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444th Air Base, Zapland, Usea.

July 27th, 2019.

0645hrs.

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Sitting in the briefing room, Mere couldn't help but let out a yawn as she patiently waited with the other Spare members for the base commander to arrive. The guards had just dragged them out of their cells earlier in the morning for the surprise briefing. Mere herself was quite annoyed with how early it was and was trying to settle back into the flow of Spare squadron. It hadn't even been two days since she'd been back in prison before she was thrown into another battle. Even in that short of a timeframe, Mere could feel the vibe of the base was off. The first thing she noticed after dispersing the little welcome party she received when she touched down in a supply plane was a lack of the Su-33 in the hangars. Wheeling over a stack of crates into Hangar Four, she was greeted with the familiar sight of High Rollers F-16XL and Tabloid's Mirage while further back was Magnet's F-18 and Trigger's F-15. The F-14 was tucked away near the back yet no sign of the Count's blue Flanker. Rolling the crates to the back, the whole feeling only became weirder seeing that the three strikes were washed off of the F-15's tail leaving only one strike. There was also a ladder set up near the tail with a piece of cardboard taped to it. Setting the boxes down, Mere walked over to inspect the plane, seeing it was a stencil taped to the tail. She didn't need to examine long as she picked out the outline of a tophat that made up Count's personal emblem. Hearing some footsteps approaching her, Mere turned to find the source just to find the man in question walking over with a spray can in his hand. Shifting her weight onto one leg, she pointed her thumb at the plane and raised an eyebrow.

"I heard from the others that you're back but you sure you're good to work?" Count asked as he motioned his hand to Mere's arm. "Lamp said your arm was pretty banged up so what's with you lifting heavy boxes."

"I'm doing fine, Mom," Mere stressed her last words a bit as she opened and closed her injured arm's hand. "Already got an ear full by the doctors at the regulars base. Don't need that here. It aches but the pain meds help make it feel normal. Either way, you gonna explain this?"

"That? Well, Trigger never drew his emblem on it so I'm taking it for myself. You know that once you've tagged it you basically own it," Count said as he climbed the ladder rattling the can of spray paint.

"Though what about that Flanker you've always babied? Thing was giving me a headache with all the problems that kept popping up."

"That... Well, you don't need to worry about fixing any issues with that Flanker again. Sent that thing to burn in one of the deepest rings of Hell," he joked as he started to paint his emblem while Mere's eyebrows scrunched up in a frown.

"You burned it down?"

"Nah... It burned itself down after I landed it," Count said rubbing the back of his head while Mere couldn't help but sputter a bit.

"Wha- No shit?" Count just smiled as she continued to work on painting the stencil while Mere chewed over what he told her. "Why not the F-14? Scared to fly with me?"

"As if. Nothing of the sort. Like I said, he's got his emblem on that plane so it's his. Plus I used to fly Eagles so I'm right at home with this bird."

"Just don't curse this one or your ass is grass," Mere advised as she retrieved the two-wheeler for another load. Thinking back, she has some mixed feelings since she'll be flying with Trigger again. On one hand, it's in general a step down compared to the Hornet she was briefly in again and she's back flying with a psychotic being who can tank g-forces like it's a Sunday walk. Yet there's also this feeling of safety she had. She can trust him and his flying and it feels like he can trust her in the back to assist him. She felt that they had developed a mutual trust that is formed by a crew only after years of flying together. Strange to think like that since it's only been a few weeks and a handful of missions she's been with him.

Rubbing her arm as they waited for the base commander to start the briefing, she felt Trigger nudge her with his elbow. Looking over at him, he nodded his head down to her arm and gave her a concerned look.

"Ah, just poking the bandages... It's fine, I can fly with it."

"You sure there, Wire?" Tabloid asked beside her. "Like, I know Trigger actually needs you for the Tomcat to work but are you sure you want to go out on the mission this soon?"

"The regulars took good care of me. Patched it all up and the painkillers are doing their job keeping me comfortable," Mere waved her hand a bit. The wound still throbbed whenever she moved her hand in some directions but it was nothing she could just toughen up over. "And this guy must have some sympathy for the injured girl he's flying with, right?"

"Well..." Trigger scratched his cheek a bit as Mere looked at him before lightly punching his arm. He leaned away putting a hand up as if saying he yields when the door in the back suddenly flung open. All conversations died out as the tac-screen started to boot up and McKinsey walked up to his usual spot at the front. The lights were dimmed as the map of Usea appeared on the screen while McKinsey scanned across the room before he began his briefing.

"Now that we're all here, I guess we can go ahead and get started," he said. "So, it would seem that headquarters is starting to view some of you in the penal unit as a valid military force. Or, at least that's what the rumors are saying. But that's all bullshit! The only reason you're here is to atone for your crimes by carrying out missions."

"Yeah, all the while you sit on your sorry ass and get medals," Weasle mumbled. The room fell dead quiet as the pilots tried to not flinch as McKinsey looked them all over before laying his eyes on Weasle. Pointing at him, he snapped his fingers getting the guard's attention.

"You! Solitary, now!" he barked as the guards went to work yanking him out of his chair and dragged him out through the door. Waiting for the door to close with a click, McKinsey cleared his throat and continued. "If you feel like the lack of manpower will affect the mission, then you know who to blame. Okay, now onto the briefing." The map zoomed on the eastern side of the continent focusing on their mission area. "In this mission, you're going into Erusean territory. We know the Erusean forces' communications facility to the North in the Waiapolo Mountains is linked to the swarm of drones." The screen changed displaying first a topographical view of the mountain range while additional photographs of the area were pinned and added to the map detailing some radar installations. Mere studied the screen as red dots started to appear marking the radar sites while AA guns and other anti-air positions dotted the side of the mountain as well as residing in the valleys.

"Your mission is critical. You will destroy the facility and then weaken those drones. As it's important, the enemy won't go down without a fight." The map changed as the flat map rotated into a 3D display of the mountain range giving a better understanding of the terrain that the radar and defenses sit on. "The area is watched over by spy satellites. If discovered, expect AA missiles. Unless you have a death wish, you must use the clouds for cover around the sides and base of the mountains. Use the clouds to hide from their satellites and you might have a chance to shake off their missiles."

The more Mere studied the map, the more nervous she became. Her leg started to gently bounce as she quickly went over the weapons that the Tomcat could equip and it wasn't looking good at all for both her and Trigger. All the special munitions on base that the Tomcat could mount were all free-falling ordinances. Nothing powered and guided with stand-off ranges could be mounted on their plane and from what she's been told there's been no shipments of HARM's to the base. Realistically they'd have to get quite close and use their standard missiles to take on their targets. Glancing over at Trigger, he had his usual poker face on, but she could see that he seemed a bit nervous.

"If you do find a missile on your tail, head into the clouds and pray. Or, you can allow the missile to kill you and crash into the rocks below. That much freedom I will give," McKinsey put down his clipboard with a light smirk on his face before his neutral expression came back. "You are to take off immediately. Get geared up and I want the first planes rolling down the runway in fifteen minutes," he ordered before turning around and heading out through the same door he came through. Watching as the other pilots got up and made their way out of the briefing room, she watched as Lamp and Roofer got up and lingered around a bit glancing at Trigger and Tabloid before they too got up.

"Well he did say get rolling in fifteen," Tabloid tiredly sighed as he got up. "And you've been quiet there, Wire."

"Ah, just thinking about the mission. Both how important it is and how dangerous this whole op is," Mere said as she got up walking with the group of people.

"Tell me about it. They've even set up an intricate precision missile system to shoot down any planes that enter the area and guess where we're flying right into?" Lamp sighed a bit. "Probably the only good day to do it as well. Who knows how long these clouds will stay around the mountain as well."

"Thread the needle and hit the radars... We'll need to do it fast," Roofer added.

"Which is where you three come in," Trigger glanced back at Tabloid, Roofer, and Lampshade with a light smirk. "Make sure you don't miss."

"Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean by that," Tabloid's brow furrowed as they walked out into the Zappland heat.

"Well it's easy, we got no HARMs on base and the Cat can only hold kinetic munitions," Mere explained as she shielded her eyes from the sun. "Tab and Lamp here can load LASMs while Trig and Roofer here can go full anti-air keeping your backs clear."

"And who made you squadron leader?" Tabloid looked back at Mere who just shrugged in return.

"Just stating facts and suggestions. Take it or leave it. I'm sure this dumbass will still fly out and gun the stupid radar stations down..."

"Neither can confirm nor deny that accusation," Trigger put his hands up defensively.

"Not the worst plan though so I'll get Wrench to load my plane up with LASM's. See you up in the sky!" Lamp took off towards his plane as they passed Hangar Two while Roofer took his silent leave heading off into Hangar Three. Fighters were already being rolled out onto the taxiway by the time that Trigger, Tabloid, and Mere made it to their own hangars. Opening their lockers, the pilots threw on their flight gear while the ground crew worked on preparing their planes loading them down with the multitude of ordinances needed for the mission. Grabbing her helmet, Mere couldn't help but crack a light smile as she ran a finger over the scuff in the paint caused when she hit her head against the cockpit. Part of the wings were now scuffed off but she felt it was kind of fitting. Of course, once she gets paint, she'll touch it up but it'll serve as her reminder of what happened. This mission is essentially a suicide mission for the convicts. A mission too dangerous to risk the regular forces to attack yet important enough to send a low-risk squadron that has been obtaining good results against rather troublesome problems. Yet with everything being stacked against them, Mere felt oddly calm about the whole situation. The nervousness she felt in the briefing was fading away as she stuffed her gloves into a pocket and made sure her g-suit was set. Looking at it from an outside perspective it seemed almost absurd that she is going up and she couldn't help but let out a light breathy laugh.

"You wanted to get back into the air this badly, huh?" Trigger commented as he pulled his gloves on glancing at his WSO.

"They say laughter helps keep people calm in stressful situations," Mere reasoned as she tucked her helmet under her arm and turned seeing the ground crew finishing up loading the LASMs onto Tabloid's plane. Mouse was busy checking the underbelly of the Tom Cat when a mule was driven over containing the Sparrows they would be using. "But don't you think it's a bit strange?"

"Strange in what way?"

"The whole mission... This is way too important to just throw a penal unit at the problem. I mean, everyone's on edge, even High Roller didn't take any bets before the mission."

"Well considering our track record, maybe our success has caught the eye of some of some high-ranking general," Trigger reasoned as they watched High Roller's plane get pulled out of the hangar. He was already strapped into his plane to be trying to keep a cool neutral look yet he continued to fiddle with his shoulder straps tugging on them. Staring at him for a second, he glanced over at the duo when Mere held up some money and tapped the side of her head. He just smirked and pointed up at the sky before doing a light salute as the plane was brought out into the sun. "So, what are the chances that there'll be some higher-up watching our operation?" Trigger asked as he looked at his WSO.

"High. That's a bet I'm gonna make once we're en route," Mere said as the ground crew started to load the rear pylons with missiles freeing up the front of the plane. "Either way, come on Trigger. Planes ready."

"Right behind you."

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Waiapolo Mountains, Erusea

July 27, 2019

1011hrs.

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Sitting in the back of the Tomcat, Mere couldn't help but glance around from one plane to the next as the squadron was flying under the cloud coverage. Spare Squadron had made good time passing through checkpoint after checkpoint and were on the final leg of their journey. For the past half hour or so, they've been flying low in the valley to avoid detection as long as they could. Everyone was a lot quieter than usual as well and whenever a conversation was struck up it ended as quickly as it started. Being near the rear of the group made it easier to observe the other fighters around them, all forming up in their own little groups. Count and Full Band were at the front of the group with Skunk and Pick trailing on their respective wings while off to the right were Hickup, Waldo, and Magnet, the new guys, with Utah in the lead. To their left Dookie and High Roller were keeping each other company while Tabloid took up the number two slot while both Lamp and Roofer were in the three and four positions respectivly. Another upside of being in the back seat was that she could appreciate the scenery they were passing by. If it wasn't for the fact that they are in enemy territory and on a mission, she wouldn't mind a vacation to an area like this. Week long excursion into the forest.

"Wouldn't mind taking some time off here."

"Well, there's a nice and easy way for you to enjoy the scenery. Just pull that ticket above your head and you'll have all the time in the world to explore these mountains," Hickup joked.

"Hey, I'd take some bets that she'd make it out of here alive too," High Roller added with a light chuckle.

"Don't care how tough she might be, we'd be down there with no tools. Damned guards won't even give us survival tools in our ejection seats," Waldo complained.

"And give us cons a knife? Fat chance," Full Band remarked. "They won't even allow us free access to pencils."

"Yet they allow us access to all these nice sharp and pointy screwdrivers and sheet metal. Some prison security," Hickup scoffed.

"Oh you wouldn't be able to hurt a fly, Hickup," Dookie spoke up getting a laugh out of the other squadron members. Mere let off a light chuckle as she swapped her MFD back to the GPS seeing that they'd arrived at their destination. As if on queue, Bandog's voice came over.

"Spare Squadron, you've passed through the final checkpoint. You'll need to be careful with your altitude for this. The enemy is watching from above, so stay in or below the clouds to keep hidden," he told them. "That means no missiles. Even you lot should understand that."

"Pfft, talk about an enclosed space," Count was the first to reply with a dry laugh.

"Well, Count, what's more enclosed than solitary?" Bandog challenged. "Just commence the operation so we can all get out of here."

Watching the others no one was first to act out as they all continued in their current slow formation. She could understand it to an extent as they were boxed by the mountains and the clouds above them which limited their maneuverability. Swapping the MFD over to the front-mounted camera, she targeted the first radar station that was closest to them to slew the camera over before she clicked her tongue.

"Damn it, can't get the camera on the target..." Mere mumbled over the radio. "Just white clouds."

"That's your target," Bandog announced suddenly as the squadron approached fork in the valley. "Spare Squadron, be sure to destroy the anit-air weapons around it too."

"Yeah, well, what if the radar isn't under a cloud?" Dookie voiced his concerns as he broke off with High Roller taking the right side of the giant mountain.

"Destroy it," Bandog curtly replied. "And then scurry for cover if you value your life."

"I thought you'd say that..." Count sighed and Mere had to agree with his feelings. This is like playing a game of whack-a-mole and they're the moles.

"Leave it to the one guy who has anti-radar experience to flake out on a mission like this," Skunk growled. "Bastard probably got his ass thrown into solitary on purpose to avoid this..."

"Still, not like it does much good for us. No HARMs and the stations aren't launching missiles at us," Roofer grumbled. "Only SEAD-like thing we're doing is being fast in and out."

"This is the world's shitiest game of Whack-a-Mole and we're the stupid mole," Waldo groaned voicing what Mere had thought a few seconds ago. "Lets just hope they're a shitty player." The others began to split with the majority going right yet no one was taking action. Even Tabloid and Lampshade were taking their time and Mere figured they were within range.

"Something up, Tab? Should be in range."

"Ah, the clouds are messing up my targeting pod. I can't get a solid lock on it."

"Same. Maybe if we get closer?" Lamp added while Mere sighed. Everyone was being hesitant to go above the clouds and were instead going after the vulnerable AA and SAM sites on the deck. Glancing up at the target above the clouds she let out a short sigh before glancing up at Trigger in the front. He gave her a thumbs up and lit the afterburners aiming right at the mountain and blowing past Tabloid.

"So, anyone wanna make a bet who's gonna take out the first radar station?" High Roller asked the squadron. Mere eyes were glued forward as the shadow of the mountain consumed them. Betty even started to bitch at them as the mountainous terrain was approaching their plane.

"Ah, Trigger...?" Mere gripped the console's handlebar. "Trigger!"

"Hey, Trigger, where are you going?" Tabloid asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

"Ah, I'd make those bets quickly. Trigger seems to be on the hunt," Lamp announced as he pulled back on the stick bringing the nose up as they flew parallel to the terrain. The Tomcat disappeared into the clouds when they burst through the top. Almost instantly, the RWR began to beep and whine as they were painted. Rolling the plane over, Trigger pulled back leveling the plane out, and locked onto the radar tower. It's only been a second since they've burst through the cloud cover when the RWR started to blare at them as a missile was launched. Getting a tone, Trigger tapped the trigger letting off a missile at the radar dome before he kicked the rudder and snap-rolled the Tomcat over into a dive. Flexing her leg muscles, Mere fought against the G's as the two dove back down into the clouds breaking both the radar lock and disappearing from the satelites vision.

"Trigger bagged a radar dish!" Tabloid whooped as Trigger pulled back on the throttle slowing the plane down.

"Radar site confirmed destroyed. You're all still under satellite observation, though, so watch out for missiles," Bandog announced.

"You've got quite a bit of time when you break cloud coverage till the missile is launched. After that, you've got around maybe four seconds tops for that missile to travel to you," Trigger radioed to the squadron.

"You make it sound easy," Waldo sighed while Skunk just let off a light laugh.

"Because it is. Rifle," Skunk called before another radar dish disappeared off the map.

"Still, it doesn't feel good to go above the clouds," Count let out an irritated sigh. "It feels like I'm being watched by a pack of Bandogs."

"For real man," Hickup and a few other squad members got a chuckle out of his comment. Trigger meanwhile, was making a beeline to for some AA guns and SAM sites that were in a valley. Their attention was turned initially towards Lamp and Roofer as they went after the next radar site. Making quick work of the guns below, Mere glanced up seeing a puff of orange through the clouds before a Su-27 and an F-18 punched back into the clouds. A second later a missile contrail shot through the cloud layer in the general area where the two came through but it had no intention of tracking as it plowed into the terain bellow.

"Took your sweet time up there, Lamp."

"Nearly got our asses killed. Lock it up faster next time," Roofer growled a bit.

"Sheesh. Radar sites destroyed so that gave us a bit more time for the system to react..." Lamp trailed off and Mere could hear the gears turning in his head. "I think... Say, Bandog, why couldn't we, I dunno, just volley some JASSMs or SLAM-ERs at this place? Not like they can rapidly move these radar dishes before an attack."

"Yeah and is this place really that important? They got anti-air emplacements around the place but it doesn't feel all that well-defended if you catch my drift," Dookie added.

"Their missile guidance capabilities are spot on. Be it a plane or a stand-off glide weapon, once they lock on, you can't evade unless you head into the clouds breaking the line of sight of those satellites," Bandog explained quickly. Mere nodded her head as well impressed at the precision that they are able to achieve by combining both satelite and radar guidance. If they're able to take out a JASSM then a plane would be a piece of cake. "The missiles are guided with a combination of the satellite and the radar facilities. So if the radar facility is destroyed then they lose their main method of guidance. Without that, the missiles should stop hitting their target."

"Are you sure you can trust that intel?" Full Band interjected. "How the hell does a satellite hundreds of miles in the sky allow these missiles to be that precise?"

"Who knows?" Bandog sneered. "Only one way to find out."

"Yeah, I'm placing my bet that it's some egghead researcher that made this system up," High Roller chuckled. "Gotta be pretty smart to do that sort of math."

"Well, no shit. After all, they made those damned drones that have drove us to a stalemate," Waldo scoffed. "Fuckers put me in this God-forsaken unit too."

"Ah don't blame the drones for your own actions," Utah grumbled over the radio. "Can't run away in Spare Squadron."

"Well… The scientiest can't be all that smart. For all the precision they given these missiles, they didn't even give them their own onboard radar to find a target if it dives in the clouds. Kinda stupid, if you ask me," Tabloid pointed out.

"It's unwise to point out the enemies mistakes while they're attacking us, idiot," Utah grumbled over the mic and he did have somewhat a point even if it was a bit mute since they can't hack their encryption.

"Maybe not enough room? Don't quote me on that, I'm not an engineer." Count suggested but got no response from anyone. As Mere thought about it for a split second, it would have made this place much much harder if they could still self guide after the radar facility broke it's lock. Looking ahead, she watched Trigger pull the Tomcat around ahead of Tabloid to clear the anti-air emplacements that were dotting the canyon as they made their way towards the last radars. Missile after missile left the rail as they left behind a path of destruction and she even got a chance to do her job as she shot down a helicopter with one of Sparrows yet there was a pit that was forming in her stomach. Checking her tactical display, Mere zoomed out and started to rub her bandages a bit as the picture just didn't feel right.

"Bandog, Spare-15, what's the picture looking like?"

"No new radar contacts. Picture clean..." he quickly reported but lingered a bit on his last words. Mere chewed on the inside of her mouth as the report didn't sit well with her. For a place as important as this radar station is, she expected at least some QRF to be in the general area. It might be mountainous but they shouldn't be avoiding the AWACS' all-seeing radar for this long.

"Honestly speaking, I don't know what's worse," Pick suddenly spoke up. "Being shot down in that desert, or up here in the mountains."

"This place. At least I know I can kinda survive in the desert," Lamp replied quickly. He did have a point that they did survive out in the desert even if it was basically one of the more ideal situations to be in.

"Bullshit, you wouldn't last two days stranded in the middle of Roca Roja," High Roller laughed a bit. "I wouldn't have made it either if there weren't some signs of civilization to cling onto."

"Damn it, they're making us do something, but just what?!" Tabloid outbursts surprised Mere and the rest of the squadron. She could relate as the lack of any air support is surprising to say the least. She had her own qualms about the whole thing as well, but she wasn't going to voice her thoughts quite yet. Murphy is always watching. "It's a dangerous operation, but it's better than running through a minefield blind, I guess."

"You're so naive, Tabloid, What we're doing is exactly like running through a minefield blind," Full Band snapped back. "But, in a way, we already know where those mines are."

"Where'd you learn these locations? Surely you've got a source to back it up," Pick laughed a bit at his own joke yet it just set up Full Band as he took a smugger tone.

"Maybe I could let you in on some of the intel I picked up. And don't start calling me Shirley."

"Silence!" Bandog ordered cutting Full Band off. "If you've got time to yap then you're not doing your job right. Hurry up and finish off the last radar sites!"

"Not a fan of Airplane…?" Waldo asked innocently getting a few chuckles from the other pilots.

"Well, I got in using a trick any amature could think of," Full Band pridefully continued. He was always so meek until he started to boast about his espionage exploits. Mere could only roll her eyes and shake her head a bit as Full Band enters his radio mode. "Picked up a bunch of intel."

"Full Band, that's your second strike. There won't be a third," Bandog's tone shifted back to his guard dog mode yet, as per the usual, Full Band ignored him.

"I got my hands on a password and after some digging around I found a bunch of stuff," he continued as Mere met Trigger's eyes as he glanced back at her. Putting a hand to her helmet, she flicked her wrist away splaying her fingers out and shaking her head as she really didn't understand how he could just continue spewing his crimes in front of the jail warden. It's one thing to boast about something like this on the hush between pilots but broadcasting it over the radio while also receiving death threats from Bandog? Mere honestly never takes them too seriously because what could Bandog even do in the air? Shoot them down? With the airburst ballistic missiles that he totally has strapped to his E-3 Sentry or any form of extremely long-range anti-air weaponry?

"I'm not sure you understand what you're saying, Spare 6," Bandog lowered his voice into a snarl.

"I'll let you in on it when we're home, Bandog. I've said it before. In this war, intel is a life or death matter." Full Band laughed it off yet Mere felt a light chill from Bandog's delayed response.

"Hmm... I think you might be right." Getting her head back into the mission, she watched as Trigger pulled the plane around destroying the last of the AA guns in the low ground giving Lamp and Tabloid free reign on the remaining radar sites.

"Spare-15, AA gun confirmed destroyed. Not bad, Trigger."

"Hey, what about my praise?" Mere jabbed at Bandog.

"You can ride his coattails real well there Hotwire," Full Band responded. "You know, I'm starting to feel guilty about leaving everything to Trigger."

"Feeling guilty? I've got the perfect job for you then, Full Band. Why don't you follow us above those clouds and act as our bait," Mere huffed a bit while some of the other pilots chuckled.

"Looks like we've found one of Wire's buttons," Tabloid let off a dry chuckle as he pulled up into the clouds. "Greyhounds out... Guh- and a missile on me!"

"Dive for the clouds and you'll be fine," Roofer calmly instructed and a few seconds later, Mere watched the Mirage punch through the clouds back to safety just as the radar station disappeared from their tactical display.

"Radar site destroyed. Good work Spare-6. Only one dish remaining. Destroy it quickly so we all can go home," Bandog informed them when it too disappeared as the second half of Spare squadron took it out.

"Spare-3, target destroyed," Count announced getting some cheers and whoops in response.

"Confirmed, all targets have been destroyed. That probably put a stop to their satellite missile guidance capabilities," Bandog announced seemingly letting out a sigh. "Someone go fly above the clouds."

"Hey, Waldo, how about you do it?" Hickup spoke up first. "Wha- Where the hell did he go? He was just on my wing!"

"Ain't doin' that! How about the last person that destroyed the radar site has to go up," Waldo said trying to push the responsibility onto someone else.

"I like the sound of that," Full Band said with a laugh.

"You could do with the exercise," Pick added.

More laughter came from the squadron at Count's own expense as they celebrated the destruction of the radar sites. Pulling above the clouds, Mere let out a breathy chuckle as they could be planes again flying nice and high far away from any trees or mountains. Taking a peak over her shoulder, she could relax and enjoy the scenic view of the mountain range as Spare Squadron took their time getting back into their scraggly mismatched formation. Looking ahead, she caught Trigger's eyes in the mirror and he raised a thumb which she returned. Looking at the formation, she rubbed her bandages again as she clicked the radio open again.

"Bandog, what's the picture looking like?"

"Picture cl-... Wait a minute... Hold it." Mere's brow furrowed hearing the anxiousness in his voice. Punching the radar out a bit I saw several blips appear off in the distance. "This is the Air Force Base 444 Squadron. What is your affiliation?" There was no response. Kicking the back of Trigger's seat he glanced back at Mere shrugging a bit as the other squadron seemed to turn and point right at their nose. "Nobody told me there were this many nearby. Incoming allied fighters, respond."

"Hey, those the regular forces?"

"The hell are they doing out here? Better not be stealing our mission," Pick grumbled a bit.

"This is weird," Count mumbled as confused as the rest of the squadron. "The regular forces don't want anything to do with the penal base."

A beep caught Mere's attention as she looked down at her workstation. Her eyes darted to the source, the RWR and she thought she was hearing things when it started to sing to her.

"Wha- Hey, we're being painted!" Mere shouted as the other squadron members voiced their own worries.

"I'm painted too! The hell man, we're allies! Friendly!" Dookie shouted.

"The hell are they thinking?" Skunk growled.

"What the- But the IFF says they're allies," Count said just as confused when fear started to set in among the members of Spare Squadron.

"Hold on now," Full band said nervously, "don't tell me they're barrier troops."

"The hell are those? Look, they haven't fired on us yet so I bet-" High Roller was cut off as the RWR beeps became frantic.

"Spiked! 12 o'clock! Defend!" Mere yelled as she she saw all eleven allied fighters launch a missile while Trigger simultaneously kicked the rudder and rolled the Tomcat into a dive while Mere was shooting off countermeasures. Craning her neck, Mere saw Tabloid seemed to react with them as well as Roofer and Lampshade. The sparkle of chaff and the white trails of flares being dispensed by all four fighters.

"Missile launch! Defending!" High Roller shouted.

"Missile, evade!" Count shouted as he broke from the formation going defensive against the incoming threat while the other pilots broke as well. Struggling against the g forces, Mere tapped away at the countermeasures watching as the missiles that were coming for them maneuvered after them before diverting for the chaff. Letting out a small breath, she sucked it in quickly as two fireballs erupted further away near where the squadron used to be.

"Damn.. Damn it! This is-" Hickup's radio cut off to static as his burning F-16 blew up disintegrating the plane.

"Hickup? Hickup!"

"Holy- Holy shit! Dookie's gone! What the fuck!" Waldo started to panic. Mere's eyes were wide with fear as she quickly turned around checking her wing seeing that Tabloid was still there while both Lamp and Roofer were a bit further away.

"Osean fighters, do not attack!" Bandog cried out in vain. "I repeat, do not attack!"

"Trigger?"

"I'm... I'm good Wire!" he tried to keep his voice level yet his hands trembled. "Lamp, Roofer, Tabs?"

"Still kicking," Lamp's voice shook.

"Somehow made it. What the hell was that?!"

"Those sons of bitches are crazy...!" Roofer growled. Squeezing the controls Trigger looked up as the so-called allied fighters had either pursued the defending Spare planes or were entering a merge with them. Sucking in a breath he hesitated thinking about Hotwire behind him when she gave his seat a hard kick.

"Come on, go get our ass in there!" she growled at him. Letting out a light breathy chuckle, his hands calmed as he pulled around to enter the fray.

"Wha- where are you going Trigger?" Tabloid asked.

"To get some answers!" What the hell was even going on? He could see the Osean roundels clear as day on the Hornets using the tactical camera so why were they attacking them? At a distance, he could hardly tell who was who as it was just friendly blue squares pursuing other friendly aircraft.

"The hell are these pilots doing?! Fuck!" Mere growled out as she slammed a fist into the side of the canopy. The radio had devolved into chaos as Spare was being sepparated from each other.

"Damn it, I got a Hornet on my tail!"

"That's me, Utah!" Magnet shouted.

"Can't get a missile lock, going with guns!" Skunk growled as he seemed to have got on a Hornet's tail.

"What the- Wait, wait, blue on blue!" Waldo cried out as the 20mm shells fell short. "Jesus Christ can't you use your fucking eyes Skunk?!"

"Are they spoofing our IFF?!" Full Band asked. "U-Uuh, Pick! Missile out on you!"

"Aaagh, defendin-" Static filled Mere's ear as she watched another puff of black smoke followed by the burning wreckage of a Flanker fell out of the sky. Gritting her teeth, her fist clenched up causing her injured arm to ache as the feeling of helplessness was taking hold of her. Flicking a few switches, she swapped over to the tactical camera and managed to find the Hornet that just shot down Pick.

"Trigger after that fucker! He's got no lines on his tail!"

"Modern IFF connects to our strategic force via satellites. It can't be decoded!" Bandog announced. "So why the hell..."

"Information regarding IFFs is top secret. There's no way they could make a fake!" Tabloid argued as well.

"So we're either watching the Enigma code being broken in real time or we've got some screws loose in those people's heads! I don't know what to bet on now!" High Roller strained to get out as he was pulling a high-g maneuver. "God damn it, this is a knife fight in an elevator! How can we tell who's who?!"

"What about markings and craft type?" Lamp asked.

"There's no time for that! We have people flying Hornet's too!" Full Band countered as he was defending against an F-15. "Like right now, Count get off my ass!" Mere tried to get a radar lock on the Hornet they were pursuing yet she could only curse as the computer stopped their action keeping their weapons on safe.

"Stupid fucking computer...! Come on, live up to your name and do some cowboy shit Trigger!"

"Don't have to tell me twice," Trigger grunted as he got closer to the Hornet. Holding onto the console's handlebar, Mere peered over the top of the console watching Trigger dance around with the F-18 when he saw his chance. Pulling the nose around, he got the hornet lined up in the funnel and pulled the trigger spewing tracers at the hostile plane. Connecting with their target, the high explosive shells ripped the fighters wing off sending it cartwheeling out of the sky as they flew by. Mere watched the plane pass by them but she pressed her helmet against the glass trying to get a better view of the craft.

"What the fuck...? Where's the pilot?" she asked as it disappeared from her view.

"At this rate, no one's gonna make it out alive," Bandog growled, being quite frustrated by the whole situation. "All aircraft head into the clouds! Get out of the enemy's sight!"

"Uh, and then what?!" Count demanded as the members of Spare started to break off trying desperately to head for the clouds.

"Hey, anyone seen any pilots in these things?" Mere suddenly asked

"Huh? Hotwire, what are you-"

"Just answer me! Has anyone seen any pilots?"

"I haven't. Thought I was going insane from the altitude," Utah suddenly answered.

"I agree with Hotwire, I didn't see any pilot in the plane we just shot down," Trigger confirmed.

"You mean we're fighting drones right now?!" Full Band gasped. "Damn it, just get into the clouds! They shouldn't follow you in!" Trigger dove for the clouds as a Hornet got behind the duo. Watching their six, Mere watched as the world around them darkened and turned white as they entered the clouds when a few seconds later, yellow tracers started to arc through going high and over their wing.

"God damn it! The enemy's working in coordination!" Count spat as Trigger rolled the plane over jinking before pulling up out of the clouds. The Hornet went to follow after them bursting through the clouds when it broke off suddenly as Tabloid shot a burst at the drone. Whatever intel Full Band had must be out of date as the new updated drone model seemed much more aggressive in their pursuit. What else can they do? They can't just shoot down all the Hornets in the area as they still have allies flying around in them as well. Trying to ID by their sin lines is neigh impossible as well with the distances they'd need to get close to the enemy.

"I've got a plan! All aircraft, gather around me- gah! I mean Trigger!"

"What?" Both Trigger and Count asked him in unison. Mere glanced back at Tabloid who fell back in on her wing. She didn't know where he was going with this but Mere had to give it to Tabloid, his wit was quick. Even though his Mirage stood out from the rest, the sheer size of the Tomcat made it a better centerpiece to gather around as well as the only plane with three sin lines across the tail. It's quite hard to miss the presence the Tomcat has in the sky.

"Why should we do that?"

"What good will that do?"

"Just trust me! Not like anyone else has a plan! Bandog! Can you register Trigger and the planes around him as friendly and mark the others as hostile?"

There was a slight hesitation when Bandog agreed with a quick, "Sure."

"Come on! Form up fast before those damned planes get any wiser!" Skunk growled at the other pilots as one by one the survivors of Spare formed up around Trigger.

"All right, form up on Trigger! Nice and tight!" Tabloid confidently said as Mere looked around in awe watching the formation form up with herself and Trigger were hunkered in the middle. Skunk, Utah, and Waldo had formed an arrow in front of Trigger while Roofer and Lampshade formed up on Trigger's right wing. Count had slid in on Trigger's left wing falling behind Tabloid and both High Roller and Magnet took up the space behind Trigger while Full Band took up the rear. "Bandog, it's on you!"

"Leave this to me. Aagh, Full Band, what's your location?" he asked.

"The tail end!" he called out sounding a bit nervous.

"Understood... Hmph, so many overlapping names... All right," the radar soon updated and the surrounding allied planes suddenly were targeted as hostile. "I've sent new ID data. Hostiles will be marked as enemies. Shoot them all down!"

Mere started to squeeze and release her hands while letting a breath out. Closing her eyes she reopened them locking herself in as the formation broke off. Trigger pushed the stick forward dropping below the formation pulling some negative g's when he lined up an enemy plane off their nose. Mere locked it up and pulled the trigger dropping a Sparrow off the rails the rocket booster lit. "Fox-1!" she shouted watching the missile track true slamming itself into the maneuvering Hornet sending it plummeting into the terrain below in a ball of fire. "Splash!"

"Full Band, missile on your tail!"

"Defending!"

"I got your six! Fox-2 away!" Roofer called out as his Sidewinder found its way home slamming into Hornet.

"Thanks, Roofer," Full Band responded, "There's no way I'm dying out here!"

"This is the penal unit," Bandog growled back at him. "I decide when you die." Snapping the Tomcat around, Trigger went to pursue another of the drones as Spare Squadron continued their counterattack. Drone after drone was being shot down when Bandog's concerned voice came over the radio again. "Spare Squadron, projetile incoming!"

"What? What's the heading? Type? Come on information!" Utah growled trying to get answers.

"Tell us, what's happening, come on!" Full Band cried out as he chased down a plane that had latched onto Skunk's tail.

"God damn it, not right now! Give me a second!" Bandog snapped at them as the sound of paper being snatched could be heard over the mic.

"That doesn't sound good," Count put in quickly as he dropped in on Trigger's tail dealing with a drone that had gotten on their tail.

"Thanks Count!" Mere called giving him a thumbs up. "Come on Bandog, talk to us!"

"Air contact incoming at high speed!" Bandog announced. "Uh... Bearing 225. It's too fast to be an aircraft!"

"What do we do?" Full Band asked.

"What's going on?!" Tabloid frustratedly asked.

"Come on Bandog! Give us a bone or something!" Magnet cried out. "Your information is critical!"

Mere's head was on a swivel trying to get visual on the contact that was coming towards them trying to get any sort of information that could relax the squadron a bit but that's easier said than done. Needle in a hey stack with the chaos going around them as the furball continued when Bandog started to count down.

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One! Here it comes!"

For a split second, Mere could see some object fly in at high speeds when it started to break apart. A split second later a massive blue explosion filled the air and blinded her for a second. Covering her eyes with her arm Mere cursed as the whole airframe shook from the massive explosion.

"Ah, what the fuck!" Mere spat.

"Aaagh... I-I'm bleeding! There's darts... Darts in- I-I can't control-" Waldo's comms cut out as his plane disappeared off the tactical map. Blinking her eyes a few times she keyed the plane's internal mic.

"Trigger!?"

"I'm good!" he quickly started to pat his body down. "I think. The plane feels fine. You?"

"I'm fine," clicking the other switch, she started to look around the sky. "Is everyone okay?"

"God, that shockwave!" Full band grunted sounding discombobulated by the explosion. Looking around, Mere spotted the Mirage and F-15 flying just fine.

"Waldo's dead. Didn't see him eject," Lamp called. "Hey, Wire, that's the same blue light we saw at Artiglio."

"And the darts Waldo mentioned... Were they transporting ballistic missiles? Where are they shooting from? They got something like the Scinfaxi?!" Mere asked.

"Scinfaxi? Didn't the Yukes only build that and the Hrimfaxi? Those were sunk during the Circum-Pacific!" Tabloid answered.

"Spare Squadron, listen up," Bandog interrupted the conversation. "I've got a transmission from HQ. Their weapon is codenamed 'Helios'. It's a long-range missile carried by the Arsenal Birds and I've got more on the long-range coming in!"

"Wait a minute, Arsenal Birds?" Tabloid asked in disbelief. "I know Erusea got their hands on them, but they don't have that sort of weaponry!"

"We can put lasers on the Ark Bird, we can put weapons and drones on the Arsenal Bird," Trigger glumly sighed.

"Next wave of missiles are approaching the AO. Sending over predicted impact zones!" In Mere's ear, the RWR made a dull beep. Looking down she saw that her and Trigger were in one of the red circles. Looking ahead, she could see they were closing in on one of the enemy Hornets lingering in the impact area.

"Trigger, we gotta bounce!"

"Got it!" Pulling off, the two flew away to safer skies when Skunk suddenly swooped in. "Hey, Skunk, what are you doing?!"

"Finishing the job!"

"Missile impact in five. Four."

"Skunk get out of there!" Magnet yelled.

"Nearly got him...!"

"Two. One. Impact!" Mere shielded her eyes from the bright blue explosion. The shockwave rattled the airframe when Mere instinctively ducked hearing the dinks and thunks of shrapnel hitting the plane. Looking herself over and quickly patting her body down she confirmed she wasn't hit. Looking back, Mere was hopeful trying to see if Skunk had made it out alive only to have a pit form as she saw two smoking planes fall out of the sky.

"The mission. The nightmares... Are over..."

"Skunk!" Tabloid shouted. "How can they fire like that when they've got allies in the airspace? Don't they care about the pilots?"

"They're just drones. I haven't seen a single pilot in any of those planes," Roofer reminded him.

"Still, what the hell are in these Helios'? Getting dinged and dented with shrapnel from them?" High Roller scoffed. "God, Scrap Queen's gonna kill me...!"

"Come on, enough of the idle chatter and get your heads back in the game! Count, missile on your five!" Lampshade called out as he pulled his plane around to assist.

"Damn it! I see it! Defending!" Count replied dumping countermeasures and turning away from the missile and dove. Lamp quickly slotted in before he tapped the trigger a few times sending streams of yellow tracers across the sky. The first bursts were short before the final shredded the tail to pieces. Bursting into flames, the nose violently pitched up as the engines separated from the fusulage before the rest of the plane disintegrated. "Thanks for the save!"

"Thank me after we get out of this alive!"

"Damn! Helios inbound!" Bandog notified the remaining Spare members while Mere let out an annoyed growl.

"Seriously, how many more waves of these missiles are there going to be?!"

"The hell do we do?!" Count grunted as he pulled out of the range of the blast area.

"Eliminate the four remaining fighters! Once they're finished head towards the escape vector and get out of the AO."

"And in the meantime?" Trigger asked as he pulled the Tomcat around chasing down a drone that was away from the impact zone.

"Just weave through the missiles."

"Oh all right. Just weave through the missiles," Mere said back mockingly. "What are you insane?!"

"Shut up and do your job!" Bandog growled back.

"Easy Hotwire, just four more planes, and then we can get out of here," Trigger calmly assured his WSO. Letting out an irritated sigh, Mere locked up the drone and quickly let a Sparrow off the rail only to watch as it wouldn't maneuver well enough and sailed harmlessly bellow the jet. Pushing in closer, Trigger got a tone with a Sidewinder and let it off the rail at the Hornet. "Fox-2!" he called as the missile found its target detonating the Hornet while Tabloid launched a Sidewinder at another Hornet that was in the blast zone. It didn't seem to react as it flew in a straight line eating a missile when Bandog started his countdown.

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Impact, now!" Mere watched as Count had tagged the third enemy plane when the blue explosion blinded her again. Blinking the white away, Mere looked down at the radar seeing that no other friendly fighters had gone down and before she started to search for the last enemy contact. Scrunching her brow up a bit, she saw that that picture was clean. Maybe Bandog had miss counted. Relaxing in her seat, she raised her visor and pulled her oxygen mask off to wipe the moisture that was forming around her mouth. Tilting her head to look at Trigger he gave her a thumbs up when Bandog came back on the radio. "Utah, one to go. Go get him!" Perking up, Mere went to check the againradar seeing if she missed the contact to see no additional contact; it was all blue.

"One to go? Where is it?!" Full Band asked looking around the sky for any other target.

"Hey, does anyone have any visual on it?" Count asked his head on a swivel.

"Utah, hurry up and finish him off!"

"Copy," was all he said as Mere turned around spotting Utah's plane lining up on a Hornet. "Fox-2." A white trail left from Utah's wing as it angled after the Hornet. The plane started to move as if to defend but it was too late. A black cloud puffed up as the missile found it's target while the flaming wreck of the Hornet started to spiral down towards the mountains. "Bandit neutralized."

The rest of Spare squadron began to cheer and laugh as they've beaten the odds and Mere also felt for a second she could join them when Full Band's panicked voice called out to all of them.

"Damn it! The ejection lever! Nngh! God- God damn it! Why doesn't it-" His voice was cut off to static as the enemy fighter Utah shot down exploded. It didn't take long for Spare to connect the dots in this situation.

"What?!" Count exclaimed confused and angry. "Full Band?!"

"Huh?! Full Band's down!" Magnet shouted next.

"What? Was that friendly fire?" Lamp asked just as confused as the rest.

"But... Didn't we get all the bandits?" Tabloid asked the wind seemingly knocked out of him. Trigger slowed his plane down as Roofer and Lampshade formed up off of Trigger's right wing while Tabloid slotted in on his left. A multitude of different situations went through Mere's head on how this happened yet Tabloid was the first to voice the conclusion she came to. "Full Band got tagged as an enemy..." Flying a bit higher, Trigger led their formation to meet up with the planes that had formed up with Count yet Utah was still lagging behind.

"You did that on purpose, Bandog," Count accused their AWACS.

"Did what?" Bandog sounded as shocked as the others yet he didn't sound as convincing as the others and all fingers were pointed at him. There's no other way that this situation could have happened unless it was by his hand. Pulling a glove off, Mere started to rub her eyes as she tried to remember everything that's happened since the beginning of the mission till now and the pieces started to fall into place. He's warned Full Band throughout the mission multiple times and even asked for his position in their formation and only Full Band's location. Even if the Eruseans could spoof their IFF, they can't change how someone else's IFF squawks back to another plane.

"Don't play dumb!" Count snarled at the guard dog. "Full Band!"

There was a pause as the squadron waited for Bandog's response. At that time, Utah had formed up on Magnet's wing when Bandog finally responded.

"It was an accident. It got out of control," he said. It sounded like he wanted to say more about the situation before he finally told them to return to base and closed the connection.

"It was a weird situation... The fog of war, Count. It was an accident," Utah tried to reason but Count wasn't listening to any of that.

"Son of a bitch!" Count spat at him before the whole squadron turned back to base. The squad flew in silence and Mere just wanted to get out of the plane as soon as they could. She could only look forward at her workstation to keep her mind at ease. Looking around only reminded her of the number of pilots that they lost that day many of whom had been at this prison for as long as she had. And for what? McKinsey will probably get a medal for this successful operation and five more pilots are just gonna be added to the statistics sheet. To think she'd be served such a shit sandwich on the first day being back in the sky. Fate seems extra cruel this time around.