Dagger Flight
Captain Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw – F/A-18E
LT Jake "Hangman" Seresin – F/A-18E
LT Natasha "Phoenix" Trace - F/A-18F
LT Robert "Bob" Floyd - Phoenix's F/A-18F WSO
LT Reuben "Payback" Fitch - F/A-18F
LT Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia - Payback's F/A-18F WSO
Against an otherwise empty sky the four F/A-18 Super Hornets of Dagger Flight flew in formation heading across the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda towards the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Since their still classified "Dagger mission" the four Top Gun graduates had been kept together as Dagger Flight and were being used by the United States Navy as a troubleshooting unit. They would be sent to various hot spots around the globe and would serve as the tip of the spear of an offensive, should they not be needed in that capacity then the pilots would train against other flights that served on the carrier hopefully passing on some of their experience.
Since Dagger the unit's former commander and trainer Pete "Maverick" Mitchell had accepted a promotion to Major and a position at the Top Gun School for a second time, this time planning on settling down with Penny Mitchell as well as training the best pilots the navy were producing. With Maverick's departure LT Jake "Hangman" Seresin had officially joined the flight and Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw had accepted command of the flight. For his actions in saving Maverick when his plane had been shot down Bradshaw had received a promotion to Captain.
"Rooster, Bob, we've got some weather up ahead looks like a nasty storm." LT Robert "Bob" Floyd reported from the backseat of LT Natasha "Phoenix" Trace's F/A-18F which flew just behind Rooster's single seater F/A-18E. Unlike most units Dagger flight mixed the single seater E and two seater F type Super Hornet with the Weapon Systems Operator (WSO) on the two seater aircraft acting as a support for both aircraft spotting trouble the pilots may miss and providing electronic warfare support for the flight.
"What we going to do Rooster, add a couple of hours flight time going around or plough on through?" Hangman asked from the lead of the second pair of aircraft, he was still sore that Rooster had been picked by Maverick over him to fly on the Dagger Mission even if he did successfully get his third airborne kill when he rescued Maverick and Rooster during their escape in a stolen F-14A.
"Rooster, Dagger Flight, No need to go through the middle, we'll increase our height and catch the least bad weather. Hopefully when we reach Ike it's cleared up a little." He said using the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower's informal name. The F/A-18 was an all-weather fighter but still if they could avoid being thrown about their cockpits and possibly damaging their aircraft they should.
The four aircraft began to climb but the storm was rolling in quicker than anyone could have expected and the four fighters were quickly enveloped. Even at their higher altitude the storm was affecting the flight's progress. "Rooster, Dagger, loosen up a little." Rooster commanded as thunder and lightning rocked the aircraft and they were buffeted by gale force winds. The storm was gaining in power throwing all four aircraft around as they continued, they were at the point that going back would be just as bad as pushing through.
"Bob, you got any suggestions for some clearer air?" Phoenix called out to her back seater as she fought with the controls of the aircraft guiding it, she had faced some nasty surface-to-air defences during the Dagger mission but sometimes mother nature was just as bad an adversary.
"We should dive through this!" Bob shouted over the buffeting "this turbulence will extend as high as we can go!" He called out.
"Phoenix, Rooster, Bob suggest we get out of this turbulence by diving, we go through this damned storm. Great idea Hangman" Phoenix shouted into the radio from the front seat of her aircraft.
"Hey, it was Rooster's shout" Hangman taunted his rival as he fought to control his aircraft with Payback's two seat craft following in formation.
"Follow me then" Rooster called out diving his aircraft through the storm, the four aircraft followed the same path each of them tilting and turning to try and avoid the worse that the storm could throw at them. Inside the aircraft cockpits the pilots felt like they were being pulled and pushed in every direction.
"This is supposed to be better?" Payback called from the fourth F/A-18 as each of the aircraft were thrown around.
At the front of the line Rooster fought to control his aircraft when there was a flash of light which enveloped everything blinding the pilot and causing his fighter's systems to blink out momentarily. The F/A-18 then began a steep dive towards the choppy stormy weather of the Atlantic Ocean.
"ROOSTER!" Phoenix screamed in surprise seeing her leader and friend drop out of the air diving her aircraft after his in an equally sharp dive, the other two followed closely but in shallower dives. "ROOSTER PULL UP!" She shouted again as the two aircraft plummeted towards the water below.
"Waaaah!" Rooster exclaimed regaining control of his aircraft; he leaned back into his chair pulling the aircraft controls pulling the Super Hornet out of its dive the waves below churning as the ocean reacted to the storm.
More lightning flashed passed the aircraft as they burst through the clouds out into open air. All four aircraft had made it through the storm and slowly they slipped back into formation. "Sound off" Rooster called out "Rooster, all good."
"Phoenix and Bob, we're fine."
"Hangman, is as always good"
"Payback and Fanboy, we're still around a little beat up but still flying, what a roller-coaster."
"Erm, Rooster where are we?" Hangman asked looking around below them they were approaching a coast-line "we should be heading out to sea?"
"Yeah, oops" Rooster admitted looking at his compass they were now heading east, which should have sent them back towards the United States. As the fighters continued away from the storm contacts appeared on their radar, four of them in total. "Profile suggests F-15Cs" he said wracking his brain, he could not think of any F-15 squadrons stationed near their flight path over the Atlantic Ocean.
"Incoming aircraft this is Captain Mihoko Takamori, callsign Thunder of Stormbreakers Squadron, you have violated the Osean Defence Zone please identify yourself and respond to this challenge." One of the incoming pilots challenged them as they approached on the general air radio channel.
"This is Captain Bradley Bradshaw, commander of Dagger Flight, of the United States Navy sorry you're who?" Rooster responded as the fighters continued to approach, he did not recognise the Stormbreakers Squadron or the "Osean Defence Zone." The fighters were still outside weapons range but he could not believe that aircraft rising from what should be the United States were challenging them.
"I do not recognise that organisation is that a new mercenary group? You have violated the sovereign territory of the Osean nation in armed aircraft Captain Bradshaw." Takamori stated "you will surrender your aircraft and follow us to our airbase." The pilot said moving into weapons range, he did not recognise the United States?
"Options people?" Rooster asked on the flight's private channel.
"We turn and burn them, we have the missiles" Hangman said as they were a combat flight all four aircraft had a full complement of air-to-air weaponry, they had enough firepower to take out the entire squadron.
"We need more information" Phoenix said from her fighter "I don't know of any Osean Defence Zone or any F15Cs in this area. It doesn't make sense."
"I'm with Hangman" Payback said splitting the flight as Rooster was leaning on getting more information.
"Dump the Paveways and drop tanks they're about empty anyway." He ordered each fighter carried two Paveway IV laser guided bombs and a central drop tank which had additional fuel. By now the tanks were empty and the Paveways were useless in an aerial contest. From the craft the eight bombs and four tanks fell away from the aircraft landing harmlessly in the Atlantic Ocean.
"Rooster to Thunder, we are in United States sovereign territory we don't recognise your authority. I have four F/A-18s which are fully armed, we need more information from you before we're ready to surrender these aircraft." He warned the incoming aircraft.
"Rooster, this is Thunder, you will not get another warning, we are almost in weapons range. At present you are hostile forces approaching out defence zone, if I do not have a surrender message in two minutes we're coming in firing." The pilot warned.
"Rooster, Fanboy, come in?" Payback's WSO said over the radio, he would not have spoken without a reason and as they closed on an armed conflict.
"Go, Fanboy" Rooster responded
"We're in AIM-120 range." He said "they should be unless all they've got is Sidewinders, maybe sparrows" he explained mentioning the infrared guided weapons, no modern American fighter squadron would only fly with only those weapons especially if they were on interception duties. They should at least have AIM-120s something was very wrong.
"Let's turn and burn them Rooster" Hangman said repeating his idea "they shouldn't be here."
"Agreed, no-one fires unless fired upon." Rooster ordered "break by flight, cover each other, no head-to-heads I don't want to give them an open shot." He said moments later Rooster and Phoenix flew to the right while Hangman and Payback went too the left. Opposing them the F15Cs broke similarly with two turning to engage both pairs of incoming fighters.
The F/A-18s were faster, more manoeuvrable, and then the other aircraft. Rooster and Phoenix flipped their planes from the left-wing tip to the their right-wing and began to climb the pair of F/A-18s and F15Cs crossed paths in mid-air the two pairs then turned into a Split-S manoeuvre criss-crossing in mid-air narrowly missing each other. The two F/A-18s braked during their Split-S and rolled turning onto the tails of the F15Cs locking onto both aircraft. "Bob, can you see Hangman and Payback?"
"They're in a kill-shot position" Bob said looking at his sensors and through the canopy to see the other F/A-18s were behind one of the F15Cs, the other was missing.
"Don't worry Rooster, we've got you covered." Hangman said over the radio "Payback keep an eye out for the other one."
"Rooster to Thunder we don't want a shooting war here, stand down."
"Rooster, I don't know what idea you have in attacking the sovereign nation of Osea but you're going to run out of fuel before you can get anywhere else and you dropped your bombs over the water. You cannot do further damage with the weapons you have." Thunder warned as the two F15Cs turned towards the solo aircraft which was being chased by Hangman and Payback they were trying to force a head on attack with another pilot elsewhere.
"You don't want to do this Thunder; our fighters have got superior speed and weaponry."
"And we have reinforcements" Thunder replied as more blips began appearing on the radar of the F/A-18s the speed and flight profile suggested they were MiG-29s.
"What the fuck?" Phoenix exclaimed in surprise as six aircraft in total appeared "there shouldn't be that many operational MiG's on the coast." She said, she knew there were several private MiG's in the United States and several controlled by the United States Air Force but none were being used in operational intercept duties.
"Those are Lightning squadron from the Osean Defence Force" Thunder explained as they closed on the other F15C and the chasing F/A-18s. "You have powerful fighters but you're going to be heavily outnumbered in a couple of minutes."
"We'll surrender" Rooster said "Dagger Flight, break off and stand down." He ordered turning his aircraft up to the left away from the F15Cs within moments the two F/A-18s being followed by Thunder's F15C and its wingman. The other two F/A-18s joined the first two and they were quickly surrounded by the F15C and MiG-29s each of them was painted in a green and beige camouflage and had a half blue, half white flag with six stars in a circle on it.
"I don't think we're in Kansas any more Dorothy." Hangman said looking out his canopy at the MiG-29 flying in formation with him he gave the MiG pilot a wave which the pilot returned "they're friendly enough, even after we out flew them."