Sky Aces: Aerial Combat

by Yellowtail

Mission 04: Shattered Skies

I crack my eyes open, lying on my side in bed. Today’s a bad day. I’m the only one not going into today’s mission. Scar said it was my turn to stay on the ground today, with that dude Stinger. “Good morning!” I slowly roll over to look at the doorway from by bunk, and I see Stinger standing there with a mug of coffee. He’s smiling widely as he walks in. “So, how’s my groundy-buddy?” I give him a look of tired confusion and roll back over. Today’s my break. I love the air, and if I could fly, I would, but it’s still tiring. “I got wind of Joker’s debrief, I think our squad’s gonna be gone for a couple days.” I groan in acknowledgement and close my eyes. I feel a shake. “C’mon, today’s a day off, you gotta do something you like,” Stinger says.

“...” I sit up, yawn, and look at Stinger in annoyance.

“... Not much of a talker, are ya?” I give him a bemused look. “Alright, alright, I’ll leave you alone,” he says, turning around. As he walks out, I sigh to myself and thank Celestia that I’m finally left alone. The moment I do, a boom sounds off and the ground shakes. I fall off my bed as an air raid siren goes off.

“Celestia damn it,” I mutter as I pick myself off the ground.

“All pilots, head to your hangers and get in the air immediately! This is not a drill!” A voice yells over the intercom. I hear a splash.

“AH!!! HOT!!!” Stinger yells in the hall. I sigh and get up. I quickly change into my gear and head out.

Equestrian Air Base, 0900 hours

I pull out of the hanger, gritting my teeth as my plane shakes from the explosions nearby. “Spade 5 and 6, pull off! Taking off is too dangerous!” Joker says from the radio.

“You said all pilots, and we’re pilots!” Sharper replies.

“...” Joker gives a resigned sigh. “... Fine, Spades Squadron, engage the enemy. There are three bombers, but they’re escorted by fighters that also have bombs. Don’t let them complete their third run!”

“Roger,” Sharper says.

“Wilco,” I reply.

“Agh! I got hit!” A friendly pilot says.

“Hurry,” Joker says. I look up to the sky as I start speeding down the runway. There’s a lot of smoke, but I can make out some fighters looming over the base, spiraling with other fighters and avoiding anti-air fire. I push the throttle, and my aircraft starts moving forward.

“Hey, who the hell’s taking off down there!?” Someone asks.

“This is Joker, that aircraft is Spades Five, Grunt. The one taking off after him is Spades Six, Sharper. Make sure they get up into the air,” Joker says. As I start accelerating faster, my allies start to chatter.

“Hey, I heard about Spades’ members, do you guys think he’s the wingless one?”

“Probably, I saw him hanging around the bunkers earlier.”

“Quit talking and more defending,” Joker orders. Finally, my plane lifts off, and a spray of gunfire nearly misses me from above.

“Damn it, they’ve got another bird in the air!” An enemy says.

“Wait, is that... oh crap, is that Grim-Spear!?”

“Come on rookie, that guy isn’t real.” I pull up my wheels and speed up to give chase to the nearest enemy, a fighter.

“Spades 5, there are fighters trying to take control of the air space, clear them out and regain control before their bombers show up. I don’t want anyone to go home in a body bag,” Joker says.

“Hey, Grunt, I’m lifting off in a bit! Try to protect me will ya?” Sharper says. I glance at the runway as I pull up to chase a fighter. He’s making his checks quickly. I go back to what I’m doing and fire off some bullets, catching the fighter’s right wing.

“Agh! I got hit!” He yells. I lock on, and fire a missile. The bogey tries to do a barrel roll, but the damaged wing slows him down and allows the missile to hit his plane. I suddenly get a missile warning, making me look at my radar to see that a missile’s behind me.

“Haha, I got you!” An enemy says. I pull up, until I’m upside down. The missile flies past my cockpit, giving me a good look at it before it passes. I fire off my machine gun in the direction it came from, and manage to hit a plane that was chasing me. “AGH!!!” I just barely pull away in time for it to fly past without colliding into me. I roll upright, leveling my plane out and looking around. The other squadrons are also taking them on, but they’re having trouble. I glance at Sharper, who’s lifting off the runway.

“This is Spades 6, I cleared the runway,” Sharper says. “I’m forming up with Grunt.”

“Spades 6, follow Spades 5’s lead, take out all bogies in the area,” Joker instructs.

“I saw those moves Grunt, that was pretty quick,” Sharper mentions. I don’t reply, instead focusing on fighting off another plane. I start speeding towards the mass of planes higher up, with Sharper close behind me. I can see at least ten enemy planes swirling and spiraling with eight friendlies.

“Joker, where are the others?” I ask. “I thought we had a few more than this.”

“Many of our fighters were shot down, but so were theirs. Tread carefully,” Joker warns. I grimace and catch up to an enemy.

“Come on, we almost got them on the ropes!” An enemy says.

“Yeah, it won’t be long until our bombers reach here, so hurry up!” Another says. I lock on to a fighter and fire a couple missiles as they’re preoccupied with another plane. They don’t notice the missile until they explode into a fiery ball.

“Thanks!” A friendly says.

“Uh, Grunt, permission to disperse and engage?” Sharper asks.

“... What are you asking me for? I’m not leading,” I say. At Sharper’s silence, I sigh. “...Granted.” Immediately, Sharper’s plane pulls off and chases down a nearby plane. I pull up until I’m going the other way, and roll to be upright. I chase down another plane, going through a cloud. I lock on, but hold off. Clouds are cold, cold enough to throw off missiles. The plane rolls, and I try to line up my gun. I fire off, and take out the enemy. I pull up and shoot out of the clouds, slowly turning back to the mass of planes. There’s seven left.

“Spades 5 splashed two, Emerald 3 splashed one,” Joker says.

“Guys, I think that really is Grim-Spear,” an enemy says.

“Then let’s take care of him!” Another says. Two planes turn towards me. I snicker, knowing what they’re trying to do. “They can’t take on two of us chasing him!” I keep my heading, and speed towards the one on the right. I fire my gun, making it turn away, but I turn my attention to the left one. We keep speeding towards each other.

“Yellow 7, pull off!” One enemy says.

“No, he’s mine!” The other says. I lock on, and fire at the same time the enemy does. Our missiles fly past each other, just barely avoiding collision, and continue towards their targets. I quickly rolled, and the missile flies past. The enemy wasn’t as lucky however, and gets hit head on. I even cringe a bit at the sight. The other enemy starts chasing me.

“I’ll avenge you Pepper!” He says out of anger. I see a volley of bullets come at me, and just barely managed to pull off and dodge some of them. However, one of them nicked my wings. Crap. I hear the lock-on warning from my dashboard, making me freak out as I see that I had turned in the direction the enemy’s heading, allowing him an easy shot at me. “Die you son of a-“ The enemy is cut off when he suddenly bursts into flames, and bits of gunfire flies past him. Flying past, Sharper glances at the downed enemy and catches up to me.

“Grunt, you okay? I didn’t hit you, right?” He asks. I calm down a bit, trying to look back at the now dead enemy.

“... I’m fine,” I say. “... Nice shot.” I look at Sharper’s plane next to me, and see him giving me a thumbs up from the cockpit. We break off from our vector and return to the fight. There are five left.

“Spades 5 splashed one, Spades 6 splashed one, keep it up,” Joker says.

“Roger,” Sharper says.

“That guy with the Royal Guard emblem... he’s pretty good,” a friendly says.

“Damn right he’s good!” Sharper says. “He took out a bunch of fighters in his last mission, going toe to toe with-“

“Shut it Sharper,” I snap. The last thing I need is for pilots to get a reason to hate me when they figure out that I don’t have any wings. It’d hurt their pride.

“But... Sorry,” Sharper says.

“Just continue with the mission,” I say. Five enemy planes are left. One of them explodes from gunfire, making it down to four.

“Emerald 2 splashed one,” Joker announces.

“Come on, we had them cornered, what happened!?” An enemy yells.

“Duh-duh-duh, duh-Nah-Nah,” an enemy sings.

“What- Rocker!?”

“Higher ups said something was off, I wanted to see for myself.”

“... A new bogey’s coming in, an Su-37,” Joker says.

“Only one? They’ve got some nerve!” An ally says.

“It means that’s an Ace,” I warn.

“Testing, testing,” a new voice says.

“What are you doing!? You’re speaking on an open channel!” An enemy says.

“Greetings Equestrians! The TAC’s Rocker, and I’d like to say thank you. Thank you for being easy target practice!”

“H-hey, who’s locking-“ A loud boom sounds out, and a friendly fighter blows up suddenly.

“Evasive maneuvers!” Another friendly says.

“Wow, this weapon’s hella powerful,” Rocker says. “Let’s see how long it takes to smash up the base with this baby!”

“Rocker! That weapon’s off limits!” An enemy says.

“Well, it was, until I suggest I could test run it,” Rocker says. I grimace and look around until I spot Rocker’s plane. I can barley make out a red bird’s head with horns, opening its beak with wavey lines coming out. I fire off my gun, missing the plane just barely. “Huh? Is that another target?” Rocker mocks. “Wait... that emblem... Oh, hehe, Ash told me about you, Grim-Spear.”

“Grim-Spear?” Sharpers asks.

“Let’s hope she wasn’t exaggerating,” Rocker says, before directing his plane towards me. Instinctively, I barrel-roll. The moment I do, a boom sounds out again, and my plane shakes. “Oh, I missed? Hm, you might be something after all.” I grimace and fire off my gun, but miss as he rolls. “Alright then, let’s boogie.” We pass each other, before turning around and firing off missiles. We both dodge again, passing each other. I pull up, and changed direction. I instinctively roll again, and a boom sounds out. My plane shakes. “Ooo, I missed again. Okay. Let’s see how long you can withstand me,” Rocker says. I grit my teeth, getting tired of his cockiness. I make a sharp turn and fire off some bullets, catching Rocker’s tail. I smile as I see that I’ve finally managed to catch up to his tail. His plane probably needs to speed up after the force of his gun’s recoil slows him down.

“Spades 5 damaged him!” Sharper says.

“Heh, nice shot,” Rocker says. I lock on and fire a couple of missiles, but he easily dodges them by turning sharply towards me, rolling to evade them and let them pass.

“You got ‘em Grim-Spear!” A friendly says.

“Yeah! Take him down!” Another says. I grimace and quickly fire my gun before pulling off to avoid collision with Rocker’s plane.

“I can see why Ash likes you, you seem to be no stranger to dogfights,” Rocker says. Annoyed, I switch to an open channel.

“Hey, Rocker,” I say.

“Yes?” He asks innocently.

“Less talking, more fighting,” I say.

“Spades 5, cease communication with the enemy!” Joker says. Rocker laughs.

“Alright tough guy, let’s brawl!” Rocker says. I switch back to friendly radio channels and notice the lock on warning. I slow down, and perform a post-stall maneuver to get behind Rocker. He pulls up, trying to avoid me from locking on, but I don’t need to do that. I pull up as well, firing off my gun and leading my aim. The bullets pass by Rocker’s plane, but a few manage to hit him. His plane twists around and pulls down, exposing his belly. I notice an object attached to it, and focused my fire. I fire my gun, and manage to hit it before pulling off. “Heh, I can’t miss this time,” Rocker says. I notice his plane trail behind me quickly. “... Huh? What- what happened to-... Oh, you sneaky bastard,” Rocker says. I think I hit his gun. He fires off his machine gun, and a few bullets catch me. My plane’s tail catches fire.

“Oh hell,” I say.

“Spades 5, pull off!” Joker says.

“No, I got this,” I say.

“Dude’s crazy, he’s on fire!” A friendly says. I can feel my plane’s dragging a bit, slowing down. I need to hurry. I pull down the throttle, and cut off my speed. I start pulling down.

“What’s he doing?” Sharper asks himself.

“Spades 5, pull up!” Joker says.

“Trust me,” I say. Rocker doesn’t think twice, and speeds towards me. I keep an eye on Rocker, who’s hellbent on gunning me down. I finally attempt another post-stall maneuver, managing to do a small backflip and letting Rocker fly past.

“Oh sh-“ Suddenly, a figure pops out of the cockpit of the plane, right before it crashes into the ground. I, on the other hand, keep flying, albeit slowly.

“He just... Did he just...” Both enemy and friendly radio chatter are at a lost for words as my still-flaming plane manages to return to the airspace. I notice that there are three enemy fighters left. I flip to an open channel.

“Hey, I’m still flying. So, who’s next?” I ask. Almost immediately, they turn tail and start speeding away.

“I’m not going up against that!”

“Screw that, I’m retreating!”

“Sonova bitch’s on fire, and he still wants to fight!?” I watch as they retreat, unshaken. I flip back to friendly commas. “Joker, I need to land, my plane’s on fire.”

“Uh, I can kinda see that,” Joker says.

“Holy crap Grunt- er, Grim-Spear,” Sharper says.

“Not my TAC,” I say.

“It is now,” Joker says...

I sigh as I sit down at the bar. It’s kind of lonely, without Patch or Flick sharing stories, or without Keen complaining or sharing rumors. “Alone tonight?” The bartender asks. I nod. “Still want a soda?” I chuckle, nodding. “Alright, give me a sec.” I look around to see that there aren’t as many patrons as normal. “Yeah, that air battle that happened earlier made everyone scared. We weren’t too close, but we were close enough,” the barkeep says. “Hey, you’re a pilot, did you go into the air?” I nod again. “Did you see that guy’s plane who caught on fire?” I contemplate on how I should answer this... I simply nod. “Man, guy was crazy. I would’ve tried to eject or something. I know planes have parachutes for the pilot seat, so it should’ve been fine.”

“... Eh, I didn’t feel like it,” I say. The barkeep pauses and slowly looks at me in shock. Suddenly, the door opens.

“Sir, are you the pilot known as Spades 5?” A voice asks. I turn around to see a couple of armored guards, with a griffin behind them. His blue eyes stare at mine. His down feathers are slightly ruffled, and his handcuffed arms are still. The griffon wears an orange jumpsuit.

“... Yeah,” I say. The griffon’s eyes narrowed.

“No,” he says. “No way you’re Grim-Spear.” I scoff, putting two and two together. He’s Rocker. He probably couldn’t fly back to base by himself. I turn back to the bartender, who gives me my glass.

“Thanks,” I say.

“You’ve got ten minutes punk,” a guard says, shoving the griffon towards me. His dark beak curls into a frown as he sits next to me. I don’t look at him, only sipping on my soda quietly.

“... I kinda expected you to be taller,” he says.

“...” I glance at him, before sipping again.

“Not much of a talker, huh?” He asks. “That’s fine, I just wanted to see who was the guy that made me lose today. Heh, I didn’t expect an earth pony to be the one.” I shrug, yawning. “Y’know, Ash is pretty weird about you.” I give him a quirked eyebrow. “Like, she hates that you shot her down, but she loved the fact that you did. It’s weird.” I don’t comment, only sip on my soda. The griffon looks around. “... Y’know, I’ve always wanted to go to Equestria. There’s a lot of sights to see, lots of cities to get souvenirs...” He stops to chuckle. “... I even wanted to see if I can poke fun at some ponies in Canterlot. Y’know, the ponies who’re too refined to breathe poor people air.” I chuckle, earning a smirk from the griffon. “Look at that, the thing managed to laugh!” I roll my eyes, though I smile. “Hey, uh, quick question, and sorry if this is outta the blue, but can we take a picture?” I give him a confused look.

“Why?” I ask. He chuckles.

“As a souvenir. I have a sister back home who’d be pretty mad if I didn’t get a picture taken at Equestria like I promised.” I eye him over, trying to tell if he’s lying. After deciding that he isn’t, I look over at the guards.

“Hey, can we get a-“

“I’ve got one,” the bartender says, going to the back. After a moment, he comes back out, holding a big polaroid camera.

“Thanks dude, you’re pretty chill,” Rocker says, getting next to me and smiling at the camera. I scoff, holding up a peace sign.

“You’re pretty chill yourself. I kinda expected you to be a nuisance about it,” I admit. He notices my hand gesture, and does the same thing. I give a small smile as he gives a grin to the camera. A click and a flash later, and the polaroid snaps a picture. After it prints out, the bartender gives it to the griffon.

“Again, thanks. I’m not like most griffon pilots, I don’t have as much of a vendetta against Equestrians,” he says.

“Times up, let’s return you to your cell,” one of the stoic guards says. Rocker sighs.

“Alright, I’m comin’,” he says. He turns to me with a grateful smile. “Thanks, I won’t forget this.” With that, he walks away with the guards. The bartender looks at me with a bit of confusion.

“Hey, why’d you humor him?” He asks. I shrug.

“He was chill, so why not?” I ask. The bartender laughs, nodding.

“Heh, I guess there wasn’t reason to say no,” he admits. With that, I go back to drinking soda quietly, relaxing a bit with the quiet atmosphere...

Author's Note:

Eh, get it? Mission 04, SHATTERED. SKIES.... Yeah, I know, it’s not that clever. In any case, I hope you enjoyed!