September 24th, 2010
11:01 Hours
Wardog
Osean Air Defense Force
108th Tactical Fighter Squadron
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“You think you can stop bloodshed by shedding more blood?”
-Larry ‘Solo Wing Pixy’ Foulke
P.O.V- Osean Journalist Albert Genette
Cape Landers, Osea
September 23rd, 2010
11:09 Hours
Red Alert!
I was in the sky, trying to get the training team in my view-finder from the rear seat of the lead plane. My pilot in the front seat was howling at the Earth below.
“Gimme’ a break! I’m babysttin’ nuggets up here!”
“Command room to Wardog Squadron, we have leakers, confirmed Pegasi. Crossing the border at Cape Landers bearing 278 to 302. Captain Bartlett your flight is the only group close enough to make the intercept.”
“Baker, Svenson, go trail and stay close. The three of us will go high and engage the bandits. All other aircraft stay low and outta’ the fight.”
I felt the plane do a roll and drop its altitude. It then started doing some high speed maneuvering. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t tell right away. The world turned upside down and my stomach turned inside out.
Sand Island, Osean Federation
“Sorry ‘bout this”
The captain’s apology to me seemed misplaced. One instructor had survived the flight, but crashed on landing. The other was killed in action high up in the clouds. It wasn’t his fault that the unidentified unit had fired on him without warning, nor was it his fault that the low altitude area where he sent his trainees was directly in front of the enemy. Eight people died because the command room had misplaced some zeros.
“That pilot in the number seven was amazing!” I said to him. “Did you see her fight back?”
“I couldn’t bear to watch,” he replied as he turned around.
“Nagase, you keep flyin’ like that and you’ll die real soon!” he yelled to said pilot as she got out of her plane.
“I won’t die sir,” she replied, standing next to her jet. The only surviving trainee’s voice was almost a whisper.
“Are you sure? You look like you couldn’t hurt a fly,” Captain Bartlett said as he walked away.
I took out my camera, wanting to get a photo of the only other surviving pilot of the encounter. Her face was pale, but she still managed to smile a bit for the camera. The photo, and my camera, was confiscated by base security. It was as if our little undeclared war never happened.
I came to cover this remote island because I heard that a very unique squadron leader was stationed here. I didn’t realize he was this unique, though. This badmouthed, good-natured old firebrand could take the greenest of rookies and forge them into fearsome fighter pilots. But, that possibility vanished after today’s encounter.
The only crew he had left now was Second Lieutenant Nagase and the few pilots he had left on the ground that day. Those other two pilots, Alvin H. Davenport and the one that preferred to be called by his callsign, ‘Blaze’, were also rookies.
At the end of the day he called these pilots into the briefing room. Everyone was already there when I arrived. Nagase sitting up straight and attention, Bartlett slouched in his chair with his head hung back and his eyes closed in deep thought, and Davenport chatting lightly with Blaze.
“Seriously, have you heard any of the music coming out of there?” Davenport asked Blaze quietly. “All I’ve heard is some orchestral stuff and a ton of dubstep. I bet if I introduced ‘em to some of my rock n’ roll collection, we’d get along just fine.”
Before Blaze could give a response, the Captain sighed and spoke up.
“I know you don’t like this, but we’re short on people. Starting tomorrow all you nuggets are gonna be sittin’ alert. If we launch, stay glued to me up there,” he told them in a rather melancholy tone.
“Nagase!” he looked over to the rookie.
“Sir.”
“You’re flying number two on my wing,” he told her. “Gotta keep an eye on you or who knows what you’ll get yourself into.”
P.O.V third person
Sand Island
Briefing room
Operation: Lagoon
“At ease people,” ordered the base commander, Orson Perrault, “but don’t get too comfortable. It’s a grave situation for all of us now, so let’s get this briefing started.”
A large screen with a map came up as another; deeper voice began to explain the situation.
“While the Equestrian government has denied that their Pegasi fired on our planes, another one has entered Osean Federation airspace. We confirmed that it was doing a reconnaissance run at very high altitude. Despite repeated warnings, it continued to penetrate our ADEZ and was fired on by Osean Costal Defense Force SAMs. We believe one of these SAMs wounded the Pegasi, but did not kill it. Our radar shows it is currently losing altitude and is attempting to egress feet wet towards the ocean. Intercept and force it to land for further interrogation. Do not fire on the target until further orders are transmitted.”
Cape Landers
September 24th, 2010
11:01 Hours
Wardog
Osean Air Defense Force
108th Tactical Fighter Squadron
“This is Heartbreak One of Wardog Squadron, we are approaching the target,” Bartlett reported.
The Captain flew an F-4G Phantom 2 Wild Weasel painted in a jungle camo of dark shades of green. Nagase, callsign Edge, Davenport, and Blaze flew F-5E Tiger 2’s painted in shades of grey and white.
“This is AWACS callsign Thunderhead, roger. Bring the target to the ground. Do not fire at the target. Repeat, do not fire at the target.”
“You got that, nuggets?” he asked.
“Wardog two, roger,” replied Edge.
“Wardog three, roger,” replied Davenport.
No Wardog four.
“Wardog four, helooo? You’d better be marking our tail, son,” Bartlett asked.
Blaze’s respone was a simple “yes”.
“Good boy,” Bartlett said.
“Man, I’m glad you drew the short straw instead of me!” Davenport said.
“Second Lieutenant Alvin H. Davenport, zip it!” the captain yelled. “You need a nickname, too?”
“I respectfully ask to be called ‘Chopper’ sir. I may not be able to respond to any other moniker.”
“Hmm, that does fit you well. I’ve got a better nickname for you but I’ll keep it to myself.”
“Aw, cut me some slack, man!” Chopper whined.
Bartlett looked to the right. Over the ocean he saw a moving dot slowly losing altitude. The weather was clear over land, but there were storms out at sea. He may be trying to lose them.
“Tally ho, we’ve got company,” he said. “Let’s go.”
The squadron banked to the left and flew over the ocean towards the target.
“You’re forbidden to fire unless I give permission, understand?” asked Bartlett
Again, Blaze’s answer was a simple “yes”.
“Good Boy.”
Flying close to the Pegasus, Bartlett could see that its underside was bleeding heavily. That SAM must have exploded pretty close. It seemed to be in a lot of pain and losing consciousness.
“Alright where’s Motormouth Chopper?” he asked.
“Huh, that’s your name for me?”
“You got knack for comic dialogue. You mind sending the surrender request for me?”
“Oh no, please, age before beauty,” Chopper joked.
“I’m real shy around strangers, y’know,” Bartlett shot back.
“Sheesh,” chopper sighed. “Testing, testing, attention enemy recon, set your course for our beacon immediately,” Chopper called over the radio.
“Good,” said Bartlett.
“Uh…we will direct you to the nearest airfield. Give us some sort of sign if you understand,” Chopper continued.
The Pegasus made no sign. Bartlett flew closer and attempted to get its attention, motioning his hand for it to land or follow them. But again, the Pegasus paid no mind.
“Warning, we have multiple high speed bogeys inbound!” Thunderhead voice called out over the radio. “Approaching unknowns bearing 280, altitude, 6000! Hold your fire until further orders!”
“Crossing the pond to fly cover for their spy, huh?” Bartlett said. “Now there’s a fighter worth his wings.”
The squadron formed back up into a finger-four formation and turned to meet the new threat. As they flew farther out to sea, the weather worsened; rain began to hit them. They soon spotted four Pegasi coming at them.
“Enemy inbound bearing 280, head on!” Bartlett warned.
“You’re forbidden to fire until I say it’s okay, got me?”
Blaze got bit anxious from the recent development, answering with a simple “no” this time. He sensed something was off.
“Don’t worry, trust me,” Bartlett said.
The range decreased between the squadrons, little by little, until the Pegasus squadron suddenly opened fire. Wardog immediately broke to evade the attacks.
“Heads up, they’re firing on us!” Chopper warned.
“Wardog Squadron, weapons safe. You are ordered to hold your fire until further orders,” Thunderhead ordered in strict tone.
“Oh come on! Those aren’t blanks they’re firing out there!” Chopper yelled.
“Shut your mouth and fire back!” Bartlett told them as he dropped behind one of the hostiles.
“Captain Bartlett, this is Thunderhead. You are violating direct orders!”
“Shove it! I’m not gonna watch anymore of my pilots die!” he yelled opening fire on his enemy.
“Edge engaging!”
“Chopper engaging!”
“We’re gonna shot ‘em all down, kid!” Bartlett said, referring to Blaze.
Bartlett shot down his enemy while Edge dropped behind her victim. The Pegasus never noticed until he was struck by a Sidewinder and sent crashing to the ocean. Blaze got a lock on another and fired a missile, hitting his target in the side and killing it. The final one seemed a stunned as to what was happening, as he didn’t notice Chopper closing the distance fast.
“You mind if I grab this kill?” he asked. “I will y’know.”
“Go ahead,” Bartlett replied before Chopper bagged his first kill.
With those down, the squadron noticed another flight of four coming their way.
“Turning to engage bandits,” Nagase said, earning a low whistle from Chopper.
“Whoa! Those guys are really mad, now!” Chopper said as he noticed the incoming enemy.
These were more prepared than their counterparts. They were also angry, wanting revenge for the first four lost. One quickly dropped behind Chopper and attempted to shoot him down with his guns, hitting his plane a couple times.
“Gahhh!” he yelled.
“Chopper, split-s, now!” his Captain ordered.
Chopper turned his aircraft invert and dove down, doing half of a circle. He checked his six as the plane righted itself. The bandit was still there, but what the bandit didn’t see was that he followed Chopper into Heartbreak One’s crosshairs. Aiming carefully, Bartlett fired his gun and killed the enemy.
“Good, good, nicely done Chopper,” Bartlett told him. “We’re still in this. You might get another serving soon.”
“My only regret is not being able to fly with a Captain with a sunnier disposition,” Chopper joked, trying to calm himself.
A short ways away, Edge had dropped behind another and quickly shot him down. The final two dropped behind her. Blaze came to the rescue and shot one down with his missile. The final enemy tried to gain altitude and run; Blaze gave chase. The Pegasus’ heat signature was just enough for Blaze’s sidewinder as he fired it. The missile’s white trail of smoke marked its path in the sky as it ended its journey by connecting with the target.
“Damn, dogfighting sucks, man,” Chopper said as the squadron regrouped.
Out of the corner of his eye Blaze noticed the enemy recon finally lose consciousness and plummet into the sea.
“Enemy recon is down,” Thunderhead reported.
“Aw, what a shame,” Barlett said. “Too tired to party?”
“All other hostiles destroyed, as well,” Thunderhead continued.
Bartlett took count of his planes. All four were there.
“This is your Captain, can you hear my voice?” he asked Blaze.
Blaze must have been feeling pretty good because he answered with a joking “no”.
“Hey, that means you can hear me!” Bartlett chuckled.
“Well, to commemorate the fact that we all made it out of that battle alive, I’m gonna let you keep your nickname. From now on, I’m gonna call you ‘kid’ no matter what. Got it? Good.” Bartlett said before Blaze could answer.
“Man, I swear…” Chopper said.
P.O.V-Albert Genette
Sand Island
The whole affair with the unidentified aircraft was covered up. There was even a rumor going around that it was actually a UFO. Officially, the world was still at peace; but, having witnessed the battle myself, I wasn’t allowed to leave the island.
“Why do they even bother reprimanding me anymore? I know I’m gonna be stuck at Captain forever,” Bartlett told me as we watched Chopper play fetch with his pet Black Labrador, and the squadron’s mascot, Kirk.
“Who do you think’s covering up the battle?” I asked him.
“Listen…the only thing across that ocean is Baltimare Air Force Base. That’s Equestrian territory.”
I thought about it. There was no doubt that we had engaged ponies, but the idea their government was telling us, the first broadcast we had heard from them in over a year, is that it was a rouge group. Everyone knew it was false. The idea that some group over there militarized and went rouge went against the ‘Prefect Society’ we had always been told about.
“But, didn’t the president always say he wanted to make us allies with the ponies ever since they arrived fifteen years ago?” I asked him.
“Yea, that’s why we’ve got people working their asses off trying to confirm just what the hell’s goin’ on over there. I’ll bet they’ve got hotlines ringing off the hook somewhere upstairs.”
He sounded rather depressed while he was telling me this. There was something else bothering him.
“The government doesn’t wanna get the public all riled up about this, y’know?” he continued. “But it doesn’t matter, soldiers like us are too stupid to think for ourselves; so, we just gotta keep our mouths shut when they tell us to.”
There was a hint of anger in that last sentence.
“I feel kinda bad for you, actually,” he said in a more light-hearted tone.
“It’s alright, I get to be with you guys,” I replied.
“The Captain probably hates this more than anybody,” came an old voice from the back the hanger.
We both turned and saw the squadron mechanic Peter Beagle, or ‘Pops’ as he’s called, walk up to us.
“He used to have a mare friend over in Equestria.”
That was confusing. Everyone had heard stories of relationships forming in the fifteen years since the arrival; but, it wasn’t common as the Equestrian government had strictly forbidden it. No human was ever even allowed inside that country, how could he have even met one.
“Ah, that’s just an old war wound now,” Bartlett said.
P.O.V-Third Person
Sand Island
Briefing Room
Operation: Gyre
“A ship of Equestrian origins has been detected approaching the Sand Island coastline. We have confirmed that the ship has launched several Pegasi for reconnaissance duties. They will most likely return to the launch ship for retrieval after completing their spy operations. You are to halt this operation by intercepting and destroying these recon units before they can be recovered by the ship. However, do not attack the ship itself until further orders are transmitted.”
Sand Island
September 27th, 2010
11:33 Hours
“Wardog, this is Thunderhead. Enemy recon is attempting to return to spy vessel. Shoot them down before they get back to the ship.”
“Sure thing. You got that gang?” Bartlett asked his squadron.
Blaze replied with a “yes”.
“Good, remember are orders are not to fire on the ship,” Bartlett said.
They came across the first group, which attempted to run. In order to compensate for the weight of Equstria’s large, less-than-modern, photography equipment, the recon units had to be unarmed; still, they moved quite slowly.
“Show me what you’ve got, kid!”
Blaze surged ahead and shot down the first two with his missiles. He want forward some more and, finding another group of two, dispatched them in the same manner.
“How you doin’, kid?” Bartlett asked. “Pretty easy, huh?”
“Yes”
“Okay let’s hurry up and finish this.”
“Guess this is a good chance to have a little competition of kill scores!” Chopper said as they came across the final group of four.
Chopper went forward, trying to get closer; he misjudged his speed and overshot the group by some way.
“You better not get sloppy just because they’re slow!” Bartlett yelled at him.
As Chopper got separated from the rest of the squadron, Blaze moved within range and finished off the last of the recon Pegasi. As soon as the last one fell, Thunderheads voice came over the radio.
“Warning multiple bogeys inbound and closing fast.”
“Same attack axis as before?” Bartlett asked.
“280. Same vector as last time!”
“Geez, how many planes they got lined up at the border? We’ve only got four on our side… We’d better abort. This Way.”
Bartlett led the squadron in turning around and heading back towards the island. The enemy formation appeared on radar; ten bogeys, all in one formation.
“Think you can stick to my tail?” Bartlett asked.
Whether Blaze genuinely thought he couldn’t, or was in a joking mood, he answered “no”.
“I think your sense of humor needs a little extra training,” Bartlett replied.
As the squadron turned away, they noticed Chopper was not with them. Due to his long overshot of the recon, he had been much closer to the enemy formation. His voice came in over the radio.
“I can’t make it! They’re running me down!”
Bartlett looked back and saw the enemy closing with Chopper.
“Oh, you’re takin’ the trail position today, Rock n’ Roller? Hang on, I’ll clear your six o’clock for you.”
“Dammit, why’d I have to draw the short straw today!?” Chopper said as he continued towards his squad mates, who had now turned around to help him.
“Everyone else quite gawkin’ and start shooting!” Bartlett ordered.
“Enemy fire confirmed,” Edge said, “turning to engage.”
“Wardog, you are not clear to engage at this time!” Thunderhead called.
Chopper broke right as the squadron approached and was followed by four of the enemies. Bartlett and Edge both took two, shooting them down.
“You splashed an enemy without permission to engage!? What are you thinking, Wardog!?” Thunderhed yelled.
They soon heard an unfamiliar voice over the radio.
“Enemy squadron has commenced counter-attack,” the voice said. It didn’t take much to realize it was the enemy’s voice. “Flight of four fighters. They are believed to be the same squadron from two days ago.”
Blaze attacked a group of three, shooting down one as it was coming head on. He dropped onto the six of another as the Pegasi’s partner dropped onto Blaze’s six. Blaze was faster, killing the first one in his sights and dumping his speed, causing the other one to overshoot Blaze’s plane. He then finished the Pegasus off with his machine gun.
One of the final three latched onto Bartlett’s tail, trying to get a lock-on.
“Back again, huh? Hope you’re ready to fight this time.” Bartlett taunted, now knowing the enemy could hear him.
“Break right, bandit on the Captain’s tail. I’m on it,” Edge said as she hit Bartlett’s attacker with a missile.
“All right, not bad!” he complemented.
The last two tried to retreat, but were both caught by Bartlett and Chopper.
“Picture Clear. All enemies destroyed,” Thunderhead reported. “Warning is still in effect, keep your heads on a swivel.”
The squadron regrouped and flew over the spy ship. It was mostly wood, but part metal. It didn’t have a sail or paddles on the side, so it must have been driven by propellers like the humans. Though they certainly didn’t have the propulsion technology, whatever did propel it made it go almost as fast as a human ship. The ship then fired a missile, and it locked and to Edge’s plane.
“Watch out Nagase, they’re down below us, too!” Bartlett warned.
Edge tried to dodge, but couldn’t lose it. Bartlett then drove his plane in-between the two, picking up the lock himself. He also tried to dodge, breaking right, left and doing an aileron roll before the missile impacted his wing.
“Captain!” Edge cried.
“Hey! Save the waterworks,” he ordered. “I’m just gonna bail out here. We can replace these things. It’s getting the crew back alive that counts. Make a call to scramble the search and rescue copter and my reserve plane, okay?”
And with that, Heartbreak One ejected; parachute deploying and landing in the sea, and dangerously close to the enemy vessel.
“Warning! Warning! Wardog Squadron, return to base immediately!” Thunderhead ordered.
“But the rescue helicopter isn’t here yet!” Edge protested.
“Leave that to the rescue team! Refuel and rearm at the base, and get back in the air immediately! The enemy has declared war on us!”