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[NSMC 309th] Mission 2.5 - AGL Bullies

Legix

Well-Known Member
YE 39, New Bernese High Orbit
NSS Sickslayer, 1st Assault Fleet, Jackdaw-Hunter Pack 4

The arrival of Hunter Pack Four, one of the newest lances of the newly christened Jackdaw, was one met without much ceremony. Sickslayer was at the head, the livery of a road-killed Mishhu painted along the nose guards of its powerful torpedo tubes. The ship and its lance had been given to a collection of Captains who were quite experienced by now with the ship. It was the 1st Fleet often benefited with the task of testing the newest war machines, and even the assets of the 3rd Fleet that had arrived ahead of them to soften things up and secure Nepleslian interests below consisted of less experienced Captains. The Heckler and those that had been here were just immediately dispatched by the 3rd as a test of the ships in a basic combat role.

But the Sickslayer had come with a different approach. It and its fellow ships were carrying cargo on their bellies, the ships having been preparing for some time while their assets were re-allocated. Along the bottom of the four Jackdaws were two Na-FA4A, two Na-FA4B, two Na-YF/A-6X, and two Na-F/A2. They were paired off, with two on each Jackdaw. This meant the flight was spread out across the ships, but they'd been prepared for the arrival of the ships by now. It also meant that each of them were given a Disrupter Flight Suit, the newest suit to assist pilots in controlling the finest fighters in the sector.

"This is Sickslayer," the comms lit up through all their helmets, as not all of them might have been powered up yet or even still making their way through the void via securing cable tethers, "Flight get to ready and report. Ready to relay orders to you, Aquila-1."

The view from the Jackdaws got slightly better as their prows rose, exposing more of their belly to the world. The smoggy layering of cloud cover that came with a Nepleslian world rapidly industrializing barely hid the massive yellow-green fields of the world, the massive lakes down below indicating they were somewhere over the proper hemisphere of the world. While they did have control for the most part of the secure-end of the world, there was little intel on the Red-inspired terrorists in the mountains to safely allow them to be anywhere else. Pirates weren't as much of an issue, but facing an enemy that had once been part of the bastard-Reds meant that they could be packing something completely unexpected.

But they had the solace of knowing there was no war effort or reinforcements coming. These Reds were alone, just like the greedy pirates that had elicited the military action in full. And soon, Aquila would get the chance to work alongside the grunts below to drive them from the world. This would be the first step.

(@Whitehart @Gunhand4171 @paladinrpg @Grey Library - You guys can pick any of the craft you'd like. The two 4A's are intended to be for Gunhand as commander, but he's allowed to divide them out to you guys as he wishes =3=/ now let's get to getting Aquila Flight moving once more.)
 
New Bernese High Orbit
Launch Tube


"Aquila 3 reporting in, it's a beautiful day out there." Gentle humming filled the squadron's airwaves as the ponderous Hammerhead sat at the end of the launch tube, the inert torpedo bomber a freakish shadow in the dim lighting of the long barrel-chamber. Tiny pinpricks of red flickered down its shovelhead nose, the craft's many Pulse Laser Arrays running through their warmup cycles in minute bursts of infrared.

Under the mirrored shell of the Na-F/A 02's canopy the petite form of Lieutenant Miranda "Spirit" Bannings looked comically undersized seated in the Hammerhead's roomy cockpit as she drummed her fingers on the dashboard; the little slip of a girl taking up about a quarter of the space in the giant bomber's almost-bridge. "Good morning everyone, it's a pleasure to see you all again." she hummed, leaning back and stretching in her seat.

(OOC: What a pleasant surprise! Thank you so much for this!)
 
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New Bernese High Orbit
Launch tubes

Nero Vega sat in the cockpit of his Na-04, and ran through his preflight check. The Captain was happy to be in the new Disruptor flight suits he had been hearing so much about. He flexed his arms smirked. They were so much more comfortable in a cramped cockpit.

"Sickslayer Control, Aquila 1. Reading you 5 by 5. Ready to receive orders." Crux replied.

Nero flicked his comms over to the flight channel. "Alright everyone, time to get our feet wet once more. I want all units to report in and prepare for the briefing."

He then added. "Good to see you to Aquila 3. Ready to get back in the air?" The captain asked as his systems all cycled on.

 
"Aquila, um, Aquila something or other in control and ready for action," Edward Donato still was not sure of his current designation and was honestly to lazy to look it up. This surprised no one when it came to the thin, well groomed mustachioed electronics expert. He was fidgeting with the Na-FA4B Dictator's keypad, someone had changed his settings from the last time he had been in the seat and it actually quite annoyed him. "Happy, seriously, my keybinds are fucked. If you did this I am going to make you squeak like a prepubescent little boy," Edward said out loud in to the cockpit. A small flash and an animated cartoonish squirrel appeared on the dash of the ship, "Listen Buster, I already sound like that thank you very much and let me just say that I am soooooo happy to have you back. So happy that I would like for you to have my nuts, they are delicious and salty, would you like my nuts Eddie?" There was the holographic cartoon holding out a handful of nuts in the most innocent way but then the eyes told a different story. Wagging up and down with a twinkle that belied the innocent appearance and spoke of a mind filled with innuendo.

Edward rolled his eyes with a chuckle, "Buddy, no one wants your nuts. How is that speed laser painting algorithm coming by the way, you need a hand?" He had long since accepted that, while his holographic friend was based on the formerly famous but still lovable cartoon, Happy the Squirrel and his Foresty Friends, it has really grown up.

"Almost down with it E man, it is going to be so super ooper! In fact, I think it will be a blast, " the squirrel exclaimed as it generated a holographic stick of dynamite and it exploded, causing the squirrel to be a blackened husk for a second with an exuberant white smile.

Edward smiled again, "Great buddy, add it to the rolodex and let's get ready to roll."

Edward had chosen the Dictator really only because it was the easiest to fly and had a pretty sweet EW package. While considered an Ace pilot he was more a support pilot due to his advanced training in EW, mathematics and fairly strategic mind. All said and done however, he would do the Imperium proud, he was sure of it.
 
New Bernese High Orbit
Launch tubes


"Sickslayer Control, this is Aquila-2. I am reading you loud and clear. All systems checkout green," came a calm, almost mechanical female voice from the cockpit of one of the stealthy Scythe's stowed in the underbelly of the formation of Jackdaws, as its advanced flight systems began to show signs of life. The aloof Jiyuuian veteran within the pressurized flight suit at its controls was certainly not a stranger to the others assembled, considering they had fought together with her through many battles. Lt. Mochizuki Sayoko would never truly admit it, but hearing their voices chatter did lift her dark spirits as she recalled their sorties before today... though there was always the specter of the tortured past on the fields of Tange that hung over her heart like a vise, not wanting to get too close to others for fear of them being taken away. Even her nights spent with Virgil now seemed like a distant hazy memory, as his absence caused her to once again slowly turn to her crutches to numb her pains and the nightmares that ever haunted her sleep. But, even still, a glimmer of hope remained in her heart and kept her going forward.

"...it is an honor to once again fly with you all," transmitted the emerald-haired pilot over the personal comms channel, a little unexpectedly for the quiet former intelligence agent. "Spirit, looks like this mission theater will be an interesting one for you. And Crux, try to keep your hero complex in check," she warned with a certain fondness, bringing to mind Nero's penchant for dramatics and Miranda's love of bombs.

As she spoke these words of encouragement , her NH-22 body's digital mind had already nearly effortlessly began a secure uplink with the ACE AI over the Kraken interface, preparing the craft's CFS for final launch sequence once coordinates of their objective were transmitted. The soft feelings in her heart began to harden once more as the hum of the hyperspace tap and QNC systems filled the capacitor arrays of the Scythe with power, telepathic feedback granting a visceral realization of the destructive power placed in her hands by the Nepleslian Star Navy to defeat its sworn foes.

Indeed, the real Shiori back in Jiyuu was counting on her to remain strong, and continue to follow the orders of her new nation. Her encounters with the Reds didn't start here... no, she had tracked the prison break before under the IPG's watch to rescue former wingman 'Deadman', and she had survived their onslaught in the skies as well with the destruction of Fort Sentinel. Whatever splinter group these were, this time would be no different... that was why she was here, after all. Once a Nekovalkyrja, always a Nekovalkyrja. War was her purpose, even if she once fought for peace. But that seemed like so long ago now.

"Banshee awaiting orders," finally came the cool, business-like voice of Sayoko once more, her interceptor's black hull glimmering faintly in the dim, reflected light from the smoggy clouds not far below.
 
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"Very much so, sir. Very much so." Spirit gave an affirmative nod, her eyes bearing a delighted sparkle amidst the woman's calm facade. Shooting the squadron leader a coy smirk, she chuckled. "Despite appearances, I do prefer actual piloting over "piloting a desk", as the saying goes. Same as you I presume, sir?"

"Ah, Banshee. Help says hello!" The luminescent orb of the ACE AI's avatar buzzed in the background, Help giving off the holographic equivalent of a passing wave as it busied itself with readying the elephantine warship for launch. Turning to face her fully, the ashen-haired bombardier gave Sayoko a pleased smile. "It's not much of a problem, actually? Skippering larger ships like this one reminds me of my days at the Kestrel's helm, so no worries about any loss of performance on our part. We'll be alright!"

"Though I do protest the fact that they took the Horne away, aging airframe aside." Spirit grumbled under her breath, huffing in indignation. "I was fond of the old girl."

[Edit later]
 
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New Bernese High Orbit
Launch tubes

Judith Branthese hurried her way towards the launch tubes of the Jackdaw; while she was already missing the bridge of a Shaika, orders were orders, and if she was meant to get into a more 'personal' field for the moment, she'd just have to make do. The Disrupter Flight Suit wasn't exactly the busty Nepleslian's first choice of attire however, while she understood it was meant to be an improvement over a bulky power armor, and it was better then nothing, she somehow doubted the flight suit had been designed with women like her in mind - she swore it felt like the suit was trying to crush her chest.

The brown-haired woman noted the absence of her fellow Flight members, and figured she was simply the last one to arrive, meaning everyone else was already prepping. Not the best way to make a first impression, showing up somewhat tardy... brushing it aside, Judith made a quick jog towards the last unoccupied F/A2. The brunette sighed in relief as she was finally able to sit and somewhat relax, this suit was really havoc on her chest...

"Aquilia-5 here, a little behind schedule."
 
New Bernese High Orbit

With all the assembled craft deployed, The four jackdaws began a slow and coordinated series of maneuvers away from the assembling flight. Carefully and methodically increasing the distance between themselves a span of several kilometers apart until, With the Aquila flight in the center, They had achieved a wide diamond formation in high orbit covering a distance of over ten square kilomiters with a ship at each corner, And began a slow burn to begin to orient themselves to face the planet with their noses down.

"Ink Eater standing by."
"War Owl standing by"
"NSS Anemone Reports: Standing by!"

The three sister ships to the Sickslayer broadcast between one another and through the communications systems of the idling flight, The reports bouncing back and forth several times in a varying qualities of static and echoes while an encryption was set, Tested, And finally secured with the confirmation from the Sickslayer's comms talker with "Sickslayer receives and confirms all. All vessels in place, Conditions nominal. Aquila 1 is requested to return to the Anemone, Actual places Aquila 5 as interim flight lead for the operation, Prepare for deployment planetside... Mark."

On the final word each ship visibly opened their armored mandibles on the prow of their ships casually and without ceremony or alarm to bear their main torpedo tubes planetside to cover Aquila and support the operation should the need arise. Each one bringing to bear a pair of curbstomper torpedo launchers with antimatter munitions at the ready for the operation, Armed and ready to bring forth untold wrath from the heavens at a moments notice to the red menace below.


New Bernese Airspace, Dawn

fetch.php


The arrival of the early morning sun cut a swathe through the mist and fog that covered most of the planet around the lakes and water sources south of the Neko's Dream as the flight descended planetside. The endless expanse of field and flatland left little impression that the world was at all colonized and was still an unplucked gem of natural resources and territory just waiting to be claimed where it not for the distant silhouette of the hives and cities dotting the coasts and borders of the abundant great lakes and water sources. Each one spewing a growing cloud of new smog and pollution outward as the days first early workers woke the industrial and economic machine of each city, Threatening to obscure the dawns rise when the population centers no doubt swung into full gear and the protruding stack of each factory would cover the city in an artificial cloud of pollution thick enough to hide the suns embrace.

"Aquila, Sickslayer-Actual." Would cut the sightseeing short as the flight passed over the southern horn of one of the larger water sources, The last visible hive to their south mimicking its sister cities awakening, And a nearby militia fortress just north and to the west of it still hiding in the shadow of the dissipating night sat in silent vigil over an exposed land bridge to its northwest between the last two visible water sources of the Violetta's Asset's territory, Still seemingly unaware and unchallenged to the approaching flight. "Deviate course southwest past Fort-Puckett to bearing 225 and prepare for actual's briefing, ETA 20 minutes. Radio silence will be enforced shortly after between us, So send any traffic you have now while you can. Sickslayer, Out."

@Whitehart @Grey Library @krisslanza @paladinrpg
Aquila is back!
Use this round for banter between yourselves or questions for Sickslayer while we ease back into the plot. Next post comes on 3/18 the latest unless everyone posts by then.
 
In charge, huh? Well, that was a somewhat more familiar role to Judith by this point, but she was more used to commanding from the bridge of the Dainsleif then in a Jackdaw... she'd just have to treat it the same way, easy.

Just with a lot less wiggle room. And other people around.

She also didn't have to wear a vice grip on her chest when she was onboard a Shaika. The brunette took the opportunity before the radio silence to contact her wingmates.

"Actual puts me in the lead, so I'll be honest with you all - you've all probably flown a lot more then me, so long as we stick to the mission, I'm not going to try and yank the leash on you all. I trust you've got the experience and smarts to know what to do without my babysitting." the busty Nepleslian toggled back to add the Sickslayer to the chatter, "Can't wait to hear that briefing Sickslayer-Actual. Anyone up there know how to loosen this damn suit anymore? I feel like I'm going to crush my ribcage before the day is done."

SORRY, I DIDN'T KNOW WE HAD A POST AND STUFF.
 
Flying casually in formation

"I'm pretty sure this is Aquila four, listen, uhh, Five? You will do fine, as long as you lead we can follow. In case you didn't get the dossier, I am Virus. I handle support and EWAC. I can handle the 4A's if you would like, I am pretty spectacular at multi-tasking," Edward said with the air of a complete nerd. His hands were running over the split keyboard upon his armrests. He had found that flying this way was generally easier for him than a traditional stick, add in that he wasn't a true pilot superstar and it made more sense, Happy was there for a reason after all.

"I'm eager to hear what we will be up against and even more eager to try out some of these new programs Happy and I have been coding." He settled in to his seat, letting Happy keep him in position as he flexed his fingers.
 
New Bernese Airspace, Dawn.

The four craft and their two drone counterparts flew along lazily past the fortress, The dawn licking at their backs and drowning their silhouettes in its rise. The fort bellow as if finally noticing their presence tracked them as they passed on their radar and like systems, Showing the 6 of them as they egress by as little more than another routine flight off for its morning circuit. If they took any notice to the different make from the normal craft or the fact that they where an hour earlier than normal they showed no sign of distressed and left the flight to its transit south-west.

As if preordained just moments after they slipped out Fort Pucketts radar horizon, A harsh beep whined over their comms indicating incomming encrypted chatter. The voice of the Sickslayers radio talker was instead replaced by a more rough and personal microphone not quite filtered to the degree the former's might. From the background and white noise was the distinguishable litany of a busy bridge staff as they went about the controlled chaos of their stations. Reports on Aquila's progress was somewhat distinguishable somewhere in the background. Along with meteorology reports, Atmospherics, Headings, Militia flight statuses, And so forth. And even further into the white noise was the soft unmistakable drawl of a kuznyetski maidens siren song; Either from a passive bridge member or through some kind of speaker in the bridge as the distant melody promised that all the worlds problems would simply fade away if they allowed themselves to get lost in the well rehearsed verse of her melody.

The amalgamation of background and white noise was quickly filtered out at the proximity of someone clearing their throat. The microphone disagreed with the action as if pressed against another of its kind and turned the grunt into a quick but violent screech before it too settled after some quick adjustments and a simple "Sorry, Sir."

"Aquila," The voice tried again, Apprehensively, As if expecting the mic to rebound again but without the screeching assault of before. Content that the issue was at hand he continued. "Aquila This is Sickslayer actual." He replied. His voice coarse and harsh, The product of a cybernetic voice enhancement evident in the distorted tone distinguished even through the transmission...

"Governess Abraham has graciously allowed the navy, And in association, You. To pay off its toll for loitering in her skies. She finds herself pestered by savage marauders and our former kin. She invited out of... Pity, Our ground dwelling cousins in the form of the Nepleslian Marine Corps 309th Mechanized Division. But even so is left wanting for more. In her wisdom she called out once more for the men and women of Neplesia's navy, To once again dash the red-menace as we had years ago!"

With the monologing finished an eerie quite filled the transmission as if it was obvious most of the bridge in the backround had held their efforts momentarily to eavesdrop on the humble speech. Even the singer, Now obvious as part of the bridge crew cleared her throat and began a new tune, More intense and Valkyrie in style as if trying to match the mood but quickly finding little to grasp on to and returned to her siren song as the captain started again with an actual brief.

"Commander Branthese. Should Aquila Flight change its bearing to egress to the west you will find beyond a great defensive wall naught but a barren and war scarred landscape. The territory there should be considered hostile airspace as the local militia and our cousins on the ground in the three hundred and ninth fight tooth and nail against this "Red Rebellion" and a group of pirates who've rooted themselves into the planet know as "Fat-Necks.". While valiant in their campaign to preserve the purity of their world, The militia are ill suited and ill prepared. Even their airforce has hung on only by sheer numbers in operation and hit and run tactics.

"Today you will be exercising a recon in force , In order to gauge the response of these so called "Reds" and their ability to wage war in the skies. The 4th Jackdaw hunter pack is here to provide support to your efforts whatever they may be, You need only say the word and I can guarantee the the hammer of nepleslia will fall wherever the situation calls for. But for now your efforts should be your own and our presence here should remain unknown to all but a select few. To enforce this we've synced you into the militias IFF system to ensure that you appear as their own, And having the added benefit of insuring you from being misidentified by friendlies on the ground and shot down.

"When you feel as though you have adjusted and are ready you may proceed on a course westward. There are no doubt measures in place to repel your advance should you be discovered, But if you stay bellow the radar horizon and keep the rising sun to your back you should be able to weave through any anti-air defense you come across until you find a suitable target or two in which to probe the Reds and provoke a response. As soon as you depart, Radio silence will be enforced between the pack and your flight and any information you require from us will likely come at a delay as we change encryption. And no, The Disruptor flight suit is tailored to your precise measurements. any unauthorized augmentation to the suit is considered destruction of SMDIoN property and is subject to a docking of pay and a reprimand. Endure, And good luck, Commander.

Calloway out, Acutal out."
 
The busty brunette listened to her mission report with rapt attention, taking a moment to chuckle at her response at Actual's response to her inquiry. While it was only half-joking, it was always good to be reminded that military equipment was flawless as always... Judith reassuring patted her constrained chest and nodded to herself.

"Understood Actual. I'll save my worrying for after the mission then." the new lead flipped her attention back to the Flight, "Everyone got the orders loud and clear? If there's no questions or concerns, we'll start the mission as instructed."

Well the mission instructions were easy enough to follow, even if it was a sort of tactic Judith hadn't really been exposed too. She had heard of it, of course, so it was time to put knowledge into practice then. In theory, it should be nice and easy... but there was always that saying, 'No plan survives contact with the enemy'....
 
A small holographic image of a cartoonish squirrel appeared upon the dash of Judith's flight controls, it was sat up on it's hind legs and it's arm raised up in question format. It smiled boradly at the Aquila lead and spoke up, "This is Private Happy, I have a question ma'am. While having the IFF of the militia and not being shot down is a huuuuge plus, do we have any intel on the Reds and their electronic capabilities? My boy Edward is nuts with a computer and could use any extra information develop some extra cover," the hologram squeaked out, even materializing a nut in its hand to emphasize the point.

As abruptly as it appeared it vanished, Edwards voice coming over communications, "Sorry Lead, Happy can get a little too forward for his own good. He is not wrong though, any information you can float my way would be super, as well as if you have any expectations or restrictions for your pilots."
 
Dutched Death-Hills.

Whereas New Bernese had been an open an unspoiled gem to the point, The Dutched Death-Hills where the ugly exception to its pleasantries. The endless fields and rolling hills had been replaced by rock and mud and gravel and ice. An endless and barren wasteland devoid of life or civilization, Or so it seemed.

The scars reminiscent of hard fought war did little too compliment the drab scenery, But where frequent enough that they where impossible to miss. Craters formed around seemingly abandoned trenchlines that had been labor intensively dug into the hard and frozen ground, Zig-zagging for miles in hedgehog formations. Blackened and burned out tanks scattered at random lay abandoned near such lines, Dwarfed only by the massive rubble of destroyed or abandoned bunkers that stood stalwart against the distant defensive wall of the locals only now a speck in the distance.

Aquila's approach was tense but uneventful. PID and IFF systems registered and locked onto the recognizable remains of long since abandoned vehicles, And distant smoke plumes rose distantly to their north accompanied by tracers flying off into the air miles away from unseen fighting. What little anti-air they passed had little or no time to man their weapons when the craft did not linger and their advanced scouts sent warning too lazy and confused to have any effect as the new and unknown craft blew past them with cautious abandon, Their objective seemingly accomplished as the Reds complacency against fighting against a mostly defensive opponent left them lax to that point as they continued deeper and deeper into the wasteland.

Dutched Death-Hills, 24 miles west, Windchime.

"Twelve get back to the ceiling and back in rotation." The commander hissed into her comms as the others craft pulled belly up towards the sky as it came within a few hundred meters of the ground, A dangerous proximity no pilot should ever come close to. She, Windchime, Had been pushing the lot of them all morning for hours before the sun had come up.

The twelve of them; Windchine, Her three rookies, Goose and his three rookies, And Facet and her three made up the composition of the BRR's 79th Blackjack, A flight wing centered upon three aces with enough experience to lean on that they could be offset with a number of rookie pilots to train in their image.

The exercise was a simple one meant for survival. The twelve of them would fly in a tight circle a mile wide on any end, And one of the aces would pick a rookie at random and begin a chase. If the rookie wasn't prepared enough the ace would have a kill shot in a matter of moments and the rook would likely be punished when they returned. It kept them in a constant sense of alert, Never knowing which ace if all of them would randomly break from the circle and dog them, They knew they'de never shake them. But at the point they were at Windchime knew they where at the end of their rope as many struggled just to keep in the formation, But she knew it was a critical moment for them and they had to be pushed past it.

She let Goose handle most of her share of the chasing, He was frankly better for the training than she was. He was older and more experienced than she was and a natural leader, A First gen. One of the originals from planetfall, Two of the rookies where cloned from his mark and was even in an intimate relationship with Windchime's progenitor. If Windchime was youth and speed, Goose was Age and Treachery. He was an all around better pilot than her and deserved the flight lead position, Only luck had seen more of the loyalist craft fall to her than him and having her declared an Ace Of Aces, Yet he never complained.

"One more go each of you." She relayed privately to her lieutenants. Even she was nearing her end, And the mass produced junker craft they where forced to fly were at their limit. New and more advanced craft where in the works, But likely wouldnt be ready for months. She intnded for her wing to qualify for them, Even if they had to train every single day. "Facet, You're up. Nine is lagging. Go for him."

She watched, Just as all the others watched as Facet made a sharp turn and cut across the circle towards Blackjack Nine, Who in his death throws flailed his craft fruitlessly to try to shake the ace off his tail. All to occupied and unawares of the smaller wing just cresting over the horizon, Burning in their direction unawares as the First assault fleet's Aquila Flight found an ideal target of opportunity too good to resist.
 
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"Enemy units sighted," Help intoned, the AI's firefly-globe avatar pulsing rapidly as a blob of contacts materialised on the Hammerhead's long-range sensors. Built for the sheer ranges of deep-space combat and managed by a military AI, the powerful distortion sensors on the oversized ship easily picked up on the enemy fighters' drive emissions far beyond the BRR ships' awarenesses. "three clusters of light aircraft moving in formation, with occasional deviations from singular units. Exact numbers unknown."

Clarity, on the other hand, left much to be desired.

"Noted, thank you." Giving an appreciative nod to her incorporeal partner, Spirit frowned as her eyes began raking over the school of blips dancing across the lenses of her NPV unit. "Aquila Five this is Aquila Three, I have a soft-lock on a formation of bogeys loitering at 2 o'clock high. Estimate nine to twelve fast-movers, likely light fighters. Doesn't look like an intercept, they've got no idea we're here."

"Do we engage, ma'am?" she concluded, titling her head to look at the other Hammerhead in the formation. "We've got a little over thirty Seekers between our two Hammerheads, we could start lasing with the Monoeyes and hit then at standoff range right now. They'd see us coming though, and launch at standoff still gives them some time to dodge."

"Alternatively," she continued, expression carefully neutral, "we could close in and attack from ambush, let the Scythes and Quattros do what they do best. Our Hammerheads won't be exactly sterling in a furball, but it's your call."

[OOC : Very belated welcome, @krisslanza and @Charmaylarg Dufrain !]
 
Twelve targets should certainly be enough of a choice to provoke a proper response from the "Reds", that's for sure. Seems this lazy little flight was about to get a lot more interesting... a shame she'd have to deal with this uncomfortable flight suit, but hopefully these Reds wouldn't make her have to do any overly fancy maneuvers. The brunette wasn't too experienced a pilot herself, but something about the enemy formation seemed unusual... but well, that wouldn't be her problem for long.

Or their problem, for long, come to think of it.

"Anyone else have any suggestions, or should we go with plan A? We'll get an idea of how good these Reds are I suppose."

[OOC: BEING IN CHARGE OF PEOPLE IS HARD, I DUNNO HOW TO SHIP]
 
"Yeah, uh, Aquila cuatro here, if you ask me, I say initial salvo to the hammerheads, use it as cover to start a dogfight. I'm thinking I can mask the missile signatures at least to start, then maybe loop some of our ship signatures with theirs and watch the confusion," Edward said as he was already typing away at his dual keyboards, Happy on his dash with a pair of binoculars as if watching the afar enemies.

"These nubs won't even know what ran over them," the squirrel squeaked out.
 

Dutched Death-Hills

Targets blipped on at random scattered intervals between the two hammerheads as the small circling receptacles slowly found their ranges and locked onto the whole of the enemy craft oblivious to their imminent attack. A slow, Shrill beep in acknowledgement at their release and the fat-nosed craft shook gently from the salvo was the reinforcement of a successful first strike.

The Eel striker missiles started off at a straight line towards their targets before breaking off into their various arcs to avoid collision or interference with their sister missiles, Quickly fading out of sight from the attackers view and becoming nothing more than travelling dots on their HUDs. The concealment of their signatures under an artificial screen in the form of superior EWAR cloaked the majority of the missiles until it was too late for many of the Reds to act...

The first of the Reds to witness their demise was the craft closest to the ground as it jerked and swerved in an attempt to pull away fruitlessly from his instructor. Pulling dangerously close to the ground, only a few douzen meters from crashing he pulled up and to the west in a surprisingly confident turn of events to attempt to pull into the light of the rising sun and possibly pull out in the sudden brightness.

He didn't have time to contemplate the rapidly approaching dot in the distance or the late warning of a lock on his IR signature before the missile closed the distance in a matter of seconds, The striker detonating just inches from the glass of his cockpit, Close enough for him to read the serial number on the nose of the missile.

The following craft avoided their destruction for only a second longer as the missile intended for them struck their student that unintentionally shielded them by catching theirs as well. The ace pulled away too late to inhale the debris smoke and flame into their intakes, Exploding their engines from the inside and sending the junker into an unpowered descent towards the frozen ground, Her craft staying in the air much the same way a brick would.

Four more of the red aircraft met their fates the same way as those unfortunately on the western half of the formation ceased to exist from the actions of unknown attackers, Scattering into random directions they attempted a panicked scramble of self preservation before two of them broke free of the madness and burned towards the rising sun close enough that their wings practically brushed against each other. Edward would be able to make out some of the panicked chatter from their comms and their encryption was shattered by the more advanced AI and systems of the DIoN navy, Some screamed about friendly fire and their instructors taking things too far, Others called out locations of non existent Fuck-Neck fliers to their north. All of it was silenced out in a matter of moments by two calm collected voices taking priority over the channel and directing them into a sense of cohesion and back into a formation behind the lead craft.

By luck or by training none of the others collided with one another and fell into formation behind the two lead craft, Burning violently and with abandon towards the closing Aquila craft not yet within range to them but soon to be acquired.

"Lighthouse, Windchime." A shrill female voice sounded over their comms, Now even picked up by the whole of the aquila flight, Clear enough she could be sitting right next to them and well enough that they could hear the barely restrained malice in her voice. "Rundown. Rundown. Do not respond. Encryption broken, Moving up to chilliad" The message went silent, Devoid even of static as the reds re-encrypted right on time for the first grunt at the head of the formation to signal it had entered within standoff range...
 
Edward was quick on the take as he saw the impending communication change protocal that had been initiated, "Cancel last order! Cancel last order! Encrption is safe and working as intended," He spoke rapidly in to the opne mic toward the spiraling group of Reds. Happy had a grin and was giving a big thumbs up at the possible confusion. For added measure Edward sent out various digital files displaying formations and plans he oten used in his online games with his friends. the plans had no basis on reality but who knows what some would be willing to follow if they thought it was coming rom a superior.

Speaking to his squad, "They are ready to tussle ladies and gents, I say we split up early and see who we can get singled out, draw out the more inexperienced among them."
 
The reaction of the enemy flight was a mixture of relief, dismay and a little bit of worry. It was relieving to know that the majority of the flight was about what was expected from a band of insurgents, although Judith couldn't help but feel a bit regretful at the misfortune of the killed enemy pilots - judging by their reactions, this must've been some kind of training flight or something similar, not at all battle-hardened veterans or something similar. It wasn't the same satsification as taking down pirates, truth be told, the brunette couldn't help but wonder the circumstances of those raw recruits enlistment.

The worry however, came from the quick reaction of a few of them, suggesting there actually was some pilots with a reasonable level of experience. The busty officer could worry about the morality of it all, well, probably never again.

"Looks like it's mostly a bunch of rookies, but they've got some actual veterans in the mix. Try to get them singled out and taken care of, without them, the entire flight should fall to pieces in short order."

Judith herself was reluctant to be the sort to lead an offensive herself against veterans, given her inexperience, it was best if she simply limited herself to the unfortunate rookies...
 
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