Ace Combat: The Changeling War

by Lonewolf78

Chapter 5: Breakthrough

North of the Equestrian border
May 14 2023
15:23 hours

Moondancer had been walking since morning, dodging enemy patrols and watching aircraft shooting across the sky. She finally reached the point where the road split. Going left took you to Sibley, and right over the mountains to Gracemareia. She was tired though and would have to find a nearby spot to spend the night.
As she was sitting there facing towards Gracemareia, she thought about everything that had happened, and would she even be able to find Ember. She had heard reports of mistreatment by Changelings, and she worried maybe they'd think she was a spy if caught, and would be locked up.
She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice the vehicle pull up and stop behind her until it honked it's horn. She turned around fearing it was a patrol. It turned out to be a pale yellow earth pony with green mane driving a small car.

"What's wrong?" the pony asked Moondancer.

"I'm from the refugee camp. I'm trying to get to Gracemareia," she replied.

"Get in, I am too." So Moondancer put her stuff in the cramped back seat and got in, and they drove off.

"Thanks. My name is Moondancer."

"I'm Chrissy," the pony replied. "Why did you leave? It's safer there or in Sibley."

"I just found out my daughter is alive. I thought she died in the first attack on Gracemareia, until I heard her over a radio broadcast."

"Oh that girl?" Chrissy said surprised. "She's pretty much become a star in Free Crystal Empire. Everyone there is starting to use that line she said."

Moondancer couldn't believe a phrase her husband had coined up was popular.

"Why are you heading there?" Moondancer asked. Chrissy hesitated for a second before answering.

"I've been going to school in Sibley. I'm heading there to see if I can find some..pony."

"Who is it?" Moondancer didn't want to pry into another pony's life, but she was interested.

"Somepony I used to know," she replied. "I just hope my car can get us there. I've only used it for getting around Sibley. It's never been on long trips, much less one over the mountains."

"I know what that's like. The one I had as a teen was like that. Every odd noise I heard from it would scare me," the unicorn replied, trying to back away from the other subject. And they drove on.

------------------------------------

Stalliongrad AFB
12:45 hours.

The squadron landed in pairs, with Maverick and Nightshade as the last one. They taxied back to their spots on the tarmac, with Nightshade parking hers next to Maverick's. A couple of guards were waiting, and soon Maverick and the others were there also, and she jumped down from the cockpit.

"It's been three years Spade."

"Longer if you don't count that war," he replied.

"I see you three haven't changed much," she said looking towards Surprise, Heart Throb, and Tornado.

"Unlike you bitch," Heart throb muttered. Maverick hit his hoof on his helmet in disapproval of her comment.

"Who are they Spade?" Nightshade asked, looking a little nervous.

"That's Kiwi Tart, Black Widow, and Stormy, Maverick replied.

"There's no other original members?"

"No. They're either dead or retired," he replied in a slightly lower voice."

"No not Misty!"

"Unfortunately yes," replied Tornado. "She joined the Solar Empire Air Force after the empire was taken over by Discord, and during the war she got shot down, by a LoD pilot."

Nightshade looked like she might start crying.

"Bullshit Tornado it was an NLR plane and you know it," snapped Maverick. He turned back towards Nightshade. "And Quarterback died in the invasion."

Nightshade didn't know what to say about what she just found out, so she just asked: "Now what?"

"Let's get inside. The brass have already assembled in the situation room." And he and the guards headed for the main building with her while the rest of the squadron returned to their barracks.

Maverick entered first, with Nightshade behind her. They walked up to the area in front of the table, and Mav' stepped aside. She was met with several looks of disapproval, including from the commander of the CEAF, General Slugger, who stated the meeting.

"So you're Nightshade. Former member of the Legion of Discord Air Force, and before that this air force?"

"Yes I am," she replied.

"Maverick. How did she get here?"

"Sir she was a prisoner at our Gracemareia base. She shot her way out and stole that Changeling Flanker out there to get out, and she wound up assisting us in shooting down the Changelings on the mission we just did," he replied.

The leader of the empire's intelligence agency spoke up.

"We just picked up some Changeling transmissions of that incident. You seriously killed eight of them?"

"Yep, that was me," she replied with a bit of pride.

"So why were you there?" The general of the Empire's army asked.

"I was the leader of a small Militia at the village of Kurain North of Prairie City. The Changelings invaded the village, and we made a stand against them. I was the only one who survived. I was captured and taken to the base," she replied, her yellow eyes looking straight into his.

Slugger stood up.

"So what makes you think you can just join us again, after how you treated your squadron, and your country?" She turned to him.

"I don't know if I can convince you or not, but I wanted to try," and she began. Unbeknownst to them, Tornado, Heart Throb, and Surprise were listening through the door.

"It's been three years since I was... "forced" out of the LoD Air Force. During that time I've been living peacefully at that village. I was severely injured after I crashed, and the ponies there took me in and nursed me back to health. They ultimately found out what I had done, because I came out and told them. All of them forgave me, especially one."

"Who was it?" Maverick asked.

"My friend Sundance, whom I though had died when the bomber crashed into Kiro. She was the only one who wasn't in the town at the time. Afterwards she fled to that village and has been there ever since."

"I don't believe it," Tornado whispered to Heart Throb. "That is nothing short of a miracle."

Nightshade continued, her eyes starting to get a little glassy.

"As I layed on that bed recovering, I finally realized what I had done, and after meeting my friend, any hate I had for the Empire, and Spade here, dissolved." She looked all of the brass in the eye when she talked.

"Now I may have lost my friend, and my village to the Changelings. I led them out of the village as they were closing in to a secret cave only we knew about, but they saw us and I had to lead the changees away from them. And that's when I was caught. I've seen what the Changelings do, and I don't want my friends and my country to suffer again, so I want to fight back in a way I couldn't do as a simple resistance fighter."

"Damn. I feel a little bad now," Heart Throb commented to the others. Now it looked like the interrogation was getting to Nightshade.

"I can't excuse my previous actions. I can only say...I'm, sorry. If that's not enough, feel free to hang me for treason or whatever you have in mind."

That statement made Maverick look at her in shock, and caused Surprise to start crying.

After a few minutes of conversing with the others, Slugger spoke up.

"Nightshade. Report here in a couple of hours for a refresher course on how things are running in this air force now. It's obvious you don't need any training."

Nightshade's eyes brightened up.

"Th-thank you sir."

"Before you go, what's this POW camp they set up like?" the intelligence officer asked.

"It's huge. There's several tents in addition to the base's brig. There's a lot of civilians there in addition to military captives," she replied.

"Sounds more like a damn internment camp," replied a member of the cabinet.

"OK you're dismissed," the general announced, and her and Maverick left the room. The other three had already left.

"Well welcome back," Mav' said to her.

"So will I be getting another super Eagle or am I stuck with that Flanker?" she inquired.

"We've got a couple on order, though they won't be here until next week, so yeah you are. We'll get it repainted for you though," he replied. Despite being exiled, through aid from Equestria the empire was able to get replacements for the planes they lost. Diamondback squadron would be getting replacements also.

They made their way to the barracks where the others were waiting.

"So how did it go?" Kiwi asked.

"Ask those three they we're listening through the door," Maverick replied with a wink.

"What?... How...." Tornado was at a loss for words while the other two had stunned looks.

"My ears are better than you think," he replied. "Anyway she's in."

"Woo hoo!" Surprise yelled.

"Any idea when our first mission will be?" Nightshade asked.

"I'm pretty sure there will be one tomorrow. We'll know by tonight," he replied.

"OK. I have a confession," Surprise said.

"What?" Heart Throb asked.

Surprise went over to her bag, and after digging around presented an old, folded in half picture.

"I've never been able to get rid of this." It was a snapshot of the original Garuda squadron. Taken before the Griffin war.

"I remember posing for that pic'," Nightshade said. "I wanted to be different." Though she remembered the good times, the bad ones kept surfacing in her mind, especially the worst one.

"Something wrong?" Maverick asked.

"No I was just thinking," she replied. "So have there been any changes to how we operate?"

"Nope. Same as before. Though since we're operating from a United Equestria airbase, we are subject to some of their rules," Mav' replied.

"I guess we can't mow the grass after a successful mission then eh'?" She was referring to the CEAF custom of flying just a few feet above the grass along the runway gear up.

"Uuuuh... You know, I've never asked about that." Maverick had forgotten about it.

"I know how we can find out," Tornado said, rubbing his hooves together.

"So what do they do here?" Black Widow asked.

"Not sure since this is an Empire base. In the Republic buzzing the airfield, or tower was the thing," he replied with a smile.

"Guilty as charged," Nightshade said, and they laughed.

------------------------

Stalliongrad AFB
16:30 hours.

The squadrons had gathered in the situation room for the mission briefing, but for a change neither Slugger or Citrina was there.

"They're late to their own meeting? Unacceptable!" Tornado yelled.

"We'll have to grill them when they get in," replied Heart Throb.

They finally showed up 6 minutes late. As soon as they stepped in, the commander of Diamondback squadron, who was previously a drill instructor, stood up.

"YOU'RE LATE! DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY!" Which sent the room into a laughing fit.

"Sorry. We blame it on intel for getting us the info late," replied Citrina. And the briefing again with Slugger.

"OK pilots. Here's the story. After our success in decimating the Changeling Army at Bloodstone Pass, their remaining forces have hunkered down at Glacier Fortress towards the East. As you know this fortress protects this road over the mountains in case of an attack. Of course obviously it didn't work here."

Slugger pulled up images of the fortress and continued.

"Before we can launch our next operation, which is the re-taking of Oured, we must regain control of it so our forces can pass."

"There will be two parts to this operation.Group A will soften up the Changeling defenses and armor, and provide cover for the ground units coming up from Sibley. Group B will provide air cover for them and electronic warfare planes."

Citrina then took over.

"As for the burst missile threat: The designers of the missile in the NLR Air Force have told us they are ineffective against ground targets in mountainous terrain. They still pose a threat to aircraft though so if the warning is given, climb to 5,000 feet above the mountains immediately. You will have help from our country in this mission." She then read the squadron assignments.

For Air Support we have the CEAF Garuda, NLR Black Diamonds, and Empire Starstreak squadrons.

"Isn't the Black Diamonds that Wyvern squadron?" Nightshade asked Maverick.

"Yeah. That's the first front line squadron they've assigned to this," he replied.

"For ground support we have the CEAF Diamondback, Quartz, and Tornado squadrons. Radar suppression and ECM will be courtesy of the NLR's Enchanter squadron and your Striker squadron. Enjoy your new Hornets Diamondback." Through United Equestria, the Crystal Empire was able to get replacements for aircraft they lost. Diamondback being one of the first.

"Wah and I'm still stuck with the Flanker," Nightshade said.

"Don't worry, we're repainting it as we speak. It'll be ready tomorrow," Slugger replied. "And that's it. The party starts at 11:00 tomorrow."

---------------------------

Stalliongrad AFB
May 15 2023
10:02 hours.

The squadrons had finished putting their flight suits on and were heading out to their planes. It didn't take long to notice the anomaly in the Garuda flight line.

"There it is," Maverick said. Nightshade's flanker was now in the number seven spot in the line. Instead of Changeling gray it was now white and light blue camouflage like the F-15's. The group went over to it.

"Is it me or is the blue a little off?" Heart Throb asked.

"Well we don't exactly have your paint here so we had to use Solar Empire light blue," a ground crewpony replied. The SEAF blue was a little darker than the Crystal Empire blue.
The plane now had the Gracemareia/Garuda data on the tail now, and something extra: The Changeling symbol on both tails was left, with a red "X" sprayed over it.

"Ha ha haaa I like it," Nightshade said.

"Couldn't miss an opportunity to rub it in the changee's faces," replied the ground crewpony.

"It'll do until your super Eagle gets here," added Maverick. Nightshade wondered if she even wanted it though. After all that plane is what got her out of the Changeling's clutches, and she had a bit of a bond to it.

"Let's go!" Surprise yelled. And soon the squadrons were airborne.

------------------------

Just north of the Equestria border
11:56 hours.

The squadrons had arrived at the rendezvous point, and after refueling they entered holding patterns while waiting for the other squadrons to show up.

"Now the boring part," Stormy said.

"Anything we can do until then?" Kiwi asked.

"Well we're not supposed to, but let's see what BS the changeees are saying," replied Sky Eye. And he tuned into the Gracemareia radio station that had been taken over by the Changelings.

"...the more they bomb, the slower the country will recover. Why prolong it? Our interview crews will soon be going around to get pony's statements on how Equestria and the remaining exiled Crystal Empire forces should end this war..."

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?" snapped Heart Throb.

"How much of those wouldn't be forced statements?" added Tornado.

"Mark my words... When we get back to Gracemareia I'm gonna' hunt down that little bastard and stomp a mudhole in his ass," Nightshade said while clinching her teeth.

"I'll cocoon him first then we both can, and hang his body from a light pole afterwards," added Black Widow.

"Easy you two," Maverick commented, though he was just as angry. "Put that anger towards the mission."

"Not a problem," replied Black Widow.

The broadcast continued.
"...If you come down here you'll see we've repaired and re-opened the library so ponies w..l ha...a......." the radio deteriorated into static.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNIN' GRACEMAREIAAAAAAAA! This is DJ Mystery here and we have taken over these airwaves from the repulsive little insects! From now on this station is only broadcasting positive stuff about the Empire and allied forces working to boot these insects out of the country! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah! Just don't ask us how we did it because if we told ya' we'd have to kill ya'!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHHAH!" Nightshade burst into laughter along with everyone else.

"I absolutely can't believe what I'm hearing," commented Sky Eye.

"DJ Mystery my flank I know who that is!" Surprise said. The others did too.

"I thought she was in that one Solar Empire squadron Spade?" Heart Throb asked. "What's she doing in our country when it's been invaded?"

"She is. I think I know what's going on, but I won't mention it over the radio in case the Changees are listening. But suffice it to say she isn't in Gracemareia."

C-130 flying along the Equestrian border
North of Stalliongrad

"And don't worry about the Changees finding me cause' they can't see me. I'm a ghost on the airwaves. Only when Gracemareia is liberated will I appear with you to help celebrate. Meanwhile it's music time!" And the DJ got off the air.

"Vinyl you really want to go into Gracemareia?" a purple alicorn asked her.

"Oh yeah Twi. I'm not afraid. I mean I've been going over there shooting them down so what's the difference?" she replied. "Besides. As long as they don't figure out how we're using their repeater to do this we're good here."

"OK. I'll get with special forces and have them draw up plans to get you in there once the Empire has reclaimed it."

Meanwhile the squadrons were still talking about it when Sky Eye came on.

"Sky Eye to all planes: The rest of the gang is here."

"Garuda and Diamondback this is Black Diamond lead, we're coming up on your left and right." They watched as the NLR X-02 Wyverns and SE MiG-29K's pulled up on their left, and the CEAF A-7P's and A-10C's on the right. The EF-111's of the Enchanter and F-4G's of the Striker squadron pulled in behind Garuda and Diamondback.

"Roger Black Diamond. I'll be taking the lead on our side," replied Maverick. "Let's go ponies! Ground support head lower, air support stay at this level." And the two groups split apart and headed for the target.

---------------------------

Near Prairie City, Crystal Empire

"Sir. We are getting reports of an assault on the base in the mountains, a Changeling said to their commander."

"Air or ground?" the shadowy figure said.

"Looks like both. Do we launch missiles? We're just in range."

"They would only be good on the aircraft in that terrain. Let's see how our air armada does first," he replied.

"Yes sir."

Back at Glacier Fortress, the battle had started. The electronic warfare squadrons flew ahead and fired their HARM's at whatever radar had the misfortune of locking onto them. Then the ground attack squadrons began picking off the remaining defenses and armor around and in the fortress with Mavericks and small bombs. A pair of Hinds tried to take off, but were promptly shot down by the Diamondbacks.
Unfortunately the Changelings had shoulder fired SAMs also, and only eight minutes in an A-7 was shot down.

"Quartz 5 is down! Watch it everypony they have shoulder fireds down there!" yelled Diamondback One. Then Sky Eye came on.

"Sky Eye to all planes: we've got two waves of bandits totaling 20 inbound from the East 50 miles out at angels 8."

"Roger Sky Eye. Starstreak follow us out to intercept them. Black Diamonds: Hang around here and use your missiles to keep them away," Maverick replied. The squadrons acknowledged.

"How do we handle them Garuda One?" Starstreak One asked.

"We'll head down to 8,000 to meet them. Head up to 25,000 and we'll try a pincher on them," Mav' replied.

"Roger. Let's go!" And they split off towards the approaching bandits.

"Flight lead to all planes: Let'ssssssss get these coming at us fffffirst. Then go after the others." and the Changeling planes hit their afterburners. It wasn't long before Garuda started getting radar spikes.

"It worked. We aren't getting any spikes," Starstreak One said. Right after that Garuda got missile warnings.

"Fire and break!" Maverick yelled, and they fired their AMRAAM's and began evasive maneuvers. It didn't take long for them to lose the Changeling's lock.

"Definitely semi active missiles," Tornado announced.

"Yep. And I think I might know what they are," added Nightshade as she leveled out.

"Well there they are so engage!" replied Mav'. It was now seven to eight as three of Garuda's eight missiles found their targets. Nightshade ID'd the planes.

"I was right. C-Eagles," she said.

"Oooh this will be easy," Kiwi commented.

"Don't get cocky about it. They may not be as maneuverable as these, but they're just as fast," replied Maverick.

"Sky Eye to Garuda: Second wave is closing in."

"Roger. You know what to do Starstreak."

"Indeed we do Spade," replied the flight lead, and they continued on.

Stormy rolled in behind one of the Changelings and fired a sidewinder, the pilot popped flares a little too late and paid for it. Then one tried getting on Nightshade's tail.

"Try following me cockroach," and she performed a cobra and got behind him. He tried to shake her but she was on him like an owl on a mouse, and got a gun kill on him.

"That was too easy," she said.

"Smooth one Nightshade, or should i say... Venom?" Heart Throb said. Nightshade had completely forgotten that was her old callsign in the CEAF. During her stint with the Legion of Discord it was Dragon.

"What if I told you I completely forgot about my old callsign?" she replied slightly embarrassed.

"No comment," the pink Pegasus replied as she hit a third Changeling with a sidewinder.

The second wave of planes was now within firing range, but before they could get a lock the Fulcrums of Starstreak squadron dropped in behind them.

"Surprise!" Starstreak One yelled.

"Hey that's my line!" replied Surprise.

"Shit where did they come from? Break!" the Changeling leader yelled.

"That was beautiful," commented Tornado. "What are they?"

"J-15's. No big deal," she replied, as she drew a bead on one and fired an R-73, taking it down. Soon both squadrons were helping each other. At 11 to 18 it wasn't looking good for the Changelings, and they started dropping like flies.

The battle had worked it's way back towards the fortress. Two J-15's made a break for the fortress attackers, only to get shot down by the Wyverns 19 miles from it.

"Absolutely stupid," commented Black Widow.

"Sky Eye to all planes: We're picking up some mountain skimmers coming through the canyon to the East. Hard to tell how many there are due to the terrain."

"Probably attack aircraft," Maverick replied.

"Keep them off us. We're less than three miles from the fortress," the army commander announced. The attack aircraft had decimated the Changeling forces in and around the base. They were now just providing covering fire whenever the Army needed it. The electronic warfare planes had already left for home.

"Roger. We've only got five to go here so..." Sky Eye cut him off.

"Sky Eye to Black Diamond. We have six bandits heading towards Sibley! Flight profile suggests bombers. Intercept!"

"Roger. We've gotta' go fellas. Good luck," replied the squadron commander.

A Changeling got on the tail of a Starstreak plane, so Surprise got on his.

"Starstreak Three break!" she yelled. she did, and Surprise raked the J-15 with cannon fire.

Kiwi got one, and the remaining three tried to bug out, with Nightshade, Black Widow, Tornado, and two Starstreak planes on their tail.

"Who get's what?" Black Widow asked.

"I got mine, so take your pick," replied Nightshade.

"Same here. Have at it you guys," replied Tornado. And so Black Widow and the Empire pilots fired, bringing the three planes down at almost the same time.

"We're done here Sky Eye. Going after the others," Maverick announced.

"Roger. They're 24 miles out. It looks like eight to ten aircraft," Sky Eye replied.

"Roger," and they turned towards the canyon. A few minutes later they spotted them.

"Looks like ten Frogfoots.Let's pounce on them. Starstreak cover us," Tornado said. And they rolled over and dived down, getting in behind the attack planes.

Suddenly they got lock warnings.

"What the hell?" Tornado yelled.

"Those aren't Frogfoots. Break!" yelled Maverick. They pulled up, dropped countermeasures, and split.

"Starstreak One to Garuda there's ten J-20's behind you!"

"Ngggh. Well played Changee scum," replied Black Widow.

"Venom. any info on those?" Maverick asked since she had experience in them.

"Yeah. Stay out of their twelve," she replied.

"Starstreak One to Garuda. Keep after the Frogfoots. We'll get them."

"I'm sending you three anyway. Venom, Thor, Flare, help them out,"

"Roger Spade," they replied. And They split up. The Frogfoots were already over the battlefield, but they didn't realize both the Hornets and Warthogs were armed with Sidewinders, and soon there was a report.

"Tornado Two splash one frog!"

"Ha hah. A hog shooting down a bandit, commented Surprise. This was soon soured by another call.

"Starstreak Four is down!" Yelled the flight lead.

"Dammit," growled Maverick. Meanwhile Nightshade and Widow were on the tail of the one who shot him down.

"Fire a heat Tempestra. I'll fire a radar," Nightshade said.

"Roger. On your mark," she replied.

They got good tone on the bandit and fired.

"Garuda Seven fox three!"

"Garuda Four fox two."

As planned the Changeling pilot picked up the radar guided and dropped chaff to lose it, but collected the sidewinder in the process. The plane spiraled down and hit the side of a mountain.

"Nice. Thanks Venom," Widow said.

"I think we found a new tactic. You hear that guys?" Nightshade said. Several pilots agreed. And so pairs were formed. Each one would get a lock on the same bandit, and fire one of each missile. It soon paid off as another was dropped by two Starstreak planes, followed by Tornado and Starstreak One getting another.

One J-20 managed to slip through and was heading for Maverick and them. A Frogfoot had just launched a rocket attack on the Army, causing some casualties and damage. Diamondback One was on him when the J-20 locked him up.

"I need help!" he yelled.

"I'm on the way," replied Maverick, and he rolled down to get behind it. Soon DB1 was no longer locked up.

"Thanks Spade," he said.

"It... Wasn't me," replied Maverick.

"Di.....Did I just shoot down a J-20?" A stunned Tornado Three said. He was able to roll in behind the bandit before Maverick was able to.

"And that is why the hog is one of the best planes ever," commented Stormy.

Meanwhile Nightshade was guarding Tornado's six as he shot down the 5th J-20. The plane burned all the way to the ground. Suddenly Nightshade's brain was filled with the vision of the bomber crashing into her old village. After it hit, she heard radio chatter.

"Venom break." She continued to be stunned.

"VENOM BREAK!"

She suddenly snapped out of it and instinctively made a hard right and dropped countermeasures, dodging a missile from a J-20 that got on her tail. It also allowed Heart Throb to shoot him down.

"Damn Venom what happened?" she asked.

"Oh...My... Radio cut out a bit," she sheepishly replied.

Stormy got the last Frogfoot, leaving the four remaining J-20's, who were now hopelessly outnumbered.

"Lancer One to Big Bird. We're outnumbered!"

"Roger. Return to base. We'll cover you," the controller replied.

"They're running Spade!" yelled Tornado.

"Let's run em' down," added Starstreak One.

"Roger. Don't let them escape," Maverick replied.

Both squadrons ran after them and fired one round of missiles, but they dodged them. They were just about to fire a second round when Sky Eye came on.

"All planes four high speed bandits approaching from the East at angels nine!"

"Oh shit. All planes get above 14,000 now!" yelled Maverick.

"Burst missiles?" Kiwi asked.

"Yes. Hurry everypony!," he replied. And everypony gunned it and started climbing.

"Garuda clear!"

"Starstreak clear!"

"30 miles out and closing!"

"Hurry you guys!" yelled Nightshade. The remaining planes continued to climb as fast as they could.

"Diamondback clear."

"Tornado clear!"

"17 miles!"

It was down to Quartz squadron.

"Who's left?" Maverick asked.

"Quartz Three Five and Six are still below the level," replied their flight lead.

"HURRY!" Heart Throb yelled. The A-7's had far less power than the other planes though and couldn't climb any faster.

"Brace for impact!"

The missiles arrived and detonated. Quartz Five just made it above the limit. Three and Six were close enough to get severely damaged, and went down.

"We're hit! Ejecting!"

"DAMN," cursed Sky Eye. "Any other casualties?"

"No, everypony else made it," replied Maverick.

"Ground command to Sky Eye: We're OK down here, and have captured the fortress."

"Roger. Great job! All planes return to base. Rescue choppers are en route for those who ejected," he replied.

"Who will be covering them Sky Eye?" Maverick asked.

"The Diamonds intercepted the bombers and are on their way back. Two more squadrons are on the way to take over."

"Roger," he replied. All of the planes fell back into formation.

"Looks like you still have it Nightshade," Heart Throb said.

"Except for that radio derp," Tornado added.

"Thanks guys. At least this Flanker performed pretty good," she replied.

"Oh you were awesome with it. Can't wait to see what you can do in the Super Eagle again," commented Surprise.

"I wish we knew where those missiles were coming from. Surely intel has found something by now," Diamondback One said.

"We'll find out sooner or later," replied Maverick.

Author's Note:

Some new data for the fanfic:
Nightshade's Flanker: http://lonewolf3878.deviantart.com/art/Nightshade-s-Former-Changeling-Kingdom-SU-27-403560713
New map: http://lonewolf3878.deviantart.com/art/Ace-Combat-The-Changeling-War-Map-402501233
Character sheet: http://lonewolf3878.deviantart.com/art/Ace-Combat-The-Changeling-War-Character-Sheet-402502105
Crystal Empire F-4 (now includes full squadron list for the CEAF): http://lonewolf3878.deviantart.com/art/Crystal-Empire-Air-Force-F-4J-302871438