Valais Air Base, 020° 04' 08" N, 239° 31' 24" E, 12:30hrs, 02 April 1995
"All pilots to the briefing room, at once!"
Above the air raid siren, everyone is able to hear the base commander's order. Technicians and mechanics go about prepping the planes. Other airmen rush to and fro doing their best to get as much as they can into the underground bunkers already filled with essentials.
From the barracks to the back of the air field a group of three in pilot overalls is seen piling onto a motorized cart. A female with blonde hair in a tight bun jumps into the driver seat. Another blonde with shoulder length hair rides shotgun. As soon as the large man with short dark hair gets into the back, the driver floors it. The cart shoots off in the direction of the command bunker. For a split second it looks as if it would roll over but the driver gets it under control.
The male in the back yells, "Agathe, you can't drive worth a shit!"
"We're likely about to be bombed you dumbass! Now's not the time to stall!" The driver replies.
"At least slow down so you don't get us killed before the bombs do?" The passenger holding onto the frame for dear life beside her begs.
The driver shakes her head.
"Sorry, sis! No time!"
The cart tears along the runway missing the other few vehicles driving around. It jerks to a stop in front of the building next to the command tower. All three climb out and run to the tower. Agathe jerks the door open and the three run inside.
"Christophe, Elisabeth, someone, hold the door!"
The trailing female quickly doubles back. She pushes it open enough for a harried fourth guy with brown hair and in pilot fatigues to get inside.
"Thanks, Elisabeth!"
Christophe jogs backwards while asking, "Where the fuck were you, Renard?"
Renard replies as they all four continue to run, "Mechanics, where I always am!"
"Did you see Crow on your way?" Agathe shouts back as they round the corner.
"Last I knew they were at the lounge."
Christophe growls, "They better not be fucking drunk."
Elisabeth shakes her head as they run to the entrance of the briefing room.
"They're smarter than that. What about Pixy?"
"The way he was yelling at the Colonel last night, I wouldn't be surprised to find him in the brig."
"And miss getting paid? I'll pass!"
All four zero in on the voice inside of the briefing room. A relaxed man with smooth brown hair, Pixy, is seen sitting in the front row of chairs. He's turned back with a grin. Beside him is a new pilot with black hair and silver eyes. Christophe notices him first.
"Who the hell are you?"
The other three then focus on the unknown man. The guy makes to speak but is cut off by Pixy who slings his arm around the man's shoulders.
"Trident, I would like for you to meet the newest member of Galm. I call him Cipher."
Agathe raises an eyebrow and stares at Cipher.
"Really?"
Cipher just shrugs helplessly which gets a laugh from Christophe.
"So the newest meat shield is a doormat. Awesome."
Pixy shakes his head and pats Cipher on the back.
"Don't mind Niceguy too much. He's just an asshole."
Renard snorts and Agathe barks out a laugh. Christophe growls but decides to just sit down. The three others move to take seats as well. Elisabeth waves to get Pixy's attention and then points at Cipher.
"Why Cipher?"
Pixy smiles and shrugs.
"He hasn't talked much and I still haven't figured out where he came from."
Agathe butts in.
"You didn't bother to ask?"
"Wasn't able to."
Elisabeth tilts her head.
"What do you mean?"
"Well ... I-"
Pixy waffles long enough for Cipher to answer for him. With a weak smile Cipher says, "Shouting match."
A short moment of silence passes before Christophe slaps his knee and laughs.
"Wait, Wait. You're telling me that this guy," Christophe points at Cipher, "is the reason we could almost hear you outside of the offices?"
"No." Pixy rolls his eyes. "Not him specifically."
"Then why?" Agathe asks.
Pixy shakes his head and says, "You'll find out soon."
Agathe flicks him the bird but then turns to Cipher.
"So spill." Agathe prods. "Who are you? Where ya from?"
Cipher begins to speak but at that moment the room's doors burst open and three heavy breathing guys jog inside. The shortest one with a motley beard among them laughs. The youngest one elbows him with a large grin.
"I told you we'd make it!"
Pixy waves at them.
"Glad you could finally join us Crow."
Renard smiles at them.
"Wow, you guys have poor timing."
"In more ways than one, too," mumbles Elisabeth.
The balding third guy with a slight gut-pouch, sends a glare at Renard.
"We're so sorry Mr. 'I own a souped-up-fucking-golf-cart.' "
The bearded one looks around for a moment. He spots an incredulous look before looking to Cipher. He nods up at him.
"Cool. New guy."
"Wait, really?"
The younger one perks up and looks at him as well. The bearded one shakes his head and says, "Later."
He moves on and looks at Pixy.
"Where's Colonel Falkenrath?"
"Listen up!"
All of the pilots rush to attention as a tall Colonel with greying black hair comes in from a side door. He quickly moves to a computer at the front of the room. He punches in a few keys and the screen behind him turns on and fills up in red.
"We have a situation on our hands. A major squadron of Belkan bombers has crossed our border and is making its way here, to Valais Air Base."
The screen forms into a topographic map of Ustio and the surrounding area. It zooms in on a region northwest of the eastern Ustio border. A group of red arrows appear on the top left and then a group of yellow ones on the bottom. An arrow from the yellow group moves up to intercept the red's path.
"Apparently, they intend to attack our base in an initiative to gain hegemony over the entire Republic of Ustio. Valais Air Base is our country's last line of defense. If our base falls, no one will be left to stop Belka from taking over Ustio. Your mission is to destroy the squad of bombers and defend our base. Belka's invasion must. End. Here."
The Colonel looks across the pilots with a fierce gaze.
"Understood?"
Some pilots nod their heads and a general mix of "Yes" and "Sir" is heard. The Colonel's eyes twitch but he nods in turn.
"Good. Get to your planes and get them in the air. We have no time to lose. Assemble together as a group and then wait for further details. Dismissed!"
All of the pilots scramble out of the room. Trident team piles into their cart and takes off for their underground hangar. Agathe, as the passenger, breaks the silence on the way.
"Thoughts on new guy?"
Christophe huffs and crosses his arms.
"Looks weak."
Agathe snorts, "Everyone looks weak in comparison to you, you steroid junky. I meant as a pilot."
As they roll through the cavern entrance in between fuel trucks moving out and ammo trucks moving in, Elisabeth shrugs.
"Pixy was right on with the nickname. There's not much to guess from."
"We can listen on the radio and then talk with him after the mission." Renard suggests while parking. "More time then."
Christophe grunts, "right."
The four split up and run to their hangars. Elisabeth heads to hers and runs to her locker by the entrance. She busts it open and pulls on the rest of her equipment. She runs to the ladder as the servicemen hurry up in finishing their tasks. She climbs into the cockpit and waits for the crew chief to give her a thumbs up.
She quickly powers on the electronics and flips through making sure everything works. Flaps, loadout, meters, everything needed is checked at a blistering pace. She grabs her helmet and straps it on and connects it with the plane. Her heads up display immediately pops up. The jet is set up and within minutes she rolls out behind the rest of her flight. Four SU-27's kitted for anti-air roll into the canal of their hangar and then, once lined up, exit.
As they approach the runway, Elisabeth's radio crackles.
"Trident 1, base command. You are cleared for take off as soon as able. Climb to an altitude of 2500 meters and hold for the rest of 6th air division. How, copy?"
Agathe is the one to reply.
"Base command, this is Trident 1. Copy, wilco."
She then replies over the squad net.
"Alright, ladies. Point, Niceguy, and Scrubs, mic check."
Elisabeth is first. "Point, copy."
Renard is next. "Scrubs, copy.
Christophe is last. "Ready to fuck them up Dainty. I copy."
Elisabeth can almost feel Agathe's eyes rolling.
"Right. Meet you all up top."
Agathe's Flanker hits the runway first. Her flaps down and her engines hot, she takes off into the cloudy midday sky. Renard takes off next and then Christophe. Elisabeth lines up and then throttles up. She lets the acceleration push her into her seat and watches the buildings pass by in her periphery. Her Flanker finally generates enough lift and the wheels leave the ground. Once stable, she picks the gear up and follows her flight. She steals a look back and glimpses three F-16's rolling onto the runway and two F-15's exiting their cavern.
Elisabeth returns her gaze forward.
"It looks like we won't have to wait long at least. Galm's last and Crow is on the runway."
Christophe jokes, "I'd ride down the bastards if they weren't."
Agathe speaks over general, "Hey Pixy. What's the hold-up?"
"Ask Cipher."
A calm voice is heard next.
"Fueling. Technicians took too long."
A loud voice in Crow team speaks up.
"They know they're about to be bombed right?"
Another voice in Crow breaks in with, "I'm sure you can tell them when we get back, Bark."
A pause and then a third voice says, "Trident-1, Crow-1, I've just taken off and Galm is behind us. We'll be with you shortly."
"Good news, Scruffy, it was getting lonely up here."
Soon enough all jets are in the air and circling until base command comes on the radio.
"6th Division, this is base command. Glad to see you all made it up. Orders are to head north-west, bearing 310, for 40 klicks. While on the way, Galm team will receive numbers. Copy?"
The flight leaders reply their affirmatives, but confusion crosses Elisabeth's mind at the mention of Galm's numbers.
"Crow-1, copy."
"This is Trident-1. I copy."
"Pixy copies."
"Cipher, I copy."
The nine fighters circle around then fly off on the given heading. Up above them all, the clouds are heavy. Below are the cold Waldreich mountains. Behind them is their last haven. In front … there's Belka.
Author's Notes (11/2/2017): Operation Crossbow begin.