//------------------------------// // Extra Chapter - #18 - Wolfpack // Story: Ace Combat: The Changeling War // by Lonewolf78 //------------------------------// Gryphus AFB Gryphus, Griffon Empire May 15 2023 18:12 hours. Sunset Shimmer had launched 2 different attacks on Changeling forces after she quit working for them over the incident with the village. She enjoyed doing it, but it was quickly draining her bank account. Her plane was now parked in a hangar at one end of the sprawling Gryphus airbase where the majority of mercenaries flying out of the Griffon Empire were stationed. She was busy stenciling two more kill stars on the side of her SU-33 when a Griffon mercenary walked over. "Hey are you still set on fighting the Changelings by yourself?" he asked. "Yes Redwing. Why?" "Well it looks like a chance to get paid for doing it has come up," he replied. Sunset was surprised. "I'm listening." Apparently the exiled Crystal Empire along with Equestria is looking for mercenary help in doing some clandestine ops inside the Changeling's country. There's a meeting tonight in hangar two. Me and several others are going." "I am there," she replied as she finished with the stars. ------------------- Hangar 2 Gryphus AFB 21:00 hours. Sunset arrived and found Redwing there along with two more Griffons, a Pegasus, three dogs, and two bat ponies. "Well well well if it isn't Blaze," one dog said. "Still flying for the insects?" "Nope. They have me marked for death now," she replied. "Oooooh you're the one who did that," an off white pegasus with light yellow mane said. "Very noble of you. I can't believe they did such a blatant violation of our Gryphus Convention Treaty," a female Griffon said. "I can't either. I don't know if they were acting alone or under orders. Doesn't matter though because they're all dead," Sunset replied, opening a can of pop. "Right on. I've got a brother somewhere in Gracemareia that I'm worried about," commented one of the bat ponies. A short time later the door opened, and a pair of ponies walked in and went over to the table that was set up. "Wow more than I expected," a pale green unicorn said. The other pony; a pale yellow earth one, then spoke. "Greetings. We are with the Equestria Intelligence Agency. We can't give you our names, so call me 'Candymare' and her 'Harpy'. Anything discussed here cannot be disclosed to anyone outside of this group." Harpy took over. "I'm sure you know what's going on in the Crystal Empire, and as an ally we are aiding them in any way possible, including clandestine operations within the Changeling Kingdom. One thing our military can't do yet is launch visible attacks on the Changeling country itself. So we are turning to our special ops and mercenaries for this." Candymare took over. "Which is why we are here. We want to hire you to launch airstrikes inside their country, and disrupt their operations in the Crystal Empire. Though we're arranging it, it is them you are working for, which is what you will tell the Changelings should you get caught." That comment caused a bit of stirring among the group. Harpy continued. "We will cover the cost of all weapons, fuel, and repairs along with your pay. We will also arrange your weapons loadouts depending on your mission." "So what is our pay?" Redwing asked. "Twenty percent over the average rate," replied Candymare, which caused some more stirring. "Count me in," the Pegasus said. "Let's do it," replied one of the dogs. everyone else also agreed. "Great.We'll take down your info and you'll bee good to go in a day," Harpy replied. "By chance has any of you worked for the Changelings before?" the earth pony asked. Everyone turned to look at Sunset Shimmer, who had a sheepish smile on her face. "I did up until a few days ago," she replied. "I did something that kiiiinda' pissed them off." "You're the one who attacked the Changelings at Kurain?" Harpy asked. "Yep. I did a couple of other self funded missions after that," she replied. "Nice. Any intelligence about their operations you have would be valuable. And don't worry about using your own bits anymore, we've got you covered," replied Candymare. "Now what do you have for planes?" The group gave them the rundown. Sunset's SU-33 was the newest. Redwing had a J-10, the female Griffon a Mirage 2000, and the third Griffon a Harrier. One dog had an F-4E, and the others older MiG's. The two bat ponies had F-16C's. Finally Helia had a Tomcat. "Wow that's gonna' be a fun group to get weapons for. If the worst happens and you lose your plane we have reserve ones we'll bring in," Harpy said. "We also need a name for all of you that we can use," commented Candymare. "How about the Wardogs?" the short dog said. "There's already a couple of squadrons with that name," commented the other bat pony. "How about 'The Midnighters'?" "Too bad Razgriz is already taken," the Pegasus said. "I don't know. How about 'Wolfpack" since we are going to be hunting in a pack?" Sunset said. "I like it," replied Redwing. "No complaints here," replied the tallest dog. Everyone agreed it sounded good. "Very well. You will be known as Wolfpack in communications and documents," replied Harpy. "We'll see you tomorrow." And they left. "So how are we going to do this? Do we stay DE-centralized or pick a leader?" the other male Griffon said. "We definitely need a leader. And I think Sunset fits the bill," the female Griffon said with a smile. Sunset was shocked. "Whoa, Serana I don't think I'm leader material," she replied. "I think you are.I mean look at what you did. You saw an injustice and acted on your own to correct it, then made your own plans to further deal with it. One pony going against an entire military, Serana replied." The others nodded their heads. Sunset was taken back by it. When she was with the Legion of Discord's air force she was always a wing pony. "O-Oh. Well if you want me to be one, then I guess I will," she replied. And with that the mercenary group "Wolfpack" was born. ---------------- Name-callsign-plane Sunset - Blaze - SU-33 Helia - Blossom - F-14B Redwing - Stryker - J-10 Serana - Siren - Mirage 2000-5 Mk. 2 Alvinar - Cobra - AV-8B Rover - K' Dog - F-4E Fido - Cruncher - MiG-23MLD Spot - Rot - MiG-21-97 Shadow - Syxx - F-16C Nightglider - Scanner - F-16C ------------------ Hangar 2 Gryphus AFB May 17 2023 09:00 hours The team showed up for their first mission briefing by Harpy. They sat down at a table in a side room of the hangar. "OK pilots, here's your first mission." and Harpy turned on a laptop connected to a projector. "The Changelings are getting ready to send a massive convoy of supplies into the Crystal Empire. They are currently staged about 20 miles from the border in the kingdom," and she pointed to the area on the map. "Resistance should be fairly light since they aren't expecting any attacks. You will fly into the Crystal Empire Northeast of Prairie City, then turn Northeast to head into the Changeling Kingdom. You have to do it like this instead of going straight for it as mercenaries flying in from this country to attack would cause major problems for the Griffons. You will have to fly lower than 200 feet to beat their radar until you reach the target. Once you get picked up on radar you can bet the resistance won't be light anymore, so destroy your targets and get out of there, going back the same way you came in." Harpy took a drink of water, then continued. " So here's your assignments. Sunset, Redwing, Serana, Spot; you will be set up for air to air for cover. The rest of you will handle the bombing with air to air engagements as secondary. Any questions?" Fido spoke up. "Couldn't we just bomb the bridge over the river and cut them off?" he asked. "We considered it, but it would also prevent the Changelings from leaving the Empire should they choose to pull out so we have no plans to destroy it. Intel shows some anti aircraft installations around it so you'll want to stay away from it on the way in and out," she replied. "How about other anti aircraft installations?" Nightglider asked. "There's not many around there because all mobile ones have been moved into the Empire. There are a couple of SA-2 sites North of the bridge so keep on alert," Harpy replied. "Any more questions?" No one spoke up so she ended the briefing. "OK that's it. Good luck Wolfpack." ------------------- West of Prairie City Crystal Empire 13:32 hours. "OK everyone drop below 200 and head into the Empire," Sunset announced. "Are they sure there isn't any anti aircraft in that area?" Spot asked. "Yeah there's nothing. Equestria has the top intelligence agency in the world," replied Sunset. "Just keep alert inside their country." Soon they crossed the border into the Empire, and almost instantly got a radar spike. "What's that?" Alvinar said in a startled voice. "IFF is showing it's Equestrian," replied Redwing. Normally their IFF's would squak the codes for mercenaries, but they had been changed to Crystal Empire ones to show who they were working for. "Lunar Republic fighter squadron 8 to Crystal Empire aircraft. State your intentions." "CE flight lead to Equestria Squadron: Wolfpack is on the prowl," replied Sunset. After a period of silence, the pilot came back on. "Roger Wolfpack lead. Good hunting." "I didn't think there were any Equestrian squadrons flying this far east yet," Helia said. "The NLR 8th squadron is F-35's, so they're no doubt doing some strikes deep behind enemy lines," replied Redwing. "So that's what we say when we get contacted by them? How do they know?" Spot asked. "Yep. You think they wouldn't tell their own forces about us?" Sunset replied. "Uh no I guess not," he replied. "OK it's time to head Northeast," Sunset announced. And the group made a turn towards the bridge, at which point they would fly straight East down the road. "19 miles," she announced. "I'm getting a faint radar spike," Redwing said. "Hmmm. Let's jink South a bit. Might be a Crystal Empire SAM the changelings took over," Sunset replied. They changed their course and the spike disappeared. Their new course would take them to the road just East of the bridge. "Eleven miles to the target. Split up and get ready," Sunset said, and they divided into their two groups and turned to head down the road. "Look!" yelled Fido. In the distance they could see the convoy coming up the road. "Dammit they're already moving," commented Nightglider. "K Dog and Cruncher bomb them!" replied Sunset. The two dogs pulled ahead and got in a line. Rover dropped his bombs first followed by Fido, destroying 12 trucks and bringing the convoy to a grinding halt. "Got Em'!" Rover exclaimed. "They know we're here now so engage at will and get ready for air responses," replied Sunset. Alvinar flew down the road too launching rocket after rocket, destroying even more trucks. Soon they were at the staging area where the rest of the trucks were still bottled up. "Cluster time Nightglider," Sunset said. "I'm going in," he replied. He had to break out of the dive though when some anti aircraft guns opened up on him. "Watch out there's two ZSU's down there," he announced. "I'm on them," replied Shadow. He locked onto them with his Mavericks and fired, taking both of them out. Then there was more bad news. "We've got ten bandits inbound from the East," announced Serana. "OK Nightglider and the rest of you with bombs finish up, then come and join us," announced Sunset. And her and the others flew off to intercept the bandits. It didn't take long for them to get within missile range. "Light em' up," Sunset said, and her Redwing and Serana locked their long range missiles onto the approaching planes. Spot's missiles had shorter a range so he had to wait. The mix of Adder, MICA, and PL-12'sdropped from the planes and sped off. Spot finally fired his two Apex's when the aircraft got in range, leaving him with Archers and Aphids. The group succeeded in shooting down four of them. "Time to get up close and personal," Redwing said, and the four split up to engage the Changelings. "MiG-29's. Shouldn't be too hard," Spot said as he turned to get on the tail of one. "For us. It's a different story with you," replied Serana. Despite the remark from her, he managed to stay on the tail of the Changeling long enough to lock an Archer onto him and fire. The MiG-dodged it with flares, but Spot launched another as soon as the flares stopped dropping from the plane, and the MiG wasn't able to dodge it. "That's a kill for me!" Spot said happily. Sunset got on the wing commander's six, and despite several Cobra and braking moves, she got him with an Archer also. Redwing dived on a third in time to watch it shoot an Archer at Spot, who flew by to it's right. "Yikes!" he yelled as he dropped flares and turned hard, shaking the heat seeker. "Remember their Archers can look sideways like ours can," Redwing said. Shortly afterwards he got the MiG with his cannon. The rest of the group showed up, and now the remaining three Changelings were hopelessly outnumbered. "Turkey shoot!" Shadow yelled. The MiG's tried to run, but he got one With a Sidewinder, and shortly afterwards Serana and Rover ran the other two down, killing them with heat seekers. "That looks like it. Let's blow this joint," Sunset announced. And they turned and headed for the Crystal Empire. Unfortunately because they changed position they were heading for a SAM site now. "Shit SAMS!" Alvinar yelled. "Evade! Any of you still have bombs?" Sunset asked. "I have a couple left," replied Alvinar. "And I've got two Mavericks I didn't need," replied Shadow. "Get em' then," she replied. They dodged four of the SA-2's, and then pressed home the attack. Shadow took out the command center and radar with his Mavericks, and Alvinar dropped his last two clusters on the site, destroying the two SA-2's that hadn't launched. The rest of the group strafed the remaining launchers. "Nice one guys! Now let's get out of here," Sunset exclaimed. A short time later they crossed back into the Crystal Empire and turned Southwest, entering the Griffon Empire shortly afterwards. "Crystal Empire aircraft state your business," a Griffon controller announced. "This is Wolfpack returning to the den," replied Sunset. "Roger. Welcome back," replied the controller. And the group returned to Gryphus. ------------------ Gryphus AFB Hangar 2 Griffin Empire 19:00 hours. The group assembled in the hangar for the debriefing by the two EIA mares. Harpy spoke first. "We have assessed the damage. Congrats on taking out the convoy. This will definitely be a blow to them." Candymane then spoke. "Your performance was excellent. We will definitely have more missions for you soon. In the meantime your payments will be in your bank before sunset tomorrow," she said. After going over a few things the duo left. "I think we've got something here," Shadow said. "Yeah. I kind of like being in a group for a change," commented Rover. "I don't think we could ever get up to the level of those other mercenary groups like the Razgriz and the Eighty Eights, but we could make a name for ourselves," added Alvinar. "And I'd be the leader?" Sunset said with a smile. "I think you proved you are with this mission," replied Redwing. Sunset laughed. "Well just call me the alpha wolf then." "Let's get out of here. The cider's on me," Helia said. --------------------- Main Hospital Gracemareia Crystal Empire May 30 2023 21:22 hours. "And that's how I became the leader of a group of mercenaries," Sunset told Nightshade. "We did six more missions before they pulled the plug. Altogether we shot down around 42 aircraft and destroyed who knows how many vehicles and armor. It did a nice job of fattening our bank accounts." "Nice. I knew you had it in you from what I saw while we were with the LoD," replied Nightshade. "So why did they stop it?" "They were kind of forced to. As you probably know there were Changeling spies in Equestria including the EIA. And right after our last mission one found out about us and blabbed it to their leaders, including the fact we were flying out of the Griffon Empire. They threatened the Griffon president about it, but once he asked about the blatant violation of the Gryphus Convention Treaty they did they shut up pretty fast, and the Griffons told Equestria they didn't have to stop it," Sunset said. "They went ahead and shut down the operation though just in case, and because so much progress had been made in the war. That's also the reason I'm talking to you about it. It was a highly covert operation. The only ones who knew about it were us, the Equestrian and Crystal Empire governments, the Griffon president, and Equestria special ops." "Wow. So did they find out who gave the order to destroy my village?" Nightshade asked. "The Griffons and Equestria investigated it, and it looks like it was just a rouge commander. Further digging revealed he had a deep hatred of ponies. I still think Sombra was involved," replied Sunset. "Well my wing commander took care of him. He became chum for sharks," Nightshade replied, taking a drink of water afterwards. "Still have a way with words eh?" cracked Sunset. "Wait til' I tell you about that Changeling radio show I called into," replied Nightshade. "So how did you get an SU-33? That's a pretty new plane for mercenaries." "It's a former LoD one and well... Let's just say both LoD and Griffon records show it was shot down," she replied with a wink. "That's where most of the pilots in the group got their planes from too." "So what are you going to do now?" Nightshade asked. "Well it's safe to say we won't be doing any work for the Changelings. Both Equestria and the Crystal Empire have us on speed dial though, and that still leaves everywhere else. Saddle Arabia is starting to have trouble with one of it's neighbors so that's a possibility." Then Sunset asked a big question. "Since you have your own plane now; I don't suppose you would be interested in joining would you?" Nightshade thought about it for a few seconds. "As much as I'd love to, I've pretty much have my entire family back now and I'm welcome in this country again, so I'm content with being in the air force," she replied. "I figured you would be. The invitation will always be open if you change your mind." It was time for Sunset to leave due to the hospital visitation hours being almost up. "Once you are back to full health, I wouldn't mind doing a 1 V 1 to see if you still have it," Sunset said, giving Nightshade a hug. "Anytime Blaze," replied Nightshade.