Ace Combat: The Changeling War

by Lonewolf78

Chapter 8: Road to Manechester

Road to Gracemareia
May 17 2023
11:25 hours.

Moondancer and Chrissy were just entering the mountain range when they saw a roadblock ahead. This time it turned out to be ponies guarding it.

"Now what's this?" Moondancer said.

"I don't know but I better change," replied Chrissy. And she turned into a pony again.

Earth ponies with guns forced them to stop and get out. They turned out to be a small rebel force.

"Where are you heading?" the leader asked.

"Gracemareia," replied Moondancer.

"Why? They're under siege and aren't letting ponies in," replied another one of them. The statement made her heart sink.

"We'll get in somehow," replied Chrissy. The rebels started to view them with suspicion.

"You aren't Changelings are you?" the leader asked.

"Why would we be Changelings?" replied the white unicorn.

"Why else would you say you'll get into Gracemareia?"

Then a unicorn hit Moondancer with a beam of magic.

"OW you son of a...."

"She's a pony," the unicorn announced.

"Check her just in case," the leader replied, pointing to Chrissy.

"NO!" Moondancer yelled, but it was too late, and the magic caused her to turn back into a Changeling.

"I knew it!" yelled one of the rebels, and they pointed their guns at them.

"Damn traitor," the leader said to Moondancer as he aimed his rifle at her.

Just when they thought it was over, the sound of jets interrupted them.

"Where is it?" the unicorn said. A few seconds later a Changeling SU-25 popped up over the hill to the South and flew over the group. The rebels got the 50 caliber machine guns in the back of their two trucks ready, but a second Frogfoot appeared and strafed one of them, blowing it up. Moondancer took the opportunity to pick up a large rock and throw it at the leader, hitting him in the head and allowing them to get back in the car and escape.

Before the rebels cold turn around and fire on them, the Frogfoots returned and finished them off with a rocket attack. Chrissy drove under some trees in case the planes tried to target them. After several minutes the sound of the jets disappeared.

"Damn that was close," Chrissy said.

"Th-They were one of us. Why?" Moondancer said in a shaky voice.

"It happens during war," Chrissy replied. And they backed out and continued on.

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

Oured AFB
Oured, Crystal Empire
0:720 hours.

The squadron woke up and headed for the mess hall. Along the way they passed ponies busy undoing any changes the Changelings made, and getting the place back in shape.

"Crap it's been awhile since I've been here," Maverick said.

"Were you stationed here at one point?" asked Kiwi.

"Not stationed, but I did spend some time here while training back in the day," he replied.

"Wow Mav' you're turning into an old fart," cracked Nightshade.

"Huh? What's that you darn whippersnappers?" he replied in an elderly voice, getting some laughs from the group.

After breakfast, they headed for the situation room for the briefing on the day's mission. Slugger was already there. Noticeably missing was the leader of Diamondback.

"OK folks. It's time for your first mission from this base," Slugger announced.

"Thanks to you freeing our forces that were trapped at Stallionshire, we now have enough strength to take Manechester and the pass that leads to Cantlin. Our troops have been moving through the night, and are ready to attack the enemy positions in these areas," and he pointed to locations on the map.

"Your job will be to provide support for the troops.Once again the burst missiles will be a threat, so get ready to jump above five thousand when the alert is given. Garuda and Diamondback: Your job will be to suppress radars and any air threats. The NLR Firebird squadron will also handle air defense. Finally CEAF Tornado and Hurricane, and Empire Flare squadrons will handle ground support."

"What's the status of our leader?" Diamondback Two asked.

"He's out of the war due to his injuries. Possibly permanently," replied Slugger. "You will be squadron leader until then".

"I'll do my best," he replied.

"Oh and Nightshade, your new ride is here and ready."

"Oh really? Sweet!" she replied.

"Hope you remember how to fly it," Tornado said.

"Let's see: Pushing the throttle makes it go faster, right?" she replied. And everyone laughed.

"OK get to it," Slugger said, and the group went to get ready, then they went outside.

Outside Garuda's flight line was now unbroken by the Flanker, which was in a nearby hangar now.

"So what about it?" Nightshade asked.

"We'll keep it ready in case you lose this one," replied a ground crewpony.

"What you don't trust me?" she replied.

They went over to look at it. It was painted in the correct CEAF colors, and again had her cutie mark on the nose. Her previous kills in the Flanker were noted as gray stars on the side.

"Hopefully you'll get some red stars on it today," Maverick said.

"I plan on it," she replied as she flew up and got in. The crewpony strapped her in, and she looked around. Everything looked the same as she last remembered it.

After the pre flight checks it was time to go.

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

Near Manechester, Crystal Empire
10:45 hours.

All of the planes had assembled at the starting point, and were waiting for the order to go in.

"How's it flying Venom?" Heart Throb asked.

"The controls are faster than the Flankers, but I got adjusted to it," she replied. Though it had been awhile, she quickly remembered how to handle the 15S, and felt right back at home.

"Sky Eye to all planes: Commence operation."

"All planes: Split and head towards your targets," replied Maverick.

Garuda charged ahead towards Manechester. Not even seven minutes later they got radar spikes.

"Got one," Maverick announced.

"I'm picking up a second off to the right," added Surprise.

"Roger let's get them," he replied. And they split off and headed for the sources. Maverick was the first to get locked onto, and get a lock. He fired his HARM and broke to avoid the SA-6's that were now heading towards him. It was the same story for Surprise. Both of their missiles connected and destroyed the SAMs.

At the same time the others picked up a third and a search radar.

"Who get's these?" Heart Throb asked.

"I'll get the SAM," replied Nightshade.

"And I'll get the search," replied Kiwi.

Then Sky Eye came on.

"All planes: Ten bandits inbound from the Southeast!"

"Roger. Tempestra, Heartbreaker, escort Flare and Venom to their targets. The rest of you let's go," Maverick announced.

"Got it Spade," replied Black Widow.

Soon Kiwi had the search radar locked up. She fired, but continued straight for a short time before turning, and flew right into some triple A.

"DAMN!" she yelled as she tried to dodge it.

"I'm on it," replied Heart Throb. She dived below her and strafed the gun positions, silencing them.

"Thanks Heartbreaker," she said.

Meanwhile Nightshade had the SAM locked up. She fired, and was fired upon.

"Sorry," she said as she turned and dropped chaff.

Then Sky Eye announced some more bad news.

"All planes: 10 more bandits from the South!"

"Roger. Firebird and half of Diamondback deal with them. The rest of you come with us," replied Maverick. Both groups sped off to the intercepts. Garuda reached theirs first, and the fight was on.

"SU-35's. Be on your toes," Maverick announced as him and tornado engaged one. Black Widow was the first to get a kill. Then Diamondback Four shot one off the tail of his wingpony. Nightshade got a lock on one, only to have it do a cobra and get behind her.

"Nice try." she performed one, then rotated into a split S, then gunned it towards him, making him overshoot badly. She reversed her turn and got behind him again. This time he couldn't shake her, and she got him with a Sidewinder.

"What do you call that move?" Stormy asked.

"I'll think about it and get back to you," she replied.

Maverick finally took his out in time to dodge gunfire from another that got on his tail. Tornado gave that one some of his own.

"Got one on me," announced Heart Throb.

"I'm on it," replied Maverick.

"I've got your six," Nightshade said as she got behind him, and they dived for them. Soon both were behind the 35.

"Heartbreaker do a Cobra... Now!" Maverick yelled. She did, and fell behind her tail and the others. Suddenly another one zoomed in behind them just as Maverick hit the other one with a missile. It went down in a trail of fire, and suddenly Nightshade had another flashback, and she froze.

"Venom on your six!" yelled Heart Throb. She got tone on the bandit and fired, but before her missile hit the Flanker got one off at nightshade.

"Venom missile break!" She finally snapped out of it, but before she could react Maverick cut in between and pulled the missile off of her. He dropped flares and lost it.

"Nightshade what the hell?" yelled Heart Throb.

"I... Uh...."

"Forget about it, we've still got more bandits," Maverick said. In short order Him, Diamondback Three, and and Stormy got the last ones.

"Garuda one to Sky Eye: Any more?"

"Nope. Firebird just took out the last of their batch. Go back to ground support," he replied. And they headed for Manechester, where the ground forces were well into engaging the Changelings.

"Ground force Bravo to Garuda squadron: Do you have any HARMs left?"

"Yes. What do you need?" replied Maverick.

"We've got some ZSU's in pits that are giving our helicopters and ground units trouble. Can you lock onto them?"

"We'll try. Send the coordinates." After getting them they headed for the area.

"I'm picking up something," Nightshade said.

"Yep there they are. I'm getting four spikes," replied Maverick. Him, Nightshade, Tornado, and Surprise dived down, got tone, and fired. Striking all four of them.

Then some NLR Marines requested a strafing run on some trees. Stormy and Black Widow obliged. As Stormy climbed out, he almost struck a drone that was flying by.

"Reaper to Sky Eye, I almost hit a drone down here. Can you tell the Army to keep them on the ground for now?"

"Roger. I'll tell...." Ice was cut off.

"This is ground command, we do not have any drones in the air."

"What?" replied Stormy.

"This is Tornado Seven. I just saw one too."

"Well we don't have any airborne," the ground commander replied.

Then the message they dreaded came over the radio.

"Sky Eye to all forces: Three inbound missiles! Get above five thousand!"

"Wait... You don't think..." Tornado said.

"They're Changeling spotting drones!" replied Maverick.

"All planes; take them out when you can," replied Sky Eye.

The missiles arrived. Two exploded at the usual height. One exploded above the level, taking out three planes from Hurricane and Flare squadrons.

"WHAT? HOW?" yelled Nightshade.

"It must be the drones. They're guiding them!," replied Tornado.

"We'll handle them. All other planes be ready to dodge," announced Maverick.

"All planes: Two more inbound!" We'll tell you where you need to be."

Getting behind the smaller, more maneuverable drones was hard, but Maverick finally got behind one and took it out.

"All planes: Get below 2,000 or above 8,000!" Everyone did, and the missiles missed.

"Back into it," Maverick said. Kiwi and Tornado got two more before the next alert.

"Get above 10,000 or below 4,000!" Again the early warning worked, and the missiles missed.

"I'm picking up three more drones and that's it," Maverick said.

"I'm on the first," Heart Throb said. Stormy and Surprise got after the other two.

"Slippery little shit aren't you?" she said as she tried for a gun kill as missiles were too hard to lock on the small targets. Her rounds finally connected and sent it down.

"Two more missiles inbound. Get above 6,000!"

Stormy finally got enough rounds into his to send it down. He then climbed to safety.

"Double time Surprise!" Tornado yelled.

"Come on you're mine!" she said as she started firing short cannon bursts at it. Finally she got it and climbed to safely mere seconds before the missiles arrived.

"Sky Eye to all planes: I'm not picking up any more missiles or drones."

"So you think the drones are for targeting the missiles?" Heart Throb asked Maverick.

"Yes. In fact the missiles may be targeting the drones themselves. All they have to do is fly them to where the action is and start launching," replied Maverick.

"The ground forces are starting an operation to gather up missile and drone parts. Hopefully we can get some info from them," Ice said.

After shooting down a couple of SU-24's that tried to sneak in, the squadron returned to base to refuel and rearm for the next day's mission.

After the squadron parked their planes and got out, went over to Nightshade. It was time to confront her about her problem.

"What the hell happened up there Nightshade?" Heart Throb asked.

"What? Nothing happened," she replied.

"Freezing up and almost getting shot down is nothing?" replied Tornado. She was starting to look a little nervous.

"I just didn't see him that's all."

"Nightshade come on," Maverick said. "It's not the first time it's happened. Not to mention those times you wake up at night. What's bugging you?"

She looked around a bit before speaking.

"Nothing's wrong," she snapped before she walked off.

"Something is definitely bugging her," Tornado said.

"Like what?" Surprise asked.

"You know: It did seem like it happened whenever she saw a plane going down on fire," commented Black Widow.

Then it hit Maverick.

"It's something to do with that incident that destroyed her village," he said.

"If it keeps bugging her she's gonna' wind up dead," replied Heart Throb.

"So what do we do?" asked Kiwi.

"I've got an idea. Time to call in a favor," replied Maverick.

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

Road to Gracemareia
16:25 hours.

"It's dead," Chrissy said to Moondancer.

"Oh no. Are you sure?" replied Moondancer.

"Yep. It's thrown a rod," she replied.

"Guess we're on foot then." They gathered their belongings and started walking.

About 20 minutes later an air battle broke out over them. Some Changeling MiGs had encountered some NLR Sukhois. Moondancer noticed these NLR planes had a different paint job than the others she had seen. They watched as the MiGs began dropping like flies. One crashed into the side of a peak, making Chrissy cringe. Moondancer noticed it seemed to be bugging her.

Then one got hit, and the pilot ejected. His chute didn't open completely before he hit the ground. They ran over to the now unconscious Changeling. He had stopped breathing so Chrissy started performing CPR on him.After several tries the pilot still wasn't breathing.

"Stand back," Moondancer said to her as she charged up her magic. She knelt down and touched her horn to his chest, giving him a jolt of electricity.

"what are you...." Chrissy stopped talking when the unicorn gave him a second jolt. The pilot started breathing, leaving Chrissy flabbergasted.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"I'm an ER nurse at Gracemareia hospital," she replied.

The air battle had subsided, and a chopper could be heard. The pilot was still stunned, but alert, so they gave him some water and ran off to hide. Moondancer then realized something.

It's obvious now. The Changeling she's looking for is a pilot, she thought to hersrelf.

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

Chrysalis's palace
Gracemareia
17:35 hours.

Chrysalis's aid entered her chamber to give her a status report.

"So what's the story on Manechester?" she asked.

"The ponies have made their way to within five miles of the city, but we're holding them there," he replied.

"Good. Were the missiles effective?"

"Unfortunately no. It appears they've figured out what the drones are for as they shot them down," he said while looking at a report paper.

"Drat. We'll keep it up. They'll crack sooner or later. Get more drones ready, replied the Changeling queen.

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

Oured AFB
18:07 hours.

The squadrons were hanging out in the lounge listening to the radio and watching TV.

"Let's see what that idiot Krunk is up to," Black Widow said, and they tuned into the Gracemareia station. It had been a couple of days since Vinyl's last takeover.

"....That's right I want to hear from you. Dial me up at 646 555 4869 and tell us what you think about the Crystal Empire trying to enslave you again."

"Rat bastard," growled Nightshade, almost spilling her pop on Kiwi. Someone called in, but it was obvious it was a Changeling.

"More propaganda," Maverick said.

"Hello caller, you're on the air."

"Hey Krunk let's have a three way with Chrysalis in a tub of jelly. It'd be totally legit. Ohh myyyyyyyy."

"W-W-Wha... who the hel... trace that call!" yelled Krunk. "Well set it up so we can!" There was the sound of something being thrown in the studio, followed by the sound of Nightshade choking on her pop, Surprise gasping for air on the floor, and uncontrollable laughter from the room and everywhere else on the base that had a radio. It was obvious who made the call.

"Vinyl you sick fuck!"Heart Throb said while continuing to laugh.

"Good Celestia Vinyl you kiss your mum with that mouth?"

"Sure Tavi. I mean she's said worse when she's mad." Vinyl had called in from Stalliongrad AFB.

Krunk got the show back on track, and the number of callers began to increase. But it wasn't long before prank calls outnumbered the staged ones. It became clear what subjects he was sensitive to, and ponies began to attack him on those points.

One called in and told him to suck a certain body part over and over. Others said some dirty stuff about Chrysalis. And one who many later swore was Princess Celestia called in and said something that had to do with bananas and his grandmother, which infuriated him.

"That's it let me at him," Nightshade yelled.

"Try this phone," replied Slugger, who had shown up. She did, and was able to get through

"Hello caller," Krunk said in an unenthusiastic voice. Nightshade crunched a cheese puff next to the phone and said "oops".

"Oops what?" he replied.

"I just stepped on your cockroach mom and killed her. "

*CRUNCH*

"And your dad."

"You piece of!.... Don't talk about my family!"

She crushed another.

"And that was your grandma."

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" We've got your phone number and we're gonna' find out where you're at!"

"Tell you what cockroach I'll save you the trouble and tell you. I'm at Oured Air Force Base which is solidly back under control of the Crystal Empire. And being a pilot for the Crystal Empire Air Force, I'm proud to say I've shot down maybe a couple dozen of your pilots so far."

Krunk was clearly pissed.

"We'll don't worry because we've got some missiles for you and your wingmates."

"HA. You've already shot lots of them at me, and I dodge them every time. Get some better equipment," she replied.

"Who are you anyway? We'll get you!"

"That's for me to know and you to find out. Don't worry we're coming to take back what is ours, and when we get into Gracemareia I'll find you and tell you my name, then stomp a mudhole in your ass. Aw heck with it. The name's Nightshade and you already had me once in the little internment camp you have set up there. I broke out, killed several of your troops, stole a fighter jet, then rejoined the CEAF and started using your own plane against you."

Maverick whispered something to her.

"Oh and the rest of my squadron including the Ace of Spades has something to say," and she held the receiver up.

"GO DANCE WITH THE ANGELS ASSHOLE!"

"DAMMIT GET THEM OFF!" screamed Krunk as he started throwing stuff.

"That's it. We're done. End the show!"

"Rage quit!" yelled Surprise, and everypony laughed.

"Well I'll see you at the briefing tomorrow," Slugger said as he left.

"Yeah we need to get to bed," replied Maverick.

"Do you have some aspirin? My sides are literally hurting from laughing," asked Black Widow.

"See you tomorrow," Nightshade said. She then left too.

"So what about your plan Maverick?" Heart Throb asked.

"It's already in action," he replied.

Author's Note:

Yes the part with Krunk was a reference to a certain can smashing radio show host.

Comments

[viperhshark0]

What about his auntie?

[Enceledus]

Can't Breathe, Laughing too hard!