//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Blinded // Story: Ace Combat: The Wolfpack Missions // by Lonewolf78 //------------------------------// Hangar 2 Gryphus AFB Griffon Empire May 20 2023 08:07 hours. The group showed up at the hangar to find Harpy and Candymane already there. "You're a little late," Harpy said to them. Everyone looked at Rover. "It wasn't my fault. The sandwich I ate for breakfast didn't agree with me," he replied. Candymare laughed. "Don't worry about it," she said. The group sat down and the briefing began with Harpy. "As you know, the Changelings have caught on to your attacks, and are starting to send patrols to the area. One thing you've had to deal with up to now is staying below radar as much as possible at all points during your missions. It's time to take care of that." She brought up the map on the screen. "Your mission is to take out their radar sites in the Eastern part of their country. In addition to helping you out, it will also help us out should we decide to launch our own attacks." Candymane took over. "Two of the radars are near the front range of the mountains. The other two are on the mountains themselves. The pairs of radars are interconnected, which means if one goes down the other in the pair is alerted. To defeat this you'll have to strike both in the pair at the same time. To make it easier, those of you that can will be carrying anti radiation missiles. It will take two per radar station. Hit the lowland ones first, then the mountain ones." She moved the map a bit. "There is also this third radar site at the Eastern end of Windigo Canyon that stands alone. It covers the border with the Griffon Empire so if you took it out, you could safely fly straight into their country from here instead of going through the canyon or flying in from the Crystal Empire. Only try it if you have ammo left over from the primary targets." "How is the air and ground resistance?" asked Sunset. The Crystal Empire military along with ours have made significant gains in taking back the country, including the destruction of their huge Aigaion airborne carrier. Because of this the Changelings are sending more and more squadrons of their air force in including their best ones, so it shouldn't be too bad. They're also moving whatever mobile anti aircraft they have left in the eastern part so that shouldn't be much of a problem either," replied Harpy. "Wow. How did you take it out?" Redwing asked. "We sent Garuda squadron in along with our best NLR and Solar Empire squadrons. They did an outstanding job," replied Candymane. "The Ace of Spades again," Rover said. Harpy continued. So for loadouts: Helia, Serana, Spot: You will be carrying air to air weapons, and guided bombs to drop on the control buildings of the radars. The rest of you will have air to air and anti radiation missiles." "That'll be a nice light load," shadow said. "That's it folks. Good luck." ------------------------- Near the Griffon Empire/Changeling Kingdom border 13:21 hours. "Go ahead and turn North," announced Sunset, and they turned and headed into the Changeling Kingdom just short of the Crystal Empire. "So let me get this straight: We have to attack both radars in each pair at the same time?" Rover asked. "Yes. We have to approach the sites at the same speed and distance, and launch our missiles at the same time," replied Sunset. "So what if the missiles fly at different speeds? We have two different kinds," he replied. Him, Shadow, Nightglider, and Alvinar had the AGM-88 HARM, while Sunset and Redwing had the Kh-31P. "Good point," replied Sunset. She thought about it briefly. "Guess you four will have to take care of the radars. We'll fly as backup," she said. "Very well," he replied. The squadron split into two groups. Shadow, Rover, Redwing, and Helia headed further North, and the others staying on course for the first radar. A short time later they were ready to start the attack. "Okay we're flying even. Maintain speed and course," announced Sunset. "Roger.My missiles are already targeting it," replied Nightglider. "Same here," added Shadow. "OK you two are first up then. I'll do a three count, then you fire," she replied. A minute later. "Three.... two.... one.... NOW!" Shadow and Nightglider each fired two missiles at the radars. The HARMs tracked the radar beams, and a few minutes later impacted and destroyed the radars. "Got em'!" yelled shadow. "Spot, Helia, you're up," announced Sunset. The two of them pulled up, put their designators on the buildings, and dropped two bombs, finishing off the radar sites. "That's one pair. Now get ready for the next two," Sunset said to the group. With the mountain range looming ahead of them they started climbing until they were just high enough to clear the peaks, ducking below them whenever possible. "We don't have much room to work with so stay as low as possible," Redwing announced. Soon they were approaching the next pair. "Pull up further you guys. Alvinar and Rover you're up," Sunset said to Redwing's group. "OK we're in line," Redwing replied. "We've got tone," added Alvinar. "Roger. Fire in three... two.... one.... NOW!" The dog and griffon fired. Again the missiles homed in on the radars and destroyed them. Helia and Spot finished the job with their Paveways. "Nice one!" yelled Sunset. "We haven't used our missiles yet so let's go after the loner." "I'm up for it," replied Redwing. "I'm out of bombs so it's your turn Serana," Spot said. "Not a problem," she replied. The group formed back up and headed for the radar. Not long afterwards something appeared on Sunset's and Redwing's radars. "Heads up. Ten bandits heading East at angels 30," Sunset announced. "I'm not seeing them," commented Fido. "Me neither," added Helia. "Our radars have a larger search cone. We can see stuff higher than you can," replied Redwing. "You think they saw us?" Spot said nervously. "We didn't get any radar spikes and we're close to the ground so hopefully not, thought they might have got some," replied Sunset. Several minutes later they were approaching the target. "OK Stryker we're up," Sunset said. since there was only one site timing wasn't as important. They locked the site up. "Fire!" The large missiles dropped from the planes and sped off, destroying the radar. Followed by Serana dropping her guided bombs on the control building. "And that's a wrap!" exclaimed Sunset. Let's turn back and head in...." They suddenly got hit with numerous lock warnings. "SHIT EVADE!" she yelled. The group of Changeling aircraft that they encountered had seen them and snuck up from behind by turning off their radars. "Dammit they did see us. Let's nail em'," snapped Alvinar. They turned back and saw ther adversaries. "SU-35's. This won't be easy," commented Redwing. Unlike previous encounters the odds were slightly in the Changeling's favor. Especially since everyone only had short range air to air missiles. Fido and Spot tried to get on the tail of one, but it managed to get away from them, and a pair got on theirs. "Split up!" yelled Fido. They did and tried to get behind, bu the super Flankers were more than a match for the older MiG's. Spot caught a break when Serana dived on his and took him out. "You're clear Rot," she said as she broke away to lose one on her tail. "I'm coming Cruncher!" Spot said as he gunned it. "Good because I can't keep this up much longer," replied Fido. Suddenly Spot heard his engine sputter a couple of times. "That's not good," he though to himself. Meanwhile Sunset had a tail of her own until she hit the brakes and did a sharp roll, putting her behind him. "Goodbye," she said as she fired an Archer and took him out. Spot was now on the tail of the one chasing Fido. "Break now!" he yelled. Fido broke left and spot raked the Changeling with cannon fire, sending him down. "Thanks buddy. Let's go help the others," he said. The odds were now in Wolfpack's favor by a bit. "This is a good squadron. Don't slip up even once," Sunset announced. One managed to get a missile off at Helia, but she dodged it with chaff. "My turn," she said as she hit the brakes and made him overshoot. She got tone and fired a sparrow, sending him down. "They're getting the upper hand!" yelled one Changeling. "Keep fighting. They'll crack soon," replied their commander, who soon had Serana on his tail. "Try and get me you filthy merc'" he growled as he gunned it and did a loop. Serana followed him, but he hit the brakes and made his loop shorter which put him behind her. "Damn." She tried to get away from him, but the Flanker could out turn her Mirage, so instead she used the plane's speed to escape. She rolled and pulled up. As soon as the Changeling did she rolled over and dived under him at full afterburner, leaving him in the dust. "Very good," he said. Suddenly he got a lock warning. Rover had gotten behind him after taking out another one. "Oh please that old thing?" he said. A simple cobra move put him behind Rover. Before he could even get tone he got locked onto. "What?" "I'm back," Serana said as she fired both a radar guided and a heat seeker. He dodged the former with chaff, but couldn't drop flares in time for the latter and went down. "That's six. Four to go," announced Redwing. With their leader gone, the other Changelings fell into disarray, and soon fell from the sky at the hooves and claws of Shadow, Redwing, Alvinar, and Nightglider. "Great job. Let's head for the canyon and get out of here," Sunset said. And the group turned and headed for Windigo Canyon. "What about that bridge?" Alvinar asked. "We didn't get the word on what it was yet, but just in case, Helia take up the trail position and be ready to drop a guided," replied Sunset. "Roger," replied Helia. A few minutes later the bridge loomed in front of them. They also saw something else. "Is that a..." Redwing was cut off by Sunset. "A Scud transporter! Nail it!" "I'm on it," replied Helia. She pulled up, put her designator on the bridge, and dropped her last guided bomb. She sent both the Scud and the bridge to the canyon floor. "Well that takes care of that," she said happily. "Yep. Let's go home," replied Sunset. "And just in time too. My engine's been doing some sputtering," added Spot. "Definitely get it checked out," replied Redwing. ------------------------- Hangar 2 Gryphus AFB 19:10 hours. Once again the group waited for the EIA ponies to show up. "Well what did McCoy have to say?" Redwing asked Spot. "Not good. The engine has a few issues. He'll have it ready by tomorrow, but I'm still going to have to get a new one for it," he replied. "Ouch. Well luckily there's no shortage of Fishbed engines and parts so it shouldn't cost you too much," replied the griffon. "That'll still set me back from getting something better," replied Spot. "What are you thinking of getting?" Sunset asked. "McCoy has a pretty nice Kfir for sale. There's some good F-5E's and a Tornado up on the market too," he replied. "Some good choices," commented Redwing. "Definitely consider the Tiger. The NLR has some for training and aggressor roles, and I liked them the times I flew them," added Nightglider. The EIA mares finally showed up. "Congrats on another successful mission. This will definitely help you out in future missions." "And by destroying the third site you've got another way to get into the Changeling Kingdom, and strike targets on the East side of the mountains," added Candymane. "We took out that bridge on the way back. There was a Scud transporter crossing it when we did," Sunset said. "We were going to get to that," replied Harpy. "Our intelligence indicated they have an underground supply base in that spot of the canyon. By destroying that bridge you just cut off almost half of the supplies they have there." "Sweet!" replied Helia. "You pilots are definitely making a name for yourselves. However this means the missions may get tougher for you since the Changelings will really be taking notice of you," Candymane said. "Bring em'. It doesn't matter," replied Shadow. "So we're really starting to rustle their jimmies eh?" cracked Sunset. "Yep. That squadron you fought was one of their front line ones. They've been sending those into the Empire, but that squadron was assigned to catching you," replied Harpy. "If that was one of their better squadrons, I'd love to see their worst," cracked Fido. And everyone laughed. ---------------------------- Chrysalis's palace Tantari, Changeling Kingdom 19:30 hours. Her cabinet had gathered to discuss the sudden turn for the worse the war was taking, including their new mercenary problem. "Dammit Screamer was one of our best squadrons and they got them. Should've sent them to the Empire instead," the air force commander said. "So they could get shot down by Garuda?" snapped another commander. "Can we send Druid after them?" an army general asked. "Druid is assigned to handle Garuda and Garuda only," replied the air force commander. "UGH. Not only is your arguing giving me a headache, the notion we have another ace squadron to deal with is also. And they're mercenaries on top of that," snapped Chrysalis. "So what do we do? Pretty much our whole country is within striking distance of these merc's?" the general inquired. "The answer is right in front of you." Everyone turned to look at the voice. "And what is that Sombra?" Chrysalis said unenthusiastically. "Simple. Fight fire with fire." There was a few seconds of silence. "You mean send mercenaries after the mercenaries?" the air force commander inquired. "Exactly. The one I have in mind is the 3rd rated in the world, and even though their leader is a pony, she doesn't let petty emotions stand in the way of her job," he replied. Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Fine hire them," she replied. --------------------------- Gracemareia Castle June 10th 2023 14:00 hours. The squadron found themselves where they never expected to be: In front of a castle where they would be meeting a princess. In fact the only one who had been in a castle before was Sunset. "Wow. It's beautiful," Serana said as they walked inside. In front of them was the Crystal Heart, spinning in it's holder. "So that is what the Changelings were after?" Alvinar asked. "Yep. And if it hadn't been for the foals of Gracemareia they would have got it," replied Sunset. "Wow. That's the biggest and brightest gem I've ever seen," commented Rover with gleaming eyes. "No ideas you three," cracked Helia. They were met by a couple of guards. "Welcome! The princess and the others are waiting," one guard said, and they followed them upstairs. They entered the throne room and found Cadance and Shining Armor, along with Maverick, some other members of the military, and And Nightshade, who was now limping around on a crutch instead of being in a wheelchair. Sunset and Helia knelled as they approached. The others followed suit. "Welcome Sunset Shimmer. As princess of the Crystal Empire I want to thank you and your group for the contributions you made to aid us in the war with the Changelings. And especially you for saving the lives of the members of Kurain village." She then introduced everyone. Sunset then did the same. "Never thought we'd meet again Ace of Spades," Rover said. "Oh that's right. I... shot you down during the war with Discord didn't I?" he replied. "You'd be surprised at how many of the pilots I shot down I met after the war. None have held a grudge so far." "Yeah, I guess I don't either. It was part of the job," replied Rover. "You haven't met our country's top ace then," commented Redwing. "She still wants to shoot you down." Maverick laughed. "Oh well you can't win them all." "Yeah Gilda's too much of a hothead. Even quite a few Griffons don't like her," added Alvinar. Shining Armor, who was now head of the military then spoke. "We got the results of your missions from the EIA. You had a very good run until the cat was let out of the bag," he said. "Yeah. I wish we could've done more, but that's the way it goes," replied Sunset. "Well maybe you can.We've got a bit of a proposition for you," replied Shining Armor. The group looked at each other. "We're listening," replied Sunset.