I guess that people are pre-occupied with daily life that they haven't had the time to review my last two chapters. That or they are bored with my story for the lack of chapters in the Star Wars galaxy. I hope it's the first.
Anyway, I finally watched Hacksaw Ridge, a film that one of my brothers hates for some apparent reason, but I love it. And I can still hardly believe that the actor who played Nick in Power Rangers Mystic Force was also in that movie and used an M1 Garand. That now makes three Power Rangers stars who've used a firearm in another form of media.
Star Wars Squadrons, I give it a five out of ten. The gameplay was impressive, graphics were good, but the story mode was too short. Oh, and it's only restricted to first-person mode. I would have liked the game to be longer and have an Ace Combat feel to it. Would have been better in the long run, but no it didn't turn out that way.
Well, it's time for dogfights and military action this chapter. For those who've played Ace Combat 6: Skies of Liberation, you might recognize the source material. But first onto the reviews.
Luffy L Deathwalker: No, Bram won't be betraying our heroes and I'm glad you liked the chapter.
Court of Talons: As much as I would love to take credit for the intro song, I cannot. The song is Polaris, by Blue Encount, a Japanese band which was used in the opening for the first half of season four of the Anime, My Hero Academia. I kind of got inspired to do this by a few other authors whose stories I read and figured I'd try my hand on it back when I started volume 7. If by Atlesian rebellion you were referring to the rift between Atlas and Mantle citizens, then thanks. As for the Empire and its slaves, that's the White Fang using the humans of Mantle and Atlas as slaves, but yes it does bare similarities to the Wookie's and Kashyyyk.
Monster King: Thanks.
Okay, before we start, time for a list.
Songs this chapter are 'Lit Fuse' from Ace Combat 5, 'Annex' from Ace Combat: Zero, 'Anea Landing' from Ace Combat 6, 'Shine in The Storm' from Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, '444' from Ace Combat 7, 'Rush' from Ace Combat Assault Horizon, and 'TIE Attack' from Star Wars: A New Hope.
Que the intro boys.
(Start Polaris, by Blue Encount)
On that day I promised to protect you. That promise still remains in my heart.
(A blizzard rages across the tundra of Solitas before subsiding to reveal Galen, Team RWBY, Jaune, Ren, Nora, the Clones, Ace Ops, and their allies standing on a cliff as in front of them lies the imperial occupied Atlas and Mantle, with the Executor hovering high in the air. Behind it is the silhouette of Vader, Adam Taurus, Maul and Salem as the title card is revealed with the title.)
Remnant Unleashed
Even if I must lose everything I have. To Save a life in front of me.
(The camera zooms down below to Fort Arrowfell where exhausted Atlas soldiers and pilots sit on crates with their heads hung low in disbelief at the loss of their home.)
I'd be happy to give it all away without a doubt. This is the first time I've ever felt this way.
(One soldier is looking at the picture of his family, almost on the verge of tears until Captain Rex puts a hand on the soldier's shoulder. Behind him are Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Ray, and Neo. Harriet is nearby, glaring at Galen, the badge of the Ace Ops no longer on her uniform.)
I won't hide my scars anymore. Making the despair as my weapon, That's how I want to live my life!
(Cuts to Galen who is standing in front of a massive attack force of Grimm, Battle Droids, Imperials, White Fang and Death Bots with his teammates, friends, allies, and fellow Jedi behind him. Above them, Republic and Rebel ships fly towards the enemy force alongside Remnant fighter jets, before the ground forces charge)
Push aside these tears as best I can. I'll give you everything that I have.
(Explosions light up the tundra as Ray and Neo lead the charge with the Bad Batch and Delta Squad, firing at their enemies while the young huntsmen and huntresses cut their way through the Grimm, as Vader engages Luke and Ahsoka in deadly lightsaber combat.)
So please, don't give up on me and disappear.
(Cuts to Salem and Maul wielding their lightsabers against Ray and Neo while the Fox, Winter, The Ace Ops, Artoria and Mordred run through the bowls of the giant whale Grimm towards Oscar.)
On that day I promised to protect you.
(Shows Whitley standing in front of his mother defensively as White Fang soldiers move in with their weapons raised. In his hands is a familiar object.)
The promise still remains in my heart.
(Galen and Ruby stand in Mantle with their hands extended as Atlas falls from the sky towards them, joined by Faye, Kara, Lop, Ahsoka, Serra, Zett, Plo, Kit, Aayla, Rahm and Grogu. While the others, including the Fox stand behind them and watch in awe before the screen turns dark)
Even if the light is fading. Just Go!
Disclaimers are the same as always, please enjoy.
Chapter 121: Liberation of Rosamond
"Looks like the Empire and White Fang are setting up anti-air defenses' on those mining platforms out on the water." Mara reported, adjusting the magnification on her micro-binoculars as she watched from the shower as the enemy set up the defenses she reported, her stomach flat on the ground on the cliff some forty kilometers away from the captured port town.
"Establishing defenses on the mining platforms is an ingenious strategy. Considering that Dust is used both for fuel and ammunition, the enemy is under the impression that we won't risk destroying our own resources." The Fox admitted. "Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the defenses established on the homes of the people that live here."
"That just proves that the enemy doesn't care about the homes of the people they evicted." Mara pointed out, turning her gaze to the internment camp the White Fang had set up, where all the humans they captured and evicted from their homes were kept under the watchful eye of their captors. "You said the White Fang views all humans as their enemy, and that includes children. But you never said if they execute innocent civilians."
"They've been known to execute board members of the Schnee Dust Company and workers of the trains and freighters they hijack, but whether they do it to entire towns is completely unknown, considering no one has ever reported such an atrocity." The Fox admitted, looking through his own binoculars, this time in the direction of the airfield on the outskirts of the city. "It appears that the White Fang has managed to procure several MG-23's, MG-25's and MG-27's."
The MG-23 was a variable geometry fighter built by the Atlas Air Force. While the MG-21 fast and agile, the primitive radar, limited weapons loadout and short-range made it unfavorable among the pilots who operated the aircraft. Known as the Sentinel F, the aircraft itself was a single-seater with a single afterburning turbojet engine that gave it a top speed of Mach 2.35, faster than the original MG-21. In terms of firepower, the aircraft was armed with 23mm cannon like the MG-31, and had a total of six hardpoints, two on the fuselage, two on the wing gloves and two on the wing pylons. The one's taking off from the runway were of the fighter class of the MG-23, while the fighter bomber class was kept in the hanger.
The MG-25 was a downgraded version of the MG-31, or more specifically, the original model of the MG-31. The aircraft was a single-seat supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft with the same top speed as the MG-31, powerful radar, stainless steel airframe and eight hardpoints for air-to-air missiles, but lacked the 23mm cannon found in the MG-31. When it first entered service fifty years ago, pilots were disappointed at the lack of the 25's lack of a gun for close in dogfighting, leading to the fighter being used mostly as a recon plane before it was retired and replaced by the MG-31.
Finally, the MG-27, known as the Sentinel J, was a variable-sweep wing ground attack aircraft, considered to be the improved version of the MG-23 with a stronger undercarriage, simpler intakes, a revised nose cone, and shorter exhaust nozzle, but lacked any sort of radar which was replaced by a laser rangefinder and marked-target seeker. Compared to the MG-23, the MG-27 was built solely as a ground attack aircraft, like the A-10 Rattler, but had a top speed of Mach 1.7, making it faster than the Rattler, but slower than the other members of the MG family. Armament wise, the fighter could sport either a 23mm or a 30mm cannon and had a total of seven hard points for its ordnance. One centerline hardpoint, four fuselage and two wing glove pylons.
Like the MG-21, the MG-23, MG-25 and MG-27 were retired several years ago when Atlas switched towards the newer and more modern MG-29, MG-31 and MG-35, along with the Saber fighter series, only to end up being found in the hands of the White Fang and various bandit groups who used the fighters in their attacks on airships and sea lanes. Though they had access to the newer and more modern and advanced Atlas fighters, the White Fang had hundreds of pilots trained in piloting their current aircraft, often regulating them to protecting bases, supply depots and other targets away from the frontlines.
"Looks like someone still prefers the classic fighters than the modern ones." Mara shrugged, shifting her attention to the beach on the outskirts of the city. "I'm more worried about the new TIE Hunters. Those fighters were built to counter the rebel X-Wings and are better equipped than the basic TIE. Proton Torpedo launcher, shields, hyperdrive, those fighters, while only used by the Storm Commando's are more dangerous than you could possibly imagine. Though not very many have been produced, but a single squadron of fighters can easily decimate any enemy squadron, regardless of the type of fighter they engage." Mara continued, her tone switching to one of concern.
"Remind me again, which of the pilots of the 501st and 502nd fighter squadron pilots weren't capture by the enemy?" The Fox inquired.
"Miyafuji, Sakamoto, Barkhorn, Wilcke, Hartmann, Skizuka, the Karibuchi sisters, Rall, Kanno, Shimohara, and Rossmann. The rest were captured by the empire and placed in prison. Based on what you told me about that Adam Taurus guy, he's probably interrogating them personally or even trying to convince them to join the White Fang, that the humans they worked with saw them as little more than canon fodder, those they could easily throw at the Grimm with limited supplies and poorly maintained aircraft. I heard some of the locals call Faunus pilots 'inferior to human pilots' and 'lacked the intelligence to pilot modern fighter aircraft'. But from what I saw, those girls could handle themselves better than most Atlas pilots." Mara answered, putting her binoculars away. "We need to relocate."
"Then let's move, my lady." The Fox teased, leaping over the cliff, and landed on his ATV. Mara followed suit and landed on the backseat, her blaster pistol in her hands as the Fox drove his trusty machine away from the cliff, just in time to avoid being spotted by several Imperial scouts patrolling the area.
Back on Khesed, mechanics and ground personnel were working on putting the finishing touches on the new F16 Karambit and F18 Corsair, newer fighters developed by Vale before the Fall of Beacon, with the intention of replacing the F5 and F20.
The F16 Karambit is a single seat, supersonic multirole fighter aircraft with a frameless bubble canopy and side-mounted control stick, even an ejection seat reclined thirty degrees from the vertical to reduce the G-forces on the pilot should they be forced to eject from the aircraft if it was damaged. Built originally as an air superiority day fighter, the fighter evolved into an all-weather multirole fighter following successful trials conducted in the Vacuo desert by mercenaries unaffiliated with Sicario or the Galm Team.
Along with its internally mounted 20mm cannon in the fuselage and it's eleven hardpoints, the F16 was built to replace the aging F20. Its top speed was Mach 2.05 and could be armed with either missiles, bombs or rocket pods depending on the mission the pilots of these aircraft were assigned.
As for the F18 Corsair, it was designed as a replacement for the aging F5 and possibly replace the F14 for the Vale Naval Air Force. The fighter itself was a twin-engine, supersonic, multirole carrier-based fighter with a top speed of Mach 1.8, slower than the F14, but faster than the F5 and had a greater range of a about fifteen hundred miles. In terms of firepower, the F18 was armed with a single-nose mounted 20mm cannon with twelve-hundred rounds of ammunition and eleven hardpoints for missiles, bombs, and even naval mines.
Both the F18 and F16 were to be demonstrated during the Vytal Festival, but those plans were put on hold when the White Fang, Grimm and the Empire launched their attack, which in turn worked in the favor of the manufactures who were rushed by several members of the board of directors and several military officers who wanted the aircraft ready for demonstration, regardless of the completion status. When the fighters were brought back to the design board, they found several problems with the weapons systems, avionics, radar, and engines which if left unchecked could result in the deaths of the pilots.
Now, after two years of building and rebuilding, the fighters were ready for their baptism by fire. One of the new F18 pilots was Alice herself whose fighter was modified with an astromech droid slot, hyperdrive, shielding and hybrid cannon, having lost her MG-29 during the White Fang attack a few days ago. "You know, I never once thought that I would be flying a fighter like this, even if I was raised by the Mandalorian people." She chuckled to Q7 and her brother.
"Well, you are a damn good pilot, sis." March praised, holding their father's top hat in his hands. "Mom and dad would be proud of you, as I am. Speaking of which, I think this belongs with you more than me, considering you are older than me."
"Thanks, bro. I appreciate it, but I think it should stay with you. I mean, it is a good luck charm, right? Besides, I already have something from our parents that I keep with me." Alice chuckled, showing her brother a picture of the two of them and their parents, taken days before their home was attacked by the Grimm. "Whenever I look at this, I know our parents are with me even in spirit."
"Now you sound like an old lady." March teased, only for his sister to put him in a headlock and give him a noogie. "Ok, ok. I was only joking. I give, I give!" he cried out. His sister soon let go and then laughed, followed by March who joined in the laughter while Q7 rolled over to the terminal to check the newly integrated systems in the fighter.
In another hanger, the Galm Team were overlooking their new Strike Daggers. With the upcoming operation to retake the Atlas mainland, they needed a plane that could handle both air and ground targets, which the Strike Dagger could handle. Both their planes had the same red and blue paint schemes as their traditional Daggers, and both had the same controls as their standard fighters. "That's right, we want an air-to-ground loadout loaded on our planes and an air-to-air loadout ready for us the moment we come back for resupply." Cipher instructed one of the mechanics.
"Why two separate loadouts?" the mechanic asked.
"Because it'll be quicker for us to get back in the air rather than having you ground crewmen run around like a bunch of chickens with your heads cut off trying to find what we need." Pixy responded, earning a scoff from some of the other mechanics. "If you guys want to mess around trying to the missiles, we need rather than have them ready, then go right ahead. You'll just getting a lot of soldiers killed when they needed air support."
"Like we're going to listen to a bunch of war junkies." Another mechanic snarled. "If you dogs of war had just stayed away, then Atlas wouldn't be in this situation right now."
"You think that if we stayed away, Atlas would still be standing? Salem and her allies would have attacked Atlas and Mantle regardless of whether we were there or not. They don't care if we're Faunus, Human, alien or in the middle. We're all her enemy and its high time we show her that she made a massive enemy out of all of us." Cipher answered. "Besides, we're not mercenaries anymore, we're official Vale Air Force pilots."
The mechanics grumbled and went back to work, but Cipher still felt uneasy, but in regard to something else. "Hey, Pixy. You know that brigadier general that was involved in Colonel Monasterio's plan on launching a full-frontal assault to reclaim Atlas? Does he give you the same vibe as Hamilton did?" he asked his wingman.
"You mean Howard Clemens? Yeah, I don't trust him either. You think after that disaster, he'd be reprimanded or stripped of his rank, but both he and Monasterio are still retained their ranks, like the charges and plans they came up just disappeared." Larry answered. "I'm not much of tech head like Tech, High-Tech or the others, but the fact that the enemy got a hold of our plans and were ready for us suggests that someone leaked our plans to them, but there are no traces of any contact with the Salem or her allies. This doesn't make a lick of sense and I don't trust those two."
"We should keep an eye on them, or at the very least, make sure our datapads locked. We need to make sure we don't end up leaking any intel to the enemy, even if it's by accident." Cipher said in agreement. The two pilots left the hanger, leaving the mechanics to finish their work, while their astromech companions kept a close eye on them.
The same happened in the hanger of the Garuda Team's planes. With Clemens and Monasterio's loyalties uncertain, the astromech copilots of Remnants ace fighter pilots, their rebel and clone allies kept constant vigilance for any signs of sabotage by anyone, regardless of their affiliation. The same applied for RIC-22 who stayed slotted in Ruby's F4 even after the flight crews had finished making the preparations for the upcoming assault. The astromech droid kept in close contact with the other astromech droids, reporting anything out of the ordinary to Artoo who in turn reported the findings to Amber who then reported them to Tech and other troopers skilled with cyber warfare.
As night started to fall, airmen, mechanics and other personnel were eating in the mess hall, preparing themselves for the upcoming operation to retake the Atlas mainland. There was a tension in the air along with a sense of malice and anger, directed towards Teams RWBY, GARM, JNPR, and their allies, blaming them for the fall of the kingdom to Salem and the White Fang, saying that they should be forced off the base and go back to wherever they came from, claiming that Atlas could defeat Salem and her allies without the help of another kingdom.
Things weren't easy for the construction of the tower. Supplies needed for the construction of the tower were constantly being given to the upper-class people of Atlas, claiming they had greater priority than some 'half-assed' plan to 'unite the rest of the unrefined and civilized world'. Dust and other supplies were being sold to the people of Atlas by a group of soldiers and officers, earning themselves a hefty profit. The operation didn't last long, due to Grogu discovering the sale of these supplies unintentionally, which resulted in the personnel running the operation being arrested for stealing supplies in time of war. Some of the supplies sold, such as food and medicine were recovered, but the Dust that was sold was used up and now had to be replaced.
The situation made Robyn glad she wasn't born to some upper-class Atlas family, but it made people like Arthur, Artoria, Mordred, Bella, Neo, and Clover disgusted that there were people in the military who would sell much needed supplies for a profit when everyone was suffering the effects of the 'Grimm War' as the new conflict was being called. Food, medicine and even Dust were in short supply, and many were starting to accept the ultimatum given to them by Adam Taurus.
Sent to them by drone, Adam claimed that the White Fang's victory was already garneted, and arrogantly demanded that all soldiers from Atlas surrender at once and report to labor camps, along with the Faunus 'traitors' who sided with the humans and turn over all weapons, armor, and equipment in their possession over to the 'new world order'.
The second demand was the surrender of Team RWBY's Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee for 'crimes' against the Faunus, which basically translated into turning them over for a kangaroo court that would ultimately lead to their televised execution to the entire globe.
Lastly, Adam demanded the immediate withdrawal of all rebel and clone forces, while also demanding that the lamp be turned over to the White Fang, along with the current Winter Maiden, no doubt so Salem could take the Staff from the vault of Atlas Academy, giving her two relics and two maidens, in exchange for relief supplies for the starving refugees.
Naturally, the people of Atlas and their supporters in the military were more than willing to turn Weiss and Blake over to the enemy, many of them who agreed that the White Fang's actions were that of jealously, rather than due to the actions and 'money saving' schemes and business practices, while Blake was to be turned over just because she was a Faunus.
Blake however knew right off the bat, that Adam had no plans of giving the refugee's relief supplies, planning on making the humans the lower class of Remnant, and anyone who surrendered would not only be forced to work in the labor camps but any high ranking officers of the military would be executed as a warning to deter any rebellion against the 'New Order' but that didn't stop those who cared more for themselves to trying send Weiss and Blake to Atlas, ready to accept the deal. They failed, thanks to the efforts of Winter, who had to resist the urge to personally destroy them and were promptly arrested.
As the days went by, a message sent to Khesed from Mara and the Fox finally reached the base, with all the intel and placements of enemy troops, armor, fortifications, and other targets that needed to be eliminated. By Friday morning, at oh-nine hundred hours, the pilots gathered in the briefing room, including the remnants of Stingray, Windhover, Avalanche and Hammerhead squadrons of the Vale Air Force, many of whom were survivors of the Fall of Beacon, were present. As the pilots took their seats, Clover walked into the room, with Bram by his side.
"Alright, everybody take your seats, we have a lot to cover and not much time." Clover ordered, causing those still chatting to simmer down and listen. "I'm about to go over the mission contents. Finally, the day is near. We have organized enough troops and intelligence to retake the mainland. Soon, the Atlas and Vale militaries will initiate an operation to retake the Solitus continent." He began. "Your comrades on the mainland are growing more exhausted as each day passes and if we don't act soon, they will be completely wiped out and we won't have enough firepower to retake our homes. Our bridgehead for disembarking troops on the mainland will be established at Rargom Beach, on the eastern tip of the continent and close to Rosamond. We are sending units by air and seat. This is going to be a large-scale mission, so you need to do all you can to see it through to the end." He added, as the holographic table behind him activated.
"The mission will be divided into multiple units. Two hovercraft units from both Atlas and Vale will be bringing our landing units ashore while a fleet of ships will attack the enemy out at sea. Hitman Team, Gunsel Squadron and Assassin Team, along with the pilots of the 501st and 502nd will work with Mobius Squadron and support our hovercraft unit as they take the beaches, so we can take over the points on the beach. Colonel Bishop will lead Stingray, Windhover, Avalanche, Hammerhead, Strider, Cyclops, Mage, Skeleton and Gargoyle Squadrons in protecting our fleet in order to eliminate the forces at sea or in the vicinity of the oil fields. Finally, Ronin and the clone commando's will move in to capture the airport to prevent any further enemy aircraft from launching to attack our forces." Arnold continued, stepping up as the map displayed each of the objectives and the units assigned to them.
"Rogue, Blue, Red, Black, and Shadow Squadrons will provide cover for Miss Hill, her huntresses, the Garuda and Galm Teams, Starkiller, the Gelb Team, Miss Khan and other units will be assisting Ronin and our commando units in capturing the airport. Imperial fighters are few in number in Rargom, but the latest intel suggests that new TIE Hunters were stationed at the airport. These fighters were built to take on Rebel ships, so if you engage them, don't underestimate them, they have better firepower than the basic TIES, but our intel says they were sent on a recon mission out in the tundra and shouldn't be present." Halberton added. "Be advised that there are several prison camps holding your comrades. Be mindful of where you drop your ordinance or else, we'll lose allies, also we have reports of older MG fighters being used by the enemy, so don't underestimate them as, just because they are Faunus." The admiral finished.
"Swift and accurate execution is extremely important in this mission in order to secure a foothold. Don't hold back and show us what you're made of out there. Also, I don't need to remind you about the Grimm, don't forget about them as well." Bram added. "I wish all of you the best of luck and as they say in the rebellion, May the Force be with you."
The pilots soon stood up and exited the briefing room and proceeded to their fighters and bombers, powering them up and making sure the last-minute checks on their fighters were completed. Aircraft carriers and Airships were packed with F18's, S33's, F14's, S30's, MG-31's, F5's, F4's and a few F8's while F15's, F16's, F20's, F22's, S27's, S35's, MG-29's, MG-35's, and S34's slowly started to taxi onto the runway waiting for the green light to take off.
Further ahead of them, troops and armor were loaded onto landing craft as X-Wings, Y-Wings, Z-95's, R-22's, N-1's, ARC-170's, R-41's, H-60's, V-Wings, Cutlass-9's, and BTS-A2's aboard the rebel and clone ships, along with the Jedi Fighters of Kit and Ahsoka powered up, while those like Aayla, Zett, Serra, Faye and Lop boarded a gunship and walkers were positioned underneath tank carriers, while artillery adjusted their elevations, ready to fire once targets were designated. The tension and anticipation were killing several pilots who were eager to take off, some of whom wanted go ahead and take off without clearance.
At last, the order was given, and the pilots launched. First to take off were the land-based fighters, followed by the Starfighters, then the naval vessels slowly moved out of port and towards the target. Airships and gunships were next to depart, but to everyone's surprise, the Atlas fighters had yet to launch, many of them claiming engine trouble or other mechanical failures. Regrettably, a reluctant Clover ordered that the operation continue as planned, while the mechanics worked on fixing the problem with the Atlas fighters.
Galen, Ruby, Kit, Ahsoka, Ray, Neo, Jaune, Luke, Aayla, Zett, Serra, Faye and Lop both sensed deception the moment the call came over the radio that the Atlas personal were suffering problems with their aircraft, considering that they had stationed guards at every single hanger to prevent any acts of sabotage. Considering what was at stake, the sudden spike in problems didn't seem to add up, especially after the disastrous full-frontal assault on Atlas just days ago.
Far away, in the bowels of the monstrous Whale Grimm, Kara was shackled to the walls in the dungeon with her back facing the door as two of the more sadistic members of the White Fang had been tasked with breaking her will. Her 'dress' was removed, leaving her only in her underwear and gloves as the crack of a whip echoed before she felt the leather hit her back with such a force, she was starting to lose her urge not to scream. "Come on, you stupid human bitch! Beg for us to stop and maybe we'll try something else." One of the White Fang members shouted with glee.
"We got a lot of 'special tools' that Cinder girl had planned on using. Maybe we degrade her and turn her into a toy for the rest of us to use and have some fun with her." The other suggested, earning a snicker from their companion who then proceeded to whip Kara again.
Pain filled Kara's body as she was whipped again, the marks on her back slowly starting to bleed as her aura had shattered, but still she refused to scream in pain. She was a Jedi and she wasn't going to be broken by a mere whipping like she was a slave. Eventually, the pain from the whipping was starting to become too much for her and she was almost about to scream when she heard the sound of a respirator working, knowing all too well who had just entered the room. "Cease your torture of the girl at once." Vader demanded.
"Like we're going to listen to some damn nobody! We got orders to break this girl's will and make her the masters servant." One of the White Fang shouted, only to feel their neck tighten as Vader proceeded to choke them through the force and their associate.
"She is but a child and doesn't deserve such treatment. And implying rape make you the monsters, not the humans you fight." Vader countered with anger, remembering something he saw during one of his earlier missions for the emperor. As he released his grip on the White Fang members, a new presence entered the room, dressed in a pristine white imperial admiral's uniform, but compared to the human officers, this individual was far less than human with their blue skin, red eyes, and black hair. "She is all yours, Admiral." Vader ordered, as the two White Fang soldiers quickly left the dungeon.
"I'll make sure to apply other methods of breaking her will, Lord Vader." The blue skinned man answered as he undid the chains that held Kara to the wall, allowing the girl to slump backwards to the floor. "Please make yourself decent, young lady. I'd rather not be viewed as someone who would abuse his rank and authority to do whatever they please." They said, but Kara had already passed out from her torture. Taking the dress, he covered Kara's body in it and then picked her up, carrying her out of the monstrous creature and onto an imperial transport that took him and his guest, to a Star Destroyer.
Back out over the sea, the large coalition of aircraft continued on their course towards the target as the mainland appeared before their eyes. "Take a look. It's the mainland." Shamrock said as targets began to appear on their HUDS. Artillery and AA fire from the mainland was already starting to bracket the approaching aircraft and fleet.
"Galaxy Eyes to all Sicario and kingdom forces. Ground forces are ten minutes away. Target those units on the ground and take them out before the hovercraft arrive. I don't want to hear the dying screams of soldiers as they freeze to death in the ocean." Galaxy Eyes said.
"Mobius One copies you, loud and clear Galaxy Eyes. My XSDB's are armed and ready to drop. Targets are on the scopes, and it looks like we got a lot more targets than we thought." Dante confirmed. "Sakamoto, Raul, take your girls and hit the artillery on the left flank. Hitman Team, Assassin and Gunsel squads, take the right flank. I'll lead Mobius Squadron and hit the enemy in the middle. Watch for enemy fighters." He advised.
"Roger!" the pilots responded, save for Monarch who rocked his wings in acknowledgement, splitting off into their separate groups and began the assault.
(Start Lit Fuse)
Flying in at five thousand feet, the formation of fighters armed their weapons and moved into attack position. Each of the pilots was flying an F22 or F35, as their regular aircraft were damaged during the last enemy attack on the airport, and repairs were still in process by the time the assault was otherized. Miyafuji, Sakamoto, the Karbuchi sisters, Kanoe, Shimohara and Skizuka were flying the F35, carrying multi-lock on air-to-ground missiles in their weapons bays and on their wingtips.
Kanoe was the first to dive in, heading directly towards several ballistic missile trucks loaded with cruise missiles. Adjusting her angle of decent, Kanoe radioed her squad mates to follow her towards the launchers, strafing them with their cannons and destroying several enemy units guarding the launchers. "Damn! Look's we're going to need another pass!" Kanoe cursed, pulling back on her stick and turned her fighter sharply to the right, angling herself for another attack run. The Karabuchi sisters and Shimohara followed after her, launching their air-to-ground missiles, knocking out a few of the launchers while the rest were taken out by her comrades.
Hikari was about follow up with another pass, targeting the tanks that were still operational, but the run was cut short when flying behind her sister and positioning themselves for an attack was an MG-25. Pushing her aircrafts engines to full power, raw jet wash erupted from her engine as Hikari closed the gap between herself and the MG-25, waited for a missile lock and fired. Her missile slammed directly into the enemy jet's engines, blowing it in half with one half crashing into one of the remaining tanks. "Got your back sis!" She shouted over the radio, taking her aircraft into a climb then turned a sharp one-hundred and eighty degrees and sped towards the ground targets, launching her AGM's, and destroying several enemy units, pulling up from her run.
"Nice work, Hikari." Takami praised over the radio, as a volley of AGM's slammed into the remaining ground units. "Galaxy Eyes, alert all personnel that the enemy is in possession of ballistic cruise missile launchers. I think they carry a lower payload than previous cruise missiles."
"Copy you loud and clear, Takami. Looks like our White Fang friends managed to raid a few armories while we were preparing for this assault." Galaxy Eyes acknowledged. "Get yourselves over to the fleet and provide cover for the landing craft. We're getting multiple reports of MG-23's and MG-27's on an intercept course. Get yourselves over their and give them some cover."
Monarch heard the call over the radio, as the rest of his squadron dropped their bombs on the enemy artillery, armor, and fortifications. His weapons bay had eight bombs left and heading back to resupply was out of the question with the enemy fighters heading towards the landing craft. Pushing his Longswords engines to full power, he pressed the fire button before he even had a confirmed target lock on four enemy tanks, dropping four bombs onto enemy armor, then banking around to the right, coming around for another bombing run. The last of his bombs fell to the ground, destroying four pieces of artillery before he turned towards the landing craft, following an MG-27 that was flying at wave top level, heading directly towards the landing craft. His headset crackled as he positioned himself for a missile shot, firing a single missile that went up the enemy plane's engine, vaporizing it.
Downed enemy aircraft smashed into the water around the hovercraft as a dogfight erupted overhead. One of Mobius Squadrons Longswords exploded and crashed into the water after taking a hit from a Vulture droid proton-torpedo, while a pair of Vultures were downed by cannon fire from Barkhorn, Hartman and Rall, while Wilcke, Rossmann, Sakamoto, Miyafuji and Shizuka went after a formation of incoming enemy bombers. With no air-to-air missiles aside from their short-range missiles, the pilots couldn't risk firing before they were in range, but then again, the pilots of the 501st and 502nd were experienced pilots.
A wall of missiles slammed into the bombers, sending them spiraling down into the ocean below, one of which was too close to one of the landing craft. "Those flyboys better check their air, that almost sunk us!" a soldier yelled.
As the landing craft came closer and closer to the beach, Dante spotted something that made his heart race. Positioning themselves on the shore and directly in front of the landing craft were multiple Tankers and Widows, ready to decimate the ground forces. "Mobius One to all craft. We got Tankers and Widows positioning themselves to welcome our forces. If any of you still got bombs, drop them on those monsters before the troops get any closer!" He shouted into the radio.
"Mobius One, this is Shadow Leader. Shadow Squadron is on station and ready to provide close air-support. ETA twenty-seconds. Keep the skies cleared for us!" Broadside replied over the commlink. Soon enough, Dante caught sight of the Y-Wings of Shadow Squadron making their attack run on the Grimm, but also spotted several MG-23's on their tail. Pushing his engines to full power, he kicked in his after burners and overshot the attacking enemy aircraft, then turned sharply around before climbing rapidly to seven thousand feet, followed by a diving attack on the enemy fighters.
Ion lasers from the Y-Wings peppered the attacking aircraft, but none of them were shot down. Just as one plane got on the tail of Broadsides Y-Wing, a missile slammed into the enemy jet, blowing it in half as cannon fire peppered another MG-23, which caught fire and lost control, slamming into a third enemy aircraft. The last pilot panicked and ended up flying right into Dante's gun sights, resulting in another aircraft being shot down. "Broadside, scopes are clear. Drop that payload and give those monsters hell." Dante called out. He watched briefly as proton bombs blew the Grimm to smithereens just as the landing craft reached the shore and started to offload their troops. Gunships soon arrived, dropping soldiers and walkers on the beach, reinforcing their numbers. "Mobius One to Galaxy Eyes, hovercraft and landing units have hit the shores. We're returning to base for rearming and refueling. Advice you task Vanguard Squadron with close air-support."
"Galaxy Eyes copies, Mobius One. Just don't take to long in getting back here." Galaxy Eyes replied.
(End Song)
As Dante and his squadron headed back for resupply, he noticed a distinct lack of Atlas fighters on station. "Clover, where are those Atlas fighters!?" he demanded.
"Still in their hangers! They've been sabotaged! Everything from the weapons system to the damn engines has been completely trashed! We're lucky that's all they were able to sabotage! We need fifteen minutes before they can get airborne! Just stay alive!" Clover responded over the radio.
Dante was about to retort about the current situation when a call came over the radio. "This is the Flagship Marigold of the Vale Navy. Enemy fighters are hitting us hard. Our hard light shields are almost down, and we've lost several cruisers to enemy bombers! Our targeting systems are down. We need immediate air support!"
"Warwolf One to Marigold, we'll take care of the fighters. Mobius Squadron, Hitman Team, take your squads and resupply. We'll keep them busy." Bishop said over the radio as his squadrons moved to provide support for the fleet, just as several proton bombs sunk another friendly ship, a heavy cruiser of the Vale Navy.
Bishop watched as Dante and his squad mates headed back for resupply while F16's, F15's, MG-29's and MG-35's of Windhover, Avalanche, Hammerhead, Strider, Cyclops, Mage, Skeleton and Gargoyle Squadrons, along with ARC-170's, V-Wings, X-Wings and V-19's piloted by clones and rebel pilots moved to engage the enemy fighters.
(Start Rush)
One of the MG-29's of Mage Squadron was peppered by cannon fire from an MG-23, exploding in mid-air with parts of the aircraft landing in the water beside the Eminent Domain, spewing lethal fuel and fire over the exposed 40mm gun mounts, resulting in several crewmen burning to death as an anti-ship missile from an MG-27 slammed directly mid-ship of another cruiser, splitting it in half.
"Where the hell did these guys get anti-ship missiles? I thought all that heavy ordinance was kept in military bases?" Guts questioned, firing a missile at the plane that fired the missile, avenging the crew of the sinking ship. "What am I saying, that's a stupid question. I know where they got them from."
"Focus on the battle and not where they got the firepower from, Guts." Bishop reminded his wingman, unleashing a burst of 20mm cannon that riddled an enemy bomber's wing, causing it to spin out of control and crash into the water below. "Splash one TIE Bomber." He called out, banking around to the left and got behind a flight of four more enemy bombers, these ones Hyena bombers.
Switching to his XMAA's, he got a lock and fired his missiles, destroying the targets before they could reach their target, a damaged battleship that was providing artillery support for the ground forces already ashore. Pulling up to avoid the wreckage, Bishop spotted an S47 coming directly towards him with it's cannons already firing. Jinking to the right, he caused the enemy pilot to overshoot him, but the enemy pilot gave chase and fired a missile at him. Dumping chaff and flares, the enemy missile missed him, but the fighter still gave chase. "This pilot's persistent, I'll give them that." Bishop admitted, executing a series of barrel rolls to keep the enemy from requiring a lock on him.
The enemy pilot matched him move for move, indicating that they were a highly skilled pilot and had plenty of experience flying a fighter jet. As they followed Bishop in another barrel roll, they suddenly hit by a barrage of laser fire, exploding in mid-air as a V-Wing of the 332nd commander, Seyden Merrick flew through the wreckage, then pulled up alongside Bishop, saluting the Colonel before diving back into the furball. It was then that a call came over the commlink. "Commander Cody to any available pilots! Requesting immediate air support! We got S34's bombing our position and hitting our armor hard! Sending coordinates!"
"Warwolf One copies, Commander. Guts, Lanner, Alice, form up with me. Wiseman, you, and Blaze protect the fleet. We'll be back once we've neutralized the enemy craft." Bishop called out over the radio, forming up with Guts, Lanner in her F16 and Alice in her F18, moving to engage the enemy fighter-bombers. They soon spotted the targets as they dropped more bombs down on the allied forces. The enemy fighter-bombers hadn't spotted them, allowing the four pilots to get behind them and then launch a salvo of XMAA's that downed the enemy craft. As their targets exploded, cannon fire from several S35's forced the pilots to break in separate directions, but the enemy planes went after Bishop. "Looks like I'm the popular one today." He deadpanned, jinking in every direction as gunfire and missiles flew past him. "Guts, Lanner, Alice. Keep providing air support for the fleet, I'll handle these fighters myself."
"Roger that, Colonel. Don't get killed." Guts said as Bishop watched them head back towards the fleet, which was starting to gain some ground as artillery fire from cannons slammed into enemy fortifications on the beach. Suddenly, his plane shuttered as 30mm rounds slammed into his right wing. Thankfully, the damage wasn't dangerous, but Bishop needed to lose his tail. Pitching his nose down, he took his Longsword into a dive, heading directly for some of the off-shore Dust drilling platforms, hoping the enemy fighters would take the bait.
The fighters did take the bait, as did a flight of Yellowjackets that had only just leapt from one of the platforms. Pushing his twin engines to full-power, Bishop fired another volley of XMAA's, taking out several of the Grimm while the rest of them opened up with their cannons, peppering his plane with laser fire, not aware that Bishop was about to overshoot them and that the enemy pilots were unaware of Bishops plan. Slamming on his breaks and executing a cobra maneuver, Bishop watched as the Grimm and enemy pilots slammed into each other, creating a massive airborne explosion.
One of the pursuing S35's, however, was able to avoid slamming into one of the Grimm and was flying too close to the water to avoid getting a missile shot up their engines, causing pieces of the aircraft to splash into the water. "At this altitude, there's no way the pilot survived." Bishop lamented, turning around, and heading back to the fleet.
Fire from naval guns slammed costal positions just as new contacts were detected on radar, coming from the direction of Khesed and the carriers. Bishop confirmed the contacts were S33's and the k models of the MG-29 tasked with providing air support for the fleet, but just as they were about to engage the enemy forces, a third of the fighters suddenly exploded in mid-air, causing the pilots who were lucky not to have died such a horrific death to panic, creating fear which attracted several Sea Feilongs which rose to the surface and fired blasts of lighting at the fleet, sinking several ships with one blow. "Damn it! Warwolf One to all points! Friendly S33's and MG-29's have taken to skies, but they've been sabotaged! We got Sea Feilongs attacking the fleet!"
"Bishop! It's Clover. Marrow, Elm, Vine, Winter, and I are supersonic in XFA-27's, we'll give you some back up in protecting the fleet. The operation is proceeding at a steady pace, but we can't let our guard down." Clover said over the radio as five XFA-27's arrived on station and moved to engage the attackers.
"Glad to see you aren't just going to command the war from the command center." Bishop joked, pulling the trigger of his cannons and downed a Yellowjacket as it flew through his gunsights. "Let's see if your skills are exactly what the Demon Lord says they are."
(End Song)
As the battle continued to rage, Sienna, the Gelb Team, Robyn, her band of huntresses, The Galm and Garuda Teams and Team SDOW along with Captain Bartlet flew over the raging battle in the direction of the enemy controlled airport just two miles from the beach.
The F20's of the Happy Huntresses were equipped with four rocket pods under their wings, while the S37's of Team SDOW, Sienna and the Gelb Team carried XLAA missiles, same with Captain Bartlet. As for the Strike Daggers, they were flying with an air-to-ground loadout with four short-ranged missiles and six air-to-ground missiles. Above them, was the Rogue Shadow with Proxy at the controls with the Bad Batch, Delta Squad and Omega Squad in the pack, carrying parachutes on their backs as they approached the airport. Flak from the surface bracketed the Rogue Shadow as the fighters equipped for air-to-ground combat dived in for their attack run.
"Garuda 3! Targets locked on, launching AGM's!" Marcus shouted, pulling the trigger, and launching his ordinance at the enemy armor, followed by launches from the Galm Team and his wingman, targeting the enemy anti-aircraft weapons and a few tanks. The missiles hit their targets, destroying their targets as the four F20's fired a volley of rockets in a strafing run that eliminated more enemy armor and emplacements, including an AT-AT with a lucky hit to the neck. "We've got their attention! Commandos, Ronin, you're clear to drop!" Marcus said.
The doors to the transport planes and the Rogue Shadow opened up, allowing the paratroopers and airborne tanks to parachute down to the airport, but Wrecker was stalling as fire continued to bracket the ships. "Uh, maybe I should stay on the ship and use a rocket launcher from up here?" he suggested, trying to back out of the combat drop, only for the Rogue Shadow to shake, causing Wrecker to fall out of the ship with a scream.
(Shine in the Storm starts)
"Guess we can thank the Empire for getting Wrecker out of the ship." Hunter deadpanned, jumping out of the ship, followed by his fellow Commando's while ARC Troopers from the transport planes jumped out and halo jumped down to the airport, using their jetpacks to slow their decent before they could end up splattered across the tarmac.
"I HATE ALL THIS FALLING!" Wrecker shouted over the commlink as he came closer and closer to ground, to afraid to pull the cord of his parachute. Thankfully, Tech managed to catch up to Wrecker and pulled the cord of Wrecker's chute, slowing down the clone before he could hit the ground.
Once Wrecker was on the ground, he dropped his chute and quickly pulled out his rifle, firing at the approaching enemy infantry and Grimm that were drawn to the negative emotions. "Glad to be back on solid ground. Now it's time to kick some ass! Yeah!" he shouted, charging towards the enemy.
"Save some for us, big guy!" Scorch called out as he landed and fired an anti-armor round at several Super Battle Droids, blowing them to bits. The rest of the clone commandos soon landed and opened up with their blasters, followed by Ronin and the ARC Troopers who were quick to take up defensive positions by the tanks which just landed, even the wrecks of the tanks that were unfortunate to have been hit by enemy surface fire and had their chutes destroyed.
"Sniper and rocket fire coming from the control tower. Climber! Crosshair! Sev! Take them down. Push forward with the tanks and capture those hangers! We can't let them launch anymore fighters!" Hunter ordered. Another tank was destroyed, hit by fire from an AT-AT that was guarding the end of the runway. The leader of the Bad Batch then turned to four ARC Troopers and used hand signals, ordering them to flank around the hangers and take out the walker. The ARC Troopers nodded and moved into position.
Ronin operators armed with rocket launchers targeted several ITX-130's, the Imperial version of the TX-130 and fired their launchers, taking out several tanks but more enemy armor kept coming. Another strafing run from the Happy Huntresses eliminated several more enemy tanks, allowing Ronin to move up with their Maulers, Timber Wolves and Mad Cats, using the tanks as cover, but from the hangers, several Accipiter's, and Vulture's rose to challenge the fighters providing top cover.
"Enemy fighters coming in fast! Prepare to engage!" Sienna called out, banking around and managed to get on the tail of an enemy fighter, then pulled the trigger and fired her cannon, ripping through the airframe of a Vulture which spiraled down to the ground out of control, where it crashed into an enemy tank. 'Something doesn't feel right.' Sienna thought as she targeted a flight of enemy fighters and launched a salvo of XLAA's.
Her missiles slammed into her targets, sending four aircraft down in flames. "Gelb Team, Team SDOW, incoming fighters approaching at heading of 525 from the west. Move to engage them, I'll keep supporting the ground team." Sienna said over the radio. The other six S37's moved to engage the incoming fighters, but still, Sienna felt uneasy about the situation. At that moment, a target appeared on her radar, designated as a high-priority target. The target was a ballistic missile launched from a container that no one, not even the ground forces spotted until it was launched.
Pushing her plane's engines to full power, Sienna chased after the missile, zigzagging and weaving between the anti-aircraft fire as the distance between herself and the missile, ignoring the hostile fighters that were chasing her. As she closed in on the missile, she realized what the target of the missile was; the aircraft carrier Orion Pax of the Vale Navy, one of the few aircraft carriers that wasn't damaged during the White Fang/Imperial attack weeks ago. The carrier was a symbol of unity between the humans and faunus, as the man in charge of the ship, Captain Cullen commanded the crew of the ship with respect, regardless of whether they were faunus or human, a symbol that Adam had planned to destroy, but failed each time.
Adrenaline pumped through her veins as Sienna came closer and closer to the missile. Too close for a missile, she switched to her cannon and the moment she was in range, fired her cannon. Her bullets shredded the missile before it exploded, with Sienna pulling up to avoid slamming into the mid-section of the Orion Pax. "Captain Cullen! This is Sienna Khan. The enemy had just launched a cruise that would have sunk your ship. It's been destroyed." She reported over the radio.
"Thank you, Miss Khan. On behalf of my crew, I am grateful for your assistance." The voice of the captain came over the radio, as Sienna banked around and headed towards the ongoing battle over the beaches, this time flanked by former White Fang pilots in S35's.
(End song)
Back at the airfield, the four Arc Troopers had climbed to the top of one of the hangers close to one of the AT-AT's and jumped from the roof and onto the 'head' of the Imperial walker. From the belt of one of the troopers, a lightsaber's yellow blade cut through the metal of the walker, creating an opening in which the four troopers leapt in and moved to the cockpit, taking control of the massive war machine.
The walker's 'head' turned in the direction of several enemy vehicles and immediately opened up with its heavy lasers. Enemy tanks and walkers were decimated as the enemy ground units. "Let's give them a taste of their own medicine." Came the voice of Yang as she pulled the trigger and fired a burst of lasers, taking out several incoming Widow's from one of the hangers. "Hell yeah! These things pack a punch!" Yang exclaimed.
"Watch those, Hoppers!" Blake called out as a flight of Hoppers flew towards the commandeered walker, only to be downed by the walker's light blaster cannons. "Looks like Salem's control over the Grimm is greater than we thought. If she can keep them from attacking White Fang and Empire when they are emitting negative emotions, then I don't want to think about what she has planned for us as we move further inland."
"Well, Salem's had thousands of years to master her powers to control the Grimm." Weiss pointed out, standing behind Blake who opened up with the walkers' heavy cannons once more, obliterating more enemy armor before at last the airport was secured.
"Team RWBY to Garuda and Galm Teams. The airport has been secured. Trigger's idea worked like a charm. Using one of the enemies' own weapons really helped us secure the target." Ruby reported, standing behind Yang as the massive imperial war machine powered down.
"Copy that, Red. We're RTB for resupply. We'll be back assisting the boys in the air. RIC's on his way with your bird now and you'll be back in the air shortly." Came Neo's voice over the commlink as the five Strike Daggers headed back to base.
A while later, Ruby's F4 landed at the newly captured airport, loaded for air-to-air combat with RIC-22 turning the controls over to Ruby, still in her ARC Trooper armor taxied onto the runway and flew into battle.
(Start 444)
As she took to the skies, White Fang 205-class airships had just entered the combat zone and were moving to engage the Enterprise and the rest of the 8th fleet's ships. The airships were already firing their powerful railguns towards the surface, damaging, or sinking several naval vessels or otherwise brough the ground forces to a halt as hostile armor was quick to move into attack the ground forces.
Her F4 was loaded with the same two heavy gun pods she used back at Vitoze, but in place of the XMAA's, her aircraft was carrying eight short-range aerial suppression air-to-air missiles, or SASM's, air burst missiles better suited against more agile aircraft, like MG-21 that was making an attack run on Rex's battalion. Her astromech companion plotted the attack vector and Ruby went after the fighter, which was already preparing itself for a rocket attack. The distance between her and the enemy decreased rapidly as Ruby positioned herself for a missile shot. Her radar crackled as she acquired a tone and then she pulled the trigger. She watched as the missile dropped from her fighter and tracked the enemy fighter as it made a sharp right turn, a fatal error that cost the pilot their life.
The enemy aircraft disintegrated as Ruby circled around and switched to her cannons, making an attack run on one of the 205-class airships. The closer she got to the airship, flak fire started to bracket her aircraft, causing it to shudder, but Ruby was nothing if but determined. Pulling the trigger, she fired a quick burst of heavy cannon rounds at the airship's engines, damaging one of them while destroying another one and knocking out one of the railguns.
Flying past the airship, she turned her aircraft sharply and was about to make another pass when she spotted a Rebel Y-Wing being targeted by a TIE Interceptor. Breaking off her pass, she went after the Imperial Interceptor which hadn't noticed her as she dived in from twelve o'clock high. Her fingers poised over the trigger before she pulled it, sending a lethal stream of 20mm cannon fire that shredded the interceptor, clipping one of its wings.
Flying up alongside the rebel pilot, Ruby saluted the bomber pilot as it rejoined their squadron. "Now, to take care of that airship." She said to RIC, executing a sharp one-hundred and eighty degrees turn back in the direction of the airship. Before she could get within range of the airship, cannon fire flew past her cockpit and RIC whined as Ruby craned her neck, glancing back at the source of the cannon fire.
The source was a squadron of eight TIE Fighters and a pair of S47's had singled her out of all the other aircraft. 30mm and laser cannon fire flew past her cockpit with a few hits slamming into her shields. "I've got fighters all over me! I need some back up!" she called out over the commlink, hoping that someone would spot her and offer some assistance.
Help arrived in the form of Galen's Starfighter and Luke in his X-Wing as they shredded the enemy fighters with a barrage of laser fire, that destroyed the TIE Fighters, but caused the S47's to break off from their attack. One of the S47's stayed glued to Ruby while the second one was taken out by Luke, who immediately took out the second S47 before it was in gun range.
As the second prototype enemy aircraft crashed into the surface, Ruby spotted a flight of MG-25's making a beeline for Aayla and her battalions which were taking heavy air attack. Atlas sir support was still unavailable, and the ground forces were taking casualties. "Luke, Galen, form up on my wing. We need to hit those fighters going for Aayla and Bly." She said into the commlink.
"Rogue Leader copies." Luke replied.
"Copy that, Ruby." Galen replied, forming up on Ruby's left wing while Luke formed up Ruby's right wing. All three pilots flew towards the enemy aircraft at top speed, quickly increasing the distance between them and the enemy aircraft, ready for a missile shot. A pair of missiles flew from Ruby's plane, knocking out two enemy attackers, while a salvo of concussion missiles from Galen's fighter took out three more, followed by cannon fire from Luke's X-Wing, taking out the remainder of the flight. "Those airships are pounding our forces. We'll prioritize those and leave the ground forces in the hands of Vanguard Squadron and the others." Galen suggested, climbing rapidly to engage the enemy airships, followed by Ruby and Luke, who was joined by the rest of Rogue Squadron.
Cannon fire from the eight X-Wings, modified Jedi Starfighter, and Ruby's F4 quickly sent one of the enemy airships down in flames, followed by another as the battle was starting to take a turn for the better, in the case of the rebels and their allies.
(End Song)
Or so they thought. From the direction of the occupied kingdom, several Imperial Star Destroyer was moving on an intercept course, directly towards the Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown. The Ace Ops and Winter, along with several flights of Atlas MG-35, 31's, 29's, S30's, S35's, XFA-27's, CFA-44's, X-02's, and X-02S's spotted the incoming capital ships, along with their banking clan frigate and dreadnought escorts. "Ace One to Echo, Gamma and Hotel flights, enemy cruisers are moving to engage rebel cruisers. Target the key systems on the ships and watch yourselves, you've only flown simulations on fighting these ships, so don't go thinking it's like the simulations." Clover advised the other pilots from the cockpit of an X-02S, already checking to see that his anti-ship missiles were armed and ready.
"Echo leader to Ace One, I suggest we take out the escort craft first. We won't get close to those cruisers with them up." The leader of Echo flight said over the radio as Elm in her X-02, Vine in his CFA-44, Marrow in an MG-31 and Winter in an MG-35 formed an element as multiple droid, imperial and White Fang fighters launched from the ships to challenge the incoming Atlas fighters. "Ace 5, save those pulse lasers of yours for the enemy capital ships. They're more effective against shields."
(Start Annex)
"Ace 5 to Echo leader, copy you loud and clear. Engaging enemy fighters." Marrow reported, only to be forced out of formation when fire from a flight of vultures forced him to break right. The vultures tracked him and followed after Marrow as he pushed his aircraft's engines to full power, outrunning the droid fighters. "Looks like the droids know that I'm a threat with these cannons." Marrow said in annoyance, banking around and arming his missiles. With a target in his sights, Marrow launched a missile that blew one of the fighters to scrap metal while the others broke formation.
Marrow gave chase, firing another missile that sent another droid down in flames before he riddled a second one with cannon fire. "Three fighters down, but we've got more coming from those ships. We need to take them out!" Marrow pointed out.
"Gamma leader to Gamma flight! Hit those animals hard!" the pilot of one of the S35's shouted over the radio, leading his flight in an attack run on one of the banking clan frigates, but turbo laser fire from the frigate shot the entire squadron down before they could launch any anti-ship missiles.
"Damn it! Where are the rest of our fighters!?" Winter cursed, downing a White Fang S27 with her planes cannon. "Specialist Schnee to base! We're taking a beating out here! Where are the rest of the fighters!" she demanded.
"Vitoze Command to Specialist Schnee. Fighters are being cleared for take off now! We need another ten minutes before we can launch them!" Came the voice of Clemens, who didn't even sound worried about the status of the operation.
"Why the hell is he still in command?" Winter questioned, picking out a flight of Yellowjackets and Hoppers that had just reached the altitude of the cruisers, heading directly towards the Enterprise. "No, they don't." she said and gave chase.
Her fighter's underwing hardpoints were loaded in a triple configuration of XMAA's, giving her eighteen medium range missiles to use, along with her two air-to-air missiles and cannon. Her missiles were more suited for use against fighters, meaning using them against the Grimm was out of the question, so she switched to her gun.
As she closed the gap between her and the Grimm, she immediately broke to the left and got on the flank of the Grimm. Her finger pulled the trigger, sending a lethal stream of 30mm rounds into the Grimm, shredding several of them to bits of flesh and metal while the rest of them either broke off or were downed by the Enterprise's turbo lasers. "At least Diego isn't up here. This kind of battle is not something he would enjoy." She said to herself, pulling away from the Venator-class cruiser.
Off to the right, she watched as another squadron of Atlas fighters, X-02S launched their anti-ship missiles at one of the enemy cruisers, one of which slammed right into the bridge of the ship which then exploded in half. "Echo Leader to Specialist Schnee, we took out one of the cruisers, but we're getting hammered by enemy fighters. Recommend we clear the road before taking on another cruiser." The lead X-02S pilot suggested over the radio.
"Specialist Schnee to Echo Leader. I copy you loud and clear." Winter acknowledged, banking around to the left and pursued a flight of TIE Fighters.
Elm's headset crackled in her ears as her the weapons bay of her X-02 opened up and launched several XLAA's at a flight of TIE Bombers that were heading for the ground forces. Her missiles slammed into the bombers with three of them exploding in mid-air while the fourth one spiraled out of control for a few seconds, then exploded. Scanning for new targets, cannon fire zipped past her cockpit from an MG-23's gun and stuck to her like glue. "Oh, now you're in for it." Elm said, turning her aircraft towards one of the Star Destroyers.
Turbo laser and point-defense laser fire bracketed her aircraft as she flew towards the enemy ship, then dived down towards lower hanger, where a TIE Fighter had just launched from and was now firing its cannons at Elm, who had a smirk on her face before she slammed her breaks and watched as the two fighters crashed into each other. "Always look where you're going assholes!" she cursed, diving back towards the ongoing dogfight.
Another enemy ship exploded as Vine launched a salvo of his ADMM's, taking out multiple enemy craft in a second. As his launchers reloaded, he overheard a call on the radio from Warlock Battalion. They, Quox, Steel Gunner, Grizzly, Barracuda and Gavial tank battalions were taking heavy fire from enemy armor and had very little air support from the Hellcat Fighters, who were picking up the slack due to the lack of Atlas fighter support which was getting on the nerves of the ground forces.
Turning his controls, Vine took his aircraft into a dive, targeting the attacking MG-27's, Hyena and TF Bombers and opened up with his cannons, strafing the formation of enemy aircraft with gun fire. Several enemy craft were downed in his pass, but the rest of them continued to focus on attacking the ground forces. "Hey! If any of you fly boys want to give us a hand with these varmints in the air, we'd really appreciate it!" Rose shouted over the radio.
Vine turned his plane around, his ADMM's reloaded and ready to launch, sped towards the enemy craft and hit the fire button, launching a burst of missiles that sent the enemy aircraft spiraling down in flames, save for the ones that weren't targeted and broke off their attack run. "You can rest easy now, young Rose. The enemy fighters have broken off their attack and are retreating." Vine assured the cowgirl as he turned his attention back to the enemy cruisers.
A missile from Clover's XFA-27 slammed into an enemy interceptor as another droid ship exploded from another attack by friendly forces but came at a heavy price. Gamma flight had been completely wiped out earlier, Hotel flight was in disarray after their squadron leader's aircraft suddenly exploded during an attack run on one of the enemy cruisers and Echo flight had already lost half its fighters.
The pilots were starting to panic and in turn drew the Grimm towards them. One Grimm, a Sphinx grabbed the parachute of an ejected pilot and ripped them to shreds while another pilot spun out of control and crashed into the hull of one of the droid cruisers, after Buzz Droids sliced through its avionics.
Down below, enemy reinforcements were starting to push back the ground forces to the beach, with the assistance of enemy air support and artillery fire. The airships had been eliminated, but the cruisers were picking up the slack for the enemy. As Clover witnessed the destruction of a Turbo Tank, his radar picked up a missile that had locked onto his aircraft. Pushing his plane to full power, Clover jinked in various directions, shaking off the missile as it flew into the distance. The shooter was an MG-23 that flew right overhead and into Clover's sights, who soon riddled the enemy aircraft with bullets, disintegrating the enemy aircraft.
(End Song)
"Clover to command. We need reinforcements! We're being overrun! Where's the back up!?" he shouted into the radio.
"Clover, it's Bram. Reinforcements are on their way now. But Kalani, the 'Super Tactical Droid' has confirmed that several of those 'Manti Dreadnought' Grimm are approaching the battlefield." Bram reported.
"Damn it! Those things are a nightmare!" Clover cursed, just as one of the Dreadnoughts appeared on the horizon. "Shit! It's already here!"
"It won't be around for much longer." Kit said as his starfighter flew towards the Dreadnought, which opened up with its cannons as Yellowjackets moved to intercept Kit and the squadrons of F16's and F18's that joined him in the attack. Kit barreled straight towards the Dreadnoughts face, firing his fighters' cannons at the creature which howled in pain as missiles from the fighter jets slammed into the guns of the massive creature.
The Yellowjackets were quick to intercept the fighters, shooting down several jets while Kit moved around for another attack run on the Dreadnought. Lasers from the Delta 7B's cannons knocked out several of the creatures' guns, one of which exploded and exposed one of the internal organs of the Dreadnought. "For being half machine and half organic, it appears it still has a heart." Kit mused and dived towards the exposed organ, firing his cannons, and destroying the organ, which in turn killed the creature. "Salem has no idea how dangerous the Manti can be. Even if they are dead, controlling the dead creatures is a risky gamble."
"Then let's kick her ass." Came the voice of Trigger as he, Shamrock, Neo, Cipher and Pixy arrived on station, with the rest of the fighters that were now fully repaired. "Galm Team, form up with me and my wingmen. We're going after the aircraft attacking our boys on the ground. Everyone else is to support the fleet and Ace Ops. We're ending this battle now!"
(Start Anea Landing)
The five Strike Daggers and Team SDOW along with the Gelb Team, Sienna, Robyn and her huntresses formed an element with Trigger at the lead, joined shortly by Galen, Ruby, Ahsoka and Rogue Squadron. "We'll target the fighters attacking the ground forces. Rex and his boys are taking a pounding from those fighters. Don't solo an attack on your own, work as a squadron and take them down." Ray instructed the pilots, then spotted a flight of TIE's and MG-27's heading for Rex's platoons. "Neo, Shamrock, target the MG-27's, Ahsoka and I will take the TIES."
Forming up alongside Ray's Strike Dagger, Ahsoka followed her boyfriend as he dived towards the attacking TIE Fighters which had just finished up a strafing run-on Rex's forces, following the MG-27's that were speeding in for an attack run of their own. The TIE pilots hadn't noticed Ray and Ahsoka as the two positioned themselves behind the fighters and opened up with their cannons. Blue and red lasers slammed into the enemy TIE's, knocking several of them out of the sky, but forced the rest of them to scatter and break off as Neo and Shamrock flew below them after the MG-27's.
"We'll take the pair on the left, then go after the pair on the right." Ahsoka ordered as she and R7 followed after the TIEs with Ray behind her. Her targeting computer counted down the distance between herself and the enemy fighters, where she then fired a burst of cannon fire at one of the fighters while Ray took care of the second fighter. Both fighters exploded in mid-air as the two banked around and went after the second pair of TIEs.
The second pair of TIEs had managed to circle around and was coming straight at the two of them, only for the fighters to be downed by the timely arrival of the Millennium Falcon. "Hope you guys didn't forget about us? We're a part of this rebellion to, you know." Han said over the commlink, just as a volley of proton torpedoes from a certain modified Firespray-31 slammed into several unseen bombers. "Yeah, Chewie, I still find it surprising that we're working alongside one of Jabba's former bounty hunters. Still, I'd rather have Boba as an ally rather than an enemy."
"I don't turn my back on my obligations, Solo." Boba responded as the Slave-1's cannons opened up on a formation of TIE Interceptors and MG-23's, killing them all in a single pass.
The explosions caught the attention of the MG-27 pilots that Neo and Shamrock were chasing down with their cannons. Lasers and bullets riddled the enemy attack aircraft and knocked them out of the sky, one of which spiraled towards the ground and exploded upon slamming into wrecked enemy tank. "I'm still surprised that the White Fang dug up these old relics. You'd think they'd be using the more modern Atlas fighters instead of these old antiques, then again, they have been using the MG-21 for years." Shamrock said, following after Neo who was already targeting a flight of incoming Scarabs.
"Well, Roman did help the White Fang acquire some of those aircraft, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he hid the other ones in hangers, he didn't even tell me about." She said in agreement, her Strike Dagger's cannon roaring to life as one Scarab exploded in mid-air, followed by a second fighter that was downed by Shamrock. "We've got to integrate the hybrid cannon tech into your fighter, Marcus. Hey, maybe we can even convince Cordo to let us do the same for Wardog Squadron."
"Let's just hope we live long enough to see her again." Shamrock agreed. Just then, cannon fire caused his jet to shutter, and he looked around to see he picked up a tail, a TIE Interceptor. "I've got one on my tail!"
"I'm on it!" came Sienna's voice over the radio as she lined up her plane for a missile shot and fired. The missile tracked the enemy fighter and slammed into the cockpit, causing the aircraft to disintegrate as Team SDOW launched a volley of XLAA's at several incoming vultures, which exploded into scrap metal and circuitry. "Adam is a fool to want a war like this! He's too drunk on power to see the bigger picture. I should have stopped him when I had the chance years ago."
"You can make up for it by stopping him now." Galen said over the commlink, lifting Sienna's conscience as she and the Gelb Team went moved to support Aayla's forces as enemy bombers continued to pound their position.
The Galm Team focused their attention on the S47's and S57's that were making a run for the 8th fleet's ships. Their headsets crackled as the missile tone rang through their ears, followed by a salvo of XMAA's that tracked the enemy fighters, blowing several fighters out of the air while those that weren't destroyed broke off from their run.
"I'll take the ones on the left. Larry, take the right." Cipher ordered, turning his aircraft after the S57's on the left while Larry went after his targets. His gunsight landed on the first plane as a lethal arc of 20mm rounds slammed into the lead S57's engines, which caught fire and exploded. A missile shot followed, going up the second S57's tailpipe, ripping the plane in half while another missile clipped the wing of the third S57, causing it to spin out of control and crash into the surface.
The S47's met the same fate as their companions as Pixy's cannon erupted to life, clipping the tail of one the lead S47 which slowed down while the second one careened into its ally, both of them exploding in a double fireball as Robyn and her huntresses flew overhead towards several incoming Death Bot fighters. "Looks like we got Death Bots. Stay on your toes, people. They might be machines, but don't underestimate them. That's how a lot of pilots end up getting killed." Pixy advised as he banked right and went after a Death Bot fighter.
The cannons of the Happy Huntresses F20's roared as bullets slammed into the incoming Death Bot fighters, knocking several of them out of the sky, forcing the others to break off and split up the huntresses. May, Jonna, and Fiona were quick to pursue the fighters and Robyn was about to follow when she spotted two Death Bot fighters firing at Ruby from behind. "You girls take care of those fighters, pipsqueak's in trouble." Robyn called out to her girls, kicking in her fighter's afterburner, and dived after the enemy fighters.
With an ally being targeted by the enemy, Robyn couldn't risk firing a missile at the bogeys without risking them hacking the missiles targeting system and have them after Ruby instead of the target. Her aircraft's engines strained as she closed in on the fighters, then pulled the trigger, unleashing a burst of bullets that destroyed the first enemy fighter, while the second one was downed by Ruby when she hit her brakes and positioned herself behind it and fired her own cannon. "Nice work, pipsqueak. Guess I shouldn't be surprised considering who your boyfriend is." Robyn praised as she and Ruby turned sharply and rejoined the rest of her huntresses.
Rogue Squadron was putting a dent in the enemy fighters as Luke, Wedge and Biggs clipped the wings of a formation of TIE's while the rest of Rogue Squadron moved to support the ground forces. As Luke downed another TIE fighter, he felt a disturbance in the force and contacted Galen. "Starkiller, I sense something approaching. It's not the Grimm, but there's a lot of them. I think it's those TIE Hunters that Mara and the Fox reported." Luke called out.
(End Song)
"I sense them too." Galen replied and formed up with Rogue Squadron, as did the Galm Team and Garuda Team. Just as the TIE Hunter's appeared on the horizon, about three dozen of them. "Prepare to engage in thirty seconds."
The TIE Hunter's S-foils were locked in attack position as they approached the enemy fighters at top speed. Once in range, they began their attack.
(Start TIE Attack)
"Here they come!" Ahsoka shouted as the formation of TIE Hunters broke up into smaller flights of two or three fighters per flight. Picking out one of the flights, she pursued the advanced fighters. Her targeting computer was lined up with one of the fighters, but before she could even fire, it moved out of her sights and climbed for the clouds with its wingman. Ahsoka continued to chase the fighters, firing her cannons the moment one of them flew into her sights. Her shots pummeled the enemy fighters shields before it exploded in mid-air. "Careful! They've got shields!" she called out.
"Yeah! We know!" Pixy called out as he jinked his fighter in every direction, shaking off the enemy torpedo that was launched by the fighter on his tail, launching chaff and flares to shake off the missile. "They also have missiles or torpedoes. Hard to tell which one it is!" he added, pulling the stick back into his gut and looped over the enemy fighter, positioning himself behind the enemy fighter and opened up with his cannon. The enemy fighter's shields flickered before giving out and exploded. "Something's up with these pilots. I don't think they're human of faunus."
Cipher noticed the same thing as he downed a TIE Hunter with a missile, but the moment his missile slammed into his target, his shields took a direct hit from the cannons of another fighter. "Damn it! I'm hit! My engines aren't responding. I've got to pull out! Sorry!" he cursed, heading back to the Island, but not unnoticed. Four TIE Hunters spotted Cipher exiting the battlefield and gave chase, firing their torpedoes and cannons at the retreating Strike Dagger, forcing Cipher to use all his countermeasures to just avoid getting shot down. One torpedo did however impact his fighter, causing some of the instruments to short-circuit, sending pieces of shrapnel into Cipher's face, causing him to scream out in pain.
Shamrock saw this and pursued the enemy fighters, launching several XMAA's at the enemy fighters, knocking two of them out of the sky while the other two broke off and avoided the missiles. "Garuda 3 to Galm 2, Cipher's been hit! His astromech is controlling the fighter, but I don't think he's doing so good. I'll escort him back to base!" Marcus called out, moving in front of the wounded Cipher and guided the damaged aircraft.
Ray and Neo opened up with their own cannons, but their targets proved to be more maneuverable than they anticipated and could only watch as their targets downed two X-Wings belonging to another squadron. "DAMN THEM!" Ray snarled and gave chase after the two fighters, firing his cannon in bursts whenever one of the fighters flew into his sights. Bullets riddled the shields of one of the fighters while the second fighter rolled over in a death spiral, crashing into the ground below. "Splash one of those new fighters!" he called out.
Luke managed to down a fighter himself, but as he scanned for another target, Artoo informed his master that a scan of the fighters confirmed that there were no human pilots in them, but an advanced type of droid brain that was unlike anything he had ever seen before. "If these fighters are droids, then why are they being launched now?" he wondered.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Galen replied as he got on the tail of another TIE Hunter, pulling the trigger and downed the fighter with a burst from his cannons. As the ninth enemy fighter spiraled to the ground, the rest of them suddenly retreated. "Why are they retreating?" he asked aloud.
"Unknown, Starkiller. But the mission is complete. RTB and we'll plan our next move." Ghost Eye reported as the battle finally came to an end.
(End Song)
Back in the occupied city of Atlas, aboard one of the Star Destroyers, Kara finally woke up, finding herself in one of the cells, fully dressed. Her body still ached from the interrogation the White Fang had done to her and the last thing she remembered was a blue-skinned individual talking to her before everything went black.
She didn't have time to contemplate her situation as the door to her cell opened up and walking into the cell was the same person she met before. "Who are you?" she asked nervously.
"My name, in the language of my people, is Mitth'raw'nuruodo, but to the Empire, I am known simply, as Thrawn." The blue-skinned man answered, looking directly at Kara. "And you, young lady are certainly very interesting, to say the least."
And done. Sorry for the wait, I was caught up in playing Tales of Arise and Borderlands, Game of the Year edition along with not wanting to write on certain days.
So, anyway, big news, I'm starting my new job tomorrow and if all goes well, I won't be updating my stories as frequently as I want to, but I got to make money and I'm excited about this job, since it involves the military.
Speaking of military, the new fighters for our heroes are based on the F16 and F16 of the US armed forces.
Well, our heroes managed to make it back to the mainland, but things are never easy. Seems they have a few traitors among their ranks.
And the biggest surprise… Thrawn is on Remnant, so you can all expect to see more of him.
Well, I'm going to go back to my Power Rangers story for a while, so it will be a while before the next chapter, but until then, please read and review and a happy late birthday to my voice acting idol, Peter Cullen.