//------------------------------// // Mission 05: Radar-Site Destruction // Story: Sky Aces: Aerial Combat // by Yellowtail //------------------------------// I silently groan as I take my can of soda from the vending machine in the air base’s cafeteria. Patch found out about the flaming plane from Keen five minutes ago. “Come on! You’ve gotta tell me!” He says. “No way you’re gonna just keep it to yourself!” I glance to see if anyone’s noticed me. Ever since I landed, I became the talk of the base. Few pilots have ever had their plane on fire, and still fly long enough to land. However, the attention’s a bit much for me. Eve now, across several tables where various military staff, mechanics, and other pilots, are glancing at me and talking to each other in whispers. “Patch, I don’t want to talk about it,” I say. “It’s almost seven in the morning, and I only just got done with breakfast.” This apparently doesn’t deter Patch’s enthusiasm, if the sparkle in his eyes mean anything. It’s not that I don’t want to remember the incident, it’s just that Patch will gush over it even more if I say anything. I’d rather he talk it out with Flick or something. I crack open the can and take a nice sip. “So, how’s Grim-Spear’s morning soda?” Snuffle asks, walking up. I glance at her and sigh. “Don’t call me that,” I say. “Okay Super Trooper,” she says, sticking her tongue out. I actually can’t tell if I like it better when she hated me. She drops her cutesy act and recomposes herself. “I heard we got a prisoner of war on base, the ace you shot down.” I nod. “Chill dude,” I comment. “Loves souvenirs.” “I also heard he used a secret weapon, did they recover it?” Snuffle asks. I sigh. “Shot it to pieces. Given that the plane smashed into the ground, belly down, I’m certain there’s not much to recover.” Snuffle huffs. “Oh well, you survived,” she says. “By the way, what was that about being on fire?” She asks. I audibly groan. “I heard some of the other pilots talking about it. But, that didn’t actually happen, right?” I give her an irritated glance. “... It did!?” “Why’s everyone so stuck on it?” I ask aloud. Suddenly, a feedback noise sounds out and Joker’s voice is heard from the intercoms. “Attention, Trooper Dent, Iron Gate, report to the briefing room,” he says. “Odd, briefing doesn’t start until 9 today,” Patch says. I give a tense glance at the intercom, wondering what this is about. “I guess I’ll head off. Later,” I say, giving a weak wave before leaving. I look back to see many ponies were staring at me. They all hushed up and returned to eating as I roll my eyes and exit the room. I walk down the hall, passing various offices and rooms. I enjoy the relative silence, not having to talk to someone. “Oh, hey Trooper,” a voice says. I silently sigh and look back to see Keen, catching up to me with a half-eaten muffin. “I was just looking for you, did you really-“ “Yes,” I interrupt. “I was on fire.” Keen snickers, shaking his head. “Must’ve been one helluva day, huh?” He asks. I nod, sipping my soda as I continue walking. “Oh, Trooper, the seller’s here if you want to look at another plane again soon,” Keen offers. I give him a thumbs up without looking and keep walking. I enter the briefing room, and notice Scar sitting to the side with Joker. I throw my now-empty can into a small trash bin next to the door before sitting down across from them. “Good, everyone’s here,” Joker says. I glance at Scar, realizing what his real name is now. He doesn’t seem fazed, if anything, he gives a small smirk I can barely notice. “Trooper, I have been reviewing your actions over the past four sorties. I admit, you are a lot more capable than I originally thought.” I cross my arms, trying to figure out what he’s getting at. “Recently, Equestria has managed to gather up enough forces to attempt a counter attack on Griffon Stone’s mainland. However, aerial resistance is heavy, which stops our own aerial forces from providing proper support. We need you and Iron to go in, and attempt to sanitize the air space.” I quirk an eyebrow. “Wait, just me and Scar?” I ask. Joker nods. “We can not send in too many planes at once, but we need two skilled pilots to go around them ahead of time to take them by surprise.” I look at Scar, who’s simply staring at me to see my reaction. I look back at Joker, with a confused look. “So, why me?” I ask. Joker chuckles. “Remember when you were on fire?” He asks. I frown. “I imagine you must’ve shaken some of them, and given how you’re already nicknamed Grim-Spear, I believe you will be a valuable asset in terms of intimidation.” I nod, seeing some sense in that. “I’ll relay this information to your squadron, for now, go ahead and suit up to sortie.” I look at Scar, frowning. “What are you so smug about?” I ask, getting annoyed by his smirk. “Just wondering how high of a bar you’re going to set,” he says, getting up. As he leaves, Joker shakes his head. He turns to me, frowning. “Oh, one more thing, you won’t be getting AWACS support until after the rest of your squadron arrive. So, with that in mind, after the refueling jet leaves you at your halfway marker, you and Iron are on your own. Don’t do anything stupid, we need heroes like you two.” I quirk an eyebrow, looking at where Scar left. “... Hey, quick question,” I start. He nods for me to continue. “How did he get his TAC, Scar?” I ask. Joker sighs. “I can’t tell you, that kind of question is between you and him.” With that, he gets up. “Good luck,” he says, before turning and leaving me in the room... South-Western Griffonian Territory, 1100 hours I watch as the refueling jet’s refuel-line retract into itself. So far, everything’s quiet. Scar and I are flying above forests and hills, trust barely above the clouds. “Alright, Spades 2, you’re refueled and ready for combat. Good luck out there Spades Squadron,” the refueler’s pilot says. “Hey, the Aces of Spades! Give those griffons hell!” Another voice says. “Sorry, that’s my copilot. He’s a bit new. In any case, best of luck,” the pilot says, before turning his plane. Scar and I are alone now. I look at his MiG, wondering what he’s thinking. “... Hey, Grim-Spear,” Scar says, using my new official TAC. “Keep your eyes peeled. We have some time before reaching our objective, but I have a sneaking suspicion that we’re going to see some action soon.” I hum in acknowledgement, looking down at the fluffy clouds below us. “... Scar, I’ve got a question,” I start. “Is it about my TAC?” He asks. “Yeah. Why did you choose Scar? Pegasi are normally proud about their wings, and losing them is something like a dishonor, right? It’d be strange to express it with a TAC.” I hear a sigh. “... Ever heard of the rumors, about how I lost my wings? How an enemy shot me down?” He goes silent for a second. “... They weren’t true. When I was younger, I used to be a mercenary,” he starts. “I hated rules, and hated being stuck with a squadron. I flew with an old buddy of mine, and we respected each other’s talents. Hell, we were best of the best.” He pauses, seeming to reminisce on those times. “Back then, there weren’t wars, but there were always targets. An offshore company hired us.” “Which one?” I ask. “Some Minotaur company. Anyway, we were told to take pictures of some cargo that was on a route through the Bandlands. It was a stockpile of weapons, being sold to hippogriffs,” Scar continues. “Well, I figured we could get paid double if I destroyed them.” “Sounds stupid,” I comment, to which Scar barks out a laugh. “Yes, it was,” he says. “I shot it, and its explosion was bigger than I thought. Next thing I know, I see a truck’s wreckage flying at me, taking off one of my plane’s wings. When I ejected, some shrapnel caught my wings.” I grimace. “Sounds painful,” I say. “Like hell,” Scar replies. “What happened to your friend?” I ask. He goes silent. “... I suppose he saw the explosion’s aftermath, and decided to fly off to avoid trouble. I think he hates me for screwing up, but I don’t really know. I decided to instill Scar as my TAC to remind myself of my failure, and never let any of this got my head again.” I nod to myself, starting to understand it. “Not many people know about this story, since the operation was declared confidential.” Before I could ask why he’s telling me this then, Scar hums in confusion. “Wait... What’s... Grim, fly down, now!” He yells. I don’t argue and push my nose down, going below the clouds with him. Once below clouds, I see that we’re over a desert area, meaning we’re deep in southern Griffon territory. “That was close, my radar’s picking up signals ahead.” I look at my own radar and notice a sort of wave coming towards us. Actually, it’s like part of an expanding circle. It stops at a certain point before another wave comes up. “What is it?” I ask. “I don’t know, but let’s stay out of its range for now. It may be a radar site.” I grimace. “Why don’t we smash the place? It’d be one less target to worry about,” I suggest. “No good, we’re still too far away from our main objective to blow our cover. Avoid them at all times.” “Fine.” With that, I keep an eye on my radar as I carefully shift my plane’s direction with the rudder, going around the area. “Grim, expand your radar, I think we just stumbled onto something.” I do as he says, and my eyes widen a bit. “It’s a maze,” I note. The radar shows multiple radar sites that overlap each other, with small gaps in between some them. “Be careful, don’t fire anything, just avoid them,” Scar says. I silently follow orders, pulling my aircraft to follow Scar’s lead. On the ground, I can just barely make out tiny dots that resemble buildings or vehicles. “Hey, what’s with the jets?” An enemy asks. “No clue, must be returning from training down south,” another answers. “Hey, Scar, can’t they hear our jets?” I ask. “Yes, but I’m willing to bet they can’t see what’s on our planes.” I look around me, noticing how unnerving it is to fly with invisible walls I can’t touch. Now I’m glad Scar told me to hold off, because if there are this many enemy lookouts, there must be even more enemy defenders. “Anything to report?” An enemy asks. “Nah, nothing but dust and clouds,” another responds. I quietly keep following, scanning for any enemy planes or AA defenses. Something tells me I should be worried. I look at my radar just in time to see a new radar spot start scanning between me and Scar. “Shit!” I yell, pulling off into empty airspace. “What happened?” Scar asks. “A new radar site started up next to us. I have to find my own way now.” “Very well, be careful,” Scar warns. I look at my radar and carefully fly around the spots of detection. There’s no telling if they can find me on accident if they pop up like that. I look at the ground as I maneuver, and notice a long line going through the ground. That looks important. “Hey Scar, there’s something strange on the ground. Looks like a pipe or something,” I say. “... I see it. Good catch Grim,” he says. “... Try to follow the pipe, see where it leads. We might have to break our cover.” “Roger.” With that, I keep spinning and turning to make sure I don’t get caught. I can see the pipe leads to a building a good ways away. “Hey, did anyone watch the cool movie last night?” An enemy asks. “Shut it Bottles, keep an eye out.” Another chastises. “Hey, it’s boring as hell out here, and nothing’s showing up on radar.” I strain as I feel a sudden resistance from the wind. Shit. According to my radar, I’m drifting to a spot that’ll detect me. I pull up even harder, rolling a bit to see if the resistance will die down. Thankfully, it works and I barely miss the zone, speeding up to try to get away from the invisible walls. That was too close. “Anything D7?” “Nothing Central.” After a couple of minutes, listening to nothing but muffled rushing air and the occasional afterburner, I leave the field of radars. “I made it. Scar, where are you?” I ask. “You got lucky Grim. I’m stuck,” he says. I furrow my brow. “Radars have surrounded me. I can’t turn back.” I silently panic, trying to think of what to do. “Hold on, I think I have an idea,” I say, looking at the pipe. “Do you think they’ll be too focused on me if I started blowing stuff up?” “Grim, you’re suggesting you’re going to take on all the AA defenses in this area without any backup. Are you sure?” Scar asks. “Sounds fun,” I say, speeding along and above the pipe. “Hey, whose plane is that? I don’t recognize those markings,” an enemy says. I pull up, rolling to level off and target the oncoming building. Now that I’m closer, it looks like an industrial plant, with columns of smoke puffing out various chimneys through the facility. The building is made of a mix of bricks and metal, with a concrete foundation under it, which also holds various smaller buildings. The pipe connects into a separate building, where trucks with large metal barrels drive out. Whatever’s there, it must be either fuel or something of equal value. Perfect. I fire off my gun, not really aiming at anything, only to get their attention. “OH SH- ENEMY AIRCRAFT AT BASE!!! I REPEAT, ENEMY AIRCRAFT AT THE BASE!!!” I fire off my gun with purpose now, causing a chimney pipe to collapse. “HE’S ATTACKING THE FACTORY!!!” “This is Big Brother, describe the enemy aircraft,” a voice asks. Meanwhile, I fire missiles at a tower, causing the chimney to collapse, as well as a small explosion within the facility. I pull around, eyeing my work from above. “Don’t bother, I know who it is... I want payback,” another voice chimes in. “Ash... Fine. You’re patrolling near there anyway. Head to vector 140, east by south east. Your ETA at full speed is-“ “I’ll be faster.” I swerve around, firing more and more missiles and gunfire into buildings and facilities. “Good job Grim. It looks like they’re converging on you. I’ll go on ahead, escape their radar and catch up after I leave the AO. Got it?” “Wilco,” I reply, seeing that AA guns are, in fact, coming towards my location from the ground. “I DON’T CARE WHO GETS HERE, JUST GET HERE IMMEDIATELY DAMMIT!!!” The enemy says. “... Rodger. Ash and her squadron is coming to your position. We’ll send another squadron that’s patrolling by as well. They only sent that one, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” another says. I spiral into the sky, dodging incoming anti-air fire. “ETA of leaving is ten minutes. Cause as much havoc as you can, and get out of there,” Scar says calmly. “I’d hate to replace you already.” To that, I give a small smirk. “Rodger.” With that, I turn back to the ground, firing a spray of bullets into the gathering guns below. I lock onto a building and fire a missile, before switching targets and firing onto something random. Ten minutes. Ten minutes to fight, but I don’t know how long it’ll take to run. This should be fun. I pull back, leveling off, and speed towards the radar buildings. The factory’s trashed, and they certainly don’t need the radars anymore. I lock onto one, firing off a missile, making it explode in one hit. Along the ground, I can see several transport trucks. They must be evacuating. “Dammit, they’re destroying our radars! Where the hell is our air support!?” An enemy asks. I flair the afterburners, speeding up and finding targets faster as I fire my machine and my missiles. I constantly roll or loop around to avoid the AA guns below, which have given up trying to catch up to me. “O-Oh Lord!” An enemy says. “Keep it together private!” Another says. “That’s Grim-Spear! He’s an Ace from Equestria! We’re screwed without air support!” “I said keep it together! It’s on its way!” I swing low to the ground, firing at the guns shooting at me. This is too easy. I roll a bit to the right, pulling up and swinging around to search for more radars. The blips on radar are far and few between. There’s still a good few radars, I’ve destroyed at least ten or fifteen of them, so I head towards them. “You’re doing good Grim, I’m almost halfway through. ETA is six minutes,” Scar says. “Rad-Site-Bravo to Big Brother, where’re those damn fighter squadrons!?” An enemy yells. “Right here,” a female voice responds. Suddenly, on my radar, a blip appears. I swing around to see a TAC come up with a target. I grimace as I recognize it. Ash. She’s flying in an Su-37 again, with the same emblem but with a slash across it. Must be a mark of shame. “This time, he’s not getting away.” “Grim, be careful. I don’t think Ash is gonna let what happened last time slide,” Scar says. “Time?” I ask. “Five and a half,” he answers. “That’s more than enough,” I say, speeding towards Ash. “Remember- the main objective isn’t to fight her Grim, we need to-“ “Don’t worry, I remember,” I say. “Ash, you cannot fail this time. If you do, your punishment will be more severe,” an enemy warns. “Don’t worry, this is personal,” Ash remarks, speeding up towards me. We get faster and faster, racing towards each other. Both of us fire missiles, which speed towards each other but collide in the air. We both pull up, managing to avoid having the same fate, with our aircraft belly-to-belly. We pull off, and go separate ways to get some distance. I can tell she’s coming for my throat this time, I need to be careful. The question is, will she be too blood thirsty to notice the QAAMs I’m about to fire? I fire off both of my missiles once I face and lock on to her, and slow down. As predicted, she’s going to dodge the regular missiles, but I quickly switch to my special and fire off two QAAMs. Ash growls as she sees the other, faster missiles coming towards her, and rolls quickly while pulling up. Amazingly, the special missiles barely miss her, and she locks onto me. “Aw hell,” I mutter. She fires off two missiles as I dive bomb and move out of their ways. Thankfully, they miss me and fly off towards the ground. I go towards the ground, leveling off before I actually touch it and speed up. Ash follows suit, getting behind me and chasing me. She fires her machine gun, but I swerve to the left with my rudders. I look back and manage to get a glimpse at the aircraft, and I think I can see its pilot as well. I can’t tells what she looks like, since her grey flight suit covers a fair bit of her. Her helmet covers her eyes and feathers, but I can barely see the black beak poking out. I pull up, slowing down. Ash didn’t notice the change of speed, and overshoots me, allowing me to get behind her. As we go up into the sky, Ash pulls up even more and levels off, with me following suit. “Hey, Grim-Spear,” Ash says on an open channel. I notice she’s not trying to move away from my sight, despite having me locked on. I frown. “Ash, you know that protocol-“ An enemy gets interrupted by another. “Hold on, I know what she’s trying to pull. Let’s see if it works.” “...” I hear a sigh. “Let’s see what she wants,” Scar says. I debate with whether or not I should oblige before sighing. I flip to the open channel. “... What?” I ask. “How long do you have?” She asks. “... Excuse me?” “You’re not here by yourself, I don’t care how good of a pilot you are, Equestria wouldn’t send a lone pilot into a secret site by themselves. So, what are you planning?” She asks. “You’re a good pilot, so you must be covering for something.” “Do not answer her Grim,” Scar warns. “... How did it feel?” I ask. “... What?” Ash asks. “How did it feel when everyone started doubting you?” I ask. I hear a growl. “You. Little. Bastard,” she says. Suddenly, her plane performs a post stall maneuver, managing to eat behind me quickly and locking on. I switch back to friendly comms. “That got her attention,” I say, pulling off as she fires two missiles. I manage to fire off flares and make them lose track of me. “Yep... ETA in four minutes,” Scar says. “Try to lose her somehow.” “Come here you bastard!” Ash yells. “Ash, pull off! You’re no longer-“ “Shut it!” She yells. “He thinks he can get away with ruining my streak- my pride!? To hell with you- I’m getting the revenge I deserve!” To this, she fires off more missiles, even switching to her specials and firing even more. I roll, pulling up, maneuvering and spinning to avoid them. I try to slow down for a post stall maneuver, but she fires her machine gun when I get in range. Unlike me, she’s much more accurate. I suffer some bullets hitting my plane, but none were too damaging. I growl to myself as I see that she’s still firing missiles at me. It seems I can’t out maneuver her... I have a plan now. I smirk and pull off, racing up into the sky. I flip to an open channel. “Ash, this time, I’ll make sure your wings are clipped for good,” I say. “Like hell you will!” Ash yells, chasing me. She fires off her machine gun, but I’m too far away for it to be effective. “What’s the ETA of the fighter squadron?” An enemy asks. “It looks like two minutes sir,” an enemy responds. “Ash, you are to pull out in-“ “I am not backing away from this! This is my fight!” Ash replies. “That is not your decision to make,” her commander says. Ash fires another four missiles at me, but I spin and dodge them again, before pulling off and diving. “Come on Ash, I’m going to ground you, where’s your fighting spirit?” I ask. “Grim, what are you doing? You haven’t been shooting her,” Scar mentions. I flip to friendly comms. “Trust me,” I simply say, flipping back to an open channel. “I’ll show you a fighting spirit!” Ash yells. She keeps a continuous fire with her machine gun now, barely being able to reach me. As we speed towards the ground, I pull up and level off before pulling up into the sky again as Ash fires more missiles. This time, a missile catches my plane. My plane’s smoking now. Shit. “ETA is Less than three minutes, you better do something about her,” Scar says. “Congrats, I’m smoking. I’ll die of cancer now,” I mock. “Shut up!” Ash yells, firing more missiles. “Ash, your-“ “I don’t care!” Ash replies. She fires more missiles, I dodge them with spins and barrel rolls. “You better care, because everything that’s about to happen is going to be your fault,” I warn. “Shut up!” She yells again. After she had fired many missiles, I finally had to start keeping my plane level. “I have you now, bastard,” Ash says. I feel my eyes widen in fear. I await for something to happen, for a flash or a burning sensation... but nothing happened. I finally notice her machine gunfire has stopped. “... What- why isn’t-“ “Ash, your missiles and gun ammo is dry,” her commanding officer notes. “But that’s fine, the fighter squadron’s here to clean up your mess.” “ETA’s two minutes Grim. Think you can handle the squadron?” Scar asks. I smile wickedly. “That’s what I’m planning on,” I say. “No... No!” Ash cries in terror. “Tell them to pull off- he’s-“ “This is Delta Squadron, enemy’s on sight. Permission to engage?” An enemy asks. “Granted. He’s weak and smoking, so he should be easy to take down,” the enemy officer says. “No! Do not engage! I repeat-“ “You only have permission to be silent Ash.” Ash looks on with fear as I pull off and head towards the squadron. I flip to friendly comms. “Now watch,” I say. I switch to my QAAMs, and wait for the enemy to appear. Sure enough, five enemy planes come up on radar. I lock onto one, fire a missile, lock onto another, and fire the other. “Hey- what’s-“ the enemy is interrupted by an explosion, as two of their planes are hit head on with my special missiles. “Break! Break!” The squadron leader yells. The three remaining planes break off, going in different directions. I pick a random plane, which I can now see are F-4E’s, and get behind it. I switch to regular missiles and fire two, catching the plane quickly and taking it out. I swing around to find another plane and chase it. “What the hell- what’s flying that thing!?” I switch to QAAMs, and lock onto the plane. I fire one, and it catches the plane’s engine and makes it explode. “I can’t eject- I can’t-“ The enemy goes to static as his cockpit explodes. “No...” Ash says quietly, only able to watch on as I pursue the last one. “I’m falling back!” The last fighter said. “Your orders are to take out the enemy-“ “To hell with orders! He took out my entire squadron!” He yells. I lock onto him with my missiles. “Oh no- he’s got a lock! Someone help!” Before I could fire the missiles, I hear Ash. “Wait! Don’t shoot! He’s retreating!” She yells. I stop, and notice that the plane in front of me isn’t attempting to get behind me, only speeding up more and more as it tries to get away. “... Alright,” I say on open comms. I switch back to friendly comms. “Hey Scar, think we can take prisoners of war while we’re in the air?” “... I see, sure,” he says. “By the way, I’m just about to leave the area, I suggest you start bringing Ash with us if you want to keep her.” “Don’t phrase it like that,” I mutter. “Dammit! Return to the airspace and fire on that damn pilot!” The enemy officer yells. “Ash, when you return-“ “This is Grim-Spear of the Equestrian Air Force. Ash, pilot of the Griffon Stone Air Force, you are to head to vector 320 and stay on course until said otherwise.” “And why should I do that?” She asks. “Because I’m locked onto you,” I say. Ash finally realizes that I’m behind her. She wouldn’t have the chance to maneuver away, no matter how fast she was. She sighs. “... Fine.” “Tell your boss or AWACS that you aren’t to be followed. Your IFF is to be blocked from their view,” I say. “... This is Control, of the Griffon Stone Army. Shoot her down,” an enemy says on an open channel. “What!?” Ash yells. “If you return, we will do more than merely ground you. You will be dishonorably discharged for this disgrace you have brought to Griffon Stone. So go ahead Grim-Spear. If you don’t, we will.” With that, radio goes silent. “... Again, Ash, head towards vector 320 and stay on course until told otherwise,” I say. “... Understood,” she says. Her aircraft turns slowly, until heading towards the decided vector. With that, we head out of the airspace, towards the main objective north of us, I plan on telling Ash to follow me once we’re out of their radar. This is gonna be a tough day ahead of us. “I’ll wait for you two to catch up,” Scar says on friendly comms. “Got it,” I reply, flipping to friendly comms. “... What’s going to happen to me?” Ash asks quietly. I flip back to an open channel. “You’ll be held prisoner in accordance to international law. But first, we need to do something. We’ll sort out the details later,” I say. With that, we fly silently, as the fields below me smoke from the damage I had done. Today’s gonna be a long day...