Chp. 16: Point Defense
January 24, 2005
40 Kilometers East of Crowne Beach
"Sky Eye to any available aircraft. All aircraft to the central beach now. Shoot down any incoming aircraft."
Arthur cocked a brow at the way the message was delivered. Bare-bones calls like that typically didn't help anyone, so he keyed his radio to clarify.
"Sky Eye, Pandora 24 requests a vector for nearest bandits. Where are the incoming aircraft?" He asked.
He hadn't seen anything on radar other than distant aircraft, likely enemy CAPs. The lack of early detection had him feeling more and more anxious every second. He glared at the almost unbroken clouds below, wondering what the bandits had hidden under. There were a few more requests like his before the order was given to clear the frequency.
"Pandora 2 and Mobius 1, proceed to Crowne Beach to intercept enemy attack aircraft. We're clearing the airspace of any rotary-wing aircraft as fast as we can. Nearest bandits are at 004, 41 Kilometers, Altitude of 90 Meters and less. Reports say that they're Frogfoots, possibly also some Oraos." Sky Eye clarified.
"Mobius 1 has multiple bandits further back, about 90 Kilometers. Altitude is 6700 Meters." A vaguely familiar voice added.
Arthur didn't have time to connect a voice to a face as he came out of a turn and settled on a northwards path. Abel passed below, then weaved back and nosed up to get back into the proper position as lead.
"Pandora 24, go to wall formation and ditch ya tanks. Try and distribute shots between the Frogfoots and the Oraos." He radioed.
"Copy that, 23. Already have multiple bandits onscreen…somebody dropped the bloody ball big time on this one." Arthur replied, saving the last bit for himself.
"Pandora 23, which bandits are you committed to?" Fencer spoke up.
"Ones at 004, Pandora 21." Abel replied.
"Copy, we'll move to cover you against the bandits further back. Pandora 1, how long until you're off the tanker?"
Arthur steadily tuned out the unimportant things after Squadron Leader Brian "Hooligan" Kennington said they'd be turning around in under five minutes. He was already getting better radar returns on the Frogfoots as the distance closed. The attack aircraft also had the stealthiness of a neon sign, though that should've come into play sooner. Arthur shook his head and glanced at his radar display as the CAPTOR picked out eight targets to lock and engage. He prioritized the ones he'd been intent on bagging, as well as two more that were over the water. He waited a few seconds before the system had a solid lock, then pushed the launch button twice. He did it again after the first missiles were away.
"Pandora 24, Fox 3 Fox 3…Fox 3 Fox 3."
The two Typhoons stayed close together as they split and dove towards the clouds, They curved around in a classic bracketing maneuver while the missiles pierced the layer of white below. Arthur selected the faster aircraft further back for his next volley as they started to push from their stations towards the coast. His eyes went back to his radar every other breath, waiting for the missiles to close and kill their targets. He saw something emerge from the clouds, which turned out to be one of the J-22s that'd been spotted. He squinted and tried to see if it was still armed, but it didn't matter as Fencer and Genie turned their attention to it. Arthur saw hits on his radar starting to disappear, but since he was unsure he keyed up his radio.
"Pandora 23, request permission to pop beneath the cloud deck and see if those bandits got hit." He spoke up.
"You're clear; I'll cover you." Abel replied.
Arthur switched his IRST to its Forward-Looking Infra-Red function and looked around for fast-moving dots. It took him a few seconds to realize that they'd need to get in close. He went back up and keyed his radio once more.
"Can't tell what's going on down there, Privateer. Probably best we push the attack. Get in close and sort them out." He suggested.
"Copy that, Knight. Stay close." Abel agreed.
The two Typhoons turned as one towards a pair of contacts moving away from the beach. They sank below the clouds at the same time and went into afterburner to cover the last few kilometers. Arthur spotted multiple flashes and slaved his camera to the radar hit, revealing another Su-25 blanketing Crowne Beach with rockets. He switched his radar to auto-acquisition and let the Typhoon do the rest. His only other input was to push the launch button when prompted.
"Pandora 24, Fox 3." He announced.
As the missile cleared its rail, his RWR alerted him to a pair of enemy fighters moving towards them. He switched his attention to the bigger threat while Mobius kept to the enemy attack aircraft. The bandits, MiG-29s by the looks of things, stayed high and fast. Abel snapped upwards, followed by his wingman. Arthur went for the air behind them while his lead drew them in. He switched to his ASRAAMs for the job and braced before he yanked the stick back. The MiGs split as he broke through the clouds; the wingman of the two rolled and aimed right for Arthur's plane. Arthur rested his thumb on the launch button, waiting for one of his heatseekers to get a lock-on. The Erusean stuck to his radar-guided AA-12s and fired two before Arthur could get a shot. Arthur nosed up and darted through the cloud deck, dropping chaff before he disappeared into the shroud.
As he broke into the afternoon skies above, he rolled and hit the gas, hoping to get out of the missiles' envelope. The MiG stayed after him, going for a second radar lock. The Adders came out of the clouds in a near-vertical climb, motors still burning bright. He ducked to the left and Abel burst onto the scene, going head-to-head with the Fulcrum as it was hooking around to get his wingman. Arthur reversed to help pile on, and it turned out to help him as another Fulcrum entered the fight. As it made a run at Abel, Arthur rolled in and yanked back the throttles. He nearly stood the Typhoon on its nose as he tried to at least make it look like he had a good position. Abel broke off his attack, and Arthur pulled up as he got within a few dozen meters of the newest bandit. The Erusean exited the immediate brawl at the first chance. Arthur pulled back on the stick as hard as he could and eased the throttles up as his nose came up. He sunk into the top of the cloud layer, then pulled left and turned back towards the fight.
"Pandora and Mobius be advised, we're dedicating two flights of Aucklin-Skully Hornets to your fight. Check fire to the east!" Sky Eye warned.
"Copy that Sky Eye! Can you confirm how many Frogfoots are down?" Someone from Mobius replied.
"Mobius 1, can confirm about half of them are down. Be advised, you've still got at least half a dozen Oraos out there and scattered AAA."
Arthur extended from the fight, as did Abel, and the Fulcrums split to pursue them. He looked back as his original opponent (so he liked to think) went into afterburner to catch up. Arthur kept up his speed for a second, deploying chaff and flares, before crossing and bleeding some energy. The fight made its way over land, where Arthur traded some speed for altitude. The MiG stayed with its radar-guided weapons for the time being, and Arthur stayed as unpredictable as he could get. He drew the Fulcrum closer and closer until the radar signal dropped off. Arthur looked back and broke hard left; he wasn't going to give the Erusean a chance to fire an Archer at him. The MiG slowed as well and pushed to the inside of Arthur's turn. Arthur dumped more speed and drew the bandit in even closer. The MiG reversed and tried to lead him, so Arthur ducked as hard to the left as his Typhoon and body would let him. He looked back to see an AA-11 screaming past in a lazy turn.
"Fuck you and your aim, ya knob head!" He barked at the enemy fighter.
The MiG reversed again to get behind him, so Arthur took it into the vertical and began pulling a loop. The need to maintain airspeed pushed him to bail on the idea very fast. Instead he leveled out, then dove to the right so he could come back around and face the MiG. In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that the Aucklin F-18s were now in the fight. Mobius, too, was ravaging the remaining strike aircraft. None of that really entered his mind until he spotted a lone Su-25 emerging from the clouds. Before he could even give it a thought, the strike aircraft lobbed an AA-8 Aphid at him. He gasped out another curse and deployed flares, trying to get lower before the Aphid got to close. He weaved back and forth, dropping more flares before setting the dispensers to automatic for the time being. Predictably, the Frogfoot rolled inverted and ducked back into the clouds after that. Arthur refocused on the MiG as it was ascending to come down on him.
Arthur pulled from his dive and pushed the throttles up. He checked his radar and subtly made an effort to move towards Abel again. The MiG passed by without another shot, then turned to follow the Lenish pilot. Arthur used what energy he'd built up to force the MiG ahead of him. The MiG had been accelerating to catch up, and Arthur got a lucky break when his opponent pushed past. Probably deciding that he needed to accept the defensive position, and Arthur jumped on that chance to take the offensive. He put the throttles in the intermediate range to balance speed and agility while his AIM-132s sniffed out the MiG's exhaust pipes. The Fulcrum maintained its speed, heading further inland more and more each second. Arthur didn't give him the chance, and fired a single missile before he could get too far.
"Pandora 24, Fox 2." He reported.
As soon as the missile was off its rail, he switched to his remaining AMRAAMs. With his radar still tracking the Fulcrum the whole time, the lock felt almost instantaneous.
"Pandora 24, Fox 3 Fox 3." He added.
Arthur immediately turned away as his RWR's growing chirps got through to him. He dropped flares and ascended as fast as he could. Two missiles popped out from the cloud deck, heading for him, so he broke hard and dropped both flavors of countermeasure. Just as soon as he was facing the beaches again, another MiG-29 appeared, along with its wingman. Behind them were Fencer and Genie's Typhoons. Arthur moved out of the way as the Eruseans split, with one apparently more focused on him. The SAMs were going ballistic, reaching for the upper atmosphere. By now the RWR was so crowded that he was tuning it out.
"All Pandora and Mobius aircraft, watch out for short-range SAMs beneath the clouds and behind the beachhead." He called.
"Pandora, keep your head on a swivel. Mobius 13 and 14 are in pursuit of two Oraos leaving the area. Should be passing right by you any second." One of their fellow Typhoons called.
"High or low?" Fencer asked.
"Low, low!"
Arthur kept his nose up as his newest pursuer was trying to take the offensive and defensive positions at the same time. He looked over each should every few seconds, trying to see where Genie was in relation to him.
"Okay Knight, on the count of three break left and dump speed. Pull as hard as you can, mate." Eugene requested.
"Copy, Genie." His squadmate replied, looking over his shoulder again.
The Fulcrum closed, apparently out of missiles, and started firing. Arthur figured it was trying to herd him, put him where the Erusean could have a longer engagement window.
"One, two, three!"
Arthur yanked back the throttles and braced just as he worked the stick. His vision almost blacked out as he felt like the entirety of the continent had just been dropped on his chest. He couldn't even move his head to the side to see if the MiG was passing him.
"Genie?" He gasped out.
"You're clear, Knight!" Eugene assured.
Arthur put everything he had into reversing course and nosing up. The Typhoon grew increasingly sluggish as it sank further and further. Arthur gently slid the throttles forward and kept the stick pulled towards him. Finally, his fighter was nose up and gaining momentum. He put himself well above the clouds, where the SAMs in the area couldn't reach him, and searched for any imminent threats. Eugene had pushed the MiG back towards the sea, but his radar showed that Abel was nearby and trying to keep another Fulcrum from getting to Mobius 11 and two fighters were locked in a circling fight, both trying to get the edge. Arthur nosed up and came around once he was past the fight.
"Privateer, I'm just above you and that bandit. Coming in to assist." He radioed.
"Copy, what's your position?"
"Currently at your eleven high."
"All right…I see you. Standby, wait until I've come around."
Arthur pulled from his dive and made the quickest circle he could before he dove down again. Abel started extending from the fight while Arthur descended. His AMRAAMs were still the ones he had selected, so he stayed above the MiG and fired one at it. Following his call, he went into a high yo-yo maneuver to get down to the speed he wanted for a dogfight. The MiG deployed countermeasures, but Arthur had the advantage of being above his opponent. The AMRAAM went after the bigger target, the MiG, and seemed to close the gap in the blink of an eye. Arthur pulled away and spotted Abel seemingly waiting for him to latch onto his wing. He also had four or so radar contacts, but Abel beat him to the punch.
"Multiple bandits just below us, Knight. Engage at will."
Arthur drew in a nervous breath and picked one of the enemy aircraft, as he did, his RWR alerted him to yet more unfriendly radars, this time a pair of Su-33s. He turned towards the source to try and break the lock.
"Pandora 23, got two more bandits coming in fast. Heading 355, 90 Kilometers…Altitude looks to be around 7600." He reported.
Arthur pulled the maneuver again, this time with better results. He heard Mobius's lead pilot assure him that the Flankers were his, but his mind remained focused on getting away from the enemy aircraft. He left behind a couple clouds of chaff to keep the Flakers off of him.
"Knight, keep them distracted. I'm going for a shot." Abel spoke up.
Arthur turned towards the threat as the Flankers split up. The one closest to him, aware of Abel's Typhoon, settled into a snake-like pattern as it tried to keep both the RAF fighters within its radar sweep. Arthur took that as an invitation to bank right and dart for the space outside the azimuth. The Flanker stayed on Abel for a second, but then switched to Arthur as he came back to the left and targeted the Erusean fighter. Abel jumped on the chance and made one last bank to the left, putting the Su-33 on the very edge of his radar's reach before putting his nose back on the enemy fighter.
"Pandora 23, Fox 3." He declared.
Arthur broke towards his squadronmate, more countermeasures blossoming behind him. His ears tuned into the calls from their AWACS, which reported that the Frogfoots seemed to be focused solely on ripping up Crowne Beach. He pulled back the stick and switched to ASRAAMs. The gray shroud had a few holes in it, but still it was hard to tell what exactly was down there. He pushed through the clouds nonetheless, and found himself right above the beach. More alarmingly, he was now face-to-face with a pair of Su-25s. Arthur kept his wits and fired his remaining ASRAAM at the nearest Frogfoot.
"Pandora 24, Fox 2." He declared as he switched to his cannon.
The two Frogfoots opened fire with their cannons, probably hoping they would take him with them. Arthur squeezed the trigger and let off a burst from his cannon as he broke left, dropping flares. Tracers flashed by to his right, ten dropped from his view. He yanked back towards the Frogfoots as the one on the left came face-to-face with his remaining ASRAAM. Its fuselage disappeared in a blanket of flame. The fireball arced towards the water and a miniscule island nearby. Its wingman broke away from the explosion, and right into Arthur's reach. He thanked the maker for the rare stroke of good fortune and banked to follow the Frogfoot. The Erusean dumped all of his speed as Arthur drew close. The RAF pilot nosed up to keep from stalling and pulled the trigger again. The BK-27 grumbled as it spat rounds into the path of the Frogfoot. Arthur pulled away and stayed beneath the clouds as he sped up. He looked back and watched the Frogfoot as it rolled over and fell towards the hills.
"Two more Frogfoots down. Sky Eye, how many have they got left?" He asked.
"Pandora 24 be advised, enemy strike aircraft are starting to egress. Reestablish CAPs if possible; we're gonna commit some fresh strike aircraft to see if they're trying to cover for something."
Fencer took over fairly quickly after that.
"Copy that, Sky Eye. Pandoras 23 and 24, move to the north end of the beach and take up position above that little island three kilos off the coast. Hold until you need to break off and find a tanker. Report fuel and weapons status."
"Pandora 23 has at least 25 minutes flying time on station. Still have two AMRAAMs, gun, and both my ASRAAMs. Knight, I'm heading out to sea. Join up as soon as you can." Abel reported.
"Turning towards the drink now. What happened to that Flanker?"
"Topped him off. His wingman apparently didn't have the same level of courage."
Arthur chuckled as he emerged from the clouds behind Abel and went to his position as wingman. The two jets rushed over the water as the RWR had calmed down some. A flight of Aucklin Navy F-14s was being pushed inland to help chase off the remaining attack aircraft.
"Sky Eye this is Mobius 11, bandits are in full retreat. Mobius 1 is returning to CAP." 118's lead pilot radioed.
"Copy that, good job Mobius."
And us Arthur thought with something of a grimace. He kept it to himself; the last thing he needed was something reminding him of why he'd joined the RAF. More importantly, the sun had started to break up the clouds, even as it was heading for the inland horizon…
Collins was thinking the same thing to an extent. He watched the slowly growing patches in the sky from his position outside the Erusean encampment. It was quiet enough that most of the platoon was shifting into a more relaxed posture. They were barely above combat effectiveness, thanks to those damned Frogfoots. Until they could pick out an officer from somewhere in the company, he was in charge. He looked at a pair of Typhoons as they passed overhead. His RTO, busy eating a piece of fruit leather.
"You know, Sergeant, I wouldn't normally be happy to be sitting in a crater, but this afternoon I wouldn't want to be anyplace else." He commented.
"Why's that, Logan?"
"Feels good to be back home."
It was something like having an epiphany. Collins looked at the soil beneath him and nodded.
"It is…get me the FAC if you would, please?"
Collins took the handset and waited until the young Digger gave him a thumbs up.
"Bravo 6, this is Bravo…Bravo 1 Actual." He said, stopping to remind himself of his new callsign.
"Go for Bravo 6." The Major's RTO replied.
"Bravo 6, please pass along my regards to our friends above if you can. Tell them thanks for the supporting fire."
"Copy that, Bravo 1."