Post by Caimvarin on Apr 17, 2009 3:17:56 GMT -5
A fan fiction by Thomas Conboy
(0) Prologue
The world is constantly changing, peace is only a temporary time at best, history always repeats itself.
Human nature always ends up turning fire against one another, only in times when everyone is threatened will they band together and cease their folly temporarily,
The Ulysses incident was one such occasion, the day of reckoning in 1999 where the Ulysses asteroid shower ploughed into the world brought all the nations together,
Belka and Osea, two countries at each others throats for years beforehand suddenly laid down arms and helped each other rebuild their shattered lives.
These times were hard for all of the countries as economic change gripped them,
worst hit of all was the island continent of Albia, one fragment of the shower destroyed a whole part of the island completely, separating them geographically as well as nationally,
into North and South Albia.
This country then fell into civil disorder as the North declared its independence and the south prepared its army to move in under the command of its government,
at the same time the nations of Usea and Erusia were caught in a bitter war themselves over other matters brought on through the fallout of Ulysses,
this civil war lasted for a decade and became referred to as the War of the Cross, due to the Flags of North and south Albia being a blue (for north) and red (for south) diagonal cross on a white background.
This war eventually ended in defeat for the North Albia forces as the leader was handed in by disillusioned North troops who had no idea why they were fighting any more,
This resulted in the Miller Treaty, which symbolically united North and South Albia with a giant bridge named Freedom Way.
Osea and Yuktobania were also present as peace and goodwill aid for the Miller treaty, pouring money into Albia's dwindling economy and Osea having great faith in its own air force after its performance in the Belkan War laid down the foundation for what was to become ANADAF, or the 'Albian National Airborne Defence and Assault Force'.
The Ulysses incident had made the nations think about the effects of its occurrence nd what measures could be taken to prevent them, and each nation came up with its own defence, from Osea and Yuktobania's collaboration on the SOLG satellite and the Arkbird shuttle, to Belka's testament to it's advancements in laser technology Excalibur,
Albia poured some of its wealth from the Miller treaty secretly into the Metatronious project, its own answer harnessing the power of sonic boom technology.
Once the Circum Pacific War broke out between Osea and Yuktobania in 2010, Albia was well on its way to recovery, it had a healthy economy, large army and it had formed the ANADAF, and the world was at relative peace...but all this was once again about to change,
the date is the 28th March 2013, in the skies over the Albian coast of Falia...
(I) In A Barrel....
The world raced by his face, from his shaded goggles of his flight helmet he glanced out of the canopy of his plane, an SU 37 Terminator coloured in green and brown camo patterns, his eyes focused on the clouds in the distance as they bore closer and closer, the ground seeming so far away,
“This is AWACS Dragoneye, Okay Paladin squadron...fall in, you all still paying attention back there boys and girls?” the voice crackling over the intercom brought him back to reality,
“Speak up ladies!” a different voice flowed out of the speakers “Paladin One reporting!”
“Paladin Two falling in!” another voice resonated “Paladin Three roger!” He sighed and focused on the three like aircraft pulling up either side of him “Paladin Four roger that...” he angled the piloting stick back a little falling into formation behind the other three craft.
“Good you're all awake after all then!” Dragoneye joked over the intercom, “Paladin squadron your patrol is over, report your findings back at Pirandell Airbase and good job...”
he looked back at the sea, looking so crystal clear from the sky, “what findings? We look around the same stretch of sky day after day year after year for nothing...” he sighed.
“what's the matter Tobias? Peacetime flying not enough for you?” came the voice of Paladin two
“its not that...” the pilot remarked, “I just wish we could have a change of scenery you know what I mean Mike?”, his question quickly followed by a scolding yell from Paladin one “call signs only while in the air Crow, you too Setanta!”
“Roger that Creed,” Tobias nodded to no-one in particular, he could see twelve planes in front of them at a higher altitude, “Sir? Who is that?”
“Templar squadron,” Creed replied in a nonchalant tone “full of rookies really, heard that
they are on a large training exercise...cant think of any place better to fly than over this stretch, low shoreline, flat terrain, plenty of time to correct flying errors should they need it...well we should head back to base, Paladin squadron on me...”
“Roger” came the calls in unison as the four planes pivoted into a large co-ordinated swoop as they flew due west.
Terrain and sky flashed by their canopies for around ten minutes, no sounds but the roar of the engine and wisps of the air outside the thingypit before the intercom once again broke the peace.
“This is Forneus One, we have four unidentified aircraft on radar Dragoneye, moving to intercept...”
“What the hell?” Tobias remarked “probably civilian aircraft or something” he thought to himself as he concentrated on getting back to base and putting his feet up, though a chilling sound erupted seconds later as a scream emitted over the intercom “This is Forneus Three, Dragoneye we have an emergency, the unidentified aircraft have opened fire, they're fast! Forneus One and Four are KIA, requesting backup imediatel--” The voice was harshly drowned out by static following the sound of an explosion, a small fireball glittered in the distance,
“All available aircraft” Dragoneye barked “scramble to assist Forneus squadron, I repeat, Paladin, Templar Assist Forneus squadron on the double!”
“Roger that! Dragoneye moving to provide support!” Creed's voice kept calm and reassuring “Alright Paladins, remember your training you will be fine, watch each others backs and try to keep your enemy in front of you!”
“Roger that sir!” Tobias said with a stern voice, his eyes focused on the dark dance of death happening in the sky before him.
The four SU's flew towards the fray...
“It's no good...there's too many of them! I cant! AAAARGH!!” the scream resounded through the intercom as the final member of Forneus fell out of the sky as burning scrap metal, the four culprits clearly visible, “Damn it, we were too late!” Creed growled “Paladin Engage!”
“Crow engaging!”
“Wizard engaging!”
“Setanta engaging!” Tobias replied as he flicked the safety cap off the top of the flight stick allowing access to the missile firing system, his brow furrowed as he concentrated on one of the black planes in front of him, “what IS that?” he had never seen a plane like it before, for starters the engines were huge, but gave off no fire, the canopy was next to invisible, covered with metal, if that was the case how could the pilot see? “Dragoneye? Can we get an ID on this aircraft?” he asked as he began preparations to open fire,
“Negative Paladin four, it has some kind of scrambling system.”
“Forget about that Setanta...focus on survival!!” Creed yelled as the four planes dispersed, they moved with such speed, within seconds they had manoeuvred behind all four members of Paladin.
“How did they?!” before anyone could speak Dragoneye's panicked voice and red lights flashed inside of all four of their canopies,
“Paladin squadron! the enemy is locked on! evade evade!!”
The woosh sound could be heard a mile off, “S**T!” Tobias yelled as he thrashed the flight stick instinctively, he dove towards the ground in a helix before pulling out and up past the missile, it just missing his wing. He heard an unfortunate scream as to the left of him a fireball erupted “CROW!!!” he yelled loudly as his eyes widened, before he could catch his breath the missile warning rang true again, “what?” he pulled up into a loop hoping to come back down behind his target but instead found himself playing chicken, oncoming into another enemy, he heard the beep of his target indicator “Setanta Fox Two!!” he yelled as he clicked the missile launch button down, he felt a small vibration as a trail of white smoke flew forward from his right wing,he pulled up and away.
The black plane was too close to do anything at this point as the missile smashed into the nose and exploded, blowing the canopy and front half to smithereens as a black mass of metal careened towards the ocean trailing smoke and fire.
“Paladin four target down!” Dragoneye sounded as its radar picked up the disappearance,
“Yes!” Tobias thought as he looked for the other three planes,
“Setanta watch your six!!” Creed barked down the intercom as the missile warning flared up again.
Tobias looked back over his shoulder to see Creeds SU37 pursuing the unknowing craft stalking him, before he had realised what had happened Creed let out a loud scream as his SU burst into flames,
“Be Care--....they ha--- rear face-- urrets--”
and with those final words Creed erupted into a ball of flame and metal as he plummeted earthward, “S**T! Dragoneye, we have a situation, Paladin leader is down...I repeat Paladin leader is down!!” Wizard gasped over the intercom.
“Affirmative Paladin Two, Jesus it's turning into a mess out there! We have word that Templar squadron have ran into hostiles en route...”
“just what we need!” Tobias panicked, this was it...how fast a routine patrol could go horribly wrong, he was going to die...
“Setanta! Focus...we can take them out, cover me!!” Wizards voice echoed determination over the comm link,
“I'll do what I can Wizard assuming tail position” Tobias manoeuvred his SU37 behind Wizard's as the black planes flew in from the sides and one from above, “Setanta, keep an eye on my back, I'm gonna even the score!”
“Roj that Wizard I've got you covered!” he gasped a cold sweat running down his face, what were these things? They were unlike any plane model he had ever seen, their manoeuvrability, speed, they were unreal.
Tobias and Wizard heard each other's deep breaths as the three planes flew past them trying to get onto their tails, “Now!” Wizard yelled as his plane dipped and he slammed on the air brake, Tobias turned on his afterburners “Take the shot when they pass they are going too fast to lock onto you!”
“Roger Setanta,”
As expected two black planes flew past wizard, who launched a missile at one of them before kicking his speed back up to manoeuvring speeds,
Tobias gave a silent sigh of partial relief as one of the black planes erupted into flames behind him,
“Dragoneye this is wizard, second bogey down!”
“Thats a kill wizard, affirmati---” Dragoneye's voice drowned abruptly in a sea of static,
“They got our AWACS?” Wizard breathed fast, “were practically blind up here as it is!!”
The radar flashed up before going blank “aw s**t...” Tobias sighed “we gotta keep our eyes peeled now...” he spun his aircraft around sweeping past Wizard, there was a dull bang, “Wizard??”
“They got my wing!!” he yelled “Damn missile warning system died with AWACS! Keep your eyes open! I'm losing altitude!”
Tobias shook his head “No! Wizard keep that bird up!!”
“Watch your six Setanta missile!!” Wizard yelled,
Tobias panicked and pulled his craft into a dive, swirling out of the descent trying to flank the black planes,
“it's no good, i'm gonna set her down in the ocean...order a pickup when we get out of this...” Wizard reluctantly sighed as his plane tailed smoke towards the waters below,
“DAMNIT!” Tobias yelled, he was the last one, the last Paladin still left in the field, and the last target on the two mysterious planes radars,
suddenly his radar flashed back into life “huh?”
“Paladin Squadron this is AWACS Firefly, Attached to Templar Squadron, we have taken heavy damage but we've come to assist, hang in there!”
Tobias nodded a faint breath of relief escaping his lips “Roger that firefly, these things are tough, watch out...” he watched six black and white camo patterned F-15E's flashed past his canopy, white smoke trailing the sky infront of him.
“Paladin Four continuing engagement AWACS Firefly!” he pulled up and rolled the craft so that once again he was flying into the fray.
“Roger that Paladin Four, engage the enemy then join Templar Squadron's formation to return to base”
“Roger that firefly, Templar Squadron, this is Setanta thanks for the help, I think its time I returned the favour”.
The remaining black planes weaved in and out of missile locks, swerving in the air majestically as they spiralled towards their attackers, overlapping each other in a graceful pattern.
“I cant get a good shot!” came a shaky voice over the intercom,
“Calm down Rio! Take a deep breath and keep your cool, you will hit!”
“They are heading straight for us!!” came another voice as panic wiped across the squadron,
“Missile lock!”
“Evasive action!”
The black aircraft slowed their pace as the Templar planes scattered trying to attain their locks, one of the planes fell into a steep dive as the other plane carried on its malicious charge, then before Setanta had a chance to react he saw four missiles fly out from under its wings.
“CRAP! XMAA'S!”
The Templar planes all swerved maniacally trying to avoid the homing rockets,
the four advanced moderate air to air rockets carrying on their paths before separating, each setting their electronically guided sights on a different evading plane,
Tobias flew straight at the black jet unloading his machine gun at the target, which ducked out of the way as the coldly familiar sound of screams erupted once again over the intercom as four of the Templar planes erupted into blazing fireballs.
“B******S! Came a deep voice over the comm “Firefly this is Bulldog, Templar 3,5,7 and 1 have been downed!”
“Setanta Fox Three!!” Tobias yelled as his targeting system beeped and hummed to life, he switched his firing system to the Quick Air to Air Manoeuvrable (QAAM) missiles instead, pressing the button to fire, the missile danced through the air before him, drawing in a bead on the jet as its slender shape flew through the air matching every one of the jet's manoeuvres.
The jet pulled a deadly spin as the missile flew past the canopy,
“Setanta, missile shot trashed” Firefly groaned reluctantly.
Tobias cursed the reticule before steering sharply out of the path of the oncoming jet, an audible bang rang through the skies around him as it exploded in a shower of fire and debris,
“Got one!!” Bulldog yelled triumphantly over the comm,
“Roj that Bulldog, target is squikked! One bandit left, I repeat, one bandit left!”
Tobias smiled “nice kill Bulldog, heads on a swivel,” as he drew a bead on the final plane on his radar, it was below him
“Bulldog check your six!” came another voice over the radio, it was Templar 6
“he's trying to get a lock on you!”
“evade Bulldog, moving to provide covering fire!” Setanta barked, manoeuvring his SU down behind the black plane trying to run down Bulldog.
Suddenly the planes wings lit up with gunfire as Setanta pulled away, bullets flying through the air “Turrets on the wings?” he gasped as it was too late for Templar 6, advancing to try and save his wingman, bullets ricocheting off of his plane and penetrating the canopy and fuel tanks, “AARGH! Losing pressure, I'm going to have to bail! Sorry sir!”
“Don't worry about it...just focus on getting out alive!” Bulldog responded “we've already lost enough today!”
there was a small launching sound as Templar 6's ejector seat pushed him through the glass canopy of his ailing F-15E,
Tobias grunted as he tried to draw a lock onto the jet with his second and last QAAM,
he released the missile as the target finder rang true,
Bulldog pulled into a sharp loop as the missile collided with the back of the black plane, destroying part of the back,
“Setanta, missile shack on the target!” Firefly responded
the pilot was keeping it up somehow,
Bulldog shook his head “no you don't...” he turned back as the black bird pulled away to disengage and retreat, “Bulldog Fox Two!!” he yelled as he fired a missile away, it collided roughly into the exposed back of the jet, destroying it instantly.
“Good Job pilots” Firefly responded “ radar has gone quiet, all enemies confirmed destroyed, all aircraft return to base on the double...lets get you grounded before they come back...”
“Setanta Roger, joining Templar formation” Tobias nodded with a breath of relief.
“What's left of it,” Bulldog sighed before taking a breath
“Roger that Firefly, Bulldog returning on vector 210 to Pirandell base”
The two remaining planes flew side by side, the F15-E taking point,
they couldn't muster up the words to break the silence after the storm,
a lot had happened, the amount of lives lost today from a simple patrol gone wrong was starting to sink in on the long flight home,
“Setanta is it?” Bulldog finally asked quietly over the comm,
“Yeah,” Tobias replied “or Paladin four, but I guess that's a little redundant now” he sighed, remembering Creed, Crow and Wizard. “You're Bulldog right?”
“yeah” he sighed “Templar 3,”
“it's not much but.....thanks for the help, you are a good pilot” Tobias said softly,
“Thanks...” Bulldog muttered “I'm just sorry we couldn't get there sooner, maybe so much wouldn't have gone wrong if we had more strength to engage them...”
“but we didnt, and there was nothing we could have done Bulldog, Setanta,” Firefly reassured them,
The lonely flight back seemed to take an eternity instead of 20 minutes because of the way the sky darkened during that time, the liquid sun slowly beginning to run behind the horizon throwing red light through the skies,
from the air Tobias could see the patches of grey on green which made up the installations of Pirandell airbase,
“Templar Three, Paladin Four, AWACS Firefly, this is Pirandell tower, picking you up loud and clear on radar, you are clear to land, welcome home...”
“Roger that,” Tobias sighed as he flicked the switch to lower the gear, the small white lights on either side of the tarmac runway flashed into life, guiding him down to earth...
he stood near the runway amidst the panicked medical teams and mechanics awaiting the three planes, he stood in full olive drab dress, medals posted on his chest and an adjutant major's insignia on his arm, he breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the three shaken birds touch down in the nest.
He had never seen anything like this, to have an attack from nowhere by no-one in particular for no particular reason, this was not the kind of conflict he wanted if one should ever have arisen, through his countless years of service in both Osea and Albia, Major Albert Fortell had taken command of Pirandell base three years ago, he valued his pilots as more than tools having been one himself for all those years.
As the three planes ground to a stop on the runway he saw the canopy's open up as ladders were pushed over to them by frenzied mechanics,
he watched the three different pilots clamber down them and onto the tarmac, he began to walk over to them...
Tobias pulled his flight helmet off and held it under his arm, letting his short black hair fall over his eyes, taking a deep breath from his mouth surrounded by a fine trimmed goatee,
beads of sweat running down his face as his bright blue eyes dashed around the area, he breathed heavily trying to take in everything that had happened up there in the sky.
He heard footsteps to his right, he turned and saw the two other pilots approaching him the same shocked looks worn upon the faces of the brothers who had just shared the same turbulent sky.
One of them was quite a big guy with his short blonde hair spiked up and backwards, two brown eyes set in a rough face
his green flight suit was drenched with sweat and his flight helmet was held loosely in one hand by his side, “Setanta?..” he spoke in the deep voice,
“Bulldog” Tobias forced a smile,
A quite youthful looking man walked out from behind Bulldog's shadow,
he had a short brown crew cut which sat neatly atop his head, his skin was fairly tanned and he wore a brown flight suit with an eye emblem on the right arm.
“Dragoneye” he spoke in a moderate tone, “it's good to be able to see you both on the ground” he sighed.
Tobias nodded, he felt the same way, he just wished more of the pilots were there to do the same.
“Tobias” he spoke sternly looking at them both offering a hand, “Tobias Wettham” the Bulldog smiled as he took Tobias' hand strongly, “Vincent Barrett” he nodded letting go as Dragoneye leaned in and took their hands “Johnathan Orvas”
Major Fortell smiled looking at the three of them talking, 'hardship brings comrades together' he thought the best friendships were always those forged under the harshest conditions, he approached them and sighed, not wanting to ask this so early after the encounter... “Gentlemen?” he spoke softly “are you all alright?”
Tobias, Vincent and Jonathan clapped to attention and saluted “sir yes sir!”
Tobias lowered his arm to his side “sir two of our downed pilots managed to bail over the ocean, Paladin Two and Templar 6 sir, request to have a pickup sent out for them sir...”
“request granted Wettham...”
this was the part he knew they did not want to hear, “this will regretfully have to go down as a cobat training accident until we know who engaged us, we dont want to start a national panic...”
Vincent's brow furrowed “Sir that's bullcrap!” he yelled “we lost nearly three whole squadrons up there today, that's around 19 casualties when you take into account Templar squadrons increased squadron size for training exercises, and One AWAC's aircraft...AWAC's dont get shot down in training exercises, they fly too high for that!”
he seethed with rage, Tobias and Jonathan could not help but feel the same, they had seen people die from a hostile attack, and Pirandell seemed ready to wave a magic wand and pretend that it had never happened!
Tobias snarled as he took a step forward “Whats the idea sir?...we're getting attacked, we lost pilots to four strange planes, pilots who had families...and we're covering this up?”
Major Fortell sighed and kept a stern face “I don't like it any more than you do pilots...but until we know the details we cant do a damn thing...” he folded his arms “what if we retaliate against the wrong country? What if the populace thinks of this as a precursor to a new war of the cross?” he saw Tobias' face sink “...none of us want that...we all lost too much in the last one...” he looked back over to Vincent, who was still stood tall, “we are not sitting idly by I assure you...we have phones ringing off the hooks to try and find out any information going about all flight patterns from all countries near our airspace in the last 24 hours...”
Vincent took a step back “then at least you're doing something....” he sighed reluctantly “...sir...”
Fortell nodded “you should all rest up at the barracks...”
“Sir...we need more pilots... we need to refill the ranks of Templar, Paladin and Forneus squadrons!” Jonothan voiced,
Fortell shook his head “negative...from this point on you are all assigned to Templar Squadron , this order is effective immediately...” he turned back to them “we are short staffed at the moment...your new Squadron Leader is on his way from Osea, it seems your encounter was not the only one...”
he began to walk off, leaving the three bewildered pilots to their emotions...
Vincent looked at his new squad mates “...what the nuts is going on?”
Tobias shook his head “I don't know, but I don't like it...I admit though, we do make a good team the three of us”
Jonothan nodded “You said it...but what was with the new squadron leader from Osea? Surely we have pilots here who could fill that role?”
Vincent nodded “we do...” he sighed “but it seems fate wants me to stay as Templar 2 my whole damn life...” the three of them conversed as they began to pace back to the barracks, the events of the day flashing back through their heads...