sulejmani had decimated the Su-33s.
-Area is clear of enemy presence.-said Canopus.-Excellent work.
-To everyone in Martinez, thank you.-said Yamagami.-We would have been in trouble without your support.
-It's what we do.-said Antares 1.
-Just do the dirty job when we're required to.-added Rigel 1.
Tenryu Base, 16 miles southwest of Tokyo, Japan, November 29th 2015, 15:30 Hours; Weather: Sunny, no clouds
After reaching the base, Marlene Davenport, Hansel Foulke, Milosz Sulejmani, Daniel Oruma, Faryd Gaviria and Tolya Kiriakov were debriefed by Frederick Burford.
-We've succeeded in eliminating enemy forces from both the Niijima Territory and the Boso Region. But enemy forces have made it through several northern routes.-reported Burford.-Tokyo is going to be a battlefield again. We need to keep casualties to a minimum. Stay alert for any emergency sortie.
The six pilots left the briefing room. Davenport, Oruma, Gaviria and Kiriakov went to the base's cafe to have something to eat and drink.
-Who do you think is providing support to the Valahia?-wondered Davenport.
-I don't know.-answered Oruma.-But my guess is that the enemy forces came from the Philippines and Korea. Whether the Valahia are receiving true support or blackmailing the people in the countries is something I don't know.
-And they had quite exquisite weaponry.-added Gaviria.-For a group of extremists, I mean.
-Also, the fact that they attacked Japan is most suspicious.-quipped Kiriakov.-Not many countries have bad relationships with Japan, and it takes more than courage to attack Japan.
-I don't know who is behind this mess, but whoever they are, they surely want to turn this world into a living hell.-said Davenport.
The four pilots kept chatting while they ate.
Tenryu Base, 16 miles southwest of Tokyo, Japan, December 1st 2015, 01:30 Hours; Weather: Sunny, no clouds
Burford had ordered an F-14D and an Su-33 on November 29th to replace the fighters he had returned to Wernher and Noah. The two fighters were delivered in the early morning of the next day. The F-14D had a standard grey paintjob, while the Su-33 had the same colors as Kiriakov's.
Despite the fact that the Valahia had managed to gain some terrain in Japan, they didn't launch an attack on Japan. They seemed to be waiting for something else. On December 1st in the evening, Sulejmani received an e-mail from an unknown person, which showed him the true nature behind the Valahia Crisis, and that he could be infiltrated into the Valahia ranks, in exchange of a large sum of money.
That night, Oruma, Gaviria and Kiriakov were called by Sulejmani to his room, where he showed them the e-mail he had received.
-I know that Burford, Davenport and Foulke are not going to be with us on this.-said Sulejmani, showing them the message.-But this is our chance to earn a lot of money.
The three pilots read the message, sneering once they finished reading it.
-Interesting.-said Oruma.-This is most interesting. However, given how righteous Davenport is, we'll have to count her out, as you said. Foulke is not someone we can bribe into this. And I guess Burford would be very irritated if he finds out about this.
-If Oruma's into this, I see no reason not to be counted in this trip.-added Gaviria.-If this works out in the end, we'll be able to quit being the UN's lapdogs.
-You can say that again.-said Kiriakov.-We're treated like some kind of expendable blue collars, and, even if we manage to do the dirty work for the UN, the best we get is a pat in the back, a petty paycheck and a gag order.
-However, we can't just go away now.-said Sulejmani.-We have to time our defection extremely carefully. If not, we can kiss the money goodbye.
Fourth chapter. I'm sorry if this seems a bit rushed or too short. Also, I hope you like the foreshadowing ending for this chapter. If you've played the game you can guess who sent the e-mail. Good luck and take care. See you next time
