Chapter 3
While staying with my aunt, who still raved on about the horrible treatment and how much she despised gryphons, I got a small job at the local tavern. The one thing I was good at was playing a harmonica, which also was my cutie mark (imagine that), and I could play pretty good in my opinion. The soldiers there often listened to me, and there were a couple times when the place would get really quiet while I sat on the bar. The barkeep would be polishing and cleaning his glasses while he and the crowd watched and listened to my notes.
One night, a particularly rambunctious group of soldiers came in. They all wore pilot uniforms and jackets with emblems of the proud Gryphnian Air Force. Their emblem was a pair of daggers crossing blades behind a falling meteor. I wasn’t busy cleaning my harmonica and looked at the barkeep, wondering who they were.
“That’s Meteor Squadron,” he replied. “They’re Gryphnia’s top squadron. Their best. In their entire history they’ve only lost one member. And that was during the war against their first tyrannical emperor about sixty years ago.” He suddenly huffed. “Not that the royal family has changed much,” he added with a faint hiss. His voice was too low to be heard by the gryphons.
One of them suddenly walked to the bar, holding up a marker. “Hey keep! We got a new tally for ya!”
The barkeep suddenly grinned and took the marker. “Alrighty!” he cried, his disposition suddenly changing to feign enjoyment. “Let’s see here…”
The pilots had run out all of the soldiers. They gathered around the bar, tallying up their kills against AEGIS. I listened with some rapt attention, hearing the boasting and cheering. They spoke in long words and acronyms, almost too many times for me to understand. They then started shaking the hands of a gryphon, shaking him and congratulating him. They called him an ‘ace’, which I later learned was the title for a pilot who scored five kills. He was rather handsome, his feathers were pristine, and his features cool. On his jacket was stitched the number eight along with his squadron's insignia.
“And how about our leader?” the barkeep suddenly said.
I turned around to a female gryphon sitting in the corner. She was busy strumming a guitar when she looked up, a faint smile coursed her beak as she brushed some feathers from her face. The number six was stitched into her jacket as she then looked at me. She directed a smile at me, and then waved for me to come to her.
I don’t know what for, but I jumped from the bar and walked over to her. She placed a leg on her knee and hefted the guitar onto her right leg. Her wings folded back and she ran her claws gently over the strings. The bar went quiet as she jerked her beak to the seat next to her. I sat down, raising the harmonica to my lips. She then looked down and closed her eyes, strumming a few notes. A few seconds later, I recognized it as an Equestrian song. Why a gryphon knew it, I didn’t know, but she was really good at playing it. I knew it too; it was a song my mother sang to me when I was troubled, or if I couldn’t sleep. I noticed she looked rather gruff, maybe even harsh, but she played the guitar very soothingly.
I soon joined in with my harmonica, and we played a melody that filled the tavern’s air…
“Originally owned by the Hippogriffs,” Spitfire continued, “The gryphons made an almost immediate b-line for it. They’ve surrounded the area with anti-air guns, but not enough to stave off an attack by a small strike force.”
“AKA the four planes you’ve assembled in the room,” Amethyst mumbled.
“Exactly,” the Major said, her expression neutral, but seemed to have an aura that said ‘shut up and let me finish’. Amethyst did so without hesitation. “There are a total of six radar domes that are broadcasting to the Gryphon commanders every single AEGIS position. If we want to make any progress in the coming invasion, they need to be taken out. The Prime Minister himself has given us full authorization to shut them down by any means necessary, even if we have to carpet bomb the entire mountain range.”
Rhapsody folded her arms, smirking. “Hippogriffs always liked being thorough.” She then winced and turned around. “No offense Sprig.”
“None taken, it’s completely true to the point of almost being sad.”
“Anyway, we’re not gonna send in a pair of B-52s into the mountains and start dropping bombs on anything that looks hostile. A small strike squadron, AKA you, will be loaded with bombs again. Make sure to drop them on the targets, and any other Gryphnian armaments and vehicles in the area. Consider everything hostile and destroy them.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Mythic agreed.
“Alright then, you have your assignment. You leave immediately.” She saluted. “Dismissed.”
Rhapsody flexed her gloves and shuddered. “Sweet Mother Mare,” she muttered. “It’s colder than a Windigo’s flank up here. Sprig, why did the hippogriffs choose this place?”
“Cold like home, mountainous so it prevents a direct infantry attack, also keeps out armor, and it’s safe and secluded,” she answered automatically. Sprig looked around the mountain range, smirking behind her oxygen mask. “The view’s not too bad either.”
“You’re approaching the target,” Sky Gazer announced. “They’ve already sent a pair of fighters to intercept. You are clear to engage.”
“Roger, Wraith engaging.” The Tomcat sped ahead of the group.
“Shade engaging.”
“Banshee, engaging.”
“Let’ go! Whoops, uh… Phantom engaging!”
Rhapsody pulled up, letting the first Gryphnian F-16 fly under her. Mythic broke away from the group and pursued. Sprig pulled the trigger on her control stick and let loose her cannon. The heavy rounds tore through the F-4. Chunks of metal tore away from the two-seater fighter and sent it hurtling into the mountain, causing a minor avalanche into a valley.
“He’s on me!” Amethyst cried. Her F-16 turned hard, spinning into a helix upwards to try and shake off the enemy that flew her exact same plane. The gryphon was able to keep pace and turned with her.
Rhapsody pulled up, dropping a pair of bombs directly onto a radar dome. The first hit dead on, but the second went too wide, almost turning with her and slamming into the side of a CH-47. “Not exactly a target, but good shot either way,” Ditzy praised. She then looked to her left. “There’s Amethyst. She’s still in trouble!”
Wraith pulled into a turn towards the pair of Fighting Falcons, muttering, “She’s always in some kind of trouble.”
“I heard that! Shut up and help me!” The Tomcat’s wings pulled back with the increased speed as she pulled up behind the gryphon pilot. “I can’t shake him!”
The Gryphon sneered violently, trying to get a bead on this AEGIS pilot. They were spinning wildly, banking left and right just enough for him to be unable to get a lock. But she suddenly flew into a straight line, a mistake he managed to grab a hold of an exploit. His trigger was pulled and the cannon roared.
The tracers showed his bullets tearing into the left wing of the Fighting Falcon. Shards of metal and a trail of smoke indicated a good hit. He grinned and flipped up the trigger guard for his missiles. Almost immediately, he had a lock. One missile and this pilot would be gone. The gryphon clicked his beak, savoring the moment for just a few seconds. One button press and he would be an ac –
Rhapsody’s missile struck the gryphon fighter right in the engine. The pilot ejected into the air, away from the combat area, drifting down into the valley below. Ditzy craned her head back to watch his parachute open. Suddenly, his hand shot up, and Ditzy’s face twisted into one of incredulous hurt. “He just flicked us off! Jerk.”
Rhapsody pulled her fighter up beside Amethyst. The pegasus mare looked over into the cockpit. Phantom looked like she was hyperventilating, her head down as she flew an almost rigid line over the mountains. “Phantom, this is Wraith. What happened?” she called. No response. Instead, the crystal mare sounded like she was hyperventilating. “Phantom, respond!”
“Huh? Wha-?” Amethyst looked over at Rhapsody. Rhapsody scowled, looking at the crystal pony she had almost personally trained on how to survive a dogfight, and she made a rookie mistake. First rule of dogfighting: always watch your wingpony. Second rule: never, ever, even if it can’t be helped, fly in a straight line. It was like standing still for a hydra to eat you.
“They hay was that?” Rhapsody shouted. “You about got yourself killed! That’s twice!”
The Fighting Falcon kept its line, its pilot hanging her head. Rhapsody watched her, awaiting a response, before she heard a sniff.
“I-I… I’m sorry… I-I got scared.”
The Tomcat pulled a little closer. “Sorry? Don’t be sorry! You have to focus in battle or you’ll be taken – “
“I know!” Amethyst yelled. “I said I’m sorry!”
Wraith stopped, looking over at the fellow pilot. Her heart almost broke upon hearing that, and when she looked over, she saw Amethyst pull up her visor and wipe her eyes. Ditzy pulled her oxygen mask off, so that the microphone couldn’t hear her talk to Rhapsody instead. “Is she crying?”
“Sounds like it,” her friend replied, her own mask off so that they could converse privately. She then pulled her mask back up and waved for her squad mate to look at her. The Tomcat slowed down, its wing fanning out near the injured Fighting Falcon, as if reaching out to hold a hand. “Hey, I’m sorry for snapping,” she said calmly. “But you’re going to have somepony against you flying right behind you. You need to stay focused on the battle or you could get killed. I'm scared too, you know.”
Amethyst nodded at Rhapsody, looking her way and wiping her eyes again. By the looks, she hadn’t even dropped her bombs yet. “But you scored a kill the other day, and you were fine. Why did you freeze up now?”
Silence was her answer, before a pop was heard. Rhapsody and Ditzy looked over, seeing that Amethyst’s fighter was shuddering and a stream of smoke billowed from the fuselage. “He must’ve hit me worse than I thought. Losing pressure in the flaps and fuel is getting low. I need to head back to base.”
“And just in time too,” Mythic called suddenly. Rhapsody barely noticed they were flying over one of the radar domes. Sprig had destroyed the AA guns with her missiles while Mythic dropped bombs on the domes. The watched as Shade dropped his last two bombs on the final dome. The explosion was tremendous. “Last target down, the array has been destroyed.”
“Good job squadron,” Sky Gazer called. “But there’s a formation coming at you from the southeast. Looks like there’s about six of them.”
“I can’t fight when I’m wounded like this,” Phantom announced. “I can’t put undue stress on the airframe.”
Mythic pulled ahead of the formation. “We’ll clear the road for you. You two ready?” he asked Sprig and Rhapsody.
Sprig pushed forward on the throttle. “Moving to engage.” Mythic banked after her. “You coming, Wraith?” Sprig asked.
The Tomcat continued holding its position over the wounded fighter below. The two kept their easy and calm pace south to Canterlot.
“Negative. Phantom is an easy target. I’ll stay with her.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Rhapsody shook her head and held up her forefinger, silencing Amethyst when they looked at each other through their canopies. “Consider it an apology for snapping at you.” The mare then turned her attention to her two squad mates. “You two go on ahead and rack up some kills. I’ll guide Phantom back to Canterlot.” The Tomcat hovered just above the wounded falcon, where she’d stay till they got back home.
“Suit yourself,” Sprig called.
"Sky Gazer to Phantom. You're in luck. A tanker is on its way back from a refueling and have some left over. They're willing to make a side trip to top you off since you're leaking."
The crystal pony sighed a relief and thanked Sky Gazer as she floated a little closer to Rhapsody's tomcat. Meanwhile, the resident hippogriff pilot and her fighting falcon banked southeast to meet the incoming gryphons. Ditzy tapped on the canopy to get Rhapsody's attention, pulling her mask off. “We’re almost a double ace, Rhap,” she murmured. “We’re gonna skip this opportunity?”
“’Fraid so, Ditz. We’ve got next time.” The grey pegasus mare shrugged and snapped her mask back on and watched their squad mates bank away to intercept the enemy. Rhapsody looked over to watch them go, sighing. “Give ‘em hell, you two.” A pair of AEGIS F-16s versus a squadron of gryphons. It was almost no contest, and she felt sorry for the gryphons that would soon be craters in the ground. Almost felt sorry.
“But… be careful.”
The gryphon tore off his headset and threw it against his console. He buried his face in his hand, snarling violently. The commander of the ship walked over to him. “Don’t tell me,” he muttered, but knew he was going to get the news anyway.
“We just lost the Snowdrift Radar Array in Hibern, as well as…” he stopped and looked at his radar screen nearby. One dome was still active. It was small, but powerful enough to stop the four retreating planes from the area. “… As well as the four fighters that were stationed at the array, and the six we sent to back them up.”
“Ten fighters against the four AEGIS fighters?”
“And all were lost.”
The Commander groaned, hiding his face. “This is just great. The Admiral is going to chew my ass.” The Commander adjusted his peaked cap and stormed from the intelligence deck of the Gryphnian Cruiser Epitaph. The ship was one of the many flagships that had taken over the harbors of Saddle Arabia. The Gryphnian fleet, besides the Equestrian, which was half shattered, was now the most powerful naval force in the world. But the combined force of AEGIS’s remaining navy ships from the various nations was keeping them from making it to the west coast of Equestria, where they could make a decisive blow against the most powerful of the four countries that made up their adversaries.
“Sir!” an Ensign cried from the deck above him. “We got a wire the Capital.” The commander growled and pointed at his second in the intelligence room.
“Make sure those C-17s take off safely and the jammers are in place. We have to get those troops here! The invasion is in a couple weeks. And find out who these four pilots are!” He darted after the young officer, who was already moving towards the bridge of the vessel. The Commander then sneered.
“Find out who they are… so that I can rain the meteors down on them.”