Chapter Text
“You’re the only ones that showed up?” Was the first thing Bronya heard.
The hanger doors crawled open. A familiar voice snarked back over the radio: Andrei Kasper, K-9B. “We’re the lowest on the chain for the reserves, no one on our level ever expects to be activated.”
Bronya squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light, and that was when she noticed two other planes bearing Reservist insignias already lined up on the taxiway.
We’re deploying? Actually?
“Didn’t you know there was a War going on?!” The first person radioed back.
“I thought Cascadia was losing?” Another familiar voice: Joan Colt, K-9C.
“Well, the Federation certainly isn’t winning if we’re going out!” Elias Von Romansky, K-9D snapped.
Bronya looked down to see the Marshaller give her the signs for taxi, before saluting. Shrugging, she pushed the throttle forward, and her jet nosed out of the hanger. At the same time, Seele chimed in from the back seat. “My radio set at home was just able to get through to Cascadia last week, something went wrong with the Fed censors over there…”
The snarky voice was back. “The rest of Magadan’s Reserve Divisions already deployed an hour ago. Amateurs!” He sighed heavily. “You’re Division K-9, correct?”
“I swear there was more to our company.” Bronya could see Andrei looking around nervously from his aircraft. “Uh, should we wait for the rest?”
“That doesn't matter now.” Snarky Voice said. “K-9A, you’re designated flight leader, takeoff and proceed to the mission area.”
“Roger.” Bronya acknowledged. As she inched the aircraft forward, she realized the rest of K-9 were lined up in front of her, with Elias at the front and sitting on the runway, his engines idling.
Instinctively, she clicked her mic. “K-9D.”
“Shut up, both of you, still trying to remember how to fly this thing!” Elias snapped back. The engines of his F/C-15 suddenly roared to life, and he lurched forward, rapidly gaining speed before lifting off the runway.
Andrei and Joan were next, both smoothly lining up their jets before blasting off, their F/C-15s rotating up into the scattered clouds. All that was left was Bronya.
She lined the aircraft up, before pulling the levers and swinging the wings out. A quick glance at the back to ensure Seele was strapped tight, and she tapped her mic again. “K-9A, ready for takeoff.”
“K-9A, you’re clear for takeoff.” Tower radioed back.
Bronya slammed the throttle forward, and the twin engines of the F/D-14 roared to life. The Cat lurched forward, pushing both of them into the backseat as it clawed for altitude, and with lightest pull of the stick Bronya nosed them both into the air.
As soon as Bronya was in the air, Snarky Voice returned on the line. “Alright, at least you can get your aircraft off the ground.” His voice sharpened up. “This is Airborne Warning and Control Systems aircraft Vita, I've been sent by Federation Command to pick up any remaining reservists in Magadan...sound off on your TAC names.”
That was met with an explosive sigh from Joan. “How many times we gotta get it through your cordium-lined skull? We're reservists! We don't get the typical pilot jockey treatment!”
“We're just K-9A through D.” Andrei added. “Plus A’s WSO. Nothing special.”
“Can you amateurs make anything easy for me?” Vita complained. “Make something up!”
“Fine…” Elias grumbled. “K-9D, Brick.”
“Where’d you get that from?” Andrei asked in bewilderment.
“Job.” Elias replied gruffly. “I'm a bricklayer outside of this.”
“Guess that works.” Andrei’s shrug was audible. “K-9B, Bookie reporting in.”
“K-9C Cobb.” Joan said simply.
Well, if that was the pattern…“K-9A, Driver.” Bronya breathed out.
“Call me Eye-Tee, then.” Seele finished. “It’s what those unappreciative assholes call me at work anyway.” She grumbled under her breath.
“Copy all.” Vita responded. “Division K-9, push bearing 010, you're going to be wading in as support for a large aerial action over the Bering Strait.”
Joan-Cobb-merely grunted. “And you think we're gonna make a difference?”
That rubbed Vita the wrong way. “I didn't get dragged all the way up from Oceania for my orders to be questioned, carry them out.” He bit off.
Bronya kept her plane at steady altitude, gradually increasing speed as her HUD showed her the way to the Bering Strait. She folded the wings back, then double checked her ordnance: full load of STDMs, HVSMs and MLAAs. A balanced composition for just about any engagements.
Her radio suddenly popped with new voices. “Burn all the fuel you've got, at least if you need to bail, it'll be on friendly territory!”
What? Bronya reached up, but Seele beat her to the punch. “Multiple incoming. Fed signatures, but they’re pretty damaged!”
“Hold on.” Vita ordered. “Stand by.”
Specks appeared in Bronya’s vision: scattered groups of Aircrafts. They weren’t flying in any formation, instead booking it as fast they could towards them.
Her radio popped again. “Raising anyone on this net, we are under attack!”
“This is AWACS Vita.” Vita responded. “I'm trying to raise High Command, but nothing is getting through, where are you going?! The battle is still on!”
Bronya’s radar flashed again. “I have incoming Hostile IFFs!” Seele cried. “Not Federation or Cascadian!”
“Mercenaries.” Bronya growled, ice in her veins.
---
BOTTOM OF THE BARREL
Protocol 3-9 - Article 1 “Emergency Deployment”
1 HOUR AFTER PEACEKEEPER DEPLOYMENT
62°55'29" N, 178°15'56" W | Weather: Scattered | 1405 LOCAL TIME
Gulf of Anadyr | Federation Territory of Magadan
“Hey, lookie here, boys, looks like we’ve got some Feds fresh for a beatdown.” A low, threatening voice filled their comms. “Let’s get ‘em!”
Mercs broadcasting on open comms. Bronya smirked as she lined the nose up on the lead plane. How terribly arrogant of them.
Andrei-Bookie-still seemed a little confused. “Are those Mercs?”
“No sh*t!” Cobb snapped back. “They’re coming head on. Driver, on you!”
“Multiple mercenary IFFs crossing into Magadan airspace.” Vita informed them. “K-9, hold your ground! What a goddamn mess…”
“We’re engaging?!” Bookie exclaimed in alarm.
Bronya cleared him of those doubts when she hit her flares before launching two missiles directly at the lead plane. At the same time, her missile warning went off, and she rolled the plane, flares still dispensing, before pulling up. “Fight’s on.” She said quietly into the mic.
The merc deftly evaded her missiles, although his too failed to connect. As Bronya pulled into a High-G Imelmann, she analyzed the Mercenary formation: six F/E-4s, all painted in garish colors that made them stand out against the clear blue sky. She dropped the nose, hearing Seele yelp in the backseat, before sliding into a weapons envelope of the closest enemy.
“I’ve got tone!” Seele reported as the reticule locked onto the aircraft.
“Fox 2.” Bronya launched a third STDM, following up with another HVSM. The fleeing aircraft, caught completely flatfooted and out of energy, took both missiles up the tailpipe and exploded.
“Scratch one!” Seele whooped. “This can't be any worse than my stupid office work. Come on, Driver, let's go!”
She’s enthusiastic Bronya thought as her warnings went off again. Two more Mercs had slid in behind her, but they’re inexperience showed in how they were both jostling for the kill shot. Bronya flared the aircraft, bringing the wings out and rolling into a scissors, and both Mercs overshot her. Rolling back, she pulled the nose onto the lagging aircraft and squeezed off a burst of rounds, tearing one wing off.
The other Merc pulled up and out, but Bronya rapidly gave chase. As soon as she pulled her plane into boresight, her lock tone went off. “Strong lock!” Seele concurred, and Bronya fired another pair of STDMS.
Locked into a climb and bleeding energy, the Merc F/E-4 could do nothing to avoid the incoming missiles. Both ordnance struck their target, and the aircraft erupted into flames. And just like that, half of the first wing of Mercs had been splashed.
At the same time, her radio was busy with chatter. “It was a disaster, Command just...sent us out there to die!” One of the retreating Federation pilots was lamenting. “It was Oceania all over again!”
“What the hell did we miss?” Elias-Brick-gasped out as he pulled his plane to avoid an incoming missile.
“You mean to tell me you're all combat-ineffective?” Vita was sounding increasingly distressed.
“It was a massacre out there!” The pilot shot back. “We barely crossed the IDL with those bloodthirsty dogs on our heels!”
Said bloodthirsty dogs were now vectoring on Bookie, who pulled them thin so that Cobb could pick them off. “Actual Combat!” He gasped for breath. “I can't believe we're fighting!”
“Get your head out of the clouds!” Cobb rebuked as she let loose a pair of missiles, both which the Mercs deftly avoided. “We went to the Academy the same as any other pilot!”
“I ain't missing my son's chess match for this…” Brick grumbled, but he fired as well, keeping the Mercs from zeroing in on Bookie.
Bronya dived out of the clouds, honing in on the Merc that Cobb and Brick had pinned. She let loose a pair of HVSMs, the high velocity missiles striking the aircraft so hard it crumpled the front in before it exploded. “That’s four!” Seele cried out.
“We're taking losses, this Federation backup wants to give us some trouble, eh?” That insufferable voice belonging to the Mercenary lead barked out a laugh. “We'll deal with you like we did the rest!”
Fancy words for a flight down to a third combat capable. Bronya zeroed in on the flight lead. At the same time, Brick was yapping again. “AWACS, you mind telling us what the hell is going on?”
“It's chaos right now; Command screwed up somewhere, the Cascadians routed our forces, and we lost the entire transport operation.” Vita rapid-fired out.
“What transport operation?” Brick asked the question on everyone’s minds.
“Don't worry about it. Division K-9, you have new orders: Cover any damaged and retreating Federation Air Force aircraft from mercenary forces” Vita ordered, and Bronya’s HUD updated.
New Orders to hold? Just how many planes did we lose out there? Bronya jinked just as her missile warning went off. Dimly, she registered Seele screaming at her to dump countermeasures, but Bronya simply pulled up, swung the nose around until the missile broke lock, then smoothly brought her F/D-14 around until she was within Hammer Lock range of the F/E-4 and fired. The missile struck the Merc before they even had time to react, and the aircraft started trailing smoke. To add insult to injury, she opened up with the gun, and her target literally flew to bits.
That left the Ace Leader, who was busy defending for his life now that he had no wingman and Cobb, Brick and Bookie had free reign. Watching from afar, Bronya at least could marvel at how they worked together, firing in tandem and opening up opportunities for their fellows instead of stepping on each other's toes like the Mercs. And, with no room to run, it was but a matter of time before one of their Missiles found him, Bookie’s in this case. Maybe this Squad isn’t the lost cause Vita made us out to be.
Bronya was about to declare ‘picture clean’ when her radar lit up again. “More contacts!” Seele reported. “Friendlies mixed in with Bandits!”
“K-9, Engage!” Vita commanded.
Bronya pulled her jet around to face her new adversaries: a mixture of SK.27s and SV-37s. She gunned the throttle again, and as soon as her targeting reticule lit up she snapped off two shots before pulling into a high S to avoid the counter fire. The dimwit on the receiving end wasn’t as smart, and took both missiles straight to the face.
“Not less than an hour ago, I was taking bets on horse races!” Bookie bemoaned as two of the Mercs broke off and zeroed in on him.
“Yeah, an hour ago, I was on the sh*tter, doesn't matter now, does it?” Cobb snapped back, as she once again sidled back into Bookie’s aft, and more importantly into weapons envelope of the two Mercs.
One hour ago, none of us were involved in this stupid war. Bronya thought as she pushed her plane into a climb. That’s fate for you.
“Hey Driver, you're in the A position for a reason!” Brick called out as more Mercs slid in behind him. “Do some of that piloting stuff, we'll follow your lead!”
You mean like what I’ve been doing the whole time? Bronya hammered down from the sky, letting loose a whole volley of STDMs, HVSMs and even MLAAs off the rails. Both Mercs broke off of Brick, but the first Merc caught a good share of missiles and exploded, while the second expended so much energy they couldn’t avoid being lined up, and Bronya tore him in two with her guns.
With Brick freed up, she turned her attention back to Cobb and Bookie to find them both Defensive as the rest of the Mercs dogpiled them. A short wag of her wings, and both her wingmen gunned straight for her, dumping flares all the way.
“You know how much you're worth to me, Fed?” One of the Mercs taunted over the open channel. “About 300 bucks, now line up and die!”
Bronya’s response was switching to MLAAs, lining up the three Mercs and opening fire.
“Fox 3!” Seele called out, then braced herself as Bronya kept flying head on into the Mercs. The first two didn’t flinch, and Bronya’s missiles ate them alive. The third finally broke, just to catch a hail of bullets and started to trail smoke.
That wasn’t enough to dampen his demeanor, however. Perhaps he forgot he was still on an open channel, because he then radioed. “Here we are flying over the Federation itself.”
Bronya didn’t hear the reply, but apparently that piqued Brick’s interest. “They flew all the way across the strait? These mercs must not be the smartest bunch.”
Indeed they are not. Bronya flared out just as another Merc slid under her, before she pushed the nose down and ripped him apart. “Splashed another!” Seele called out. “All Fed IFFS out of the AO!”
And more back into the pan. Bronya thought as more Federation signatures appeared on her radar, chased by a third wave of Mercs. “We're dead without cover, we need support!” One Federation Pilot cried out.
They were still tangled up in half a dozen fighters, with a dozen more incoming. Great. “AWACS, we can't be the only ones combat-capable in Magadan?” Bookie demanded.
“Crystal Kingdom mobilized every fighter they had to join in over the Bering Strait.” Vita replied, the stress still evident in his voice. “You're all that's left now.”
“It's not supposed to be my problem, they went all in on a dogfight!” Bookie complained, but he went on the offense all the same and managed to splash another Merc.
Bronya turned her nose into the incoming wave, and Seele helpfully tagged the first six before Bronya let her missiles fly from her rails. She was under no illusions she would get any frags, but it bought her the time to pull back into a tango with her older dance partners. More importantly, it broke their formation up.
“Flying a plane is a lot less difficult than I remember!” Brick said, a little bit of exhilaration entering his voice.
“Right?” Bookie chimed in. “Look at Driver, he's a natural!”
“Quit mouthing off, you two!” Seele snapped, before toggling the comms to co*ckpit Only. “But between you and me, this is kinda fun!”
Bronya had to crack a smile at that, but sobered up as she put another Merc on her nose. She let loose a long burst of her gun, before letting loose two missiles just as the Merc pulled up, the snapshot unavoidable.
“I can't do any maneuvers or I'll have to glide the rest of the way home!” One of the retreating Federation Pilots despaired. “Why won't they just leave us alone?! They won today already!”
Bronya’s eyes snapped downwards and found the pilot in question, being pursued by another Merc. She dipped, pulling her nose into a head on with him and his pursuer. Just as the Merc launched a missile she shot over the Federation plane and let loose a cloud of flares, before snapshotting another two missiles. That caught the Merc by surprise, and he took the hits head on while his own missile spiraled into the sea.
Instead of gratitude, all she got from the retreating pilot was more despair. “The Round Table's been gone for 15 years, you idiots...what Lords are you serving?!” He yelled into open comms.
“Epsilon 4, maintain Radio Brevity.” Vita warned. “All aircraft, vector directly to Anadyr AFB, the Reserve Division will cover you.”
“Only Four planes?” Despair bemoaned again.
“We’re doing our best!” Bookie shot back as he splashed another Merc.
Bronya pulled her plane into a hard right as her missile warning went off. Glancing back, she saw another Merc sliding in behind her. She pulled hard again, stringing him along into her curve, only for him to not see Cobb sliding in behind him and shoving one up his tailpipe.
Bronya clicked her mic. “Thanks.”
“Come on, we’re all becoming aces in a day!” Cobb grunted.
Brick barked a laugh over comms. “With fire like that, you shoulda joined the regular military, Cobb.”
“I'm a homebody.” Cobb snarked. “Even being out here today is already pissing me off.”
The last of the Mercs broke off, forming up again in their raggedy formation before re-engaging. Worse, in the distance Bronya spied more Friendly IFFS on hot approach, no doubt chased by more Mercenaries.
“AWACS, why is it just us?!” Bookie demanded into the comms. “The entire Federation Air Force didn't go to the Bering Strait, did it?!”
“Stay focused!” Was all Vita had to say.
That’s not a no, Vita. Bronya noted.
She could hear Bookie’s teeth gnashing. “...God damn it, continuing to engage!”
He let loose a salvo of MLAAs, and Bronya followed them in. As the Mercs broke formation, she picked off two with HVSMs, the high velocity missiles catching them by surprise.
Three left. The Mercs broke off again, knowing the odds were now greatly stacked against them. Bronya glanced down to see the last of the current stragglers managed to egress the AO.
“Rearguard doesn't seem half bad, we might make it out of this yet.” One of the Federation Pilots panted. “Now, does anybody know the way to Anadyr?”
“Negative, I'm Cascadian, I don't know anything about this airspace!” Another bemoaned.
“Fall in with us.” The lead Federation straggler ordered. “I don't think there's anyone with a viable squadron left.”
“Thanks again, K-9.” He called out to them. “Guess the Reservists have some pilots worth their salt.”
“K-9, good work so far, allied forces are still rolling in, so keep up the coverage.” Vita informed them. “HQ comms is spotty right now, it's like all of Crystal Kingdom is in chaos.”
“And how about reinforcements?” Brick tried his luck again.
“They're still days away, you don't understand how much operational capacity has been ruined!” Vita snapped.
The group Bronya spied in the distance was closing fast. The Three remaining Mercs shot back over, attempting to pincer the stragglers.
“This is Cobalt 5, vectoring in hot, mercs are right on us!” The lead plane cried out. “Any Marine or Aqua elements, please confirm status, uh, I can't be the last one left!”
Bronya swept the wings back and shot forward. In attempting to regroup, the Mercs had now left themselves open to a straight line attack, and Bronya exploited that by launching a double volley of missiles. Too late, the Mercs realized the opening had given her and tried to break off. Two of them weren’t successful.
That left them with a total of nine Mercs in the fight, and three stragglers they had to cover. Bronya shot past them, popping flares to mask their retreat, before launching another wave of MLAAs. No hits this time, but the Merc formation was forced to break and engage K-9.
Behind her, the rest of K-9 split apart in 2-2 formations and went after their prey. “So Bookie, what're our odds here?” Brick asked as he slid in next to Bookie.
“I'm not a betting man, that's for other people.” Bookie remarked as he hemmed the Merc in.
“A bookie who won't bet.” Brick laughed, the tension easing from his voice. “You've got a sick job, you know that?”
“Someone's gotta count the paper-Woah, watch it, incoming!” Bookie jinked left and popped flares just as another Merc fired at him.
Bronya and Cobb hammered down on that Merc, each scoring a hit that blew him apart. As Brick finished off his own target, Bronya looked to realize this particular group of Merc’s hadn’t all broken to engage them. Instead, they were racing after the stragglers.
Bronya clicked her comms. “Mercs going after the stragglers.”
“Yeah, I see them!” Cobb twisted her fighter around.
“What is up with these mercs?! They weren't even this bloodthirsty during the battle!” One of the stragglers was asking as she dodged another missile the Merc threw at her.
“Targets tagged!” Seele called out from behind Bronya. “Go for MLAAs!”
Bronya hit the switch and fired six off the rail. With the Mercs going after low energy prey, they didn’t have the energy themselves to avoid Bronya’s strike, and four of them lit up.
Numbers evened, Bronya switched back to STDMs and zeroed in on the presumed flight lead. The Merc maneuvered in panic, as if finally realizing he had been outgunned, and Bronya let him pointlessly bleed off his energy before shoving two missiles into his burners.
She turned back and saw the last two Mercs fall from the sky in burning wrecks. “Vita, this is K-9A.” Bronya called out. “We’re picture clean for the moment.”
“Roger.” Vita acknowledged. “Federation IFFs, who's the flight lead now?”
“Er, did any of the squadron commanders make it back?” One of the Federation pilots asked.
“Negative, unknown.” The other pilot responded. “But if all of them had gone after the Crown, then…” he let that hang.
“You’re telling me one fighter did this?” Vita growled. “Impossible!”
“If we hadn’t seen it for ourselves, we wouldn’t have believed it either!” The second pilot protested.
One pilot? Bronya frowned. No way one pilot would have been able to take apart an entire Federation air group. Unless…
…unless a Signature had survived Oceania?
Bronya was stirred from her musing by Vita calling out. “We have the last group of stragglers coming across the line, designate Peacekeeping Squadron…”
He paused. “...Crimson?”
Crimson Squadron? What are they doing here? Bronya brought the plane around. “Eye-Tee, check status of Crimson?”
“Three ships, all look damaged!” Seele replied.
“It wasn't supposed to be like this, damn it!” A voice Bronya recognized as Crimson 7 bemoaned.
“I'm Winchester on everything and my engines are about to cook off, we need help!” That came from Crimson 5.
“Heads up! POP-UP Bandit group on the nose, directly behind the PeeKays!” Vita warned.
“Mercenary dogs! If I had the ammo, I'd gut you all where you stand!” That came from the unhappy camper Bronya knew was the infamous Crimson 1.
“K-9, vector to the Cascadian Peacekeepers, get them to safety.” Vita ordered.
“Roger.” Bronya acknowledged.
“I don’t like this!” Brick countered.
A new voice started broadcasting over open comms. “Run, poster boys...you'll die tired!”
“Identified flight of eight!” Seele said a little too excitedly. “F/D-14s, closing in!”
“This isn't for business, this is for Oceania!” Another Merc spat.
“Incoming Federation fighters, get these criminals off our back!” Crimson 1 ordered.
“We're putting you into the ground, Peacekeepers, we won't let any mook get in our way!” Bronya realized that wasn’t over open comms, but over Federation comms. “Thorn Rose Gang, engage!”
“Ah sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!” Brick yelled.
“This ain't us, man. Driver, what are we doing?!” Bookie yelled.
Bronya’s answer was to gun her throttle open. Her jet screamed overhead the Peacekeepers, popping flares behind them, before she locked on and let fly with MLAAs.
“All systems are green, we're fighting!” Seele replied for her. Bronya pulled the jet up as the Mercenaries broke formation, spinning around to hammer down on the lead. He dodged with remarkable skill, and then Bronya’s warnings went off as another Merc locked on to her from behind.
“K-9, shoot them all down!” Vita ordered, and Bronya noticed the rest of her squad finally engaged the enemy.
Bronya juggled her throttle, baiting the Merc into overshooting, but he was clearly a step up from the rest of the Mercs she had faced today. He wisely kept at her six, never able to get a good snapshot but not losing his position either.
“Seele, hang on.” She said, before she pulled into a High G turn. Bronya felt blood pool in her stumps, but she gritted her teeth and held the stick tight. In the back, she could hear Seele gasping for breath, but little by little, her pursuer lost the race for the inside curve, and finally was forced to break off.
“So who do we have saving the Peacekeepers, huh?” He taunted as he leveled off.
“Tailcodes seem like Fed reservists.” Another Merc answered.
The first Merc howled with laughter. “We take more than five minutes with these guys, we deserve to be shot down!”
Alright. Bronya pulled the plane into another sharp turn. Start the clock.
She slid in behind the Mouthy, giving him the benefit of her target lock. As expected, he immediately pulled up to gain altitude. Bronya pulled her nose up as well, gently following his ascent.
“sh*t!” Seele swore. “Incoming! Break!”
Bronya glanced back to see two more Mercs closing in on her. With a smirk she kept her straight line climb, watching and waiting.
“Bronya! Driver!” Seele yelped. “You gonna do something?”
“Hang on, Seele.” Bronya answered simply, and as the Mercs finally closed range she threw the wings out again. At the same time, she split the throttles and pulled the nose up, dancing on her burners as her nose slid down and both pursuers shot out from under her.
“Holy sh*t!” Seele gasped.
Didn’t even use their guns. Amateurs.
Bronya reversed the Throttle orientation, burning back into a straight line dive, but with all three Mercs in front of her again. Seele worked fast as soon as her heart dropped back into her chest, pinging all three Mercs for Bronya to send six MLAAs off the rails. She gunned the engines again, chasing after her missiles, and as the first two splashed their targets she followed the last two in with another two STDMs. Mouthy tried to dodge as best he could, but could barely break off the two MLAAs before the STDMs smashed into him.
Bronya glanced down at the clock. 3 minutes. Guess he did deserve to be shot down.
“Hey, AWACS, these guys aren’t your usual Mercs!” Bookie called out in alarm as the rest of the Mercs started to dogpile him. “Who the hell are they?”
“You're squaring off against the Thorn Rose Group, mercenary pilots from the Equatorial Periphery.” Vita informed them. “No-good lowlives…”
“They came a long way up to die cold!” Cobb bit out as she dropped in behind Bookie’s chasers, her guns chattering.
“Remember your training, don't get overwhelmed!” Bookie cried out as another missile shot past his co*ckpit.
He jerked left, then right as more missiles came screaming for him. “Keep your heads on a swivel, don't lose track of a target, just keep focused on them!”
“Huh, are you talking to yourself or us, Bookie?” Cobb snarked. “Because I’m busy trying to keep you alive!”
Two of the Mercs pulled off of Bookie, performing near perfect Kulbits and dropping in behind Cobb instead. “You should be more concerned about yourself.” The Merc giggled into their comms. “I shot down dozens like you half an hour ago!”
Cobb was forced to break off from Bookie’s six. “You think you're hotsh*t because you're mercs?” She snarled. “Goddamn punks…”
As Brick dropped in to rescue Bookie, Bronya swept in behind Cobb’s pursuers. She lined up the nose on the lagging plane. “Good Tone, Driver!” Seele called. “Shoot, Shoot!”
“Not yet.” Bronya said coolly. She waited until Cobb pulled into another High-G turn, and the Mercs followed her in. At the peak of the curve was when Bronya let loose two HVSMs, and the lagging Merc was struck and fell off of Cobb’s tail.
“Half gone!” Vita called.
The other Merc chasing Cobb broke off, but Bronya stayed glued to his six. “Come on, Feds, make this worth our time!”
“We sure as hell don't got the fuel to get back!” Another Merc yelled. “But we're not out of juice yet, take them all down!”
“It's do or die, baby!”
Bronya obliged them by chasing after her locked target. He maneuvered violently, throwing his plane this way and that. Bronya simply cut back on her throttle a little, waiting for him to exhaust himself trying to break his lock, and when he leveled off was when she sent missiles his way and tore him apart.
“Splash another!” Seele cheered. “I’ve lost count of how many we shot down!”
“If we're going out giving the Federation a black eye, I say that's worth it!” Another Merc shot back in reply.
His prize was Bronya hammering down from above, too tunnel visioned on Bookie in front of him and Brick behind him to see the two HVSMs she shoved through his airframe. He exploded in a great ball of fire that Brick deftly dodged.
“I never knew that mercs were actually this crazy!” Cobb gritted out as she turned after the last two Mercs.
“I got a few ex-mercs that work for me, something about the job twists wires.” Brick groaned as he leveled off. “Personally, I'm too old for this crap.”
“We all have to be a little twisted to be pilots.” Bookie chuckled as he swerved to give Brick a firing window. “I guess that's why Driver's such a natural.”
Two left. Bronya gunned towards both of them, tailing Bookie and Brick while Cobb jostled to get a shot on either. Pulling into a climb, she quickly peaked and dropped down from above, letting loose four missiles on the guy on Bookie’s tail. They dodged, but it forced them to break off, pulling hard into a turn that Bookie ended up sliding in behind them.
“Might've bit off a little too much…” The Merc said worriedly as both Bookie and Bronya dropped in on her. That prophecy was proven true a moment later as over a dozen missiles came screaming for her. There were too many to dodge.
Bronya pulled up and away before the smoke cloud had cleared. “One left!” Seele whooped. “Run circles around them, we've got this!”
The Merc must have realized his fate, because he gunned straight for her. Bronya lined up the shot, before she let loose the last two missiles and dumped flares before flinching. The Merc didn’t even return fire before her missiles exploded under his fuselage.
“Ah...God damn it!” He yelled. “Thorn Roses, clocking o-” There was a deafening explosion, and his aircraft simply flew apart, the smoke cloud that marked all that was left of him fading away.
Bronya leveled off. “Vita, we’re picture clean.”
There was a heavy sigh over the comms. “So this is what we've resorted to, letting the dogs fight it out.” Unhappy Camper 1 was at it again. “Crimson Squadron, regroup, we need to get back to Cascadia.”
Bronya looked down and realized Crimson Squadron had stayed in the AO the whole time. She shook her head silently.
“Reserve Division, thank you.” Bronya could picture the embarrassed flush on Crimson 7’s face. Always picking up after her hothead of a flight lead.
Bronya clicked her mic. “Welcome.”
There was a long, pregnant pause. Bronya looked down to double check, but Crimson 7 was transmitting, she just wasn’t saying anything.
“...Silver Wolf?” She finally asked.
“Negative.” Bronya shot her down. “Just Kilo Niner Alpha.”
“...Roger.” Crimson 7 acknowledged hesitantly. “Crimson out.”
“What was that about?” Bookie asked. “Driver, mind filling us in?”
Bronya was saved from having to explain by Vita of all people. “K-9, we need you to RTB immediately, it's all gone wrong!”
“RTB? There aren’t any more survivors?” Brick asked worriedly. “There were only a dozen!”
“We're lucky that there were even that many.” Vita spat “The Cascadians have turned to those godless mercenaries to fight their war, and they are making a mistake that they can never come back from.”
“sh*t, we're about to get caught up in this Cascadian business, aren't we?” Brick lamented.
Cobb sighed heavily. “I should've stayed home and ignored the call to report...rather take a jail sentence than whatever the hell this is.”
The shrug in Brick’s voice was audible. “It is what it is. Hey Driver-Bronya-good stuff, why aren't you regular Air Force?”
“Legs.” Bronya replied simply.
“Oh.” Brick’s tone dropped. “Right.”
“Legs?” Seele tried to peer over her terminal. “What does he mean?”
“K-9, for the last time, RTB immediately.” Vita groaned in frustration. “We need to get set for what's coming.”
“Jeez Louise, alright.” Brick banked his aircraft back towards Anadyr. “K-9, let's head back.”
