Chp. 6: Annie Chopra and the Bronco Kid
October 13, 2049
OFS Icarus (CVN-62)
Jed rendered a salute to the Catapult Officer and braced himself. Seconds later Icarus's Number Two Catapult fired and smoothly flung the F-24 down the track and off the flight deck. It was a seamless transition, tempered only by the initial jolt. That little shake that kicked your adrenaline into gear. Jed kept his body tensed until the transition from ship to air shook him a bit. He grabbed the control stick and started getting himself in order. Flaps up, gear up, all the usual moves.
"Skull 210, good shot." He radioed.
Jed let out a breath and banked up and away into the sky to the point the altimeter was going too fast to be of use. The fighter's wings swept back as he reached the pre-briefed altitude. He looked back and saw Annie firmly in place off his wing, then looked back to the front and saw the rest of the TARCAP in echelon left. The two fighters joined the rest of the eight-plane group as Skull 1-7 and 1-8. The set up a perch to watch over the F-35s and AQ-180s being refueled a few thousand feet below. Jed checked his systems and tallied up a total of twelve JSFs and Dauntless IIs. He looked to Annie once again and gave her a reassuring nod. He had faith in her plan, and despite all the pressure he was certain the others did as well. Even in 2049, there were still tactics from the earliest days of air combat that stayed useful. He turned his attention to the Skipper, who beckoned her fellow Daredevils after her towards a pair of S-4A Wraiths configured to buddy tank. The angular tadpole of an aircraft reeled out a white hose with a basket at the end from one of the pods under its wings.
"Alright Skull 1, come on in and get your fill." One of the pilots radioed.
When it was his turn, Jed banked slightly right and slowed down until his wings swept outwards again. He then came left as the S-4 began coming around to go down the southbound leg of its track. He extended the Hellcat's refueling probe and closed in as soon as they were out of the turn. The object swayed about and wiggled like it was teasing Jed, looking so easy to reach. He knew better and could do better than what the basket was giving him. Jed eased forward, slowing until his approach was matching the way the basket moved. That way instead of chasing it, he caught it as it moved. The device wiggled onto the probe's end and latched on. A green light near his fuel gauge flickered on as he radioed "contact". He was just off the tanker and reuniting with Annie and the others when the radio came to life.
"Strike Leader, Strike Leader this is Lifeguard...we've got everyone accounted for and gassed up. You are cleared to proceed on 004 to target." An E-12 radioed.
"Copy that Lifeguard." CAG Tom Feely replied.
Skull 1 pushed ahead of the strikers making up Hellion 2 (VA-243) and Riffer 4 (VFA-235) while EA-11B Shadows from VAQ-21 split into pairs to approach the Nordic coastline from different directions. Jed and Annie pressed eastwards to cover that flank. One of the Shadows passed underneath with two F-35s from VFA-152 below it. Silence settled in as the strike force arranged itself for the attack. Jed looked to Annie and signalled for her to loosen up their formation. She nodded and pushed to the left so that the fighters would have the three strike aircraft between them. After that, she nosed down and turned on her EOTS (Electro-Optical Targeting System) to see what was well ahead. Jed did the same and settled into the approach towards their opponents' shores.
Jed selected his digital map as he started picking up radar signals from far off. Ground-based radars, likely for SAMs; according to the intel they'd been given the Nords had at least two batteries of MIM-104G Patriot missiles positioned in the exercise area, with the ability to reach out roughly 100 miles. Below him, aboard the EA-11, the information on where those targets were was being shared and compared back and forth. The jammer aircraft, reminiscent of Boeing's early FA-XX design, fed him almost everything it saw before it put its fuselage-mounted jammers to work. Jed glanced at the RWR panel as the alert became weaker. Immediately the Nords struck back as they tried to outsmart the Oseans' attempts to remain undetected.
"Owl 2-1 this is Ace 4-3, break that Patriot's tracking and standby. Skull 1-7 and 1-8 follow me and keep me covered." The Shadow's pilot radioed.
"Roger Ace 4-3, Skull 1-7 and 1-8 are with yah." Jed assured.
"Skull 1-8 copies." Annie added. The two F-35 pilots were right behind her.
"Owl 2-1 copies."
"Owl 2-2 copies."
Jed hit the gas as the Shadow raced ahead with Annie following close behind. The two fighters pushed ahead of the jammer and screened ahead, searching for bandits that might be using the Patriot radars to let them get close. The RWR almost sounded like it was trying to make some kind of avant garde song out of its warbling. The coast slipped over the horizon and reached up as the fjords came into the extreme limit of Jed's view. He let the EOTS get a good look at the landscape while Ace 4-3 kept blocking each attempt by the missile sites to zero in on someone. A third radar, called Giraffe 8A, turned on as the strikers' approach became more and more apparent. The two Shadows escorting the strike package employed several ADM-160C air-launched decoys to augment their jamming efforts.
"Skull this is Lifeguard, be advised that we've got bandits airborne. Two loose fourships at 349 and 008, 230 Miles at Angels 18 through 20. Just turned their radars on, looks like." The Pelican reported.
"Roger that Lifeguard. Three, take Four through Six and draw that group at 349. Engage at max range with Marlins if you can." Miles replied.
"Skull 1-3 copies all." Viking assured. Jed reluctantly turned on his bird's AN/APG-82 and selected his AIM-152B Marlins.
"Skull 1-8, execute now." He added.
"Eight." Annie replied.
As the first part of Annie's plan for the CAP pushed towards the western bandits, Annie rolled into a dive and went down to roughly 900 Feet above the waves. In the meantime, the EA-11 launched two more decoys from its weapons bays to cover the JSFs' final seconds before they were in position to attack the nearest Patriot radar. Once the two F-35s were close enough, they each loosed an imaginary AGM-88G AAGM-ER (Advanced Antiradiation Guided Missile, Extended Range) at the offending sites. Each HARM came off with a "Magnum" call like it was the real deal, but the destruction of the sites was as imagined as the weapons launches. After a few seconds, two radars shut off and were declared dead. Closer now were two batteries of ground-based AMRAAMs, though a new threat had emerged. Jed spotted movement on the coastline; small, V-tailed aircraft. He caught two camouflaged JAS-42s keeping low.
"Skull 1-7 tallyho, two bandits at my twelve low. Tsun-Tsun, break them up and Ah'll pounce from above. Ace, Owl make some room!" He reported.
"On it." Annie assured as she switched to her Sidewinders.
"Ace 4-3 copies all."
"Owl 2 copies all, moving to block any remaining bandits."
The bandits were too close to rely on the Hellcat's AMRAAMs or Marlins; it was going to be another example of why the dogfight wasn't dead, Jed noted to himself. It was his kind of brawl, though. He deployed flares and broke right, nosing up and ascending while Annie went left. The two Valkyries split in the same manner; Jed came back in a quasi-barrel roll. The Nordic fighter was forced to shoot past under him. Jed looked back and selected his AIM-9X Sidewinders. He tried to see if he might get a lock from his position, but his target was too far outside the Sidewinder's field of view.
"Skull Lead, Skull 1-7 here; got at least two more bandits. Came in low and fast." He reported, voiced strained by the Gs he was taking.
"Roger that Bronco, can you handle em?" Miles replied in a similar manner.
Jed slowed and looked over his shoulder towards his opponent. He spotted the grey shape going right, obstinately to catch him while he was still in his last maneuver. Jed pushed the throttles up and took the chance to go for the Valkyrie's blindspot. The Nordic aircraft spotted him and tightened up its turn to get a good angle on the F-24. Jed nosed up again and kept the throttles pinned forward to avoid getting shot this early in the fight. He looked back again as the JAS-42 ascended behind him. Jed banked to the right and put some space between them to prevent the nimble little fighter from running the fight entirely.
"Bronco stay alert, that second bandit keeps trying to slip away from me." Annie radioed.
"Rog." Jed managed quickly.
Jed looked left and right until he saw Annie's Hellcat and the other Valkyrie. The Nordic fighter turned towards him, only to roll into a dive when Annie had her nose pointed its way again. Jed's opponent, meanwhile, had come down from above. Jed almost had to laugh at how his primary plan for beating the Valkyries was being reversed, but instead he kept right and forced his way out of the JAS-42's front quarter. He then slowed as the JAS-42 tried to get him back in front of it and traded speed for agility. He ended up behind and to the left of the Nordic fighter, which went into a hard right and made a break for the other half of the furball. Jed fought to get a good angle to keep the Valkyrie from jumping on Annie as she was keeping the other JAS-42 locked in a stalemate. When the Nordic pilot didn't get the message, Jed jumped on the chance to make him get it.
"Tsun-Tsun heads up, lead Valkyrie is closing in on y'all. Give me some space if yah can so Ah can force him away." He radioed.
"Where?" Annie demanded.
"Yer five, five high five high!"
Annie looked back and spotted the JAS-42 just before she saw the other F-24 looming behind it. She went to the left while they came to the right, turning away from the second JAS-42 just long enough to get them cleared. The Valkyrie she'd been sparring with banked right to follow after Jed. Annie duly followed before she could get left in the dust.
"Bronco watch out, second bandit has committed to you." She warned.
"Gotcha Tsun-Tsun, can y'all pry em' offa me?" He replied as he looked back.
"Help me get his attention if you can."
The four fighters roared ever closer to the coast and the F-35s backing them up. Jed pulled left and pushed the throttles forward. Annie took the chance to nail the rearmost Valkyrie with a Sidewinder shot. She centered her gaze on the aircraft's engine exhaust, which in turn centered her Sidewinder's heatseeker on the same spot. The Valkyrie broke away from Jed, but she kept her eyes squarely on that part of the jet. Jed reversed, nosed right and slipped under his wingwoman. The second JAS-42 had taken the chance to try and extend from the fight, but Jed's reappearance forced it back in. Annie took the chance to focus on "killing" the JAS-42. The Valkyrie naturally deployed flares to defend, but Annie kept the seekerhead from straying too far. The Valkyrie started slowing to try and make the bigger Hellcat overshoot. Annie very willingly matched the Nordic pilot's move and held until the green TD (Target Display) Box was met by a similarly-colored diamond. The two merged and the electronic growling in Annie's ears reached a loud, steady volume. Her thumb lowered and depressed the launch button.
"Skull 208, Fox 2. Kill on the Valkyrie at my two." She reported.
The operations building at Vlikonig, callsign Herot, saw every part of the battle as it went down. Annie's missile call was just one of several simulated launches being recorded. On a large set of screens and a 3D display in the center, the battle between Fighter Wing South and the Oseans was monitored and recorded. They'd managed to hold the Osean strike force at the coast, away from their primary targets, but not without several losses. Reflecting that, one of the many technicians at the radar consoles keyed his radio and reluctantly addressed Annie in accented Lenish.
"Kill confirmed, Skull 208." He said as he highlighted the Valkyrie and tagged it as shot down.
Meanwhile her lead had made the other JAS-42 go running off like a spooked dog. The Hellcat's two engines kept the Nordic jet from ever getting too far. Jed kept up his speed until the last second, when he pulled a high yo-yo to get above the bandit. As he did, he selected his Hellcat's GAU-22 for the kill. The HMD changed to reflect that and he aligned the projected direction of the bullets with the Valkyrie, then brought the "pipper" gunsight onto the target. He pulled the trigger and the ACMI pod on one of his wing gloves recorded the simulated attack.
"Trigger down, trigger down...Skull 1-7 has a kill on Valkyrie at my twelve." He reported. There was a brief pause before Herot spoke up again.
"Kill confirmed, Skull 210."
Jed banked away from and over the JAS-42 as he turned his attention back to maintaining CAP. The strike force had gotten a seriously bloody nose coming in. Just under half of the attack had gotten past the coast, where it rearranged its strategy and focused on one of the more important targets. Miles recalled the remaining F-24s and the F-35s on SEAD to help keep the JAS-42s from picking off the rest and to hold back those arriving from afar. With Annie soon back on his wing, Jed hit the gas and went into supercruise mode. The two F-24s banked right and crossed over the fjords Nordlands was often associated with. The valleys on top, colored a deep green, extended for miles without signs of trees or anything taller than a shrub. Dips and pockmarks in the ground told him they were roaring into the boundaries of Vlikonig's weapons range. Most of what Jed's RWR was picking up was airborne; he nodded his head in thanks to the EW guys.
The target of the raid appeared on the horizon. Eight Dauntless IIs and JSFs descended on an airbase and command center. The Dauntlesses stayed high and fast while the F-35s moved down to mid level, above anti-aircraft gun range. There were few AA guns to be found, though; the faux bases defenses centered heavily on simulated IRIS-T launchers. The next group of bandits popped up at 70 Miles away. Jed, in flight between the two attack groups, selected his AMRAAMs and targeted four JAS-42s in wall formation while they tried to pick off the attacking aircraft during their bomb runs.
"Tsun-Tsun, engage the two on the left and Ah'll take the right." He outlined.
"Eight." She replied quickly.
"Skull 1-7, 1-8 be advised that Brick and I are committing as well to back you up." Glue radioed as he and Brick came in from above the AQ-180s.
"Gotcha Glue."
Jed started tracking all four bandits either way, ready to give each of them a missile shot. Two of the Valkyries turned to face the Hellcats and started trying to paint them back with their own AMRAAMs. Jed deployed chaff, then signalled once again for Annie to break off. This time, though, Jed didn't maneuver as hard as last time. His movements became more deliberate, less reactive. Most importantly, he kept his plane's forward half aimed at the Valkyries at all times. He'd turn away, then turn back towards his next opponent suddenly to break their lock. Annie would move in conjunction with his maneuvers, feeding and receiving the radar picture depending on how she was positioned. Jed quietly willed (wished) that their AMRAAMs get a lock before the Nords' did. More chaff, more flares, more maneuvers to break lock. He and his wingwoman snaked towards the two Valkyries while the Nords opted to speed in. Until finally the Oseans got radar lock.
"Skull 210, Fox 3. Kill on the Valkyrie at my one." Jed announced.
"Skull 208, Fox 3. Kill on the Valkyrie at my twelve." Annie chimed in.
They got two more confirmed kills and turned inland to check for any more bandits. By now the attack had finished, whatever the results, and the F-35s and UCAVs were plenty eager to get the hell out of the area. The CAP wedged itself between the strikers and the rest of the country before the split off in pairs. When it was their turn, Annie nosed up and hit the afterburners to make a quick run for the coast. Jed circled to keep their tail clear before she joined her. They helped lay down a cloud of chaff to keep the Nords from picking them off as they fled. A final quartet of Valkyries pursued them, but didn't make a committed effort to close and go for the kill once they were over the ocean. From there it was several minutes until they were out of the reach of the remaining ground defenses.
Once they were finally free, Jed lifted up his visor and let out a long breath. His adrenaline slowly worked its way out of his blood flow while he started shifting his headspace towards landing his big fighter back on the Icarus. He had plenty of good things to say about how the fight had gone, especially in terms of Annie's insight during the briefing. If she was getting any kind of dressing down, it was going to be from the LSOs…
Seaman Second Class Timothy Suzuka jolted upright as the screen in front of him came to life. A dialogue box popped up and asked for authentication in order to receive an incoming transmission. The young Radioman tossed aside a videogame magazine and sat up straight, nearly falling out of his chair. He quickly punched in the correct sequence of numbers and sat back, catching his breath as the computer took over from there. He looked over at Seaman First Class Kennedy Lincraft, who simply gave his junior a shit-eatting grin.
"What the fuck, Lincraft? What's so funny?" Tim hissed.
"How yah nearly jumped outta that chair. Swear Ski coulda come in and yew wouldna noticed til he was breathing down yah neck." The other man replied in his Midwestern drawl.
"You get kicks out of the stupidest shit, man, I swear…"
Tim sent the communication to the printer and stored it in the digital log while Kennedy made a note of the matter. He stood up, picking up Tim's magazine solely to keep messing with him, and laid it atop the man's head. While Tim kept his temper in check, the senior man pulled the sheaf of paper from the printer and looked it over quickly. He grimaced a little and went to the hatch leading out of the small compartment. Their department head, Lieutenant Uleski, noted the Seaman's gaze and walked over. Kennedy wordlessly handed him the print off.
"Suzuka send a copy up to Conn?" He asked.
"On it sir." The man said from inside. Kennedy and Ski exchanged nods before the officer went to a telephone-style handset and pushed a button that would connect him to the commander center of OFS Sarafield (SSN-585).
"Conn." A voice answered.
"Conn, Radio Room. Alert the Skipper that we just got a message over JANUS." He relayed.
Commander Neal Haddrick was given the word almost immediately and, as soon as he had a copy of the handout, the stout November City native was hunched over the ship's primary chart with his Operations Officer and Intel Officer. He removed the paper charts and set them aside while they went to the digital display, better for drafting plans of action. Haddrick moved the image up northwest of their current position and stopped over the Avgrund Straits.
"We just got word from CINCSIAN that the Erusean supercruiser Tanager and the carrier Invictus have set sail from Farbanti and are currently heading south. They want us to shadow the group and see where they go." He explained. Operations Officer Lieutenant Samuleson looked at the representation of the surface group.
"Did CINCSIAN give any reason why?" He asked.
"It's your standard intel-gathering and shadowing. According to this, O'Hinley's boat will support us when the group reaches...this point in the Eusian."
Haddrick adjusted the image and centered on the South Usean Ridge, near the Skully Islands.
"Now if I know O'Hinley, he'll be sweeping Durant back and forth through this feature, The Cone, and fall in once the group has passed...if they go that way. We're to give him updates via JANUS if the Eruseans do anything else. Now, as for us…"
The Commander let his Ops O take control of the map while his Intel Officer, Lieutenant Chaffe, took a look at the composition of the group included in the message. He reached below the table and pulled up the latest copy of Jane's Fighting Ships and a publication from the Osean Navy.
"Okay, according to what CINCSIAN knows, the group consists of their capital ships, two Loz-class air defense cruisers, two Barakuda-class ASW destroyers, three Štitonoša-class multirole frigates, two Štuka-class submarines and two supply ships of the Hleb-class. Tanager and Invictus will likely be positioned towards the center. For the Tanager, it allows her to keep all the escort ships in range of her weapons and sensors. If they follow the universal basics of naval doctrine, they'll most likely place their two destroyers on opposite sides of the fleet's core. The Lozes will be on the flanks or out in front, with the Stits covering the gaps. We can expect 'em to be running passive...mostly. They deploy any of their towed arrays and they'll have to slow down."
"How would you run it if you were in charge, Mister Samuelson?"
"Well Skipper...I'd have the Stooks hang back and remain in passive mode. Keep any trail from guessing where they were. Guys up front might have their active on, probably will do it in bursts as they cross over possible areas of ambush."
The Ops O went back to where OFS Durant (SSN-580) might lurk.
"Places like this...might deploy their ASW helos to help cover a larger area. Mister Chaffe, how far can their land-based birds go?" He went on.
"The Airbus MPA has a range around 14-hundred miles, but that depends on whether or not they stay near the Erusean coast. They'd have to move along it, then pull a hard right southwards in order to avoid riling up Likada's navy. For us, the biggest threat in that regard will be MPAs flying out of the Twinkle Islands."
"With that in mind, Skipper, I would suggest we position ourselves...here."
The Ops Officer focused the map on a stretch of sea south of the Twinkle Islands: a feature known as Thomson's Scar. He selected the feature and switched to a 3D view so he could better get at what he had in mind.
"Thomson's Scar has a handful of outcroppings we can use. I suggest this one here, along the southern face, in order to avoid getting squeezed too hard between the fleet and the coast. We can hang behind the cover of the thermocline near his position. They'll be hard pressed to find us with all that terrain, too. If the fleet goes by and heads West, we'll be in a good position to tail from their five. They'll probably stay wide of the Icarus and her group off the Nordic Coast. They go East, we're off their seven; if need be we can cross over to the outside when they aren't streaming passive to cover their baffles. If we can time it right, we could pull that while we're going through the Mid-Eusian Shelves. More terrain, couple of ridges we could put between us and the Eruseans."
"...Alright Samuelson you've sold me. How long will it take us to get into position?"
"Depends on how far ahead of the Eruseans you want us, Skipper."
"At least eight hours, at a pace that we can get the men rested on the way."
Samuelson did some math in his head, then nodded a few times.
"I suggest we move in 45 minutes, sir. Best route will require us to account for MPAs and other subs, other contingencies. I'll look for some alternative hiding spots while I'm at it."
"Alright Mr. Samuelson, get to it. You have 45 minutes starting NOW."