Chapter Thirty: Domino Effect

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New Arrows Air Base, East Usea.

September 10th, 2019.

0900hrs.

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"Did you get any sleep at all last night, Trigger?"

Naomi sat up and looked over at Count as she heard the question, staring at him for a moment to process what he'd said. Apparently she wasn't as good at hiding how tired she was around everyone else. She sat in the briefing room with everyone else, waiting for Clemens to finish speaking with Wiseman and Long Caster. Her father stood nearby, studying the map on the screen. Everyone else was discussing the Alicorn and whether the new operation had anything to do with it, which was — unsurprisingly — a common subject within the last few days. Naomi was sick of talking about it, but since there were several theories and ongoing discussions involving it (whenever Clemens couldn't stop them, anyways), there wasn't any way that she could really avoid the topic. The ship had already managed to worm its way into her dreams, and now every time she closed her eyes she couldn't imagine anything other than what it was like to be at the bottom of the sea on that thing or how doomed they'd be if they got shot down by it.

For a moment, she just sat there looking at Count with wide eyes, trying to find the best way to respond. She didn't want to admit that any sleep she managed to get was restless. At the most she was only getting a few hours a night. If she admitted that, they'd all think that she wasn't fit to fly, but she was perfectly capable of flying and giving orders. All she needed was some coffee to give her a boost. The only problem was that she was waiting for the two cups she'd had at breakfast to finally kick in. Which meant that her mind wasn't working as fast as she would have liked at that moment. Count seemed to be waiting for her to answer, and since no one else was paying attention, then maybe she could at least try and answer him. "I...well, what makes you ask that?"

"You look terrible. Like, 'your first fight with Mr. X' terrible," Count said bluntly, but there seemed to be some concern there. Not that he would admit that he was concerned about anyone, least of all her. Nevertheless, he went on, his tone a little softer. He looked a bit more awkward and uncomfortable than usual. "Seriously, is there something bothering you? You've been kind of...off these last few days. Not to mention, you've been living off of coffee ever since. All signs kind of point to a lack of sleep."

Naomi was a bit bothered that he'd figured it out, frowning and looking away. "It's not like it's a big deal. Since when did you get so nosy, anyways?" She glanced at him, expecting a response. The only reaction she got was an annoyed huff and he looked away from her. Feeling bad for getting a little snappy with him, she sighed and turned to face him. He was back to scowling, but he seemed curious as she readied herself to answer him. "This whole Alicorn thing just has me worried, that's all. And whatever the deal is with Clemens. So...I haven't been getting the best sleep ever. Once we make it to Farbanti and things slow down then I'll be able to catch a break and rest properly. We just have to get the Alicorn out of the way, right?"

Count chuckled. "You make it sound easier than it actually is. We're probably going to have to fight that thing before long. I mean, depending on whether its defenses are crippled, then it probably wouldn't be too hard, but...y'know. Gotta be realistic."

"That doesn't sound like you," Naomi said with a smirk. "Usually you're cocky enough to think you can do anything, regardless of the odds."

"Now that sounds more like you than me." Count mirrored her own expression, if not more smug looking than she was as he made eye contact. "After all, you're the one that thinks she can fly through tunnels all the time, not me."

Unable to keep up the eye contact, Naomi's smirk turned into a grin and she stifled a laugh, looking away. Count broke as well. At least they got a laugh in the end, even if there wasn't much of a good reason for it. Something about the conversation and the brief staredown was funny to her. Unfortunately, their conversation wasn't allowed to continue and all talking ceased as Clemens cleared his throat. The sound drew everyone's attention towards the brigadier general, and he gave them all disapproving looks. It seemed he had some idea of what everyone else had been talking about, and he also seemed upset that they were actually enjoying their conversation.

Once everyone had stopped talking, he looked around at them. "Alright, the fun's over. I'd appreciate it if everyone would at least try and take this situation seriously," Clemens said. They glanced towards Wiseman as if to silently ask if he was going to let Clemens get away with getting onto them over something so ridiculous, but Wiseman just shook his head with a tired look on his face. Luckily for them, Clemens didn't catch the look, and he continued. He looked towards the screen. "Analyst North, is everything working on your end?"

There was a moment of silence before David's face appeared in a smaller window and he gave them a thumbs up. "Everything's working great, sir, just like last time. We're connected and ready to go."

Clemens gave a stiff nod. "Perfect. Let's get started." As the map centered on the Usean continent, Long Caster moved it to an area near the Arsenal Bird's airspace, bringing the focus to a small area near the space elevator. Clemens, likely having rehearsed the briefing, jumped right into it with no warning other than the shift in focus. "The Erusean military is gathering its remaining naval forces at Anchorhead Bay. Apparently, they're even bringing in ships from the mothball fleet. Considering the measures they're taking, we have reasons to believe that this is probably to reinforce their naval power in preparation for the showdown in Farbanti. We've even received intel that the Alicorn will also be joining them."

Several images appeared, showing pictures of the bay, ships from Erusea's fleet, and of the submarine Alicorn. Although the explanation seemed to fit, David didn't look convinced and he spoke up after staying quiet. "Intel from where, sir? Which source are you getting all of this from, Brigadier General?" Naomi was surprised by how much David sounded like he was challenging Clemens. But he continued with a less confrontational tone, sounding more reasonable than he had initially. "There's a very high possibility that the Alicorn's former crew have been tasked with sabotage, and they could very well be feeding our military false information."

Everyone exchanged a look with one another, and Naomi noticed that both Húxiān and Bandog were watching Clemens reaction closely. Naomi did too, noticing that David's comment seemed to hit a nerve. Clemens gritted his teeth, turning to face the screen. David raised an eyebrow as Clemens did so, obviously finding the reaction odd himself. "Your job is to analyze the enemy's weaponry, not stalk former members of their crew. Your comment and question are irrelevant to the briefing," he snapped, but David maintained his poker face as Clemens scolded him. "From now on, you will speak only when authorized." He turned back around to face everyone else, and David gave no reply. Clemens furrowed his brow and turned his head slightly to view David out of the corner of his eye. "...I don't hear a response."

"May I be authorized to speak first, sir?" David asked, almost snidely.

Naomi and the others all chuckled at this, which clearly got on Clemens nerves. David only smiled as Clemens gave a growl. "When we're done, I'll be talking to your superiors. As for the rest of you—" he gave everyone that had laughed at the comment a dirty look, "—here's your mission. The LRSSG is to raid Anchorhead." The screen magnified and created a digital, 3D recreation of the area, highlighting clusters of Erusean forces and showing the smaller groups that were the Osean forces. Naomi could already see that they were going to be outnumbered yet again. Clemens quickly got to the point. "Carry out air strikes on Anchor Bay to the north and Dakiouk Bay to the south, inflicting as much damage as possible. If we can strip the port of its naval functions, we can also prevent the submarine from joining forces."

It was Wiseman's turn to step in. "The area around Anchorhead is Erusean territory. To delay hostile detection, you're going to sortie in small numbers and make your way in at super low altitudes."

"A small sortie, huh?" Tabloid asked, sounding almost as if he was hoping he would be going along this time as well. "So, who's going?"

"Count, Lanza, Húxiān, and Trigger. Only four aircraft from Strider Squadron will be deployed. I'm afraid that you'll be sitting this one out, Tabloid," Wiseman replied, but he gave a friendly smile as soon as he picked up on Tabloid's disappointment.

"Whoah! I'm going this time?" Lanza asked giddily, obviously raring to go. "Alright, I got this!"

"Lucky bastard..." Skald grumbled as Lanza looked at him with a smug smile. Rolling his eyes, Skald shoved Lanza's head away from him and his best friend grinned as he gave an exaggerated 'fall' to the side of his chair. Chuckling, Skald looked back to Wiseman. "So, only four aircraft...just like last time, right?"

"Looks like it," Naomi said. She was a bit worried, given the large amount of enemies. It also looked as though it would just be the four of them against a rather large fleet, with a very small Osean ground unit coming from the northwest. "I take it this time there won't be any help from another squadron? Just gonna be us?"

"Afraid so. We're catching them while most of them are still in dock, though, so chances are four is all we're going to need. Besides, I've seen the work you all can do when you're let loose." Wiseman's answer was reassuring. It was better that he trusted them with this operation on their own rather than holding them back out of fear they wouldn't do well. Naomi felt good knowing that he was finally okay with giving her some more freedom, and she had a feeling that Count was starting to enjoy being off of Wiseman's 'leash' as well. Wiseman went on with the briefing as the screen zoomed in on the four blue arrowheads that represented Strider Squadron. "To cover our lack of numbers and because of the large number of targets, we're giving you plenty of opportunities to resupply."

"He's right. Look here." Long Caster was the one to step in. The image zoomed out, displaying the entire area of operations again. Three blue lines appeared on the screen. One to the east, where they'd be approaching from, one to the north, and one to the south. All of them put good distance between the fighting and the return line itself, meaning they had a chance to outrun the fighting if they took any damage or didn't have the means to fight their way out. Long Caster nodded to the screen. "As you can see, we've set up multiple return lines. Make full use of them to resupply and change armaments."

Wiseman nodded. "Also note that the enemy will not be able to mount a defense immediately after detecting you. Use this window to destroy as many high threat targets as you can. That should, hopefully, make things much easier for you."

"It should also raise the survival rate," Clemens put in.

Count furrowed his brow. "Survival rate, huh? Well, isn't that interesting."

Clemens chose to ignore him. "The element of surprise and resupplying are the key. Beyond that, I just need a couple pilots who will stick to my orders. We don't need an ace to succeed." His eyes narrowed on Naomi, and she returned his look with a forced smile. Scowling, he finally took a look around at all of them. "You got anything to say?" No one answered, a few people shaking their heads in reply. The rest of them stayed quiet. Clemens nodded slowly. "Good."

"Brigadier General—" David began, but he was promptly cut off by Clemens.

"That is all."

As Clemens made a move to hang up on him, Wiseman raised a hand to stop him. To Naomi's surprise, Clemens actually backed down, however hesitant he was to do so. Wiseman looked to the screen. "David, go on."

David looked at Wiseman gratefully, then typed something into his computer before he began what he wanted to say. "Let me share the career of Matias Torres, the captain of the Alicorn." The ID photo of Torres that they had already seen showed up on screen, followed by a rather lengthy looking service record below it. The record was split into two sections, one being a list of what Naomi thought was his service on different ships, and then the second part of it contained a list of medals he'd earned during combat and punishments he'd received. She couldn't read any of the smaller text from where she was, so she had no idea what the list contained. David didn't elaborate, instead choosing to quiz them again. "Does anyone know how his people hailed him?"

"Hmph. A bit unfair to provide us with next to know hints, don't you think?" Skald asked him, sounding only mildly irritated by the question.

"He's got a point there," Naomi agreed, looking to David with a smirk on her face. "You could have at least given us some more material to work with. Time for research, maybe?"

David chuckled sheepishly. "Fair enough. Sorry, you two." Some more clacking from his keyboard was heard, and the focus of their own screen shifted to a different part of Usea, highlighting a harbor and showing an aerial photograph of it beside Torres' photo. It was a harbor that everyone knew of, thanks to history books and various articles. David went on. "'The Hero of Comberth Harbor' is the answer. He was the captain of the battleship Tanager at the time of the Continental War. It led Aegir Fleet, the invincible armada." The service record vanished, and it was replaced by a list of ships that were in the fleet. Below that was a photo of two soldiers saluting what looked like a burning ship. "But when the fleet was destroyed at Comberth Harbor, so was his ship."

"Yet he's the hero?" Húxiān asked, sounding doubtful. The look on her face said that she wasn't too impressed. "Something about that doesn't add up, quiz guy."

"I was just about to get to that, Lieutenant," David chirped, not at all put off by her attitude. "You see, he was able to bring most of his crew home with accurate damage control and precise evacuation orders." A photo of the submarine now appeared on the screen once again. "Then there's the accident with the Alicorn, where they took very few casualties and most of them survived to see their rescue. Many believe that if they stay with him, then they'll live."

"A good luck charm, eh?" Count asked, elbowing Naomi with a playful smile. She rolled her eyes at him, but that didn't seem to deter him. He looked over at Tabloid with the same look. "I think we know a thing or two about that, don't we, Tabloid?"

"Hell yeah, we do!" Tabloid grinned, and a few of their group either chuckled or followed Naomi and rolled their eyes at this. Tabloid went serious again, though, and looked back to the screen. "I have one question about this Torres guy, though. Isn't it a little odd for him to go from serving aboard regular ships to commanding a submarine?"

"Transfer from surface to underwater is unusual," David said. "However, considering his skill and reputation, along with the fact that the Alicorn is no ordinary submarine, it all makes sense. But this is the man that you'll likely be facing, should the Alicorn make it to the port and surface somehow. A man known for beating all odds, if not in the most conventional way."

"It'll be a difficult mission to carry out with only four aircraft," Wiseman said, crossing his arms. He examined the screen for a moment as it cut back to the display of the operation area. He had his back to them. "Still, I'd like to add one other thing to the mission conditions."

Count scoffed. "What, you wanna make it even harder?"

Wiseman turned around with a stone cold expression on his face. One that Naomi didn't like seeing, especially from a man as laid back as Wiseman. She'd seen it from him before, after she and Count had gotten themselves in trouble during Stonehenge. But now, it was slightly different and because of a different situation. He looked them over. "I want a 100% survival rate for the sortie. Any other number and the mission will be considered a failure! Dismissed."

"So, there's no pressure, right?" Naomi asked with a sigh as she stood up with everyone else. She stood up and they all followed her. Lanza, Húxiān, and Count were the first to go, and she noticed Lanza was practically jumping up and down with excitement. She smiled at this, noticing Skald's mock grouchiness at Lanza's behavior. Tabloid seemed a lot better about not being picked for the sortie, and Naomi would have felt bad if she requested that he go along in Lanza's place like she had done for the last mission. She figured that, especially with Clemens around, it might have been better to not argue with the squadron lineup for the time being. "Well, looks like everyone's ready to go and wreck some ships. You look excited, Lanza."

Lanza grinned. "You bet I am! Flying low and hitting them out of nowhere? Nothing else gets your heart pounding like that, I tell ya!"

Skald raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I can think of several things much better than that and they do the trick just fine."

"Alright, knock it off, you two," Naomi said, chuckling as Lanza playfully punched Skald in the shoulder. Once they'd settled down, she started towards the door and Count, Lanza, and Húxiān were quick to follow her, Lanza trying to reign in his excitement. Naomi tried not to let it show that she was worried things were going to be difficult, like last time. Something about Wiseman's survival rate comment told her that things weren't going to be easy. She tried to push that aside as she reached the door, holding it open for her wingmen. "Let's go and get ready. I'm sure that Avril has a few things she'd like to say to us. Probably wants to threaten us to make sure we don't bring back more work for her to do."

Count hesitated as the other two continued out into the hall. He looked at her and seemed to be sharing many of her own concerns as he said, "We've said this before...we've been through much worse than this. But you don't think that Clemens could be trying to set us up, do you? Like this could be a death sentence?"

Naomi looked over at Wiseman, who was speaking with Jaeger, Long Caster, and her father. Count followed her gaze, then glanced her way, raising an eyebrow. She took a deep breath and shook her head. "No. Wiseman doesn't think it's a set up, otherwise he wouldn't have let us go. But he can tell something isn't right just like we can. He might have been trying to send us a message with that last condition."

"Really?" Count asked, sounding doubtful. "And what's that?"

She looked back at him. "Be careful and stay alert. Try and be prepared for anything. If something goes wrong then we need to be ready for it."

"Aren't we always?" Count asked, actually grinning. Naomi gave an exasperated laugh as she and Count stepped out of the doorway together, letting it close behind them. "Try not to worry, Trig. You said it yourself. Everything'll be fine."

Anchorhead Bay, Erusea.

1400hrs.

They approached the bay from the east at as low an altitude as they could go, much to Naomi's dismay. The altitude restriction wasn't as bad as it could have been, and Naomi had managed to get away with flying a few kilometers higher than her wingmen were. Their planes had all been given some extra work by Avril and she told them that she hoped the durability had been increased. It was basically her code for 'I'm tired of you morons coming back with scratched paint and bullet holes' but it was still a nice gesture nonetheless. She'd also managed to do something to increase the firing range of their standard missiles and special weaponry. Naomi had a feeling that they'd be having a lot of fun with this today.

At last, the bay and their wide selection of targets were in visual range, and their HUDs were updated to show them. Not to mention how many clusters were showing up on their radars. "Geez, I can almost touch the water," Count said as they continued to fly closer and closer to the bay. "Can we go ahead and get started yet?"

Wiseman's voice came over the radio, sounding as if he was talking with a smile on his face. It even sounded like he chuckled a bit before he started speaking. "Now that's the kind of enthusiasm I want to see from you more often, Count!" Naomi was pretty sure that Count was regretting his eagerness and the thought made her smile a bit. Wiseman didn't give Count time to respond, though, before he said, "Now, since you were so patient, I guess I can give you the go ahead. Altitude restriction lifted! Begin op!"

Relieved, Naomi lifted her nose and pulled up, no longer having to worry about her altitude. The others followed her without any hesitation. Long Caster's voice came shortly after. "Looks like the food at this party is served buffet-style! Now that's my kind of lunch hour," he said with a chuckle. "Pick whatever dish you'd like before the host mounts a resistance!"

"They made it too easy, then," Naomi answered, trying to decide which bay she'd go for first. She figured it was time they broke formation and hit the enemy sooner rather than later. "Looks like they've got some pretty tasty targets. Lots of treats to choose from." It looked as though the bay to the north had the larger targets, as well as more clustered together. It would be tricky, but Naomi's plan was to go for that one. "Alright everyone, let's split up. Count, you stick with me. Lanza, Húxiān, take whichever way you want and pick off as many as you can."

"Wilco! Heh. I'll eat their hearts out!" Húxiān said as they broke formation. Naomi headed for Anchorhead Bay with Count right behind her. Lanza, on the other hand, chose to take Dakiouk Bay on his own while Húxiān followed Count and Naomi.

As Strider Squadron closed in on their targets, Naomi figured she should start with her special weapons right out of the gate. They'd inflict more damage and it wasn't like she couldn't go back to resupply. Lining the circle up on her HUD, she went for the nearest target to her, pretty sure that she was already in range. Sure enough, the circle was red and told her she could go ahead and start firing. So she did, without any hesitation, taking out the anti-aircraft defense system they had set up right on the shore. The entire thing went up in flames, and Naomi banked to the left to move on to the next target as she announced, "This is Strider 1. Target is destroyed. That's a score for me, everyone."

"Whoah, Trigger! Don't you dare get the juicy stuff before I do!" Count growled, although it was more playful than it was annoyed. She chuckled to herself at his reaction. "You didn't even tell me we had a competition going on today!"

"Consider that me telling you," Naomi replied as she flew over the bay, trying to decide which target she'd go for next. Count and Húxiān broke off from her wing and started to pick their own targets. Húxiān made a move on some vehicles making a move to the city to hide behind the buildings while Count went after a pair of missile boats at the dock next to them. Naomi went for a frigate, again making good use of her pulse lasers to quickly eliminate the target. "And that's one more for me."

"Ha! There isn't even any enemy movement yet!" Count said proudly. "This isn't as hard as I'd thought!"

"This should be a walk in the park for you guys, especially since you managed to take them by surprise like that. You even took out their AA defense system before it could be activated, so that will make things easier for you later," Long Caster said, clearly confident in their abilities to carry out the mission. Not that he ever doubted them to begin with. "Be sure to gobble up all the high value targets. Don't be afraid to get a bit messy while you eat, just go wild and forget about your manners!"

Húxiān laughed. "Never had any of those to begin with!"

By now, the fleet had finally started to move. More vehicles were making a run for it and their ships began to attempt to pull out of the port and make for the ocean. Naomi wasn't about to let them get away that easy, and she brought her plane around in a hard turn and made a move for one of the larger ships. It was a battle cruiser, and from the looks of things it was a slow and yet difficult target. Unlike the rest of the ships, it hadn't made it very far and was just beginning to try and leave. She wasn't having any of that. Switching to regular missiles, she fired two of them as soon as she had a lock and switched back to her pulse lasers to finish it off. She was coming at it head on, firing as much as she could in a short time. At the last possible second, the ship burst into flames with a loud explosion and she pulled up and clear of the blast just then. Satisfied, Naomi moved on to the next target

There was an Aegis vessel that had already made it to the center of the port, a destroyer and a cruiser flanking it, but it looked ripe for the picking. Naomi also knew for a fact after facing the fleet at Snider's Top that these things were a pain in the ass when it came to destroying one of them, or anything near it. She brought her plane into a dive, firing a pair of missiles and pulling up to ready herself for another run. As expected, only one missile made it through and the other one was destroyed. She didn't want to try a low approach until she absolutely had to, so she figured she would soften it up with some machine gun fire while in a dive again and then fire another set of missiles at the last minute.

Both missiles hit the target, and the shockwave from the explosion sent some water splashing up, into the air, some of the droplets scattering onto her cockpit. Naomi let out a cheer at her small victory as she circled the port again, trying to decide which ship she'd go for next. While she did this, she figured she'd boast about her kill a little just to get Count and Húxiān, maybe even Lanza, to up their game a little. "Vessel has been destroyed! That's one more for me. I thought the three of you would put up more of a fight than this. Especially you, Count!"

Long Caster chuckled as he confirmed her kill. "Nice work, Trigger! Attack hit on Aegis vessel Ceto. Ship destroyed!"

"I heard that the Ceto was one of the more high value targets out here today," Húxiān said, clearly smiling as she did. "We've got a big game hunter!"

Naomi couldn't help but feel a small surge of pride at this, even though there wasn't really anything too special about the kill and it wasn't like it was the first ship she'd sunk. Count let out a laugh, though, surprisingly not arguing with Húxiān about the importance of the target. In fact, it sounded as if he was agreeing with her. "Damn, Trigger! You can't resist hogging the spotlight, can you?" His laughter had faded, and he used a cockier tone as he added, "You've had your fun, Trig. I've got dibs on the next one!"

"Anything you want, Sir Count," Naomi answered with a grin. "Plenty of ships to choose from, so don't you even think about taking from my plate."

Lanza cut in, his tone was teasing as he said, "Alright, you two, are you gonna shoot at the targets or at each other? Because Húxiān and I have got about three kills while y'all have been bickering. Or whatever it is that you're doing."

"He's right, guys. You should get your heads in the game," Húxiān advised, pulling up as she wiped out the last of the AA guns and AD tanks that were hiding between the buildings. Naomi almost felt bad for wrecking the streets like they were, and even though the city had probably been evacuated or was mostly military, it still didn't make it any better. If her wingmen were worrying about it at all, then they didn't say anything. Húxiān went on as she surveyed the wreckage and waited to make a move on her next target. "If we can get 'em here then we'll be able to save a lot of boys in Farbanti. We have to be focused so we don't let any slip past...that being said, I've got five or six."

"Well, looks like not even you can pass up a good challenge, Húxiān." Naomi said this shortly before she switched back to her pulse lasers, braking as much as she could without stalling as she lined up the circle on a group huddled together on the farthest end of the bay, in the port behind the bridge. Two frigates and two missile boats, in a perfect cluster. She made as low an approach as she felt comfortable and began firing, wiping out both of the missile boats and one of the frigates, damaging the other one. She switched to her missiles and fired off two, pulling up and banking to the right to avoid hitting either the boat or one of the cranes. Circling back around, she confirmed the destruction of all four ships. "And that's another four, making eight for me! Y'all are making this too easy for me."

"Like I said, we can't let Trigger hog the spotlight! C'mon, let's go get 'em!" Count said with a laugh as he went for the only other Aegis vessel still in the port. He and Húxiān and wiped out the destroyer and cruiser next to the one Naomi had destroyed, and now their attention was turned to other ships. With some well placed gunfire and with a low approach to fire missiles, the ship's CIWS useless against the missiles. Unable to intercept them, Count's missiles struck the ship and with a burst of flame it began to list. "Target destroyed! Who's making it too easy now, eh Trigger?"

"Alright, alright. Nice work, Count. Just keep up the hard work and we'll be fine," Naomi said. By now, most of the targets around Anchorhead Bay had been taken out, only a handful of ships still left. Naomi went after the battle cruiser that had already made it under the bridge and was heading for open waters. She flew over the bridge, firing two missiles when she was in range and then circled back around to go for another run. She lined up the shot and got a lock, firing right away. Right when she did, Count swooped in and fired a missile before pulling out of his approach. Both missiles hit at the same time, and the ship was destroyed. Naomi scoffed in disbelief. "Seriously, Count? Heh. Now we can't tell who actually destroyed the ship, you asshole!"

"We can both take it. That way everything is nice and fair, exactly like you don't like it," Count said smugly. "Seriously, save some targets for the rest of us. Quit taking all the good ones!"

"Says the man that just stole my kill," she retorted. "Steal it again and I won't hold back next time."

Before Count could answer her, a new voice came over the radio. It belonged to a middle-aged man, and he was quick to introduce himself as one of their allies. "This is Major Jacob Grimm with Tucker 0-4, the unit assisting you on this operation. We're requesting an air strike on the helicopter carrying our target." Grimm? That was a familiar name. One that she'd definitely heard before, even if it had been a while. Question was, did they have any relation or was it just coincidence? Naomi didn't worry about that then, though, as the major quickly continued. "Target is Vice Chief of Naval Ops, Rear Admiral Samuel Prin. We're sending the coordinates now."

Long Caster's voice followed the request, speaking to Strider Squadron to inform them of the new target. "All aircraft, we've data linked the intel we've received from the recon team. If you have a visual on the target, shoot it down. Our goal is to hit Erusea's navy hard enough to prevent them from giving us trouble in Farbanti. In order to do that, we may have to take out some of their higher ranking officers if they try and flee the area. Don't let that happen, or we could have difficulties farther down the line."

It didn't take long for the target to come into view, the helicopter taking off quickly and changing its direction to head away from the city and towards safety deeper into Erusean territory. There were a handful of ships left that were trying to exit the bay, but Naomi trusted Count and Húxiān to keep them busy. Not that they'd give her any trouble when she was over land. Besides that, she was the closest one to the target. Within barely any time at all, her F-15 caught up to the V-22 and got a lock on it. She fired, and due to the slow reaction time of either their pilot or the aircraft itself the missile struck the target and it fell to the trees below, smoke and flames being all that was left from it as it hit the ground, likely breaking in half.

With a sigh, recalling Harling's death in the same kind of aircraft, she banked and turned back to the bay, not taking much pride in the kill like she'd have expected. Something about it was depressing, maybe even some kind of a cruel joke. She didn't dwell on it for too long, and Major Grimm's voice sounded in her ear once again. "Target confirmed down. With Samuel Prin gone, Erusea's naval stratagem will lose its edge. Nice work, Captain Foulke. Guess you really do live up to your reputation."

"Thank you, sir. Just trying to do my job," Naomi replied with almost forced politeness. She lost the excitement that she previously felt during the mission and it was replaced with something else, now. Something she couldn't really put her finger on. Maybe it was the fact that she let herself think of Harling, or maybe she just realized that the operation needed to be taken a bit more serious. Then again, putting a name and face to someone you were killing seemed to change the way she felt about it. They weren't some faceless enemy then. She tried to shake away the thought, shuddering slightly. Regaining her focus, she checked her radar and took a look around the bay. "Long Caster, it looks like all hostile ships in the area have been destroyed. I think we wiped out all of their forces in the urban area."

"Good work, Strider! 30% of observed enemy forces have been destroyed!" Long Caster said, sounding as though he was smiling. "The radio chatter in that area has quieted down, so feel free to try a different location. Plenty of delicacies on other tables as well. Just hit 'em like you did their friends and you should have no problem."

"Great!" Húxiān said with a victory cheer as she and Count formed up on Naomi's wing, probably looking over the damage they'd done as the three of them began to fly towards Dakiouk Bay. "Now we just gotta keep it up!"

"Well, we ain't done eating yet," Count said with a chuckle. "Ain't that right, Trigger?"

Her mood returning to the way it was at the start of the mission, Naomi couldn't help but smile. "You betcha, Count. Lanza's got the southern port all to himself. Seems like a bit much for his poor stomach to handle."

"Damn straight!" Lanza answered with a laugh, and Naomi could make out his fighter among the others, rolling clear of some gunfire. "Trigger, Count, lend me a hand, will ya?"

"Righto! Let's go Trigger!" Count replied.

A quick check of her remaining weapons told her that they'd have to cross the return line and resupply before long. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that the rest of Strider Squadron was also running low on ammunition, and the last thing that they wanted was to be caught in a mess like this without anything to shoot back with. There were more enemy air targets around Dakiouk Bay, a couple of drones buzzing around among them. Lanza was firing everything he could at them, having paid no attention to the ships escaping from the shipyard below. Two of them were making it out into the ocean, although Naomi didn't blame him for ignoring him. It was better to get the flies off his back before he could go for the real prize. There were three that he had managed to get, though, and with what he had he'd managed to take out three of their ships, including the Aegis ashore.

Naomi switched from her regular missiles to her pulse lasers once again, zeroing in on one of the ships trying to make its way out of Dakiouk Bay and into open waters. It seemed that Count picked up on what she was doing, as he adjusted his one course so he could target the second one. Naomi was quick to begin firing, damaging the ship enough that she could pick it off with one or two missiles. And that's just what she did, pressing the button to fire once she had a solid lock. Count fired at his own target for the second time just as she fired at hers. Both missiles hit and the ships' deck went up in flames with a loud explosion that sent water flying into the air. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't a tragic and yet captivating sight.

As she moved to try and help Lanza out with the enemy's air support, she tried to switch weapons and fire. She managed to get a few, grazing shots in on the F/A-18 that was tailing Lanza but as she tried to continue firing an automated voice sounded instead. "Ammunition zero." Naomi furrowed her brow. What? Already? She continued trying to fire, even after checking her reserves, but the voice was just as stubborn as she was and continued to relay the disappointing message. "Ammunition zero. Ammunition zero."

"Shit." Naomi relaxed her hold on the trigger, figuring that it was pointless. So much for her hoping that it was just a glitch in the system. Checking her missile supply, she only had four left. She could either resupply or use her machine gun instead, which had almost a full load. But how long before she exhausted that? Sighing with frustration, she pulled away from her pursuit of the enemy fighter. "Alright, I'm out. I've got to return to resupply. I'm thinking we should take it in turns so no one's left on their own, so we'll all go in pairs. Who's coming with me and who's staying?"

"Aaaand I'm out. C'mon, Trigger. I'll keep you company." Count's voice came in reply, and Naomi looked around to find where he was. The last of his missiles, or at least what Naomi assumed was the last, streaked by, both missing the UAV that they were fired at. Count's Eagle appeared at her wing, and a quick look around to see as much as she could told her that Húxiān and Lanza were still engaging the enemy. As if sensing what Naomi's next question could be, Count called out to the others. "Húxiān! Lanza! You two gonna be good until we get back?"

"Don't worry, guys," Lanza answered with a grunt as he evaded an incoming missile. "We've got everything covered here. At least, we can wait until you come back."

"Alright, if you're sure you've got it handled. Watch each other's backs, now, and keep that 100% survival rate in mind," Naomi advised them, feeling a little worried with just running off and leave them on their own. But they were coming right back and Naomi trusted their skill and experience enough to hold up until she got back. Turning her nose away from the fighting, she checked to make sure that Count was following her. "C'mon, Count. Let's hurry it up. Don't wanna keep them waiting too long, do we?"

Without any trouble, the two of them made it back to the allied base that was waiting for them, noting a few extra aircraft and some ground vehicles scattered around the base, all appearing to be in good condition. Naomi assumed that the extra aircraft were a just in case kind of thing, but she doubted they had anyone to fly them. Pushing this out of her mind, she followed instructions from the control tower and she and Count landed quickly and without incident. The ground crew were quick to make their way over to their fighters, Naomi and Count both remaining in their cockpits while the work was done. A few jokes and short conversations were carried out between the two of them and between the crew switching out their weapons. In a short matter of time they were all set and ready to take off with full weapon loads and gas tanks.

After fastening her oxygen mask back in place on her helmet, she took off second, after Count. Their engines roared as they took to the skies again, their wheels retracting as they were given permission to return to the operation. Together, flying side by side, they broke through the cloud cover and in a few minutes they were back in the operation area. Things hadn't changed much since they left to resupply, only a few enemies having been suppressed by Húxiān and Lanza. Naomi, feeling refreshed after a short break from the flying and fighting, but still a bit tired, announced their return to their friends. "Yo, Lanza! Húxiān! It's your turn, now. Hope you stayed out of trouble while we were gone."

Both Húxiān and Lanza chuckled, with Húxiān being the only one to reply. "Actually, we were just about to start havin' some real fun until you two decided to crash the party."

It was Naomi and Count's turn to laugh, but they were quick to jump back into the fight while Húxiān and Lanza withdrew and headed to the return lines themselves. Most of what they had to deal with was air-to-air, although she did notice a few ground targets near some containers. Likely what had been holding the drones before their launch. She hoped they didn't have any more of them hidden away and that the tanks and AA guns that had lined up weren't there to defend them. What good did they think they could do if that were the case, though? Naomi didn't bother thinking about it, having more pressing matters to attend to.

By the time they'd finished off the Super Hornets (which wasn't difficult, save for a couple of misses), Lanza and Húxiān returned from their own break, armed to the teeth and ready to get back into the fighting. It seemed as though the Erusean forces were starting to exhaust themselves, but they continued to stubbornly defend the yard. The AH-64s were giving them the most trouble, keeping them from destroying the containers around the area. Húxiān and Lanza continued trying to hit the ground targets but the Apaches made it difficult.

Naomi circled around, putting some distance between her and the six or so helicopters so she could have plenty of time to deal with all of them. They made it pretty easy, grouping themselves together. Naomi couldn't help but wonder if they knew how bad an idea it was to practically line themselves up for her but she wasn't going to waste the opportunity. Blowing out a breath, getting a bit bored and tired after all the work they'd done, she radioed the others. "Lanza, I'm gonna take out the helicopters. That should distract them long enough for you to take out those containers and get started on those SAMs and AA guns. Count, Húxiān, you mind dealing with those UAVs and keeping them off our tails?"

"Roger that, Trigger. We'll take care of them," Húxiān declared, sounding rather determined. She and Count began to pick off the UAVs, chasing them to try and get a clear shot and to distract them from Naomi and Lanza.

Once the circle on her HUD turned red, she slowed her speed and began firing at the helicopters, centering it on the target as best as she could. The helicopters were easy targets, too slow to evade and react to the attack. It only took a couple of hits from the lasers to cause the Apache to either break in half, severing its tail or the rotor blades to break off and send it crashing into the water. Although Naomi didn't like the thought of going down like that, it was a war and there wasn't any other choice. In a short amount of time, all of the helicopters had been destroyed and Lanza had already started picking off the Erusean ground targets, wiping out the UAV containers and moving on to the anti-air weapons they had set up, hiding behind warehouses to make it trickier to get to them.

"All attack helicopters have been destroyed. Nice work, Trigger!" Long Caster complimented her and confirmed the helicopters' destruction as Naomi scanned her radar for what her next target would be, taking a little bit of pride in the small victory.

"Damn. You're just merciless today, aren't you, boss?" Lanza asked with a chuckle.

"Wow," Count said, huffing out what sounded like a laugh as he did. "Don't you think you're going a bit too hard, Trigger?"

Naomi rolled her eyes and smirked. "That's six more for me. Which reminds me...Long Caster, do you mind keeping score for us?"

Long Caster chuckled. "We can look into that later, Trigger. Right now you all should just do your best and focus on the best targets." He paused as they all grumbled in agreement, but once that died down he chose to check up on their own ground unit. "This is Long Caster to Tucker 0-4 and all allied aircraft. We have reinforcements coming from the west and northwest. Four MiG-31s, faster than the other fighters we've faced so far. Plus a few more UAVs managed to launch from the bay. Major Grimm, now would be a perfect time for someone to try and slip away. Let us know if you discover any more high-threat targets trying to leave the area."

"Roger that, Long Caster. This is Tucker 0-4," Major Grimm's voice came in response, only a few seconds after Long Caster finished. "It seems that your hunch was right. Two Erusean senior officers are taking off now, likely hoping that our squadron will be too occupied with their air support. One is near you, in Dakiouk Bay, and the other is trying to escape from Anchor Bay now that the fighting's died down over there. We're sending you the coordinates now, so if you have the time then we'd greatly appreciate you taking them out."

"Data linking now. Strider Squadron, we've sent the ID data. You all know the drill. If you have visual then you eliminate it," Long Caster told them, and Naomi did indeed see two more blips appear on her radar. She probably couldn't get them both on her own, though.

They were both fleeing in the same direction, towards Erusean territory in the northwest, the same direction that the enemy reinforcements were coming from. Naomi and Húxiān were the closest, and she noticed that the guys were cleaning up the drones. It looked like it would just be the two of them. "Strider 4, you're with me. There's one for each of us. Doesn't matter which one you go for so long as we can keep them from getting away. They're easy to pick off." I should know. Naomi added silently as she banked to the left and straightened out, trying to get a visual on the target from where she was.

"I've got your six, Trigger. Let's go!" Húxiān announced and indeed her wingman was right behind her as they both throttled up and headed straight towards the enemy targets.

The targets were slow, but had already put some distance between them and Strider Squadron, just like Prin's aircraft had done. Naomi and Húxiān caught up quickly, and Naomi locked onto the first and fired, breaking off as the missile hit and allowing Húxiān to get a lock and fire immediately after, striking the second target. Húxiān followed Naomi with a whoop of victory, the two of them regrouping and surveying the damage. Major Grimm's voice was quick to follow just like the first time. "Targets confirmed down. The men you just killed aboard those helicopters, Captain Dirk Tarnat and Fleet Commander Gleb Almazov, were key players in Erusea's navy. Captain Tarnat was the main reason that the cruiser Enyo was deemed such a threat, and without Almazov it will take a while for Erusea to rebuild their navy. You've dealt quite a blow, ladies. Nice work."

"You mind giving us a bit more of a heads up next time, Major?" Naomi asked with a huff, having found the sudden pursuit less than ideal. Not to mention, now they had to tangle with Erusea's reinforcements.

"We'll try our best, Captain," he promised sheepishly. "Sorry about that. We didn't think they'd get away so quickly. We'll let you know ASAP next time."

Long Caster was quick to change the subject back to their main objective, urgently reminding them of the arrival of new hostiles. "Strider Squadron, enemy squadrons are closing in. We've also confirmed additional enemy ground forces, and we believe a fleet to be en route as we speak. Keep a sharp eye out and try and reduce the enemies as much as you can. Don't forget that you're outnumbered. Be quick to react and try and make it back safe."

Count and Lanza all returned to formation with Naomi and Húxiān as they readied themselves to face the new arrivals head on. Naomi took a look at her HUD and their surroundings, figuring out where the targets were and who would attack what. "Alright, Count, you and I will take care of the MiGs. Lanza, you take out the ground forces, and Húxiān, make sure none of the fighters slip through and try and get Lanza. You cover him and catch anything we miss. And most of all, like Long Caster said, be careful."

"We get it already!" Count said, almost laughing. "100% survival rate. We'll keep our heads up, so let's just go get 'em already!"

"Impatient, aren't ya, Count?" Húxiān asked in a teasing way, and Lanza and Naomi both laughed at his expense. He was being rather antsy. "Relax, you know that we're all going home together. Wiseman and Trigger wouldn't have it any other way."

"I'm not gonna keep you waiting much longer, Count. You've got your orders, so go wild," Naomi said with a grin as their formation broke, with her and Count heading to intercept the MiG-31s. They weren't severely outnumbered, and it was a pretty even fight if you only took the fighters into consideration and left out the ground targets. When they were finally within lock on range, Naomi fired a missile but the enemy Foxhound was quick to evade the missile. What surprised her, though, was that even though she was within range for the enemy to have a radar lock, she only heard the warning that she was being tracked. No missile ever came. Instead, she was strafed as one of the MiGs got close enough to her, and she could hear a couple dings as her own plane took a hit. "What the hell?"

She rolled away and braked, letting the Foxhound shoot ahead of her, not being maneuverable to match her movements. They were going two-on-one, and it looked like Count was having some difficulty and confusion as well. It was odd that she was so surprised by the lack of missiles flying her way, but she saw it more as a curious change of pace than anything else. She wasn't going to toy with them and drag the fight on for too long, figuring that it would be easier to just give them a chance to bail out. They'd likely be captured and taken prisoner or recovered by their own country. Either way, there wasn't any reason to waste time and fuel, so after a short game of trying to figure out how they reacted to different moves and how they'd counter them, Naomi managed to get on one's six.

Instead of using up her pulse lasers anymore, figuring that she should save them for later just in case, she figured she'd use up her missile and machine gun reserve and give them a taste of their own medicine. The missile made contact with the target and the Foxhound's wing began smoking and the tail of the aircraft had been shot off. It spiraled out of control before Naomi saw its pilot punch out, making sure to steer clear of the enemy pilot's parachute. There wasn't any reason to go after it, and it would be a war crime if she did. What happened to that guy now wasn't up to her, or him for that matter. He could easily retreat to his own forces, though, provided he had time and wasn't injured.

Shaking off her concern and stray thoughts for the enemy of all people, she turned on the pilot's wingman. It seemed as though downing their pal gave them an extra will to fight and she noted the more aggressive fighting style they seemed to adopt. Nothing that Naomi couldn't handle, and she was sure that the same went for Count. The Foxhounds withdrew for a minute to regroup, giving Naomi and Count a brief opportunity to do the same. Count let out a breath, sounding tired from trying to get a clear lock on their enemy. Apparently these guys could still outmaneuver them, even if they weren't the best at it. So far he hadn't managed to get a solid, finishing hit on them. "Yo, Trigger, you notice? That MiG over there isn't firing any missiles."

"Yeah, I caught that," Naomi said. "They're pretty good with what they've got, though."

"They must have scrambled without changing weapons first," Long Caster suggested. Naomi would believe it. Really, what other explanation was there? They were dropouts from Top Gun or something? "Doesn't seem like they're equipped for air-to-air."

"Unable to fire missiles, huh?" Count said, and Naomi already guessed what he was thinking. There had been a time where they were without weapons entirely, if only for a short while, over Zapland. She never thought about it, but Count and Tabloid must have flown on missions without weapons for much longer than a couple of minutes like she had. As the Foxhounds came back around to face them a second time, it surprised her when Count was the first to pull towards them, looking as though he was planning on meeting them head on. "I know how that feels, but that's no reason to go easy on ya!"

Count was quick to take out one of the Foxhounds, both of them having lost their previous curiosity about the aircrafts' unexpected tactics when fighting them. He faced one head on, firing a pair of missiles and turning his plane away as they hit, blowing the enemy MiG to pieces. Naomi didn't see anybody eject from it, but it was mostly engulfed in smoke and she didn't have a clear view. Naomi split one off from the group, chasing him away from his wingman. She hit him with a missile, and his plane seemed unsteady in the air as he evaded the second one she fired and began to limp his way back to Erusean territory. His wingman was quick to follow after Count got a hit on him.

One of the pilots' planes was too badly damaged, and he ejected and left his wingman to continue by himself. Naomi wasn't about to gun down a retreating aircraft, and although Count could be rather gung-ho, she knew that he wasn't going to do something like that either. And he stayed right on her wing as they allowed their enemy to retreat. Long Caster was quick to update everyone on the situation. "Three of the Foxhounds have been splashed, and the last one's retreating. There's no need to worry about them any longer."

"Ha! You can't stop us with just machine guns, geniuses!" Count said smugly.

"Don't start celebrating yet, Count," Naomi advised, even though she wanted to join in. She was starting to grow tired of the back and forth fighting and most of her excitement from the start of the mission had ebbed away. "I doubt that's the last of their forces. They're not stupid, which means their air support wouldn't be retreating unless they had a backup plan."

Long Caster's voice came again, slightly more urgent than it had been before but still level. "She's right. Eight Su-37s are approaching from the west, and a large fleet coming from the southeast. The fleet looks powerful, with Aegis vessel Metis and battleship Dysnomia numbering among them. Our intel confirms that it's the rest of their reserves, the Rán Fleet. It's going to take a lot of work to bring them down."

"Seriously? We have to fight a pristine fleet? After all that?" Húxiān asked. A frustrated sigh followed. "Ugh. Just when I think we're finished, something else comes up."

"Came in for a picnic and we found ourselves in a marathon," Lanza added, not irritable or frustrated but still tired.

"Yeah, I thought you said this was gonna be a walk in the park?" Count said.

Naomi didn't add to the complaining, figuring there wasn't a point to it. It wouldn't change anything, but it would have been nice not to be the one in charge so she could express her thoughts on the situation. But she had the responsibility of holding everyone together and that meant that she had to act like she was fine with the situation. As she opened her mouth to tell them to stop complaining and reassure them that everything would go just fine, but Long Caster spoke before she could. "You take walks to...well, to walk. But at a picnic, you've gotta eat."

Count sighed, but it turned into a weak chuckle. "Well, you don't have to tell me which you prefer. You ready, Trigger?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Naomi replied. She checked her radar as she turned to the fleet. Although she hated attacks like these, she didn't really see any other choice. They'd have to hit them, and they'd probably have to hit them low. Taking Wiseman's advice to Húxiān from their operation to protect Stonehenge, she decided to just grit her teeth and fly. No point in distracting herself by worrying when she had a squadron to lead. "Strider Squadron, we're taking these guys out together. Lanza, you and I will start hitting the fleet. Count, Húxiān, you two back us up. Take out their air support and hit any of the ships if you've got the chance. Most importantly, don't get yourselves shot down. Don't want Wiseman yelling at us, do you?"

"Don't think we want you yelling at us either," Count said through a smile. Naomi rolled her eyes at him but said nothing as he got into his position on her wing, the others following him. As the fleet came within visual range, Count suddenly let out a whistle. "That's a big fleet they've got there. Can't believe they managed to hide this from us for so long."

"Well, they managed to hide that submarine, too. Erusea's got some tricks up their sleeves, that much is for sure," Naomi said, shaking her head. "Like Húxiān and Long Caster said earlier, if they make it to Farbanti then we're going to get our asses kicked. Give 'em hell, everyone!"

With that, Naomi rolled lowered her altitude, getting a lock on a destroyer that was on the edge of their fleet. She fired a pair of missiles and hit them with her pulse lasers shortly after before she had to pull up, her missile warning blaring in her ear. The destroyer was no more, though, smoking as it began to list, all of its defenses now offline. Lanza hit the Aegis vessel before their CIWS could counter his hit, but the ship only took some damage. He was quick to come in for another run, taking it out with one more hit and pulling clear of some desperate machine gun fire from it. Count and Húxiān were dividing their time, scoring hits on the other two destroyers in the fleet while fighting off the enemy air support as well.

Su-37s and F-2s had joined the fray, but no more UAVs had shown up yet. It surprised her, considering that there were so many before. Surely Erusea had more than that on their side. She ignored her worry about the air support, knowing they could handle it regardless, and set her sights on the battle cruiser. The big target, and the one that would likely give them the most trouble. Her missiles were shot out of the sky before they reached their target, so Naomi switched back to her pulse lasers and hit them until she got as close as possible. She switched and fired two missiles at it before shakily pulling up and clear of the water. It was damaged, but it was going to need more than that.

Count, on the other hand, had more success, and he and Húxiān had both taken out the enemy destroyers. Lanza was finishing off the last two ships himself, with some help from Count. Húxiān began keeping the enemy air support busy, and Naomi turned her focus back to the big prize. Her wingmen were fine and the fleet was almost done for. Just a couple more runs should do it. She got a lock and fired, both striking the target. The ship was tough, though, and it was going to need more than that. Naomi tried her best to get a hit with the pulse lasers, but only managed a few, passing hits. She let out a frustrated growl to herself and pulled up, dodging a missile from the battleship as she did.

Naomi maneuvered through the clouds, turning hard and bringing the plane into a dive. She craned her neck to get a look at the ship from the cockpit before she entered the dive, lining up a clear shot. She switched to her pulse lasers and lined it up, firing them without wasting any time. The sharp sound of them firing could be heard on her end, and she couldn't imagine what it sounded like to the enemy. The lasers hit the ship one after the other, and at last the ship burst into flames, smoking. There was visible damage done to it, and it wouldn't be able to recover. Their ship, their entire fleet for that matter, was finally done for. "Strider 1, target has been destroyed!"

"Haha! Trigger just sank a battleship!" Count cheered as he and Lanza pulled up and away from what was left of their target. He must have looked over the fleet before he proudly called, "Sorry guys, but your cruise has been cancelled!"

"Shame, too," Naomi said with a grin, joining in on the joke. "After all, the tickets are non-refundable. And from the looks of things, pretty damn expensive."

"All hostile ships in the vicinity have been destroyed. Excellent work!" Long Caster said to them, a hint of pride in the praise he was giving them.

Brigadier General Clemens' voice came over the radio, clearly disappointed or disapproving. Definitely not as happy as Naomi would have expected him to be. You'd have thought someone had just told him is dog died or something with the way he sounded. Needless to say, he was the last person that Naomi wanted to hear and unfortunately there wasn't anything she or anyone else could do about it. It sounded as though he had just joined Wiseman and was addressing him and Long Caster more than Strider Squadron. "Hmm...it would seem that the famous Three Strikes and her squadron are performing well above our expectations."

Well aren't you a ray of sunshine... Naomi thought, but she didn't say it out loud.

To her surprise, though, Count voiced his own thoughts on Clemens' seemingly down observation on their performance. "Well, you sound downright ecstatic about that," he said in his own disappointed way that mimicked Clemens' tone. With a sigh, turning his plane away from the burning wreck of ships and back towards the city where more targets were waiting for them, he added, "Alright, Trigger, let's go. Maybe we can get a five star review from this guy with a little extra work."

"Not sure about that. You know how critics are. Even if you do it flawlessly, no hiccups at all, the most they'd give is four. Maybe four and a half if you were lucky and polite about things," Naomi said with a small, tired smile. With a chuckle she added, "And, y'know, we're not really either of those things."

Wiseman let out a sigh, almost sounding torn between being amused and being upset at them for disrespecting the brigadier general. Naomi knew that Wiseman didn't like him, though, so if he was upset at them for it then it was most likely just a show so that Clemens wasn't wise to the fact that they had their suspicions about them. Regardless of whatever his feelings on the subject were, Wiseman went on with what he had to say. "We've reduced enough of the enemy forces. Job well done."

Long Caster chuckled. "That prime rib and truffle soup sure were good, but hold on! We've still got a few minutes left before lunchtime is over, so go out and grab some desserts!"

"I knew you'd say that!" Count said, his voice a mix between irritable and amused.

"Well, you've got plenty of treats to choose from, Count," Long Caster replied, and Naomi imagined him wearing his characteristic, friendly smile as he was speaking. Judging from his tone, that's exactly what he was doing. Unfortunately, he was still the bearer of bad news. Or mildly inconvenient news. "Additional UAVs are confirmed on radar, along with a few extra squadrons. Looks like Erusea's finally getting things together. They're going to start pushing back harder soon."

"UAVs, huh?" Naomi asked, scanning her surroundings for any sight of them. Sure enough, there they were, flitting around in the distance alongside their human squadron mates. If you could even consider those things allies rather than equipment. She sighed. "I was wondering when they were going to pull more of these guys out. Kinda disappointed they didn't do it sooner, actually."

"Well, it is pretty shabby for a reinforcement," Lanza said. "I mean, seriously, they can't do the work themselves?"

Húxiān seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden, as if something was off. "Stay sharp. There's something amiss."

Naomi did know that UAVs meant bad news, but it wasn't any different than what they'd normally be facing. She didn't like going up against them, and she did know that sooner or later they could get too tired to fight back, but for now there wasn't any reason to worry. But, maybe there was. Naomi wasn't about to let her guard down, though, and she knew that the others would likely do the same. Húxiān's worry probably encouraged Lanza and Count to pay more attention than they already were, though. She knew she didn't have to warn them a second time. She'd been reminding them over and over again to keep an eye out and by now it was probably already drilled into their heads.

The fight wasn't anything more than a run of the mill dogfight stretched out over the ocean and the city below them. Their flying was starting to get sloppy, and Naomi knew that you didn't have to be an experienced pilot to see that. It was almost painfully obvious how tired they were, slower to react and evading enemy targets at the last possible minute. She was starting to get a bit anxious, mostly because of how many times Count and Húxiān were coming to getting their wings clipped. Permanently. Lanza was doing a bit better, sticking to low flying like he was used to and throwing the enemy off a bit with some basic maneuvers. Naomi was focusing all of her attention on the UAVs, knowing that they'd have the most difficulty with those.

The UAVs seemed to be getting more and more persistent than they had been, changing direction and pulling maneuvers that were odd compared to what they'd faced in the past. Not to mention the speed and stealth upgrades they seemed to have received. Whoever Erusea had in charge of these things must have been having a ball in the last few days, improving things left and right. Unfortunately, they couldn't compete with human pilots in one single aspect. It wasn't adapting very well in the midst of a battle, and Naomi could read their movements and fly accordingly while the UAV was confined to the limits of its programming. It may be new and improved, at least as far as Naomi could tell, but it was an easy obstacle to overcome.

As the battle started to turn in their favor, Naomi started to feel a sense of dread building up and remembered the comment that Húxiān had made earlier. It later became apparent why the two of them felt as though something wasn't sitting right when Long Caster's voice came over the radio again, raised slightly and far more urgent and concerned than he'd been throughout the operation. "Warning! Incoming high-speed projectile! Trying to verify the impact zone now!"

"Projectile?!" Lanza echoed in shock.

Naomi gritted her teeth, scanning the skies for something that looked out of place. This wasn't Helios...it had to be something else. Right? Erusea wouldn't risk human pilots like this. She noticed Húxiān as her wingman shot down one of the enemy fighters, trying to dodge a UAV on her tail. But this wasn't like the ones they'd been facing. It was smaller and much, much faster. Naomi was quick to spring into action, turning hard and more abruptly than she ever had and trying to reach Húxiān as soon as possible. She was going on a gut instinct more than anything, but she felt like she didn't have a choice but to trust it. "Strider 4! Húxiān! New enemy on radar! Shake that drone off, now!"

It came as a surprise when David finally cut in, probably having been listening in and monitoring the situation from his home like he'd done during their last operation. His voice was concerned and gave a clear, unexpected order to the two of them. "It's the terminal guidance! Captain, Lieutenant, get away from that UAV!"

"What do you mean?!" Count demanded, already trying to move in to offer support for Naomi and Húxiān. Lanza wasn't far behind, but they both slowed their approach upon hearing David tell them that.

"Contact imminent!" Long Caster practically shouted.

In spite of Naomi trying to fire at it, the UAV dodged all of her attacks, fixated on pursuing Húxiān. But it wasn't firing at her. Naomi tried one more time before there was a sudden explosion in the air, several bursts of flame and smoke in the air, sending a shockwave that shook her plane even though she was what appeared to be a safe distance away. Húxiān hadn't gotten out of the way, though, and was right in the center of its area of impact and let out a startled, pained cry as her plane took a significant amount of damage. "Impact at the UAV's coordinates! Strider 4, are you okay?"

Húxiān responded through clenched teeth, sounding as though she was fighting to keep pain out of her voice. "Gah! Shit! I'm hit, dammit!"

"What?!" Count asked, all of it having happened in the blink of an eye. Even Naomi barely had a chance to register it all, but she'd had a front row seat to help that along

"What happened?" Lanza added, having been the farthest away at the time.

"Strider Squadron! We have more on the way!" Long Caster called out.

"What in the world?" Naomi muttered, looking around as much as she could. Clouds, smoke, enemy aircraft, and her wingmen. That's all she saw. No signs of anything else, yet. Feeling guilt at the fact that she wasn't able to get that weird looking drone off of Húxiān's tail, she figured that she should at least try to find the next one if there was one. Quickly, she checked up on Húxiān, "Húxiān, are you alright? You sound like you're hurt!"

"I'm—" Húxiān began, but she didn't get an opportunity to finish before Long Caster spoke up again.

"Fire incoming! Distance 50,000!" Long Caster said, having steadied his tone and regained a level head, which was more than Naomi could say in that moment. Naomi got eyes on the target, and at first she thought that it was going to just blow up wherever, but it turned suddenly and began flying towards her. Long Caster seemed to be trying to warn her away from it as he added, "Strider 1, it's adjusting it's course!"

Naomi wanted to engage it, to see if she could shoot it down, but her instincts were telling her to run from it until they understood this thing better. Count, on the other hand, jumped right on it and began a pursuit of it, trying to shoot it down but to no avail. Húxiān grunted in pain, having flown a safe distance away, and seemed suddenly aware of where Naomi and Count were as she shouted at Naomi. "Trigger! Get away from that thing! NOW!"

"Distance 30,000!" Long Caster's voice was nervous again. "Contact imminent!"

"Count! Count, break off!" Naomi pulled a hard turn to try and get clear of the blast radius, and it wasn't until she ordered him to stop chasing it that he did the same, barely making it before the sky filled with fire and the sky seemed to ripple for a moment with a visible shockwave. Having been closer to the series of explosions than the first time, Naomi's plane shook more violently than it had done before and her head slammed back against her ejection seat with a loud clacking noise that caused her to wince and clench her jaw. There was a dull, faint pain in the back of her head but it was dissipating quickly and she was more surprised than anything. She heard Count grunt in pain as something similar likely happened to him and Naomi was quick to recover and call out to him. "Shit! Strider 2! Count!"

"I'm fine, Trigger," Count replied as he straightened out his aircraft. "What about you? Are you hanging in there?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," Naomi answered, scanning the skies for any more uninvited guests. It looked like they were in the clear for the time being, but she wasn't about to start thinking they were completely out of the woods. "Long Caster, you got an update for us?"

Long Caster was silent for a moment, but he answered her as professionally calm as always. "Analysis shows the projectile was a railgun shell! We're currently determining the launch site."

It was David that spoke next, seeming to have more information than any of them did. "It's the Alicorn. They're shooting from beyond the horizon, which is why they need the UAV for terminal guidance." There was a faint, garbled tapping sound as he typed something into his computer, and he was silent for a few seconds while he did that. "They're using sub launched UAVs for the terminal guidance, and it would appear that their goal is to get as close to you as possible. These things are small and fast, but you might be able to outrun them. At the very least, you should have some time to get out of range if you know where it'll hit. Long Caster, Major Wiseman, I'm sending you some extra intel now. This might be able to help you, even if it isn't much."

"Thanks, David," Long Caster said. There was a pause, and then he added, "We'll data link the predicted explosion radius from now on. Stay out of its way and don't take too many risks with it."

Naomi nodded firmly to herself but said nothing, finally getting all of her thoughts composed and no longer feeling anxious and shaken from the blast. She noticed Húxiān's plane was trailing smoke, but was still flying, but it wouldn't hold up much longer. Definitely not through the rest of the operation. Naomi wasn't about to lose a wingman out here, and she knew that it was the same call that Wiseman or any other flight leader would make if they were out here instead of her. "Húxiān, your plane took a lot of damage and it sounds like you got pretty beat up yourself. Head back to the return line and get fixed up a little so you can go home. I'm not gonna let you push your luck on a damaged plane."

Húxiān let out an annoyed and surprised scoff, obviously not liking the order that she was given. "Dammit, you're telling me to leave my teammates behind?"

Before Naomi had to do something she didn't want to do and reaffirm the order with some rank pulling involved, Wiseman came to the rescue in a more patient way than Naomi probably would have been. "Húxiān, she's right. Head back. I want that 100% survival rating."

Although she clearly wanted to argue, too stubborn to want to just quit like that, Húxiān knew better than to argue with both of her superiors. Especially when it came to something like this. She sighed, reluctantly disengaging from the enemy fighter she'd been chasing. "Roger that...I'm pulling out."

As Húxiān turned towards the return line, Naomi turned to follow. She was running low on ammunition and she also didn't want Húxiān going back by herself with no one to cover her. "Count, Lanza, I'm going with Húxiān so I can resupply. Watch out for those UAVs next time they show up. I'll be back before you know it." She heard the two of them respond to this and confirm that they had anything handled, so she continued on her way with Húxiān.

Their return was spent mostly in silence, and their return was greeted with a little more concern than before. Húxiān was helped out of her plane after they landed, although she continued to swat away everyone that actually tried to give her any help. She had a couple of bruises and what looked like a scratch or two, but other than that she seemed fine, if not a little tired. Húxiān glanced Naomi's way as she was ushered past the aircraft and away from the runway. She gave a weak and rare smile, one that was almost grateful, and Naomi gave her a thumbs up before her wingman was out of sight. At least she was safe here. Húxiān may not have been happy about leaving, but it didn't change the fact that she obviously had no business continuing to fight.

Naomi couldn't help but feel grateful that, unlike Brownie had been, Húxiān wasn't so stubborn as to keep fighting in spite of orders given. She wasn't good to anyone dead, and in spite of her aggressive and feisty personality, Húxiān recognized this just like everyone else did. Naomi still felt guilty for being unable to keep her from getting hit in the first place, but at least she wasn't hurt too badly. She'd be able to return to action in no time at all. Now if Naomi could just keep Count and Lanza out of harm's way for the rest of the operation, otherwise they'd be stuck at base keeping Húxiān company and Naomi would be on her own. She was pretty sure that nobody wanted that.

Before she took off for the third time that day, she'd wrestled with the decision of switching up her special weaponry and ultimately decided to do so. There were only enemy aircraft left in the area, and although she figured the pulse lasers were a well rounded weapon, she figured it would be easier to go with something different for a change. The ground crew was happy to quickly change them for her, removing the pulse lasers and speedily equipping her Eagle with SASMs in their place. The load was more increased than usual, thanks to some specifications sent over by Avril to give Strider Squadron an extra edge in the battle. It increased the capacity they normally had as well without weighing their planes down too much.

With a smooth takeoff, Naomi was quick to return to the battle and found that Lanza and Count were holding their own quite well without her. She walked in on them yelling about food or something and laughing with Long Caster, and she wisely chose not to ask any questions as she informed them of her presence. "Well, at least the two of you had fun while I was out. Ran up the score a little too, it would seem," Naomi said with a chuckle and their laughter over whatever they'd been talking about began to die off. She held back a sigh, not really liking the idea of being on her own but knowing it was necessary nonetheless, and waited a moment before continuing. "I'll take over now. Count, you and Lanza go and resupply so we can finish strong."

"Whoah, whoah, hold on a minute!" Count's previous good mood came to a screeching halt as she told them this. "You're asking us to leave you on your own? After we've seen what those nutcases can do? Fat chance, Trigger."

Naomi rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh. She couldn't help but wonder why he was so concerned, but it was still reassuring to know that he cared. Trying to sound serious, she shrugged it off and coolly replied. "Stop sounding so worried, Count. I can take care of myself. And if you're so concerned, then why don't you just hurry up and go so that you can get back?" Naomi smirked as she added in a more condescending tone, "Or are you just afraid that I'm going to beat your score? Again."

Count let out an annoyed scoff, but Lanza didn't give him a chance to protest any longer as he began to pull out of the battle. It sounded like he was still grinning as he encouraged Count to follow him. "C'mon, Count. We might want to take her advice and hurry it up before she takes all the good kills," he said with a chuckle. Sighing, Count finally disengaged the enemy and followed after Lanza, no longer arguing with her. Lanza picked up speed, fully intending to follow her orders to the letter it would seem. "That's the spirit! We'll be back before you know it, boss! Be sure to leave a couple of the nicer desserts for us, will ya?"

She grinned. "Yeah, I can't make you any promises, boys!"

Jumping right into the fight once they were safe and out of range, Naomi found herself a bit thrown off without her wingmen flying around and chattering in her ear. It amazed her how much she actually enjoyed listening to them talk all the time, especially Count with his over competitiveness and charisma even in the heat of a battle. Her only source of conversation was Long Caster, but all the talk of food was making her increasingly hungry and they were quickly running out of jokes and puns to use. However, knowing that she'd managed to make it through a couple of operations with radio silence it wasn't like she couldn't function. Sure, the fight felt...off somehow. Even more than it already was. But it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

It seemed that the SLUAVs were taking a break in their attacks, as she hadn't seen one yet and Long Caster hadn't announced it. There were a couple of large squadrons hanging around, a couple of the UAVs causing some trouble among them, but it was mostly comprised of F/A-18s, Su-57s, and a handful of F-2s that remained from the wave that accompanied the Rán Fleet. Naomi was saving the SASMs she had until the last possible minute, seeing no reason to use them against easy targets that were just as tired as she was. She managed to wipe out the remaining UAVs, getting them out of the way first, then moved on to their escorts. These were fresher pilots than before and more challenging than she expected, but she still managed to take out a couple of them.

Straightening out, climbing into the clouds for a break and to throw the enemy off, she took a deep breath and broke through, high above the clouds now and on the search for her next target. "Hey, Long Caster. It's been a while since we've heard from our guys on the ground," she said, coming to the realization after having a pause to clear her mind and catch her breath. "Think we should check in on them or something? I'd feel bad if I found out something bad happened to them."

Long Caster was speaking through a smile as he answered her, "We heard from them while you were gone. Count took out their target for them. Turns out it was Captain Alonso Tarragó, the captain of the Aegis vessel Thalassa. I think we sunk his ship, but Erusea lost a powerful leader regardless." After he gave her the update on their last target, he went silent for a few minutes. "Alright, Count and Lanza are on their way back. I'll radio Major Grimm now to check in on the ground unit."

The major's voice came over the radio a second after that, sounding winded but still keeping a light tone. "I'll save you the trouble, Long Caster. Tucker 0-4 checking in and requesting an airstrike on the designated heli, as expected." He gave a weak chuckle, and Naomi would have given him more pity had she not been preoccupied with taking down the last F-2 that was determined to give her a hard time. "We're sending the coordinates your way now. Sorry we have you running back and forth like this. I'm sure you probably feel like a waiter trying to take a million orders at once, eh?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Naomi chuckled, rolling clear of a missile and diving to get away from the enemy fighters so she could take out the helicopter. It wasn't a close target, and by the time Naomi had reached the helicopter it was almost already out of the AO. She swiftly took care of it, lining up the shot and firing with the machine gun to avoid waiting for a lock. Finally it was torn apart and beat up enough that it crashed to the ground, and Naomi turned away from it. "This is Strider 1. Target is down."

"This is Tucker 0-4, confirming target's destruction. Nice work." Major Grimm said. "You've eliminated quite the threat. You see, in ten years, Vice Commander of the 7th Destroyer squadron, Tâm Vān Lý, will be in charge of the Erusean Navy...well, would have been, actually." He let out a heavy sigh and through the radio Naomi could hear the distant sounds of the battle she was fighting. "We're going to clean up a little here before we move out. I appreciate the air support. Many thanks to the LRSSG."

"Glad we could help," Long Caster replied, and Naomi had a feeling that they wouldn't be hearing from Major Grimm and Tucker 0-4 for a while. She couldn't imagine what else there was left for them on the ground, but they could use any extra help they could get.

Naomi turned her plane back towards the city, the enemy being quick to reengage and start firing everything they had at her. It started to feel like, for every one target she was shooting down, at least two more showed up and jumped on her. Most of her fighting was sloppy shooting and quick evading to break missile locks, and the hits she made were all by chance. She managed to take out about three fighters on her own that time, but now they were all swarming her, almost trying to corral her while they were in the sky. With some fast, sharp movements she managed to climb above them and keep distance between herself and them to allow her some room to move.

Unfortunately, by now, the Alicorn had chosen to begin launching more of their SLUAVs and Naomi grunted and braced herself as the railgun shell detonated near her and another drone zipped by in its place, making it difficult for her to fight. "Strider 1, hang in there a little longer. Count and Lanza should be back any minute now. Just steer clear of those drones!" Long Caster ordered and Naomi let out a frustrated growl as she tried to outrun the damn drone. "Ten seconds until impact."

"Alright, you know what? I'm tired of this shit," Naomi said. She hit the brakes and tilted the nose of her plane down, sending the SLUAV flying right over her. Knowing that she didn't have much time to do away with it, Naomi quickly switched to her special weaponry and got a lock, firing an SASM at it as quickly as she could. Surprising herself with how quickly she rolled her plane out of its range in case the missile didn't hit, she braced herself for an impact that never came. Relaxing, she searched the skies and found no signs of the UAV. Trying not to let herself get too hopeful, she took a breath and radioed Long Caster. "Long Caster, the UAV has disappeared from radar. Can you confirm that I took it down?"

"Verifying that now...yes! You took it down before the projectile hit!" Long Caster replied and Naomi let out a sigh of relief.

"Whoah, what'd we miss?" Lanza's voice came over the radio as he and Count finally returned to the area, rearmed and ready to fight some more. It seemed he had a tone of both concern and amusement, as neither one of them were sure what they had just walked into. "Sounds like the two of you are celebrating something."

Long Caster seemed more than happy to fill the two of them in. "Trigger shot down one of the UAVs they were using for terminal guidance, and the projectile exploded in the distance," he said. "It's probably a failsafe. It isn't much, but it could prove to be handy. For us, anyways."

"Hey, it may not be much, but it looks like we've got a temporary solution!" Count replied with a chuckle. "Just who're you out to impress today, Trigger?"

Naomi chuckled. "You sound jealous, Count. As usual." Although the teasing comment didn't go unnoticed, he didn't try and defend himself from it so Naomi continued. "Now, I've been waiting for you two to come back and give me a hand. So get over here and let's finish these guys off so we can go home, already. Maybe we can go without any surprises this time, just to finish things off on a good note?"

"Alright, I'll see what we can do about that, Trigger," Long Caster said with an almost exasperated laugh. "In the meantime, all aircraft, follow Trigger's example if you can."

Count scoffed. "Yeah, that's easy for you to say, Long Caster. You're not the one that has to do it!"

"Well, I dunno," Lanza said through a smile. "I'm actually starting to get used to flying like Trigger. I had to just to keep up with her."

Naomi stifled a laugh. "Okay, enough with the flattering. We've got work to do. Count, stay on my wing. Lanza...probably best if you stick with us, too, honestly."

She received no argument from the two of them, who were back at her side within a matter of seconds. The enemy numbers were starting to thin out, so Naomi took it as a good sign. Lanza and Count followed her movements almost perfectly and the three of them worked together to take down the enemy aircraft and did so with ease. The trouble came when the Alicorn decided to send out two UAVs at one time, which made it tricky now that they were tired and outnumbered. Long Caster warned them of the UAVs arrival, and Count broke off without waiting for anyone to tell him otherwise and went straight for the one closest to them. "Damn cowards, shooting us from beyond our range!"

With a frustrated snarl he shot the first one down, right as the second one completed its job of guiding the railgun shell to their location. Count let out a grunt as he evaded, rolling clear. "Gah! I've never felt so cramped in the sky!" Once he'd regained his bearings and regrouped with Naomi and Lanza, he let out an annoyed sigh and asked, "Long Caster, we almost done?"

"One minute left," Long Caster promptly replied.

So without any other argument, they continued to engage the remaining Erusean forces. The three of them split up the remaining four targets, making sure that they were kept away from their wingmen and occupied with Strider Squadron instead. Naomi took them on two on one, which gave them some advantage since they could work together to bring her down. It seemed like they really wanted to, as well, but she was careful to avoid any missiles from them and managed to dodge some of their gunfire. At first it took her a while to get used to their flying and figure out how their movements differed from the squadron before them, but once she had the hang of it Naomi managed to counter their movements much better than she'd done before.

They both tried to hit her head on, but she rolled clear and fired before they did, hitting one of them in the wing. The pilot had no choice but to eject, and left his wingman alone to deal with Naomi. She almost felt bad for him, but the feeling went away once she got her focus on him. Unlike the MiG pilots, the loss of their wingmate affected their performance in the opposite way. Instead, it seemed like he was just giving up and surrendering to his fate. Naomi fired a missile at the plane and it evaded rather lazily, so Naomi tried for some gunfire. However, it appeared that he was just trying to leave the airspace without a fight and it became apparent as to why.

Count and Lanza had finished off his other wingmen, and that left him significantly outnumbered and without a reason to continue fighting. Right now, he was a prime target, but Naomi wasn't about to shoot someone down if they weren't going to fight. Damaged and retreating aircraft got a free pass. She wasn't going to hunt someone down just for the sake of running up her score. The battle was over, and all that remained in the sky were plumes of smoke drifting away in the wind. Naomi turned her plane away from Erusean territory, back towards the bay and the direction they'd come from. Count dutifully took his place at her wing, while Lanza seemed to drift further ahead and do his own thing. He appeared to be performing some celebratory stunts now that he didn't have to worry about getting shot out of the sky.

Over the radio, she heard Wiseman's voice and let up on the throttle, relaxing as he began talking. "Whoo! Well done, Strider! We've managed to hit the Erusean navy's fleet and command structure pretty hard. I take it you all had a nice picnic?"

"Oh, yeah!" Lanza laughed again and Naomi couldn't help but smile along with him. She was discovering that he had an infectious laugh and optimism, much like Tabloid if not more outgoing than he was. He seemed just as proud of their victory as Naomi and Wiseman did. "That was definitely a free lunch, if there ever was one!"

Wiseman let out a small, barely noticeable chuckle. He sounded tired. Or worried. However, any evidence of this was quickly wiped away as it became clear that he was smiling. "Mission complete. Return to base! Withdraw from the operation airspace." He paused for a moment, as if to catch his breath, and then continued. It sounded as if whatever smile he'd been wearing had faded away. "You've completed the mission, but it's not done until you return home. All of you, safe and sound. Just don't do anything stupid on your way back and I'll have no complaints!"

"You hear that, Count?" Naomi asked with a smirk, turning her head so she could get a view of his plane.

"Heh. Arrogant bastards..." Count muttered with a scoff, avoiding answering her question, but it seemed that even he was happy with the situation.

A sudden beeping noise set everyone on edge once again, and Naomi checked her radar as soon as she'd heard it, everyone's lighthearted conversation immediately ceasing. "Long Caster, my radar is picking up something, but I'm not seeing anything," she said, checking over her radar and HUD, even trying to get visual confirmation on something. The clouds were starting to get thicker, though, and if something was coming then she didn't see it. "I thought we cleared the area of hostiles? Did we miss something?"

"Stand by," Long Caster ordered sternly, his tone more serious and focused than it had been a minute or so prior. He knew not to get lazy on the job, but he must not have picked it up as fast as usual. But he was quick to inform them of the update once he'd confirmed the situation. "Warning! Two bogeys, inbound! Bearing 090 Su-47s!"

There wasn't any other aircraft in the skies at that moment, at least none that they could see right away, but their radars managed to pick something up. Count was the first to realize what it was, and to Naomi's surprise he quickly called out to the most vulnerable of the three of them. "Lanza! Missile, behind you! Evade it, dammit!"

It happened in almost the blink of an eye, and none of them were able to react fast enough. There was a streak from a missile that had been fired from long range, and Lanza made a hard turn to evade it, grunting in pain as he did so. In spite of his efforts to turn, the missile made contact and there was a faint thud that Naomi guessed was the explosion. He'd managed to deflect most of the hit, but they must have had some advanced weapons or something as it still took out his left elevator. He was trailing smoke, but he looked like he was still flying.

"LANZA!" Anxiously and immediately, Naomi and Count both called out to him at the same time as they flew right past where he'd been, directly in line of whoever had fired that missile. They put themselves between Lanza and the enemy, at least protecting him from getting hit again, even if it meant they'd be taking fire.

"Strider 3 is hit," Long Caster said, trying to keep his cool.

A new voice came over the radio, but one that Naomi recognized from their last operation. It belonged to a man, and Naomi could tell they'd been listening in on them. He let out a dark chuckle and seemed all too happy about their hit on Lanza. "Good. Now we have less goons to deal with," he said, and the way he said it made Naomi's blood boil. Those bats were there to follow through on their threat, and Naomi could tell that they weren't messing around this time. Knowing they'd almost succeeded probably gave them the extra motivation. To his wingman he said, "Alright, let's do it, Scream!"

What followed was an overjoyed shout from his wingman before their transmission cut out with a burst of static and Naomi was still left wondering how they'd managed to get on Osean channels. Listening in, she could understand, but responding as well? That was a different trick entirely. She quickly tried to set that aside and focused on their new enemy as they turned around to face the two aircraft when they finally came within range. Their Berkuts circled around each other in an overly dramatic display, just like when they'd shown up over Artiglio. Count made it clear how annoyed he was, recalling these psychos just like everyone else was. "Great, it's those damn bats!"

Naomi wasn't about to let them get away with shooting down any of her wingmen, no matter what that crazy woman vowed to do. She switched to her SASMs and began closing the gap between them, radioing Long Caster and Wiseman as she did. "We're covering Lanza's retreat. I'm not letting them shoot any of us down."

"Quick thinking, Trigger," Wiseman responded, much more concerned and angry than he'd been in a while. Naomi wondered if he was frustrated about not being there to help, but he didn't say anything. "Trigger, Count, engage to let Strider 3 escape! We're calling off the withdrawal!"

"Both of you, watch out for their missiles!" Lanza warned them as he began his limp home, sounding audibly shaken by what had just happened. With a shaky breath to get his emotions under control. "The missile alert didn't go off in time! Hit me as soon as I heard it!"

"It may be that the enemy's missiles somehow have stealth capabilities," Long Caster replied, sounding as though he was trying to come up with other alternatives. "That's all we can figure out from the data we have."

"I'm sorry, their missiles have what now?" Naomi asked, bordering snapping, not really liking what she was hearing.

"Uhh...their missiles may hit you immediately after your missile alert goes off," Long Caster said quickly, almost nervously, more explaining himself than answering her question. Although, really, it cleared up the issue. Some. "It'll seem like their missiles come out of nowhere, and its hard to tell from which direction they'll be coming. You'll have to be watching carefully or you won't react fast enough."

"Ah, so that's their trick, huh?" Count said, mostly to himself. He was right behind Naomi, not having left or wavered from her side. "What do you say, Trigger? You ready to show these guys how to fly?"

Naomi, recalling the hit that Lanza had taken and how close they'd come to shooting him down, got ready to face them. "Yeah, I'm ready. Their tricks aren't going to do them much good once we get ahold of them. Let's go, Count! Stay close to me, alright? And don't let 'em hit you!"

"Righto, Trigger. I've got your back," Count said and Naomi was surprised once again by his change in demeanor. He could go from being an ass to being as fierce and loyal as just about any other pilot Naomi had met, and it was actually starting to become normal.

She tried not to think about that as the two of them finally reached the duo, noting that the bats were using the same tricks they had before along with their new, missile stealth thing or whatever. Naomi knew it was more enhanced than it had been before, but there were no new allies coming out of nowhere anymore. No false targets, just them. The only problem was that Naomi was having a hard time getting a solid lock on one of them. She fired when she thought she had it, but the missile zipped past them and they both flew right between Naomi and Count, firing right as they did. Naomi and Count managed to get out of the way in time, and none of them managed to get a hit on the other.

Clemens, after being silent for some time, suddenly spoke up. Hearing his voice was unexpected, and she figured that he'd left wherever he and Wiseman had been monitoring everything from back at the base. Something about the way he was speaking sounded confused and concerned, like someone that had been thrown in the middle of something unexpectedly. "Shit!" he spat, more concerned by their appearance than he had been during their last operation. "Calling out to unidentified aircraft! Cease combat immediately and withdraw!"

"What the hell?!" Count blurted out. "What's he doing?"

"Brigadier General Clemens is radioing enemy aircraft. And on Osean channels!" Long Caster answered, seemingly as surprised as they were.

Naomi wasn't about to let them get away because of that idiot. Not again. Not after what they'd said. She got on their six and fired an SASM. It didn't do much damage, and it barely scratched them, but it sent them a clear warning. One that said she wasn't going to let them leave without a fight. Count chuckled. "Too late, Trigger's already started!" he said, but Naomi didn't smile or feel the need to reply to 