Chp. 35: Rivals
November 23, 2049
New Rovennti AB
Luukas looked at the ceiling of the HAS as an explosion reverberated from elsewhere. A few of his ground crew looked up, but none was particularly bothered. Luukas went back to his book on the history of manned spaceflight. He got a page or two further before the shelter shook again. This time everyone paused, and there was another explosion before anyone thought to get back to waiting. Luukas tuned his ears to see if he could hear past the blast doors, until suddenly he felt himself lifted a few centimeters from his ejection seat. The side door rattled for a few seconds, but nothing more. Luukas kept his eyes pointed up as he flipped to a new page, still listening. The others returned to waiting; most of them were reading, playing cards or more interested in their phone. The air raids had become an accepted part of life, if only to please the intelligence types. Luukas managed to read another handful of pages about the Osean-led Arkbird project when there was a knock at the side door. Jesic appeared from under the nose of his jet and answered it. A pair of men in vests hurried in; both were emblazoned with the emblem of RTKE; one of the country's public broadcasters.
"Thank you, sir, thank you." One gasped, sounding both terrified and exhilarated.
"You're welcome. You may stay with us if you wish." Jesic replied, not very sure how to react to the situation.
Luukas raised a brow at the journalists, who dusted themselves off and immediately took notice of him. The one he guessed did all the talking strode up to the side of the Captain's Nosferatu and put on his best diplomatic smile.
"Ah…Captain, yes?" He asked, pointing to his shoulder.
"Yes." Luukas nodded.
"Do you have a minute? We just arrived when the raid began and were told to run towards these shelters. We were hoping to get your thoughts on the matter?" He explained.
"...Well I certainly can't come down; I'm waiting for the clearance to launch."
The man paused and pulled out a notepad. He wrote on it as fast as he could; as if I might be going anywhere in the next second Luukas thought to himself in jest.
"Is there a way we can get up closer to you?" The journalist asked.
Luukas really wasn't interested in this right now. Another explosion rattled the shelter, and gave him an excuse.
"Once the alert is lifted, we can find a way. I need to be at my post for now." Luukas pointed out.
The man seemed disappointed, but nodded anyway. His partner and he drifted towards the ground crew, where Luukas could expect they'd find at least one willing interviewee. Luukas simply sat and waited until his radio came to life.
"All Talos 1 aircraft, this is 1-01, the raid has concluded. The report from the command room indicates it was another wave of cruise missiles. Everyone check in." Heinonen explained.
Luukas gulped and acknowledged, having the honor of being Talos 1-02 this time. He put everything he had into sounding level-headed while the others sounded off. He signaled to Jesic and the man put on his headset. He nodded and whistled to the crew.
"Alright you lazy bastards, we're getting a chance to get some payback!" He barked.
The men sprang into action to get the shelter open and the CFA ready. As soon as the ventilation system was going, he started the engines and brought the aircraft's other systems to life as fast as he could. He stuffed his book into his helmet bag and pushed that into a position where it wouldn't move. The doors opened, but Luukas didn't look outside just yet. He glanced to each side as the crew held up the safety pins to his missile load. He withdrew the ordinance on the cheek and belly stations inside; besides the usual two AP-11s and four AP-13s, he had two more of each on the outer stations.
"Talos 1 and Perun 3 this is Rovennti Control. Switch to scramble procedures. Move in alternating pairs for takeoff from Runway 1-W. Takeoff immediately and proceed to datalinked coordinates for further instructions. Talos, you go first."
Jesic hurried outside and made sure they were clear, then waved Luukas forward. The Captain made sure he was securely in his seat and donned his oxygen mask as the CFA slowly rolled from its spot. Smoke and fire rose from the other side of the base, but there was plenty of carnage just outside his cockpit. As he instinctively looked around to make sure he wasn't about to hit something, he saw two shelters at the end of the row that were billowing smoke. A third, he guessed, had been hit in the row behind them. He knew they hadn't been manned, but he couldn't remember whose aircraft had been in those shelters. One of the patches of grass between the runways and taxiways had the wreckage of a cruise missile strewn across it. He fell in behind the Major and the two made a dash for the functioning runway. Heinonen looked at Luukas to check his position, and the two Nosferatus went into afterburner to get airborne. Luukas felt like the exhilaration of takeoff had been reborn for him as his fighter roared into the mid-day sky.
"Talos 1-01 and 1-02 are airborne." Heinonen radioed.
"Copy that Talos; contact AEW once you're assembled. They've got an immediate tasking for you."
"Understood Control…good luck."
"Bring us some justice, Talos. Rovennti Control out."...
"Skull is feet dry with Riffer and Archer at this time, heading north as planned."
Jed nodded when Viking gave him the signal to loosen up their formation, and found himself almost directly above the "photo bird" Hellcat. VF-168 had been given the task of collecting BDA (Battle Damage Assessment) following a strike on a new Sotoan radar site they were using to watch the seas south of Rupa. The two F-35s armed for Iron Hand split in different directions at the nearest SAM sites. VF-34 stayed with Arrow 1-1, which was crewed by CAG himself. The obvious threat was New Rovennti, but it'd been blitzed by cruise missiles at the same time Anderson's birds had struck here. Jed wasn't holding his breath, though.
"Arrow 1-1 is at IP, coming to 220 for photo run." Captain Feely spoke up.
Viking signaled to Jed again, who acknowledged and stayed with CAG while Viking turned north towards the Erusean air base. To the south, Glue and Brick circled to the east every few seconds to keep Feely's tail clear. The two Hellcats slipped beneath the clouds, revealing the pale-green land, and picked up speed. The only threats on the RWR scope seemed to be coming from a pair of Tunguskas set up near the bombed radar site. There was an Erusean AWACS out there someplace, well to the north Jed noted. Their own E-12 had also reported helicopters going in and out, probably on MEDEVAC missions. Jed would've loved to have gotten low and taken some photos of them, if it weren't for the fact that he'd probably have everyone and their mother on his ass about it.
"All aircraft this is Wizard, we've got bandits airborne from New Rovennti. Six aircraft so far, holding at 335, 180 Miles out at Angels 19." The Pelican reported.
"Copy that Wizard; Skulls 2-3 and 2-4, switch your position to the north of Arrow. Skull 2-2, back on me." Viking replied immediately.
"Two. Good luck, CAG." Jed replied.
"See you on the other side, Skull 2-2." Feely assured.
Jed banked to the right and nosed up, turning on his radar before he selected his weapon. Naturally, he went for the two AIM-152s at the front of "the tunnel". He focused his radar on the closest bandit, a CFA-44, and let it get itself sorted out. He ditched his external tanks in the interim, but the CFA immediately maneuvered to shake his tracking.
"Skull Lead, request permission to push." He radioed.
"You're cleared, Bronco; I've got you."
Jed pinned the throttles and made a dash for the Marlins' max range. The CFA he'd focused on turned towards him, then broke away and deployed chaff. It did the same maneuver several times, trying to overwhelm the Osean radar with a constantly shifting cross section. Jed nosed up and rolled over, but the bandit simply gained altitude. Jed tensed his body and kept moving for any new angle he could work. The two were less than 90 miles apart when he finally got his chance.
"Skull 210, Fox 3 Fox 3." He reported…
"Paska!"
Luukas deployed another few bundles of chaff and broke to the right. The Osean F-24 stayed with him but seemed to slow a bit. Still, it was closing and closing fast. Heinonen had gone for his wingman, while Talos 1-03 (Krill) and 1-04 (Riku) had moved to intercept the other two fighters and a third that seemed to be without a wingman. Luukas only saw it on his radar for a second before he endured another hard maneuver to shake the incoming missiles.
"Talos 1-01, lone contact appears to be a reconnaissance aircraft." Riku called out.
"Focus on the fighters for now; only take a shot if you're unengaged." Heinonen ordered.
The A410 controlling them made a call to New Rovennti to get further aircraft scrambled. Luukas estimated it would take at least ten minutes as he watched the two AIM-152s pass by behind him, spoofed by his countermeasures. He looked for a sign of the F-24 who'd fired them, then turned his CFA towards the nearest radar source. He gave the Osean a taste of his own medicine and also locked up the recon aircraft for good measure. The other F-24 nearby tracked him a few seconds later while his nearest target did the same. Luukas deployed more chaff while Heinonen took the chance to split their attention.
"Talos 1-01, Arrows away!" He called.
The shots gave Luukas much-needed breathing room. He stuck to the Hellcats on the right and nosed up as the nearest one was moving to shield the recon aircraft. Luukas banked further left to escape the view of the Osean's radar and came around to get another shot at its escortee. The reconnaissance aircraft banked towards its protector, which was coming back around to get him. It was now a dot in the daytime sky, slowly growing the familiar features of the carrier-based fighter.
"Talos 1-03,what's the status of those other two escort aircraft?" He asked.
"Second pair of escort aircraft are trying to box you and Talos Lead in. Don't worry, Lynx, we won't let you get cut off!" Krill boasted.
"I'll hold you to that, Krill…Talos 1-02, Arrows away."
Two of his four AP-13s dropped from the centerline bay and sprinted towards the Osean jet. To Luukas's surprise, the Osean jet didn't immediately react. At first he felt the slightest hope that he'd get an easy kill for once, but after a second the Osean jet countered. Luukas stored the odd choice in the back of his mind and kept up his speed, letting his missiles take up the chase. In the meantime, he repositioned to get another shot at the recon aircraft. Or to at least force it to break off and run. As he did, his AI warned him that the other F-24, the one Heinonen was supposed to be fighting, had zeroed in on him. It launched two AMRAAMs at him, only to have two more AP-13s fired at it by Heinonen. Luukas broke hard left towards the F-24 as it broke right towards Heinonen.
Luukas had to let the AMRAAMs head towards him for an instant before he started moving more erratically. At a range this close, their increasing speed was his best bet. He rolled inverted, trying to also keep the other F-24 in his view. As he rolled upright, he yanked the stick back as hard as he could to get away from the radar-guided missiles. He banked to the right as soon as his AI informed him he wasn't being actively engaged. Heinonen's opponent passed by just beneath him, with the Major in close pursuit. Luukas adjusted the throttles and looked to get behind the other F-24. In response, the Osean banked towards him. Luukas felt a sense of deja vu poke at him. The four jets merged into a furball, all going every which way to avoid slamming into one-another. They were still some ways away, but Luukas could've sworn he saw familiar markings on the enemy jets. The black tails, emblazoned with a skull and crossbones; one jet had a cherry-red dot in the cockpit…
Jed watched the two CFAs go in their separate directions; the one that'd been locking horns with Viking was the one immediately in reach. The two F-24s switched opponents like it was nothing. His new opponent was just as tough; Jed had to wonder if he'd ever crossed paths with these guys before. The Nosferatu stayed in its banking maneuver, slowly rolling into a dive. Jed put his F-24 on its side and slowed to follow the Erusean, who was gaining breathing room. Jed gambled some more energy for a shot at his opponent's tail, but he was forced to hit the gas and try again. The Erusean cut to the right and tried the same thing, so Jed banked into him while keeping up his speed. The two crossed near one-another, but neither had a clear advantage. Jed just needed time, he thought. Time and he'd get back some desperately-needed energy. He watched the Nosferatu come in again, slowing this time, and moved to defend. The Erusean fired a burst from his cannon. Jed pulled back on the stick to get above the bandit.
"Skull Lead, what's yer status?" He asked.
"Engaged…defensive." Viking managed through gritted teeth.
"Copy…copy Ah'll be with y'all as soon as Ah can."
"Keep the photo bird sa-"
The second the man's radio cut out, Jed started searching the skies. Even as he again tried to outmaneuver the Nosferatu.
"Skulls 2-3 and 2-4, are y'all able to contact Skull Lead or get a visual?" He breathed. The Gs felt like they were crushing his lungs.
"Ah standby, 2-2." Glue grunted.
Jed tried to look again, but the CFA was on top of him again. Jed hit the gas after they crossed and started into a high yo-yo to force the CFA onto the defensive. The Nosferatu banked slightly left and passed off his right. Jed craned his neck to follow, but lost sight. He growled and rolled the plane to reacquire. As he did, he spotted a flash to the north; it was the other CFA, firing an AP-11. As Jed looked ahead again to counter, he could've sworn he'd seen a black cloud fading from the sky in that direction.
"Skull Lead come in, Skull Lead can y'all hear me?" He tried one last time.
"Skull 2-2, be advised that we've lost contact with Skull Lead as well." Wizard reported.
Jed had little time to dwell on the matter; he was currently trying to lose the AP-11 that was after him. He dropped more flares, but spotted the CFA ahead of him heading towards CAG. He gritted his teeth and reversed, deploying more flares and trying for a lock with his AMRAAMs. He needed to keep CAG's tail clear.
"CAG, stay heads up for bandits heading yer way!" He managed between grunts.
"I see 'em, Skull 2-2. Standby and I'll see if I can get a shot." Feely replied.
"Skull 2-2 and Arrow 1-1, Skulls 2-3 and 2-4 are trying to move towards you. We're at least gonna push these bandits all together."
Jed clicked his mic and yanked his plane to the left. He rolled so he could still see the missile, then switched to his Sidewinders before he banked towards the bandit ahead of him. He checked his airspeed as he bought a few more seconds with some flares. He looked back as the missile seemed to be aimed directly at him. He pushed away from the two Nosferatus and came back to the right. The AP-11 followed, then its rocket motor went dry before it weakly tried to follow his reversal. The CFA behind him was there to meet him, so Jed gunned it. His pursuer passed over just before firing a short burst from his cannon. Jed eyed the other Erusean, and also saw movement off his eleven o'clock.
"Skull 2-2, I'm inbound from your 11 low, gonna try and trip up that guy behind you." CAG announced, voice full of fire.
"Much appreciated, CAG." Jed replied as he kept up his speed.
As CAG's F-24 came right to clear Jed's tail, he pushed to the outside of the other CFA's turn. The Erusean turned away and started dumping speed. Jed matched him, then used the energy he'd built up to good use. He slammed throttles back and worked the rudders so he was pointing slightly towards the Nosferatu. It was as good a shot as he was going to get, so he took it before the Erusean had a chance to react.
"Skull 210, Fox 2." He declared.
As soon as the missile was away, Jed yanked his plane to the left and throttled up. CAG had already turned tail and was heading for the water. Jed circled to cover him, spotting the CFA the man had fired on, still facing away from the fight. Jed took the chance and turned back towards the other CFA, which was breaking left. Jed twisted his F-24's path so he'd be aimed at the bandit the AIM-9 still after him, Jed upped the ante by firing his second missile.
"Skull 210, Fox 2." He announced.
The missile went straight down while Jed pulled away and dove to regain energy once more. He looked for both CFAs, catching the first as it turned from the explosion of CAG's shot. It turned towards him but he managed to slip below it. Jed looked back and saw a ball of fire where the other CFA had been. He nosed up and kept the throttles pinned, checking his fuel when he looked away from the remaining Nosferatu.
"CAG, y'all still with us?" He asked.
"Going feet wet at this time, Skull 2-2." Feely replied.
"Roger, Ah'll try and work my way towards yah after Ah get the other guy."
"It didn't connect?"
"Negative, but yah rattled him."
Jed ended up above the other bandit, which pushed him to continue his movements into a loop. As he was nose down again, he detected one of the CFAs turning towards him. It didn't have time to lock on, though; Glue had something to say about that. Jed selected his gun to finish the wounded CFA, still feeling a nagging sensation that he'd faced this guy before. There was something he'd seen that connected the two, but his mind wasn't clear enough to think about it.
"Bronco, watch out! Bandit is reading straight for you, ten low!" Brick called.
Jed looked that way just in time to see the twinkle from the Nosferatu's cannon. He pulled up and broke into the attack. The Erusean passed by, with Brick going hard right to avoid getting close to his friend.
"Where'd he go, Brick?" Jed called as he reversed.
"Trying to reacquire, lost him in the sun. Glue, you got that other guy?" Brick replied.
"He's moving towards a SAM site, but he ain't coming back this way." Glue assured.
Jed went higher and higher, but when he finally picked up the two Nosferatus, they were heading north. He leveled out and kept himself pointed towards the retreating bandits, looking for reinforcements that might be coming to help them. As he turned, something glinted down below. He squinted and looked away out of instinct, then looked again when it didn't stop.
"...Skulls 2-3 and 2-4, Ah've got a glint off my nine low. Down on the deck, looks like it's a ways away from the area the strikers hit." He reported.
Jed rolled over while Glue and Brick took up holding the line to the north. The glint seemed to follow him as he circled. On a hunch, Jed went to the Guard Channel.
"Skulls 2-2 through 2-4, can you hear me? This is Skull 2-1…repeat, this is Skull 2-1 calling the rest of Skull 2." Viking called.
"Copy, copy Skull 2-1. Y'all safe for now?" Jed replied, feeling like his adrenaline was kicking in all over again.
"I think…wrist hurts real bad, and my side too."
"Okay standby, we're gonna get yah some help."
Jed switched frequencies, immediately calling out to their AWACS. Seconds mattered now more than ever.
"Wizard this is Skull 2-2, Ah've made contact with Skull 2-1 on Guard. Repeat, we've got Skull 2-1 on Guard. Request CSAR." He reported.
"Copy that Skull, standby…ahhh, we'll see if we have any assets nearby to relieve you. What's the area like at this time?" the Pelican replied.
"Bandits are still heading north, evac helios are going in and out, but no new ground activity."
"Copy; Riffer, you got any of your JDAMs left?"
"Riffers 3-1 and 3-3 have two JDAMs each."
"Okay, if you've got the fuel then I need you to stay in the area…ah, Skull 2-2, I'm designating you as the on-site commander for now."
The ACO (Air Control Officer) sounded about as unsure as Jed felt. Still, he acknowledged and started putting things into motion. He looked at his map and radar a few times before he had an idea.
"Okay, Skulls 2-3 and 2-4 Ah want y'all to establish a CAP station north of my position. Keep an eye out for any helos that try to approach the area. Riffer, how much playtime do yah have left?" He instructed.
"We've got a solid 15 minutes, Skull 2-2." Riffer 3-1 replied.
"Ace?"
"At least 20 minutes, Skull." the EA-11 assured.
"Skulls 2-3 and 2-4, how much do y'all have left?"
"Seven, eight minutes at most." Glue announced reluctantly.
"Wizard, can we get a tanker heading our way?"
"Working on it, Skull 2-2."
Jed looked down, then slowly moved his position to the south to cover that direction. He still had four AMRAAMs and his cannon. He checked his own fuel state and estimated he had about 12 minutes before he needed to go find a tanker.
"Skull 2-2, this is Arrow 1-1, I've got the tanker you were supposed to hit during your egress on the way. Arrows 2-1 and 2-2 and pushing to assist. Should be on the scene in about 15 to 20 minutes." CAG reported.
"Copy CAG, much obliged."
Jed looked down as he turned, searching for any sign of movement. His eyes centered on a highway heading north. The cars he saw were moving along like nothing was happening. He raised his watch to his eyes and felt more relief than he expected. It'd been a minute and a half since they'd gotten things in motion. A minute and a half closer to getting help.