Chp. 37: The Messengers

November 24, 2049

OFS Icarus (CVN-62)

"Pwah…sorry, Paddles. My throat was just so damn dry." Jed apologized, catching his breath after chugging a bottle of water

"Should Ah just wait until ya run off to the head, too?" Lieutenant Geena Moore chortled in an accent similar to his own.

"No ma'am."

"Oy, what Ah say about that "ma'am" stuff?"

"Paddles."

"Better, now…"

The replacement for Bounce got to going over the landings of the four aviators. If he was being honest, Jed tunned her out the second she was done with him. Something had been on his mind, enough that he'd emailed his dad and Mister Eric about it. Neither man had ever mentioned seeing the same exact bandit twice when they'd tell him about their experiences. Perhaps it'd been something they'd wanted to save for when he was older. That Nosferatu and its familiarity; he hadn't gotten a good look at the squadron insignia on the tail. Nor could he use its nose number to help; much like his F-24, that number was relevant to the plane's parent squadron. It might not have even been the same jet from the raid on New Rovennti, but something in him was insisting otherwise.

He had some time to look into it, he told himself. He could easily multitask while taking care of his job over in Maintenance. As long as Whip got his reports by the start of the overnight shift, he'd be fine. As soon as he heard the words "you're dismissed" from Showtime, he was on his feet and following the other aviators out the door. His whole body felt a bit stiff from another uneventful BARCAP, and he was certain he'd lost a few pounds through sweating. As if Ah'm not already skinny enough He thought.

"Bronc-"

Jed was so deep in his thoughts that he failed to notice Annie had turned around. Until he almost knocked her over. She grabbed his flight suit to stabilize herself and looked up at him. Her first instinct was to put a hand to his forehead and make sure he wasn't overheating. Her touch turned his already flushed face even pinker. She'd learned to read his expressions even before they'd gotten romantic. He was deep in thought when he zoned out like that, or he was checking her out and thinking certain things about her. She gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Would you like to come by my stateroom and have some more to drink? I think I still have some sports drinks from my older brother." She suggested.

"Ah uh, have to report to Maintenance soon." He pointed out.

"We'll pass by my stateroom on your way there. I don't want you dropping in the middle of the hangar deck."

"That's fair."

Annie started on, talking over shoulder.

"So what's on your mind that's got you how you are? Don't give me that look, because I've learned to recognize when you're deep in thought."

Jed answered readily; no reason to hide it, he wagered.

"There was this Nosferatu Ah encountered yesterday that Ah felt like Ah'd encountered before. When we first raided New Rovennti."

"Makes sense; same base, same units."

"It felt like the exact same pilot. Ah think he recognized me, and Ah feel like Ah recognized him. He didn't have much to distinguish him, but y'all know that feeling when yer seein' someone and yer brain is trying to remember if y'all saw them?"

"Yes."

"That's what Ah got with this guy."

"Are you sure you're not overthinking this, Bronco?"

"It's weird and that's about all. Not much more to it than that, but it wouldn't be the first time that two pilots meet more than once."

Annie didn't want to lecture him on it, so she accepted that as the end of the discussion. Internally, she wasn't too blindsided by theory. It was something reserved for the old days, though. The days of 1940-46, and flowery recollections of the Continental War.

"It should make for an interesting tale to relay when we're back home. Something for Friday nights at the Officers' Club." She remarked with a slight smile.

Jed nodded, but truth be told he still wanted to find out who that pilot was. It was almost fascinating to think that he might have a rival or counterpart. Maybe this Erusean also drove a fast car and had a feisty girlfriend…

The siege of Chakari's capital was most obvious at night, when the sprawling metropolis was pitch-black. The only lights were from the skirmishes in the outskirts, where Sotoan troops were trying to break through. Desperately, at times, as the coalition counterattack was slowly cutting them off to the north. Luukas listened to the radio calls of aircraft performing CAS almost constantly. He'd see more lights along the horizon as missiles, rockets and cannon fire rained down. Closer to him were the remains of the city's harbor. All of this needing attention, and he was flying SEAD for a vanity project. They were going to hit the Chakrian capitol building.

This mission was solely to nurse the king's ego, but no one in the entire EIAF would dare say it. Especially not Luukas, since the heat over the downed Osean pilot had taken a few days to wear off. In fact, he'd pushed himself to honor the man's memory. Luukas wasn't the most religious individual out there, but he'd caught himself looking to the sky at dawn. When he was certain Heinonen's spirit was listening, he promised that he'd make the man proud. His attention was drawn to the first hits on his RWR. His aircraft's AI classified them as the radar for a battery of MIM-105s. Even though he was still out of range for his four TVO-2B anti-radiation missiles, he let the plane zero in on the radar's location. Well below him, Riku and Yak were trying to get close while he and Krill distracted the Defender's GhostEye radars. Intelligence had insisted there were two of those; one was offline as a backup. The jets banked to the east in pairs and dropped a few hundred meters, but stayed high and fast. Standard philosophy for EIAF defense suppression; fewer systems could reach them that way. More hits indicated airborne contacts, ones not committed to the battle on the ground. Intelligence had identified them as a mixed force of Osean, Lenish, and Chakarian fighters.

"Talos 1 this is Keiju, two of the bandits over Kinglane have shifted their heading. They're moving towards you. Heading 195, 190 Kilometers, Altitude 7100." Their E-787 reported.

"Understood Keiju." Luukas replied.

"Argus 3 is moving from trail to intercept." One of the escorting Nosferatus reported.

Luukas's fingers unconsciously shifted so he could switch to his AP-11s. As the Osean radar turned its attention to him, he keyed the radio and gave Krill the order to execute their first action. The two jets snapped left, then right in a classic maneuver to break the track. As they came back to the right, they split and dove for a few seconds. The ER-211s piled on, using their electronic wizardry to try and overwhelm the enemy radars. The entire city was coming to life with radar sources and just about every kind of air defense system the Osean and Chakarian militaries had. The first Defender battery was joined by two MIM-120 SLAMRAAM batteries. They were searching, but not for Luukas or his flight. As he turned towards the GhostEye, he spotted two missile launches in rapid succession.

"Talos 1-01 has a visual on at least two missile launches. Who did they engage?" He asked.

"Missiles are heading for Loki, repeat missiles are inbound to Loki." One of the jammers replied.

"Understood; Talos 1-02, increase speed and target that SLAMRAAM battery."

Luukas whipped back and forth again, moving so he was aimed directly at the radar. The Defender responded by launching two missiles at him, despite the shaky track. Luukas instinctively reacted by breaking away and deploying chaff. He nosed up and reversed to get some maneuvering room, but the Defender's controllers made it apparent that was the plan. They launched two more, jumping on the better lock they got. Luukas snorted in begrudging respect and again turned towards the radar. He dove for some of the coastal hills that bordered the capital. He was maybe 150 Meters above the ground before he nosed up again and deployed more chaff. The first missiles passed by some distance away, but the second pair of missiles were on him and still accelerating. He spotted them with the help of his visor's night vision and turned hard right.

"Krill, are you still in the vicinity?" He groaned over the forces of gravity.

"I'm moving towards that first radar at this time. Hang in there, Lynx." His wingman assured.

Luukas kept turning, pushing the throttles forward until he was in afterburner. The GhostEye's signal got stronger and Luukas deployed more chaff. He spotted the missiles one last time and turned into them. Two more lifted off from the launchers, as evidenced by the flashes and clouds of smoke. The closer weapons, which were coming down from an arc, passed by and sailed into the countryside below as he came around behind them. At the same time, Krill finally made a launch call.

"Talos 1-02, Fang." The man declared.

Luukas nosed up and swung around as fast as he could to make a back-up shot. The GhostEye kept transmitting, and Luukas spotted a glint at the edge of his vision. Lasers defending the battery close in; intelligence hadn't told them about that.

"Loki this is Talos, we've got laser-based weapons covering the GhostEye. Can you jam whatever's directing them?" He called. He got no response, but before he could try again the E-787 gave him some information.

"Loki is currently down, Talos; proceed with your mission."

"Understood…Talos 1-02, move in closer and fire when I do. Deny them reaction time."

Luukas dove down, then went nearly vertical and gained several hundred meters of altitude. When he pulled from the climb, he found one of the F-72s was trying to get him while he was fighting the Defender battery. The pilot had apparently failed to remember the escorting F-02s, as one shot two AP-13s as the F-72 tried to close in. A dogfight was brewing and the sky was getting crowded, so Luukas moved lower as fast as he could. His aircraft centered its attention on the Osean radar quickly; Luukas could see the position at this point through his EOTS. Two of the lasers fired up at him, but they weren't fast enough to catch him. He rested a thumb on his launch button and keyed his radio.

"Talos 1-02, do you have a shot?" He demanded.

"Ready, Lynx!" Krill replied, eager for the kill.

"Talos 1-01, Fang. Fang!"

"Talos 1-02, Fang!"

The two missiles dropped from their pylons and screamed down. Luukas pulled up hard and yanked the throttles back. The CFA stubbornly nosed up after a second. Luukas saw another laser beam pass by just to his left. He pushed the throttles forwards again once his nose was pointed up and ascended as fast as he lasers had been so preoccupied with him that they hadn't given the TVOs screaming down an ounce of attention. Luukas got away as fast as he could, more concerned about the state of his own plane. His gut instincts were screaming that he was exposed. He craned his neck and looked down towards the brewing fire caused by his missiles. He switched to the KRMs in his central bay and started making an effort to pick out the most important sources on his RWR's display.

"Talos 1-03 and 1-04, what's the status of your target?" He added.

"This is Talos 1-03, second radar is down. Moving to secondary target at the parliament building." Yak replied.

"Understood, we're moving towards our secondary target."

Without a radar to direct them, the Osean energy weapons started firing in a pattern. Their beams drifted across the sky like spotlights. A second quad of lasers rose up from the backup GhostEye's vicinity, moving in a similar coordinated pattern. Luukas kept his nose up and the throttles forward as other radars tried to get a sense of where he was. Another SLAMRAAM battery further inland was looking for him alongside the four NASAMs batteries near the airport. Luukas gave his GPS a check as he soared higher and higher, then turned towards the SLAMRAAM battery. Krill followed him and put himself at a different angle to distract the radar. As they moved in, diving and weaving, a fresh pair of airborne contacts entered their area. Two Osean F-35s according to the AI; Luukas switched to his AP-11s and keyed his radio.

"Krill, stay on that SAM radar and I'll cover you." He outlined.

"Roger Lynx; don't hog all the fun." His friend replied glibly.

Still more amused than off-put by Krill's growing enthusiasm, Luukas broke away from the radar. He deployed chaff and flares and went up even higher. The F-35s split to keep both CFA-44s in their sights. Luukas reacted by heading to the right of the fighter aimed at him, then making a wide turn to come around behind both. He slowed and worked the rudders to tighten the turn as much as his body and aircraft could stand.

"Talos 1-02, be advised that those F-35s just split up. One's heading for you." He warned.

"Understood, Talos 1-01…okay, I see him on my RWR panel." Krill replied, splitting his attention between the radar and the Osean.

"I'm moving behind them both and will prioritize the one heading for you. How long until you have a lock on that Sentinel radar?"

"I estimate it'll take ten seconds."

Luukas pushed the throttles forward again as soon as he came around and slaved his IRST to the F-35 on the left. The symbology started lining up before the F-35 broke to the right. Its wingman broke left as the two tried to confuse Luukas for a second. Luukas went for the one heading in Krill's direction and switched his IRST to that one. The F-35 then banked right and cut the throttles. Luukas banked left and pulled back on the stick.

"Talos 1-02, Fang!" Krill declared.

As soon as the cruciform-winged missile was away, Krill broke towards the fight, dropping countermeasures as the SLAMRAAM battery launched no fewer than six missiles in the direction of the two Eruseans.

"Talos 1-01, Talos 1-03 and 1-04 have launched all TVOs and are moving towards your position to assist." Yak spoke up.

"Copy that, Talos 1-03. What's the status of the secondary targets?" Luukas replied, busy trying to stick with the closest F-35.

"Several Badgers are still in the area, but the MANTIS's radars are down. Five additional guns have been destroyed."

Luukas called out to the two Strike Wyverns who'd carry out the main objective of bombing the building. All the while he was constantly turning into the F-35s moves, who would do the exact same. The fight steadily advanced towards the center of the city, so he kept close to the Osean fighters to keep their missiles below from firing at him. The Sentinel radars still tracked him, waiting for the chance they'd get to have a shot. Suddenly, the F-35 he was engaged with stayed in his latest left and accelerated. It took him a quarter of a second to figure out why, and by the time the two SLAMRAAMs lifted off he was already maneuvering. He darted towards the airport, which drew two shots from the NASAMs. Despite the fact that they weren't his primary targets, he turned towards the Sentinel's position and nosed up. He jammed the throttles all the way forward to get as much air as he could get.

One of each missile got a good idea of where he was going, and his first instinct was to use their opposite approaches to his advantage. He deployed chaff, then rolled and dove before deploying more. He turned towards the NASAM, the closer of the two, and ascended as fast as he could. The F-35 took the chase to slow and move inside his turn. He spotted it as he reversed and made sure to stay above it.

"Talos 1-03, what's your position with 1-04?" He asked, looking back at the approaching SAM.

"We're approaching that bandit near you, but the NASAMs near the airport are becoming a concern." Yak replied.

"I'm trying to get a shot at the nearest Sentinel."

At the mention of that, it seemed the lead Wyvern was keen to remind them that time was running down.

"Taurus 1-01 and 1-02 are two minutes from target."

Luukas acknowledged as the NASAM passed by below, trying and failing to turn around and follow him. He immediately turned towards the SLAMRAAM as it entered the range for its warhead. He nearly went vertical, mindful of the batteries as they seemed to be readying more shots. The first exploded close enough that he felt his plane shake a little. He looked at his radar and turned towards the MIM-120s. With precious few seconds before another SAM could be fired at him, he switched his remaining two TVOs to loiter mode. Yak and Riku passed by as the F-35 was coming around for a missile shot of its own. Pandemonium erupted as calls crowded the frequency; Yak took a shot at the F-35, and Riku fired when the Osean countered. Luukas set both of his TVOs free and turned towards the F-35. Krill had fired on the SLAMRAAM battery's radar, but the Oseans were still trying to lock onto all four CFAs in its vicinity.

Luukas nosed up and turned towards the other F-35 as it slid back into the fight. He found himself above the aircraft as it was going for him. The two planes passed by and Luukas feinted to the left. As the Osean moved to counter, he came back to the right and bled speed. He craned his neck and put the F-35 in his HMD. The enemy fighter moved towards the front quarter of his plane and deployed flares. He readjusted the throttles and swung back to get on his tail. The NASAMs fired two more missiles as he did, but a second later the radar for the battery turned off. Luukas looked back, then checked the positions of his TVOs. One of the missiles had gone that direction, and the incoming missiles went to their own radars. Luukas deployed chaff and nosed slightly right, keeping the F-35 ahead of him. He checked his RWR panel again, then turned harder to the left and nosed up. The Osean fighter slowed and waggled back and forth, trying to bleed enough speed to make the Erusean overshoot. Luukas tensed, rolled inverted and left more chaff in his wake as he dove down at the enemy aircraft.

"Talos 1-01, Dagger." He reported.

The missile passed under his nose as he broke hard right to keep the missiles at bay. One had chosen another target and one was still with him. Luukas watched as the F-35 turned away from him; he was too distracted by the AP-11. Luukas broke in the direction of the Strike Wyverns' primary target and switched to his KRMs again. He weaved back and forth again, leaving behind a steady stream of chaff, until the NASAM was off of him. With some breathing room, he keyed his radio and started trying to get the location of the Badger-mounted SAMs.

"Taurus this is Talos 1-01, be advised that there are still short-range SAMs in the target area. I'm pushing to attack some at this time, but they may be active until you reach your drop point." He radioed.

"Copy that Talos…we'll switch to the alternate egress route. Ninety seconds until we drop." Taurus 1-01 replied.

"Talos 1-02, rejoin if possible to assist."

"I'll try, Lynx, but I can't make any promises."

"Do you need assistance?"

"I'm okay; just can't drop what I'm doing at the moment."

He didn't want anyone dying for this mission if he could help it. Luukas went to his EOTS and let it talk to the RWR and AI while he rose up to a much higher altitude. The picture shifted and changed until he saw the familiar shape of one of the APCs. He checked his watch and saw he had just shy of sixty seconds. He tagged that one for a missile, then started searching for a second target. He found it almost instantaneously and selected it as well.

"Talos 1-01, Moles away." He reported without pause.

The missiles fell away and hurried off. Luukas pulled to the right and ascended even more. He circled around until he spotted the two Strike Wyverns. They split up and came in from different angles, one a few seconds behind the other. Luukas searched for more of the SAMs below while the F-02s leveled out and went full throttle. Both planes dropped two SOP-14s each. The munitions were "hardened", as Oseans said, and designed to penetrate the ground before detonating. The remaining defenses fired everything they had at the incoming Eruseans. With their bombs away, the Wyverns nosed up and started turning to the right. Luukas saw a pair of launches and centered in on the closest one.

"Talos 1-01, Mole away." He radioed.

He switched to his remaining AP-11 as the Wyverns transitioned out of immediate danger. While the rest of his flight kept the remaining F-35 at bay, he shepherded the two Wyverns to the south, where the outer patrols were supposed to be to meet the Wyverns. He looked back at the wreckage of the Chakarian capitol building. For the sake of not having to do this again, he hoped the bombs had found their target.