Hangar 2
Gryphus AFB
May 19 2023
08:50 hours.
The group waited for the EIA ponies to arrive for the briefing in what was now the war room for Wolfpack.
"Wonder what we'll be doing this time?" Spot said.
"Hopefully something that requires air to air combat," Shadow replied.
"Remember we're getting paid for our overall actions, not individual kills," Redwing said.
"Well I still want to shoot down more for the status," the bat pony replied.
"I'm sure we will. I imagine by now the Changelings have caught on to our missions and will be patrolling the area more," commented Sunset.
"Which will make it harder for us," added Helia.
A short time later the EIA ponies showed up and started the briefing.
"OK everyone this is your mission for today," Harpy said. And she began.
"Now that we've decreased their weapons output, it's time do decrease their fuel output also. This storage facility near Dunlap is currently served by two pipelines and by road. It's supplying the Changeling bases near Dunlap and the ones they have set up in the Empire with fuel for both aircraft and vehicles."
Candymane took over.
"This will be a multiple target mission. Your first objective is to hit this pumping station for the pipelines on the rim of Windigo canyon," and she brought up a satellite image of it. "This station is the only way to get fuel over the mountain.
Next you'll destroy this bridge closer to the storage facility. We don't want to completely destroy their infrastructure which is why we picked this small bridge instead of the main one over the canyon, which also carries the pipelines. Helia we'll load you with thousand pounders for the bridge."
"Oh goody," she replied.
"Finally you'll bomb the storage facility itself. Make sure the entire place goes up in flames."
"Sounds good to me," replied Nightglider.
"Any air resistance?" asked Sunset.
"Unfortunately yes," replied Harpy. "Due to your attacks, the Changelings are keeping a closer eye on the border. Plus there's some type of superweapon in the Eastern half of the Empire that could be within striking range. Because of this, your ingress and egress route will be different. Instead of heading into the Empire you'll head from this country to the mouth of Windigo Canyon. You'll then follow the river to the bridge, and then climb and turn Southwest to the pumping station."
"UGH. I love canyon flying," Spot said sarcastically.
"Just stick to our tails and you'll be fine," replied Rover.
"The canyon is pretty wide so it shouldn't be too hard," Harpy said as she shut down the laptop.
"OK let's get this started," Sunset said.
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South end of Windigo Canyon
Changeling Kingdom
14:20 hours.
The squadron flew as close to the ground as possible from just south of the border with the Griffon Empire to the mouth of the canyon, to keep off the radar.
"There it is. Single file and slow it down everyone," announced Sunset. And the others got behind her and darted into the canyon.
"Guess this isn't too bad," commented Spot.
"Just watch the turns and you'll be fine," replied Serana.
Soon they passed over the remains of a small military base, and could see huge holes blown in the canyon walls.
"What the hell happened here?" Helia asked.
"Oh I remember," replied Redwing. "The Changelings had weapons storage bunkers in the canyon walls. When the Legion of Discord took over they became a target for Equestria during the war. A NLR Air Force squadron called Lunar flew in and destroyed them. The leader of that squadron gave our country's top ace her first shoot down during that attack."
"Oh yeah. I remember that squadron," Shadow said.
Sunset gasped slightly.
"Something wrong Blaze?" Serana asked. She paused for a second.
"Not really. I remember that squadron too," she replied. "Their leader engaged my friend on three separate occasions. She lost all three."
"Ouch. Where is she now?" Alvinar asked.
"As far as I know she's dead. As a result of the final engagement," she replied.
"Oh I'm sorry," replied the Griffon.
"It's OK. The third time didn't need to happen because the war was over, but she had a vendetta against him stemming from something that happened while both of them were in the Crystal Empire Air Force before Discord took over," she replied, as she led the pack around a bend.
"Whoa. They knew each other and later faced off in dogfights? What caused it?" Helia asked.
"It's a long story, but we're nearing the target area so I don't have time to talk about it," replied Sunset.
"The Ace of Spades. The one who gave me my second shoot down," Rover said with a bit of a snarl.
"I wonder what he's doing now?" Fido said.
"I'm pretty sure he went back to the Crystal Empire after the LoD war. He's no doubt kicking Changeling ass," replied Nightglider.
"OK there's the bridge. Climb up and let's do this, " Sunset announced. The group pulled up and made a turn, and instantly got radar spikes.
"Won't be long now," commented Helia.
"Let's go Rover," Sunset said. And the two of them headed for the pumping station, while Helia and Redwing headed for the bridge. The others orbited over the canyon to keep an eye out for bandits.
"There it is. Climb and dive," Sunset said. And the two of them made a sharp climb up to 5,000 feet and dived, dropping their bombs. Nearly all of them landed in the target area, destroying the facilities.
"Target down!" yelled Rover.
Meanwhile Helia and Redwing had reached the bridge.
"I'm going in", the pegasus announced as she entered a dive and lined up with the bridge. She dropped them and pulled up. All four hit it, taking it down.
"Nice one Blossom," Redwing said.
Then the radio came to life.
"Blaze to Blossom: Have you destroyed it yet?"
"Yep it's gone," she replied.
"Great. We're heading that way. However we've picked up eight bandits coming from the East, so we need to get it done quickly," she replied.
"Roger, we're heading for you," replied Helia, and they turned East.
As they approached the others, they picked up the bandits on their radars.
"52 miles out and closing," announced Redwing.
"Double time it everyone!" replied Blaze. And him and Helia turned back West to rejoin the group.
"23 miles to target. Syxx, Scanner, fly ahead and take out any defenses," Sunset said.
"We're on it," replied Shadow. And the pair of Falcons flew on ahead of the group.
As they got close they got lock warnings.
"Two ZSU's," Nightglider said.
"Maverick time!" replied Shadow. They both locked a Maverick onto one and fired, destroying both.
"Hey look up there!" yelled Nightglider. In the distance they could see five tankers that had just left the facility.
"Blaze we've got five trucks leaving for the Empire. Take them out?" Shadow asked.
"Go ahead and get em'," she replied.
"They're gone," replied Shadow as he locked a Maverick onto the lead truck. Nightglider locked one onto the rear one. They fired, blowing up both and leaving the other three stuck. The drivers bailed and flew off.
"Smart move," Shadow said as they banked around and came in from the side to strafe the last three. Huge fireballs shot into the sky.
"Fire fire fire yeah FIRE!" yelled the blue bat pony.
"Just wait until be bomb the dump," replied Shadow..And they turned back East for the facility. The others were entering their bombing approach at the same time.
"We're coming head on Blaze. We'll use our remaining Mavericks on the other tankers there," Shadow said.
"Roger. Fire them then bank right," she replied. The bat ponies locked them up and fired, then turned to avoid the others.
"Bombs away!" yelled Sunset, and her and the others took turns dropping theirs on the facility. Tank after tank exploded, sending fireballs over 400 feet into the sky.
"Anyone got some marshmallows?" cracked Fido.
"Nope. Wouldn't have time anyway because our bandits are here," replied Redwing. And the group turned to face them.
"Lock em' up and take em' down," Sunset said. And a few of them fired long range missiles, bringing down three of the changeling planes.
"I got one!" yelled Fido. And a dogfight ensued.
"J-10's. This won't be easy," announced Serana.
"I saw the commander. I'm going for him," Redwing said.
Alvinar got his Harrier behind one and managed to stick to it despite the pilot's best attempts to shake him.
"Just a little more," he said as he tried to get a lock. Finally his sidewinder growled at him.
"Goodbye." He fired it, bringing the J-10 down.
Realizing they were outnumbered two to one, the remaining Changelings placed a call for help, then tried to run, but there was no escape. The wing commander made a slip and Redwing was ready for him. Sunset ran the next one down and shoved an archer up it's tailpipe. The final blow happened when Helia and Nightglider got gun kills on the last two almost at the same time.
"Nice job Wolfpack!" commented Sunset. "Let's get out of here before any help arrives." And they formed up and headed back for the canyon.
"Let's hope they don't track us into it, or they could be waiting for us at the other end," Rover said.
"Good point. More than likely they already are," replied Sunset. She looked at her map.
"I think I've got something. If we turn left instead of right at the split we'll head towards a smaller canyon that branches off of the main one. If we take it we'll come out Northeast of Rhone instead of North of the town," she announced.
"We don't have a profile for it though," replied Shadow.
"We'll just have to play it by eye then. I'm up for it," replied Redwing.
"Let's do it then," Sunset said. Unknown to them at the time the decision was a good one as a Changeling squadron was waiting at the West mouth of the canyon, plus their huge airship the Aigaion was approaching the area also. A second squadron was waiting at the Eastern end at Mido Lake.
Soon the entrance to the canyon loomed in front of them.
"There it is," Sunset said.
"Whoa that's waaaay narrower than the other one," commented Helia.
"Just stick to my tail and you'll be fine," replied Blaze. and they flew into it. It was far less straighter than the others, and the sides closed in on them.
"Hard right!" She yelled. One by one the pilots hit the brakes and banked around a hairpin turn.
"It's starting to get a little nerve wracking. Especially since this plane doesn't handle sharp turns very well," commented Rover.
"How do you think I feel?" replied Helia.
"Don't think about it. Just focus," Serana said.
They made a left and saw a large rock pillar that had fallen across the canyon.
"SPLIT!" Sunset yelled. And the group flew both above and below the obstruction.
"Damn I almost went above the rim that time," Nightglider said.
"How much further?" Alvinar asked.
"Eleven miles and we're clear," replied Sunset.
They came around another corner and saw a bridge ahead of them for a road that came out of the canyon walls.
"A bridge?" Redwing said as they flew under it.
"It led into a couple of tunnels, but there's no roads here," added Shadow.
"Hmmm. I'll mark down the coordinates and let Harpy and Candymare know. That could be something," replied Sunset.
Finally after four more miles of dusting the canyon walls and scaring lizards, the canyon opened up, and they were back in the Griffon Empire.
"Griffon Empire control, Wolfpack is returning to the den," Sunset announced.
"Roger. Welcome back. why the different route though?" the controller asked.
"It was just in case the Changelings were waiting at the other mouth," she replied. And the group returned to Gryphus.
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Hangar 2
Gryphus AFB
18:30 hours.
The group had assembled for the debriefing.
"Excellent job again," commented Harpy.
"And nice job on getting the tankers you two," added Candymane, looking at the bat ponies.
The group went over all of the targets they destroyed.
"What made you go that other route though?" Candymane asked.
"We figured it wouldn't hurt in case the Changelings were waiting for us at the other end," replied Sunset.
"Well you made the right call because they were, at both ends," she replied.
"Good call Rover," Redwing said to him.
"Thanks," he replied.
"Since we know what it's like now we'll probably use it as a new route," Sunset said.
"Good idea. We'll see if there's any others you can use," replied Harpy.
"Oh speaking of that: We came across a bridge between the canyon walls here," sunset said as she showed them her map. "You might check it out."
"Interesting. That could be a secret base," replied Candymane.
"We'll check into it," added Harpy. And the meeting ended.
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Main Hospital
Gracemareia
Crystal Empire
June 2 2023
18:21 hours.
"So did you tell them the whole story?" Maverick asked Sunset.
"Yeah I did. Their reactions were mixed," she replied.
"Kind of funny one of the LoD pilots you shot down is a member of her group. Not sure how he would react to meeting you Spade," commented Nightshade.
"He said he doesn't hold any ill feelings towards you. you were just doing your job," replied Sunset.
"Can't say the same for Gilda though. I still get hate mail from her," Maverick said with a smile.
Sunset laughed. "Yeah I wasn't too fond of her in the LoD. Too much of a hothead."
"If I had known she was the one who kept us from intercepting the bomber that destroyed my village, there would've been a blue on blue incident in the LoD Air Force," replied Nightshade with a bit of anger in her voice.
"Easy Venom. Needless to say that wouldn't be a good idea now," added Sunset. She turned to Maverick.
"So your old squadron did that number on Windigo Canyon?"
"Yeah it was us. Threading missiles through doors and flying around the canyons dodging and shooting bandits," he replied.
"Wow that would've been fun," she replied.
"Well you want the truth? I hate canyon and tunnel flying," he said, and they laughed.
"Well I better get going," Maverick said. "Let me know if your group wants to do a meetup," he said to Sunset.
"See ya' Spade," she replied.