Chapter 7 - Operation Operatic Society

The morning of the 23rd November 1968 had been a mixed bag, they had all agreed on that much. The weather had decided to take a dramatic turn from ''slightly overcast'', to ''full on blizzard'' and then back to ''overcast'' again, all in the space of one night.

Whilst the weather had improved marginally over the very early morning, the conditions at the base hadn't. No one's accommodation was particularly warm, and many pilots had found themselves huddled together for warmth as the temperatures plummeted into the minuses. Kirito wondered whether it was actually a good plan to attack, given the weather, and the inherent challenges of not only flying at very low level, but in poor visibility too, but he hoped that Diavel actually had a contingency for that...

Unfortunately for him, the Starfighter pilot had indeed come up with a plan, though it involved being awake at 3am, to allow aircraft to be de-iced, before giving them a set of waypoints to follow through the foggy valleys; a way to prevent pilots from flying into any hills, with the resulting explosion alerting the Belkans to their presence. Luckily for them, they wouldn't be flying through valleys the whole way there, only for the last two or three minutes to approach the airbase.

Whilst on the ground, Black Blade and Fuurinkazen had been over the plan:

Kirito, Argo, Asuna and Koharu would attack the airfield, disabling any anti-aircraft that was to be found at the base, be it AAA or surface-to-air missiles, as well as dealing with any interceptors that would almost certainly be scrambling to deal with them. For this role, Kirito had managed to get their Phantom modified by Lisbeth, upgrading it to the Wild Weasel IV standard, with Shrike anti-radiation missiles, a pair of cluster bombs and a set of four Sparrows for air defence, whilst the cannon and Sidewinders were removed to allow installation of the new equipment.

Asuna and Koharu, on the other hand, retained their aircraft as they had been, choosing to load their aircraft for air-to-ground - a pair of 1000lb bombs and a pair of SNEB rocket pods on Koharu's Hunter, whilst Asuna's Lightning replaced the overwing drop tanks with a quartet of integrated fuel tank/rocket pods, a pair of Firestreak missiles on the chin pylons and a pair of 1000lb bombs on the recently installed underwing pylons.

Fuurinkazen would then form the strike package, their Phantoms, Crusader and F-1 loaded with the maximum bomb load for each type, as well as limited self-defence weapons, should it really come down to the line, and the package should need to fight their way out. Hopefully, they wouldn't need it, but it didn't hurt to prepare, something that the guys of Fuurinkazen had agreed on.

The other half of Black Blade, formed of Alice and Eugeo, would have a more challenging mission - disabling the power supply for Rhinemartial first. A power station supplied the base along the other side of the valley, feeding the base's lighting, communications array and most importantly for them... the base's radar system. No doubt that substation would be considerably more well guarded than almost anywhere else in the area. Needless to say, Asuna was in no great rush to change places with the pair though, as she looked around them.

That had all been about two hours ago, but now... ''Black Blade Lead to all aircraft, we're coming up on our waypoint. Samurai Lead, you're element lead for the bombing unit. Black Blade, form up single file. We're going in. Time to break point, one minute.'' Kirito called out, as the Phantom entered a dive, and she did the same, pushing her Lightning into a 10 degree dive. Behind her, the bombers of Fuurinkazen formed up into a diamond formation, and began their descent to 1000 ft.

The four ship group would dash in under the radar, using the river valley for cover, before splitting up at the next waypoint. At that point, the pair in the delta winged striker would take a slightly slower route, arriving only shortly before whilst Kirito's group would take the more direct route, dashing over the town itself and using the ground clutter provided by the buildings to mask their approach, before commencing pop up strikes on the base itself, disabling aircraft on the ground, before Alice and Eugeo disabled their ability to respond at all, before the bombers rendered the airbase unusable for as long of a time as possible...

That was the theory behind it, anyway.

Regardless of theory though, it was time to put it into practice, she thought as the group formed into single file at their attack altitude. The Phantom formed the spearhead of the flight, followed by her Lightning and the Hunter, with the Mirage behind them, ready to peel away.

In brief moments between checking her altimeter and her attitude indicator, she glanced outside the cockpit at the terrain around her. Snow covered treetops raced under their wings, her Lightning almost floating above the canopy. Only ground effect and some extremely gentle movements on the control column were keeping her and the Lightning from becoming a high-speed deforestation device, rather than the fighter-bomber she was using it for.

''Time to target, three minutes.''

Passing the second waypoint, she glanced over her shoulder to see the delta winged attacker breaking away. That brief glance had been enough for the world in front of her to change - the dense foliage and low banks of the nearby river, rising rapidly as the hills forced her to climb slightly. That wasn't quite the terrain she'd expected, and something told her that, considering how sharply the Phantom had pulled up, Kirito wasn't expecting it either...

/-/

Eugeo peered outside the window of his bombardier position on the Mirage IV. Snowy hills passed by at pace below them, as the large delta winged striker blasted its way through the terrain, the snow behind them kicked up into the air by the wash from the twin ATARs.

Checking their position against the map he kept beside him, he started a stopwatch - 90 seconds was all they'd have for this, before the skies around them filled with bullets and missiles.

''Stopwatch... ready. 90 seconds to alert.''

''Understood. A minute to target.'' Alice called back, as she advanced the throttles further. The Mirage responded by pushing them both back into their seats, and Eugeo struggled to pull himself back up to calculate the bombing run they'd have to do.

Thankfully, ACES hadn't been quite so cruel to force crews to do that manually, and offered them a bombing computer in most aircraft, so it was a relatively simple affair of inputting the numbers, and following the computer's results to achieve a precision bombing path. He did that dutifully, as Alice did her level best to keep below the radar, whilst maneuvering through the uneven terrain, and soon got a result, telling him to release the bombs just over two seconds before target at 550 knots.

''Alice, we have an approach speed - 550 knots.'' He told his friend, who pulled back on the stick to avoid a head on collision with an antenna.

''Understood, we're approaching the target now.'' She told him, as he focused his attention on getting the correct release point - they'd only have a single chance at this, else all hell would break loose amongst the strike force... ''On course and at speed. Ready?''

He was, and a curt nod told her as much. ''Now!'' He shouted as he released the bombs. ''Bombs away!''

Below them, eight 1000lb bombs whistled their way through the sky, slamming into their target. From the Mirage, all that could be seen was the fireballs caused by each bomb destroying part of the power station.

''Black Blade Four, target is disabled.'' Alice called, as she put the Mirage into a banking turn. Now would come the difficult part, he realised; evading the hornet's nest they'd inevitably have just stirred up...

/-/

From the cockpit of Asuna's Lightning, the carnage wrought by the Mirage IV was reduced only a small plume of smoke and flames in the distance. ''Ready weapons, ten seconds to target.'' Kirito called out, and Asuna flipped the switches to arm her rocket pods. Even though she could see the smoke rising in the distance, she couldn't be certain that the pair had actually destroyed the facility, but the fact they hadn't seen any fighters fly over the top of them reassured her.

The hill in front of them dropped away to reveal their target - Rhinemartial Air Base. Two long, tarmac runways ran perpendicular to their flight path, whilst a group of Sukhoi fighter-bombers were taxiing to the runway on the left, loaded to the teeth with FAB-1000 bombs and ready to attack the Osean tank columns on the border, no doubt. They were a very inviting target, she thought to herself, before tracer rounds began to illuminate the sunrise sky, whilst black clouds burst around her...

Well, they knew they were there, at least.

''Split off, 'n pick ya targets! Woah!'' Argo called, probably not intending for the last bit to transmit as the Phantom evaded another burst of triple-A fire ahead of them. ''All o' ya! They still got radar guided ack-ack down there, so watch yerselfs!''

She wasn't kidding about that either; she watched as tracer fire lit up the snow drifts around them, and clouds of black smoke erupted around them. She scanned her surroundings quickly, and spotted a prime target on the ground, running parallel to her: the distinctive silhouettes of two MIG-19s were quickly taxiing to the runway, past the Su-7s, and clearly antsy to get up and into a position to shoot them down...

Well, they couldn't have that now, could they?

''Black Blade Two, looks like two interceptors are getting into a position to take off. I'm going to strafe them.''

''Rodge, Black Blade Two, we'll keep the AAA off o' ya!'' She nodded, forgetting briefly that no one could see her gesture, before throwing Wind Fleuret into a high yo-yo to swing back around, and line up a clear shot with the SNEB pods. With any luck, she thought, she might also be able to clear out the Sukhois too, but they weren't her immediate priority - the MIGs were.

The MIG-19, also known as the ''Farmer'', was in many ways a similar aircraft to her Lightning - it was a twin engined, supersonic interceptor designed for short range defence, carrying a limited missile armament that was more than made up for by the triple 30mm cannons it carried. It was also a significantly slower aircraft than her Lightning; her aircraft being capable of Mach 2 easily, whilst the MIG-19 had a maximum speed of around Mach 1.35.

Both were relatively closely matched on a maneuvering front, with the MIG-19 possibly possessing a slight edge over the Lightning, though it was almost certainly a situation where that would depend more so on the pilot, than the plane, she believed from the reading she'd done.

Not that she wanted to test her belief, she reminded herself as the Lightning swung back into a position for a strafing run... only to be nearly deafened as a screeching noise billowed through her headset. The sound of a SAM's radar having gained a lock on her, even at the almost treetop altitudes they were flying at...

''Black Blade Lead, Magnum!'' She heard Argo shout, the alert falling silent a few seconds later. On a ridge top nearby, an explosion flashed against the snow, and Asuna breathed a sigh of relief as she lined up her rocket pods, and flipped the switch to fire them.

Thirty-eight 68mm rockets rippled away from the overwing pods on Wind Fleuret, smoke trails almost blinding her as she continued her pass. A blind pilot was not a good idea, especially this close to the ground, and she pulled back on her control stick, the Lightning responding promptly and climbing as she commanded.

On the ground however, the first MIG-19 had disappeared entirely, the aircraft obliterated by rocket bombardment, with only its outline remaining as a scorch mark on the tarmac, whilst the second had been reduced to a burning mess, not too dissimilar in appearance to her original Wind Fleuret, if she really thought about it...

Scanning the ground around her, she soon sighted a valuable target - a ZSU-23-4, a radar guided, self propelled anti-aircraft gun, moving into position to fire towards Koharu, if the location of its barrels were any indication.

''Black Blade Three, watch out!'' She shouted into her microphone, as she felt the g-forces hit her body in the tight turn.

''Black Blade Three, I'm going for a strafing run!'' The call from Koharu came just moments too late for Asuna to react, as the ZSU fired. Fortunately, its arc of fire fell short, skimming somewhere between the Hunter and the Lightning, before the Hunter found its mark...

In her periphery, 30mm tracer fire from Koharu's Hunter tore across the apron, hitting fighters, concrete, people and fuel stores without a care for their volatility, and igniting whatever it did hit. A small fire had been started near a Su-7, as it was being loaded with some kind of bombs, and in a chain reaction, that fire had soon spread to the rocket pods being stored next to it. Those rocket pods suddenly became the single most deadly thing to the base, the rocket motors triggering and firing a storm of rockets across the base in an arc of fire that, unfortunately for everyone present, happened to include the fuel tanks for the entire base...

A single S-5 rocket was all it took, the rocket tearing into the nearest tank, releasing a gushing torrent of Avgas into the already considerable fires raging uncontrollably on the airfield...

Momentarily, the world around her shone with an orange glow, and she found herself instinctively pulling into a climb, as secondary explosions tore through the apron of the base behind her. Fuel stores detonated with the same force as bombs, sending shrapnel through the air, whilst the heat from the primary explosion almost threw the Lightning around as if it were a toy...

''Black Blade Two, come in! Asuna, come in!'' She could just about make out Kirito yelling into her ear over the ringing of her ears, and she tried to regain her bearings - which way was up, which was down, seeing the world in colour, rather than just black and orange, all things that were very important to a fighter pilot, and fairly important to living a normal life too...

''Asuna! Come in!'' Argo shouted through her mic, as she continued in a ballistic climb. Whilst she wasn't sure of her own senses, her instruments appeared to still be operational, and she had decided, in the spur of the moment, that climbing into reach of SAM and radar guided triple-A defences was less of a risk than slamming into the ground as she regained her senses. The ringing in her ears was almost deafening, and drowned out the myriad of warning sirens currently blaring in her cockpit... a noise she was quite happy to drown out, if she was honest.

That was until tracer fire tore past her canopy, on her left side. The distinctive traces of two separate calibres of weapon, she'd realised quickly. A MIG-17, evidently very unhappy at her for obliterating their base, was now behind her and firing on her...

In any other circumstances, the standard procedure was to accelerate, and leave the MIG in her dust - the Lightning being exponentially faster, and especially in a climb, gave the MIG absolutely no chance of following her in that area. Unfortunately for her, she found herself in a grave situation:

Her Lightning, already at a low throttle setting for the diving attack, was only barely above stall speed now. If she began to turn out of the way, she would bleed off any precious airspeed and stall, becoming an almost sitting duck for the MIG behind her. If she throttled up, the throttles took around four seconds to respond fully, by which time the MIG would've dialled in on her, her Lightning inevitably being pummelled by 23 and 37mm cannon fire - a punishment it simply wouldn't take. It was a high speed interceptor, not a flying tank, after all...

Without thinking, she made a split second decision and forced the stick to the right, the Lightning snap rolling into an inverted position as its nose dropped below the horizon and her airspeed began to rise again in the dive. The dive was brief, but enough to throw the MIG pilot off her tail, as it tried to keep up with the sudden roll and dive, and she noticed the small swept wing interceptor coming straight towards her in an almost vertical dive. A split second application of force on the trigger, and 30mm fire arced through the sky, into the path of the Fresco.

The cannon rounds tore into the airframe of the smaller fighter around the wing roots, and from her observation, both wings promptly sheared off, leaving the now cigar shaped fighter to plummet to the ground. As fire ravaged the tumbling fighter, she thought she saw a trail of fire leaving the cockpit, before it was engulfed in flames as the remains of the MIG slammed into the ground.

Briefly, a surge of pride came over her, at her first confirmed kill. It was a milestone that the vast majority of pilots never reached; claiming a kill in combat, but she found that pride overshadowed by the knowledge that her attacker hadn't survived. Ejecting so close to the ground was a death sentence, she knew that much from her own near death experience... and that had been in level flight. Even if her enemy had ejected, he would've ejected into an inferno around them - she'd sentenced them to die, no matter what they did.

''Black Blade Two, splash one MIG-17.'' She called out, a sombre note in her voice, as she thought about what she'd done, as yet more explosions, this time from Fuurinkazen's bombs, tore apart Rhinemartial even further.

/-/

About twenty thousand feet above the battle, Yuuki listened into the radio calls as Twilight Flight approached the operational area. The faster aircraft of Liberator Flight had already reached the combat zone, and already hit bingo fuel, forcing them to bug out, meaning their job was keep the attention of any CAPs already in the area, and get the attention of any heading towards the strike package; a job that in any other context would've been madness...

Fortunately for them, Black Blade had done such a good job of infiltrating the base's defence network that no fighters had been able to get off the ground in time to be anything more than target practice, and the few fighters that had been airborne were running on empty by now, thanks to their engagement with Liberator Flight, meaning their job had become purely one of escort, to ensure that no fighters sought retribution on Black Blade or Fuurinkazen as they left the combat area.

''Siune, anything?'' Her sister called out, leading the formation from her Sabre. Siune's Lansen had a significant advantage in that it actually had a radar, something that almost all of the other aircraft in Twilight Flight lacked, other than Merida's Sabre Dog, which did have a radar... but one that was poorly optimised for targeting aircraft like the ones they were expecting to fight - had they been hunting bombers, it would've been adequate, but not so much against fighters...

''I have a flight of aircraft approaching. Heading is 260, speed is... I would say around 350 knots. They are below us.''

''Understood, Siune. Twilight Flight, prepare for a fight.''

''Apologies, but we have more aircraft on radar. Four of them.'' If they hadn't taken off from Rhinemartial, then they had to have come from elsewhere.

''Twilight Lead to all aircraft, additional bandits are approaching at our level. We'll keep their attention as best we can, but watch out for stragglers!'' Ran called out, whilst Yuuki kept her eyes on the horizon. Just below her, she spotted four sets of trails passing underneath them - single engined fighters, swept wing with a t-tail by the looks of them... MIG-17s.

The MIG-17 was an aircraft that was a cause for concern for any fighter in the attack force; despite its obsolete looks, with its stubby looking intake nose, cigar shaped fuselage and swept wings, it packed a mean punch with a pair of 23mm cannons, and a single 37mm cannon, both firing from underneath the nose, and could keep up in a turning fight with almost everything else in the game, be that their Sabres; aircraft it was specifically improved to counter, or lightweight fighters such as the Gnat and F-5...

Even in fights that the radar less interceptor had no right being in, whether that had been facing down Phantoms and Crusaders above the jungles of South East Asia, or tangling with the aces of aces above the Sinai Peninsula, it was telling that the aircraft had almost forced a complete rethink of tactics on both sides of the Iron Curtain when it came to air combat...

''Sis, I see four of them below! I'm going after them!'' She felt the Gs against her as she snapped the F-86 into an inverted position, and let the nose drop below the horizon. Her Sabre was a better aircraft in a dive, and from what she could see, had the advantage over the MIG in having air-to-air missiles equipped, even if they were the early -9B model Sidewinders.

''Twilight Two, I'm coming with you!'' She heard Ran call out as she felt the Sabre diving from the sky, the needle of her altimeter spinning as she dove on the unsuspecting interceptor. She armed the six M2 machine guns in the nose, and readied her fingers on the trigger as she pulled in behind the MIG, and fired a short burst of tracer fire. Sparks flew from the plane ahead, but it remained airborne, and under control, much to her chagrin, and she fired off another burst. Yet more .50 cal rounds tore against the MIG, and unlike the previous burst, something happened this time!

The MIG rolled inverted, before she watched as small fragments of the plane came off ahead of her. With little warning, the MIG nosed over into a dive, falling to earth as fast as was humanly possible, and she snapped her Sabre into a similarly fast descent, despite the calls from her sister that the MIG wasn't flying... it was crashing.

Chasing the MIG down through 7000ft, she realised the first error she had made in her pursuit of the MIG; one that was currently threatening to tear her plane apart... the drop tanks. They were still on the plane, and she was rapidly approaching the sound barrier, the severe buffeting that her plane was going through telling her that much. Frantically, she flipped the switches that controlled the fuel system, and the drop tanks in particular, trying to jettison them and prevent them from just tearing away and pulling part of her Sabre with them.

In the nick of time, she was able to jettison the tanks, the metal tanks tumbling off backwards into her jet wash, spinning violently. She pulled back on her stick, righting the Sabre as it raced towards the ground, and it was then, that she noticed her second error, her throttle wasn't responding. She scanned the cockpit quickly, and noticed her mistake - she'd left the fuel source set to her drop tanks, and with those now gone...

Well, she was no engineer, but from her knowledge, engines didn't tend to work without fuel. ''Sis, my engine's flamed out. I'm restarting it!''

''Twilight, I'm covering Yuuki, watch for any more fighters!''

Quickly, she rushed through the engine relight procedure, as the fighter fell fast towards the ground. The F-86 was many things, but a glider it was not. It was far too heavy to be an effective glider, as well as being far too fast to glide efficiently, both of which told her that she didn't have to long left before she ran out of altitude, and her Sabre became nothing more than a scorch mark on the ground.

The myriad of switches flipped, and the best sound that Yuuki had heard in a long time filled her cockpit; that of her J47 roaring back to life. ''Twilight Two, engine's restarted. I'm back!''

She checked her altitude quickly - 2100 feet - and realised that, at the speed she'd been descending at, even a few more seconds would've spelt disaster for her. ''Too close there!'' With that realisation, she let slip a small laugh, and put the Sabre into a climb. As she scanned her surroundings, she spotted a plume of black smoke not too far from where she'd pulled out from her spiralling dive, confirmation that the MIG she'd chased had been out of control, rather than fleeing. ''Twilight Two, I think I got a kill.'' She called out.

''Yuuki...'' She could sense her sister's disproval of the lengths she'd gone to in order to get that kill, but soon found herself distracted from that, as an unknown set of voices came across the radios...

''Bronze 1 to all Bronze Flight... destroy the Osean attackers...'' The voice called out, with a distinct German accent. ''For the fatherland!''

''Uhh, Black Blade Four here... we all heard that, right?'' Eugeo, the Mirage pilot she'd fought with yesterday asked, a sense of discomfort in his voice

''Samurai Lead, yeah, we did. Betcha any money they'll be Belkan aces of some kind...'' The red haired leader of Fuurinkazen acknowledged.

''Ya wanna tek' that bet, Samurai Lead? 50 credits, an' yer on!''

''It is a shame we cannot dogfight in this...'' Alice, the other Mirage pilot mused sadly, the blonde sharing her enthusiasm at the situation. ''Alas, there will always be another day...''

''Twilight Lead, all aircraft. I have a visual - four aircraft, moving fast on the deck, full afterburner. Looks like they're MIG-21s.''

''They must'a flown like devils ta get here this quickly!''

Looking to her side, she spotted the mottled camouflage of the MIGs, the natural metal underneath glinting against the rising sun, as two of the four broke formation in a turn to the left... ''Two of them are breaking away, looks like they're heading south west!'' She quickly realised where those two were heading... right for the Mirage IV. ''Black Blade Four, two of them are coming for you! Twilight Two, I'm going after them!'' Without thinking, Yuuki snapped into fighter pilot mode, eager for her second kill of the day, even though she knew she stood very little chance of doing much against the much faster MIG-21s if they kept chasing the Mirage... though, if she could get close enough, she could fire off a Sidewinder, and force them to break away, and hopefully scatter.

''Looks like your getting your wish, Alice!''

If Samurai Lead had been right with his comment, then these guys weren't the usual pilots, and were instead Belkan aces, the very best of the Belkan Air Forces. No way would any of them be stupid enough to engage her in a turning fight, she thought, which meant she'd have to rely on getting their attention, and holding it. Not ideal, but she was certain she could make herself an annoying enough target for them to deem her worth their time...

''Indeed. Perhaps this will be an interesting day after all...'' She could almost imagine there was some kind of smile on the other end of the radio transmission there.

As she put her Sabre onto an intercept heading, she put her head to strategising, for once. If she could close the gap just a little, then she could launch off a Sidewinder at the MIGs, and with a small amount of luck, she would still be within the 10km launch range, and the 20 degree tail chase attitude, to fire off a shot. She had absolutely no idea whether that would work, but if nothing else, it would draw them back towards her, and away from Alice and Eugeo.

Flipping the switches, her Sidewinders began to search for the exhausts of the MIGs, and soon found a target... hopefully, one that wasn't the sun, as the training round the other day had. A growling filled her headset, and she fired. ''Twilight Two, Fox Two!''

The missile tore through the sky, considerably faster than her Sabre, and much faster than its target. Only seconds passed by, the flight time of the Sidewinder leaving the rail, to the time it reached the MIG feeling so much longer than the five seconds it had actually been, before it blasted shrapnel and debris into its unlucky victim.

''Scheisse! Bronze 3, I am hit!'' Alarms bellowed in the background of the radio call, as it's pilot muttered curses under his breath. The damaged MIG, now trailing far more smoke and fluid than it had any right doing so, lurched to the right before its nose dipped below the horizon. At only a thousand feet, the MIG stood little chance of recovery, nor did its pilot stand any of escaping the doomed aircraft, and it slammed into the snowy ground a few moments later, almost inverted.

Around ten seconds behind the MIGs, Yuuki looked over the fireball approaching her right wing, and adjusted course to avoid a face full of debris, fuel and fire. ''That blasted bag of bolts! They killed Klaus!'' She heard the other MIG pilot shout angrily into his mic, before he snapped the MIG into a tight turn to the left, to face her.

She threw her Sabre into a turn to keep with the MIG; at this distance, any burst from her guns would simply drop away well before the target, and her remaining Sidewinder would simply sail away harmlessly into the sky, the MIG's turn having defeated any lock she could get on it. She really did have no options but to keep him in sight, and hope his anger caused him to make a mistake that let her exploit the Sabre's superior manueverability.

That mistake soon came, as the MIG closed the distance on her, hell bent on killing her with a gun run. The MIG-21 had an arguably superior armament than her Sabre; a single 30mm NR-30 autocannon, versus her six .50cal M2 machine guns, and just a single round from that 30mm would be bad news for her Sabre, especially in a head-on pass, where the most obvious targets were herself, and the massive intake that led to her engine.

''Yuuki, leave him to me.'' Ran called out, and Yuuki looked up momentarily. A silver glint dove in from above her, and the nose shone orange briefly, as three distinct bursts of tracer fire ripped through the sky. The first slammed into the MIG, shaking it, but doing little to break it away from its attack path. The second burst hit home along the starboard side of the plane, tearing metal skin and fragments from the plane and forcing it into a turn to its damaged side.

The third burst, however, was the killer blow, as tracer fire tore throughout the fuselage. Probably only a second passed by, but the MIG, now stricken and already limping, exploded violently. Its right wing had torn completely from the aircraft, whilst flames poured across the rear fuselage from the now gaping hole that had once been a wing, and highly volatile jet fuel poured into the slipstream. Into the flames, and the sunrise behind, the pilot ejected, and Yuuki broke sharply to her right, an attempt to avoid colliding with the both the burning wreck, and the ejected pilot.

After a few moments, a parachute could be seen, as the pilot floated down to earth below. ''Twilight One, I have a kill. Pilot ejected safely'' Ran called out, as Yuuki scanned the skies around them.

''Verdammt! All Bronze pilots, return to base.''

''Das ist nicht dein ernst!?''

''Ja bin ich. Return to base, 2. That is an order.''

What was said after that, Yuuki wasn't sure, but it sounded extremely unhappy. ''Hell yeah! That showed them!'' Shouted one of the members of Fuurinkazen. ''Whoever's in the Sabres, the drinks are on us when we get back!''

''Twilight Four, my scope is clear. It looks like all enemy aircraft have been downed or are retreating!''

A few cheers came across the radio, and Yuuki gave a small grin to herself. They'd actually managed to win! Not that she'd doubted that they would, mind you, but it had been their first mission, and they'd gone out and kicked Belkan butt!

/-/

The return to base had been nothing short of jubilant for the majority of the pilots, with almost constant radio chatter and banter for the entire flight back to the base. Considering how early they'd left from Rechlin, it honestly surprised Argo just how many players had turned out to watch them arrive back at the base; actually, it had surprised her just how many had been awake, and whipped up into a joyful frenzy by 9am!

He'd had an even bigger surprise when they were all surrounded on the ground, and the pilots of Fuurinkazen and Liberator were carried aloft as heroes. They nearly had been too, but to absolutely no one's surprise, they'd all politely asked to not have the same treatment, deciding that, as it was still morning... some extra sleep wouldn't go amiss, Kirito had decided.

They all needed it, to be honest. She had no doubts that his nerves were shot full of holes; not unlike their Phantom, as it had turned out, as small rifle calibre rounds had put small, barely noticeable holes in a number of important areas, the intakes and landing gear being two of the most obvious areas of damage. Still, the Phantom looked absolutely pristine compared to Asuna's Lightning, the natural metal stained with soot, whilst small fragments of metal stuck in the fuselage, giving the interceptor the look of a slightly singed hedgehog.

Throughout the morning, and whilst Kirito and Asuna had gone to their barracks to sleep, the entire base had seemed to be in the highest of moods, except for one obvious exception, Koharu. The raven haired girl had taken up a seat on the rear doorstep of the barracks. ''E'rryone else is cheerin' and celebratin', an' ya just seem t' be commiseratin' 'bout summat. Penny fer yer thoughts, Ko-chan?'' Argo took a seat on the doorstep next to the girl.

''Huh?'' Startled, Koharu gave a gentle smile, far from the look of happiness that she'd have expected from someone who'd done something spectacular only a few hours earlier, before she carried on. ''Oh, no, I'm fine. Just not a fan of big crowds, that's all.''

Argo raised an eyebrow at the denial, especially given there didn't appear to be a big crowd around. ''Yer sure on that? Ya look like summat's botherin' ya, that much I do know...''

''It's nothing, just...'' Koharu closed her eyes and sighed, her head hanging low. ''All of this, it was my fault. Everyone was in danger because I messed up, and annoyed the Belkans. People did get hurt because of me...''

Suddenly, Argo realised why she was sat out here alone, and she could easily see why the girl was struggling - guilt was one hell of a feeling, and misplaced guilt, as Koharu's was, was much worse. She hadn't done anything wrong, and there wasn't an easy way to predict that her leader would drag her out over the Belkan border, so she could hardly be blamed for that one either. Actually, most of the blame lay on her snake of a flight leader for that - it was a shame that he'd seemingly escaped to somewhere, else she'd be near the front of the queue for dragging him back to Rechlin, and administering her own form of justice... ''Ya want my opinion? Ya made a mistake in trustin' someone who just wanted a scapegoat. He took ya somewhere dangerous, an' left ya t' die. That ent' yer fault.'' She said. ''If I were ya, I'd go an' get yer head down fer a bit.''

''You're probably right. I'm going to get some rest, and I'll see you guys later, for dinner.''

'' 'fore ya go, we're gonna have food in the officer's mess tonight. Diavel asked us, some kinda celebration.'' Argo remembered, just before Koharu left. Koharu simply gave her a smile in response, as she walked away.

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The officer's mess on site was inside a building to the south of the recreation facilities, and gave off the vibe of a sixties smoking lounge, from all of those old puppet sci-fi shows he'd watched way back when. Live music played from the piano across the room, in the form of soft jazz music, whilst the bar staff wore slick black waistcoats, and neatly pressed tuxedos. As he wasn't an officer, he didn't own a formal ''mess dress'', and so he had settled on a black tuxedo and tie himself; the game handling the fitting luckily, as he couldn't say that he knew of a tailor...

''Your drink, sir.'' A waiter interrupted his thoughts, and he took the glass of... something from them.

''Umm, thank you.'' He replied quietly, and awkwardly, as he fiddled about with his tie, his discomfort at the formal attire painfully apparent to even the least observant observers.

All in all, it was the type of place that Kirito had felt extremely out of place in, and that was why he had been extremely glad for Klein's invitation to all of them, to join them in the bar for their version of a post-mission debrief... a meeting that he imagined involved copious amounts of alcohol and greasy food. Actually, the latter part didn't sound that bad, come to think of it!

Maybe later, he thought, as he tried to keep his focus on the then and now. After a brief scan of the room, he spotted the blonde pair of Black Blade across the room, and headed over to them. As he got closer, he realised that the pair, despite not being officers of any kind, were wearing what appeared to be some kind of dress uniforms - different styles, but dress uniforms nonetheless. Alice's dress uniform was a white jacket with epaulettes, lined with gold trim and a buttons, with black trousers and boots, whilst Eugeo's was a slightly different design, lacking the epaulettes, but retaining the solid colour jacket, his being a deep shade of blue with silver trim, both making them stand out somewhat when compared to the black suit he wore. Not that he minded, the less he could do to stand out, the better, in his mind.

''Kirito!'' Eugeo called out to him, as he headed over to the pair.

''Hey, do either of you know why we're here?'' He asked, hoping the pair would have known a little more than he did in this situation.

''Sadly not, we were only informed of this a few hours ago, as you were.'' Alice answered. ''Still, it is lucky that we bought these on the first day... else we would have had to scramble for something to wear!''

''Yeah, this place doesn't exactly look like the type of place that you can get away with smart casual.'' Kirito joked.

''It does feel rather... stuffy.'' Eugeo agreed.

''Indeed, there is a fine line between classy and pompous... and this is well over it.'' Alice added her opinions to the conversation. ''Still, if free drinks are on the table, then you will not find me complaining!'' Eugeo gave her a slightly disapproving look, before shaking his head and laughing softly to himself, and Kirito found himself smiling at the pair. He hadn't known them more than a day, and he already knew how their dynamic worked; Alice was more of an action type, preferring to make her intentions known with actions, rather than long speeches, but with that came a degree of recklessness, charging into things as she had done in her mock dogfight. Eugeo was far more reserved, and chose to reason his way through things, the reckless side of Alice tempered by his rational side, whilst the overly cautious and reserved side of Eugeo was pulled from the shell by Alice's headstrong nature, a neat balance in their friendship.

His thoughts at the pair were soon interrupted as he looked around the room, and noticed the girls over by the door. Argo had dressed the least formally, unsurprisingly, wearing a tan knee length dress, whilst Asuna and Koharu both looked as if they were going to some kind of ball, rather than... whatever this was supposed to be.

He'd known Argo long enough to know her opinions on formal occasions - and those thoughts could be summarised as ''no thanks'' - but to see her in something that wasn't her flight suit, it felt weird to him. Almost like looking into the uncanny valley in a way... and he reminded himself to never say that particular thought aloud, less Argo get creative with her retribution!

Koharu and Asuna though, both had had a similar idea in how they should come - both wearing flowy dresses that made them the centre of attention, and that was something he was sure they'd both realised, as players looked towards them. In Koharu's case, he couldn't help but look at her, and see Suguha stood there. He wasn't sure why, but something about her reminded him of his cousin; maybe it was her push to constantly train, maybe it was that both girls were athletes, or maybe it was the awkwardness in the stuffy atmosphere.

Asuna, on the other hand, he soon realised something very important... she was extremely attractive. Technically, that wasn't a realisation, as he'd known that since they'd met, but it was now that it truly set in. She seemed to be adapting to the environment almost naturally, as if she knew how to handle it and had rehearsed many a time for such a situation. Luckily for him (and what little sense his internal monologue still made at this point), they were interrupted.

''Ah, if it isn't the pilots of the hour! Come over, come over!'' Diavel had noticed them, and invited them all over to their section of the lounge. He couldn't help but feel less like the ''heroes of the hour'', as Argo had told him they were being described as around the base, but rather some kind of novelty for the commanders to view as proof of their own success... ''I'm glad you took us up on our offer to join us! I will admit, I'm a little disappointed that our ace killers couldn't make it, but it can't be helped.''

Of all the looks of distrust and disdain given to Diavel by himself and everyone around him, Asuna's was the one that looked the most neutral - a look that could be described as ''diplomatic''. It wasn't one that betrayed any emotion behind it, even though he could tell there was certainly an annoyance there at the seeming disdain for Twilight and Fuurinkazen for not joining them.

''Still, though... a toast.'' He picked up a glass, and everyone followed suit. ''A toast to a job well done!'' The toast offered was clearly not an enthusiastic one, as everyone only barely lifted their glasses, saying very little before they took a drink.

/-/

''A toast to new friends and victory!'' Klein raised his glass, and the members of Fuurinkazen, Twilight and the Black Blades raised their glasses enthusiastically (and for a few of them, quite possibly drunkenly).

''To new friends and victory!'' Shouted almost everyone present. Eugeo really did have to thank Klein for inviting them to this, the more relaxed atmosphere of the bar being a far nicer place to be for them than the officer's lounge. Diavel probably hadn't meant to insult the others, but it was telling that he'd said it aloud, and got no backlash from his colleagues, he thought.

The bar was a strange place to him though, as it more reminded him of what he thought a bar looked like as a child - dance floor included, which was currently where Asuna and Koharu had ''asked'' Alice to join them. If that was their definition of asking, he thought, then perhaps he didn't want to see their definition of ''demanding''... Still though, she looked to be having a decent time, and it wasn't as if Alice couldn't say no, so it hadn't been his place to stop them.

''So, Alice an' ya, I take it ya go back a long time?'' Argo asked him, snapping him back to reality.

''Argo!'' Kirito interrupted her, almost annoyed at her blunt line of questioning...

''No, it's fine!'' He smiled back. ''It's no secret anyway, we've been friends since we were young, just being kids back home.'' He pictured them both, much younger than now, frolicking around carefree. ''No doubt she's the leader out of us, but she's always been a little...'' He struggled to find the words for Alice; impulsive fit perfectly, but he felt it had a connotation to it.

''Reckless, headstrong?''

''Once she's got an idea in her mind, she will go for it. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change her for the world, but she needs someone to temper that sometimes.'' He glanced over to the dance floor, to see Alice now very much leading both Asuna and Koharu in what could only be described as less of a ballroom dance, but rather a ballroom blitz... He laughed slightly, before deciding to go and help the unfortunate girls out of their situation. ''I should go and... yeah.'' He said, as he got up and headed over to the dance floor...

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As Eugeo left to go and extricate either Alice, or Asuna and Koharu, Argo spoke up. ''Fifty credits say they end up together.'' She said.

''I'm not betting on my friends' love life, Argo.'' He told her outright, putting paid to any discussion about betting. ''Wonder why you're interested in their love life though...'' He asked, sceptically. He wasn't concerned about her going out of her way to anything truly ridiculous, but he would be lying if he didn't have a worrying feeling that Argo was going to play matchmaker...

''Wha', can't a gal say wha' she thinks about, without suspicions, Kii-bou?'' She held a hand to her chest, faking offence at his questioning. ''I am hurt, you know... 'sides, ya just know it.'' She added on at the end, with a grin. ''An' speakin' o' crushes...'' She mumbled...

''What was that?'' He asked quickly, and Argo coughed into her hand as Asuna and Koharu, both looking as if they'd seen slightly more than they bargained for by dancing with Alice, returned to the table.

''That girl is something else...'' Asuna stated, as she sat down.

''Hey, Ko-chan? Can I talk ta ya about somethin', in private?'' The slightly exhausted girl looked towards him, and he shrugged his shoulders. He may have known Argo for the longest out of any of them... but she was a mystery to even him sometimes.

''Umm, sure?'' She answered, as they headed off somewhere, offering a grin to Kirito. A grin of which the importance was slow to dawn on him, as Asuna sat next to him, but one that did eventually dawn on him...

Damn that rat.

{Author's Comments}

Longest chapter I have written for anything! And there's still stuff that had to be cut from this chapter, so it ran more smoothly!

But yes, the players of ACES have now completed their first mission as a unit, a mission that has been a success, with no casualties, and the 23rd Fighter Squadron are on cloud nine after it... Nothing bad can possibly happen now, can it?

Also, I'd like to thank everyone who's given me feedback on this, it's really nice to read the comments I've gotten about what people have enjoyed, and how I could improve going on! So thank you massively!

Next chapter - None flew over the Cuckoo's Nest...