Cloudfall Air Base
Yakutia, Federation Mainland
April 25th, 437 AC
9:40 PM Local Time
"Y'know… when Myers said he had a mission for us yesterday, I didn't think he meant in the dead of night," Hammer mumbled as he took a swig from a cup of coffee.
"Well, better to be going up late at night than not at all," Natalie pointed out.
Wires scoffed. "I dunno about that, to be honest," he admitted. "Truth be told, I'd rather not crash and die because I fell asleep in the cockpit."
"Heh, that's why we have coffee," Doc said, holding his own cup in his hand. "Besides, this'll just make it all the more rewarding when we do finally manage to get to sleep."
Wires shrugged as he took another sip. "Can't argue with that, I guess. Although, it'd be nice if Myers actually showed up to brief us so we could get this done and over with already."
Everyone jumped in their seats as Myers's booming voice spoke up behind them. "Don't worry. You won't have to wait for long, Lieutenant," he said in a firm voice as he made his way up to the front of the briefing room. "Believe me; I'd like to be sleeping just as much as the rest of you. Unfortunately, we are in the middle of a war, so that takes precedence over a few hours of sleep."
"Well, just tell us the target, and we can be on our way, sir," Natalie replied with as confident a smile as she could manage given how little energy she had and how much of a foul mood Myers seemed to be in.
Myers nodded and started up the briefing software, bringing up a map of the Eurasian continent which showed the rough lines of the Federation, European Coalition, and West African Concordat. "Good, that's what I expect to hear from you four. Now, let's get on with this." He zoomed in on a region in the northern area of the front lines between the Federation and the Coalition. "Despite last night's revelations, the situation still hasn't changed," Myers began. "The Coalition is still withdrawing its forces westward all over Europe. We're still not sure what their plan is, but we believe it involves Rouen, the capital of Normandy, in some capacity, considering that all of their forces seem to be moving to that general area." He zoomed in on a highlighted dot labeled Rouen in western Europe. "However, in light of the results of our last attempt to see what was going on, we've concluded that it's not worth losing any more recon groups if they have mercenaries of such a high caliber guarding the place. That doesn't have anything to do with your mission, though."
Hammer raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Why tell us then?"
Myers shot him a glare which promptly shut him up before he continued explaining the situation. "Because despite the enemy's theatre-wide retreat, we've noticed something peculiar. The Coalition appears to be gathering a sizeable force in the city of Dalsland," Myers explained, zooming the map out before centering it on the city in question up in northern Europe. "We're still not 100% sure what they're planning, but the leading theory is that they're planning an assault on Dalarna, which is just to the north and a strategic position. We don't know what they stand to gain from an attack like this, but that doesn't matter. Your mission is to fly into Dalsland and cripple the enemy forces, particularly the enemy air support."
"Sir, couldn't we just send a Hydra cruiser after them?" Natalie asked. "It'd certainly take a lot less time and be a lot easier," she pointed out as she studied the map.
"The Hydra cruisers use up a lot of cordium, so until we can either get our hands on a more extensive supply or find a way for them to run on less fuel, we're trying to limit our usage of them," Myers explained. "Besides, you'll have the element of surprise on your side, especially since you're moving in under the cover of darkness. Regardless, you four are the best pilots the Federation has. If anyone can handle this mission, it's you."
"Well, it's not like this'll get done any faster by just sitting around," Hammer said, stretching as he finished off his coffee and threw the empty cup rather gracefully into the nearest garbage can. "Might as well just get this over with so we can get back to bed."
"Agreed," Natalie replied as she stood up to lead the others over to their hangar. "Let's load up Violet Squadron."
Dalsland
Scania, Europe
April 25th, 437 AC
10:10 PM Local Time
"Violet Squadron, alarms are going off at Dalsland AFB," Skyline informed the group. "You're cleared hot. Engage any and all targets in the AO before their anti-air can come online and pose too much of a threat."
Natalie nodded, even though Skyline had no way of seeing it. "Roger that. Wires, Doc, you've got the MLAGs. I want you to focus on that anti-air. If we can neutralize it before it comes online, we should be able to widen our exit window."
"Solid copy, Violet 2 engaging," Wires replied.
"Hammer, you and I will keep them covered," Natalie instructed Violet 3. "It's just like Myers said. Prioritize enemy air assets. Without air support, this attack the Coalition's planning won't stand a chance of succeeding."
"Sounds good. I'm right behind you, Winter," Hammer assured her. "Let's get this done quick. I can practically feel my bed from here."
Without wasting another moment, Natalie dove down and flew toward the incoming enemy aircraft at full speed. She set her sights on the first target, the lead plane of a flight of F/E-18s, and locked onto them with an SAA. For a moment, it looked as if all five of the incoming fighters were going to fire missiles at her, forcing Natalie to break her lock on the first plane. Fortunately, however, Hammer sped past her and got their attention, making it all the easier for Natalie to keep her targeting circle centered on the lead Super Hornet and bring it down. After that, the night sky exploded into a sea of missile trails and tracers. The battle had officially begun.
"You've got more enemy fighters rolling off the runway," Skyline warned everyone. "Watch your tails."
"What kind of squadrons are they sending up?" Wires asked as he made another pass over the enemy anti-air positions, which were still dormant as he set them ablaze, lighting up the night. "Any mercs?"
"I'm still looking through everything, but from what I can see, no," Skyline answered. "It looks to be primarily Scanian squadrons- oh. Well, I see a Normandic flight going up right now- F/C-16s. Looks like a flight of nuggets."
Natalie smirked as she turned away from the wreck of the F/E-18 she just shot down. "Guess Myers was right," she remarked. "The Coalition really is desperate if they're sending them up." She looked around until she spotted the F/C-16s on her hud and turned to face them. "Let's drive them off then, shall we?"
There were actually quite a few Vipers, nine in total. What wasn't surprising, though, was that three of them started flying away right off the bat. The remaining six started flying toward Natalie and Hammer in a rigid formation, save for one, trailing ever-so-slightly behind. Natalie smirked as she turned to face them head-on. A salvo of MLAAs detached from her plane before she even had time to process her thumb hitting the trigger. The six Vipers all broke in different directions. However, one of the planes in the middle of the formation didn't turn at a sharp enough angle and took the full force of their mistake as one of the MLAAs smacked into their plane.
Hammer hit the afterburners and sped forward to chase after the dispersing fighters. He fired a pair of STDMs the moment he pitched up and around to get behind the lead plane. The F/C-16, however, wasn't ready to admit defeat just yet. Chaff and flares spewed out from their aircraft, lighting up the night sky as they jerked to the right at a much faster rate than the missile could keep up with. By the time the lead Viper leveled themselves out, they were already heading for Wires and Doc, who were still wreaking havoc on the dormant enemy ground forces.
"Violet 2, Violet 4, you've got a bandit coming up behind you," Natalie warned the other two as she threw the throttle of her own plane forward, hoping to catch up with the F/C-16 before they had a chance to fire on the two Peacekeepers.
Wires, however, wasted no time upon hearing Natalie's warning. Due to how slow he was already moving to take out the ground targets, it didn't take much effort to throw his plane around in a complete 180 using the AOA limiter to fire two STDMs right at the Viper, sending them spiraling to the ground. "Thanks for the heads up, Winter."
Natalie smirked. "Don't mention it," she replied. "I'll let you guys know if any others slip by," she promised him as she turned around to engage the remaining four F/C-16s, which quickly became three as Hammer took one down with guns.
Just as she was about to fire an SAA at one of the last Vipers, Natalie heard the slow but consistent beeping of the missile alert in her cockpit. Without a moment of hesitation, she dumped flares and pitched straight up before looping around to further ensure that the missile wouldn't find its mark. As she danced around amidst the stars, she glanced down at her radar to see who it was that was chasing after her, only to find it was one of the F/E-18s from earlier.
"Hey, Skyline. Do we have any more aircraft taking off?" Hammer asked, seemingly reading Natalie's mind since she was just about to ask that very question.
"Standby…" Skyline answered almost immediately to let the pilots know she was already on the case. "Yes, a flight of six MiG-31s is taxying now. If you hurry, you might be able to get them before they're airborne."
Natalie gave the AWACS operator a curt nod that she couldn't see. "Copy that," she replied before turning her attention to Hammer. "Violet 3, wanna deal with 'em?" she asked as she deployed more flares to counter a second missile from the Super Hornet behind her. "I'd do it myself, but I've got my hands full at the moment."
"Leave it to me," Hammer assured her, already diverting from the F/C-16 he was chasing. "I'll deal with it."
With the MiG-31s soon to be dealt with, Natalie craned her neck to try and get a good look at her pursuer, getting a surprisingly satisfying pop from her neck along the way. The Super Hornet behind her was surprisingly relentless. Every turn she made, the enemy pilot mirrored with relative ease, and now they looked to be closing in for a gun kill. The moment she saw tracers going by her wing, Natalie practically threw her plane up. The F/E-18 tried to follow her, but they seemed to be caught off-guard by the movement, and by the time they had mimicked her first turn, Natalie was already in the middle of a second one to get behind them. She brought herself nice and close, allowing her to, ironically enough, go for guns on them. The Super Hornet had no time to react and temporarily lit up the night with a fiery explosion.
"Skyline, we did what we could to their anti-air defenses, but it looks like they're starting to come online," Wires reported as he and doc pulled up into the sky and away from the sea of tracers that erupted from the ground.
"Understood, disengage and support Violet 1 and 3 with the enemy aircraft," Skyline ordered.
"You two better hurry up," Hammer said in a teasing voice. "By the time you get up here, we'll have taken 'em all down," he taunted them as he dove down through the anti-aircraft fire to launch a salvo of MLAAs at the MiG-31s still on the runway. None of them had picked up enough speed to even get off the ground yet, so they all exploded where they sat.
As Natalie pulled away from the burning wreck of another Super Hornet, she noticed one of the F/C-16s going straight for Hammer at full speed. Instead of warning him, she decided to take care of the Viper herself and started moving to cut them off. However, it didn't take long for them to notice Natalie, and once they did, they turned to face her head-on. At first, Natalie tried to hit them with an SAA, but she then realized that her target was already too close. By the time she switched back to STDMs, the Viper was already going guns on her, forcing the Peacekeeper to break away as several bullets pinged off her plane. Fortunately, none of them did any severe damage.
Natalie looked behind herself to try and get a good look at the F/C-16 as they shot past each other. It wasn't often that she managed to get hit by anything, so this pilot managed to earn her respect in that regard. However, upon watching the Normandic pilot and the way they moved, she found herself almost amused. Their movements were sloppy, and their lack of experience was on full display. Nevertheless, it didn't stop Natalie from turning back around and going to take them out. She had a solid lock on the Viper for at least thirty seconds, but at the last minute, Natalie instead decided to go for the other Viper that had just pulled ahead of the first. Like most of the others, it fell from the sky in a fireball, and the remaining two F/C-16s flew away, trying desperately to catch up with the other three that left earlier.
"Well, looks like that's all enemy aircraft taken care of," Doc observed as he shot down the last F/E-18.
There was a brief moment of silence before Skyline finally spoke up. "Confirmed. Enemy air units in Dalsland have either been neutralized or are no-factor," she informed the four Peacekeepers. "Enemy anti-air took a significant hit as well. Good work, Violet Squadron. Regroup and RTB."
Hammer let out a deliberate yawn over the radio. "You don't have to tell me twice, Skyline. "Let's hurry up and head back. If we hurry, we might manage to get at least six hours of sleep in."
Natalie smirked. "I, for one, think that's probably wishful thinking… but I wouldn't mind a good night's sleep."
Wires snickered as he added with a smirk, "You and me both, Winter. You and me both."