A/N: This work is fiction and was written for entertainment purposes.
Chapter 12: Another Day at the Office
Sultan Bin Ahmed Naval Base
Muscat, United Kingdom of Jazeera
August 17. 1990
0900 Hours
For many sailors and marines at the Sultan Buin Ahmed Naval Base, it was just another day. Other than the large attack that occurred four days ago, business was as usual at the base. Ships needed to be repaired, cargo from container ships from Liberion, Fuso, Australis and other countries that were doing the best they can to send as many supplies as possible and materials to the kingdom to fight against the Neuroi.
The base was divided in two parts: one had docks that were reserved for the container ships and were offloading supplies off, while the other side was strictly for military ships. Here, ships would be repaired and restocked with supplies and munitions so that they will be able to continue their mission in holding the reclaimed territory that the allied forces were able to recapture.
On one side of the docks, there were some ships in dock undergoing repairs as well as replenishment. However, these ships were something else entirely. While some of the ships were designs that were used in Orussia and Liberia, but there were also ship designs that were not recognized by any of the dock workers that were working that day. There was also something that was weird.
Near these new ships, a lot of troops were standing guard. While that was not something strange, given that this was a military base after all. However, what was different was their uniforms: their camo on their uniforms were vastly different from the "chocolate chip" camouflage that the Liberions had, or the desert camo that the Britanians and Karlanders wore. Instead, they had camo that vastly different as well as their weapons and equipment looked more advanced than the standard equipment that the soldiers of this era were used to.
The marines of the U.S 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which consists of 2nd Battalion of the 6th Marines were met with curious looks by both dock workers and Kingdom sailors and marines who observed them guarding the ships that were docked. The marines were briefed about the situation and were instructed to be respectful to the host country's forces as well as any forces on base. Some marines were a bit on edge, thanks to their experience in fighting in Afghanistan and the Middle East, they were surprised by how friendly that many of the dock workers were. Many were even surprised to see that many women were not wearing a bourka or covering their face, something they were used to see in their own world.
The Task Force Leviathan ship crews, meanwhile, were working on getting their ships in shape to go back to sea as well as instruct the kingdom's dock workers on how to refuel their ships and handling weapon resupply.
Elisa was standing from a top of the bridge of the Kestrel as she oversaw one of the resupplies to the carrier. They were taking in SM-2 missiles and food parcels.
"Since this is the early 90s from the look of things, those must be the older models," Elisa muttered to herself. These SM-2s were the block 2 version, which means that they were not as advanced as the block 3 versions that they have but with their number of missiles being low thanks to two raids against them, this will have to do for now.
"It looks like things seem to be going smoothly. There was not that much resistance than I thought," Anderson said as he walked up to Elisa and leaned over the railing. Elisa nodded at this.
"Yes. The kingdom's officials and military agreed to help repair and supply us and to not ask too many questions for now. Though I am not looking forward to the 'representatives' that are meeting us today," Elisa replied. In exchange for resupplying and repairing their ships without asking a lot of questions up-front, the kingdom will be sending "representatives" to the meet with Elisa and Anderson to brief them on the situation as well as ask a few questions about the fleet. The kingdom had assured Elisa that the questions would not be invasive, but Elisa doubted that.
"Given how we have been treated these past few days, I say that they do not have any ill intentions towards us. Though, you made the right call in meeting the representatives off the carrier instead of bringing them onto the carrier," Anderson pointed out. It was one thing to have to meet representatives from the host country, but until Elisa and Anderson can figure out what their intentions are, they are not trusting these representatives on the carrier, the witches from Fuso were the exception due to the circumstances around it.
"While I trusted the Fuso witches, they gave their word that they would not do anything to betray that trust. And from what the intel people have said, they kept their word," While she did not like it, she ordered the room the witches were staying in to be bugged as a security precaution to make sure that they weren't plotting anything. From the conversations they heard, the witches mainly talked about how the Kestrel was vastly different from their own and how much military technology had advanced. The witch Watanabe was still hesitant to trust people on the ship, thanks to the first meeting, but overall, the witches all agreed that the task force could be a big help in fighting the Neuroi.
As the two continued to observe the resupply, an enlisted sailor appeared before them.
"Um, ma'am, sir. The representatives from the Kingdom of Jazira are here," the sailor reported.
"Well, let's us not keep them waiting then," Anderson said. Elisa nodded and then the two exited the bridge to go meet these representatives.
"You pacing back and forth will not get them to appear faster," 1st Lieutenant Rana Yusef told her superior officer. Her along with her superior, Captain Sahar bint Ashgal al Tarifi. Both were a part of the Allied Arabian Navy's 2nd Carrier Group. They were both assigned to the Al Jabbar, a guided-missile cruiser that was also a pseudo carrier thanks to the carrier deck at the rear of the ship, mainly used to launch aerial witches and helicopters. At the offset of the war, the Neuroi attacked the base, and damaged Al Jabbar's sister ship, Al Jazeera while she was in port in Kuwait. Al Jabbar sustained damage but was repaired quickly. Sahar and Rana were able to operate from the air base that is attached to the naval base and thus participated in numerous defensive and offensive operations. They were on a support mission for ground forces when this new fleet arrived, with some ships needing repairs.
Soon, when they were flying combat air patrol over the base, they saw these new ships and Rana, who can identify pretty much every ship from each country thanks to her father being a part of the crew for a merchant ship and teaching her about ships, she could not identify many of the ships, except for a few, like the Nimitz-class carriers. They also saw these weird looking troops that were guarding the ships. They were well-armed, like the special forces that they have seen. However, these marines were even more well-armed then any special forces that they have seen. Their guns looked more futuristic and had optics and accessories that are more commonly found on special forces soldiers.
Sahar stopped her pacing to look over to Rana with a scowl, "I wouldn't be pacing if there were already here! Who makes their hosts wait for them?!"
"We arrived early for the meeting. I did tell you that we should have taken our time to get here," Rana replied.
"As one of the princesses of the kingdom, it is my duty to greet our guests. But I expected them to at least allow us onto their carrier instead of meeting us at the docks," Sahar replied.
"Makes sense. The carrier is not like anything I have seen before, so that must mean that they have some advanced technology," Rana commented. A few minutes later, they hear footsteps and turned to see two individuals walking down from the carrier. One of them was a woman wearing a blue camo uniform while the man was much older and wearing the normal naval officer uniform that the two are used to seeing Liberion admirals' wear.
The two officers approached the witches and saluted the pair.
"Good morning to you two. I am Captain Elisa Hannako of the UNFS Kestrel," Elisa introduced herself.
"And I am Admiral Nicholas A. Anderson, the overall commander of Task Force Leviathan," Anderson introduced himself right after Elisa.
"Welcome to Sultan Bin Ahmed Naval Base, Admiral, Captain. I am Captain Sahar bint Ashgal al Tarifi, and this is my subordinate 1st Lieutenant Rana Yusef. We will be your escorts while you are in port and would like to invite you to meet with the base commander to discuss the current situation," Sahar replied. Rana will always be amazed at how her CO can switch from being critical to their guest to being professional with them so quickly.
"Thank you. We accept your invitation. Lead on," Elisa said. Sahar nodded and then the two officers to their jeep, with Rana following. Once everyone boarded the jeep, Rana, in the driver seat, started the jeep and drove towards the main command building.
As the jeep made its way through the docks, Elisa looked around to see numerous ships from the Al Jazeera Navy docked, with many in various degrees of damage. However, unlike the more jagged damage that resulted from a hit from an anti-ship missile, instead there were clean holes in the ship's hull.
"So, these Neuroi use laser weapons as well?" Elisa asked as they drove past another ship that had similar damage.
"Back in the day, they only used lasers and that caused a lot of damage. Once fighters and witches started getting faster thanks to jet strikers, the Neuroi began to adapt and mainly use missiles, but the bigger ones still use lasers over missiles," Rana replied as she took a left.
"Their last raid had more large class Neuroi, so more lasers were used. We lost two destroyers and as you can tell, more were damaged. We were lucky that. In the early stages of the war, our navy took heavy losses since the attack was sudden," Sahar added. The jeep then took a left turn and headed towards the main headquarter building on base.
"I am curious, those ships that are a part of your fleet do not look like some of the ships that I am used to see. Where are you guys from?" Rana asked.
"You can say that…. We are not from here necessarily," Yuna replied, being as vague as possible with Anderson nodding. Rana just nodded and kept her response to herself for now.
The building was protected by a company of ground witches and kingdom marines. The witches were equipped with BMP-2 striker units and some were armed with RPK machine guns, while the rest were armed with 20mm autocannons. The marines themselves were armed with AR-2 assault rifles, which to Elisa and Anderson recognized as an AK variant.
The jeep came to a stop right in front of the building. As the group got our of the jeep, they were met by a witch and mundane officer.
"Ma'am," both officers said and saluted Sahar and Rana.
"At ease, lieutenants. We are here to escort our guests here to Admiral Akbar for the scheduled meeting with all allied commanders on this front," Sahar said, producing a piece of paper from her breast pocket and handed it to the mundane soldier. He took it and gave it a scan, then handed it over to the witch officer. After she looked over the paper, she nodded and handed the letter back to the other lieutenant, who handed the paper to Sahar.
"Everything checks out ma'am. Go on ahead," the soldier replied. The two saluted the group, who returned it, and the group made their way into the building.
Once inside, Elisa and Anderson observed that the personnel in the building were running all over the place. Many of them were running around with folders of papers and communications from the front. As the group made their way to the admiral's office, Anderson picked up some conversations from passing personnel.
"They are making probing attacks on the Sinai front."
"We lost contact with the recon unit. I hope it was a quick."
"With the new reinforcements, hopefully we can start pushing these alien bastards back."
The conversations were along those lines, and it gave Anderson and Yuna a good grasp on the situation: humanity was being pushed back and that it would require a lot to start retaking lost land and territory from the Neuroi.
The group eventually arrived at a door that was guarded by two heavily armed soldiers. Sahar once again showed them the paper and after giving the paper a brief scan as well as giving both Elisa and Anderson a look over as well, handed the paper back to Sahar and stepped aside to allow the group in.
Sahar opened the door and the group walked through it, revealing the room to be a briefing room. In the middle of the room, there was a large table with the map of the region on it. There were blue flags dotted on the ocean and on the outer edges of the map and many red flags near the middle of the map. There were HQ staff around the table, with headsets and updating the map as things happen. Smaller desks were also in the room, mainly radio equipment, getting communications from the front.
At the table, there was a man that was leaning over the map. He was wearing an utility uniform, with the "chocolate chip" camouflage pattern. He had a gruff white beard showing his age. He had grey eyes and when he looked up at the group, he looked haggard and worn out, mostly from the constant fighting since the beginning of the war. Over his left breast pocket, the name "Hadir" was written in Arabic.
"Ah, you must be the commanders of that mysterious fleet that docked in my port," the man said in a tired voice.
"That is correct. Admiral Nicholas A. Anderson, commander of United Nations Task Force Leviathan. And this is Captain Elisa Hannako, captain of the UNS Kestrel," Anderson replied, introducing himself and Elisa.
"This is the first I am hearing of the UN forming a task force," the man said before quickly saying, "My apologies, where are my manners? Vice Admiral Abdullah Hadir, commander of the 2nd Carrier Group, Allied Arabian Navy." Hadir then walked around the table and offered his hand to both Anderson and Elisa, who both shook it.
"Pleasure to meet you sir but wish it was under different circumstances," Elisa replied.
"Yes, we are in dire straits and with their recent attack, even more so," Hadir said. He then turned to Sahar and Rana.
"Princess, thank you for bringing them here. I would like to speak with them for a bit. You are excused for now. I will you both at the briefing later this afternoon."
"Yes, sir!" Both witches stated, saluting Hadir and then turning around and leaving the room.
"Now, I believe that you two should be brought up to speed on the situation," Hadir said to Anderson and Elisa as the trio went to the table.
"As it currently stands, we have been pushed back constantly since the Neuroi hive appeared back 2 weeks ago. Our capital, Riyadh was lost in a day and ever since we have been pushed back on every front. Forces from other countries have arrived to help but it is still not enough. We have been hammered with attacks and even the forces that landed recently have been taking heavy causalities. As of right now, the front has stabilized but we need more reinforcements, but it would be a while before they arrive."
"That is, until your fleet magically showed up," Hadir concluded.
"To be honest admiral, we do not even know ourselves how we got here. In our world, we were conducting a routine resupply. We then ran into some kind of storm and the next thing we know, we are here," Anderson replied.
"We also ran into these 'Neuroi' and got attacked twice. We took some hits as well," Elisa added, a bit of anger in her voice.
"I see. Did you lose any ships?" Hadir asked.
"We lost two supply ships and some of our ships were also damaged to an extent. We were told that your port can help repair some of our ships," Elisa replied.
Hadir nodded and then said, "My port will do the best they can to repair your ships. I know that I am asking for a lot here but between the Fuso and Liberion naval fleets, can you also lend your assistance in helping us fight these alien bastards? My fleet took devastating losses, and we are still trying to recover from their most recent attack."
"Admiral, these Neuroi attacked us first so naturally they are also our enemy. We only have one stipulation. We were promised by Admiral Hijikata that none of our tech or information will be coerced out of us. Can we get that guarantee from you as well?" Anderson asked.
"You have my word on that. We do not mistreat those who come to our aid in a time of need. I will assign a marine battalion to help guard your ships along with your own security. Should there be any problems, you can let us know and we will deal with it," Hadir promised.
"Your assurance is greatly appreciated admiral," Anderson thanked Hadir.
"With that, I would like both you and the captain to attend the morning briefing with the other allied commanders in this theater. We will need to cooperate with each other for the defense of this port as well as plan strikes in Neuroi-occupied territory," Hadir stated.
"We accept admiral. There are some suggestions that we have that we would like others to voice their opinion on," Elisa stated.
"Then let us not keep them waiting then," Hadir then looked at his watch, "They should be waiting for us in a room down the hall. The meeting is about to start so let us walk over there together and you can run these proposed plans with me."
Mio took a sip from her tea. She along with the other high-ranking officers of the allied coalition were waiting in the meeting room for Hadir to arrive to start the morning briefing. Along with Mio, there was the Liberion naval commander for their Persian Gulf Task Force, Rear Admiral (Lower Half) James Hendrix. To his left was the witch commander for the task force, Commander Amy Perconti. On their right side was the commander of the Fuso Ground Self-Defense Force contingent, General Haruto Iwata and sitting to his right is the witch commander for the witch ground contingent, Colonel Hina Hayase. Both Iwata and Hayase were experienced commanders, thanks in part by fighting the Neuroi incursions in the Korean Peninsula. Meanwhile, Hendrix was once a F-4 pilot and fought in Vietnam, while Perconti is known for shooting down many Neuroi near Libya in the mid-80s.
Overall, all the commanders gathered here were experienced fighting the Neuroi and now here they were once again, fighting for humanity against the Neuroi.
The door to the room opened and everyone turned to see Hadir walk into the room, followed by two witches and two other officers. By giving them a look over, Mio assumed that these two were Elisa and Anderson from the new fleet.
"Thank you all for coming. Before we can begin, I would like to introduce the two new commanders that will assist us in the defense of this base," Hadir then motioned to Elisa and Anderson, "This is Captain Elisa Hannako and Admiral Nicholas A. Anderson. They belong to the fleet that have recently arrived at the base and have agreed to the assist use in the defense of the base."
Hendrix raised his hand and asked, "May I ask what countries are you both from? While the captain seems to be Fuso, the admiral here seems to be from Liberion, but I do not recognize him."
"Our situation is… a bit complicated but rest assured that we will answer all your questions in due time," Anderson replied. Hendrix looked at Anderson in the eye and after a few minutes nodded and lowered his hand.
"Now, for now we will leave the questions about these two to the side for now. Right now, we need to focus on the defense of the port," With that, Hadir motioned his head, and two aids began to set up a TV and a VCR machine. For Anderson and Elisa, who are more used to receiving information in real time, were humbled by what they were used to and were amazed at the people in this time are fighting an alien race, using technology that were generations old and were still holding up.
Once one the aids were done setting up the TV and VCR, they inserted a tape into the VCR and turned off the lights. After a few minutes, an image appeared on the screen. It showed a large swarm of black dots that littered the ground.
"This was taken a few hours ago by one the Liberion recon witches. As everyone can see, the Neuroi have made significant advances to the port, with this group approaching Kuwait City. The attack that happened recently shows that the Neuroi are hell bent on attempting to take the port," Hadir then nodded for the aid to continue. The next image the was shown was an enhanced photo that showed four legged creatures with two missiles on its back with some even just having only one missile.
"As you can see, the Neuori are now setting up AA defenses in order to prevent us from attacking the advancing forces and supporting the ground forces. The Liberion witch that took this photo was engaged by AA defenses and drones." Hadir then nodded to the aids once again the lights came back on.
"We are trying to develop a plan to attack this advancing force from reaching Kuwait City. Our forces in the city are still trying to set up more defensives for the city itself. Right now, our air forces are not up to the task at this moment. I believe that the Liberions do have aircraft that are capable strikes on this scale?" Hadir asked, looking at Hendrix.
"The Air Force does have the F-111 Aardvarks and the newer F-15E Strike Eagles, but they are still on the way and their priority right now is the Sinai. For now, we only have the naval air units and the F-18 Hornets that are on my carriers now won't be able to make any strikes without escorts," Hendrix stated.
"I concur with the admiral; My witches won't be able to brave all those defenses and deal with the aerial units without having compromising some of the strike aircraft," Perconti concurred. It was at this moment that Elisa chimed in.
"Do we happen to have the location and the number of these air defenses?" Hadir looked over to the aid, who nodded.
"Yes, we do, why do you ask?" Hadir asked.
"We may have an aircraft that will be able to deal with this problem, but we will need to make sure of the exact number of enemy AA defenses to start formulating a plan," Elisa stated firmly.
"So, to summarize, the objective of the mission to clear out the enemy SAMs to make way for the coalition forces to begin a massive air strike to stem the advance of the Neuroi forces from the push towards Kuwait City," Yuna said. Her and her squadron were currently in the Kestrel's briefing room, along with members of another UN squadron, Wedgetail.
"So, since we are the two squadrons that fly the Lightning that we have been picked to strike these targets. Don't the coalition have other Wild Weasel aircraft for this job?" One of Yuna's pilots, Lieutenant J.G Jurou Sakurai asked.
"The current aircraft that the coalition has in this sector are not enough to conduct wild weasel operations. This goes the same to their witch squadrons. Contrary to what we have seen them do, they are not invincible. As a result, their command does not want to risk it. The photos that you all have in your hands are thanks to a witch but from what we were told, she had stuck her neck out for it," Once they made it back to the Kestrel, both Elisa and Anderson called Yuna to brief her on the mission. Since she was the highest-ranking officer from the two Lightning squadrons, she was made strike commander.
The Wedgetail squadron commander, Lieutenant Orion Lenton, was her second-in-command for this mission.
"Will there be any additional escorts for this mission? While we do have the edge thanks to our stealth, I wouldn't say that 10 Lightnings being escorts will exactly help us in this situation," Lieutenant J.G Caitlyn Knight pointed out. When the F-35C was introduced, the internal weapon bays were only able to fit two AIM-9X Sidewinders and two AIM-120 AMRAAMs. However, thanks to the Sidekick adapter developed by Lockheed Martin allowed the F-35C to be able to now carry four to six AMRAAM missiles, with the Sidewinders going to the wingtip external hardpoints.
Unfortunately, the F-35B does not have upgrade thanks to the fans in the fighter for its STOVL capabilities. Thus, Yuna and her squadron would be responsible in taking out the enemy AA defenses.
"From what I have been told, we will be getting additional support from the Fuso carrier Yoryu. Two witch squadrons armed with F-14AFs will try to help but their main duty would be escorting two squadrons of witches armed with F-4EFs that are going to attack the Neuroi ground forces. We will also have one AWACS, Shine Ray, supporting us. The Liberion Navy and Kingdom forces will be busy in their strikes to offer us much in support," Yuna replied. She noticed some pilots shifting in their seats and sighed.
"Look, I am with you all in saying that kids shouldn't fight in war. Hell, they should never have to go through all the pain and suffering that comes with a war. However, this world is vastly different from ours along with how these witches are all volunteers. They are not being forced into this and to deny their right to fight isn't right. Besides, these witches are pretty much the only ones that can block the Neuroi lasers, hence why no actual aircraft are being sent from their side for this mission. These girls already saved us once, so I trust them in that regard," Yuna said.
There was silence from the other pilots for a while until Lenton also spoke up, "I know that many of you are still a bit hesitant but like what the Lt. Commander said, these girls were able to save the fleet and our own asses. So, let's trust them in supporting us."
One by one, every pilot in the room began to nod their head and with that the matter rest.
There were a few more questions, mainly about the weather conditions and their route back to the carrier. Once everything was said and done, everyone left to get ready. As Yuna was at her locker to get her gear in order and ready, she heard someone approach her and turned to see that it was another pilot.
This pilot was female with long red hair and green eyes. She had a very athletic build as well as some big boobs, making Yuna who is a B-Cup extremely jealous.
The two made eye contact and almost immediately, the red head blushed and rushed to her locker, which was behind Yuna. The two changed in awkward silence until Yuna kind of had enough.
"I don't think we have met before. Are you in Wedgetail squadron?" Yuna asked the woman, closing her locker and turning to face her. The question caused the woman to jump before also closing her locker and turning around.
"Ummm, yes ma'am. Lieutenant J.G Caitlyn Knight," Caitlyn responded with a salute.
Yuna returned the salute and said, "No need to be so tense. You must be new since I haven't seen you before."
"Yes ma'am, I had transferred to the squadron right before the carrier had left port. Um, I get shy around people I don't really know so that could be the reason why you haven't seen me. B-But that doesn't mean I have anything against you ma'am," Caitlyn stated. That made sense as Yuna was busy with handling her squadron as well as the tension between her and her brother made her confine herself in work and in her quarters.
"I see, how are you settling in with Wedgetail. I have known Orion for a while now and he is one of the best squadron commanders in the fleet."
"The Lieutenant has been helpful. He helped me in fitting in with the squadron. Though, there have been a bit of tension in the squadron ever since…" Caitlyn trailed off. Yuna couldn't blame her. Haruto suffered a concussion from the landing, so he was out for now. And Wedgetail 8, Ensign Kara Meyer, was currently barred from flying for a while, so Wedgetail was down two pilots.
"What the ensign did was reckless, though I can understand Orion when he only gave her a light punishment. However, this mission shouldn't be too bad. From the intel we have on these aliens, they operate similarly like normal SAMs and AAA. So, just remember your training and you will make it out fine," Yuna did not mention how there may be a chance that some of these aliens may have laser weapons, but she kept that to herself for now to not scare the woman.
"Understood ma'am. Um, I think I should head out now. It was nice talking to you," Caitlyn said. She then saluted Yuna, who returned it and turned to the exit. Just as she was about to exit, she then turned around.
"And ma'am," Yuna turned around to face Caitlyn who offered a small smile.
"We will be able to find your younger brother ma'am. I don't know how but I have a feeling that he is ok, along with the other members of his squad," And with that Caitlyn left. Yuna just stood there for a while before taking a deep breath and reaching into her pocket.
She pulled out a picture, one of her and Yusuke much younger and back when they were close.
"Just stay alive Yusuke, there are a lot of things I want to apologize for when I see you again."
"This is Dragon 1-1 to Shine Ray, we are approaching the AO," Yuna said over the radio. Her squadron, along with Wedgetail were now approaching the AO. To say that you can cut the tension with a knife is an understatement. After all aircraft launched from the carrier and began to make their way to the mission AO, they were given with a mission update.
A witch would be flying ahead of them to "bait" the Neuroi AAA missile system to let the Lightnings attack them.
This plan was a last-minute inclusion and no matter how many protests came from the pilots, it was going through. Now, Yuna had to contend with the idea that a witch may have to sacrifice herself just for them to do a job that many of them have been trained to do.
"Roger Dragon 1-1. The operation will commence soon. Once the witch begins her run, make sure to get all the Neuroi SAMs so that the strike force can make their runs," Shine Ray responded. Yuna, having talked to Kakizaki when she was on the carrier, liked the witch as she was not only a good singer but also someone who knew when to switch between being carefree and serious. With this mission, Yuna needed someone like that.
"Understood. Shine Ray, may I ask who the witch that is the one that will be drawing out the SAMs?" Yuna asked. There was a brief silence and for a second Yuna thought Kakizaki did not hear her. She was about to repeat the question until Kakizaki answered her.
"The witch that volunteered for the mission is Crescent, Vanguard 2".
Shino was flying at low altitude towards the Area of Operation (AO). Her striker unit was not equipped with many missiles, except to the two Sidewinders for self-defense, and her own Type 64 rifle. The reason being is that her mission was not to really engage Neuroi in direct combat on this mission. But instead, she was going to force the Neuroi into thinking that this was another recon mission and fire at her with their missiles, revealing their locations to allow their new allies to attack them.
This mission smelled of suicide as avoiding many enemy SAMs was not something that witches are trained to do or hell even are able to do, even with shields. However, for their new allies to use their stealth aircraft to the best effect they can, they needed those SAMs to illuminate and the only way that can happen is for a witch to pop up on their radar and have them shoot at her.
Of course, this caused a lot of protest when she volunteered.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Watanabe yelled at Shino. The whole briefing room went silent at the outburst. Many of the witches that were taking part in the mission also agreed with Shino's suggestion as it was suicide.
"There is no other way. The SAMs need to fire and illuminate their radar so that our allies can destroy them," Shino countered.
"But to volunteer yourself to do that is just suicide! We are talking about a large concentration of Neuroi ground forces in the area. The number of SAMs defending the area will be substantial. The witch that got us those recon photos almost didn't make it out," Watanabe countered.
"Then tell me another plan!" Shino yelled back, surprising many people in the room, "These people…. they have also lost friends when the Neuroi attacked. They didn't ask to get themselves involved in this war and yet here they are, helping us fight the Neuroi. The least that we can do is have them open fire and reveal their position. If you have a better idea, then say it," Shino countered. When Watanabe did not reply but instead stay silent, that was all Shino needed. She then looked over to her squadron commander.
"Ma'am, please let me do this. We can't have our allies go in blind," Shino asked. Akiko debated on this. While Shino is true in that the Neuroi defenses will be hard to locate since they do not activate their own radar until they detect a target but to have Shino do it…
"Permission granted," Akiko turned towards the voice and was greeted by Lieutenant Mishizu Houjou. She was the second in commander of Lancer Squadron, with the CO of Lancer Squadron, Lieutenant Commander Yuki Tokugawa being the Commander of the Air Group, or CAG, onboard the Yoryu. With Yuki currently off the now due to sustaining injuries during a skirmish with the Neuroi, Mishizu is currently commanding the Lancer Squadron. Mishizu was the only one that that used the old Type 38 bolt-action rifle with a bayonet. She came from a wealthy family in Fuso but joined the Navy to distinguish herself from her family ties. She is also known to being a tough commander.
"Ma'am, with respect, I don't think- "
"The young one doesn't want any special treatment on this boat if I am correct. Then she won't be getting any special treatment just because she is a member of the royal family," Mishizu stated firmly. She then walked up to Shino and looked her in the eye.
"Isn't that right princess? You don't want any special treatment, right?" Shino got a bit nervous but steeled herself in front of the CAG.
"That is correct ma'am," Shino replied, earning a smirk from Mishizu.
"I can respect that. In that case, permission granted. Let's see what our young princess here can do on her own."
Shino took another deep breath. The captain was right, she was here to help fight the Neuroi and protect the people in the Middle East. She knows all too well what the Neuroi can do and what type of damage could be done. She did not want to see that happen to anyone.
"Vanguard 2, this is Shine Ray. You are now about to enter the Neuroi's SAM cluster. Begin the operation now. And… good luck Crescent," Kakizaki said over the radio in a worried voice.
"This is Vanguard 2, beginning operation," Shino replied. She took another deep breath and then pressed a few buttons on her wrist terminal, activating her radar and painting herself on any radar in the area. Once that was done, she hit her afterburner and climbed to a higher altitude for the Neuroi SAMs to get a better lead on her.
Not even a minute later, here RWR began to go crazy. She looked down at her radar and saw multiple missiles heading towards her.
"Vanguard 2, defending," Shino said as she activated her countermeasures. Flares began to shoot from her striker unit as she broke hard right. She then began to dive and turn into the nearest missile. One of the Neuroi SAMs took the flares and exploded. Another one tried to turn to hit Shino but failed and sped off into the distance. The one she turned into overshot her and exploded about 200 yards behind her.
However, more missiles were heading to her. For Shino, it felt like an endless loop. Once she defeated a missile, another would take its place. This went on for about 5 minutes and she was starting to get exhausted from the number of maneuvers she had done.
"Shine Ray, what is the status of the strike aircraft?" Shino asked after avoiding another missile.
"Dragon 1-1 is almost in firing range for their missiles. Just hold on a bit longer," Kakizaki replied. Shino then saw another missile get closer to her and deployed countermeasures. The flares spilled out of her striker unit and the missile took it but then she heard a ringing in her ears and looked to see that she no longer had anymore countermeasures.
Shino then saw two SAMs heading her way. With no more flares, she reduced her speed and braked hard. This forced her to immediately stop, forcing the missiles to overshoot her and explode in front of her.
Soon her striker units began to sputter a bit, Shino panicked. She increased thrust and soon she was flying upward. She adjusted and saw that her magic energy was running low. Just when she was about to report it, she saw small explosions on the ground. She looked around and saw missiles heading towards the Neuroi SAMs.
While Shino was dodging and weaving, Yuna and her Dragons entered maximum range and fired off their anti-radiation missiles onto the Neuroi SAMs and radar sites that lit up. The Neuroi detected these launches and begun to turn off their radars and begun attempting to jam the missiles.
However, there was a problem.
The Neuroi thought that these were just the standard AGM-88B High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) and by turning off their radar fast enough, would defeat the missile. However, these missiles that Yuna and her fighters fired were instead Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range or AARGM-ER. The version that Yuna and her Lightnings launched were considered the most advanced anti-radiation missiles in their world as it had improved frequency coverage, point-to-millimeter-wave-terminal guidance and the game changer was its active millimeter-wave-radar terminal guidance. This means that even if the Neuroi had shut down their radar, the missiles would remember where it was and automatically lock on.
Shino saw as many of the SAMs and their radar sites began to get hit from these missiles and a smile appeared on her tired face. They did it.
"Vanguard 2, you have bogies inbound from the North. Head South now!" Shino heard Yuna yell over the radio. Shino looked and saw that two drones were heading her way. Wasting no time, she accelerated and began retreating south.
"Vanguard 2, this is Lancer 2. Good work, stay on your heading we are about to enter within Phoenix range now," Houjou said over the radio. Shino's RWR, which was beeping constantly, then just went flat.
"Too late, Lancer 2. I am defensive," Shino said and dived to the ground. The missiles followed her. Shino continued to accelerate to the deck and paid attention to her altitude. Once her altitude hit 700 feet, she hit the brakes and corrected herself. This crazy maneuver allowed the missiles not enough time to correct, and both hit the ground in explosions.
As she skimmed at low altitude, she saw that the drone was still following her. No matter what she did, she could not shake them, and she was starting to breath heavily.
"This is Vanguard 2; I can't shake them!" Shino stated over the radio. By now, fear began to take hold and as here RWR continued to beep she heard some reply.
"Vanguard 2, when I say so, break left," Shino didn't recognize the voice but decided to listen. She continued to go full speed south to retreat with the drones following her. After an agonizing minute, the voice called out.
"Break left now!" Shino made a hard left turn. She glanced over her shoulder to see one of those new fighters heading straight towards the drones and fire two missiles. One hit the drone dead front while the other hit the drone on the wingtip as it tried to escape, its wreck hitting the desert ground.
"This is Vanguard 2… enemy splashed…." Shino said over the radio, but her vision was starting to fade a bit. The ground was coming up fast and she thought she heard someone call her name before the world went dark.
Caitlyn looked on as the witch that she just saved crash landed onto the ground. The automatic shield system attached to the striker unit went on and the shield that deployed allowed the witch to land without any significant injury but would still cause some injury to her.
"This is Wedgetail 3, I can confirm that the witch has crash landed. Requesting SAR," Caitlyn called out over the radio.
"Understood, report the coordinates of the crash. Witches from her squadron will arrive to help her," Shine Ray stated, a bit shaky. Caitlyn can't blame her though since Shino being one of the youngest witches, everyone was protective though Caitlyn thinks it may be something else.
But that was something she can think about later.
"Lucky, you have a bogey on your six," She heard her squadron commander state over the radio. She turned her head around and saw the bogey. She then heard here RWR begin to beep, indicating that she was being targeted.
Caitlyn increased speed and made a hard right to break to missile lock. The Neuroi drone followed but thanks to the Lightning's Pratt and Whitney F135 engine, she was able to get out of the Neuroi's missile range. Caitlyn then activated her AESA radar to be in receiving mode only and then started to jam the Neuroi. This type of jamming was something the Neuroi was not used to as its own internal systems were being fried by an unknown source.
It eventually broke off and Caitlyn decided to get this kill. She lowered her speed and made a left turn. She then accelerated and got on the Neuroi's tail. She activated her weapons and chose to use one of her Sidewinders. She watched on her HUD the missile trying to get a lock on the Neuroi. Soon, she heard the wobble go constant, indicating that the Sidewinder got a lock.
"Wedgetail 3, Fox 2!" Caitlyn called out as she launched the missile. The Sidewinder dropped from its wingtip pylon and raced towards the Neuroi. The drone popped flares and tried to maneuver hard to break the missile's lock but thanks to the advanced tracking of the AIM-9X, it didn't fall for the flares and struck the drone on its left wing, causing the drone to cartwheel towards the ground and crash.
"Splash one," Caitlyn reported.
"All Wedgetail and Dragon callsigns, egress out of the AO. Allied air forces are now conducting their strikes. Repeat, all Wedgetail and Dragon callsigns, get out of the AO," Yuna stated over the radio.
Caitlyn clicked in response and was about to head back to her squadron when she noticed something on the radar. She saw that there were 4 unknown contacts heading towards the retreating Lightnings.
"Shine Ray, this is Wedgetail 3, I am seeing 4 unknown contacts on radar. Do we have anyone coming from that direction?" Caitlyn asked. After a few minutes, Shine Ray responded.
"Negative, we do not have any allied aircraft coming from that direction."
"Understood," Caitlyn simply said as she continued to look at the radar, a plan forming in her head.
"Lucky, what are you thinking?" Caitlyn heard Wedgetail 7, 2nd Lieutenant Jason "Claw" Crawford asked.
"I still have some AMRAAMs, I think I get those things before they get in range," Caitlyn stated. She was tempted as if those missiles hit all those targets, she would be able to become an ace in a day. Her finger reached over to her weapons panel, but she stopped. She didn't want to jump ahead of her command but…
"Boss?" Caitlyn asked over the radio. After a few minutes, she got her answer.
"Turn to engage but launch at maximum range. DO NOT push if your RWR starts chirping," Lenton finally agreed. Caitlyn immediately turned to meet the incoming bogies and line them up. She switched over to her AMRAAMS and checked to see if she was within range to launch the missiles.
She was in range and that caused her to smile under her oxygen mask.
"Wedgetail 3. FOX 3, FOX 3, FOX 3, FOX 3," Caitlyn called out as she pressed the trigger. The internal weapon bays open, and 4 AIM-120D missiles dropped and ignited their engines, heading towards the Neuroi drones at Mach 4.
The drones, detecting that they were being targeted, deployed their own counter measures and began to do maneuvers to throw off the missiles. These did not help them as the 4 AMRAAMs ignored the counter measures and made their way to the drones. Soon, Caitlyn can see 4 explosions in the distance, confirming the kills.
"Splashed 4 bogies," Caitlyn called out over the radio.
"Confirmed the slashes on radar. Now, get your ass back in formation. The allied air force will take over from here," Lenton said over the radio. As Caitlyn accelerated to join the rest of the squadron, she looked over to her radar and saw multiple blue dots heading towards the Neuroi lines.
"Go get them ladies," Caitlyn muttered.
Mishizu looked on as the F-35s began to leave the AO. She had been told about how this new fleet came from a different world but she at first did not believe it. After all, that is just some science fiction that spurred from that one movie the Liberions made a while back. Now, she cannot deny that these new allies that they have were something else.
"This is Lancer 2 to all Fuso witches; we have our attack window. Show them how an Imperial witch fights," Mishizu said over the radio.
"Roger!" The radio crackled to life with affirmatives. Houjou watched as the Fuso witches made their attacks, mainly witches from Scout Squadron who were equipped with F-4EJ striker units and armed with a multitude of bombs, missiles and auto-cannons. She then checked her radar and saw that the Neuroi had sent up some air cover for their now defenseless ground forces.
"And so it begins," Mishizu said to herself as she checked her custom Type 38 bolt action rifle. Thanks to her family ties, she was able to get the rifle to chamber 7.62x51mm round, allowing her to use ammo from the Type 64 rifles.
"Typhoon, I am going to engage the incoming Neuroi. Stay on my six," Mishizu called out to her wingman, Lieutenant Sakura "Typhoon" Hayashi.
"Understood ma'am," Mishizu's wingman confirmed. Houjou accelerated, heading towards the approaching drone group. She took aim at the one that is closer to her, took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger.
Lieutenant Commander Ashley Sanchez was sweating bullets. Not because she was being targeted by any ground SAMs but with the Neuroi drones that were currently engaging the TARget Combat Air Patrol, or TARCAP. Thanks to the new people that suddenly appeared, what would have been suicide mission was now more reasonable. Still, there sill was the aerial Neuroi units to deal with but thanks to the witches from the Ranger and Midway, the Neuroi were being held back…... for now.
Ashley looked at her radar and then reported over the radio, "Comanche 4 is at IP."
She then activated her Target Recognition and Attack Multisensor, or TRAM, on her wrist pad. It relayed to her the necessary data to make sure that her bombs will hit their targets. She looked closely, they had to be close by… bingo.
"Comanche 4 is hot," Ashley stated. She then adjusted her approach and looked forwards to line up the aiming sight on the target. Soon, the piper lined up nicely on a group of Neuroi that tried to shoot at her futilely with their own machine guns.
"Comanche 4, pickle!" Ashley called out as she released her bombs. Her 28 Mk 82 unguided bombs descended towards the ground, deploying their "Snakeye" fins. Ashley accelerated out of the blast zone, tracers flying past here with some hitting her shield that she had activated to protect herself. As she gained altitude, her bombs hit the Neuroi, destroying many of them and severely damaging many others.
Once Ashley was at a good altitude, she looked back to see the rest of her squadron as well as the other witch squadron, VA-66 "Devil Riders" making their attack runs. Ashley smiled as this was finally one of the first victories that the allied forces have achieved in this war.
Sahar pulled a magazine from her pouch, loaded it into her AR-1, pulled the charging bolt to load a fresh round. She looked and saw that 10th Witch Fighter Squadron, "Foxes", were making their attack run, their A-4 Skyhawk striker units loaded to the prime with unguided bombs. She also saw one witch firing on the Neuori ground units with a multi-rocket launcher, destroying a good number of Neuroi.
"It looks like the mission is actually going good," Sahar commented.
"Please don't jinx this," Sahar turned to see that Rana came up beside her, having destroyed the drones that were on her tail a few minutes earlier.
"What? Can I not comment on a successful mission? Because it is looking like this is a successive mission," Sahar countered.
"Oh, but of course. After all, the thing called Murphy's Law will listen to what our princess says," Rana said sarcastically. Sahar sighed, remembering how her wingman and friend is usually sarcastic.
"Anyway, has there been any additional updates?" Sahar asked.
"None, it looks like the other countries were also successful in their attack runs," Rana answered.
"Good," Sahar looked at her radar, "It looks like the remaining Neuroi units are pulling back for now." Soon, the radio cackled.
"All allied units, this is Shine Ray. Enemy units are retreating, missions is complete. RTB."
"Time to go home. Let's go Rana," Sahar said. Rana nodded and the two made their way South back home.
"Shine Ray, this is Dragon 1, is there an update on the downed witch?" Sahar heard someone ask. It must be one of the pilots that flew those fancy fighters.
"CSR was able to recover her and egress out of the AO. Nothing too serious, just some bruises and exhaustion," Shine Ray reported.
"よかった," Sahar heard Dragon 1's pilot exclaims.
"What did she say?" Rana asked Sahar, not knowing Fusoan.
"It means, 'Thank Goodness,'" Sahar stated, "I heard that where those people are, there are no witches, so it makes sense that they were worried about that Fuso witch."
Rana nodded but didn't reply. Sahar, though, knew what Rana was thinking. Everyone was worried about that Fuso witch, risking her neck to give the attacking force the location of the SAMs and AAA. No doubt she would be most likely get a medal for what she did.
"So, since the mission is a success, anyone have any song recommendations?" Shine Ray asked over the radio. There was an uproar as everyone threw in their suggestions, though one caught Sahar's attention.
"'We are the World' huh? Well, since this is an international strike force, I guess that song is appropriate," Shine Ray replied. After a few minutes, Shine Ray began to sing. Soon, some witches began to sing as well. Even Rana, who is usually quiet, also began to sing.
As the witches sang, they also began to hear some male voices and Sahar deduced that those must be the pilots from that mysterious fleet also singing. Sahar smiled as she sang with everyone, feeling a swelling emotion as humanity was able to finally strike back.
As Dragon and Wedgetail squadron were heading back to the carrier, they heard Shine Ray ask for a song. As many of the songs that each pilot knew were from the future, they couldn't really suggest anything. That is, until one witch suggested the song "We are the World".
"Wasn't that the song that was sung during karaoke night from before we got transported here?" One member of Yuna's flight asked.
"Yup, and the fact many of you know the song still surprises me," Yuna replied. Since the song was from the mid-80s, Yuna had assumed that not many people on the carrier would know it. It was thanks to her parents that she knew the song. It surprised her that many people actually knew the song as well.
Soon, both squadrons heard Kakizaki start to sing the song. Soon, more and more witches began to join. Then, something happened that surprised Yuna. She heard one of her own pilots started to sing as well, followed by another. Soon, everyone in her squadron started to sing over the radio as well. Not just that, but Wedgetail also began to sing.
Yuna couldn't help but smile and began to sing. She checked her radar to confirm that everyone was coming home.
Just another day at the office.
So, finally got this chapter done. A lot of research in the aircraft for both modern and back in the 90s took a lot longer than what I thought it would take. But I am happy with this chapter. In the next one, the Neuroi will make their next move, this time in the Sinai. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and see you guys next time.