Canterlot Castle
27 September 2017
09:12 hours.
Celestia entered the castle briefing room where Twilight, Rarity, and a couple of others were waiting.
"So any trace of our two squadrons?" she asked.
"No, nothing. The area below the mountains there is covered by clouds, so we can't see any wreckage from our satellite," she replied.
"What do you want to do your highness?" Rarity asked.
"We can't risk losing anymore," she replied. "Keep on this and try to figure out what is going on."
"Yes your highness," she replied.
____________________
Whitemare AFB
12:30 hours.
The group was in the mess hall enjoying their lunch and talking about this and that when Tex's beeper went off.
"Uh oh it's your other half," Ice said.
"Nope it's Moonstone," he replied. "Better go see what's up. Maverick make sure Angel doesn't tamper with my food."
"Uh, OK," he replied. Angel growled slightly.
"God is nopony safe from your wrath Tiger?" Maverick asked.
"Nope. I treat everypony the same," she replied.
"So what did you do? Or should I ask?"
"I just put a little Trottingham Scorpion pepper juice in his chili," she said with a smirk.
"Oh you little..."
"You might watch your food from now on Spade," she cracked. Maverick tried not to stare at his food for too long.
"Too bad for you it doesn't work on me," Sunfire said to Angel. I love hot foods."
"Lucky you," replied Glory. "I can't even handle regular hot sauce."
"Sounds like the voice of experience to me," commented Maverick.
"Oh you should've seen it," said Dahlia. "She ate one of Pinkie's cupcakes with hot sauce icing. Her body turned so red you could've locked a Sidewinder on it."
"That was the first time I've seen a pony swallow half of a bag of ice," Angel added. Glory didn't seem to be amused by them bringing that up.
Tex came back in.
"Well it looks like something's up. We've got a meeting in 1 hour," he said.
"What is it?" Maverick asked.
"Apparently we've lost an entire squadron without a trace somewhere North of Prairie city over the mountains there."
"What?" Ice exclaimed.
"We'll find out everything at the meeting," he replied.
______________________
Whitemare AFB conference room
14:00 hours.
"OK guys this is what's going on." And Moonstone began.
"Yesterday Skylancer squadron was sent in to attack the air base at Los Alicornes. The entire squadron disappeared without a trace over the mountains North of Prairie City."
"How? They were a good squadron. I can't see them getting jumped," replied Glory.
"Well it happened. We sent a TR-1 over the area to look for them and it disappeared too. And we're not alone. The Empire has lost 2 squadrons in the same area."
"What the hell?" yelled Ice. "How could that many planes disappear like that without any type of radio contact?"
"The only thing we can think of is powerful jammers, and either a powerful SAM system or a large amount of fighters. The problem is the only air bases nearby is the LA and Prairie City ones, and we confirmed none of their squadrons were airborne in that area at the time of the attacks."
"There isn't a secret airbase near there is there?" commented Maverick.
"In the mountain range itself no. It's canyons are too tight for even VTOL aircraft to land or take off."
"Well crap,"Angel said. "So you're sending us there to investigate?"
"Not alone," replied Moonstone. You will have Shadow and Nightstalker squadrons for backup with Blazeghost squadron for spice. They will wait outside of the area. At the first sign of anything suspicious or trouble alert them and they will come in. We're doing it like this so we don't run the risk of losing 3 squadrons at once if things go sour, or if it is fighters the large amount of aircraft might keep them from showing up."
"Well that fills me with a lot of confidence," replied Dahlia.
"Oooh the Blazeghosts," Angel said. "Will they be armed with specials?"
"Yep. Both the Burst Missiles and the TLS."
Much to her embarrassment her wings sprang up, causing Sunfire to fall backwards laughing and Moonstone to blush.
"Oops. Sorry," she softly said.
"I'm just gonna pretend I didn't see that," Maverick commented.
"Aaaanyway," Moonstone tried to get back on track. "The Nightstalkers and Blazeghosts are already on their way to Neighlis. They'll meet up with Dash's squadron and wait for you guys, then you'll all go in."
"Sounds like a plan," replied Maverick.
"Good luck," and the feed ended.
___________________
North of Neighlis AFB
16:10 hours.
Just inside the border The other 3 squadrons joined up with Lunar.
"Lunar squadron it's Dash and crew. We're coming up behind you." Her squadron came up on the left and the Nightstalkers on the right, with the Blazeghosts behind them.
"Be right back," Angel said as she pulled out of formation.
"Angel what the heck are you doing?" said Dash.
"Oh I know," replied Ice.
Angel trailed back far enough to get beside the 3 Morgans of the Blazeghost squadron. They were decked out in the midnight and navy blue colors that all Special Fighter Squadron aircraft wear. She stared at the TLS pods, their lenses glistening in the sun. Under the wings on each one was a pair of burst missiles. Due to the amount of destruction they cause, they could only be used as last ditch measure if other friendly planes were in the area.
"OK Angel get back here," Maverick said.
"OK daddy," she said as she flew back into position.
"So what's the plan Mav'?" Glory asked.
"Most planes would come in low just above the mountains, but i think we should come in at about 20,000 feet," he replied.
"Why?"
"What altitude do jammers usually fly at?" Then it dawned on Glory.
"Aaah, around that same height."
"Yes. We have a good chance of seeing them before any fighters see us. What do you think Sentry?"
"Sounds good to me," replied Carrot Top. "Gives you more working room too."
About an hour later they reached the point where the other squadrons would wait for them.
"Sentry 2 to Lunar squadron. Time to part ways."
"Roger Sentry," replied Maverick.
"Stay safe guys," Nightshadow said.
"As soon as something happens contact us and we'll come in," added Dash.
"We will," he said as the squadron flew towards the mountains.
40 miles in a blip appeared on radar. It was approaching them.
"Bogey at 20 miles, angels 10," Maverick anounced.
"Roger Mav... Wait it just turned blue!" Ice said.
"It's IFF is squaking a NLRAF code," added Glory.
"Lunar one to unidentified NLR aircraft, what's your status?" Maverick said.
"Yes, somepony has finally arrived!" replied the pilot. "The rest of my squadron has been shot down and needs rescue!"
"Where's my IFF code list?" Angel thought as she started looking for it.
"Why are you still here?" Maverick asked.
"My navigation system is dead and I'm almost out of fuel. I may have to bail out where the others are."
They were now within 6 miles of the aircraft, which had turned and was now flying in the same direction.
"Roger, can you take us to them?"
"Yes. Follow me." And the plane changed course.
"Ah here it is," Angel said as she found the list. She looked up the code the plane was squaking.
"We've got a visual on you," Maverick said. Far below and ahead them they could just make out the plane. It was painted in the standard NLRAF colors.
"Hey guys," Angel said. "According to my code list here that plane is a Flanker."
"Roger... Wait what?" Maverick said.
"It's the IFF code for a Flanker."
Sunfire chimed in.
"We only have two Flanker squadrons: Venom squadron which was wiped out by Excalibur, and the Snow Leopards. And that is not one of their planes."
"Lunar one to NLR aircraft what..." the plane had disappeared below the clouds. Suddenly their radars were filled with clutter.
"What the!?" Yelled Glory. Soon missile warnings were going off in their cockpits.
"IT'S A TRAP!" Ice screamed.
"Lunar to Dash get in here!" Maverick yelled over the radio.
"Lunar...." the radio deteriorated into static.
"DAMMIT!" He yelled. They banked and dodged the missiles, but still couldn't see the planes.
"Where are they?" Sunfire said.
"I don't know. Keep an eye out for them and the jammers!" replied Ice.
Soon they could make out some black dots approaching them.
"Well it looks like we've got another meal," one of the LoD pilots said.
"More missiles break!" Maverick yelled. Again they missed. They finally got a look at the planes.
"Oh shit... J-20's!" Angel yelled.
"I thought those were just plans they had on the drawing board?" replied Sunfire.
"Looks like they made them," she replied.
"Terriffic, not only are our radars jammed, we're dealing with stealths too," Dahlia said.
"It all makes sense now: Fake plane plus mountains, jammers, and stealth aircraft equals the perfect way to make squadrons disappear without a trace," Ice said.
Glory managed to get behind one, but had to break off as another appeared on her tail. Then she got a missile warning and saw one heading for her.
"DAMN!" She broke hard and dodged it.
"You can't tell they're coming until it's too late," she said.
"Everypony pair off and watch each other's backs," Maverick said. The plan started to work as Ice got behind one, again another dropped in behind him, but Angel suprised him and got off a shot, killing the first one.
"Hell yeah!" she yelled.
Maverick now had one on his tail. Glory covered him only to have one drop behind her.
"Get ready to duck Glory!" he said.
"Roger!" Maverick pulled a cobra and all 3 planes flew under him. He leveled out and got on the tail of the one behind Glory. One Archer took care of it.
"That's two!" Glory yelled.
As Ice pulled up to dodge gunfire, he saw a glint above them.
"Guys I think I've got a jammer!" he said.
"I'll cover you," replied Dahlia.
"Windigo 3 and 10, get those two going after the jammer!"
Ice and Dahlia managed to get within range and each fired a R-77M (Dahlia a few seconds after Ice) before having to dive to avoid the LoD fighters. The jammer dropped chaff, but did it too soon and though Ice's missile missed, Dahlia's managed to edge the chaff cloud and hit it.
"We got a jammer!" Ice yelled. Though the radars cleared up some, it was still too hard to see anything on radar.
"There must be another one," replied Maverick.
Sunfire managed to shoot down a third fighter, only to have another appear on her tail. Glory got another and had two more show up on her tail.
"They just keep coming!" she yelled.
Suddenly a new voice came over the radio.
"Give it up ponies. Your doom is at hand."
"Th- that voice... It... can't be..." Maverick thought to himself.
"Hey get off our frequency you LoD wench!" yelled Angel.
"Now that's no way to talk to a mare," the voice replied.
"MARE? WHY YOU LITTLE TURNCOAT!" she screamed. "Who are you!"
"NIGHTSHADE." Maverick yelled. The radio went silent.
"Maverick? You're still alive?" the mare responded.
"You know her?" Angel yelled.
"How could you Nightshade?" Maverick said.
"Well well well. Never thought I'd meet you like this Spade. I figured you were in hiding somewhere or dead," she replied.
"You're not only a traitor to your country, you're a traitor to ALL ponies."
"My country is gone, just like my previous life. At least I finally get to have my revenge against you."
"What? You're still flankhurt over what happened back then?"
"How could I not be? Your stunt took it from me!"
"Oh for fuck's sake," groaned Maverick.
"Windigo one to all planes: Focus on the others. Their commander is mine!"
Her plane dived in front of his. Unlike the others hers had the colors reversed. The plane was blood red with black tips and insignia. He immediately gave chase.
"Get her Maverick!" Angel yelled.
Maverick lost sight of her after he dived. She soon reappeared on his tail. He pulled a cobra, but she caught onto it and did the same thing.
"Oh please Spade. You taught me that same trick," she said as she opened up with her cannon. Maverick rolled and dodged the shots.
"I didn't teach you this one," he said as he did the stall then rotated and dived downward and headed behind her.
"Not bad," she said sarcastically as she reversed her turn and followed him. "So what's your reason for fighting?"
"I'm a citizen of the New Lunar Republic now. And like with our country in the past I want to defend it against evil like your leader. I never thought I'd have to defend it from you."
"A noble cause, but in vain," she replied.
"We'll see about that," he said as he dived under the clouds. Then he reappeared on her tail.
Meanwhile Glory and Dahlia had scored kills, then Sunfire briefly caught a blip on radar. She started climbing and saw it was the other jammer.
"I've got the other jammer, I'm going for it."
"Sunfire wait!" yelled Glory as she headed after her. By the time she caught up a J-20 was already dogging her. He didn't see Glory though and paid for it.
"Fox one twice!" Sunfire yelled. the 2 Adders fell from the plane and streaked off, scoring a direct hit. Almost immeadiately their radars and radio cleared up.
"We've got em'!" Glory yelled.
"Lunar 13 to Sentry get everypony in here now!"
"Ice this is Viper we're coming!" replied Dash, though they were now over 80 miles from the group.
Meanwhile Nightshade was once again on Maverick's tail and went for a missile lock. She fired a heat seeker but a couple of flares and a hard turn from Maverick threw it off.
"I haven't had this much fun in a long time. You're putting up a better fight than those others did," she said.
"You didn't give them a chance with all of that jamming shit. Let's see how good you are without it now." He hit the afterburners and went straight up. She followed him like he wanted. He then hit the brakes and feathered the throttle, performing a tail slide right in front of her.
"AAAAH" She pulled back on the stick to avoid him, almost putting the J-20 into a spin. He leveled out and was now behind her.
"Are you trying to kill both of us?" she said.
"Why not?" he replied as he went for a lock.
"You're a damn psycho," she replied. She dodged his missile shot and tried to evade him, but Maverick had had enough of her and stuck to her like glue.
Then he got a lock warning. Another bandit was behind him. If he broke off, he might not get another chance to hit her. Soon a missile warning went off and he kicked out flares. Luckily Nightshade turned at the right moment which let him get out of the way.
"I'm here Maverick!" Glory yelled as she dived in behind the bandit and shot him off his tail. both of them were now tailing Nightshade, though she only knew Maverick was there.
Maverick fired his cannon and she dived. Glory saw this and fired her cannon underneath Maverick. A couple of shots hit her plane which made her pull up right in front of Maverick again.
"What was that?" she yelled.
"The end of this reunion," Maverick said as he fired his cannon again, shredding the rear of her plane. It started going down trailing black smoke.
"Damn you Maverick. Figures you'd need help to get me."
"You know how those other pilots you and your squadron shot down feel now," he replied.
"This isn't over. I'll be back."
"I'll be waiting," he said as he watched the plane disappear under the clouds. The two returned to the furball.
"Sentry 2 to Lunar squadron. We're counting 8 bandits left, but we're picking up 10 more approaching from the East, 29 miles out. Dash and the others are 49 miles out."
"You've gotta be kidding," replied Ice.
"Hang on guys we're coming as fast as we can!" replied Dash.
Dahlia got another with a gun kill. Then Angel got on the tail of one,but was too busy concentrating on it to realize she was chasing it towards Sunfire, who was diving with one on hers.
"Angel look out!" Yelled Ice.
"DAMN!" Both her and the LoD plane flew between them just as the LoD plane opened fire on Sunfire, hitting both of them instead.
"I'm hit!" Angel yelled. The LoD plane burst into flames and went down, leaving the other pilot stunned. Ice took the opportunity to get him with a missile.
"What's the damage?" Maverick yelled.
'My radar's dead and half of my warning lights are on so I'm out of it. Keep them off of me," she replied.
Roger I'm on the way," replied Sunfire.
One of the LoD pilots called out to the others.
"Look. That one is trailing smoke, concentrate on it."
"But we're outnumbered!" replied another.
"Not for long. Mage squadron is almost here," he replied.
Glory shot one off of Ice's tail, then Sunfire got one that dived on Angel. Despite not having a radar, Angel was able to get one Dahlia led in front of her with a gun kill. It was now down to 2.
"Let's split into pairs and get them," Maverick said.
"Roger," replied Ice who split off with Dahlia. Sunfire stayed with Dahlia.
Soon Maverick and Glory had run down theirs, while the other 2 double teamed the remaining one.
"Sentry 2 to all planes: first wave of bandits are down. The second is 11 miles out. Shadow and the others are 31 miles out."
"Roger Sentry," replied Maverick.
"Where's Angel?" Glory asked.
"Down there," replied Ice. She was now a few thousand feet lower than them, with Sunfire right behind. They started heading down.
"Guys I'm losing power. I'm not sure if I'll make it back," Angel said. "I'm not sure if I want to bail out now, I don't know what's under those clouds."
"Looking at my map the best place is just to your left. It shows a small valley there," replied Maverick.
"OK I'm turning," Angel turned and headed for it. Shortly after leveling off her right engine caught fire.
"Shit I'm burning."
"That's it get out now!" Glory yelled.
"I can't see," Sunfire said. Oil from the engine had splattered on her canopy and she had to break away to avoid debris from Angel's plane.
"Hope it's soft down there," and she pulled the eject handle.
Nothing happened.
She tried several more times and still nothing.
"I can't eject. Neither the canopy or seat will blow," she said calmly.
"Oh god no..."Dahlia said.
"Invert Angel I'm going to try and shoot your canopy out," Maverick said as he dived.
"Guess it's time for me to dance with the angels," she said, remaining calm.
"No Angel keep trying!" Yelled Carrot Top.
"I'm gonna miss th..." and Angel's plane exploded.
.....
the radio was silent until Maverick weakly said "Lunar 3 is down."
Meanwhile the other LoD squadron had arrived.
"They've suffered a loss. Let's get them," said the commander.
Lock warnings began going off in their cockpits. The sound echoed through their minds. Dahlia, who had her head down looked up. Her maroon eyes were now just two glowing white blanks.
"You bastards." She said and the squadron broke off and engaged the bandits. No words were said over the radio after that. Silently they began engaging. Within the first 5 minutes they had shot down 3 of them. Sunfire rolled in on one from above and fired her cannon at the cockpit, spraying glass, blood, and Griffin feathers everywhere.
"What is going on! How are they engaging all of us at once?" one pilot yelled.
"I don't know, it's like they're possessed!"
Ice tried firing on one, but ran out of ammo. He yelled and got right in front of the LoD plane, a mere 20 feet from it's nose. He gunned the afterburners and pulled up. The disruption of air caused both of the planes engines to flame out, sending it into a spin.
Just as Dahlia took out another bandit the radio crackled to life.
"Lunar squadron we're here!" Dash yelled.
"Damn let's get out of here!" The LoD commander said as they turned and sped off. Two Morgans ran them down though and fired two burst missiles. The massive explosions turned the planes into what looked like confetti from a distance.
"This is Sentry 2. All planes destroyed. Let's go home."
The planes formed up with Lunar squadron again as they turned back for Equestria. The spot where Angel would have been in the formation was open.
"Maverick. Is Angel...." Nightshadow asked.
"Yes."
Dash sighed "You fly planes in a war long enough something like this happens. I've seen it too many times in this damn war, including my own squadron."
"It's, not going to be the same without her." Carrot Top said in a shaky voice.
As they flew back over the area where the remnants of Angel's plane fell, Dash made an announcement.
"all pilots, let's salute Master Sergeant Tiger Angel! And one plane from each of the other 3 squadrons pulled up for the missing pony formation.