Chp. 23: Fear the Bones
November 2, 2049
Erusean Supercrusier Tanager
Tanager and her escorts sailed through the morning seas like they were conducting a naval review. Every man aboard the flagship was dressed in his ceremonial uniform whether he was attending the event on the stern or not. As their esteemed guest spoke, Rakic watched the destroyer Metra moving away from the supercrusier while the frigate Volodja remained at her side. The prince had been especially impressed by the display, reveling for several minutes before the ceremony about the beauty of such a formation.
"Today is a day of justice. The day that Erusea's navy has finally avenged the cowardly attack that sank her finest ship. Today the families and the spirits of those who were killed have been avenged. A day that would make them proud. Most importantly, as Captain Rakic has insisted to me personally, every sailor aboard this ship is responsible for achieving such justice."
Rakic joined the others in applauding as Prince Marko purposely paused his speech. He glanced at the TV crew from the CIK, Erusea's primary news agency, and tried to look as regal as he could when the camera turned his way. Behind him was the recently-repaired helicopter hanger, though some scars remained on the stern of the ship. No longer blemishes, and instead signs that their ship was tough.
"The Tanager has been responsible for leading several successful attacks against the Osean and Chakari navies. It has also been instrumental in repelling attempts by the Oseans to gain superiority in the Eusian Ocean. They obviously never stopped to think where the name originated from."
Another pause, this time to allow some laughter. Then, Prince Marko looked over to an aide and accepted an item from the young woman.
"During the liberation of Eastern Usea, the Tanager swept all before her. Even more terrifying, this ship has defied superstition. Sailors throughout time have feared that naming a ship after one that has been lost dooms it. Well, today that sacred idea has been shattered. You should be proud, all of you. Your homeland is proud of you and for your valiant efforts the king has recognized the ship and its crew with the Order of Aegir."
Rakic and Commander Acin stood up and walked over, accepting a plaque from the prince as well as handshakes. More applause, then the march of the Erusean Navy filled the air. Rakic felt like the plaque made the award seem far more pretentious than it was. However, he knew his crew was enjoying the glory. Prince Marko was eating it up, which meant good things for everyone involved. He stepped aside and held out a hand towards the podium.
"Captain, I would assume that your men would like to hear some words from their fearless commander." He said.
"What could I say that hasn't already been said, Your Grace? We're honored to receive this award, and we are ready to do battle as soon as the Oseans wish to challenge us again." Rakic demurred, caught somewhat off guard. He looked at the audience and nodded.
"Men, you have performed as is expected, and with great courage. This award is not simply the ship's or mine; it belongs to every sailor aboard. May our next sorties southwards against our enemies be as successful as the last."
"A man of few words; I can respect that given your performance as a commander." Marko agreed. He stuck out a hand and Rakic shook it.
"Now, allow me to leave you to your duties, Captain. Make us proud!"
"You shall get nothing less, Your Grace."
The moment felt like something from a movie, Marko thought. He recalled the fleet when he'd been approaching, and the presence it exuded. He loved it. The greatest stimulant in the world: raw military power. He lamented that he had to go, but he had other duties to attend to…
One thing Jed and his godfather, Eric Bradford, had always agreed on was ground attack. They were fighter pilots, not attack or strike or bomber pilots. The F-24 had always been designed for multiple roles, but typically hitting stuff on the ground went to the F-35s and AQ-180s. Most of the air wing's F-35s and AQ-180s were busy with close air support missions over Northern Chakari. So when the Osean Air Force had requested the Navy's help, Jed found himself signed up for Iron Hand. Still, it was part of the job. Even Eric admitted that SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) had its appeals. Jed imagined he might feel like that one day, but right now he was feeling like he was flying the F-24 for the first time. He went over the finer points of passively targeting with his HARMs again until their escortees appeared below some clouds.
"Skull and Ace, this is Golem Lead, have visual on you guys. Coming in from your seven with Ironheel." A new voice called.
Four B-1R Lancers, looking as sleek as the fighters they were joining, settled into position behind the Navy jets. Two of the EA-11s assigned to the mission split to come around and join on them. From the left, Jed saw two FB-22 Strike Raptors descended off Skull Flight's wing. When they were close enough, Jed allowed himself a minute to grab a picture with the GoPro he'd started carrying. While he was a proud sailor, he'd started wanting to get shots of other friendly aircraft he saw. One of the WSOs even waved when he noticed.
"Punisher, we've joined up with the strike component and are turning to Heading 008. Any updates on the picture?" Viking reported.
"Copy Skull, good hunting." Their AWACS, this time a Grandline, replied.
Eight F-24s from VF-168, The Archers, pushed ahead while the FB-22s went under the others and headed due east. On Viking's command, the four Hellcats split into pairs, each supported by a Shadow. It was going to be tight this time; the B-1s wouldn't be slinging missiles from afar. Instead, they'd be using JDAMs on their targets in Bedruga. They had four targets: The HQ of Sotoa's VI Corps, the city's power plant, the Soacomm TV Tower, and the local Defense Development and Research (DDRA) facility. The aim was to add a psychological effect, but it meant the Lancers would be really sticking their necks out. For Jed, it also meant his professional pride was really on the line.
Annie glanced back at Jed and exchanged a nod with him before ditching their external tanks. The two went to full power and spread out on the Shadow's left side while it fell back behind RWR chirped as the first signs of trouble appeared. Jed figured it was an enemy AWACS; with New Rovennti so close it could easily be an E-787. Two coastal radars joined seconds later as the EA-11 increased its jamming.
"Punisher, this is Arrow Lead, we've got an airborne contact inland. Appears to be an enemy AWACS…Heading 009, 240 Miles out. Request permission to send Three and Four to engage." The CAP lead reported.
"Granted, Arrow Lead. Single attack only, we need you covering Ironheel." Their controller replied.
At the same time, Jed picked up a contact of interest on his RWR. His F-24 categorized it as a SAM site's search radar. The symbol he got on one of his displays told him it was the Big Bird search radar for an SA-21 Growler.
"Skull 3-3, Skull 3-4 has a fix on a Big Bird. Heading 000, 200 Miles ahead." He radioed while the jet shared its data.
"Copy I see it. Drop to Angels 9 and follow my lead." Annie instructed.
Keeping their speed up, the two Hellcats nosed down and trailed chaff while the Shadow zeroed in on the Big Bird. The radar hopped frequencies as soon as the jamming got heavy, then jumped them again as soon as the tone in Jed's ears began to fade. Jed broke left and dove while Annie went the opposite direction. He came back towards her and the two crossed paths to try and trip up the Sotoan controllers.
"All aircraft be advised, we've got bandits on radar. Heading 344, 300 Miles at Angels 25. Looks like a pair of Wyverns. Archer, abort your attack on that AWACS and shift to new bandits."
"Punisher, Skull can support Archer if needed. Advise you allow them to take out that AWACS." Viking objected.
"Ironheel concurs, Punisher."
While the others went back and forth a few times, Jed's Hellcat zeroed in on the Big Bird. A second later it picked up the site's engagement radar, codename Grave Stone,. Jed focused his second HARM on that and started to ease from jinking back and forth. A second SA-21 battery on the opposite side of Bedruga caught Annie's attention. The two split up to engage both while Viking and Bounce went in low and fast to pick off anything else that popped up. The Shadow's crew was doing all they could to slow the Sotoan SAMs, but Jed was still being dogged by the missiles' radar. He dropped some more chaff and dove towards the waves. The Sotoans still fired on him.
"Both batteries have missiles in the air Ace, anything y'all can do?" He asked through the Gs.
"Working on it, Skull 3-4!" Ace snapped.
Jed pushed it into afterburner and stayed level for a few seconds, even as one of the SAMs was arcing towards him. He and Annie crossed paths again, then ascended as the missile dove to intercept him. He rolled wings level and pressed the launch button twice.
"Skull 210, Magnum Magnum!" He reported. Annie lined up to his right and did the same.
"Skull 208, Magnum! Magnum!" She echoed.
Two of the escorts fired on the AWACS simultaneously as the entire coast was lighting up. Jed pulled up while the two HARMs dropped away and started their flight towards the radars. The battery he'd fired on responded by firing everything it had left. Jed weaved and rolled any way he could think of as the salvo crossed the distance to the Oseans in seconds. Two more missile sites, indigenous Akash-NGs, turned on as the Growlers' time was limited. Jed spotted two missiles, but they were flying elsewhere. He turned his head in time to see one impact their EA-11. Jed turned towards the friendly aircraft as it lost its rear third. He nosed up and came back around, staring at the doomed jet with a knot in his stomach.
"Ace 1-1 come in, can you hear us Ace 1-1?" AWACS called.
"Ace 1-1 is down, Ace 1-1 is down…Ah, Ah see two chutes! Two chutes, both crew are out!" Jed replied.
"Bronco, stay in that area as long as you can. At least until Punisher can get a fix on their beacon. I'll keep you covered." Annie instructed.
"On it, stay heads up for those Akash batteries."
Annie was sensing something was wrong. The SA-21s' radars should've been offline by now, but it was like they hadn't even fired. She considered firing again, but held herself back for a second.
"Skull Lead, none of our shots have hit those batteries. Punisher, Ironheel, are either of you detecting anything?" She reported.
"Negative Skull 3-3, nothing on radar. Ace, you have anything?" The lead bomber replied.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, Ironheel. Likely close-in defenses are using the Grave Stones for guidance."
"Alright, well then let's change that. Golem, close it up; Skulls 3-3 and 3-4, focus on batteries west of the city. Get close and shove your remaining HARMs down their throat. We'll take the other side." Viking instructed.
Jed had to trust that Punisher had the location of Ace 1-1's crew. He joined Ace 1-2, then switched to following Annie again as the Hellcats arranged themselves into a loose wall formation. Jed started doing the calculations in his head if they needed to strafe the missile batteries. Intel had suggested that the close-in defenses were probably shoulder-launched missiles, or maybe even laser weapons. Jed was gambling on them being the latter; he'd never heard of a MANPADS being capable of tracking and killing a HARM.
On that thought, he selected his EOTS and slaved it to the RWR. The device centered on the nearest battery and adjusted its zoom, but it was too far to get details yet. He and Annie turned towards one-another as their opponents started painting them again. They went into a horizontal rolling scissors, moving and turning so that the radar would have to reacquire often. Ace 1-2 frustrated them even more, then launched two of its decoys to help the Hellcats. A line on the horizon grew thicker and thicker as the coast came into view. Jed ascended for a second, just high enough to see into Sotoa. He caught sight of one of the Akash batteries and a pair of Tunguska AA vehicles mingling with it. Bedruga was a short ways inland, among the coastal plateaus. Jed manually selected one of the Grave Stones to get the view he wanted.
As Jed pulled away to defend against the Akash battery, Annie was coming out of her brief ascent. Ace's decoys were almost on top of the Growlers. As she pulled out from a roll, she saw a twinkle against the green landscape. A pale blue beam reached up and erased the ADM-176 from existence. A second later, the other decoy met the same fate from a second beam.
"Skull 3-3 has a visual on those point defenses. Looks like laser-based weaponry." She radioed.
"Copy that Skull 3-3. Skull Lead, Ace will launch all remaining decoys at the two Growlers to give you a clear shot. Golem, advise you start your attack run now." Ace 1-2 replied.
"Copy Ace."
"Copy that Ace. Skulls, we'll fire in two waves so they arrive on target around the same time."
Annie swung left towards the coastline and gave Jed a chance to join on her wing again. They went back over the ocean, then came around again and snaked over the coast. Jed gulped hard; man he hated ground attack. Never felt like he had enough room to maneuver. He selected his remaining HARMs and targeted the nearest Grave Stone. Viking and Bounce targeted one Growler site each with two HARMs and the Akashes with their remaining missiles. They fired first, then seconds later Jed and Annie let loose. As the magnum calls faded from the airwaves, Punisher had an update.
"All aircraft be advised, additional bandits coming from deeper inland. Heading 010, 200 Miles at Angels 22. Looks like four Tejases."
Archer was able to detach two of its aircraft to help. As soon as their missiles were away, Jed and Annie switched to their AMRAAMs and pulled towards the oncoming threat. Jed glanced over his shoulder as the barrage closed in. Sure enough, the lasers fired. One missile was evaporated, then two. Jed looked forward again as the Grave Stones latched onto him and his lead, ready to jink and evade. Hell, he reckoned, maybe even for a gun run on the site. It was joined by the Akashes' Rajendra radars, which turned off almost immediately. The Grave Stones dropped off a second later. About time he thought.
"Ironheel, those Growlers are without fire control. You're cleared in hot after Golem!" Ace hailed.
As the Strike Raptors and Lancers closed in on the coast, the four Tejases increased their speed and started making an active effort to lock up the Osean jets. A second pair of Wyverns were coming from further northwest, trying to get around the seven survivors of Archer Flight. Viking and Bounce took them on while the others tried to break up the Sotoan flight. Jed selected one of the enemy fighters for both his AMRAAMs. Just before he could fire, "his" Tejas shot two Astras at him. He broke left, which put him directly over the suburbs of Bedruga. He got sporadic hits from small radars, ones guiding AA guns, but their tracers couldn't reach him. He nosed up to draw the Astras that way, then turned into them and dumped a cloud of chaff to lose them. He turned and baited the Tejas to come closer, possibly out of the city's airspace. The Sotoan jet pushed closer towards him, in range for its Archers, then broke off and flashed by.
"The fuck are you…" Jeds started to yell.
He realized almost instantly that the Sotoan was going for the grand prize. He rolled his plane to the left and hit the gas. The city slipped out of view and he started looking for a proper radar lock on the enemy fighter. The Tejas was putting out twice as much chaff and jumping all over the sky like a glitchy video game. Jed forced the Tejas to keep his presence in mind and got him turning back towards the city. As he did, Golem was coming off target to his left. Behind it were the exploding remains of one of the Akash batteries.
"Skull 3-4, that you? Golem 1-1 is at your seven low; we'll help you box that Tejas in." The lead FB-22 radioed.
"Much appreciated, Golem 1-1. Gonna try and herd him into position." Jed replied as he switched from AMRAAMs to Sidewinders.
The larger Strike Raptor went to the outside of the Tejas's turn as it tried to make a break for the furball just north of the city. Golem 1-1 selected the Wyvern the Sotoan was running to. Jed went to the inside of the enemy fighter's turn as it broke again, but was forced to the outside as the Wyvern fired on him. He deployed flares while Golem loosed a pair of AMRAAMs at the Erusean fighter. The Tejas dove towards the city center with Jed right behind him. The Osean moved his thumb away from the launch button as they did and growled in frustration. The Tejas took full advantage of it and used those precious few seconds of hesitation. It nosed up and went for the Lancers as they appeared on the horizon.
"Ironheel be advised, lone bandit approaching from yer 12 low. Skull 3-4 is in pursuit." Jed warned. He fired one of his Sidewinders before they could reply.
"Skull 210, Fox 2."
The Tejas dumped flares and broke off its attack. Jed stayed on the enemy fighter, waiting for it to try and attack the Lancers again. The Tejas made a hard turn to try and shake the Sidewinder, but Jed was in position to intercept. He was just about to fire his second missile when the first exploded, peppering the Tejas with shrapnel. A second later, it turned to the left as it became apparent the little fighter had been hit hard. Jed went to his gun and put a burst into the Tejas's right wing to make sure it was out of the fight for good. As the machine began to trail more smoke, he pulled away and looked towards the Lancers again. He spotted Annie and Golem 1-1 as they were chasing after two more (new?) Tejases trying to reach the bombers.
"Ironheel be advised, those two new bandits are breaking off their attack against you. You're cleared in hot." Golem 1-1 reported.
Jed banked to the right and arced over the bombers as they split up for their targets. As he came down to block the new threats, he looked over his shoulder in anticipation of the bombs dropping. He looked forward as Annie launched a Sidewinder at the closest Tejas. He slowed and went hard left to take over Golem's position. The FB-22 exited the fight and headed south to meet up with its wingman; Jed moved to keep the other Tejas occupied. Annie let the first Tejas fall to earth and turned towards the second to support Jed against it. He looked back again when he heard the call they'd all been waiting for.
"Ironheel 4-1, bombs away."
On the ground, citizens of all kinds huddled in air raid shelters, under cars, or simply curled up against the nearest wall and waited. The modern metropolis had come to a standstill, and the ghostly wail of sirens filled the air. At first it seemed like a small earthquake, and the rumbling seemed to be the only indication any attack was happening at all. Some brave enough to stay outside and not duck for cover watched as huge clouds of fire and dust erupted from the DDRA compound. It was like the explosions would never end, no matter how much the guns on the outskirts fired. One young woman, curled up next to a fountain, looked up as she heard a roar. Through the park's trees, she could see an ominous shape fly overhead. It almost looked like a crane to her, but she was quickly reminded that it was no bird. It was a reminder that the war between Sotoa and Chakari had come to her home.