• Published 20th Mar 2013
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Ace Combat: Shattered Friendships - Draconis187



Equestria has been invaded by the overwhelming forces of the Griffon Empire. Now it is up to a pair of mercenaries to save the falling country before it is too late.

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Operation Choker One

Ace Combat: Shattered Friendships
Operation Choker One
Author: Draconis187

Focus. Control. Conviction. Resolve. A true ace lacks none of these attributes. Nothing can deter you from the task at hand except your own fears. This is your sky.

It’s been five days since Operation Roseluck and the new Grabcr Squadron were fitting in rather well given the fact that Rainbow Dash reserved some animosity towards mercs. Luckily, Spitfire gave her enough reasons to not get into fights with them, one of which was the fact that they needed them if they wanted to end the war. Dash warmed up to the duo slightly as they shared a few drinks and stories of their exploits over the downtime period.

Soon the call to assemble in the briefing room rang through the base, alerting everypony. The mercenaries and the Wonderbolts Squadron (minus Lightning Dust) were sat in the briefing room, awaiting Twilight to come and give them their new orders. Twilight entered the room and started up the projector.

“Hello everypony, today this mission is only for the Galm Team so I would ask the rest of you to please exit the room.” Twilight deadpanned. The group looked around at Cipher and Pinkamena who just looked back, as confused as they were. “Now, everypony.” Twilight added a bit forcefully.

“Oh, come on! What makes them so special?!” Dash complained but she complied with Twilight’s orders and left the room with the rest of the Wonderbolts, Grabcr and Vampir.

“Well, Cipher is pretty special.” Solace said as he was leaving, earning him a few glances. “Come on, a mare as mysterious as her just makes me want to see who she is even more.”

Snake and Techno just shook their heads as they and the other pilots of Vampir sniggered at Solace. Once it was only the Galm Team and Twilight in the room, she began speaking again. The projector showed various pictures of a mountain range that was in a peculiar shape.

“Right, now listen up. We need the two of you to perform a reconnaissance mission of Airspace B7R.”

“So you want us to go into the Round Table? What for?” Pinkamena spoke up, giving Twilight a scrutinising look.

“We need to assess the strength of the stationed forces there before we launch a full conjoined offensive with the Crystal Empire.” Twilight replied, keeping a blank expression. “You are to suit up and get going in one hour. Be ready.”

Twilight didn’t seem to want to speak any more on the matter which only made Pinkamena more suspicious of the operation. Cipher didn’t respond as she got up and left the room. Pinkamena just shrugged before getting up. “I guess that settles that. I’ll be ready.”

The three squadrons watched the two mares left the room in silence from the mess hall. Dash shot out of the room at high speed and literally bumped into Twilight, who was just exiting the room.

“What the hay Twilight?!” She shouted as recovered before the Alicorn. “What makes them so special that they get a solo mission?”

“Calm down Dash, go get the others. You all have a different mission that can only be done with the Galm Team’s distraction.” Twilight responded as she teleported from under Dash to next to the cyan mare.

Dash’s demeanour flipped as she saluted. “Alright, some action!”

**** **** **** ****

Ten minutes before the hour was over, the Galm Team were already lined up on the runway and waiting for Eagle Eye to take off. Thunderlane looked at Twilight with a noticeable frown as she sat down at her seat.

“Do you think it was a good idea to not tell them everything?” He asked with concern.

Twilight hung her head. “I can’t bear to lie to the two of them, especially Pinkie Pie. But Celestia ordered me to only tell them that so they wouldn’t get angry about being decoys.” She placed her headset on her head and sat by her seat. “Roseluck, keep me informed of the other operation.”

The former florist nodded her head from her seat in the control tower. “You got it. Eagle Eye, you are cleared for takeoff.”

**** **** **** ****

Pinkamena looked at the arid landscape as they were coming in. “This is the Round Table. Dead ponies’ words have no meaning.” What she meant by that, Cipher wasn’t sure.

“Galm Team begin the operation. Get close to the Round Table so we may assess the strength of their forces.” Twilight said as they all entered the area from the southeast. She looked over the transmissions and managed to hack the enemies’ communications. “I got some chatter from the enemy, you’ve been noticed.”

“It’s time to crash the party, right Galm One?” Pinkamena said as she looked at her flight lead.

“Break formation and take them down.” Cipher replied as she banked to the right.

“I copy flight lead.” Pinkamena replied as she banked left.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“Is there something wrong with the IFF?” A Griffon pilot asked the rest of his squadron as the pair of F-15s came hurtling towards them. “I’m only reading two aircraft on radar.”

“Don’t they know about the Round Table?” Another Griffon replied as they all changed course to intercept them.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

Cipher checked her gauges and dived. Instead of pulling up and using the momentum to gain an advantage in a dogfight, she levelled off near the ground, using the momentum instead to gain ground faster and intercept the Griffon fighters since she was too far away.

She caught up to an F4-E and pulled up. The Griffon piloting the plane barely knew what hit her as Cipher shot past her but not before ripping the underside of her plane apart with bullets. Sadly with Cipher’s tactic revealed, the other F4-E in the pair gave chase.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“All I really need’s a burning plane… from these fiery friends of mine.” Pinkamena softly sang as she chased a MiG-21, firing a few bursts of bullets at it as it tried to dodge her. Twilight could hear the violent parody of the song over the radio and it brought a small tear to her eye. She even got the entire town of Ponyville to join in, happily her cares to the world without worry.

Pinkamena pulled the trigger once more and the MiG’s rear stabiliser got torn apart from the resulting gunfire before it lost control and crashed into the arid climate below. Twilight was confirming the Galm Team’s kills as Cipher took out the F4-E that was chasing her with a missile by slowing down enough for the plane to shoot past and into the sights of her HUD’s targeting system.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“Twilight, incoming message from Celestia.” Roseluck’s said over the radio.

“Yes?” Twilight replied curiously.

“’We are beginning the operation, good luck.’ That’s all it said.” Roseluck said flatly.

“Thank you.” Twilight responded before looking back at the displays in front of her. “Come on Galm Team, make us proud.”

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“These aren’t rookies.” A griffon remarked as he gave chase to Pinkamena.

“I’m calling it in.” A Griffon replied as she came up behind Cipher.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

Cipher looked back and noticed the MiG on her tail. If the Griffon could see her expression, she would’ve seen a malicious grin as Cipher thought of a plan. She gave the afterburners a push, forcing the F-15 to go as fast as the forces of physics would let it as she scanned her radar for Pinkamena.

“Pinkamena… do you feel like a trade?” Cipher asked as she flew directly at Pinkamena.

“Fine with me, this one is more trouble than he’s worth.” Pinkamena responded. “I think I know what you're thinking.”

Cipher turned her plane so the wings were perpendicular to the ground below, the cockpit facing to the right while Pinkamena did the same. At first the chasing MiG and F4-E didn’t realise what was going on… until their cockpits were showered in bullets. The two F-15s passed each other with barely a few inches between them.

The MiG’s pilot was killed instantly as several rounds tore her skull apart while the other was lucky enough to get most of the rounds in his stomach. Sadly the damage to said abdominal area was too extensive to allow him to continue not to mention the howling winds that shot over his head, through the shattered canopy was making it impossible to see or hear. With no other options he ejected.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“Confirmed kills Galm Team.” Twilight said while she monitored the communications from the Griffon Squadrons. “It sounds like you’re making an impression on them.”

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“Ok, shall we wrap this up Galm One?” Pinkamena said who sounded rather happy about killing the last two planes: another MiG-21 and F4-E.

“I got them.” Cipher responded as she switched from her Sidewinders to her XMAA payload. Her HUD locked onto the two planes as they came towards the duo. “Galm One… Fox Three, Fox Three!”

The two medium ranged missiles flew from their railings and flew off to their targets. The normal Sidewinder missile has a lower effective range than the AMRAAM. This gave Cipher a distance advantage over them as they carried QAAM payloads. These were short ranged missiles but were more manoeuvrable than the standard Sidewinder.

The two Griffon pilots veered off their intercept course in order to avoid getting shot down but it was to no avail as one of the missiles made contact with the underside of the MiG, destroying it on impact. The other pilot was just as unlucky as the missile aiming him blew off the right wing, causing him to spin wildly out of control.

“Well, that looks like the end of that. Let’s get back to base.” Pinkamena said as she and Cipher got into formation for the trip back to Valiant.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“Wow, they are really qui- oh no.” Twilight’s eyes bulged as she saw the readings of four planes coming in from the northwest. “Galm Team, you’re not out of the Everfree yet, four more bogeys are approaching at high speed. They appear to be a squadron of aces, stand by for more information.”

“Find out who they are now!” Twilight shouted at one of the ponies nearby, causing him to jump but he complied and checked the IFF’s readings through a database of known signatures.

“Indigo.” Was all he said as he pulled out the attacking squadron’s file.

“Cipher, Solo Wing… you are going up against the Indigo Squadron. Four Gripens as far as what you're fighting is concerned, I suggest caution while engaging them. They know how to fight.” Twilight warned as she went through the notes the unicorn gave her.

“Okay. Keep it together Galm One and we’ll fly out of this alive.” Pinkamena reassured as she and Cipher changed course to intercept the Indigo Squadron.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“Unlike you mercenaries, I fight for a real cause. The ones who survive are those who fight for their convictions.” Indigo One, said with disdain as his squadron broke formation as Galm did the same.

Cipher locked her sights onto Indigo 3 while Pinkamena went after Indigo 2. Cipher’s bullets whizzed past the ace’s canopy, scratching a part of it at one point before her target barrel rolled and dived towards the ground. Cipher followed, trying to get a lock on the white coloured Gripen. She also noticed the single blue stripe that ran across the side of the plane’s fuselage and engines. The wingtips also bore a single strip while the rear stabiliser had two that intersected each other: one was horizontal while the other ran diagonally, parallel to the angle of the rear stabiliser.

As Cipher tried to pound a few more rounds into the Gripen in front of her, she had forgotten to notice Indigo 1 coming at her from the side, firing several rounds before launching a missile. She fired a flare and broke of her attack as her HUD lit up red with a missile alert.

She cursed silently as she changed course and went after Indigo 4 as he flew past her and into her path. The sky above B7R was chaotic with just the two Squadrons vying for superiority as bullets flew past one another as the Galm Team dynamically switched targets. This was making the two of them highly unpredictable as they all searched for an opening, a break that would turn the tables and secure victory.

The stalemate finally ended after a few minutes as Pinkamena managed to land a single burst of bullets into Indigo 3’s canopy as she flew past it. While the bullets did not do enough to shoot the plane down, they did manage to tear through the pilot’s ribcage and shatter a number of bones while causing internal bleeding. Despite the injuries he would not allow Indigo to be one pilot down and continued to fly for the next minute before the combination of g-forces and the bleeding caused him to black out and crash into the mountainside at half the speed of sound.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“That’s one down.” Twilight confirmed, trying her utmost best to retrain her joy at their success.

“Princess Sparkle?” Roseluck’s voice called out once more, instantly getting Twilight’s attention despite the intense dogfight she was watching. “I have another message from Princess Celestia: ‘Operation is going smoothly, keep it up.’”

“Thank you Roseluck.” Twilight said with a smile. The plan was coming together with such efficiency that she felt like she was about to explode from sheer happiness.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“Damn!” Indigo 4 complained as he fired another flare, avoiding the missile fired from Pinkamena. “Indigo 3 is down and this mare doesn’t seem to be giving up any time soon!”

“We shall avenge him by teaching these mercenaries true honour.” Indigo 1 replied as Cipher came into view. “Gotcha.”

<----> ---- ---- <---->

Bullets whizzed past Cipher’s canopy, one managed to put a few gashes into the left wing as Cipher banked to avoid more gunfire. She almost threw the plane into a steep dive as Indigo 2 joined in the hunt. Luckily Indigo 4 was still busy trying to lose Pinkamena as she chased him like the gatekeeper of Tartarus would chase an escapee.

Cipher increased the throttle until the afterburners kicked in, propelling her faster towards the ground but also out of range of their guns. She knew that they would use their missiles if she got too far away and then in an instant, she switched the engines off and pulled back on the controls.

The plane pulled off a 180° flip that should have torn the wings off if Cipher hadn’t used her magic to hold the plane together. She switched to her XMAA payload and her HUD locked on as soon as the plane completed the manoeuvre… with Indigo 1 and 2 straight in front of her.

<----> ---- ---- <---->

“Oh, bu-” It was the only thing Indigo 1 managed to say as he bailed out, the missile just milliseconds from turning him into Kenturkey Fried Griffon.

Indigo 2 was luckier as the missile clipped his wing but it still sent him down to the ground, spinning uncontrollably. Indigo 1 was relieved once he saw the Griffon eject from his plane as it blew up before reaching the ground.

Pinkamena managed to avoid getting pelted with bullets as Indigo 4 managed to turn the tables on her by managing to outmanoeuvre her and she hated it. The bullets shot by her, making her wince as one came straight through the canopy and missed her head by a few inches. This continued to infuriate the pink mare further.

“I’m going to get you for that!” The pink pilot snarled as she pulled the plane into a climb and firing the afterburners. “Follow the pretty pony.”

The two planes continued to climb until both of them neared the coffin corner. Unlike the pilot Lightning Dust managed to dupe, the ace of Indigo knew better and broke off his attack. This was the opening Solo Wing needed. She flipped her plane around and chased the Gripen to a safer altitude, firing a few rounds every few moments to make sure he wasn’t going to pull off any manoeuvres.

Her HUD finally chimed happily as her target was locked on. Pressing down on the trigger, the plane fired off a missile.

“Galm Two, Fox Two!” She cried out happily as the missile flew off and collided with the rear of the Gripen, sending it flying forwards in a fireball. As she flew past, she noticed the pilot managed to bail out like the other two.

“Great work everypony, no other hostiles in the area.” Twilight said as Roseluck’s voice came over the radio again. “Yes, Roseluck?”

“One last message Princess Sparkle. ‘Mission successful, thank you.’” She replied.

“Thank Celestia, they did it.” Twilight responded as she turned her attention to the Galm Team as they got back into formation. “I just received word from Celestia’s strike force. They have made it near the Fortuna Canal thanks to you.”

“So we were just a distraction?” Pinkamena asked, her voice had a hint of disdain in it as she looked at Cipher. The unicorn looked back at her and Pinkamena shook her head. “Whatever.” She looked back at her flight lead with something she thought she lost: respect.

She let out a long whistle as they left the operational space and the events that transpired finally sunk in. “Yo Buddy… still alive?”

She looked at her flight lead who only gave her a nod in response.

**** **** **** ****

The squadrons were in the debriefing room as each operation was being reviewed. The first was the escort mission that Vampir, Grabcr and the Wonderbolts participated in. Their mission went off without a hitch and the fleet that – as it turned out – the Crystal Empire tried to send through managed to get to their destination without being detected thanks to the Galm Team’s distraction. Regardless Rainbow was rather displeased with the lack of action as she had to ‘foalsit’ the fleet.

Her mood deteriorated further as the group were told of Galm Team’s success and the fact that they shot down an ace squadron. Spitfire and the others were rather impressed to say the least.

“I’ve read their file in case we were to ever meet them in the course of this war.” Spitfire said with a small grin. “The leader was a member of Knights, an old order that has no meaning anymore but the virtues they were taught still carried on to today. I guess we won’t fight them at all, can’t say I'm unhappy about it though.”

Twilight nodded. “According to some intel we managed to gather from our intelligence network, they were the closet stationed squadron amongst two others. You could’ve run into the Grun or Rot Squadrons. I guess you were lucky it was not all three at once. Cipher, I asked Celestia to convince the Crystal Ponies to send us a Crystal Fighter-2000 Typhoon and a MiG-29 Fulcrum as a reward for you. They are both rather adept at aerial combat. Think of it as my apology for the Mirage mishap.”

Cipher merely nodded as Twilight returned her gaze to the rest of the room. “Right everypony, the mercs will receive their respective pay at the end of the day at my barracks. Come when I call out your name. Dismissed.”

Solace looked at the Galm Team as he and the others left, leaving the two mares behind. “Time to drink to your good fortune! It takes real skill to take on the Round Table, even more to take down an enemy squadron.” He noticed they hadn’t left the briefing room with them. “We’ll get started so long shall we?”

Techno gave a small chuckle as Solace took the mares’ silence as a ‘yes’. “Are you sure you are not looking for an excuse to drink?” He asked with a smile.

“Maybe.” He said as he returned the smile. “Come on, I want to see you all get wasted since I missed the first celebration.”

Pinkamena was still sitting in her seat, next to Cipher if one could believe it. Pinkamena gave Twilight a rather nasty look, a look she reserved for her enemies.

“Next time Twilight, tell us you're using us as bait. I don’t like being lied to.” She said as she got up.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “I-I wanted to… really I did… but Celestia told me-”

“Putting Celestia before your friends… again? Looks like things haven’t changed.” Pinkamena scoffed as she left the room.

“What could I have done?! What do you want from me?!” Twilight wailed. Cipher just looked at her through her helmet as usual and left without a word as the Alicorn cried bitterly.

**** **** **** ****

“Come on, just one… please?” Solace whined as Pinkamena declined for the fifth time. “I heard you could hold your liquor and I wanted to see if the rumours were true.”

“If I agree to one contest, will you leave me be?” Pinkamena asked flatly, getting rather annoyed at the stallion’s request. He nodded his head which caused the pink mare to sigh. “Fine.”

Solace beamed as he grabbed a tankard of some rather hard liquor, mainly cider and vodka. The cider was still a Sweet Apple Acres brand but the vodka was a direct import from Stalliongrad. Solace ordered it with the money he got from Operation Roseluck and was he happy he had an excuse to break it open… not literally.

He sat at one end of the table as Rainbow Dash, Soarin, and Blaze joined in the macho contest which earned a few odd looks. “What? Is this a merc only challenge?” Rainbow asked with a malicious smirk.

“Nah, sure you can handle it though?” Solace asked mockingly as the first round was poured.

The three Wonderbolts returned Solace’s words with a smirk. “Try us.” Their leader taunted.

Author's Note:

Well, this op took longer than I thought. I blame Total War and some fics I've read recently. Well, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Oh yes, I will be putting in these philosophical sections in at the top for the Operations from now on so it fits the Ace Combat atmosphere better. **** **** **** **** these are for my scene transitions while the others <----> ---- ---- <----> are for changes in point of view/location but within the self same time frame. If they seem unnecessary I'll remove them and forget them. Up to you my dear readers.