//------------------------------// // Early Bird // Story: Shattered Skies // by The card holder //------------------------------// After the operation at Rigley, there was a whirlwind of activity in a short span of time. Not even a week after that operation, planes were sent out to destroy a number of radar installations in the mountains. Only a couple weeks later, they were once again scrambled to take out a group of transport planes, and despite the Eruseans using radar jamming aircraft, Dash and Mobius were once again able to steal the show and cement victory. The two seemed to have a bit of a one-sided rivalry going, Twilight noticed. Though Mobius never said a single word, Dash was quick to either offer friendly challenges before sorties, or compare results afterwards. Word about the two quickly spread not just around the base, but apparently around the rest of the ISAF forces, as well. Mobius in particular was drawing the gazes of dozens of pilots, partly from his skill and partly from his mysterious nature. Mobius himself, however, was never seen outside of sorties, or at least if he was, no one ever recognized him. Even Rarity, who distinctly remembered painting his now well-known "ribbon" emblem, recalled that whenever she saw him, he was fully masked up and only said a select few words. Not only that, but apparently at some point ISAF command had seen fit to allow him to get a new, more advanced aircraft, as shortly after they downed the transport planes Twilight spotted his emblem on a plane almost identical to the one Dash flew. It had been about a week and a half since the latest operation, and it was no surprise to Twilight when they were once again deployed, this time in a larger-scale offensive. The target was a refinery and a series of oil rigs: ISAF command hoped to cripple one of the Erusean fleets by preventing them from getting enough fuel out. Naturally, both Dash and Mobius were selected for the job, along with a number of other pilots. <> Right after SkyEye issued the orders, the planes did so, Dash leading half of the squadron towards the shore and the refineries located there, while Mobius and his half flew towards the oil rigs. <> <> Mobius sunk a tanker that happened to be in the way, and at the same time Twilight could see small numbers of red triangles approach both halves of the ISAF forces. <> Mobius was the first one to make contact with the enemy fighters, as he flew straight at a pair of them and immediately downed one with a set of missiles. <> As Mobius flew by the other plane, a friendly repeated his action on the other bogey. <> By now, Mobius had reached the first oil rig, and he dropped a pair of bombs at it, taking out an AA gun, a fuel tank, a crane, and the control room. <> While Mobius and his half of the forces cleaned up the waters, Dash and her half met little resistance comparatively. The air support was slightly thicker, but she was more than able to keep them tied up while the rest of the pilots dealt with destroying the refineries. <> A pair of missiles snaked out from Dash's craft, each one seeking out and destroying a different fighter. <> <> <> <> By now, Dash had managed to clear her end of the sky, and assisted in destroying the remaining facilities. At the same time, Mobius evaded a pursuer by nimbly flying through one of the oil rigs, causing his tail to crash into a crane and plummet into the water as a flaming wreck. <> <> <> <> Minutes had passed, and whatever resistance the enemy had left was destroyed, leaving the ISAF fighters free reign over the oil facilities. Dash's end of the battle was completely destroyed, so she started flying over towards Mobius, the others following suit. <> By this point, more Erusean fighters had shown up, and Mobius broke off from his bombing run to engage them, as Dash took his place. <> <> Before the ISAF fighter could do anything to escape, the pursuing Erusean fired a pair of missiles into his back, bringing him to the water below. <> Mobius was quick to avenge them, however, getting close behind the enemy fighter and lighting it up with his machine gun until it exploded. <> After that, ISAF suffered no more losses, and the combined strength of Mobius and the rest of the pilots were more than enough to defeat whoever was left in the air. At the same time, Dash finished up the last oil rig, leaving it a flaming wreck. <> Twilight leaned back and let out a sigh of relief. While they had lost a pilot, thankfully no one else was hurt. She had already gotten used to the idea of friendly forces being killed in battle, but it still brought a sick feeling to her stomach. A look over to Sunset confirmed that she felt the same way. Suddenly, Twilight heard beeping in her headset, and looked back to the radar to see five enemy fighters closing towards them, moving fast. SkyEye clearly noticed, too. <> By now, the enemies were in visual sight, and the closest ISAF fighter managed to get a good look at them. <> <> While she wasn't quite sure who these "Yellows" were, the panic in the pilots' voices told Twilight all she needed to know. <> <> <> The Yellows left formation as they made beelines for whoever was closest. At the same time, all ISAF fighters proceeded to travel full throttle south. One of them was unlucky enough to get caught within missile lock range, and was quickly taken down, despite his best evasive maneuvers. <> <> <> <<...understood.>> Eventually, the ISAF fighters got far enough that the Yellows broke pursuit, and Twilight watched as they lazily circled back around, no doubt heading back to their base. As they did so, the lead plane stuck out to her, which had a barely-visible "013" painted on the nose. In fact, she almost felt like, for a split second, the pilot had made direct eye contact with her, despite the distance. A cloud passed between them, and just like that, they were gone, the AWACS and their fighters now well out of radar range. <