15 years ago, a large celestial body, designated as "Megalith" today, was on a collision course with the planet.
The Scientists and Experts of that time, Both UN and not, gathered together at the United States to devise a plan of action to quell the extinction event looming on the horizon.
The effort was led by Dr. Jacob Winters from the US, Amelia Watson from the United Kingdom, Anton Lukashenko of the Russians, Xiao Hu from Communist China, Hans Becker from Germany, and Hikari Takamura from Japan.
Together, with several more unnamed experts and professionals, came up with two solutions to this problem.
One proposed a complex Railgun network built on the predicted impact site of the Asteroid, and shoot it down before entering the atmosphere, designated as "Nexus."
10 enormous guns arranged 5 miles in between on a circular formation, with the main power source dug underground beneath the center, and the main command and fire control center built over it acting as the way to control, aim, and fire the guns.
A backup generator and secondary fire control system would also be built on the side of caution, but the locations remain classified.
The other proposal was the Pseudo Atmospheric Arsenal Flight Vehicle, abbreviated as the P.A.F.V.
An Airship, armed with state of the art thrusters to fly it in and out of the atmosphere, outfitted with various weapons, this thing was a sight to behold.
It would fly up high into the atmosphere, packed with enough firepower, munitions, supply, and a crew of almost 400 men from different service branches from different parts of the globe to destroy the Megalith and clean up the debris that would be left behind.
We disagreed for a while, arguing that one is more efficient than the other, until we finally agreed upon a consensus to build both. And so, construction started as soon as possible.
Turns out, that was the right call, the giant bird would work in tandem with the giant gun. The Nexus will destroy the asteroid before it enters the atmosphere, and the Big Bird would clean up all the debris and rubble left on the atmosphere.
Some time later, after successfully cleaning up the atmosphere, we came across something new… something powerful.
The Minerals that the Megalith stored within itself contained otherworldly energies. It baffled our and confused our scientists when they discovered it, and even more so when they couldn't harness that energy to power anything.
So we thought they were useless, until a freak accident occurred, Anton Lukashenko and Jacob Winters were aboard a C130 cargo plane with the Megalith Minerals, now known as "Megalithium", to transfer them for disposal.
When a shard made contact with the plane, everything changed, and the first Aerial Combat Entity was born.
With that discovery, they fiddled with more aircrafts, Fighters, Bombers, Cargo Planes, and many more. They threw the first of us into sorties and operations to prove that they are worth the effort.
They delivered results. From Fighters being more nimble, Bombers having less rates of crashing upon dropping their payloads, Cargo Planes delivering more supply to the frontlines faster, and many more.
What matters to our government most is that they delivered outstanding results, which is a major factor to the birth of Project A.C.E.
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-Hickam Air force Base, Hawaii, 01130 hrs
-2119′07″N
- 15755′21″W
(Present day)
"You're past the guidance limit, make a visual landing."
A man in the radio spoke, before the sound of tires scratching came, indicating that said aircraft has finally landed, and is now taxiing into it's personal hangar.
A boy then stepped out of the cockpit of the aircraft after safely parking it inside it's personal home, turning both the engines off and shutting down all power.
Said Aircraft was the well-known Air Superiority Fighter, and the winner of the Advanced Tactical Fighter Program Contract, Lockheed Martin's F-22A, nickname "Raptor."
The man himself wore a typical U.S.A.F Fighter Pilot Uniform, with a black jacket worn over it. He has white silvery hair, sharp red eyes, and a pretty handsome face of a man that looks like he's on his early 20's.
"Oh jesus, here's hoping Cipher doesn't chew me out for having a little bit of fun."
"MOBIUS!!"
A man yelled out by the Hangar's entrance with his hand placed firmly on his side.
"S-Sir!"
The boy, now named Mobius, stuttered out as he frantically fixed himself, and stood straight.
The man then approached him, his every step going with a purpose, and if his face is any indication, he is NOT amused.
(UNITED STATES AIR FORCE A.C.E, CIPHER)
(AIRFRAME : MCDONNEL DOUGLAS F-15C EAGLE.)
"The hell was that, Buddy? You almost collided with Strike with that stunt maneuvers you just pulled off, and not to forget, YOU FIRED A LIVE FUCKING MISSILE AT SNOWFLAKE WITHOUT PERMISSION, THANK FUCK SHE WAS ALERTED AND MANAGED TO DEPLOY COUNTERMEASURES IN TIME, OR THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN REAL UGLY!"
Oh… He's definitely mad…
"YES SIR, I DID!! I APOLOGIZE FOR MY IMPULSIVE AND DANGEROUS ACTS, AND WILL STAND BY FOR ANY NECESSARY DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS!!"
The man eyed Mobius down from head to toe, his brown eyes cold with a glint of anger on them, dissecting his very being from the highest standing strand of hair to his toes, before facepalming, and raking a hand up his brown hair that was graying due to accumulated stress.
"I can't believe you sometimes, I know you Raptors are eager to get a kill on your list, but really Mobius?"
"Again, Sir, I deeply Apologize for my Actions, I stand prepared for the consequences, and give you my word that it will never happen again."
Ah, well well well, if it ain't the shit I did backfiring on me.
"I'll let this slide… but this better not happen again or else… You understand that, Ace?"
The man pointed a knife hand at me, his expression literally just screaming 'lookie here, jackass.'
"SIR, YES SIR!!"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!"
""SIR, YES SIR!!""
"That's more like it."
The man then turned on his heel, and walked towards the Exit to my hangar, but before he could step out, I called out to him.
"Hey, Cipher!!"
"What is it, kid?"
"Thank you… for not chewing me out…"
Honestly?
That could've been worse, could've been cleaning duty, or-
"Ah, don't mention it, I expect 500 push-ups in front of everyone for your actions though."
"Yes sir…"
Mobius responded dejectedly.
I just had to jinx myself, Didn't I?
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"431! 432! 433!"
Mobius pushed himself off the ground with every ounce of strength left in his body, before he completely collapsed on his stomach down the ground.
"Come on buddy, you're almost there, just a little bit more, and you'd finally atone for the sin of almost offing me and snowflake."
"PISS OFF, STRIKE!!"
The man simply laughed, much to the Raptor's dismay, and to the Falcon's amusement.
The man had medium length blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and a shit eating grin on his face that looked like it's on the mid 20's side.
He also wore the usual Fighter Pilot attire, like many other A.C.Es.
(UNITED STATES AIR FORCE A.C.E, STRIKE)
(AIRFRAME : GENERAL DYNAMICS F-16 FIGHTING FALCON)
The man raised his arms up at Mobius' death glare.
"But honestly speaking, I kinda feel bad for you, your family of Airframe is probably one of the most blueballed bunch there is in the Air Force."
Mobius rolled his eyes, and shook his head before returning back to push-up position to finally get it all over with.
Strike, in a show of goodwill, counted the rest of the way for him, although a glint of amusement at his current state remained.
"499, and that's 500."
Mobius panted on the floor sprawled out, sweat covering his entire body.
Strike fished his phone out of his pocket after he felt it vibrate, he then turned his phone on, and took a look at it, a message.
He read the contents, before putting the phone back to his pocket and turned towards the panting Air Dominance Fighter.
"Yo, you good?"
The 4th gen Aircraft tapped his back as he asked.
"I've had worse…"
"Then get up and take a shower asap, cause Cipher just messaged me about a briefing later, looks like we'll finally be able to test your mettle, mister Raptor."
Mobius suddenly jumped to his feet, his eyes shone bright like a diamond as his expression lit up at the F-16's words, "For real?"
"Who knows? I wouldn't get my hopes up yet, big man."
Strike said, reaching for his phone in his pocket once more.
"Probably for the best… hey, Strike."
Strike suddenly snapped away from staring daggers at his phone, and looked towards the 5th generation fighter.
"What's it, Kid?"
"You think I'll be able to shoot an aircraft down before they retire the Raptors?"
The F-16 could only stare at the hatchling with incredulous eyes.
"What the hell makes you say that?"
"Don't you know? The USAF and the USN are already developing their next gen fighters, especially the Air Force."
Mobius told Strike, "They call it the N.G.A.D, abbreviation for Next Generation Air Dominance… They want to replace my entire family of Airframe, man…"
The young Raptor looked at the ground with a frown on his face.
"I… don't wanna be scrapped before I prove my worth…"
To his credit, the veteran fighter walked up to him and gave him a comforting headpat.
"Don't worry kid, if the BUFF believes in you, then I believe in you as well. The reason you haven't shot down anyone yet is because they're afraid of you. Your threat level exist through sheer pretense alone, so when you're in the air, no one on the enemy would like to share the same airspace… You'll have your chance to show how badass you are soon enough, it's high-time that you have, not going to lie."
"… Strike, I didn't know you…"
Mobius trailed off as he swallowed the lump on his throat and fought hard to not let a tear fall from his eyes.
"Thank you…"
The Falcon wasn't having it though.
"Jesus, Kid, cut that out, you look pathetic when you cry, as your senior, I hate to see one of our hatchlings cry, so straighten the hell up."
Mobius sniffled, and wiped off the tears welling on his eyes.
Then he straightened up, and snapped a salute towards his superior.
"YES SIR!"
"Now get yourself sorted out, briefing starts at 0200."
"YES SIR!"
Snapping one last salute, Mobius ran back towards his Aircraft's Personal Hangar that doubles as his own living quarters with idea of washing up in mind.
All the while, Strike watched him as his back disappeared slowly in the distance until he was only a tiny dot in his sight.
"You'll get your chance soon enough, buddy…" Strike ruminated to himself.
"… Would be a shame if you weren't able to."
After a moment of talking to himself, the 4th gen Aircraft made his way back home to fix himself up as well.
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.
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I went out of the shower room with a towel wrapped around my waist down to my legs.
I walked towards my closet and opened it, now I just had to decide what I should wear.
No need to be too formal, but not too casual either… hmm…
Decisions, Decisions…
In the end, I decided to go for a white shirt with a black USAF emblem slapped in front of it, black pants, and white rubber shoes.
I then took a jet black jacket off the rack and wore it over my shirt.
Then I took a comb, and looked towards a mirror to fix my hair a little bit. I gotta say, I'm looking pretty handsome, I wonder if I'll able to land myself a good looking chick- NO MOBIUS, BAD MOBIUS!!
You are a bad, BAD A.C.E, Mobius, banish those foolish thoughts before they get out of hand!
…
"Hah, I'm never getting myself a woman, am I?"
I asked the reflection on the mirror.
Then I took a quick glance at the clock hanging on the wall, and lo and behold…
"… 1:30… Yeah, I got time…"
I took my phone, my wallet, and walked towards the exit of my hangar, and closed the ginormous door behind me with my superhuman strength.
With that done, I set out towards the base mess hall, to grab myself a quick meal.
After a ten minute walk with me letting my mind run wild with every thought, I finally pushed the entrance to the mess hall, and…
"Holy… that's a long line."
I saw fellow A.C.Es and USAF goons working at the base lining up in a single file, each with their food tray on hand.
I got 17 minutes left before briefing, so…
I took a food tray of my own, and lined up with the rest of them to grab a quick meal for myself…
You know what?
This is taking ages… like, seriously, pick a food and move on, it can't be THAT hard, right?
… For forks sake…
"This is taking fucking forever, isn't it, big guy?"
I lightly elbowed a guy behind me, looking at my face with an unamused expression, before looking ahead in silence.
"… Yeah, seems about right…"
I, in turn, looked ahead myself, and slowly but surely, people left the line as they finally got a quickie meal of their own.
Soon enough, it was my turn.
"Fried Rice, Egg, sunny side up, a Single Steak, and a glass of water."
I told the mess hall cook what I wanted, and they gave me a nod as they put on my tray exactly what I ordered.
Did I say I was going to get a quick bite?
Well that wasn't a lie, it's just that I have a big appetite, and that I can eat a full course meal in less than 5 minutes.
I went on to find myself an empty table so I could eat in peace with myself, and after a few moments of looking, I have found one just around the corner by the window.
I put my food tray down the table, sat down, and after saying my good graces to the lord above heaven, I wolfed down the meal sitting nicely in front of me.
In just a short moment, and exactly five minutes later, I finished chowing down my lunch, and drank one glass of water.
I picked up the glass and the now dirty food tray, and stood from my seat, leaving it where the others left their own tray for the people at the mess hall to wash later.
The tiny bell hanging by the door rang as I made my way out, and made my way towards the designated briefing room in the base.
"Briefing Room, here comes the Raptor."
I said with a grin on my face, and picked up the pace.
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.
.
It took Mobius approximately 4 minutes to walk the distance from the mess hall to the briefing room.
Now he was standing just outside, and with no further delay, he opened the door and entered.
He looked around him as he walked through the gap in the middle of the chairs, each side having four columns respectively.
"People got here early, huh…" The Raptor said to no one in particular.
At the corner of his eyes, he saw a girl with shoulder length black hair, hazel eyes with glasses worn, she also wore a knee length skirt with thigh high socks, and black leather boots of the female variant. And to top it all off, literally, she was wearing a black turtle neck long sleeve, with a lab coat worn over it to emphasize her smart yet shy nature…
Well, I'll be…
"Snowflake?"
The girl yelped at the sudden mention of her name from a stranger.
"AH, YESHELLOWHATDOYOUNEEDHOWCANIHELPYOU?!" The girl frantically spoke.
Mobius motioned both of his hand to calm his fellow 5th generation fighter down, "Woah, at ease homegirl, it's just me."
The Timid, and nerd looking girl gasped, "O-Oh, Mobius… s-sorry you had to see that…"
(UNITED STATES AIR FORCE A.C.E, SNOWFLAKE)
(AIRFRAME : LOCKHEED MARTIN F-35A LIGHTNING II)
Snowflake averted her eyes from Mobius as she felt her face heating up from embarrassment, before she sat back down with her back facing the man.
Mobius could only sigh, before taking a seat right next to her.
A hint of awkwardness suddenly permeated the air as the murmurs and chatters of other A.C.Es around the room slowly increased in volume as more and more arrived for the afternoon briefing.
Mobius having had it, decided to break the silence between them.
"… Hey… I-I'm sorry… about earlier…" Mobius started, inwardly cursing and chastising himself for stuttering.
Snowflake turned towards the Raptor, still unable to look him in the eyes, and opting to look down instead.
"I-It's fine… It's water under the bridge already…" She timidly responded…
HOLY… SHE IS CUTE AS HELL, I WANT TO DATE HER- MOBIUS!!
BAD RAPTOR!! VERY BAD RAPTOR!! YOU ARE NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A GIRL THAT IS VULNERABLE, DAMN IT!!
"O-Oh, I see, but… I still feel bad… I want to make it up to you…" He trailed off, before shrugging, "… somehow…"
Now it was his turn to blush madly, as he inadvertently just admitted that he will do whatever she wanted him to do for her.
The Lightning then looked at him with incredulous wide eyes, her blush gaining a deeper red hue.
"O-Oh…" was all the timid fighter could blurt out.
Was it because someone as handsome as him just straight up told her that he would be her workhorse, or god forbid, her lab rat, if she ever wanted to, and he wouldn't have any qualms with it?
No, definitely and absolutely not!!
Before things got more Awkward though, two familiar faces decided to show up just in time for the two of us.
"Hey Strike, Hey Cipher."
"O-Oh, good afternoon Strike, and to you too, Squadron Leader."
"Oooh… you two are a thing now?" Strike nonchalantly asked the two 5th gen, not aware of the effects it has on the two.
"N-NO! /NO YOU DUMBASS!!" The F-35 and F-22 spoke in unison.
The F-16 could only laugh hysterically at the two as their blush returned with a wrathful vengeance.
Fortunately for the younglings, Cipher came to their rescue… again.
"Cut it out, and act like the veteran you are, Strike." The F-15C chastised the Falcon as he gave the top of Strike's head a light karate chop.
Strike snickered, before sitting on the Raptor's left side, with Cipher taking a seat on the Lightning's right.
"Say, where is Herc, Hog, and Lance?" Mobius asked Cipher.
"On maintenance."
"What about Tom?"
"Late, as usual… damn Navy nerds, where'd him and Hornet flocked off to?" The Falcon asked no one in particular.
"U-um, Mister Strike…" the Lightning shyly called out, "My family has a naval variant…"
"Oh, sorry if you feel offended, but I wasn't talking about your Airframe, was I?"
"O-oh…"
"But seriously, where'd Tom and Hornet go? They're usually late, but not THIS late, there's like, what? 5 minutes remaining before the scheduled briefing started?" The veteran Eagle spoke.
"Looking for us, boss?"
"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, YOU TWO!!"
The Eagle yelled in surprise as two of the mentioned Aircraft laughed like maniacs, drawing a lot of people's attention, making Strike and Mobius facepalm, and the shy Lightning fidget a little, cringing at the sudden attention their squadron drew.
"Calm down, Mr.Squadron leader, it's just me and Hornet."
"Yeah, an AIM-9 side winder up where the sun don't shine ought to do it!" the F-15 furiously spoke in a hushed tone, much to the other two Aircraft's amusement.
Both were in casual clothing, the first of the two had blue medium length hair, sky blue eyes and wore clothing similar to what Mobius is wearing, A Navy blue zip up hoodie jacket worn over a black shirt with the word 'NAVY' printed on the front of it. He sports a dark blue jeans with a leather belt, and white rubber shoes with ankle height socks.
(FORMER UNITED STATES NAVY/UNITED STATES AIR FORCE A.C.E, HORNET)
(AIRFRAME : BOEING F/A-18E/F SUPER HORNET)
"Look, old man, we're genuinely sorry for sneaking up on you like that." Tom chided in.
"You don't got the rights to call me an old man, Thomas, your Airframe was serving before mine entered service."
Tom raised both hands in response to the sassy remark.
Tom wore a Bomber Jacket with patches, reminiscent of that one Tom Cruise wore from a certain movie, an aviator sunglass hanging just above his forehead. He boasts an Auburn hair in a long shag cut, a black polo shirt with a navy blue bandana wrapped and tied neatly around his neck. He wore jeans and brown leather boots to top it all off.
(FORMER UNITED STATES NAVY/UNITED STATES AIR FORCE A.C.E, TOM)
(AIRFRAME : GRUMMAN F-14 TOMCAT)
Tom snickered, before beckoning his fellow navy fighter to sit down just behind us.
With that, our Squadron is complete, just in time too, cause when I heard the door open, I snapped my head to look towards that direction, lo and behold, it's the briefing officer, currently making his way towards the podium at the front.
He put the folder down, and spoke.
"Is everyone here?"
There was a brief chatter among the A.C.E's in the room, which the officer took as an affirmative.
"Settle down! I said settle down and pay attention, A.C.E's!" the officer yelled out in a booming voice.
With that Command, everyone finally closed their mouths and paid attention.
"You have all been instrumental in helping to maintain peace in UN as Members of the International Alliance Peacekeeping force…" The Officer trailed off, his face suddenly taking an even more serious expression.
"Until today."
"What's wrong, sir? Did something come up?" An A.C.E in the room asked.
"I was getting to that." The Officer looked at him, unamused at the abrupt question, before continuing to speak.
"Earlier, our radar site informed us that a group of unidentified aircraft was approaching. Communications systems went down immediately afterwards."
A High-Tech hologram depicting the radar site's destruction lit to life.
"We are led to conclude that they have attacked the site."
There was a murmur among the occupants of the room at this revelation, which was promptly silence.
"Settle down, People." The Officer chastised.
"It's possible that a terrorist organization is in play, but it's also possible that someone broke the ceasefire fire agreement made after the Russian-American War."
"As of today, the Hickam Air Base Squadron of the I.A.P.K.F has been put on high alert. All members who have been ordered to sortie, fly there immediately. Find the unidentified craft, then use your weapons to round them up and force them to land. If the hostiles counterattack, then you will splash them down and…"
The briefing was suddenly interrupted by a loud explosion which shook the room.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Numerous unidentified aircraft confirmed overhead!"
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!"
"HOW IN THE HELL IS THAT POSSIBLE?!"
"TANK FARM HAS BEEN HIT!!"
"CONFIRMED CIVILIAN AND MILITARY CASUALTIES!!"
Everyone frantically shouted and ran around like headless chickens.
Among the commotion of it all, Mobius's Squadron was also on their feet, raring to go, especially Mobius, who had a million thoughts running around his mind.
'IT'S MY TIME!! THIS IS IT!! I HAVE A CHANCE TO SHOOT AN AIRCRAFT DOWN!!' He thought to himself excitedly.
The Squadron Leader, Cipher, called out to the officer, "SIR, ORDERS?!"
"Scramble! All units, take off and eliminate the unidentified craft attacking the base! This is not a drill!"
""""SIR, YES SIR!!""""
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.
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My Squadron was the first one out of the room, and we're now running at full speed to scramble out of the building.
The moment we cleared out of the building, I mentally reached out for my aircraft, then promptly called out.
"MOBIUS, ENGAGING!!"
A bright light engulfed my body as a mechanical rigging resembling an F-22 wing and thrusters formed around my back, weapon racks at my wrist armed with Air to Air missiles.
I activated my afterburners, and pushed to full throttle, flying high up in the air on course to intercept. I activated my golden colored visor that vaguely represented the golden bubble canopy that the Raptor has to protect my eyes from the wind.
I took a peek behind me and saw the rest of my 6 man squadron activate their Airframe and fly just like I did.
I blazed past the base, seeing smoke rise up from the bombed Tanks and Military buildings from high above, then my radio was suddenly bombarded with chatter from the Ground Officers and Control Tower.
"RADAR SITE IS STILL SILENT!!"
"WE'RE SITTING DUCKS, GET THOSE BIRDS AND A.C.E'S IN THE GOD DAMNED SKY!!"
"MORE UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT INCOMING TO POUND THE BASE, NO FLYING IDEA HOW MANY!!"
"LET'S CLEAR THAT RUNWAY, PEOPLE!! WE'RE BURNING DAYLIGHT AND WASTING TIME HERE!!
While I was busy listening to all that chatter, I didn't realize my squadmates had already formed up on me… well, except Snowflake and Hornet, they were falling behind.
"Snowflake, Hornet, Keep up will you?" Cipher spoke on the radio.
"Y-YES SIR!/THE HELL YOU THINK I'M DOING?!" The Lightning girl and the Hornet responded in the same time.
"Mobius, Strike, Tom, Slow down and maintain element, let the other two catch up."
"Copy that, King." Strike snarked.
"Don't call me that."
"Affirmative." Tom replied.
Then Mobius followed. "Wilco, Boss."
A few moments later, the two Aircraft that were falling behind caught up to us, and formed up on Cipher.
(UNITED STATES : STEEL SQUADRON.)
"Steel Squadron, this is AWACS Big Bird, how copy?"
"This is Steel 1, we hear you Big Bird." Cipher responded.
"Be advised, there are unidentified Aircrafts coming in from the north, you are on course to intercept, but we do NOT have any confirmation on how many. Stay sharp, Steel Squadron. "
"We Hear you, AWACS."
Then Cipher turned towards the Raptor, whom he had correctly assumed was excited about all of this.
"Hey kid."
Mobius then snapped his attention towards his Squadron leader.
"What is it, Cipher?"
"I know you're eager to get your feet wet, and your hands dirty, but stay sharp and attentive of my orders, clear?"
"Yes sir."
"So…" The F-16 then Chimed in, "How's it feel to finally eat some meat on your meal, Nugget?"
"If I had to be honest? I'm feeling excited!"
"I can tell."
"What about girly from behind us? Heard that this would be her first time as well, if you catch my drift." Tom joked.
"Tom, I'm so going to kill you once you enter the TARMAC." Mobius warned the F-14.
Oh no… I HAVE A CRUSH ON HER!!
AND I JUST COULDN'T BE SUBTLE ABOUT IT, HUH?!
Great work, Mobius, the boys will hound you for this and never live it down.
"I-I umm… well… I'm a little n-nervous…" the F-35 meekly said.
"Worried about killing? Happens to the best of us sometimes, Hornet over there cried himself to sleep when he shot down his first manned bogey on the Atlantic." Cipher jabbed at Hornet.
"HEY, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT SIR, SHUT THE HELL UP."
The Squadron giggled, much to Hornet's chagrin.
"Steel 1, Unidentified aircrafts had been spotted, mow them down." AWACS Big Bird suddenly chimed in.
"Roger." Cipher responded.
"Alright team, HERE WE GO!!"
"Steel 2, engaging hostiles." Mobius called out on the comms.
"Steel 3, bagging myself some Aircraft." Strike followed up.
"Steel 4, engaging." Tom smiled as he saw Strike and Mobius Speeding ahead, and breaking element, promptly following them into the thick of it.
"S-Steel 5, providing support." The F-35 called out as she prepared to snipe an enemy bird out of the sky.
"Steel 6, commencing attack." The Hornet called out as explosions boomed from the ensuing dogfights.
"So much for Beyond Visual Range… Steel 1, ready to give the smoke."
The squadron met the wave of 40 unidentified Aircrafts head on.
The A.C.Es danced in the air around the hostiles, dodging missiles and bullet fire alike.
"STEEL 1, YOU GOT A BOGEY BEHIND YOU!!"
"I SEE IT STEEL 5!!"
"STRIKE, BREAK RIGHT!!"
"MOBIUS BAGGED ANOTHER KILL!"
"STEEL 5, BEHIND YOU!"
"MANEUVERING TO SHAKE THEM OFF, AHH, MOBIUS HELP!"
"HOLD ON STEEL 5!!"
"STEEL 1, COULD USE SOME HELP HERE, DAMN IT, GET OFF MY TAIL!!
"I GOT YOU TOM!!"
"CIPHER BAGGED A KILL!!"
"STEEL 6, YOU GOT ANOTHER ON YOYR TAIL!!"
"I SEE IT TOM, I SEE IT, DEPLOYING COUNTERMEASURES!"
"I GOT A LOCK!! FOX 2!!"
"GOOD KILL, GOOD KILL!!"
"GAH, SNOWFLAKE, BOGEY ON YOUR TAIL!!"
"AH!! STEEL 5 POPPING FLARES!!"
"FALCON SPLASHED A BANDIT!!"
"TOM, STEEL 5 IS IN TROUBLE!!"
"ON MY WAY TO SUPPORT HER, STEEL 2!!"
"STEEL 2 DOWNED ANOTHER AIRCRAFT!!"
"CIPHER, BANK RIGHT, BANK RIGHT!"
"STEEL 5, I GOT A LOCK, FOX 2!!"
"NICE ONE SNOWFLAKE, THAT THING'S DONE FOR!!"
"MOBIUS, 2 ON STRIKE!!"
"AH, DANG IT, GET OFF YOU TWO!!"
"COPY THAT!!"
"ON MY WAY TO SUPPORT!!"
The radio chatter was frantic as all A.C.Es of the Steel Squadron fought off the wave of 40 in a fierce dogfight, weaving through gun fire and missiles, and shooting down one unidentified Aircraft to another, until there was nothing left but the smoking debris of their assailants, falling into the ocean below in a majestic fire ball.
The dogfight that had lasted for almost 23 minutes had finished.
The squadron would have celebrated, but the sound of the Radio crackling to life permeated their ears, and someone spoke.
"Steel Squadron, this is AWACS, we got another wave coming in west of your current position, rendezvous with Sword Squadron and deal with the threat."
Strike let out an audible groan, "These guys just don't give up, DO THEY?!"
"Quit whining, Copy that, AWACS, Steel Squadron is en route."
I flew close with Snowflake as we reformed our flight element and made our way to rendezvous with Sword Squadron to intercept the next wave.
"You alright?"
"Y-Yeah…"
"Those are some impressive snipes… you saved my ass a couple of times… thanks."
"Y-You saved me too… too much times, I-If I may add… thank you…"
The F-22 could feel his heart run a marathon at the sight of the timid F-35.
MY GOODNESS, WAS SHE ALWAYS THIS CUTE?!
GIRL, YOU'D BE THE DEATH OF ME.
But before I could say another word to her, I heard someone let out a wolf whistle, and interrupting my thought process.
It was Strike, with a shit eating grin on his face, and he was not alone, EVERYONE ELSE HAD ONE TOO, YOU PIECES OF ACTUAL SH-
"Damn Son, since when?" Cipher cheekily inquired.
"N-No, this is all a-a misunderstanding!/IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!" The F-35 and the lovestruck F-22 spoke out in unison, a deep red blush marring the young woman's face as the man fumed and went red with anger and embarrassment, glaring daggers at each one of them.
Tom then smugly replied, "Oh it's okay, just admit it you two, we won't judge, that's just how it is."
Hornet faked a sniffle, "They grow up so fast…"
"Kid, you wanna come to my crib for some advice? Uncle Strike might have a trick or two to teach on how to get smooth like butter ~"
"Being in a relationship in the Military is hard, Kid, hope you prepare yourself for that." Cipher teased the already seething Raptor.
Mobius growled, and was about to lash out, only to be stopped at the nick of time by Snowflake, a hand resting on his shoulder as she eyed him pleadingly.
"Mobius…"
…
Hah, please marry me…
The man then sucked in a long breath, exhaled through his nose and softened his glare as he looked into her eyes.
"… Okay… thanks again… for that…"
The F-35 nodded, but deep within, she could feel a thousand thoughts bubbling up in her mind which made her chest ache and tighten.
Those thoughts might or might not revolve around a certain white haired Air Dominance A.C.E flying just beside her.
She forced herself to shove that at the back of her head and focus on the mission at hand.
Seeing that the F-22 had been pacified, the rest of the boys knew that teasing any further wouldn't bear any fruit, they returned their focus back on their task to fell the wave.
They loitered for another long moment, before they finally see the other Squadron they're supposed to rendezvous with.
"Sword Squadron, this is Steel 1, how copy?"
"This is Sword 1, we heard you loud and clear."
Steel Squadron then formed up beside the Sword Squadron, the two sides exchanging curt greetings before looking ahead.
"Enemy Spotted!"
"Ah shit, here we go again."
.
.
.
The defense of Hickam Air Base lasted for a long 3 hours, as wave after wave were sent to pound the Military base as much as possible, as the two Squadrons flew to intercept and engage each.
"You think that's the last of them, Sword 3?"
"I think so, Steel 3."
"AWACS, this is Steel 1, are there any more bandits incoming?"
"Negative, don't see anything else coming from where I am."
"Sweet Jesus, look at the base… there are holes all over the runway…"
All 11 of us, Steel and Sword squadron, turned towards the base to see the black smokes rise up into the sky.
Who could've done this? Why would they do it? What are their goals? What do they hope to achieve with this?
One of the many thoughts that ran in my head at that very moment however, was not questions.
"Whoever they are, they're about to receive a very, VERY proportional response."
"Damn straight." Sword 1 agreed.
"Boss, don't you think those Aircraft looked… odd? Like alien…?" Sword 5 inquired their Squadron leader.
Cipher then crossed an arm over his chest, and held his chin in thought, now that you've mentioned it… those aircraft don't look like any Aircraft that UN had registered on their archives…"
"Do you think it's a Terrorist org, sir?" Sword 2 asked Cipher.
"I don't know."
GAH, THIS IS A WILD GOOSE CHASE!!
WHY DON'T THOSE BASTARDS JUST SHOW THEMESELVES TO THE WORLD SO WE CAN FIND AND END THEM SOONER?!
DAMN COWARDS!!
"Warning, Unknown Bogey is Entering the AO, Break, BREAK!!"
"AH, DANG IT!!" Steel 5 tried to break, but was hit anyways, sending him into a fiery tumble towards the ocean.
"PJ!!" Steel 1 called out as another explosion engulfed him next.
"SWORD SQUADRON, STEEL SQUADRON, EVADE EVADE!!"
"AH, WE'RE TRYING-AH!!"
"SWORD 2 IS DOWN!!"
"FUCK!!"
"WE'RE EITHER LOW OR OUT OF MUNITIONS TO ENGAGE, MAKE A BREAK FOR THE BASE!!" Cipher yelled out an order.
I turned towards the general Direction of the air base, and did as I was told.
Strike, Tom, and Hornet followed behind me, as did the rest of the remaining 3 Sword Squadron A.C.Es, with Cipher leading ahead of the escape…
WAIT!!
"AH, MOBIUS, SUPPORT!!" A girly voice shrieked on the Radio.
"SNOWFLAKE!!"
"MOBIUS, NO!!" Tom tried reaching out, but Mobius had already performed an immelman turn to speed back towards snowflake.
I whizzed past the F-35 and jousted with her assailant head on.
… Wait… White hair, Red eyes, and an F-22 airframe?
Aside from the two obvious bulges on her chest, SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE ME, WHO THE HELL IS SHE?!
DON'T MATTER.
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!!"
"MOBIUS!!"
I heard Snowflake yell out my name, distressed that I'm about to take this monster head on.
She locked her cold red orbs with my own red ones for a split second, but that seems to have been enough, as she got the message.
It's a Dogfight.
I soon as we whizzed past each other, the fight was immediately on, and already, I was put on the defensive.
She chased me through the clouds, and stayed on my tail as I climbed, but I weaved and dodged left to right through her gunfire and missiles, but I could only dodge so much before I got grazed by a bullet, sending out sparks.
"Shit!"
I slowed down a little, and did a Cobra maneuver. BET SHE DIDN'T EXPECT THAT!!
She flew right past beneath me as I was now on her tail, putting her on the defense, and I on the offense.
With the remaining rounds and Missiles I have left, I peppered her with gunfire and a missile as soon as I got a good lock.
As expected of an A.C.E of her caliber, she managed to dance around most of my attack, making tight turns and high g maneuvers to dissuade the missiles flying at her.
Oh god, she's good, hell, SHE'S BETTER THAN ME!!
I fired upon her one barrage after another, until I finally got a lucky hit on a non critical area, just before I ran out of any ordinance.
Curses, now I'm at the mercy of this Girl!!
I Immediately broke away from chasing her, but she gave chase.
It was a harrowing run for my life. I flew as fast as I could as bullets whizzed past behind me, and missile warnings blared to life every now and then. I dodged to the best of my abilities as she hounded me all the way back to the base as I could barely fly at that point.
Before I knew it, she caught up to me, just flying above my head.
Oh god, she's not going to-!!
I rolled in the air to face her, but she was already mid attack for me to react properly, and before I knew it, my altitude rapidly decreased as she just kicked me right in the chest, and planting her foot on it.
I crashed, obviously, with my back against the ground careening through it as she used me like some sort of snowboard displacing soil and making a long trench peppered with debris from my wrecked wings.
"GAH!!"
Soon I stopped moving, just barely conscious and at the mercy of the winner of our dogfight.
She had… a frown on her face… or maybe that's fatigue getting to me… her heels are still digged on to my chest… god, everything hurts… I just got finessed by another F-22 which is… not a shame per se, but now we have a kill ratio of 13-1… there goes my dream of surpassing uncle eagle, I guess… Sorry Cipher, Sorry Strike… the Kid put up a disappointing performance for an advanced dominance fighter…
Sorry Tom, Sorry Hornet… please know that I didn't mean anything by the insults I threw at you and the Navy…
Sorry Snowflake… I'm coming home as a corpse today… I'm sorry I didn't confess sooner…
The last thing I saw and heard was the Female Raptor standing on top of me, speaking with a sad look on her face, and tears welling up on her cold red eyes…
"I'm sorry…"
My vision went completely dark soon after…