Avery let out a content sigh as she looked around from her cockpit. It was clear skies all around- both in terms of the weather and the status of the AO- and that was just the way she liked it. The sun shone brightly overhead, bouncing light off the metal of her squadrons' planes and directly into her eyes. It was times like these that she was oh so relieved that the visor on her helmet was tinted.
"Sheesh, lotta civilian airships out today," Padlock observed, watching the countless airships- nothing more than dots in the distance marked by yellow IFF signatures- passing by. "We sure it's safe for them to be out here when we're so close by?"
"If we had any other choice, then I'm sure we would've taken a different route," Cutter replied. "But the Cascadians have been setting up more and more anti-air systems in the mountain ranges, so all we can do is stick to the major airways."
"I can't believe that the Cascadians are the ones dictating where we can and can't go," ASH chimed in. "We oughta be sending in our boots on the ground to take out these AA systems and then calling us in to clean up the rest."
"Well, that's why we're doing this," Shepard told her. "With all this equipment and manpower that we're moving in from out of country, we'll hopefully be able to finally put the Cascadians on the back foot for a change."
Avery let her eyes wander as she kept herself in formation with the others. Just shy of two dozen C/T-17s were all scattered across the AO, headed straight for Prospero. They were also accompanied by two other fighter squadrons sent to provide escort along with Locksmith Squadron. There were probably around thirty-five of them in total- all spread out over a one-mile radius.
She was looking down at her radar, trying to gauge exactly how far they had until another squadron would come in to replace them, when she saw a blip on her radar. It was gone as soon as it appeared, but she still saw it. Frowning to herself, she began fiddling with her radar, adjusting the range and mode to see if she could get another hit before brushing it off as a false positive. Try as she might, though, the only thing her radar was detecting was the myriad of friendly aircraft around her. Still, though, something about it didn't sit right with her.
"North Star, this is Locksmith 6. I could've sworn that I just saw a blip on my radar, but I can't seem to find it again," she reported. "Are you seeing anything on your sensors at all?"
North Star let out a bored huff. "Wait one, Six. Lemme cast a wide net here and see if there's anything out here to-"
The AWACS operator kept droning on for a few seconds more, completely unaware that one of the transports just a few dozen meters away from Avery had just exploded. The rest of the squadron all broke off, going defensive as VX-23s emerged from under the clouds, but try as she might, Avery couldn't move. No matter how hard she willed her arms to move and pull back on the control stick, she wouldn't budge. All she could do was watch as the wreckage of the C/T-17 that had been up and flying next to her just moments ago fell to the ground below in a ball of fire. In that moment, Avery was back in Presidia, watching helplessly as Babble met the same fate. It wasn't until the sound of a missile alert in her cockpit that she finally snapped out of it, dumping chaff and flares behind her as she only narrowly evaded the missile headed her way.
"Break, break, break! This is Locksmith 1; we are under attack!" Shepard called out. "We've got stealth aircraft right on top of us."
"Dammit!" North Star spat. "All fighters, move in. Protect those transports!" he ordered.
"Ah shit, we've got more coming- bearing 345!" one of the other fighters pointed out. "Looks like there's a lot of 'em too."
"There's too many for just us. We need support, now!" Cutter urged.
"AWACS North Star to Regional HQ, our air convoy Over the Palter Range is under attack; requesting any support in the area to be diverted to the AO to provide assistance."
"Negative, we are unable at this time," Grayson replied. "We're getting reports like this all up and down Cascadia. Our forces are spread thin. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to make do."
"Damn them! They're trying to cut off our supply chain," Shepard cursed.
"North Star, get these civvies out of here! Our multi-locks might as well be dead weight with them here," Pad said.
"Working on it- just do what you can and keep weapons safe on those Fox 3s for now!"
Avery scoffed. "Feels like I'm hearing that more and more these days."
She reached for her master arm and pulled hard into one of the VX-23s' paths. Her STDMs growled to life immediately. Already, they were eagerly searching for a lock, and Avery was doing her best to give it to them. The VX-23 twisted and rolled away, forcing her to pull straight up into a loop to chase after it. As she settled on the bandit's tail, her missiles got a good tone on the heat coming from their afterburners. Now was her chance. The STDM on her left wingtip sprung to life, shooting forward toward the VX-23 as it tired to get away. The mark of the Round Table on its wingtips glinted in the sun for a brief moment before the whole plane went up in flames.
"This is Federation ATC out of Prospero Hub issuing an airspace wide alert to all aircraft. I repeat, this is a Federation Aviation Agency declaration effective immediately. All civilian flights within all Cascadian regional airspaces are grounded at once. Follow all orders as transmitted by Federation military callsigns."
"North Star to all fighters; civilian aircraft are exiting the AO- well outside of radar range. You're weapons free on radar-guided missiles."
"Locksmith 1, requesting bogey dope. Which of these bandits are closest to our transports?"
"They're pouring in from all over. You're gonna need to split up to take 'em all. Aqua Squadron, divert bearing 120 and engage the flight of MG-29s. Blizzard Squadron, take care of the mercenary aircraft at 020. Locksmith, finish up with those stealth aircraft and engage the bandits at bearing 270."
Avery had already formed up with Pad, and together, the two of them were chasing down one of the last VX-23s. Since she was the closer of the two, she let bursts of gunfire fly out toward the bandit. Unfortunately, they were taking full advantage of the VX-23s maneuverability, jinking this way and that to evade the hail of tracers passing by. Suddenly, the mercenary pulled straight up into the air, bleeding off all of their speed and allowing Avery to speed by. They wasted no time in getting a lock on her, and just a moment later, there was a missile in the air headed right for her. Fortunately for her, though, Pad was already closing in on the merc's tail, chasing them away from Avery and keeping them from firing off another missile at her. The RWR in Avery's cockpit beeped faster and faster as the missile on her tail closed in. Her thumb fell to its usual resting place on the switch to deploy countermeasures and held it down. Flares lit up the sky behind her and the missile followed them, leaving her to pull away right into the VX-23s path and squeeze down the trigger, letting a hail of gunfire engulf the mercenary before the plane exploded.
"Aqua 7 was just shot down!" one of the Federation pilots cried out.
"There's too many of these mercs. They're shooting down the transports before we can even get a shot out on them!" another said.
"This is Blizzard 3, I've been hit! I'm down an engine and have multiple systems failing. I have to disengage, I'm sorry."
"I want all planes in the air, right now!" Grayson barked. "We can't afford to have our forces picked apart in transit. If we don't get our forces reconsolidated, then we're gonna spend the rest of the war disorganized!"
"Can we get some god damn reinforcements out here already?" ASH snapped as she and Shepard shot down the last VX-23. "These guys have us completely outnumbered."
"CAP flights are refueling and rearming as we speak. Once they're up, I'm directing some of them your way. Just hang tight!" North Star assured them. "It looks like the airship Verrigan is headed our way as well. They'll be here shortly."
'Just a little bit longer,' Avery assured herself as she followed Shepard and the others to deal with the group of bandits that North Star had called out for them.
As the cluster of transports that they were headed to protect appeared on her HUD, so too did the flight of ten mercenaries buzzing around them like flies. Closing the gap between them with her burners lit, Avery readied her MLAAs, locking four of them onto the closest bandits and firing as soon as she was in range. She didn't expect all of them to hit, but it would at least get the mercenaries away from the transports long enough for the fighters to close the gap. Cutter and Shepard did the same, and a wave of missiles went shooting forward, each curving away from the others as they chased after their targets. Two of Avery's four shots hit their marks, and thanks to the missiles that the other two shot out, only five mercs remained.
Finally, they came into visual range, and the dogfight began. Avery cut her burners and turned after an F/C-15 headed straight for her. She quickly readied her last STDM, firing it as soon as she had a lock. Just before they went defensive, the merc fired off a missile at her as well, forcing her to evade. She pulled back on the stick, dumping chaff and flares behind her as she pulled up and turned hard to the left, chasing after her target as they just barely evaded her missile. Fortunately, the one that they fired at her had also missed, allowing her to go full throttle after the Eagle. Suddenly, her RWR began beeping at a low, infrequent tone, signaling that someone was locking onto her. She quickly looked around and found her new assailant- an M/G-31 approaching her from the same direction that her target was going. Noticing an opportunity, Avery pulled back on the throttle and deployed her airbrake, bleeding off just enough speed to watch the two mercenaries pass right by each other. She squeezed down on the trigger, letting a barrage of gunfire hurl out from the nose of her plane, riddling both of them with holes and sending them spiraling down to the ground.
"North Star, this is Primo 6. We've got eyes on the airship Verrigan approaching our position," one of the transports reported. "They're not responding to our communications."
"Copy, wait one," North Star replied before switching to a different channel. "FVN Verrigan, this is AWACS North Star, say status. Are you able to escort the transports in your AO to Prospero."
Silence.
"Verrigan, please respond. Are you able?"
"What the hell? They're targeting us!" Primo 6 cried out. "What are they-" The radio went static.
"Dammit! All aircraft, get away from that airship!" Blizzard 1 ordered.
"What the hell is going on, North Star?" Padlock asked.
"Dammit give me a minute!" he snapped. "Wait… what? Are you serious?" he asked someone on another line. "Well, dammit, why didn't you tell me earlier?!" He paused for a moment, letting out an annoyed sigh. "All aircraft, Federation Intelligence is telling me that the FVN Verrigan has been hijacked by the Cascadians. All fighters, you are hereby ordered to shoot down the air cruiser. IFF is being updated now."
"North Star, most of us are already running low on ammo. How in the name of the Dust Mother do you expect us to take on a 205-class airship by ourselves?"
"Just make it work, Six," North Star snapped. "Besides, reinforcements are entering the AO now. They'll assist."
Avery looked down at her radar, and sure enough, new allied air contacts had appeared, and they were approaching fast. When she looked closer, though, she realized that there were only two. She was moments away from pointing this out when Padlock beat her to the punch. "We're out here busting our asses by ourselves, and they only send two planes? Are they out of their goddamn minds?!"
A few moments later, Avery found herself silently thanking the Dust Mother that their reinforcements had yet to switch onto their radio channel when Padlock asked that question. "This is Crimson 5 and 7, we're getting on station now," the Peacekeeper reported. "Apologies for being late. As you can imagine, thinks are a bit chaotic right now."
"Tally ho on one rebel airship. Preparing to engage," Crimson 7 spoke up.
Avery went dead silent. She didn't dare say anything at the risk of saying something stupid and having the Peacekeepers that she looked up to for practically her whole life think that she was just some annoying fangirl. No, she was going to let her actions speak for her. She readied her last two MLAAs and turned toward the airship while Padlock and Cutter finished off the last of the mercenaries. Already, the two SK.37s were darting back and forth, letting out short bursts from their guns to strip the 205-class of its defenses bit by bit. Her radar let out a solid tone, and she pulled the trigger immediately. The last two MLAAs practically leapt off their pylons and sped out toward the rebel airship, curling elegantly through the air until they made contact with their target, taking out a pair of AA guns.
If she was smart, she would've backed off then and there when she was out of missiles. But she was determined now, and what better way to impress the Peacekeepers than to stay on task with nothing but machine guns. Tracers spewed out from the airship toward her as she came within range, but she stayed on course, lighting her burners and closing the gap. She squeezed down on the trigger, letting out one long barrage of gunfire as she evaded the ones headed her way. Explosions ripped through the hull, causing a chain reaction across the entire ship, but ultimately, it was a missile from Shepard that sealed their fate.
"Airship confirmed destroyed. Picture clean of all hostiles," North Star reported.
ASH took deep, measured breaths. "Well, that was certainly, uh… intense."
Pad scoffed. "Yeah, no kidding."
"We'll stay with the transports and escort them the rest of the way to Prospero," Crimson 5 told the group of fighters. "Any aircraft low on fuel or ammo, switch off."
"That's our cue, Locksmith Squadron. Let's get out of here," Shepard said, already turning toward Presidia.
Avery followed after him, but she had to say something. Her heart was racing. Her mouth didn't want to open, but despite it all, she forced the words out. "Thank you, both- for everything." It wasn't much, but she at least got to say that she had spoken to Crimson Squadron. It was quite literally a childhood dream come true for her, and despite the circumstances it was under, that was all that mattered to her.
