"Alright, Locksmith Squadron, time is of the essence, so I'll do my best to keep this quick," Grayson began as the five pilots took their seats in the briefing room. He turned to face the screen behind him displaying the briefing software and zoomed in on a region near the northern coastline. "In order to counteract the mercenaries' continued attacks on our geothermal facilities in the east, the Federation Navy is executing a massive offensive across the Cascadian coastlines to force them away from the Exclusion Zones and force them to react accordingly. Ever since the war started, Cascadia's navy has been extremely limited in scale- consisting almost entirely of various Coast Guard vessels. As such, their capabilities in their fight against us have been reduced largely to hit and run attacks on our naval convoys moving equipment and manpower in from out of country," Grayson explained as he brought up the screen centering in on the AO- nothing but ocean for miles. "The primary objective of this offensive is to ensure absolute naval superiority for the Federation. The operation will be split into two different attacks, each spearheaded by one of our two top of the line battleships. Locksmith Squadron, you will be joining the FNS Jerusalem in the northern prong of this offensive."
"What's our role in this mission?" Shepard asked. "Are we gonna be the ones hitting those ships?"
Grayson shook his head. "No, that task will fall on the Jerusalem and the naval aircraft from her battlegroup. Your mission is to provide air cover for the offensive. The Cascadians will no doubt send fighters loaded with anti-ship missiles to stop our advance, and you'll be there to stop that from happening. Protect the Jersualem and her battlegroup from harm's way and ensure that their fighters can get the job done. Any further questions?"
Silence fell over the room.
"Then get to your planes. The Jerusalem is already underway, and I want you to rendezvous with them within the hour," Grayson told the pilots as they prepared themselves to get moving. "Remember, we have a lot riding on this mission's success. Under no circumstances can we afford to let the Cascadians carry on with their attacks unimpeded like this, so get moving Locksmith Squadron. You're dismissed."
"Locksmith Squadron, you're approaching allied fleet. Fence in," North Star ordered. "Patching into Jerusalem's comm frequency now."
"Copy all," Shepard responded. "This is Locksmith 1 to FNS Jerusalem. We're vectoring toward you feet wet- ready to proceed as fragged."
"Admiral Linder receiving you, we've got you confirmed on radar," the Jerusalem replied. "Push bearing 280 and link up with friendly aircraft."
Two groups of eight allied aircraft appeared on radar- one consisting of F/E-18s and the other F/D-14s- all flying straight toward the scattered presence of enemy vessels. Before long, the flight of five F/C-16s turned to join them. Avery followed her squadron's lead as they slipped into formation with the rest. Together, the group of twenty-one fighters reported that they were ready.
"Jerusalem to all callsigns in the AO, Phase 1 of Operation Leviathan is a go. Proceed to your assigned objectives, and engage the enemy. Out."
"Storm 1 copies, moving in to engage the advance element," the leader of the Super Hornets reported as they all dove down until they were just above sea level. "Hail Squadron, follow us in. We're gonna need those destroyers stripped of their defenses ASAP." A moment later, the Tomcats followed close behind.
"ALCON, this is AWACS North Star. Be advised, we've got two groups of Cascadian fighters vectoring in hot from bearing 020. Tally five in the first group and ten in the second- all Frogfoots," North Star reported.
"That's our cue," Shepard said, already turning to the designated heading. "Locksmith Squadron, turning to intercept."
Avery briefly glanced over her shoulder, watching as the naval fighters sped toward the lead ships to clear the way for their own fleet. 'They'll be fine,' she reminded herself. So long as she and her squadron did their job, then they wouldn't have any issue- theoretically, at least. Given Locksmith Squadron's track record over the last few weeks, some surprise that throws a wrench in the operation wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility for her, but until that happened, she had a job to do.
The first five SK.25s blinked into view on her HUD. At the moment, all of them were headed straight for the fleet. Whether it was because they had yet to see Locksmith or because they were too tunnel-visioned to realize that they were about to be targeted, it hardly mattered. What did matter was that it gave the Federation pilots an advantage that they were quick to take advantage of. As the one at the back of the formation, Avery was the last of her squadron to get within range. Radar tones went solid, and MLAAs launched out from each plane. Avery set her sights for the last plane to be targeted and fired. The flight of Frogfoots tried their best to notch the radar-guided missiles, but it was too late, and all five fighters vanished from radar at almost the exact same time.
"Five down, ten to go," Cutter reported. "We're making good timing so far- just gotta keep it up."
"Storm 1 to Jerusalem, forward picket fleet is out of action. You're clear to advance."
"Copy that. All ships, we are go for Phase 2. Move in and surround those ships. Time to remind these Cascadians who controls the seas."
While the rest of the fleet advanced, Avery and her squadron turned to face the second group of Frogfoots head-on, putting themselves between the Cascadians and the fleet. Her radar began beeping fanatically as it searched for a target, but the SK.25s were still too far out of range for a lock. In the end, though, it wouldn't matter. Those planes were undoubtedly loaded for air-to-ship combat. If they had any anti-air missiles at all, they'd be heatseekers with too short a range to pose a threat to Locksmith. All they had to do was hit their targets before the merge.
The Federation fighters lit their afterburners, picking speed as they got closer and closer to the approaching bandits. Avery's MLAAs growled as they found their lock, but she didn't pull the trigger just yet- not while they still had plenty of time and space for evasive maneuvers. She watched and waited as the SK.25s appeared on her HUD. Her RWR remained silent, and she nodded contently to herself, satisfied that her theory was right. Just a little bit more… now! Two more MLAAs launched out from under her wings, spewing smoke and exhaust as the sped toward their targets. A few moments later, two fiery blips briefly lit up the sky and then went dark. Her plane let out two satisfactory beeps, confirming the obvious. The others had been similarly successful with their attacks, but three Frogfoots still remained, heading straight for the Federation pilots as they finally came within range. Avery's RWR finally began screeching as all six STDMs fired off from their wingtips. Her hand reached for the countermeasures immediately, dumping flares as she followed ASH into evasive maneuvers. The two pilots banked hard to the right, pulling as many g's as their bodies and planes would allow. Avery's RWR beeped faster and faster until she heard the sound of a missile just barely missing her cockpit. Once her tail was clear, she pulled up as hard as she could, fighting to get on the bandit's tail while they did the same. Fortunately for Avery, her Viper was the more maneuverable of the two planes, and she found herself in the perfect position to take them out with guns. Two short bursts were all it took to send the burning wreckage that remained tumbling into the ocean below. She quickly formed back up with ASH, who had just fired off one of her STDMs to clear Shepard's tail. With all three of them free of bandits, they turned their attention to the last one being chased down by Cutter and Padlock. The last SK.25 was no match for all of them as it quickly got surrounded and gunned down.
"North Star, all Frogfoots have been splashed. Requesting bogey dope," Shepard reported as he led the squadron to circle back around to rejoin the fleet.
North Star's reply went out to the entire group rather than just Shepard. "ALCON, enemy reinforcements are approaching the AO. We've got mercenary interceptors closing fast from bearing 090 and more ships approaching from 340."
"Jeez, these guys just keep on coming, huh? Guess nobody warned them about being sore losers," ASH mumbled.
"All ships, form up on the Jerusalem," Admiral Linder ordered. "Arm all secondary batteries and finish the last of these ships off so we can deal with those reinforcements."
"Storm to Jerusalem, requesting permission to engage the bandits with Locksmith Squadron. We've all got ammo to spare."
Linder sighed. "Permission granted, Storm Squadron. Just don't get trigger happy."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Admiral," Storm 1 replied as he led his squadron out to meet up with Locksmith. "Hail, keep an eye 'em."
"Holy shit!" Pad exclaimed as he looked down at his radar. "It's a good thing you guys are joining us because that is a lot of bandits to deal with."
Avery checked her radar and sure enough, twenty mercernary fighters of varying aircraft types were headed straight for them. Had it not been for Storm Squadron joining up with them, they would've been outnumbered by an absurd degree, but thirteen against twenty was far more manageable than five against twenty. Readying her remaining missiles for the fight, Avery lit her burners and followed her squadron to face them head-on.
Her first target was an F/E-4 at the edge of the formation- easy pickings without a doubt. She quickly found a lock and fired one of her MLAAs, but only a few moments later, her RWR screeched to life. Her adversary had fired a Fox 1 at her and had a clear shot. For a moment, Avery hesitated, making split second decisions in her mind about what to do before ultimately opting to maintain her approach. It was risky, to be sure, but if her missile found its target before theirs did, then she wouldn't have any problems escaping its lock. Her RWR beeped faster and faster as the missile approached, and she watched as the F/E-4 kept its nose painted on her, keeping a good lock for its target. This would ultimately be their downfall, and as soon as her cockpit beeped in recognition of the mercenary's demise, Avery yanked back on the stick, pulling straight up and watching the SAA pass right underneath her.
But the fight was only just beginning, and Avery only had a few more moments until everyone would be within range of heatseekers. She quickly locked up a pair of F/C-16s and shot off her last two MLAAs, providing some much-needed weight reduction for the coming dogfight. Both Vipers launched chaff behind them as they went defensive, but only one would be fortunate enough to break the lock. And now, it was time for the real fight to begin. She lit her burners and chased after the fleeing F/C-16, quickly closing the gap between them. The mercenary tried to make one last attempt to outmaneuver their pursuer, but all it did was put themselves directly in Avery's boresight, allowing her to squeeze the trigger and gun them down. She didn't have long to celebrate her victory, though, as her RWR sounded off once again. Her hands moved to deploy flares instinctively before banking hard to the right and pulling down toward the water. As she went through her turn, she tried to crane her neck to get a good look at who had fired at her, only to see to a mercenary Flanker hit by a missile from one of the Storm Squadron aircraft as they passed by effortlessly.
She quickly made one last turn to ensure that the missile on her tail would miss its mark and set her sights on her next target, a lone MG-29 near the center of the furball trying to make its way out. She cracked a smirk, locking on in an instant and firing one off her two STDMs. Then came the usual dance lit up by flares as they went defensive. The missile twisted and curved to follow its prey, but ultimately missed its mark, careening off into the sky before making contact with nothing. The MG-29 leveled itself out directly in front of Avery, and the two prepared themselves to face each other head-on. Locks were made, STDMs were fired, and flares were dropped. In the end, only one of them came out unscathed, and it was Avery. It almost felt like she was holding her breath, and yet she could still feel the oxygen circulating through her lungs. She may have been out of missiles, but she was still in this fight. Only five mercenaries remained, and the Federation pilots were all beginning to circle in around them. Avery readied her guns and closed in on the last SK.27, which had just narrowly avoided a missile shot by one of the Storm Squadron pilots. Once she closed the gap, she let out short bursts with her gun, sending tracers flying toward the Flanker. Not a single shot hit its mark, but as the last of her ammo was used, she nodded with satisfaction as she achieved her goal, driving them right into Cutter's missile.
"Well…" Avery began, panting heavily as she fought to regain her breath. "Looks like that was the last of 'em, and not a moment too soon."
"And we're finishing off the last of the ships over here as well," Hail 1 reported. "North Star, you got any more surprises for us on the long range?"
"Negative, scopes are clean all around. Mission accomplished. Good work, everyone," North Star said in a tone that, if Avery didn't know any better, almost sounded impressed.
"Storm Squadron, Hail Squadron, return to the carrier," Linder ordered. "All ships, come about 180 degrees and return to port. The Jerusalem will meet you there later."
"Where are you going, Admiral?" Storm 1 asked. "By yourself, no less?"
"We're predisposed on other orders that I'm not at liberty to discuss," the Admiral answered sharply. "But we won't be alone. We're linking up with the FNS Cat Eye not far from here. Now go."
Shepard hummed as he led the squadron of F/C-16s on one last pass over the fleet before circling back. "Come on, Locksmith Squadron. It's about time that we did the same."
Pad scoffed. "Yeah, this all sounds like it's above our pay grade anyways."
"Locksmith, push bearing 140. We've got tanker aircraft waiting for you once we're back over land," North Star ordered.
"Wow, look at that, I didn't even have to ask. How courteous of you North Star," ASH teased him. "Who would've thought that underneath that hardass exterior you put up, is a true gentleman."
"Heh. You wish, Locksmith 5."
"Woah, hey, you got a laugh out of him ASH," Cutter pointed out. "Well, okay, it was more like a chuckle, but still. He really can show emotion."
Avery snickered alongside the rest of her squadron, but she didn't say anything. All it would do was prompt some overly-aggressive remark from North Star that would ruin the moment. She felt a pang of annoyance that she had to sacrifice her own enjoyment to keep others from unleashing their venom on her for no reason at all, but she was gradually coming to accept the fact that this was just how things were as a Cascadian pilot for the Federation. Maybe some day she would get to change that, but today was not that day.