OKINAWA SKIES, RYUKYUS ISLANDS SEA, JAPAN
JULY 30TH
6:00 AM
The planes were flying in formation, about 80 planes, all integrated into various V-formations around the sky. In just a few minutes we were facing our enemies and their titanic air strength. All the pilots were silent, concentrating on listening to the radio, and paying attention to everything mentioned from the AWACS, after all, they were the ones with the big radar and the ones in charge of monitoring the information of what was going on and making the decisions on what to do. My radio also began to sound with an indication towards me.
"This is Idol"
"I will be your AWACS assigned for this mission"
"Due to your integration into the strike force in extremis, you are not assigned to any squadron"
"The command has decided to create and assign you to a temporary squadron for the duration of this operation"
"Temporary Squadron Name: Valkyria"
"We are currently looking for an available pilot to be your wingman"
"What about the guy who got the wrong aircraft carrier?"
"Is it available?"
"Processing"
"....."
"Icarus has accepted to be your wingman"
"His callsign now for this mission is Valkyria 2"
"Right now it is converging to your 8 o'clock"
I turn my head a little to look in the mirror to my left and I can see the plane with a lot of markings coming up next to me until it is right next to me, waving its hand in greeting. When he looks at my plane I can see his face get scared when he sees me driving the plane.
Valkyria 2:
"Why is there a little girl piloting the plane of Valkyria 1?"
As always I understand why he is surprised to see me. He may not know me now, but in the past, we fought side by side several times, I know what he is capable of, I trust him. If only he remembered me instead of his question there would have been one of his jokes.
AWACS Idol:
"She will be the squadron captain"
"Follow her instructions"
"She is qualified for this mission"
Valkyria 2:
"Being under her command?"
"Shit"
"I accepted because you promised me a quick promotion as a reward!"
AWACS Idol:
"And you've already been promoted to second in command of this squadron"
"...."
"It's time to stop the talk, they are approaching the combat area."
"The Dandelion air fortress is just beyond that cumulonimbus"
"Right now they should be just inside the short radar area, stealth is no longer necessary"
"Get to 10,000 feet to initiate combat maneuvers"
"Prepare a saturation attack on Mustang 1's signal"
Both Rick and I took our air masks and fastened them to our helmets so that even if we were at high altitude, we would not suffer from hypoxia, a condition in which the body is deprived of sufficient oxygen. Grabbing the aircraft's stick and pulling it hard, the plane quickly began to pick up altitude, leaving the ocean behind to enter the clouds.
The Airborne Fortress is in front of us, at a glance we could see how from its belly planes began to come out to defend the giant. Shortly after we could see how a light orb of light surrounded the machine, no doubt it was its shield at maximum power. Right now we could not do anything to it, everything depended on Levia had planted the bomb in time, or else we would all be dead soon. What terrifying seconds, hearing that beast roar like almost ethereal howls and seeing its herd of hunters approaching us at full speed.
Mustang 1:
"Not yet! Wait!"
"Don't break formation until the time comes"
Right now our whole plan was based on the success of one person. This whole operation, all this preparation, the fleet, the lives of everyone on the ships that made up the fleet, everything was being staked on the success of one little tail managing to plant the bomb so that we could attack. It was madness to base a plan on such a great risk of it going wrong, and it was madness like this that Admiral Mark used to contribute to a victory against the Empire, it was moments like these full of doubts in which he somehow managed to find an opportunity despite the odds against.
Suddenly an explosion was heard below, a huge fireball could be seen on the surface of the water, another secondary explosion. It seemed that there was a ship under Dandelion all this time. A few seconds later the aura of light surrounding the giant was completely gone, its shield had fallen, it could be seen from a distance. But the monster would not give up so easily, with an explosion of fury an even more powerful thunderous roar was heard in the air, its thrusters launched huge flares, the Airborne Fortress began to gain a devilish speed, since its armor had fallen it could only option was mobility, and boy did the bastard have it.
In my visor a reticle appeared just above the giant, a painting began to chase it until it got on top of it, and when it reached its destination it changed its color to red, it was the time.
Mustang 1:
"NOW!!"
"FIRE!"
"THROW EVERYTHING AGAINST DANDELION!"
[https://i.imgur.com/ny30bFG.jpg]
All the planes began to launch several missiles in a row, one after the other, more than a hundred of them had as a target the airborne fortress, which launched a curtain of fire of machine guns in the same direction, it was their defense systems trying to protect it, but there were simply too many, at least a dozen impacts hit their target.
But the beast did not even flinch.
The monster was still flying normally, with one of its sides with several holes, a scar from its recent wound, but it was still flying without any problem, several smoke trails came out of the top, coming in our direction at full speed, joining the planes and drones that came out to meet us to intercept us.
Mustang 1:
"Break formation!"
"Disperse! Now!"
All aircraft began to turn in different directions to evade the incoming enemy attack.
AWACS Idol:
"Mustang, Diamondback, and Eagle Squads continue to attack Dandelion!"
"Royal Mace, Dambuster, Warhawk, and Valkyria Squadrons take care of the interceptors and protect the attacking teams"
"...."
"Verifying and processing new data entries"
"...."
"The Dandelion Airborne Fortress is increasing its speed enormously"
"Its current heading is the same as that of Carrier Strike Group 5."
"Estimated time of arrival, 35 minutes and dropping"
"If it manages to get the fleet in his attack range of the shock weapon, the mission will be a failure"
"You have to shoot him down as soon as possible!"
I look around me looking for an opponent to duel with, I quickly review the colors of the ships, but none have the color I'm looking for, my enemies have not yet arrived. I will have to wait a little longer.
Endless:
"Enemy missile marking"
"initiating electronic countermeasures"
"Processing combat information"
"Highlighting the best enemy to shoot down"
Valkyria 1:
"Cancel that, that's useless, it's flying in a straight line"
"Prioritize those who are in the middle of an evasion maneuver or those who are close to my immediate trajectory."
Endless:
"But the combat operations manual indicates that ..."
Valkyria 1:
"You think following the rules is what has kept me alive all this time?"
"Follow my orders, also deploy a chaff pod now!"
Valkyria 2:
"Valkyria 1! One behind you!"
"Dodge!"
I remove the thrust of the turbines completely and turn to the left strongly while pressing the brakes, the plane goes into stall but turning on the thrusters again the plane flies again, putting me just behind my enemy without receiving the missile impact.
Endless:
"Chaff pod deployed!"
"Missile is off target"
"Successful evasion maneuver"
Valkyria 2:
"Nice maneuver you did there Valkyria 1."
"How did you know that one would come out of there?"
"Do you have a sixth sense?"
Valkyria 1:
"Fly with the best and you end up becoming one of them"
"You can easily reach that level easily if you survive today"
"Now chase the bastard that shot me and shoot him down!"
Endless:
"Successfully decrypted enemy communications"
"Approximately 80% of nearby radio communications can be listened to"
Valkyria 1:
"Excellent!"
"Don't waste time translating, focus on combat!"
Valkyria 2:
"I have it in my sights!"
"Fox 2!"
"...."
"Enemy hit!"
The commotion continues all around us, several of our planes are spotting Dandelion, while others are doing their best to defend them from other enemy planes. I try to find a good target, a plane dodging an ally passes in front of me quickly, it was the perfect moment to attack him, so I start to mark and chase him. The nervous pilot starts to turn his plane even more.
Enemy pilot:
"Hilf mir! Er ist direkt hinter mir!"
( help me! hes is right behind me! )
My reticle is right on top of him, it's time to shoot, but even if it's better to have an ace up your sleeve to make sure you take him down.
Valkyria 1:
"Fox 2!"
I just launch a single missile towards the enemy pilot, he turns his plane extremely losing a lot of speed and deploying his flares in his struggle to survive, the missile loses its track and doesn't hit him. That was just the opportunity I was waiting for, now I had him close to me and at low speed, greatly reducing his maneuverability, I changed my weapon selection to the machine gun.
Valkyria 1:
"Fox 4!"
I pull the trigger and almost immediately a huge roar is heard from my plane, a lot of beams come out from my plane. For every tracer bullet, the ones that can be seen, there are 4 that are invisible to the human eye. The deadly blast hits the enemy engine hard and triggers a reaction that ends in a brutal mid-air explosion. The plane crumbles in mid-air, I was so close that I even feared that my plane would be damaged by the impact of some debris.
AWACS Idol:
"Valkyria 1, enemy shot down"
Valkyria 2:
"I need help!"
"I have someone chasing me!"
"I can't take him off!"
I start to turn my head looking for my partner in the pack of planes, the viewfinder of my helmet highlights a blue square above the rest, in it I could see Rick turning his plane trying to get rid of his pursuer, it seemed that both were having trouble keeping up with the pace of combat.
Valkyria 1:
"Keep your calm kid!"
"You need Gotta Go Fast"
"Turn in direction 233 and start turning in a steady circle"
"I'll be able to attack him at the crossroads and take him down"
"Don't be afraid to use the flares if you need to buy time"
Rick immediately obeys and starts to turn in the direction I told him to go. I also start to maneuver, I gain much more altitude, I turn my plane looking at the ground and I start to accelerate again, in just a few seconds Rick passes in front of me and after him his enemy, I finish turning my plane to place myself by surprise behind him and I launch a missile.
Enemy pilot:
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
"Dass? Und wo kam es her?"
"Oh Scheiße!"
"...."
"Nicht so, nicht so schlec....."
(What? And where did that come from!)
(Oh Shit!)
(....)
(Not like that, not wa....)
That was all he managed to say before his airplane turned into a fireball.
AWACS Idol:
"Valkyria 1, enemy shot down"
Valkyria 1:
"Don't relax yet kid!"
"His partner is coming after me now!"
"You have to turn, go into a stall, aim upwards, and then turn on the afterburner!"
"The plane will be unmaneuverable for at least 3 seconds!"
"You have to keep looking up before you regain control"
"I will pass in front of you and right after that the enemy fighter"
"That will be your chance to shoot it down!"
Valkyria 2:
"What? Enter at a stall?"
"Are you crazy?"
"That's too complicated for me! It won't work!"
Valkyria 1:
"I'm going to be shot down in thirty seconds if you don't!"
"You can do it!"
"This will be easy for you!"
"I know you can do it, I'm trusting you!"
"Just do it without thinking!"
The aircraft's computer starts beeping constantly, a warning sound, it is the infrared warning, an enemy attack.
Endless:
"Enemy aircraft at 6 o'clock"
"Enemy missile marking"
"Deploying flares!"
Valkyria 1:
"15 seconds kid!"
"Decide already!"
"Act now!"
Valkyria 2:
"Got Damn it!"
"Yeah, I heard, I'm turning the plane around right now!"
"AAHHGG!"
My pursuer is still behind me, he is marking to fire his second missile, looking down I can see Rick's plane getting ready to move into position. The plane's alert system starts beeping again, warning of danger. The enemy hadn't noticed the trap, now everything depended on him.
Valkyria 2:
"Gotcha bitch!"
"Fox 2! Fox 2!"
A huge explosion is heard right behind me, and my plane's alarm goes off.
AWACS Idol:
"Valkyria 2, enemy shot down"
"Enemy Pilot ejected"
[https://i.imgur.com/MU5z4DM.jpg?1]
The sky was full of Contrail in all directions, planes were flying at full speed everywhere, from the limit of the sky that their planes could handle to some crazy ones that even managed to maneuver between the buildings on the island. But even with all that was going on, all eyes were on one target, the air fortress. The missile had just been attacked for the third time by the other squadrons, a secondary explosion was heard, but the beast continued its course despite the damage. A volley of missiles was launched just after, a counterattack against the damage received.
AWACS Idol:
"Eagle 4 has been shot down!"
The strike team was taking a lot of damage, as they were being attacked by both the Dandelion and the interceptors. What was worse, the giant was still marching toward the fleet.
AWACS Idol:
"Valkyria Squadron the number of enemy interceptors has decreased quite a bit, and you have more weaponry remaining than the rest"
"Join the strike team and help take down Dandelion"
My partner and I turned our planes towards the huge titan, it was spitting huge amounts of white lightning, they were his anti-aircraft batteries in their enormous effort to protect it, from this distance you could see some of the guns red hot, overheated, and yet they were still firing. We managed to approach from behind and managed to launch two missiles each against one of their engines, the one that was more damaged by the previous efforts, the anti-aircraft turrets prioritized shooting the missiles before our planes, they destroyed two, but the other two managed to reach their target and detonate. Another large explosion was seen as the engine began to smoke black smoke and shut down.
Dandelion Crew:
"Düsentriebwerk Nummer 3 getroffen!"
"Kraftstoffleitung 3 beschädigt!"
"Wir müssen sie abschalten, um eine große Explosion zu vermeiden!"
"Flugtauglichkeit 75%."
(Engine number 3 hit!)
(Fuel 3 line damaged!)
(We have to shut it down to avoid a major explosion!)
("Flight Capability 75%)
Dandelion Captain:
"Schalten Sie den Alarm aus"
"Wir sind noch weit von unserem Ziel entfernt"
"Dieses Schiff wurde entwickelt, um eine Menge Schaden zu nehmen."
"Es macht uns nichts aus, ein paar Treffer einzustecken, wenn wir unser Ziel, die lästige fünfte Flotte zu versenken, erreichen können"
"Sie sind allein, isoliert und ohne jegliche Verstärkung"
"Dies ist nur ein verzweifelter Versuch, ihr letztes Gefecht"
"Wenn wir ihre Flugzeuge ausmanövrieren, haben sie nichts mehr und wir können sie zerstören, ohne dass unsere Seestreitkräfte eingreifen müssen"
(Turn off the alarm)
(We are still far from our target)
(This ship was designed to withstand heavy damage)
(We don't mind taking a couple of hits if we can accomplish our objective of sinking the pesky fifth fleet)
(They're alone, isolated, and without any reinforcements)
(This is just a desperate attempt, their last stand)
(If we overcome their planes, they will have nothing and we can destroy them without our naval force needing to intervene)
Dandelion Crew:
"Die Höllenfeuer-Staffel hat die Betankung beendet!"
"Bereiten Sie den Start vor!"
"60 Sekunden!"
(Hellfire Squadron has finished refueling!)
(Prepare to launch!)
(60 seconds!)
AWACS Idol:
"Folkvangr class escort ship has been shot down!"
The moment had arrived, at last I could have them close to me again and pay them my debt. This was a very important battle for them, it was impossible for them to miss it. I maneuvered my plane to get behind Dandelion again, Rick followed me without saying anything, surely he thought we would attack the giant again, but this time my intention was very different.
HellFire Pilot:
"Hier Höllenfeuer 1"
"Vorbereitungen abgeschlossen, Abflug erfolgt"
"Es ist an der Zeit, den Spieß in dieser Schlacht umzudrehen!"
(Here Hellfire 1)
(Preparations complete, proceeding to take off)
(It's time to turn the tables on this battle!)
From the belly of the air fortress, a plane took off at full power, another followed almost immediately, in less than 10 seconds nearly a dozen planes took off. And it was just time for me to take advantage.
Valkyria 1:
"Endless! Mark the planes that have just been launched"
"Classify them as high-priority targets, don't lose track of them!"
The group of dark planes took off at full speed towards our attack group, I followed close behind them, separating myself from Rick, who was busy trying to escape from a missile mark. HellFire flew straight towards the attack group, the escorts tried to stop them, but as expected from one of the Empire's top aces, they couldn't even keep up with them, the black group just danced between them gracefully and attacked right after, they shot down 3 of our planes with their synchronized onslaught.
AWACS Idol:
"More enemy reinforcements detected!"
"Warning! HellFire Elite Squadron detected, use extreme caution"
"Diamondback is sustaining heavy casualties"
"Call off the attack and integrate with Warhawk, reinforce protection"
"Royal Mace take over with the other squadrons to attack Dandelion"
"Mustang squadron reserves ammunition zero, break off pursuit, and return to resupply"
Just when the enemy squadron attacked was the moment I was waiting for, I launched one of the four remaining missiles just at the same time they launched theirs to catch him in the commotion, the pilot was able to react in time, but I used again the machine gun trying to foresee the route to which he would try to escape, and because of the dense airspace it could only be upwards, and it was with that that I managed to catch him, a round hit the cabin, a blood stain covered the entire window, shortly after the ship spun out of control to the ground.
AWACS Idol:
"Valkyria 1 ace enemy shot down"
"The priority of this mission is the air fortress"
"Leave Hellfire in charge of the escort groups"
"Return and continue attacking Dandelion"
Valkyria 1:
"Negative!"
"I'm going to keep pushing, I'm going to force them as much as possible"
"Warn the others that they should take advantage to sneak and continue attacking!"
HellFire 2:
"Höllenfeuer 7 wurde abgeschaltet!"
"Ein einsamer Pilot verfolgt ihn"
"Sieht aus, als käme er mit einer F/A-18F"
(Hellfire 7 has been taken down!)
(There is a lone pilot in pursuit)
(Looks like he's coming in an F/A-18F)
HellFire 1:
"Passen Sie besser auf, mein Sohn, er hält mit uns Schritt"
"Eine alte F/A-18F kann auf keinen Fall in dieser Höhe manövrieren"
"Sein Flugzeug ist anders als die anderen, vielleicht ein feindliches Flieger-Ass?"
"Ciel analysiert dieses Flugzeug"
(Pay more attention son, he's keeping up with us)
(There's no way an old F/A-18F can maneuver at that level)
(His plane is different from the rest, an enemy ace pilot maybe?)
(Ciel analyze that plane)
Enemy AWACS Ciel:
"Confirmed, order received"
"Processing"
!!!!
A feminine voice was heard over the radio in the enemy communications, a rather monotone, familiar one. I couldn't have mistaken it in any way, I knew what I had heard, the voice was the same as my daughters. Was she doing the same task perhaps?
Endless:
"Warning missile!"
"Deploying flares!"
That one took me by complete surprise, I instinctively used the brakes and turned as tight as possible to try to stop the attack.
Endless:
"Alert, Over G!"
"Over G!"
"Over G!"
The spin was so tight that I had no doubt reached 9 G or maybe higher, 9 times the force of the earth's gravity is running through my body making it brutally heavy. I could feel almost my whole body being pulled down, the way my blood wanted to rush out of my body, it was hard to stay alert and conscious, and it wasn't over yet, I still had to activate the radar range of my plane to a much shorter one, I just had to touch the touch screen to modify it. Wait a minute, that was on my old plane, on that one it must have been a dial on the right section of the dashboard. My vision becomes much more blurred, I'm at my limit, I won't be able to stay conscious much longer, but first I have to find that button, or knob, or was it a crank? Was it on the left side or in the middle?
The bewilderment took over me, I felt completely lost, it was a strange sensation. I knew that what I had in front of me was an airplane, it was the board of a F/A-18F, but at the same time I thought it was an alien spacecraft, it was full of lights and strange colors, a lot of letters and numbers that I didn't know, nothing made sense. As best I could with what little strength I had left I stretched out my arm and touched the screen where I remembered whatever it was I was looking for before and now forgot.
Endless:
"High exposure to Over G, blackout probability 84%."
"Late pilot reaction detected, taking control of the aircraft."
"Restoring position for recovery"
I felt something turn and suddenly I began to feel much more comfortable. As if I had received a breath of fresh air I began to feel much more energetic, and with it, I remembered what was happening. I opened my eyes that I didn't even remember I had closed them, moved my hand, and found the dial that changed the radar range. I looked around and saw that the battle was still going on. Little by little I began to feel embarrassed by the moment of complete retardation.
Valkyria 1:
"Thanks Endless, you just got me out of trouble"
AWACS Idol:
"Hurry Valkyria 2, Hellfire is chasing Valkyria 1"
"Call off the Dandelion attack and head to 157 to reach her"
"You have to help her!"
On the radio she can be heard talking faster than usual, probably deep down she was worried.
HellFire 2:
"Er ist noch am Leben? das kann sein"
"Es gelingt ihm, meinem Angriff auszuweichen"
"Dieser sieht anders aus als die anderen"
(He is still alive? it can be)
(He manages to dodge my attack)
(This one seems different from the rest)
I still didn't know how that one, HellFire 2 managed to break away from the group and get behind me without realizing it, this pilot was pretty good, and as his number indicates he wasn't the captain, so surely the leader is still even better. I had to up my game if I wanted to keep up whit this battle.
[https://i.imgur.com/Vg9r2Tp.png]
Their group coordination was high, and their planes were certainly better than the rest. Somehow they were able to maneuver between my pursuit and still find a way to attack other planes while dodging my machine gun fire. If I lost sight of them, surely someone else would take advantage again to get behind me.
Enemy AWACS Ciel:
"Enemy analysis completed"
"Visually appears to be a highly modified F/A-18F for high performance"
"Missiles remaining 3"
"2 seats"
"Discrepancy detected, the pilot appears to be below the minimum height allow for the Alliance"
"Electronic Warfare Unit on board detected"
"Possible frequency identified, one concordance in the system, past experience generation DOLL standard EW unit stolen"
"Probability of decoded communication channels high"
!!!!
What the hell did she just say!? Oh no, that sounds like trouble!
Hellfire 1:
"He also has one of those tactical DOLLs?"
"So he has been listening to us all this time"
"What a smart ass we have here"
Their leader began to speak in English, as he knew it was useless to hide.
Hellfire 2:
"Can he hear us talking on the radio?"
"What are we going to do then dad?"
Hellfire 1:
"Looks quite different from the rest"
"He has a spark in the way he attacks"
"We'll give him what he's looking for"
"Hellfire 3 and 4 follow the one in the back"
"Son, follow me, we'll take care of the leader"
"...."
"Alright smart ass, since you're listening to us why don't you show some respect and come fight like a grown man?"
"Come on! Head on! With honor!"
"To the end! Like a true knight!" said the aircraft in the center, starting its engines at full power.
I listened carefully to what he was saying, before I knew it I was smiling, I turned on the afterburner indicating that I had accepted his challenge. I felt alive, I felt that this battle was just what I was looking for and that not even a goddess was able to give it to me. I couldn't wait to see which of us would be the one to start at the end of the day. Rick's plane approached me, he said something over the radio but I didn't listen to him, I wasn't interested, in front of me I had a worthy opponent, and dueling with him was all that mattered now.