Thunder Island Air Base
Asean Republic, Pacific Ocean
March 18th, 437 AC
2:38 PM Local Time
"All aircraft, take off immediately! This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill." A voice on the PA cut through the loud shrieks of the air-raid sirens echoing through the air.
Five years back, Thunder Island Air Base was nothing special- just an airfield on a sandy island in the Pacific. It'd be a boring post for any Federation pilots stationed there, but at least they'd get some sun. Nowadays, though, it was a lynchpin in the Asean Republic's civil war. Both sides of the conflict had been unusually quiet for the past few weeks, but it was the Government Loyalists that made the first move.
The base's hangars were in complete chaos. Mechanics were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to determine what was working and what wasn't after the first bombing run. All the while, pilots scrambled to their planes to take off as fast as they could. One such pilot just finished climbing into the front seat of an F/E-4. The plane itself was nothing out of the ordinary, just a simple gray camo with the mercenary roundel. The only thing that would stand out about it was the personalized emblem on the tail: a katana with red kanji lettering next to it, which read as the pilot's tac name, Samurai. Also known as Jay Cross. He put his oxygen mask over his face and slid his helmet's visor down over his blue eyes.
"Control, this is Templar 1. Am I clear to take off?" he asked.
"Negative Templar 1. The runway isn't free yet, standby," came the reply.
Jay sighed and leaned back in his seat, bouncing his leg anxiously. "Fine, I've gotta wait for Nyx anyway," he murmured.
Suddenly, a young woman with black hair to her neck and green eyes came running into the hangar as if on cue. She haphazardly slid her helmet on and climbed up into the seat behind Jay's. "Are we ready?" she asked as she put on her oxygen mask.
Jay shook his head. "Not yet, Nyx. We're still getting loaded up. Besides, the runway isn't clear yet," he told her.
"Goddammit," she growled. "There could be a bomb dropped on our head at any second, and we're just sitting here."
"Not for much longer, it looks like," Jay observed as the ground crew started to step away from their plane and give the two of them a thumbs up. "Templar Team, how are you guys doing?" He looked over his left shoulder at the MG-29, expecting a response from its pilot first.
"Templar 2, ready to go," the deep voice Jay had come to expect from Eagle reported.
"Templar 3 here, the ol' Viper and I are standing by," Mustang chimed in. "Hey, Jolt, how's that rust-bucket Fishbed of yours?" he asked mockingly.
"Doing just fine, Mustang," Jolt replied in an equally mocking tone. "I'm all primed and ready."
"Good," Control cut in. "Because the runway is clear. Templar Team, begin takeoff procedures ASAP."
The hangar doors slowly slid open, and sunlight lit up the room. The battle scene unfolded before their eyes, with bombers flying off to make another pass over the base and fighters from both sides painting the sky white with missile trails. The roar of engines and gunfire, while slightly muffled by the canopy, mixed with the blaring sirens and added another layer to the chaos.
"Alright, Templar Team, time to make some scratch," Jay said, taxying onto the runway. He turned to look over his shoulder. "You ready, Nyx?"
She gave him a thumbs up. "I always am Samurai. Now let's get up there before we get roasted on the ground."
Jay turned his attention back to the runway in front of him and increased his speed. He could feel himself sinking into his feet as the plane got faster and faster until finally, they lifted off the ground and into the sky. Choosing not to waste any time, Jay retracted the landing gear and pitched up into the sky as hard as the Phantom would allow.
ALF, PALADIN MERCENARY CORPS
THUNDER ISLAND AIR BASE
TEMPLAR 1
(SAMURAI + NYX)
"Templar 1, takeoff confirmed," Control reported. "Get out there and give 'em hell."
"Good to see you finally joined the party, Samurai," a new, older man's voice quipped. "Was beginning to think you'd miss out on all the action."
"Oh, come on, you know me, Cyborg. I'd never miss out on a party like this," Jay replied.
"Let's get cracking then. Knight Team, we'll go for the bombers. Templar Team, cover us and take out the escorts," Cyborg ordered.
"Oh, you're giving us the fun job for once, eh boss?" Nyx asked with a lighthearted chuckle.
"Hey, what can I say? I'm feeling generous," he replied.
"Alright, Paladin, let's cut the chatter and get to work," a new voice said.
"Oh, hey, Stallion. Are you up in the air yet?" Star, one of the pilots in Knight Team, asked.
"No, we're not, because Templar is taking forever to take off," Stallion said impatiently.
Mustang laughed as he pulled up off the runway. "Quit bitching, Stallion. Jolt's almost up," he told the AWACS operator.
"Well, in that case, let's get to work. Templar 1, engaging." Jay's eyes darted around until he finally set his sights on the nearest enemy fighter, an F/D-14. "Nyx, the Tomcat. See it?"
"Yep, tracking!" she replied, setting the plane in question to their active target.
Jay watched as the target indicator turned red, indicating a solid lock, but instead of firing missiles, he opted to get in closer and fire a burst from the machine gun. All it took was a few shots to send the plane spiraling down into the sea below. Suddenly, another tone went off inside the cockpit, a more sinister-sounding one.
"Missile on our ass, evade it!" Nyx warned.
Jay pulled up as hard as he could, although the F/E-4's low maneuverability wasn't making it any easier. The missile tone got faster as it came up behind them, but it couldn't quite match the Phantom's move and flew right underneath them. As Jay completed the loop he made, he got a good look at their pursuer.
'Where the hell did the Loyalists get VX-23s?' he thought. 'I thought they were just as short on planes as we were.'
The enemy fighter almost completely stopped mid-air and spun around to face Jay and Nyx. Jay braced himself, hoping to be able to turn fast enough to avoid their missiles, when a sudden pair of missiles came crashing into the VX-23, and an MG-21 went speeding past the fireball that remained.
Jay couldn't help but let out a little sigh of relief. "Nice timing, Jolt! Thought Nyx and I were goners for a second. Guess we both owe you a drink then."
"Woah, Woah! Samurai and Nyx owe someone else a drink? Is that a first?" Mustang asked.
"I think it is," Eagle agreed. "Jolt, you better savor every sip of that drink. Not every day you get one from those two."
Jay rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you can make fun of me all you want when we get back. For now, let's focus on these escorts," he said dismissively before turning to face the nearest enemy fighter, an F/E-18. As soon as Jay leveled his plane out, he and the Super Hornet were headed straight for each other. He sped up and kept his finger on the trigger, watching as the distance to the target got smaller and smaller on his HUD. As soon as he had a solid tone, he fired two missiles and pulled away, only barely avoiding the subsequent explosion.
"Finally! All aircraft, this the mercenary AWACS Stallion. We're airborne and getting to work. Intercept all bombers and drive back the attack," Stallion ordered.
"Can't we send a request for reinforcements?" Star asked. "They keep going on about how important this base is, so you'd think they'd want to do everything they can to keep it."
"Negative, Knight 4. Based on comms, it seems that the Loyalists are launching attacks like this all up and down the frontlines," Stallion reported. "In other words, we're on our own."
"How did they get the resources to pull something like this off?" Eagle asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Stallion admitted. "Seems they've been busy the last few weeks."
"Busy or not, we'll still smack 'em down because that's what we're getting paid to do," Cyborg reminded them. "Now, let's go."
After gunning down another Tomcat, Jay rolled onto his side and made a U-turn toward the VX-23 that was moving in on Mustang's tail. He fired missiles, and it looked as if they were trying to escape, but they didn't react fast enough.
"Now you owe us a drink, Mustang," Nyx said smugly.
"Ah, dammit. Fine, fine, whatever," Mustang muttered. "I'll be honest; I was hoping it'd be just you two buying drinks for tonight."
"Oh come on, Mustang, you know it's not a proper Paladin sortie unless someone ends up buying drinks for Samurai and Nyx," Jolt reminded him.
Jay shrugged. "Hey, it's not our fault. All you've gotta do is watch your backs more."
Eagle scoffed. "Yeah, that's easy for you to say, Samurai. You've got an extra set of eyes."
"Templar heads up. Enemy transports incoming from bearing 240. Looks like they're gonna try a ground assault on the base," Stallion announced. "The other ALF pilots will deal with the escorts. You guys deal with the transports."
"Roger. We'll take care of 'em," Jay assured him. "Templar Team, form up on me."
Jay set his course straight for the enemy transports that had appeared on the radar and hit the afterburners. He checked over his shoulders to make sure the others were behind him and set his sights on the nearest of the six C/T-17s.
"Tracking target, we're ready to fire as soon as they're in range," Nyx reported.
"Keep it steady," Jay told her. "Not yet, aaand… now!" He fired two standard missiles, followed up with a short machine gun burst, and sent the transport crashing down. Eagle, Mustang, and Jolt did the same, leaving only two left. By the time Templar finished turning around to make another pass, though, the transports were going over the base. "Stallion, enemy transports are dropping paratroopers over the base!" Jay warned him. "Tell Ritari and the ALF troops that they'd better be ready for a fight."
"Roger, letting them know," Stallion responded.
"Somebody get this guy off my ass! I can't-" the voice of an ALF pilot was quickly replaced by static.
"Falcon 3 is down! We're losing-" Another one gone.
"There's too many of them. We'll all be dead by the time-"
"We're losing pilots!" Eagle growled. "We've gotta help them."
"I wouldn't rush to their aid just yet. We've got more trouble inbound, same vector as before," Stallion informed them. "Looks like the Loyalists are making one last push, and by god, it's one hell of a push. They're bringing in an Arcion-class cruiser!"
"How the hell did they get an Arcion?" Shades, one of the other Knight pilots, asked.
"We can worry about that later, but we've gotta move, now! Knight, we'll deal with the reinforcements. Templar, you go save our allies," Cyborg ordered.
"Wilco. Let's go, boys!" Jay asserted, turning back in the direction of the furball that was quickly leaning into the Loyalists' favor. "Nyx," he said, turning around to face the WSO. "Get those MLAAs ready. We'll need 'em."
"Oh, come on, Samurai. You don't think I know you well enough to be getting them ready?" she quipped.
Jay shrugged, smirking a bit. "Alright, fair enough. Let's put an end to this."
Gradually, one target turned to two, two turned to four, and four turned to six. Missiles spewed out from under the Phantom's wings and split off from one another as they closed in on their targets. Three of the missiles found their marks, but the other three were either evaded or lost their target because of flares. Jay set himself parallel to one of the planes that evaded his missiles and fired his machine guns, bringing them down.
"Knight, Templar. Ritari's telling me they've staved off the ground assault," Stallion reported. "Your targets are all that's left of the Loyalists' invasion force."
Before anyone had a chance to reply, Knight 3, otherwise known as Tux, cried out desperately, "Star, get away from that railgun, quick!" Her voice was laced with fear and desperation.
Star grunted, presumably as he tried to make an effort to break off. "Shit! Those missiles are everywhere! I can't get awa-" The static that followed confirmed his fate.
"Star!" Shades' voice sounded just as desperate as Tux's.
"No, no, no- dammit!" The sound of Stallion slamming his fist on the console was crystal clear. "Knight 4 is down."
"Damn it all!" Cyborg cursed. "These Loyalists bastards are gonna regret that!"
Jay was so taken aback by Star's sudden death that he didn't notice the plane coming up behind him. Nyx had to reach up and tap him on the helmet. Once he snapped back into reality, Jay pulled up as hard as he could, only narrowly avoiding their pursuers gunfire, and rolled onto his side to pull back around. The VX-23 tailing them, however, was keeping up effortlessly. Jay popped flares and went straight down to the water. He expected the pilot to follow, which they did, but Jay was simply trying to stay alive by then. The VX-23 would outmaneuver his F/E-4 every time, and he was barely keeping himself and Nyx from getting hit by a missile. Suddenly, Eagle flew right over him, firing machine guns, and landed several hits on the VX-23. Jay used this as an opportunity to get on their six and finish them off with a missile. He felt himself sink into his seat and let out a heavy breath of relief.
"Thanks for the help, Eagle." Jay only barely managed to get the words out.
"Don't worry about it," was all that Eagle said.
"Paladin, picture is clean. Mission is complete," Stallion said. Although, it was in a far different voice than Jay had come to expect from him, not that he blamed him. "Dammit, I can't believe this shit," he muttered.
Jay loosened his grip on the control stick for a moment and steadied his breathing. It was then that he took a moment to pause and look around. Aside from the seven mercenary pilots left, including himself, only a handful of ALF pilots remained. Not to mention, he was sure that after the bombing runs, the situation on the ground wasn't much better.
"Let's get back on the ground," he said softly. "What a nightmare."
