As soon as we geared up in our flight suits, we climbed into our fighters.
I powered on my F-22A Raptor and got on the radio, "Okay… Ridgebacks, your clear for takeoff." I acted as the ATC.
"Roger, clear for take off, Ridgeback." Slash responded.
I see the 4 planes take off in a short distance on the runway.
"Alright… Viper, Omega, Bronco, clear to taxi to runway… Position and hold."
"Bone Arrows 1,2, and 3, taxiing to to runway, position and hold…" Bronco responded, "Alright Erich, ever been in a plane before?"
"Only in a passenger one." He responded
"Okay… hang on tight when we takeoff."
"This is Bone Arrow 2, positioned on runway… We're ready, mate!"
"Copy that." I responded, "Clear to takeoff, quick climb to… 15,000 Feet."
Erich exclaimed, "15,000 Ft!?"
"What's the matter? Passengers go up to 35,000 ft." Viper responded
"Oh…boy..."
"Taking off!"
"Wait! I changed my mind! I want out! I…. woah!"
Rena giggled on our private frequency, which only the two of us used, "He's funny."
"I can see why you can like him." I teased at her
"…Shut up… I… don't li…like him..."
"Your voice says other wise."
"…Let's just go." And she rolled to the runway, following me.
"Alright… time to go!"
Cleared for Takeoff
I pushed on the throttle control, and my speed gained.
As soon as 200 knots came in, I pulled on the stick on my right hand… pulling the plane up…
"This is Reaper to all aircraft, altitude restrictions are canceled."
Home
September 26, 2019
Iyuli
Time: 1858 (Local)
Mission Clear Objective:
Complete ceremonial flight
Our planes are locked in a formation. A four plane for Ridgeback, and a three plane for Bone Arrow. But for me, I'm in a two plane formation with Rena...
"I never thought I would come back home." I said
"Me either." Rena responded
"This is a ceremonial flight. Watch your manners, Kid." Viper reminded
"Right, let's begin!" Slash announced
The Ridgebacks broke to the right, while Bone Arrow to the left… which leaves the two of us in the middle… I see lights… and fireworks…. over the cities….
"Amazing…" Rena said in awe
We started our ceremony maneuvers… which is a 'dance' of the war. An air show, showing the War of 2019, and most importantly… the duel.
As we flew, we can hear the commentary on the radio, "The planes are the heroes of the War… and one of them was their opponent… The blue and white plane… now fighting against the Reaper, with both pilots matching in skills…"
I can hear the cheers of civilians.
"…As they fought… they found out more of their opponent, and their selves… As both of them realized… that the two pilots, are family, broken in half…"
"Both of them came out of their duel alive, but their angels wounded… as they both fall out of the sky… they talk to each other for the first time… and then… they disappeared… however, after a period of rest… they now return… this time… as a reunited family."
"Now!…" A new voice came in on the radio, "We shall applaud our hands in appreciation of the fellow pilots…"
But… as we past our hometown, Where our father is at… we heard nothing...
"Dad… why didn't you save me?" I was startled by the sudden message
"Rena…"
"He could had stop them…"
"He did stopped them… he gave the designs… That's how I know your moves." I reasoned
"Mom… I wish I can see you… I want you to see me flying with my brother…. and be with Dad… why did… why did this happen?"
I couldn't speak….
All of a sudden, the radio began singing, "The journey begins… starts from within… things that I need…to know…"
I realized the song… Mom used to sing it… she used to sing it to me
"Mom? Who wrote that song?"
"….It was your father… he wrote that song."
"Really? Does that mean you still love him?"
"….y…yes… I still love him…. I …. I never should…. I never should had left him…"
I let a tear dropped, as I know who is singing that song.
"Dad… I'm home."
He kept singing the song through out the flight through Iyuli… broadcasting it on all frequencies… even to ours...
He knows our frequency…
118.04 MHz...
Kacper Cohen… our father… can now rest… as now… I look over Rena now.
The song kept going… and then, more people joined in… even the other pilots… Slash, Edge, Fencer, Axeman… Viper, Omega, Bronco, all of them, singing this song of peace.
"Thoughts endless in flight… day turns to night…"
Then Rena joined the choir, "Questions you ask… your soul…"
Even Goodfellow, and Sky-Eye sang the song, "Which way do I go… How fast is too slow?…"
But I wasn't in the group… Better do it then," The journey has its time… within us…"
Then… it faded into silence.
Erich, being a reporter, asked us this question, "Who wrote that song?"
I just said, "It's a family secret."
"Oh… okay. Man, this is such a good song."
MISSION UPDATE
"All planes, unknown fighters coming in from the south! Intercept." Sky-Eye alerted
"Damn, and I thought this war is ending." Slash complained.
We all turned around to the north and see the bogies...
"Flankers…" Omega commented, "You sure it's not just the Russian Air Force?"
"There's no IFF signal or call sign indicating that flight is VVS (Russian Air Force)."
"That can't be good." Fencer speculated
"They're 50,000 Meters from reaching the city." I reported
"Attention unidentified aircraft…" Viper alerted, "This is the UNF Air Patrol Unit. Be advised that you are violating restricted air space. Identify yourselves, and state intentions, or we will fire. I repeat, identify yourselves, or we will shoot you down."
We waited for an response, but there's nothing.
"Bloody Hell, must not speak English. Any other ideas?" Omega suggested
"Perhaps, they know French? It is a diplomatic language." Erich pointed out
"I'll try," Fencer switch to an open channel, "Attention aéronef non identifié C'est l'Unité de patrouille aérienne UNF. Soyez avisé que vous violez l'espace aérien restreint. Identifiez-vous-mêmes, et les intentions de l'Etat, ou nous allons tirer. Je le répète, vous identifier, ou nous allons vous abattre."
Nothing...
"Maybe…" Rena started
"Yes Rena? I responded
"Maybe they know Russian."
"You know Russian Rena?" Edge questioned
"I do, I'll try… Внимание неопознанный самолет ... Это UNF воздуха патрулирования. Имейте в виду, что вы нарушаете ограниченный воздушное пространство. Определите ваши себя и государственные намерения, или мы будем стрелять. Повторяю, определить себя, или мы будем снимать тебя."
Again… nothing.
"Damn it! Nothing… What your plan, Viper? They're closing in." Bronco said in annoyance
"This is Goodfellow, we got a enemy frequency… switch to 122.84 Mhz"
"Roger, switching." Slash reported
We switch the radio frequency, and got incoming broadcasts, "You hear that, they thought we're Russian!…. That came from Camilla, that backstabbing bitch. This is Meges 1 to all aircraft… commence attack! Long live Troy! LONG LIVE TROY!"
"MISSILES! TWELVE O CLOCK!"
I see streaks of missiles… aimed at us!
"BREAK!"
We all pulled evasive maneuvers to avoid the missiles.
"This is Sky-Eye! The Sons of Troia is attacking Iyuli… you're clear to engage!"
"Roger that! Let's go Bone Arrow!" Viper complied
We can still hear the enemy frequency, "City is in sight… hold position until Ancaues Flight arrives…"
I place my fighter behind an SU-35. I fired my cannons at it… it then broke hard to the left, and I followed, pulling my throttle… pulling a hard G Turn. Firing my missiles… only to have one hit the aircraft
"This is Meges 4, I got one on my tail!"
"I got him, 4!"
WARNING
MISSILE ALERT
I broke off the fighter and turn my head to see another on my tail… I break left, and right… seeing missiles and tracers streak past my plane…
I then pulled a Kublit, and replaced my plane behind him…
"Kill him!" Omega yelled
"You're mine!" I fired my two missiles…
It struck the target, and it burst into flames.
"GAH! This is Meges 5, I'm….zzzz…"
I reengaged another fighter… and then it pulled a Cobra…and past by my plane…
"This is Meges 15, I got the Reaper in my sights!"
I try to break hard, but he kept on my tail...
"I got one on my tail!" I alerted
"Hold on! On my way!" Viper responded
"Damn! This guy's relentless!" I complained, then the plane shook.
DAMAGE
"Simon! You're taking fire! You okay?!" Rena panicked
"I'm fine! Just get this guy off me!" I yelled
"Got him in my sights." Bronco responded, "Right behind you!… right here… FOX 2!"
Then, the alarms stop blaring…
"Thanks…. Oh right, you doing okay Erich?" I asked
"… Yep… I'm alright…" He sounded shaky
"…You sure?"
"Yeah… it's just like a roller coster… only more intense."
"Hang in there."
"I'll try…"
I turn the fighter around to start engaging more fighters.
That's when Omega said something,"Hey… they're still celebrating! What's with them? Where's the AA defenses?"
I did notice, fireworks are still going off… and people are cheering.
"They think this is an act." Fencer speculated
"Then let's pull the curtain." Slash replied
"This is Sky-Eye to all planes, the enemy numbers are extremely high. There's at least 50 of them out there."
Shocked, I said, "What!? How can they get all of those pilots?"
"Are we…. the only ones here?" Rena questioned
"We just contacted the VVS. They are scrambling fighter assets to Iyuli as we speak. It will be 10 minutes before they arrive."
10:00:00
09:59:20
09:58:46
"But… that's not enough time." Erich noted
"Hang in there. The AA Defense are coming up now as we speak." Sky-Eye concluded
"This is Meges 44, isn't this overkill?"
"44, don't let the commander hear you. These are the Bone Arrow and Ridgebacks. Also… the 'Butterfly' is here as well."
06:22:32
06:21:45
06:19:32
"Damn! This is more intense than Tokyo!" Omega complained
"The AA Units are online!" Edge reported
"This is AA units 1 to 20, stationed around Iyuli, we engaging the enemy fighters."
"Roger that." Viper responded, "Just don't hit us up here."
"No worries, we are using Wernher weapons."
As we fought, we begin to fatigue. Our planes, starting to suffer damage from high stress.
3:01:44
2:59:11
2:56:33
"..zz…Damn!" Omega cursed
I saw Omega took a hit.
"You okay? You took a hit?" Bronco asked
"I'm fine. … Ah… Ballocks! My stick is starting to stiff up. Looks like my new record is going to 1 to 15 now."
"Don't give up, Omega." I said, "We can still fight."
"Yeah… Besides the reinforcements are inbound."
"This is Sky-Eye, 2 minutes before the squadron arrives."
"..zz.z.z…zzzz…" The radio started to static up...
huh?
"…zzzz…this is Artemis Squadron of the UNF to the VVS Squadron…"
"….what?" Was all I said…. but no one can hear it.
"….looks like the UNF is having a good drill up there…. anyways… drill's over… return to base….
I gasped, "WAIT! WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT…zzzz…."
"ECM! WE….be…..ammed!…"
I look at my radar, starting to fizzed with jammed signals…. then… I see Su-33s... Fleeing the area...
"Restore communications!" was all Sky-Eye said next
Rena reported in shock, "They aren't coming! What's happening!?"
"I'm trying to bring them back! Hold them off!… what!? I don't have a engine problem! Iyuli is under attack! Damn it! This guy's not understanding me!"
I thought about the fleeing Flankers… and looked at Rena's QFA-44, on my wing…
I switched to 118.04 "Rena… contact the fighter squadron."
"Wha…what?"
"You need to contact the VVS squadron. You're the only one who can talk to them."
"But… I… I…"
"Do you want Erich to die?!"
"…Erich…"
"If you don't… we'll all die… everyone…please…"
"…al…alright… I'll do it… for Nagase… for Dad… for Erich… and for us…"
"Thank you, Rena."
All of a sudden, Sky-Eye alerted, "Another flight of fighters inbound! It looks like they're Su-34 Fullback attacker aircraft. It looks like they are attempting to attack the cities around Iyuli!"
"This is Meges 1 to Ancaues flight. Airspace hasn't been cleared. But begin your attack."
"Roger that… Ancaues 1 to Ancaues 2 to 20, begin attack runs!"
"Zut alore!" Fencer cursed in French, "There's too many!"
"Calm down! Ridgebacks, attack the attacker aircraft. Bone Arrow squadron will handle the fighters." Goodfellow came in
"Oh, so now YOU decided to give orders now, huh!" Omega commented on his delayed speaking.
"Omega, I'll be sure to write you up when we get back."
"…And what might that be about, eh? I was just attacking enemy planes in a shot up plane."
"This is Ridgeback 1, roger that. Engaging the enemy strike fighters."
Looks like we need to mop up the enemy fighters ourselves.
I switched to Rena, who is about to start the transmission, "Внимание ВВС эскадрильи. Не вернуться на базу! Iyuli все еще находится под атакой! Это не учения! Повторите, это не упражнение!" (Attention VVS squadron. Do not return to base! Iyuli is still under attack! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not an exercise!)
The radio responded in Russian, "Это Верона 1, капитан Артем Соков. Кто это? Определите сами." (This is Verona 1, Captain Artyom Sokov. Who is this? Identify yourselves.)
Rena responded, "Это Рена Коэн, оперируя Костяная Стрела эскадрильи стрелками ПВО и безопасности. Пожалуйста, помочь нам. Мы сильно превосходили." (This is Rena Cohen, operating with Bone Arrow Squadron of the Arrows Air Defense and Security. Please assist us. We're heavily outnumbered.)
"Понял, что мы находимся на этом пути. Извините за путаницу." (Roger that, we're on the way. Sorry for the mix up.)
"Огромное спасибо ... подождите ... Артем?"(Thank you so much...wait…Artyom?)
"Ничего себе ... никогда не думал, что мой двоюродный брат был бы здесь." (Wow... never thought my cousin would be here.)
"На самом деле ... у вас есть два двоюродных братьев. Помните "Жнец"?" (Actually... you have two cousins. Remember 'Reaper'?)
"Oh… so Reaper is my little lost cousin." He remarked
I just said, "So you can speak in English, this whole time?"
"Yep…Hey, I didn't know it was Rena. We hadn't talked since she was 4…."
"Artyom!" Rena cutted in
"Hah hah hah… Sorry I said that on a open channel."
"Hey. Hate to bust up the family reunion… But we still need help here!" Omega interrupted.
"Da. Da." Sokov replied, "We'll be there in 5 minutes."
Okay… five minutes.
I turned my fighter to the left, and see 10 fighters… armed to the teeth. I switched to my XMAAs, and locked on to 4 of the targets
"FIRE!" I fired, and launched missile, and took down two targets
"Meges 6 and 10 are hit! Focus on the Reaper!"
I see a fighter… with a toy horse emblem… the leader...
I engaged him on a dogfight…
"The Reaper is on the flight lead! Attack him at once!"
Then, missile and tracers began to grazed my plane.
DAMAGE: 20%
"Gah! I can't shake him!"
"Roger that, kid. I got him, tracking target." Viper responded, "Break left. Head to 8000 ft!"
But then my left side to be intensified with AA fire, forcing me right, "I had to break right! Someone get him off me!"
"I see him! Locked, Fox 2!... Fireball!"
I see a fireball behind me. Then, more fighters came up… and began to fire more missiles on me…
"Damn it! More of them!" I complained
Then… I saw Rena's plane fly towards me. Then, the missiles just past us.
"ECM huh?" I asked.
She replied, "It's proven to be a lifesaver."
Erich then talked, "Really? I need to learn more of this."
"Okay Erich. You can learn." I responded
"Really?" He asked
"When we get out of this alive."
"…Now I'm less confidant."
The radio again crackled, "This is Verona 1, we're almost there, we need 2 minutes."
"This is Ridgeback 3, all attack planes destroyed."
The enemy is commenting on their losing battle, "Damn it, looks like numbers won't do it against the Reaper. This is Meges 1, prepare to retreat from the airspace."
"This is Meges 2, I got the enemy Typhoon in flames, he's gonna go down. Looks like this isn't all for nothing."
"SHIT!" Omega shouted on the radio, we can hear emergency alarms going off.
"Omega! You OK?" Bronco asked
"Controls are down… my hud is shot up to bloody Hell… I gotta bail out."
"This is Sky-Eye, Omega, be advised that the area is still filled with enemy fighters. You are taking a big risk."
"It's that, or being burned to a crisp, huh? Guess I do then. Cheerio mates." And with that, he ejected.
I can see the plane, with the seat launched upward, before the plane exploding. I waited for the chute to deploy, and it did.
But the enemy also took notice, "This is Meges 3, we have a chute. Take it down."
"No... No way." I said. It's just like what Rena did before...
"This is Goodfellow! Protect Bone Arrow 2!"
"Ridgeback here, we're busy attacking enemy fighters."
"Bone Arrow 1, same here!"
"Damn!" I yelled
"This is Verona 1, we have arrived in the area, and are beginning attack on enemy fighters." I turn to the north, and see 4 Su-33s attacking.
"This is Bone Arrow 4 to Verona. Bone Arrow 2 is down, and enemy fighters are going to strafe his chute. Can you assist us to protect him?"
"Da. We can do that. Send us the location."
I gave them the coordinates.
Soon enough, the enemy fighters began to flee from the area.
"Looks like the enemy had enough." Fencer reported
"This is Sky-Eye! We have more bandits inbound!"
"What!? First, over 70 fighters! Now this!?"
The enemy broadcasted, "Meges is leaving the airspace. Thoas 1 to all fighters, attack the enemy."
"Four enemy fighters inbound. Be advised that they are equipped with stolen T-50s. You are outgunned."
"This is Verona 1, the enemy PAK-FAs are targeting Bone Arrow 2. Chert! They're strafing!"
I turned to engage the enemy, when I see the chute, full of holes.
"Verona 1 to Sky-Eye, Omega's chute is damaged."
"This is Goodfellow, retreat from the area immediately. Orders from base commander."
"Roger that, Ridgeback is retreating."
"Bone Arrow 1 and 3 are retreating."
"Bone Arrow 4, 'Camilla', Verona, retreat from the battle and head West." Sky-Eye ordered
Omega is dead! There's no denying it... I can't let them get away!
"Nyet Sky-Eye. Verona 1 is staying in battle."
"Captain Sokov, you are ordered by the commander of UNF Ramstein Air Base to retreat!" Sky-Eye demanded
"Negative! This is my home country!"
"This is 'Camilla', I'm staying to engage the enemy!" Rena denied to the order as well. She's using her call sign….
"Rena Cohen, comply with orders!"
"I can't!"
"Bone Arrow 4, retreat now! Have them turn around!" Goodfellow demanded, "If you don't, you will face a court martial!"
"...Negative."
"Lieutenant Cohen! You are to…" That's when I turn off the radio, and then switched to 118.04.
Surprisingly, Artyom knows it too.
"So we're disobeying orders, huh?" He commented, "Oh, and I know the frequency because Rena told me earlier."
"Really? Rena, I thought this frequency if for family members only."
"Artyom is family." She responded, "…orders were made to follow… they take precedence."
"Sometimes, orders must be broken to do the right thing." I taught, "That's your moral choice, not your CO's. Remember Rena, you are not UNF. You follow your own path."
"But… my path is to stay with you."
"So what now Simon?" Artyom asked, "There's 4 tough fighters about to attack us."
Rena on my left wing, and Artyom on my right, there's only one thing to do.
"Attack formation." I ordered, "Bring them down."
"Roger." We all broke off and fought on our own.
The enemy was shocked at our crazed tactic, "Hey, are they nuts? It looks like they're staying."
"This is Thoas 1, remember: Engage enemy fighters till Meges flight leave the airspace."
I engaged the enemy leader, and he began to pull crazy maneuvers like I used to. It was a big dual, yet I kept pounding him with bullets.
"This is Thoas 1, I'm hit… damn…."
I pulled off him, and leave him dropping altitude. I see Rena attacking another, and quickly took it down.
"Thoas 4 is down."
Sokov began to fight the last two on his own. The T-50s both pulled barrel rolls to get behind him.
Sokov now is the mouse.
The enemy began to fire missiles.
"Let's help him!" Rena called out
"Right, let's go." I responded
We both turned towards them, and fired out missiles.
They missed them, and then… Artyom pulled a cobra, and responded, "All yours."
"Sorry…" Rena apologized, "I'm quite 'full'."
I know what that means… She's out of ammo.
…That's right... my ammo.
GUN:400
MSSL:2
XMAA:4
DMG:25%
Shoot, gotta be careful.
I engaged a fighter, and he broke upward. I followed, and fired my guns… it clearly hits the plane.
SPEED: 200 KNOTS
Almost there…
Come on…. lock on…
SPEED:127 KNOTS
WARNING
STALLING! INCREASE POWER!
Clear tone!
I fired all the missiles I got… and the plane took all 6. It blew into debris… then… it started to fall towards me.
SPEED: 100
80
My plane begins to fall, and roll on it's own. I applied full power to engines, and even to afterburners.
But the plane is still falling.
Need to push the nose down!
I pushed on the control stick rapidly, and the plane leveled, but then, the plane started to yaw, rapidly.
I'm now in a spin.
Shoot! Gotta…. level the plane! No… wait, pushed the plane into a dive, allow airflow to even out on the wings.
I tried so, the plane did stopped spinning.
ALTITUDE: 20000
1700
1500
gotta pull up!
I pulled on the stick...
90 Degrees
78 Degrees
57 Degrees
ALTITUDE: 10000
9000
8000
5295
Not gonna make it!
SPEED: 6000
6204
6364
POWER: 100%
Shoot! The engines!
I pulled the engine thrust, deploying air brakes, and full flaps.
OVERSPEED!
OVERSPEED!
Almost there…
Yes!… made it.
"Simon…" Rena spoke… in an angry tone…
"Y…yes…"
"DON'T YOU DO THAT AGAIN!" she was weeping, "You… could have… you could have died…"
"Sorry Rena, but remember, I have the skill of flying better then others anyways."
"Right… don't leave me…please..."
"Don't worry, Rena… I not going anywhere."
"…zzz….z.z…."
?
"…y…..You made a grave mistake….zz..z.z….."
It was the base commander in Germany….
I cursed, "Kuso!" (Damn!)
Sokov talked to the two of us, "Looks like we're being court martial…"
"Don't worry, it's not like death…"
we all stayed silent… until the radio crackled again...
"This is Sky-Eye, we just got word from the ground…."
The battle is now over...
"causalities were light… as an estimated 30 lives lost, with 50 injured… SAR attempts… were unsuccessful"
We're too late…
"He... was… a fighter pilot like no other…."
Then the radar showed Ridgeback Squadron, in formation. Heading towards the three of us.
"Join me… in saluting… Lieutenant Quent Macmillan!"
The four planes roared past us, with the last one on the right… flying upwards towards the sky...
Debrief
The enemy fighters retreated in the direction of Turkey, but we loss sight of them. As for the Allies, the AA guns were 30% lost. We had now confirmed that the Sons of Troia are now breaking the ceasefire.
Also, Wernher forces in various areas had gone missing, before clearing out EVERY factory and stockpile in the area. This war is not over.
As for 2nd Lieutenant Macmillan, he is no longer part of Bone Arrow Squadron and by extension, Arrows. He will be granted a posthumous 2 rank promotion to Captain.
As for 2nd Lieutenant Simon Cohen, Rena Cohen, and Captain Artyom Sokov of the Russian Air Force, they had disobeyed orders for retreating from the airspace. They are to be grounded from air duty for the time being, until said otherwise.
Emergency transmission from command:
Radio transmissions from hostile forces intercepted, "Project ZOE to be activated."