"Lieutenant Finch, please report to the ready room ASAP. Repeat; Lieutenant Finch to the ready room," Vita's voice echoed across the building through the PA system.
Avery felt her heart skip a beat and immediately leapt to her feet, hastily throwing on her flight suit before running out the door. Did she oversleep? Why was she the only one being asked for? She didn't remember anyone saying anything about needing to be up at a certain time. As she burst out of the door to the control tower, her fears only worsened as she heard the deafening shriek of jet engines. Not long after, the four F/C-15s of Division K-9 taxied onto the runway and took off one by one.
She was now in a full-on sprint across the tarmac. The doors between herself and the ready room didn't stand a chance at stopping her as she burst through each and every one of them. Finally, she began to slow herself down as she approached the final door, making a few last-second adjustments to look at least somewhat presentable. As she finally entered the ready room, she stopped dead in her tracks. Confusion set in as she quickly realized that the room was entirely empty, save only for Vita standing at the other end.
"What happened? What'd I miss?" she asked as she walked up to him. "Where's everyone else?"
"You're the only one that needs to be here at present," Vita replied.
As he turned around and began booting up the screen on the wall behind him, Avery began to put the pieces together, and horror set in on her face. "No… You- you're not serious," she pleaded. "You can't serious be telling me that-"
"We need you up in the air ASAP," Vita finished for her.
"Alone?!" Avery asked in disbelief. "What about K-9 or any of the others? What in the name of the Dust Mother are you expecting me to do by myself?"
"K-9 have their own mission, and none of the other survivors' aircraft are combat ready yet. At this current moment in time, you are the only combat-effective Federation pilot aside from K-9," Vita replied, briefly turning around to tweak a few settings on the briefing software. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but we are out of options."
There was no way she was getting out of this. Avery knew that perfectly well. Letting out a heavy sigh, she relented and looked up at Vita. "Fine, so what is this mission, exactly?"
Vita brought up a map of Magadan on the screen. "In the week since the disaster at the Beiring Strait, the Cascadians have been gathering their forces in the north, and knowing that our airpower in country is utterly decimated at the moment, they've decided to do the unthinkable: a full-blown invasion of Magadan. They've amassed a massive fleet and are approaching land as we speak. K-9 and whatever Ground Reserves Divisions we could scrape up are already en route to the landing site. However, there's another issue that we've taken notice of- one that, if not rectified, could be disastrous for us."
"Man, you really know how to sell it, don't you, Vita?" Avery asked facetiously.
The AWACS operator ignored her. "In the last few hours, we've noticed that a sizeable contingent has broken off from the main fleet and headed further north. It appears that they're trying to make a secondary landing to outflank our main defenses," he continued. "Now, it's clear as day that they want us to divert some of our forces away from the primary landing sight to weaken our defenses. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to play into their hands. Several of the Ground Reserves Divisions have headed north and fortified positions to hit the Cascadians as they approach. You are to provide any and all air support possible."
"I really don't know what you're expecting from me, Vita. I am one goddamn pilot, and I can only carry so many bombs."
"If we had any better options, then we wouldn't be doing this. This is the only way forward. Now hurry up. Time is of the essence."
Sighing to herself, Avery stepped out of the ready room and began to prepare herself. Once all her flight gear was on, she stepped outside onto the tarmac, taking in the surrounds of Anadyr AFB in case this sortie was her last. It wasn't until she was about halfway to her plane that she saw Duncan walking toward her.
"What's all this, then?" he asked as she climbed up the ladder into her cockpit.
"Vita, in his infinite wisdom, is sending me on a sortie alone to give CAS to try and stop an entire landing force," Avery replied, her voice oozing sarcasm.
"Shit, really? I guess we really are that desperate."
"Tell me about it. And here I was thinking I'd just be waiting around for the heat to die down before going back to Cascadia."
"Well, good luck out there, Avery."
She nodded as her engines began to spool up. "I'm gonna need all the luck I can get."
Her canopy sealed itself around her and she began to taxi across the tarmac. On the sidelines, she could see some of the other pilots watching. A few of them gave her thumbs ups and salutes, and she couldn't help but smile. Just before she got onto the runway, she spotted the three pilots from Crimson Squadron watching her. They all wore the same expression: some mixture of envy and frustration, but also a hit of interest as well. Avery didn't blame them. She could only imagine how infuriating this whole situation must be for them. For a moment, she considered getting out and offering her plane to one of them to fly, but it was too late for that now. Positioning herself at the end of the runway, she sat holding down her brakes. Once ATC gave her the green light, she floored it and began to pull up into the sky. As she climbed up higher and higher, she noticed Vita's AWACS plane had begun to taxi as well, and once they were up, she followed his directions toward the AO.
The flight was unbearably long. Normally, she would try to pass the time by making idle conversation with her squadron, but since they weren't here, and Vita wasn't exactly a conversationalist, she sat there in silence. So still was the air around her that she nearly jumped in her seat when Vita next came on the radio.
"Locksmith 6, be advised, you're entering the AO," he told her. "I'm patching you through to the ground forces now."
"This is E-2 to ALCON, we've got confirmed enemy movement on our sensors- approaching from bearing 035, number unknown. Get ready. This is the big one."
"AWACS Vita to ground forces, commence defensive operations. Air support is vectoring in hot. Call them in for CAS as needed."
Avery flipped the switch for her master arm. "This is Locksmith 6, fencing in. I'm on station and ready for tasking at your discretion."
"One plane? That's all we get!?" one of the ground troops asked in disbelief.
"Consider yourselves lucky that you're even getting that," Vita replied.
"Dammit," E-2 cursed. "Alright, we'll just have to make do. All callsigns, commencing defensive operations. Pax Federation."
Allied ground units began to appear on Avery's HUD, but she had yet to get a visual on any of them thanks largely to some heavy cloud coverage blocking her view. As she began to push through the clouds, though, she almost wished she didn't. Dozens of enemy units appeared on her HUD- an entire battalion, at least- all trampling over the landscape to continue their advance. That's when Avery realized that what she was looking at in that moment was the future- a future where the rebels got their way. They weren't going to just stop at Cascadia. They were going to bring their carnage with them across the seas, and she would not let that happen.
"By the Dust, look at all of this," she murmured in disbelief before scoffing. "Yeah, 'Independence' my ass."
"E-5 to E-2, be advised, we've got a confirmed sighting on the enemy. By my estimates, they're about two battalions in strength- maybe three. It looks like their force composition is being spearheaded by the Cascadian Army Guard- Wild Boar Division."
"Dear god… it's him," a soldier murmured.
As if on cue, a new voice, deep and commanding of both fear and respect, came on over open comms. "This is General Elizabeth to all Federation defenders in Magadan: lay down your weapons and surrender immediately or we will light this frozen wasteland on fire. This choice has always been on you, Feds; don't make us do this."
"You come into our home and expect us to just roll over?" E-2 demanded. "Go to hell, you goddamn Cascadians. I'm sure you remember the way there after last time."
"Fine, have it your way, dogs. We gave you your warning," Elizabeth replied. "All units engage!" he bellowed before cutting the line.
"Enemy artillery inbound!" one of the men on the ground warned. "They're gonna start shelling the frontlines. Everyone, scatter!"
"We need those guns neutralized, ASAP. Air support, get on it!" E-2 ordered.
Avery's burners were already lit as she began speeding toward the enemy. "Copy that, CAS is inbound. Just hang on a little longer."
It was at that exact moment that it began to sink in for her that all of these people's lives were in her hands. Close to a hundred men and women were all counting on her to make it back alive, and she didn't plan on letting them down. Pulling back ever-so-slightly on the stick, she climbed higher into the air, hoping to get a clearer shot on the artillery. As she scanned the waves of enemy forces, she couldn't help but be relieved upon realizing that there was barely any AA or SAMs to speak of, and she then decided that she was going to make them regret it.
After finally locating the rebels' artillery in the back line, she readied her two UGBLs. Short of a well-executed gun run, those two bombs were her only shot at taking them all out in one pass. Especially since the rest of her bombs, while packing more of them, were still smaller- meaning she'd need to use each of them sparingly. Fortunately, the Cascadians were still hastily rolling out their AA defenses, so she had all the time in the world to line herself up just right. The artillery units tried to pack up and run, but by then, it was already too late. Both her UGBLs were perfectly on the mark, and the artillery went silent.
"We've got eyes on. Good effect on target! All artillery has been splashed!" E-5 called out. "Spot on support up there, CAS."
"Alright, now's our chance. All units, move in! Use those ridgelines to your advantage and let's send these damn Cascadians back where they came from," E-2 ordered as the sound of tank engines roared the background. "Locksmith 6, we don't have a lot of AT on hand, so if you could work your magic on those tanks, I'd sure as hell be grateful."
"Say no more. I'm on the case," Avery replied.
"Hold that thought, Glade," Vita chimed in. "ALCON, be advised, we've got enemy bombers vectoring in hot- bearing 090, number unknown."
Avery scowled. She only had two air-to-air missiles loaded, so dealing with aircraft was going to be challenging. As long as they were just bombers, though, she could potentially get away with finishing them off with her guns. "How far out are they, Vita?" she asked.
"About five minutes, give or take."
"Shit. E-2, I'll do what I can, but I won't be able to stay for long."
"Don't worry, just do what you can! We can still handle ourselves down here."
As Avery began making her way toward the frontlines, her RWR began to let out a slow, rhythmic beeping. Just a few moments later, several trails of smoke shot up from the ground as missiles came her way: MANPADS. Her brain froze for a moment as the sound of the missile alert sent her mind right back to the Beiring Strait, but a moment was all it was. Immediately, she pulled back on the throttle, cutting her burners and pulling away. Flares lit up the sky behind her as she dove away from the missiles, and as she watched them streak past, her hand instantly moved back to the throttle, pushing it all the way forward to close in on the tanks at the front.
Her eyes flicked down briefly at her weapon stores- 12 bombs to deal with two battalions. She was going to have to make each one count. As she closed in on the tanks, Avery tightened her grip on the control stick, watching the reticle on her HUD skim the ground. Once the circle turned red, she held off on pulling the trigger for just a moment- long enough to account for lead time. Two bombs dropped from her pylons, gliding through the air and hitting their marks perfectly. Each one engulfed two tanks in an explosion as she pulled back up into the air for more momentum.
"Locksmith 6, be advised, those bombers are getting close," Vita warned her. "You need to intercept them!"
"Shit," Avery growled as she pulled away from the tanks on the frontline to climb higher into the air. "Can't we get any reinforcements? I'm running myself ragged over here."
"They're already on the way, but they're still a ways out," Vita replied.
"Who, K-9?" Avery asked. If their performance last week was anything to go off of, then some help from Driver and the rest of K-9 would come in handy right about now.
"Negative, they're RTB after pulling out our forces from the main landing."
"What? I thought we were the only ones combat capable in Magadan. Who else could it be?"
"Don't worry about it. Just stay focused."
Avery groaned. "I hate it when you AWACS types get all cryptic and shit."
She glanced down at her radar, turning toward the bearing that Vita had specified. Slowly but surely, slow-moving enemy air contacts began to appear. First one, then two, and then they quickly multiplied until there was a full ten of them headed her way. This was going to be cutting it close, but she had to before they had a chance to drop their payloads. Fortunately for her, though, they didn't seem to have any escorts with them. She just needed to get close enough to gun them all down.
"Vita, there's a lot of bombers here. I don't know if I'll be able to stop them all," she warned him.
"Just do what you can," the AWACS operator replied. "All ground forces, I advise you take cover just in case."
"You heard the man! Go, go, go!" E-2 yelled to his men.
Avery took a deep breath, readying herself as the bombers appeared on her HUD. She turned to face them head-on, readying her guns to fire the second they came withing range. The first one was powerless to do anything as she let out a single burst, engulfing it in fire as it fell to the ground. Tracers lit up from the other bombers as their gunners opened fire, forcing Avery to pull away before they could get a hit on her. She scowled as she made a loop to come back around. She was wasting time that she didn't have, and with each passing second, the bombers were that much closer to dropping their payloads.
As she came back around behind the bombers, she readied her only two STDMs before hesitating. Those missiles were her best line of defense if anything more threatening to her than a bomber showed up. Sighing to herself, she switched back to guns and began closing in on the bombers. The rear plane's tail gunner tried their best to shoot her down, but she got just close enough to let out another burst of gunfire. The other bombers were easy targets. One by one, she shot one down and moved onto the next. She'd shot down another five bombers before the remaining three forced her to break off and come around again. She was running out of time. Despite the protesting from both her body and plane, Avery made as tight of a turn as she could to circle back around. Her heart raced as she closed the gap. She was close enough to see the Cascadian markings on the bombers, but just before she could finish them off, all three bombers' doors opened and their payloads fell out. Avery watched in horror, powerless to do anything but watch as fire fell from the sky and set the land ablaze.
"Good God, they're dropping napalm!" one of the soldiers screamed. "Everyone, run!"
"Those tanks are coming in hot! They're gonna box us in!" another said.
Avery pulled away from the burning wreck of the last bomber. "Just hang on, air support is on the way!" she reassured them. These rebels had gone too far, and now they were going to pay the price.
With her afterburners at full blast, Avery sped toward the tanks moving to encircle the ground troops. A large group of them had unknowingly lined themselves up perfectly for her, and she planned on taking full advantage of that. Four more bombs dropped from under her wings, and one after the other, they all found their mark, taking out another nine tanks in a single pass. More MANPADS shot up from below, but Avery evaded them with ease. She was determined now, and nothing was going to stand in her way. She came back around to make another pass, this time diving in low enough to feel the heat from the napalm the Cascadians had dropped. The rest of her bombs all fell from above, and tracers from her gun shot forward, shredding one tank after another until she finally pulled back up.
"Look, LT, their line is broken!" one of the soldiers pointed out.
"Good, now's our chance," E-2 replied. "All callsigns, pull yourselves together and push forward! We've got these bastards on the back foot, now let's knock 'em down."
"All units, be advised, we've got bandits inbound from due east- same bearing as before," Vita warned. "They're strike aircraft. If you're not careful, they'll flatten you."
Avery let out an annoyed sigh. "Vita, there's only so much I can do by myself here. I can't intercept an entire squadron by myself with only two heaters and barely any ammo in my gun."
"Then how about a little help?" a deep-voiced man asked over the radio. "This is Peacekeeping Squadron Steel, vectoring in hot," he introduced himself. "We've only got so much ammo after covering the last fight, but we'll do what we can."
"Copy all," Vita replied. "Locksmith 6, I advise that you switch off and RTB. Steel will handle the rest."
Avery looked down at her fuel stores, then over her shoulder at the two missiles hanging off her wingtips. "Negative, I'm still good for a dance- long as I've got them, at least," she replied, turning to meet up with the Peacekeepers.
"Alright then, you lead the way," Steel 1 told her.
"Me, are you sure? You guys are the Peacekeepers here."
The Khan chuckled. "It's your fight, kid. We're just the muscle," he said as the group of F/S-15s formed up behind her. "Go on, take us in."
Avery felt her heart racing. The pressure was on, and now she had to make sure she left a good impression. She turned toward the incoming fighters, watching as eight SK.25s appeared on her HUD, coming head-on. She didn't change course, and neither did Steel. Her finger hovered just above the trigger, waiting for her missiles to find a lock. Once they did, Avery gave the trigger a single squeeze and pulled away as the dogfight commenced. Steel did the same, only they didn't break off. They pushed forward, relentless as any Peacekeeper, which gave Avery the chance to make a wide loop around and catch one of the bandits from behind. She fired her last STDM and watched it find its mark without any challenge. Another three had already fallen to Steel Squadron, and the remaining four were already scattering. Avery lit her burners and chased after one of them with Steel 1. While he stayed glued to their tail, Avery went to cut them off, using up the last of the ammo in her gun to shoot them down. She didn't even have time to tell them that she was winchester before the other Peacekeepers effortlessly hunted the last three bandits down.
"E-2, to Vita, be advised," he said, panting heavily. "Enemy forces are pulling back. We've got them running scared." Avery heard cheering in the background. "Should we pursue?"
"Negative, regroup and standby for further tasking," Vita replied.
"Roger that. Hey, fly girl. Thanks for your help today. You really saved our asses down here," E-2 said.
Avery took a deep breath in and out to steady her nerves. "Don't mention it. I was just doing my job," she assured him.
"Not everyone's got what it takes to support an entire battlefield by themselves," Steel 1 told her. "A feat like that takes skill and determination- the kind you might find in Sapphire Squadron."
The remark caught her off guard, and for a moment, she didn't even know what to say. "Well, I uh… I'm flattered, sir, but I'm not from Magadan, so I don't think I'd qualify," she finally said.
"I see…" the Peacekeeper said. "Where are you from, then?"
"Cascadia, born and raised."
"Is that right?" His voice trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. "Well, we've done all we can here. We're off to go help elsewhere. Best of luck to you…"
"Lieutenant Finch, sir," she finished for him.
"Right," was all he said before the F/S-15s all peeled away in unison, leaving Avery to return to Anadyr alone.