Dagger Flight
Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw
Jake "Hangman" Seresin
Natasha "Phoenix" Trace
Robert "Bob" Floyd
Reuben "Payback" Fitch
Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia
Dagger flight were transported directly from the courthouse by truck to the 444th Air Base Penal Facility during their several hour trip through the country they heard several jets flying overhead and distant explosions. As they closed on the Air Base the fighter noises and explosions became far clearer, they were waved through a barbed wire fence into the base moving past row after row of aircraft some of them were damaged but others looked like they were in good condition.
Suddenly there was a roar ahead of them followed by a pair of explosions and the sound of heavy machine gun fire. They heard the sound and felt the impact of shrapnel and several bullets hammering into the front of the truck several penetrated the rear cabin fortunately missing the airmen but one bullet ricocheted up and slammed into the guard who was standing at the rear of the cabin knocking him out of the vehicle's rear. The truck suddenly slammed into a defensive barricade.
"EVERYONE OUT!" Rooster shouted jumping to his feet "we're sitting ducks here!" He called out the six US Navy airmen jumped to their feet and got out of the vehicle's rear cabin.
"Shot at by a mother fucking F22!" Hangman shouted angrily "who the hell strafes the ground with an F22!" He said watching the Raptor pull back up away from the ground and away from them "shot at by our own damned planes."
"We can't stay here!" Phoenix shouted "we're sitting ducks."
"AA guns!" Payback pointed at a nearby foxhole all six of them ran together into the foxhole containing to interesting looking Anti-Aircraft (AA) Guns which were on turrets, had digital displays and were double barrelled.
"Payback, Fanboy clear the bodies" Rooster ordered pointing beside him Hangman picked up a 9mm handgun as the men began to remove the bodies from the first gun position. Before either he or Hangman could get into the seat Bob slipped into one of the gunnery positions quickly followed by Phoenix who was looking at the controls.
"Bob, do some of that WSO shit!" Phoenix said looking at her rear seater who was looking at the systems the man pushed his glasses back on his face as he looked over them, he was formerly a crewman on the B2 Spirit Stealth Bomber and had greater systems knowledge than any of them. Behind Rooster and Hangman watched.
"Okay…" Bob said looking over things tapping his feet on the deck "foot pedals" he said tapping the left one suddenly the platform moved left surprising both Hangman and Rooster. Bob then tapped the right pedal and the weapon moved back. In front of him there was a joystick attached to a digital screen he pushed the stick forward and lowered the double-barrelled gun before pulling it back which raised the gun "firing!" He said pulling the triggers sending several rounds into the air they exploded several hundred feet into the air. "I wouldn't want to control rotation and elevation at the same time."
"It's like a MV-22" Hangman said looking at the controls, it was not too easy.
"Looks simple enough, one of us controls the rotation and the other targets, let us do this Bob. Call a target!" She said while Hangman and Rooster moved to the other platform working out the controls for themselves.
"Do your piloting crap Phoenix" Bob called back "that green MiG-29." He said pointing into the air Phoenix began to turn the gun platform following the aircraft as Bob watched the digital screen the plane on the monitor was coloured brightly red marking it as an enemy. Bob pulled the triggers and sent a stream of bullets into the sky narrowly missing the MiG-29.
"OH JACKPOT!" Payback shouted from their left Rooster glanced over seeing they were in a second foxhole "we've got a crate of stingers!" He called out folding out one of the launchers.
"Do you even know how to fire one of those things?" Rooster shouted but the two men were already aiming the stingers. "BE CAREFUL!" He called to them as they launched a pair of surface-to-air missiles (SAM) one of the two missiles tracked a Mirage 2000S blowing the delta-winged fighter to pieces.
"Our turn Rooster!" Hangman called out taking control of the turret while Rooster began working out the turret's controls. At the other turret Bob and Phoenix cheered as their shots connected with an F-15C blowing several holes in the fighter's wing.
"This isn't a normal base" Rooster noted hearing the roar of engines behind them as a pair of F/A-18s took off from a concealed runway behind them. Even as he was firing, he could see what looked like a pair of operational B-52 Strategic Bombers sitting on the tarmac but on closer inspection they had clearly been stripped of their engine parts and even their canopy windows.
"It's not a normal prison either" Hangman called out opening fire with the AA Guns. "Lookout!" He shouted seeing a pair of MiG-21s roll in towards them. Both MiG-21s fired a single missile each towards the foxholes "shoot them, I am not going to die to a pair of museum pieces!" The two AA guns blazed away at the incoming fighter's flak exploded all around them unique looking aircraft as their missiles exploded just short of the foxholes. As the two shock-nosed aircraft got closer flak from both cannons tore into the aircraft blowing the wing from one aircraft and blowing the tail off the other. Both MiG-21s began spinning out of control one rolling over and over while the other began a flat spin.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Rooster screamed as one of the fighters ploughed into the ground sending shrapnel int their direction all four airmen jumped from their foxhole into the one occupied by Payback and Fanboy just as the second crippled MiG-21 slammed into their original foxhole and exploded. "This is definitely another different day" Rooster whispered. Payback and Fanboy continued to launch stingers but they could see a massive propeller driven TU-95 Continental Bomber approaching.
"This is the weirdest place I could ever imagine" Phoenix laughed looking up in the air as the bomber approached "could you ever imagine shooting at one of those things?" She asked where they were from the TU-95 was built by Russia, the only way that they could fire on one would be in a Third World War which would likely end all life on the planet.
"I can today" Bob laughed raising a Stinger missile launcher and firing joining forces with Payback and Fanboy. "This is one Strange world." The three stingers flew up from the foxhole towards the TU-95 counter measures from the bomber launched but one of the missiles slammed into the large plane. "It's still coming, we're running low on stingers." As they reached for more missiles one of the F/A-18s they had seen take off rolled in behind it and launched missiles into the plane's back blowing its tail off sending the bomber crashing towards the earth. The six airmen cheered loudly as the F/A-18 tipped its wings flying passed them.
"Give me a fighter and I could learn to like this place." Hangman noted watching the second F/A-18 down a second TU-95 Bomber. "It looks like the rest are falling back, score one for us!" He noted standing up watching as most of the enemy fighters were pulling back.
"Not all of them" Rooster pointed at an SU-27 Flanker rolled in on one of the F/A-18s several missiles flew out from the Flanker towards the other aircraft. From out of nowhere the second F/A-18 pulled up in between the defending Hornet and the Flanker chaff and flare flew from the second Hornet in a vain attempt to stop the incoming missiles but Rooster knew what the pilot was doing he had seen it before on the Dagger mission. During the mission they were in SAM hell when Maverick had sacrificed his fighter to save Roosters several of the missiles flew away from the two fighters but enough followed their course slamming into the second F/A-18 Hornet causing a huge explosion tearing the fighter apart.
On the ground beside them there was a handheld radio beside them "TRIGGER'S HIT! OMG his plane is coming apart… no chute, no chute… he is gone." Someone shouted as the damaged plane came apart falling towards the ground.
"We've broken their offensive RTB." Another voice said over the radio.
"We should probably turn ourselves in as well" Rooster suggested the others looked at him and they nodded agreeing, leaving the remaining stingers in the foxhole they headed deeper into the base. As they walked Rooster noticed that there was an eclectic mix of what they would call American, Russian, and European aircraft and vehicles set across the base like they were preparing for missions but most were missing at least one part or they were heavily damaged. "It's like the boneyard back in the states but they've spruced it up like a fake base." He said as they walked across the airbase.
They approached a second gated fence where there were armed guards wearing urban camouflage and holding assault rifles. "I'm Captain Bradley Bradshaw and this is Dagger Flight" he said introducing them to the guards "we're your new inmates." He did not know how they looked each of them were dressed for court but also now covered in dirt.
"Surrender all weapons as you enter, no weapons inside the Penal Facility." The soldier said almost robotically, he did not sound or look surprised that they were presently armed nor that they were surrendering themselves.
"Do it" Rooster said handing over his own 9mm side arm and a knife he had picked up during the short battle. The others did the same he saw reluctance in a couple of his flight mates but he nodded confirming he thought it was the right play.
They entered the based and another soldier indicated for them to follow him they were led over to a barracks facility where they were led into a conference room where other pilots were waiting. "Look here's the fresh meat." A tall man said he stood off to the side he had thick dark hair on top of their head while the sides were shaved. Rooster recognised his voice as the pilot who had reported the other pilot's death.
"You pilots?" Another asked he had dark hair which was receding
"One of thems a pretty one" a blonde-haired male with a thin goatee said checking out Phoenix she looked at him dismissively and then leaned into Rooster who played along with her movement while surprised by the movement she felt good against him. "Oh… I see how it is."
"Pick a spot, the Colonel will be here soon." One of the guards said, it was only now that Rooster realized the pilots were unarmed like he was and the only ones who were armed were the guards around the perimeter. A door opened off to their left-hand side and in entered a man in his late 50s he had a military uniform with full battle dress and a sidearm he looked all like a battlefield general, one that rarely saw true combat.
"Well done people, we successfully defended 444th Air Base once again, our continued efforts work off your crimes and keep the enemy focused on this base instead of more important front-line bases." He said stepping up to a podium in front of the pilots. "Welcome to our new people, I am Colonel D. McKinsey, we noticed you joined the defence without orders and used weapons without permission, that's at least a day in solitary for the four of you." He said smirking to them, Rooster and his flight did not know if he was joking or not.
"They did more to indicate that the other half of the base is operation than any of us ever could by manning those defence points." The pilot who spoke first said they did a good job.
"Enough from you Champ or you can join them."
"Trigger's dead" the blonde one said "what we going to do now?" He asked Rooster glanced at the man realizing since the man's first comment Rooster still had his arm around Phoenix and she had not pulled away. He was not sure why it was important that one pilot was dead, losses happened during war, it was not nice but it happened.
"Then there will just have to be a new Trigger, Count, maybe one of you will raise your game or maybe one of these guys will fill the spot." He said glancing at the new blood "for now you are all dismissed. Security, take the new blood to solitary twenty-four hours for them. Next time wait for orders." He said walking out of the room guards quickly surrounded and escorted from the room, McKinsey was not joking, they were escorted through the base and into a set of cells each of them were placed into a cell. The cell was just long enough for a bed with a toilet at the far end right beside the head of the bed there was no further room, it stunk as introductions went to a new place this was definitely another different day.