The Lighthouse War was over, the majority of Erusea's Radical faction were either dead or surrendered and the ADF-11 drone fighters, Hugin and Munin were little more than scrap metal which also prevented data regarding Osea's Ace pilot from getting sent to various drone factories across the Usean Continent.

The city of Selatapura celebrated the end of the war as various Osean and Erusean Aircraft of the Coalition did a victory flyover of the city and at the space elevator before landing at Selatapura Airport which was used as a command base for the relief operations as well as humanitarian aid for the refugees.

At the heart of the Coalition lies Strider Squadron, the members of the Osean Long Range Strategic Strike Group who had been in the forefront of the Osean Offensive during the road to the Erusean capital of Farbanti. Strider Squadron is led by Trigger, who is known from both sides as 'Three Strikes' because of the three claw scratches on the tail of his plane. He's been through a lot and his journey began at the Space Elevator and now it seems like the war ended at the elevator.

As for Princess Rosa Cossette D'Elise of the Kingdom of Erusea, she was looking to the stars and bringing hope for the future for the refugees who built a settlement at the base of the space elevator.

But even after the war ended, Strider Squadron was met with an important assignment…

The briefing room stood silent as Long Caster, Strider Squadron's AWACS operator asked,

"Is everyone here?" He saw the Osean and Erusean pilots all accounted for before saying, "Let's start this briefing."

The map screen booted up as the image of the Usean continent appeared on screen, "I know you have all been instrumental in maintaining peace in Selatapura after the war ended. I'm sure that many of you want to go home, but unfortunately this matter requires our attention."

The image of the princess pops up, "As you all know, the Princess has been doing a great job in helping the refugees at their settlement until now, she also has to rebuild her capital, so she's going to be leaving for Farbanti soon to coordinate with the Osean occupation forces and have their focus towards restoration."

Lanza, one of the LRSSG pilots shrugged, "I bet, she's been manipulated by the Radicals and now she trying to make up for it."

"The Princess has asked us for an escort to Farbanti, she knows that the remnants of the Radicals may try to kill her if she moves away from Selatapura."

Húxiãn, the only female pilot of the LRSSG stated, "So we're going to be her bodyguards."

Count, Strider Squadron's number 2 figures, "Not the first time that I've been on an escort mission."

Jaeger, Strider 3 asks, "Who will be taking part in the escort?"

Long Caster brought up a list of squadrons as he says, "Only Strider and Sol Squadron will sortie."

Count realized, "I guess we're going back to Farbanti, Trigger."

"The Princess's transport will fly along the coast toward Anchorhead Bay where you will escort her to our old base for refueling before moving on towards Farbanti."

Trigger, looked at the route and figured, "If there are still remnants of the Radicals, they will try to come after us, but I think once we pass by Dennis, we should be fine."

Long Caster acknowledged this, "With the space elevator acting as a giant radio antenna, most of our systems have been coming back online. The data link will update your IFF system in case you run into trouble. Remember, it's important that you get the Princess to Farbanti safely.

Dismissed."

Selatapura Airport was a civilian airport until the war started, the jet ways where civilian planes parked for loading and unloading passengers were now used for the Osean - Erusean Coalition forces until everything could go back to normal. As for the two squadrons taking part in the operation, one F-22 Raptor and three F-15 Eagles were parked side-by-side as Trigger approached his plane to check on it.

The pilot has seen a lot in this plane, just like his teacher who fought in the Continental War. His teacher was well known for flying an F-22 Raptor as a member of the 118th Tactical Fighter Squadron in the Continental War and the Free Erusea Uprising, a few years ago. It was from that man that Trigger was able to fly and pull off several maneuvers that helped him through the war. As the young ace inspected his craft, he heard a familiar voice say,

"Inspecting your craft before you head to Farbanti?"

He turned around and saw the face of his former squad leader, Clown, leader of the Peacekeeping Force's Mage Squadron.

"Yeah, it's best if I look over my plane, make sure it's in good shape before my squadron sets off."

Clown sighed and said, "Trigger, I also want to apologize for what happened."

Trigger raised an eyebrow, "It's about what happened to Harling, isn't it."

"Yes, I saw how shocked you were when you stepped out of your plane and sat by the tires. But when the commander stated that you were accused, you stated that there was a Super Hornet that flew past you after the Osprey went down. You said that you couldn't risk the transport by using a missile and switched to guns. Knocker and I believed you, we tried to step in and help you, but the IUN stonewalled us and it seems like they didn't care about the evidence of your innocence."

Trigger already knew this, "They used me as a scapegoat since they had no idea where the missile came from."

"But what shocked me was that they sent you to the 444, under McKinsey's command."

Trigger cringed at the mention of his former warden, "I take it that you've heard of him?"

"I served under him at one point and I know what kind of person he is - he only cares about advancing his career instead of the people under his command."

Trigger agreed, "He's the kind of person who threatens to throw you in solitary for questioning his orders or blinking in his direction. I even heard him say that he left his mark by proving the penal unit to be a valuable military asset at Bulgurdarest in my last mission with the 444 before I was transferred to the LRSSG."

Clown knew that Trigger would understand McKinsey's mindset, a glory hound who sits on his ass, gets medals while the men under his command do all the work, bragging about how he left his mark. Trigger continued,

"Count and I would have been sent to Tyler Island, had the General Staff Office not stepped in since they believed that I was innocent."

Clown remembered, "After one of our operations, the IUN were contacted by Vice Chairman Edwards of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during our debriefing and requested the information regarding Operation Lighthouse Keeper - mainly the accusations against you."

Trigger remembered that name, the Vice Chairman who exposed Brigadier General Howard Clemens as a traitor for receiving false evidence, changing mission hours abruptly and hiring the Mimic Squadron to kill him during the Alicorn Operation and the Anchorhead Raid. He still winces at the sight of Húxiãn grabbing the traitorous Brigadier General by the tie of his suit and ramming her fist into his face, knocking him out.

Trigger figured, "So Edwards was able to convince his colleagues in the General Staff Office that I was innocent which is why they stepped in and had me and Count fly escort."

"That was the first time we've heard about you since the Harling mission. After a while, the LRSSG has been clearing the way and we were getting victory after victory, moving towards Farbanti. When we liberated San Salvacion, we heard many Osean troops talk about the plane with a three-lined marking - you."

Trigger knew that, "When Wiseman reinstated me into the OADF and promoted me to Captain, the three bars on the tail of my Eagle wouldn't suit me since I was officially pardoned. That's when I remembered what my old wingman said about the lines, they were scratches on the tail. So I decided to make the lines more like claw scratches, that's been the mark on my planes ever since."

Clown laughed, "Three Strikes, it really does suit you and I'm also sorry about Wiseman, he was a good man."

Trigger knew that he meant it since Wiseman lived up to his TAC name, being a wise man in training his pilots. He pointed out, "I did get the attention of an old Erusean ace - The one that got Brownie."

"Oh, yeah…" Clown saw the four SU-30s parked opposite of Strider Squadron, "You still felt guilty for what happened to her?"

"When I saw him at Chopinburg, I wanted to knock him down, but the drones were distracting me from helping Brownie. I always hear her scared cries for help whenever I went to sleep, nightmares of seeing her Hornet going down in flames and hearing the Ace claim that she was down. When I was in the 444, I saw him at Yinshi after shooting down one of my wingmen, Champ. I saw the marking on his plane and realized that it was him and my thoughts were only looking towards payback for Brownie. I followed him through the craggy terrain in the middle of a thunderstorm in order to chase him down. I managed to do damage to him until he broke off due to the storm, he contacted me stating that it's the first time any pilot made him push to his limit and promised that we would meet again."

Clown was intrigued by this and remembered, "Most of the pilots called him Mister X since he's with that Experimental Squadron."

Trigger pointed out, "That's his nickname and this guy, Mihaly A. Shilage is regarded as the King of the Skies, Jaeger tells stories about Mihaly and his feats. We encountered him and his squadron over Farbanti and he killed Wiseman when he acted as a lure to distract him while I chased him and I would have shot him down if the satellites didn't go down.

In our final duel above Shilage Castle, he was flying an advanced version of the X-02 Wyvern, equipped with a railgun, I realized that he was an old man wanting to keep his wings and voluntarily put an immense amount of Gs on his body for Erusea's drone program, just so he could keep flying. He was also testing me to see if I have what it takes to replace him. He was practically pushing me to my limits when I was evading his railgun attacks and choosing the right moment when to strike. When I shot him down, he explained that it was all due to his ego and told me to put a stop to the drone production and save his granddaughters."

Clown was surprised that the old ace endured that amount of Gs which isn't healthy on an aging body. He was even more surprised that Trigger shot him down over his home country. He guessed,

"And we did stop the drone production and saved his granddaughters and I would see them often when I did volunteer work for the refugees."

The leader of Mage Squadron continued, "Then you destroyed the Arsenal Bird, splashed those Ravens and stopped the data from being sent. You are a damn hero, Trigger. You and your squadron were the tip of the spear of this war. Never forget that your squadron is what matters and you would have to make sure that they get back safe."

Trigger smiled, "I bet you and Knocker would say that your hatchling is all grown up."

Clown said, "After seeing how you lead your squadron, you're no hatchling anymore."

As the sun began to set over the airport as two former squadron members shared stories, the leader of Strider Squadron was already done prepping for the mission.

Meanwhile, Count and Húxiãn were by the hangars, having a nice view of the Space Elevator. Count asked,

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The woman admitted, "The elevator is an amazing sight, all of those resources for this and doubles as a major power source."

"I heard that Harling often talked about a 'bridge of peace' that would span into outer space and I'm guessing that the elevator is that bridge."

Húxiãn pointed out, "I remembered entering the main base of the elevator during my visit to the settlement and saw Alma, Mister X's granddaughter and few children gazing at a mural which showed people dancing with multiple space elevators in the background."

Count remembered, "Avril, the Scrap Queen mentioned that on the radio, it was called 'Skies Unknown' which seems fitting for the elevator."

Húxiãn thought back to when Trigger and Count flew into the undersea tunnel to take down the drone. Trigger shot up from the windbreak of the space elevator, but Count wasn't with him which worried her. Apparently, the damn drone hit his plane while in the tunnel and his engine was losing thrust. When they cornered the drone, Trigger destroyed it while Count took down the signal repeaters, so it wouldn't send its data. He directed Trigger to fly up the Space Elevator to escape while Count, knowing that his craft wouldn't make the climb, did a belly landing.

He was soon snapped out of his thoughts when Húxiãn jabbed him in the shoulder as she said, "That was for making me worried about you for pulling that landing."

He chuckled, "Yeah, but I've been through a wild ride ever since Trigger showed up that day in Zapland. I was pretty much a hothead who inflates his scores while flying suicide missions for a commander who sits on his ass and gets medals for doing nothing. I didn't even believe Tabloid's faith in Trigger until the mission to Waiapolo."

Húxiãn remembered, "I remembered when we first met, you and the other escorts just bugged out when Mister X or Mihaly showed up while Trigger chased him off solo."

Count nodded, "Yeah, everyone except Trigger and Tabloid got thrown into solitary after that."

The female pilot stated, "You went from a hotheaded glory hound to the most trusted wingman and number 2 that a squad leader could ever have."

The shaggy haired man knew it, "Wiseman did open my eyes, even though I didn't agree with his command. Trigger and I were pulling some crazy maneuvers against those bats at Anchorhead, I acted as a lure to throw off their pincer attack and when Trigger shot down the first hitman, we ran the second one down together. I must admit, those PMCs were crazy, but the woman was truly psycho after her brother was shot down."

Húxiãn knew about those two, a brother and sister hitman team hired to kill Trigger, both were equally insane and devoted to their job. When it was discovered that Clemens hired them, it was clear that he wanted Trigger dead. But the air duel above Anchorhead showed that Trigger and Count were like Cipher and Pixy, performing those crazy moves to bring down Mimic Squadron.

Count soon looked back at the Space Elevator, "We had a wild ride throughout this war, Húxiãn."

She smiled, "You're all grown up, Count. Wiseman would be proud of you."

Count thought back to his old squadron leader and how he pushed him on sticking to his side. He really did trust him, it devastated him when he was shot down by Mister X, but stuck with Trigger throughout the remainder of the war. He finally taken his deceased friend's advice as he spoke,

"Stick with Trigger and you'll make it."

Húxiãn smiled, "And you damn well made it."

Anchorhead Bay, Western Usea. November 7, 2019.

The squadron of one Raptor and three Eagles along with four SU-30s were flying alongside a Kawasaki C-1 Transport plane fitted with the rose emblem which signifies the Erusean Royal Family as the Royal Escort flew over Anchorhead as Strider Squadron remembered being here twice. Soon enough, the pilot of Red Rose 1, Major Sanchez spoke,

"Strider Squadron, Sol Squadron, this is Red Rose 1, we appreciate having you as our escorts. Stay close."

Trigger spoke, "Strider Squadron acknowledges, Red Rose 1."

Sol 2, Wit spoke, "Sol Squadron acknowledges, Red Rose 1."

Red Rose 1 spoke, "If there are any remnants of the Radicals out there, we would appreciate that you keep your eyes open, the Princess is counting on you."

As the escort mission goes on, most of Strider Squadron begin to reminisce about the two times they've been to Anchorhead. Truthfully, Anchorhead has seen a fair share of war. During the Usean Coup d'etat, Anchorhead was captured by the rebels until it was reclaimed by the Allied Forces with Scarface Squadron leading the charge and the rebels attempted to raid Anchorhead, but the Ace, Phoenix stopped their attack.

During the Continental War, Anchorhead was captured by the ISAF Forces and used as a forward base for land based planes to resupply or refuel during the Siege of Farbanti. It was also a stop for ISAF aircraft carriers before proceeding onto the Erusean Capital to launch their carrier planes.

During the Lighthouse War, Anchorhead was used as a gathering spot for its remaining naval forces after the Snider's Top operation which saw the loss of the Njord Fleet. They were even bringing ships from the mothball fleet to make up their lost numbers and were in preparation for the showdown in Farbanti. Strider Squadron was sent to wipe out the Erusean Fleet and command structure to prevent them from taking part in the capital and shot down Clemens' assassins that were after Trigger.

The second time they were here was after the continental blackout after Farbanti fell and the Eruseans split into warring factions: Radical and Conservative. Strider Squadron was sent to support an Erusean officer named Labarthe who sought to enter peace talks with Osea on behalf of him and his fellow conservatives. He also revealed the truth behind the war, the Radicals and the plot to assassinate Harling. They succeeded in getting Labarthe to the helicopter and saving a transport plane that was carrying Mihaly's granddaughters from four conservative planes and their own drone escorts. It was a success until they learned that Labarthe was shot down by another Osean Aircraft as he was leaving the area. The AWACS in the area, Argus, was fed false information from the Radicals, so that the Oseans could kill the general.

As they flew past Anchorhead and continued on towards Gardos, Trigger kept his eyes on both the air and the ground until he saw something briefly appear in the clouds, 'What was that' he thought.

He contacted Long Caster, "Long Caster, I saw something in the clouds. I don't know what it was, but I didn't think it looked friendly."

The AWACS was curious, "I'm not picking up any readings on my radar, but keep sharp. You're almost at Gardos Air Base, once you pass the first checkpoint, maintain current course to Dennis and you'll be good to go. I'm looking forward to visiting a nice restaurant in Farbanti."

Count chimed in, "Assuming we haven't bombed any of them."

Wit chimed in, "You were actually only focusing on the military targets around Farbanti when we showed up late."

Long Caster was relieved, "That warms my heart, Sol 2."

Hermann, Sol 4 asked with a chuckle, "Quite the glutton."

Jaeger stated, "Long Caster's food jokes and tendencies to eat while working has got us this far."

The AWACS operator stated, "My judgment gets fuzzy when I'm too hungry and I brought a hoagie and a small salad with me for this trip."

The two squadrons were amused by this until they came within range of their checkpoint. As Trigger said his greetings,

"Gardos Air Base, this is Strider 1, the aircraft approaching the base belong to the LRSSG and the Republic of Voslage. We are currently guiding Red Rose 1 to Farbanti."

Soon enough, the radio operator at Gardos responded, "Solid copy, Strider 1. Upon departure, set your course to 320 and continue northwest along the coast until you reach Dennis Airport."

The escort mission continued on as the air group refueled and left Gardos and followed the coast up towards Dennis. So far there weren't any problems, just idle conversation between wingmen. But when they came close to the second checkpoint at Dennis, that's when things started to go wrong.

"Attention all aircraft, this is Long Caster, there's a ship of unknown origin at vector 220 below us. Strider 1, Sol 2, I need you to ID the ship."

Count was surprised, "An unknown ship? That's new."

Seymour, Sol 3 agreed, "What would a ship be doing here?"

Trigger was curious, "I don't know, but I intend to find out. Count, Jaeger, Húxiãn, stay with the transport while Wit and I check this out."

Count stated, "Right-o!"

The F-22 and the SU-30 peeled off and descended below the clouds where the ocean was visible. Soon enough, they came across their unknown and it was something that they've never seen before.

It was a ship, but it didn't look Osean or Erusean, heck it didn't even look like a Yuktobanian vessel. The ship was black with red highlights all over it and had at least a few main guns and dozens of AA guns. But what really surprised the two leaders were the double flight deck and the planes on it.

Wit was curious, "It's a carrier…but it doesn't look like any carrier I've seen."

Trigger was curious as well since that carrier didn't match any ship identification charts. He told Wit,

"We're going to need evidence to show the higher ups. Sol 2, let's take a few photos."

Wit agreed and used their planes onboard cameras to snap a few photos of the unknown carrier until the vessel began turning towards the coast. Wit decided to send the surrender request,

"Attention Unidentified Carrier, state your intentions and we will direct you to the nearest dock, Fire a flare if you understand."

Both leaders waited with anticipation for a response until the carrier fired something - but it was not a flare which both leaders realized as Trigger yelled,

"Sol 2 evade!"

The Voslagian pilot evaded a laser that came from the carrier. Upon seeing this, Trigger contacted Long Caster,

"The carrier fired on us with a laser cannon, Sol 2 managed to evade. But we can assume that the carrier is hostile, confirm?

Long Caster agreed as the hud showed red TGT reticles on the carrier. "Strider 1, Sol 2, pair up and attack that carrier while everyone else protects the transport."

Trigger and Wit commenced their attack on the carrier until they saw highly advanced planes take off from the carrier. But what the Three Strikes noticed was that the planes were not coming after them. But his eyes widened when he saw the transport appear through an opening of the clouds as the planes turned towards it.

"Count, the carrier planes are heading towards you! Protect the Princess!"

Count saw them, "Shit!"

Húxiãn was shocked as she let out her usual, "That's something!"

"Sol 3, we need to keep the transport safe. Strider 4, on my wing! We have to take down every one of those bastards before they harm the transport."

Jaeger and Roald, Sol 5 formed an outer defense as they shot down the unknown planes while Count, Húxiãn, Seymour and Hermann formed an inner circle to keep the Princess safe. They were downing unknown planes left and right until Jaeger noticed something,

"I caught a quick glimpse of the cockpit, but I didn't see any kind of pilot."

Seymour asked, "These are drones!"

"That's what I was thinking."

Count stated, "Thanks for the info, let's take out these drones and protect the transport!"

While the defense group was dealing with the drones that were launched, Trigger and Wit were dealing with the carrier as they took out the drones on the flight deck, keeping them from taking off.

The enemy ship showed a substantial amount of firepower, mostly AA guns while that laser cannon was trying to get a bead on the two planes. The drones that were launched seemed to have a singular purpose since the launched drones were going for the transport plane. That left their rear end open for the two leaders. While anything that slipped past them were shot down by the defense team. Trigger noticed,

"These drones are behaving weird since they're only focusing on the transport."

Wit figured since he worked with the EASA's drone program, "This must be a dumbed down version of slave mode."

Strider 1 focused on knocking down the port flight deck while Sol 2 hit the starboard flight deck. Once both flight decks were knocked out, the drones stopped coming as Long Caster spoke,

"I'm reading that there are no more drones coming from the carrier, the rest of the squadron are just mopping up the remaining enemy planes, the transport is safe."

Trigger opened a channel to the enemy carrier, "This is Strider 1 of the Long Range Strategic Strike Group to Unknown Carrier, your flight decks have been knocked out. I suggest that you surrender your vessel to the Osean - Erusean Coalition. Surrender your ship to save your crew and we will be happy to provide assistance with guiding your vessel to port."

There was no response from the carrier as Count stated,

"I don't think they're interested in talking, Trigger."

As they waited for a transmission, they noticed the main cannon moving and pointing upwards until it fired its laser - straight at the transport! Trigger shouted,

"RED ROSE 1 EVADE!" The C-1 barely avoided the laser as it grazed its hull as they could hear the frightened cry of Princess Rosa on the radio.

Trigger cried out, "Red Rose 1 status report!"

The transport began to drop to about 6,000ft as Trigger noticed,

"Red Rose 1, your altitude dropped, what's happening?!"

Major Sanchez cried out, "The laser grazed our hull, but we're suffering from an uncontrolled decompression. We're dropping our altitude to maintain cabin pressure. You have to do something about that carrier because if that laser hits us again, we're dead!"

Long Caster was shocked as well, "I don't believe it! Strider, Sol, STOP THAT LASER BEFORE IT FIRES AGAIN!"

Trigger should have known that it would try to use direct fire on the transport. He called out,

"Strider and Sol, pair up and attack that cannon!"

The defense team soon peeled off from the damaged transport as each member of both squadrons paired up as Trigger stated,

"Wit and I will go first, the rest of you follow behind. Drop any bombs you brought with you on the cannon."

All pilots went "Roger" as both squadrons formed up in pairs. The barrel began to glow red as Long Caster realized,

"It's readying the cannon again! The countdown for the cannon will appear on your HUD. Destroy it before it fires!"

The countdown timer for the cannon appeared as one minute until firing. Trigger and Wit were side by side as the Osean Ace stated,

"Red Rose 1, evasive maneuvers if we can't take it out." The transport began to evade as Trigger gave the signal, "As for Strider and Sol, commence the attack!"

Trigger and Wit did an inverted dive as Count and Seymour followed behind with the Osean pilot stating,

"Time to dive into the fireworks!"

As the clock ticked, the carrier's anti air guns tried to get a bead on the coalition while targeting reticle for the cannon appeared on their HUD as it turned red, indicating that they were locked on to the cannon. Trigger unloaded his XSDB bombs while Wit fired his Kh-21 Air-to-ground missile as they struck the cannon. After they pulled away, Seymour and Count struck, then the remaining Strider/Sol pairs struck. Jaeger and Hermann's attack hit the base of the cannon while Húxiãn and Roald dealt the finishing blow when on of their bombs hit directly down the barrel.

The repeated attacks on the laser cannon caused the weapon to explode as the cannon collapsed, with only 30 seconds to spare. Húxiãn took notice,

"Confirming explosion! The laser cannon has been destroyed!"

The pilots cheered at this as Count let out a "Yeah Baby!"

The transport crew and the Princess cheered, knowing that they're safe. But as the cheering subsided, several explosions appeared all over the carrier as Trigger heard a mechanical voice speak out, "Nice…ly Done…" After that, the carrier exploded as a single drone launched from it.

Long Caster confirmed, "The enemy carrier has been destroyed, but that drone seems to be bugging out."

Trigger needed answers on what happened, this didn't seem to be an attack by the Radicals. They probably didn't know the Princess' flight plan, only that drone seems to know or whoever sent it. So he decided,

"Strider, Sol, get the Princess to Dennis Airport. I'm going after that drone to find out who sent it."

Count was shocked, "Wait, boss, do you think you have enough fuel to make the pursuit?"

"I have enough. Just get the Princess to safety and I'll meet up with you. Long Caster, permission to pursue?"

Long Caster hesitated for a bit before saying, "Granted."

Trigger soon separated from the group and went after the drone.

As Trigger pursued the drone across the southern coast of Usea, the ace took notice of its movements as it made its way into an unusual storm which had purple and red clouds. The pilot was curious,

"Strange? There's no reported storms in this area."

Trigger was still following it as he mimicked its maneuvers of navigating the storm. He spoke,

"You're a long way from home, droney."

As the F-22 navigated the storm, he noticed some unusual purple lightning flash by his plane. He barely avoided it as he continued pursuit as he noticed the craft heading towards a break in the clouds and followed after it.

"Okay drone, let's see where you're going."

But when he broke through the clouds, the drone vanished and he was alone above the ocean near a shore. In defeat, Trigger contacted Long Caster, "Strider 1 to Long Caster, I lost the drone, it disappeared after I broke through a strange storm."

There was no response from the AWACS as he tried again, "Strider 1 to Long Caster, come in, Long Caster!"

Trigger figured that he was eating, but Long Caster would always answer even when eating. So he tried contacting Count, Húxiãn, Jaeger, etc. but there was no response from anyone.

Trigger was curious, his squadron would answer his communications unless that unusual storm tampered with it. That's when he realized that it was bright and sunny, most likely midday when he remembered that it was early evening when they sank that carrier. He began to think,

'That storm didn't seem to be natural, it was like someone artificially generated a storm in order to hide their movements. But the time of day, I don't think I'm in Usea anymore.'

But his curiosity was on hold when he noticed a flight of planes - the smaller ones were like the drone he followed, but they were escorting a large force of larger flying wing aircraft. He can only assume what they were as they were making a beeline for the shore since they had the shape of the B-2,

"Bombers."

Trigger decided to go follow those bombers from a distance to see where they are going.

Point Mugu Naval Air Base. Point Hueneme, California, Eagle Union. December 2, 2019.

At the Point Mugu Naval Air Base, Commander Nicholas Johnson was making his rounds, inspecting the planes under his command. He knows that Point Mugu is one of the major bases on the West Coast of Eagle Union and if the Sirens strike, it would be there. Point Mugu also has squadrons of Patrol Aircraft should Siren Submarines be prowling the waters of the West Coast, making the base have an advantage in Anti-Submarine Warfare. The Sirens mostly stuck to the sea and most of the Naval and Air Forces were diverted to fighting this menace. But they would occasionally send out a bombing raid or two since they couldn't go anywhere near the shore due to the powerful railgun network.

Johnson saw the number 2 of his squadron, Staff Sergeant, Andrew Myers working on his F-18 as he asked,

"Prepping your sweetheart, son?"

Myers looked at his squadron leader, "At least I have a sweetheart to think about, Sir."

Johnson pulled out a photo of his wife, his son and daughter at a family barbecue as he said, "You're right and we're fighting the Sirens to ensure that our sweethearts are safe."

Myers asked, "So what do you think about that unit that's assembling in the Pacific?"

Johnson stated, "That unit is supposed to be part of an Anti-Siren Force, the four main factions are gathering there in a large force. Although the Iron Blood and the Sakura Empire have been quiet lately, anything meant to combat the sirens is fine in my book."

Soon enough, the air raid alarms went off as the Base Commander shouted, "Alert: Siren Bombers incoming! Eagle, Talon and Liberty Squadrons, scramble and intercept!"

Johnson and Myers nodded as they got to their Hornets as they taxied to the runway along with four F-35s and four F-14Ds. The Tomcats lifted off first, followed by the Lightning IIs and the Hornets of Eagle Squadron lifted off.

The tower stated, "Eagle Squadron take-off confirmed, link to Patriot."

Eagle 1 asked as his squadron was in formation, "All planes are in the air, Patriot, what's the situation?"

AWACS Patriot stated, "A flight of Siren Bombers are approaching Point Mugu. We don't know how many there are. Once you are within range, take down any bombers you see, they don't have many escorts."

Johnson stated, "Wilco."

Captain Ethan Xander, Talon 1 stated, "Hey Nick, good to fly with you again."

Johnson spoke, "Good to fly with you as well, but there's no time to talk. We've got a mission to carry out."

Captain Sarah Queen, Liberty 1 stated, "You got it. Liberty Squadron, let's move."

The three squadrons of Point Mugu stand in defense of the West Coast. As they spotted the huge bomber formation, Queen whistled,

"That's a lot of bombers, enough to bomb a city."

Liberty 2 asked, "Are they targeting just our base or LA?"

Xander pointed out, "The Sirens have been calling out bombing runs on military targets. But if they have this many bombers, our base won't stand a chance."

Johnson agreed, "All wings, split off and engage the bombers. Watch out for the escorts."

All wings said, "Wilco" and split off to engage the bombers.

The bombers were jumped by the Eagle Union defense craft as Johnson bagged the first kill on a bomber as the siren jet was sent spiraling into the ocean. Myers locked onto two bombers with his special weapons and called out,

"Eagle 2, Fox 3!"

The advanced air missiles connected as both bombers burned with their payload.

Eagles 3 and 4 attacked a pair of bombers as they came about with their guns as their shells pierced the bomb bay doors, igniting the payload and blowing at least three enemy bombers to pieces. Johnson commented on the skill that they had in destroying the actual payload before taking out another bomber.

Xander and his squadron were using their missiles on another half of bombers. Until they were jumped by the escorts, the Siren jets were shooting their purple pulse lasers at Xander as he pulled his Tomcat into a backwards barrel roll as his WSO, Lieutenant Gary Sanderson got tone as Xander shot down the escort plane.

Queen and her squadron were dealing with both bombers and escorts as the black fighters were adapting to their style. Her wingman, First Lieutenant Terrance Stafford was struggling to get a lock on the bomber with the escorts adapting. Queen managed to get a few kills on the bombers as her wingmen downed a few escorts. Queen called out,

"Patriot, there's seemingly no end to these escorts. We got our hands full with the bombers already."

Patriot spoke, "It seems like the Sirens have adapted to your flying styles. They're determined to protect the bombers." He paused, "Wait, I've got a new bogey on the radar. Bearing 270, straight from the west. Aircraft type: F-22."

Stafford was curious, "Raptors? None of the coastal air bases have them and why is one coming from the pacific?"

Johnson noticed, "Stay sharp, Liberty 2. Something doesn't feel right."

Soon enough, an F-22 Raptor broke through the clouds and fired two missiles - straight into two bombers. The missiles blew the bombers to pieces as the Siren Jets went after it in a dogfight, but the Raptor pulled a cobra maneuver and shot at the jets, blowing them out of the sky with hot lead from the machine guns. The air group used this opportunity to knock out the bombers. But they couldn't help but be amazed by the Raptor's abilities as Airman First-Class Hunter Callahan, Talon 2 was amazed,

"Wow, look at him go!"

Second Lieutenant Janice Morrow, Eagle 3 was shocked, "How did he do that?"

She saw the Raptor perform a Post-Stall Maneuver as he was flying backwards to shoot down two Siren jets that were pursuing him before reorienting himself.

Johnson was surprised with how the Raptor was doing, he was splashing planes left and right while his air group dealt with the bombers. But something caught his eyes,

"Look at the marks on his plane."

Myers saw this, "Three white lines?"

Queen guessed, "Scratches?"

Johnson asked, "Do they signify something?"

While the Point Mugu Air Group finally downed the last bomber, Patriot opened up a communication channel,

"Attention Raptor Pilot, this is AWACS Patriot, You just flew into a hot zone and engaged those aircraft. Identify yourself!"

Soon enough, a male voice came onto the open channel, "Patriot, this is 'Trigger' callsign: Strider 1 of the Osean Air Defense Force and member of the Osean Long Range Strategic Strike Group. I was chasing an enemy drone in a bizarre storm and I couldn't get into contact with my squadron. Are these drones attacking Osean territory?"

Johnson was a bit suspicious about this pilot claiming that he came from a country that doesn't exist and how he referred to the Siren jets as drones, he needed answers, no they all need answers, so he took over, "Strider 1, this is Eagle 1, if you can follow us to our base, we can answer your questions."

Trigger was relieved, "That's a relief, I was running low on fuel after the battle."

Soon enough, the Point Mugu Air Group formed up around the Raptor as they guided him back to their base.

A/N: So I had this idea in my head since I played Azur Lane on my phone and played Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. A lot of Ace Combat fans are hoping for a collaboration with Yostar and Project: ACES, like what they did with Bandai Namco with The Idolmaster.

Now this is the story about a pilot pulled from his world and lands in a world of war and Shipgirls.

Nighthawk Out!