//------------------------------// // Mission 4: Blockage // Story: Ace Combat: Equestria // by TasteTheSun //------------------------------// Mission 4: Blockage One night, a high spirited group of griffons made their way into the donut shop and chased out the sullen griffon warrior grunts, and commandeered the place. Only a few ponies, Donut Joe, the filly, and I remained. Even I knew who they were. The mark on their flanks was the mark of the airborne fighters who toke the battle to the skies, dealing with other enemy fliers. A loud mouth griffon went around, announcing each fighter's results for the day. For those who exceeded five kills, a thorough toasting-and soaking followed. I believe it was a custom to call a fighter an "Ace", once he shot down five enemies. After completing the day's review, the same griffon-the squadron adjutant- went on to announce. "And now for our leader's results!" he said as everyone stared at the quiet griffon who sat alone in the back corner, strumming a guitar. I felt myself being dragged to his music. "Our Red Blood One bagged three more today, bringing his tally up to sixty-four kills!" the loud mouth said With a tentative smile, the griffon with the guitar turned to me and asked me to accompany him on my harmonica. I brought it up to my lips and he started a new song. Although something about him that caught my eye. There was a black number one on his flank! I had finally found "him". But by some weird coincidence, it was me and my father's favorite song. The one we would play at the end of each day. *** Mission Briefing: "We've discovered The Griffons are transporting a large quantity of gems and other strategic supplies and rapid deployment troops into Vanhoover Harbor." "Vanhoover seems to be the staging ground for an attack on North Pony." "Why would Vanhoover be the staging ground for-... uh oh," Celestia said with a worried tone. Almost every pony in the room seemed to have the same worried expression on their faces. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie were the only ones who didn't know what they were talking about. "Could somepony please tell me what's going on," Rainbow said. The General cleared his throat before pressing on. "The Arell Fleet stationed here seems to be the centerpiece for this attack," "Ok, now what's The Arell Fleet?" She said, agitated that no one would give her a straight answer. It wasn't until Luna gave them the answer they were looking for. "A few years back, my sister and I were talking about how we could improve on our defenses. What we came up with was The Arell Fleet. The fleet is made up of many ships, ranging from, battleships to destroyers to carriers, and not just naval ships, but airships as well. Aircraft like balloons, blimps and zeppelins. We tried to use it in fighting of the griffons, but they came so fast that we only managed to scavenge a few ships of our own before they took over the rest of the fleet. Now it seems they're going to use it against us." It shocked all three mares. Now they knew. Just then, Rainbow Dash jumped up out of her seat. "Well than we have to go and take them out!" It took all of Twilight's magical effort to set her other jumpy friend back down to her seat. "Rainbow, we can't barge in there just yet, and plus, we need to deal with the transport unit," she said. Ironhoof was next to speak. "She's right, we'll take them out eventually, but for now, we need to get to them by degree. So where was I, oh yes. Now, if the griffons complete their troop preparations, and the Arell Fleet set sail, this will bring about our defeat in this war." Rainbow Dash motioned to Twilight that what Ironhoof had just said proved her point, but Twilight motioned her back to listen. "Your mission is to go and destroy the transport carriages and fighters in and around Vanhoover Harbor. Lets show them how vulnerable they really are." With that, the four pegasi put on a face of determination. "Be advised, the griffons have been working on some experimental radar jammers which pretty much jams your radar network, so you might wanna rely on visual contact instead," Ironhoof forewarned. They four nodded before taking a look at the deployment map. It was a long line of red and gray triangles. Nothing the Wonderbolt Squadron couldn't handle. ••• Mission Start Rainbow Dash hid behind a cloud and watched the transport unit pass by. She turned on her radio so that her fellow pegasi could hear her and not the griffons. "Wonderbolt Squadron, this is Rainbow One, got a visual on the enemy transport. Wait a minute, aw ponyfeathers! It's a whole convoy!" She loudly whispered. She could see griffons pulling transport carriages filled from gems to weapons to bombs. There were a lot of battle carriages as well, equipped with cannons and machine guns. Rainbow prayed to The Princesses that she herself had enough ammo and weapons to deal with them. "Good work Rainbow One, move intercept, over," Spitfire replied. "Yes ma'am." Rainbow Dash jumped up out of her cloud and went to pursue the convoy from the side. The other three Wonderbolts linked up with her and were now in a hot pursuit. "Wonderbolt Squadron, Twilight here. You should have a visual of the transport. Move in to intercept." "Roger that Twilight," Rainbow Dash replied. "Try to locate the jammers to clear the radar as well. Good Luck!" The four were coming up on the transport and were now in gun range. "Wonderbolt Squadron, engage!" Spitfire called out. Some of the escort fighters took notice of the oncoming threat and broke formation to go deal with them. Rainbow didn't hesitated when she fired on the closest target that was approaching them. The rest quickly followed her example. When she looked upon her radar, all she saw was static. More enemies kept closing in. "This is hopeless, we'll never stop them without radar!" Rainbow Dash complained. "Rainbow One, we'll take care of the escorts while you try to find and destroy the jammers!" Soarin commanded. "Copy that," Rainbow replied as she broke off from her group and flew directly towards the transport. Several of the AA gun crews caught sight of her and opened fire. Rainbow Dash was capable of dodging the streams of bullets, but a few managed to dig their way into her armor. She needed to act fast. "Ok, if I was a jammer, where would I be?" She asked herself as her eyes fell upon two antennas atop of two transport carriages. "Bingo!" Rainbow said as she dodged another stream of gunfire. She continued doing so until to her great fortune, the guns were out of ammo. It was her chance. She quickly took out three bombs from her saddlebags. Even though most ponies thought it was pointless to bring bombs to an air battle, Rainbow simply ignored them and brought them along anyway. She just enjoys watching what those little things were capable of. She shot up into the air, and then dive bombed onto the transport. Arming all three bombs, she dropped them all over their designated targets. The jammers as well as the carriages they were positioned on went up in flames as they fell to the ground. "They got the jammers!" a griffon said over the radio. "They're going to destroy the cargo!" "Maintain formation," another commanded "Radar's clear and back online!" Soarin went on to announce. "Awesome! Alright who's next!" Rainbow though to herself when a bullet hit her right in her leg, but didn't make it's way past her armor. Ok, now I know who's getting blown up next," Popping out another bomb, Rainbow Dash went ahead and blew up the battle carriage. When she turned to take out the other, it was already in a ball of flames. Flying right above it, Soarin held a bomb in his hoof with a smirk on his face. "You're not the only one who gets to do all the destroying around here you know," he called out as he took off after the remaining transport carriages. The others quickly followed behind. Once they were at a good distance away from the transport, Soarin and Rapid Fire took out their rocket launchers and aimed them at the carriages. "Ready, aim, FIRE!!!" Soarin called out. The two fired their rockets and both flew to their designated targets. Both carriages went up in flames. "Target is neutralized!" Soarin gloated. "Aw hell, their gunna blow us out of the sky!" on griffon complained. "Don't be a wimp, there aren't that many of them. Just keep moving! Get as many back to the harbor as you can!" The Griffons were frantically shouting out orders over the radio. There weren't that many of them. About three transports and two battle carriages remained. Spitfire took note of this and began to form a plan. "Ok, here's what I want you all to do. Soarin and Rapid Two, you guys will take out the battle carriages. That will keep them distracted while Rainbow One and I go for the transport." Both pegasi nodded before they went towards their possible doom. The others followed behind, launchers at the ready. "Are they still there?" a griffon nervously asked one of his comrades. Then he noticed a carriage blew up right next to him. "Does that answer your question?" Another replied rhetorically. "Stop them at all costs! Sacrifice yourselves if you have to!" "Gees, these guys really mean business," Soarin commentated. Eventually the two griffons were engulfed into the flames of their exploding cargo. "Nice kill!" Rainbow complimented on Soarin's shot. Finally, they managed to shoot down the remaining transport carriages. ••• "Twilight, target is confirmed destroyed. Mission accomplished!" Spitfire reported. "Good job everyone. Now fly back to base for debriefing." "Roger that." With that, all four of them headed back to base. ••• Mission Debriefing: "The mission was a complete success. This griffon occupied air corridor has been effectively shut down." ••• Questions, Comments, Complements, Any errors or accepted, always room for improvement Be sure to like and follow me both here and Twitter(@Pony3T)