Tyuule was stunned, to say the least... Stunned at the architectural marvels of New York City. Certainly, she'd seen pictures of skyscrapers from UEG colonies, of various building styles and everything related to it during the three-and-a-half years she had been working with the UNSC on the planet. But to see the crowded streets of New York City up close and in real life? It was an experience worthy of memory.
Richard thought much the same as they marched as a group through the place. It was kind of surreal to see Earth as it had been about five hundred years prior to them going into the great Void and fighting the Covvies and all that. Crowds of people stood, awed to see the UNSC, the Falmart locals and Tyuule herself with them, not to mention the armed forces of both the US and Japan.
Rory herself was rather impressed with the masses of people present all around them. She smiled and said to Lelei, "It seems the other side has many wonders to show, would you not say, mage?"
"Indeed..." Lelei gazed around, wearing a half-smile as well. Tuka herself giggled as she and her friends strutted around the place. Certainly, they were drawing the gazes of many people, but it did not matter in the slightest at the moment. All that mattered was the young women getting to enjoy a moment of peace, despite the war ongoing back home. Henry and Itami, meanwhile, looked forward at their UNSC Marine buddy and his 'totally-not-girlfriend-trust-me-fellas' looking upon what must've been history for both.
Indeed, history it was. Richard wasn't sure how he could even talk about this place without referring to some old textbook or something he'd read about Humanity's past. Unnoticed by either, Tyuule instinctively took his hand as they walked, with Rory already giggling as she said, "Seems like they're finally tired of not making any moves..." just as they passed some fans. She turned over, smirked and winked at them, before continuing forward. She hummed, then said to the others, "Lieutenant Torres, perhaps you can take us for a visit around Manhattan. I think our dear lovebirds will need some time alone..."
"Huh?" Torres quirked a brow at her, then hummed as he looked forward and gave a nod, "Sure thing. Hey, Richard!" He then waved to the UNSC Lieutenant. Both he and Tyuule turned around, with Torres grinning as he said, "We'll go on ahead! You two have fun!" before the entire gang disappeared like it was some sort of comical cartoon, the only hint at their former presence in the area being the faint cloud of dust particles kicked up by their sudden departure.
Richard let out a sigh, shoulders sagging, before he murmured, "Thought we were supposed to stick together..." before turning to Tyuule. She smiled at him, a faint blush on her cheeks which caused Richard to blush too. She took his hand again and tilted her head. And the Lieutenant couldn't really say no to that face, could he? He sighed and nodded, smiling back, before showing her to follow.
The two walked, hand-in-hand, through the streets of Manhattan, looking around at the wall-to-wall buildings every goddamn block, places filled with people that, to Richard, must've been beings barely recognizable from the history books as the blurry pictures of centuries-old skylines without the updated architecture of the UEG and their propensity to make everything look so sterile.
Richard really couldn't complain about anything, though. Not with the beauty beside him...
"Hey," She looked to him, a smile on her face, "Let's go, Richard. I thought you're supposed to know places like this, right?"
"Y-Yeah... Right..." He rubbed the back of his neck, blushing. He started leading her through the square while trying to avoid many of the stares. Much to his Chagrin, the entire crowd seemed to be looking at the young spacer and the rabbit-eared young woman with white hair and scarlet eyes beside him. The two walked hand-in-hand, however, with the UNSC Marine leading the Queen ahead on a trip, slowly getting into the vibe.
Their first pit stop was a nearby neighborhood known as Little Italy, stopping by some of the better-known Restaurants that Richard had only seen in history book photos and had wanted to try(only to sadly find out not every franchise or ma'n'pa restaurant survives 500 years of continuous growth and change). The two tried everything from locally-made cannoli to Lasagna, down to spaghetti, pretty much taking menus backward from the desert to the main course and appetizers.
Richard could only watch the woman before him, laughing as she held his hand, the two of them moving in unison through the place as if they knew it like the back of their hands now. The man had also gotten into the groove, a smile on his face as he led her around, telling her about various points in the city he remembered reading about as a kid and had always wanted to visit.
The two walked down one of the many streets of the place, staring up at the massive buildings that towered above them. Tyuule commented, "Incredible..." in a murmur, still smiling, "I've never thought I'd see these types of structures outside of photographs... Honestly, I am still looking forward to the trip to your variation of Earth, if for nothing else than to compare it..."
"Heh. We'll getcha there, your Highness," He smiled at her, giving her a gentle tap with his elbow.
She smiled back and nodded. The two kept on walking through the Big Apple, under the watchful gazes of hidden ONI Agents... Said Agents worked overtime, though, keeping hostile and unknown assets from engaging with them. Said assets were agents of the other nations, including CIA Operatives belonging to a newly-developed Task Force meant to help deal with such new... Inter-dimensional issues.
This was gonna be a long-ass trip...
Falmart... FOB Alnus
The US had decided to flex their muscles a bit today, bringing in some of their newest air assets to support allied advances deeper into the territories of the Empire and to surround the capital. Boarding one of these assets was a well-trained pilot of the Air Force, part of the 388th Fighter Wing, 4th Fighter Squadron out of Hill Air Force Base in Utah. And the asset itself?
The F-35A Lightning II. State-of-the-art Avionics, stealth capability and missile mounts located within the hull to maintain said Stealth. It was one of the finest US Air Assets available and the higher-ups in charge of Alnus's US Contingent decided to deploy them immediately after the 82nd Airborne had started actual combat operations in the Special Region itself. Two such US Aircraft now taxied onto the Alnus Runway from bomb-proof shelters, with the lead carrying a payload of Paveway laser guided bombs, while his wingman carried four Air-to-Air missiles.
Lead powered on his engines and radioed over the com, "Alnus ATC, this is GALLOWS Flight, two F-35s taxiing Runway for quick deployment, prepping to fly CAS mission over GRID ECHO-19, just at the border of local AO. Requesting takeoff and climb to ANGELS-5, over," as he activated his Heads-Up Display and the rest of the plane's systems by flipping the multitude of necessary switches, his displays powering on one-by-one starting with the artificial horizon.
"GALLOWS, this is ATC, you're clear for take-off and climb. Be advised, take heading Zero-Five-Zero and proceed to Checkpoint Zulu. Times one Allied AWACS, callsign WIDE EYE, is operating in the area and will provide uplink..." The female ATC operator replied, her voice calm as a few of the sounds within the Air Traffic Control Tower came through the transmit. She finished off, "Good hunting. ATC out."
After a last check of the pre-takeoff list, the two aircraft punched their engines to afterburner, twin pillars of flame screaming out of the Pratt-Whitney Afterburning turbofan engine's rear exhaust. Both aircraft screeched, pushing forward onto the runway in a staggered approach, lead in front and to the right of his wingman. Both aircraft sped forward, their screech echoing all the way to the refugee village immediately behind the base.
Lead pitched his nose up as soon as he reached his desired speed, followed by his wingman. Both birds took off in unison, lifting high into the sky and utilizing their screaming afterburners to effect a climb at 45 degrees up. A decent climb that gave them just the right rate to not lose speed. Hell, like it was possible with the F35's afterburner. The Lead, GALLOWS One, spoke over radio, "Two, adjust to heading Oh-Fifty and continue ascent..." calmly, only to receive an affirmative reply from her. He nudged on the stick and then pulled gently back after aligning. The two aircraft banked right together, arraying themselves in a somewhat wider formation.
"Lead, nearing AWACS com range. Patching WIDE EYE in now," The wingman stated, her voice soft and calm. He gave an affirmative reply.
The radio crackled for a moment, before the AWACS operator's voice came in, his voice somewhat twitchy and carrying a British accent, "GALLOWS, this is WIDE EYE. You'll be entering the AO of the Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Army, Callsign CHARIOT-2. Their Actual will be your impro-JTAC for this run. Transmitting radio Freq and overall POS of allied units and targets. Be advised:Situation assumes this might be DANGER CLOSE. Continue on heading Fifty. Out."
"Roger, WIDE EYE, thanks for the call. Keep an eye on the sky for us, out..." Lead shot back. Taking the heading and continuing their ascent, the two aircraft had reached their 'cruising' altitude of Angels 5 within the next few minutes. Levelling out with their artificial horizons, the two continued their flight at best speed, Lead radioing in, "CHARIOT-2-Actual, this is GALLOWS-1. We're en-route to target area, ETA:2 mikes before we're on-station. Will request you lase targets for bomb drops, LASER frequency to follow from my Wingman."
"Roger that!" The heavily-accented English of a Ukrainian soldier came through the radio. Gunfire echoed over the com as well, with Ukrainian swearing filtering in and the thunder of a 30mm autocannon being the closest thing to them. After a moment of flying and a single bead of sweat running down One's forehead, the Actual of the 3rd SAB came back, "Laser Freqs received! Thank God for some of your boys handing us these PEQs!"
"Amen to that, Actual. ETA, thirty seconds..." He waited a few... Then, "We're on-station." One stated. He called out, "Two, MASTER ARM ON. Prep Countermeasures just in case..." as he started pressing buttons on the displays and powering on the transmit to receive the data from the lasers. He also activated the mounted targeting pod, switching it to FLIR and adjusting it to pick up the combat area. He locked the gimbal on the Ukrainians, their assault weapon flashes visible even from this distance.
He zoomed in on them and saw a platoon leader pull a massive box out of one of the Bucephalus BTRS they rode in on, before setting up its tripod. The man then peered the camera up and to the left with a joystick and locked it on the Innie troops. Embedded within hardened positions on top of a couple of hills and firing down on the Ukes who were on the road. Huh.
His cam picked up the first lase and he switched to bombs. Tapping the bay open button, he heard the semi-quiet creak of the hydraulics, before locking onto the first dot. it was set upon the lead Innie position, where both Mages and enemy infantry with rocket launchers sat, firing down on the Ukrainians and dipping back into cover. The man saw the distance between the two fighting units, too. Damned if it wasn't DANGER CLOSE alright.
He thumbed a button on the stick and called over radio, "Paveway..." feeling the aircraft shudder, a thunk echoing as the first payload decoupled. He banked his plane gently and watched the bomb go in, its fins adjusting its descent to lock onto the laser, the IR Cam probably already tracking the dot itself. It became a smaller and smaller dot in his eyes, to the point the man adjusted back to fly straight and looked through the FLIR Cam.
He saw it for a split second before the first explosion blinded the cam due to the deflagration of heat and shrapnel. Cheers echoed from the Ukrainian coms, with Lead asking, "2-Actual, this is GALLOWS, requesting BDA," even though he wore a smile on his face behind his mask. He already knew what a Paveway did to a targeted fortified position from back in the day, flying F15s.
"Dead-on target! We're lasing the next couple targets now! Spasibo, Americanski!" The Commander seemed ecstatic, foregoing radio brevity there for a moment. And one couldn't exactly blame him. Apparently, even the weapons the Innies were using to fight them with were good, considering the fact the UNSC also started deploying their better units, too.
"Paveway," The man called twice more in separate occasions. In both, he watched the bomb go in, only to obliterate an Innie position and take out their mages along with them. The third bomb was aimed at fleeing survivors, people trying to get to their transport victors. Transports which he hit with said third bomb. Lead then called out over com and said, "I'm nearly Winchester Ammo. CHARIOT-2, you guys gonna be alright?"
"Tak, tak, tak. Thanks again, I owe you a beer back at base," The Ukrainian replied jovially.
The man snorted, "If you can swindle some of that good Czech shit out of the pockets of the PX, you got a deal."
"Heh. I'll ask a friend from the Romanian troops. See you, GALLOWS. CHARIOT over and out," The Commander replied again, before the radio cut off. The two US Aircraft orbited the AO a bit more, watching as the Ukrainians went to the Innie positions to check for dead and wounded. They did pull a wounded soldier out of the mix, it seemed, with one of the men calling up a Medic to help them tend to him or her before moving him to the middle Bucephalus BTR.
Lead flicked off the FLIR and said to himself, "Good day today, eh, Wilkins?"
"Could'a been a helluva lot more fun for me, Ross. Carried a bunch of AIMs for basically jack shit," The girl replied, garnering a laugh out of the man. She told him, "Let's go. I got some soap opera ma recorded for me to watch back at base. Promised her I'd watch the next few episodes with her when we got leave again in the next couple months..."
"Heh. Roger. WIDE EYE, this is GALLOWS Flight. We're RTB, Winchester Ammo on lead..." The man replied, then started veering.
"Negative, Lead. Enemy air assets are incoming, heading 310, just off to your left. Recommend Two to engage with FOX-3 so they don't wind up harassing CHARIOT later down the line. Counting times two hostile Wyvern-type Hostile Fauna, presumably with Mages riding this time instead of normal infantry..." AWACS replied, seemingly bored out of his goddamn mind. So he wanted to see a little more excitement than BVR engagement, one presumed. Sadly, he wasn't gonna get it today.
Lead snorted and said, "Roger, WIDE EYE. Two, you got your targets. Let's make you lighter for the trip home... Surprised these shitheels still have dragons after the amount of the pens we bombed," over the com. He could swear he heard the girl let out a short, giddy giggle as she veered toward the targets, missile bays propping open. The girl put the nose of her plane on heading and the audible noise of the cockpit's radar lock-on engaging told him he should watch.
"Fox Three!" She cried. And smoke in the air. One missile jumped out of the bay then ignited its motor, launching forward and utilizing the winglets to keep itself steady and on course. The man could barely make out the targets flapping their black wings in the distance if he squinted. He realigned the target pod with them and locked the gimbal again, noting the two enemy weird creatures from up-close.
So they weren't technically BVR. Still, with how slow the enemy's air assets were moving, it might as well have been. He watched the flash of the missile's motor on the FLIR, before the thunder-flash and clap of the explosion filtered mutely into his cockpit, a cloud of superheated shrapnel turning the rider into a pin cushion and sending the dead-or-dying Dragon careening toward the ground. He told her, "Good kill on lead dragon. Hit the second and let's go home."
"Rog! Fox Three!" Replied the girl again. A second missile lanced out from the belly and sped toward the target, only for the impact to come moments later, this one a more close detonation despite the proximity fuze of the missile. It splattered chunks of human and skewered the beast with enough hot metal to make it bleed out mid-fall. The two aircraft veered toward home base just as two F-15Es from Seymour Johnson, on rotation. These guys also carried missiles and heavy payloads of guided bombs for air support duties. The pilots greeted one-another over com with brevity in mind before the F35s sped home, nearing Bingo Fuel.
Successful strike, all things considered.