The walk to the briefing room was short and quiet. All of the banter that the squadron had been exchanging with each other mere moments ago was gone. Maybe it was because after having such a fun time with each other they actually had to work now, maybe it was just the usual stress and unease that came before a mission, or maybe it was because it was 10:20 at night, but none of them particularly chatty, and Avery was fine with that. She couldn't speak on the others' behalf, but speaking personally, she was dreading this mission. All she could think about was how they probably wouldn't be getting back until at least 12:30. This was going to be a long night.
If Grayson noticed the pilots as they walked into the briefing room. He gave no indication of it. He was sat at the desk, staring intently at the screen of his laptop and occasionally taking a sip from a blue mug with the text "WORLD'S BEST CO" on the side. It wasn't until the chairs that Locksmith sat in squeaked underneath them that he finally acknowledged their presence.
"Alright, Locksmith Squadron. I'm sure you all don't want to be here anymore than me, so let's get this underway."
Cutter offered a smile. "Oh, trust me, sir. We definitely don't."
Shepard nodded in agreement. "The sooner we get all of this done, the better," he added.
Grayson stood up and meandered over to the large screen on the back wall, powering it up. The briefing software opened automatically and displayed a blank map of Cascadia. After a few slow keystrokes from Grayson, key information appeared on the screen- flight paths, enemy and friendly locations, the works.
"As you all witnessed firsthand, Cascadia has been increasing the frequency of their attacks on our air convoys," he began. "Interceptions have become commonplace to the point that our entire air supply chain is at risk. And with the rebel ships wreaking havoc on the coastlines, both supplies and manpower are all but stuck out of country. Your mission tonight, Locksmith Squadron, is to rectify this by clearing new paths for our air convoys to travel through."
The Commander zoomed in on a region of Northern Cascadia, just north of the main channel.
"With our air support running cover for our transports, the Cascadians have been taking advantage of our lack of CAS, and they've set up several vast anti-air systems in the northern mountains. The largest of these defense systems is situated at the rather blandly named R20 Mountain Range- which is where you will be headed shortly."
"So, just to make sure I have this right… you're sending us- a squadron of aircraft- to fly out and take out the largest enemy anti-air system in Northern Cascadia?" Pad asked. "Respectfully, sir, what the hell did we do to piss you off?"
Grayson paid his comment no mind. "Friendly ground units will be on station to assist in this operation, as well. When you first arrive, they'll knock out the main radar cluster, essentially rendering them blind and deaf on the long range. With that being said, though, they will obviously still present a serious risk once you get within their range," he warned. "Your best bet will be to keep as low as you can, ideally below the higher peaks to keep yourselves concealed."
"Okay, so you are trying to get us killed. Good to know," ASH murmured under her breath.
"What kind of defenses should we be anticipating aside from the AA itself?" Shepard asked. "Will they have interceptors within response range?"
"It's entirely possible, but we can't say for sure one way or the other. You'll have to be ready for anything."
Locksmith Squadron could work with that. Hell, that's what they'd already been working with since the war started- so many unknown variables with too many outcomes, and they had to be ready for all of them. After giving Grayson a quick salute, they all filed out of the briefing room and began making their way down to the hangar. Avery joined ASH and Padlock in complaining that this whole mission was crazy while Shepard and Cutter insisted that this was nothing that they couldn't handle. In fact, the two of them had already done a similar mission, years and years ago. It instilled Avery with at least some confidence, but not much.
Before long, they were in the air, flying in formation toward the AO. It was damn quiet, too. Nobody uttered a word beyond what was necessary, which made the flight all the more boring. Normally, Avery passed the time during these long, quiet flights by looking at the scenery from above, but with how dark it was, she could barely see a thing. She sighed to herself, fidgeting with the controls for the brightness of her HUD.
"Hey, look up at the sky," Pad said, breaking the silence.
The cloud cover that had been blocking their view of above since they first took off had finally shifted, revealing a blanket of stars above them, stretching out across the sky into infinity. It was beautiful. Avery had always loved the stars. They were what got her into aviation in the first place. Over time, her attention had gradually shifted to the goings-on within the atmosphere, but even now, she could still appreciate a good view of the stars when she saw one.
ASH whistled. "Quite the view we've got from up here- almost makes a girl feel special."
"It's one that I'll never get tired of seeing," Shepard said.
Suddenly, North Star's voice came over the radio with a heavy sigh. "Alright, Locksmith Squadron, you're approaching the AO. Begin your descent."
"Damn, North Star, they kept you awake for this, too?" Cutter asked with a smirk as he and the others angled their noses downward.
"You wish. I've got about five other operations I'm wrangling in addition to yours," the AWACS operator said with an annoyed huff.
"This is Headwind 2-3. The main radar array has been destroyed," Statts reported. "We've got QRFs coming our way, so we're gonna draw 'em out and away for you guys while trying to hit whatever secondary objectives we come across."
"Copy that, 2-3," North Star replied. "Locksmith Squadron, that's your cue. The enemy AA system is broken up into several smaller clusters scattered across the mountain range. I've marked each of them as well as the most ideal attack vector on your radars. Begin the attack."
"Wilco, cheers North Star," Shepard responded.
As the squadron came to a low valley, they all split off toward different clusters, vanishing from Avery's view. She kept herself low, weaving between the peaks and walls of the mountain range as she followed her path. Her eyes darted back and forth between her radar and the valley in front of her. There was a left turn coming up- a sharp one, at that. She cut back on the throttle, slowing her approach to the turn and rolled onto her side, pulling back on the stick immediately and hugging the wall of the mountain as she curved around with it.
The cluster was dead ahead, tucked safely out of Avery's direct line of sight by another mountain. She needed to do this right. If she went to high to get over it, then she'd be a sitting duck for the very air defenses she was here to destroy. Pushing ever so slightly forward on the throttle, Avery kept herself low as she made her approach. Just before approaching the base of the mountain, she pulled up, following the angle of the mountain as it climbed higher and higher. As she flew overhead, snow from down below flew all over in the backwash of her plane. The moment she crested the peak, Avery inverted and came back down on the other side.
The anti-air defenses detected her instantly, and her RWR lit up like a Christmas tree. Two missiles shot up into the air from a pair of L-SAMs and adjusted their course to head straight for her. She needed those SAMs dealt with. Thumbing the weapon selection switch, she readied her two MLAGs and locked up both SAMs. An orange glow lit up the night around her as both missiles lurched forward and she went evasive, pulling hard to the left. The beeps in her cockpit got faster and faster. Chaff and flares lit up the night. Avery made one last turn, this time, toward the AA cluster, and both missiles sailed right past her to collide with the mountain. In that same moment, both L-SAMs exploded simultaneously, and Avery took it as her chance. Flames spewed out from her plane's exhaust as she lit her burners and sped toward the cluster. Tracers from the AA guns spewed out in her general direction, but by then, it was already too late. A pair of UGBLs dropped from her pylons, and both of them hit dead center, wiping out the entire cluster in a single pass.
"Defense clusters Alpha, Charlie, Echo, and Golf confirmed destroyed. Looks like only three more clusters left in the area," North Star reported.
"Make that two," Statts chimed in. "We've got explosive charges planted all around Bravo, ready to detonate as soon as we're at a safe distance."
"Shit, ALCON, be advised, we've got mercenary IFFs closing in hot, bearing triple zero at angels 20," North Star called out. "Don't let them get close enough to hound you guys, otherwise you'll be in for a rough time."
"I'm closest. I'll make the intercept," Cutter offered, already turning for the merge. "Anyone else want a piece of the action?"
"Sure, I used up all my bombs on that last pass anyway," ASH replied, moving to link back up with him. "Although I don't know how effective we'll be with only two heaters each."
"Just do what you can for now. The rest of us will come to help you out once we've taken out the last of these AA clusters," Shepard assured her. "Glade, Padlock, take out cluster Delta. I'll deal with Foxtrot."
"Wilco. C'mon, Pad, let's hit these bastards with a pincer attack. They won't know what hit 'em."
"Copy that. Let's raise some hell."
Both of them continued snaking their way through the dips and valleys of the mountain range, keeping themselves as low as possible. Avery's eye flicked back and forth between her radar and the path in front of her, watching as she and Padlock positioned themselves on opposite sides of the AA cluster. Finally, they both moved in for the kill, pushing up over the mountains keeping them safe and closing in. Pad fired his two MLAGs, knocking out a pair of SAMs, and clearing the way for Avery to get in close. She was just about to drop her last two bombs when an orange light appeared down below, only this time it wasn't a missile. A railgun shot up directly at her, giving Avery only a few precious seconds to break away before it hit her.
"Holy hell! Where did the rebels get railguns?" she asked as she began to circle back around for another pass.
"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say the mercenaries, most likely," Shepard replied with content in his voice. "The longer this war drags on, the more and more advanced tech the mercs get to bring in from out of country. All they're doing is fanning the flames."
ASH scoffed. "Of course they are. That's how they make their profits."
"Y'know, those Cascadians really oughta be careful. The more comfortable these mercs get here, the less likely it is that they'll leave," Cutter warned.
"You have no idea," Shepard replied forebodingly.
It was a truly terrifying thought to Avery; letting the mercs sink their claws into Cascadia and not let go. They wanted another shot at Oceania- that much was clear to the entire world, but if they wanted that to happen in Cascadia, then they had another thing coming.
Pad made a pass with his gun, taking out a pair of AA guns. The railgun began to glow again, and Avery took it as her chance. She sped toward the remaining hostiles, and as soon as the reticle on her HUD turned red, both of her remaining UGBLs dropped from their pylons, shedding weight from her plane. She pulled hard to the left, avoiding the AA fire coming up at her that was quickly silenced as her bombs hit their mark. All that remained was a single radar that Pad finished off with his last bomb, allowing them to finally climb up to a higher altitude.
"Defense cluster Delta is down," Avery reported. "Locksmith 3 and 6 moving to engage the remaining bandits."
"Foxtrot is down as well," Shepard reported.
"Copy. All anti-air systems confirmed destroyed. Eliminate all remaining hostiles in the AO before withdrawing," North Star ordered.
Avery and Pad lit their burners, speeding toward Cutter and ASH as they danced through the night sky with the mercenary fighters. Shepard joined up with them along the way, and before long, all of the bandits appeared on their HUDs: four F/C-15s. Shepard led the way, with Avery and Pad close behind him as they came within visual range. Avery's STDMs growled eagerly as they searched for a lock, and it didn't take very long to find one. As soon as one of the mercs lit their burners, Avery pulled the trigger. The missile flew off her wingtip effortlessly, curling through the darkness towards its target. Shepard fired a missile at them, too, and as they tried to avoid one missile, they flew straight into the other. Avery cut back on the throttle, bleeding of speed to turn hard onto another bandit's tail. They were closing in on ASH, who at this point was out of missiles entirely, and trying to finish her off with guns. Fortunately, they were too lost in bloodlust to notice the missile that Avery fired at them. The two remaining mercs turned to one as Cutter gunned one down, and the last one made a final, futile effort to try and escape, but by then, they were already boxed in. One hit after another, the F/C-15 was ripped open by bullets before exploding mid-air, leaving the scattered remains to fall into the mountains below.
"North Star, Locksmith Squadron is picture clean on the radar. Do you have anything on the long-range for us?" Shepard asked.
"Negative, looks like clear skies all around. Good work. Locksmith Squadron, push bearing 150 at angels 15 and RTB. Headwind 2-3, proceed to exfil and wait for the chopper."
"Sorry, North Star- much as I'd love to finally head home, we've got a whole buncha shit still on our plate," Statts replied.
"What are you talking about? I don't have any other taskings on my logs for you."
"Last minute changes'n all that," Statts quickly explained. "Some stuff came up while we've been out and we've gotta take care of it."
North Star let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine, but you're on your own, then. If something goes wrong, it'll be on you. Got that?"
"Don't worry, we'll make our way back sooner or later," Statts assured him. "We'll see ya on the other side," he said before cutting comms.
Avery let out a relieved sigh as she and the others climbed to the altitude North Star designated. "One hell of a night out, I'd say."
"With any luck, Grayson'll let us sleep in after tonight," Pad said. "Quite frankly, that's the least he could do for us."
Shepard chuckled. "Don't get your hopes up, Pad. With how much things have been heating up lately, I'd expect us to be all hands on deck in the coming weeks. If things keep up like this, we'll end up reaching a boiling point that shift the entire war. It's only a matter of when it happens, and being ready for it when it does."