Jax: "Hey Boss, can we do anything about the sun blaring directly into our face?"
Boss: "Whatcha want me to do about it kid? Darken the sun with black magic?"
I roll onto the other side of Boss's formation. Using Barrages shadow as cover for my sunbleached eyes. Boss slightly rises up, removing his shadow from my eyes and once again blinding me.
Jax: "OI."
He lets out an audible chuckle before falling back into place.
Boss: "Sorry kid, it's just too fun to tease you sometimes."
The setting sun sits in front of us. Its blinding rays clouding any sense of vision through our clear canopies. The sun at least seems to be falling faster than we're able to keep up with it. When we first left base around an hour ago the sun was still decently high in the sky. Our only hope of not going blind during this mission... Is the sun setting. Due to AeroCords pressurized and Air conditioning systems, helmets aren't needed inside of them. It's an option we have, but Boss is the only one who ever wears a helmet. I never understood why personally, they're a bit awkward and blocks a small part of my vision. But the nice tint for the sun I could really use right now...
Jax: "Are we there yet?"
Boss: "Not yet... That's the fifth time you've asked SP... We won't reach the target until the sun has fully set. Just ignore the sun would ya? "
Jax: "Easy to say for someone who always wears sunglasses..."
To pass the time, I gloss over my dashboard ensuring everything is in order. Altitude: 30 thousand feet, speed: 678 MPH, that's quite slow for our normal cruising speed at this altitude. Well, I guess Boss has a pretty big payload and a good bit of drag. So I guess he's just keeping engine temp down. Engine temperatures are cooler than normal, which makes sense for how low our throttle is, fuel: more than plenty. The rest of the instruments seem to be working correctly as well... All good! My RWR display lights up with a little ding, signaling a radar hitting Spirit. Its direction... Directly behind us? Where did they come from? Were in the middle of the ocean!
Jax: "Boss, continue to objective, seems we have something trailing us."
Boss: "Copy that."
I invert Spirit, looping backward to face the threat. Now with my radar facing the threats, I count 6 separate targets. Two more than last time seems whoever is sending them is being a little more forceful. I raise my throttle unleashing the third stage's true potential. I Haven't been able to tap into many comms lately... Let's see if I can find a juicy story. And with Boss still in the area, ill have to at as bait as usual. Well, time to get to work.
Jax: "Spirit, tap into their comms and disconnect Boss's."
Bandit 1: "Target has averted course, moving for interception."
So I AM their target. If that's the case then let's see how they dance. I watch my radar, counting the range by the mile. I'm closing in pretty fast, dropping almost 50 miles in such a short time. Only 10 more to go.
Bandit 1: "Target inside kill zone, Fox 3"
A smoke trail emerges from each aircraft. As per usual, I activate cloak, drop a chaff pod, and continue my attack.
Bandit 2: "Contact vanished?!? Did anyone else see that!?"
Bandit 3: "Impossible, it was just the sun-blocking our view. see! He's at our 11 o'clock now. Sending another fire rod."
I think the poor guy is in denial... I once again evade their missiles.
Bandit 2: "He vanished again, dude! What the hell are we up against?"
Bandit 4: "I saw it too! Our missiles won't track it either!"
Bandit 5: "Calm down, if Fox 3s won't work we'll just use our guns and our IR missiles"
Bandit 1: "Remember the briefing, we expected this. From the get-go, this wasn't going to be an easy fight. Stay on guard he can vanish at any time."
Bandit 3: "R-right! Splitting formation."
Their single arrowhead formation splits into three groups of two. Each spreading out further away from the other. The middle group stays on course heading directly towards me. The other two split off in opposite directions, gaining more altitude. It seems they know about my cloak ability... This won't be as easy as the other bandits I've come across. 5 miles till merging.
Bandit 4: "Damn it. I can't get a tone on him. Going for guns."
Bandit 2: "No tone either."
Jax: "Activate cloak."
Bandit 4: "Fuck! he vanished aga-"
With a click of my trigger, a solid red line of trace slices the unfamiliar jet in two. Blowing red flames in my sight as I fly through his fragmented frame. I've never seen that jet before. It looks like a mix between a Su-57 and an F-22. The ones on my previous mission looked similar but were distinctly different. They didn't last long enough for me to get a good look at one...
Bandit 2: "SHIT, Hunter 4's gone! I didn't sign up for this bullshit!"
So their call signs Hunters huh? How ironic, the hunters being hunted. I release my cloak, once again allowing Spirit to be seen blazing through the air. I pull up, soaring thousands of feet above my attackers.
Bandit 1: "Stay calm hunter 2! We're on positions, engaging now!"
Bandit 6: "Positive tone! Fox 2!"
I glance behind me seeing a white trail aggressively trailing me. I pull sharp, removing my exhaust from its view. It continues straight into the stratosphere, ignoring me as I dive down on its sender.
Bandit 6: "No track! He's engaging me!"
He quickly pulls away, as his wingman splits off to try and assist him. He's too slow as his wimpy attempts to shake me from his six fails. With another tap of the trigger his now unshackled wing flies into the sunset, its previous holder, spiraling to the ground with black flames in his trail.
Bandit 5: "Damn it! I was too slow! Eat lead, you bastard!"
I glance at my mirror, seeing another Jet trailing behind me. I pull hard on the stick, Pulling a full loop in a mere second. I land my crosshair on the top center of his two-engined jet squeezing the trigger once more.
Bandit 5: "hu-"
His plane erupts in a ball of flames. Leaving only the burning metal scraps to flutter to the waters below. Three down, three to go.
Bandit 2: "Shit, shit, SHIT! I can't do this! I cant fight THAT!"
Bandit 3: "What the hell is that thing? This wasn't in the report!"
Bandit 1: "Stay strong men! We have to take that thing down somehow. It must have a weakness!"
She does have her downsides, but none that you can evoke. I find myself in another head-on. I commit to the engagement increasing my throttle further.
Bandit 3: "Fox 3! Fox 2, Fox 3"
Is he just spam firing missiles? Worthy last-ditch panic attack I guess. I activate cloak, throwing a chaff pod behind me as I evade the missile effortlessly. Remaining cloaked I fire a burst at the panicked soul. Sending his remains into a downward torpedo, targeting the deep blue. I release my cloak as I begin hunting for my next target.
Bandit 2: "I'm sorry Soe, but I just can't, I'm returning to base!"
Bandit 1: "Damn it Hunter 2, get back here!"
One of the jets pulls away, leaving a single bandit remaining. Bandit 1 attacks me from a high angle of attack. He fires a burst of ammo near Spirit, but unavoidably missing entirely. He alines himself behind me, firing burst after burst. Each coming nowhere near me. Realizing he's too fast, he pulls up and directly over me, entering a loop. This guy isn't too bad at all. but sadly, poor target match-up. I yank on the stick hard, throwing Spirit into a cobra maneuver. My crosshair closes over the bottom of his plane. With another squeeze of the trigger, his engines spit black frames from its exhaust. The pilot ejects from the plane, parachuting to the unjust seas below. I look to my radar seeing bandit 2 less than 5 miles away. I increase throttle, regaining my speed near instantly. The sun has begun to fall behind the horizon, leaving an ever-darkening sky to remain. I fall into a loose formation with the startled jet. looking into the cockpit, I see what seems to be a fairly young adult in the pilot seat. If I were to guess, this was one of his first missions.
Jax: "Hey there!"
Bandit 2: "THE HELL? How'd you crack our comms!? Please... Just leave me be, I have no interest in continuing..."
Jax: "Right, Right, just answer a few of my questions and ill leave you on your way. First, who sent you, and what country do you belong to?"
Bandit 2: "we're mercenaries, only Soe knew the contacts name... The guy you just shot down..."
Jax: "I see, two, where did you get those jets? I've never seen anything like them. More so in the hands of mercenaries."
Bandit 2: "Our hire gave them to us. I don't know their origins..."
Jax: "Got it, that will be all then. Just so you know, that Soe guy is parachuting into the ocean right now, I suggest you help him. I heard the ocean's waters are quite cruel at night."
Bandit 2: "What... Exactly are you?.."
Jax: "Just call me The Sky Dragon, it's cooler to tell at storytime."
I break away from the fleeing jet, realigning towards Boss's heading. I never get to see what he does on his strike missions. I wanna go see how he does them. To make up for the lost time I should speed up. I push the throttle to its limit and enter Stage Four. I shoot past Mach 5 while regaining my lost time and altitude.
After cruising at that speed for around 30 minutes I see faint traces of fire and smoke in the dark night sky. I lower my throttle as I close onto the area. Is this the target? It doesn't look like an arms factory to me, its to big to be one. As I closer I get to the target, the less and less it appears to be a factory. Instead, it begins to appear as a small city. I drop my throttle further as I drop my altitude. Getting under 5 thousand feet, I break through the dense clouds to observe the burning city below. I look below, seeing screaming children and families fleeing from their burning homes. Cars were strewn across the street, some flipped and some burning. Some of the buildings instead of burning were instead completely evaporated. Leaving nothing but the few bricks and stones as markers for their previous resting point. The tallest of the buildings laid shattered and crippled. Having full sections ripped out of them forcefully. And lastly, bodies lined the streets and buildings. With families and children at their feet mourning their helplessness. I hear a roaring engine screaming out in front of me. I ready myself to engage the threat, but instead, Boss shoots through the clouds. He unleashes volleys of missiles into the helpless city below. Explosions erupt throughout the chaos, further adding to the fire and bodies below. I pull away from the city, maxing out my throttle and entering stage 4 again, Boss can't see me here... Boss shoots away from his strafing run, aligning his nose with me. Were my engines too loud? Did he see me? impossible, my cloaks still active. I hear a sharp breath come over my radio. He holds his breath be letting it fall... Boss breaks away from me, flying off in some random direction. Did he see me? I don't care to stick around and find out. I fly back to base as fast as Spirit will allow me to. I look back, seeing Boss continue another strafing run on the city below.
Boss, are these what your strike missions are?