Three days after Sunset's trial by fire, she once again found herself sitting alert and once again, Wardog Squadron found itself responding to the call to action.
An unknown vessel was launching drones into the airspace off of Sand Island and they had been sent to intercept and destroy the drones and to keep an eye on the mothership while the navy scrambled a couple of frigates to intercept it.
Unfortunately, the unknown enemy that kept attacking from the same bearing, 280, showed up again and they were forced to once again defend themselves, the controller aboard the AWACS, Thunderhead, ordering them to stand down while incoming missile warnings and the sound of her own missiles locking on as she returned fire mingling together in a cacophony that she had begun to start ignoring outside of the important details.
"Blaze, Fox 2!" Sunset called out as she let loose a missile at the final target, the other pilot being unable to evade in time thanks to Chopper's previously dodged missile. "Splash One!" She added as the enemy aircraft exploded into flames and wreckage.
<<Picture clear. All hostile aircraft destroyed. Warning still in effect. Keep your heads on a swivel.>> Thunderhead called out.
Suddenly, Bartlett called out a warning to Nagase.
<<Watch out Nagase! They're down below us too!>>
Sunset's head whipped around as she rolled her plane inverted and she saw the plume of a SAM come streaking up from the boat, her stomach plummeting as she saw, and heard via the radio, Edge began to make evasive maneuvers.
Sunset jerked her controls and made towards her teammate, but even as her plane began to dive and the engines spooled up to afterburn, she knew she wasn't going to make it. She was too far out of position to do anything.
Then Bartlett, the beautiful bastard he was, threw his big Phantom into the path of the missile, its seeker head locking onto the more powerful engines, pulling it away from Edge.
Sadly, he wasn't able to evade the missile either as it detonated near his plane.
Immediately, Sunset called out.
"Thunderhead, Wardog 4. Wardog 1 has been hit, scramble SAR helos. We have good chute, say again, good chute." She reported.
<<Warning! Warning! Wardog Squadron, return to base immediately!>> Thunderhead suddenly shouted over the radio.
<<But the rescue helicopter hasn't arrived yet!>> Edge protested.
<<Leave that to the rescue team. Refuel and rearm at the base and get back in the air immediately! The enemy has declared war on us!>> Thunderhead replied tersely.
Sunset's eyes widened as she formed up with Edge and Chopper to return to Sand Island.
The trio was on the ground shortly and they proceeded to the hot pads to refuel and rearm.
"What's going on?" Sunset asked her crew chief as they oversaw the reloading of missiles and cannon rounds.
"Not sure. Just got orders to turn y'all around fast. Any issues with her?" The crew chief asked.
"None surprisingly. Still purring like a kitten." Sunset replied.
"Good, keep it that way while don't ya. I want my bird back in one piece, ya hear?" He responded with a chuckle as the last checks were done.
"I hear ya chief. We good?" Sunset inquired.
"We good. Clear to turn." The crew chief replied.
Sunset nodded and went through the start up procedure and soon, the three remaining aircraft of her flight were taxiing to the runway and lifting off.
None of them were to know it until later, but Captain Bartlett was nowhere to be found by the rescue helos. All they found was a discarded parachute floating in the water, with the spy vessel retreating at speed to the west.
But right now, Wardog Squadron was heading towards the mainland, where the naval anchorage was under attack.