[We shall keep the same chapter length and I will try to keep up frequency....hopefully. By the way I haven't said this, but thank you to all who read. It brings a smile to my face knowing that you enjoy this small story that I write. So thank you for taking time out of your day to read. :) ]
(Mc Pov)
"All Warthogs form up on me, over," I state over the com as I pull my Eagle towards the AA guns located 50 miles north. After traveling for a moment or two eventually the entire squadron formed up on my sides and extended behind me. Everything was going smoothly and we were 30 miles out until-
"Heads up! Banshees and Vampires flocking in mass dead ahead. Warthogs scatter and work on picking them off. Communicate with your wingman and watch each other's backs, over" I ordered over the comm. I wanted them to break apart so we didn't cause any friendly fire mishaps because of crossfire, and to stretch the battlefield to our advantage. We have the bigger, faster, and more heavily armored and armed aircraft, it would be embarrassing if we didn't make use of it. 'The only fair fight is the fight you lose,' in combat always cheat and ALWAYS win.
(Vampire)
(Type 26A Banshee)
A flurry of words in agreement was sent over the comm and I switched to a channel that linked me with my wingman, "Warthog two we are going to focus on the Vampires first. Keep your GAU-8s at a fire rate of 500 rpm, over" I spoke clearly and authoritatively. The Gau-8 Avenger is a 30 mm autocannon that shoots soda can-sized High explosive Anti Laminate rounds (HEAL). The bullets will easily rip through a Banshee's canopy and it might take a few more to knock out a Vampire. I am keeping the rounds per minute low so we don't blow through our ammo in the first engagement. We will need it for the air support portion and we will have bombs for the AA guns.
To be honest that much gun is overkill for practically every target and especially for practically any air vehicle. The engineers were genius when they strapped this onto an Eagle however with its armor, speed, and maneuverability combine that with the firepower of JUST the autocannons, and boom you have a flying tank destroyer.
Snapping back to the battle in front of me I am still flying straight into about fifteen banshees and about seven Vampires. In any other aircraft, this might be a dangerous strategy, but in this killing machine, they are just sitting ducks.
*Vmmmmm*
I pressed the down button on my stick letting rip the seven-barrel autocannon. On the lower mode of fire, it made a quieter sound. But seeing as I held the button for about four seconds firing thirty-four rounds in a small spread. Just in the opening volley, I tore three Banshees apart. Their stubby wings holding the anti-gravity and propulsion drive at the end were severed. The canopies had holes if they could be called that because each 'hole' was around the size of a concrete slab due to the explosion upon contact. The pilots that were facing the round as it struck their craft were most likely either turned into a purple mist or missing a LARGE portion of important stuff.
There was only one Banshee that wasn't immediately turned into pieces like a Lego set. It was missing one wing and had two rounds that went through the upper portion of the canopy. It flew for a couple of seconds in a spinning and gliding descent before exploding, likely due to hitting some other vital system required for sustained flight.
"Scratch three bogies," I said, confirming my kills over the comms.
My wingman Warthog Two followed my lead aiming for a group of three Vampires. Based on the length of sustained firing from his guns, I measured that he held down the button for about nine to ten seconds and shot close to eighty rounds. A bit longer than he should have, but the results spoke for themselves. The Vampires had multiple coke can-shaped holes on the front of their hulls indicating that rounds had in fact landed and penetrated. From the front, we couldn't see the extent of the damage caused by the explosives but I am guessing the aliens in those aircraft had a VERY bad day. Seeing as not two seconds after his expenditure the Vampires caught fire and promptly blew up.
We stopped our volley short because we were approaching the swarm at a rapid rate. To avoid a collision I pivoted my craft swiftly to its side flying with one wing pointed to the ground and the other at the sky. I slid through the hoard of Covenant craft with the loud roar of my engine shaking them.
I didn't look to check on my wingman assuming he made it through safely and instead opted to quickly give out another set of instructions, "Warthog two I am going up high you inversely hit them low. Be sure to watch out for the crossfire and match my speed at 350 mph, over '' I planned to make this pass the last and hurry up to take out the AA guns.
"Solid Copy Warthog One," replied my wingman through the comm.
I made an upward arc until I was completely vertical and then inverted myself continuously pulling back on the stick until I had become flat horizontally though upside down. I quickly turned myself right side up and smiled thinking to myself, 'Now I have the sweet spot,'.
Looking down I had eyes on a small pond of purple. I call this elevated position the sweet spot for a couple of reasons. First, as I am now I have the high ground meaning that any of those enemies would at the very least find it quite challenging to take me out with my advantageous position. Secondly, because my craft is so much faster the Banshees and Vampires are just beginning to bank left or right meaning I have them by the balls. From my height, they won't be able to evade my entire spray even with the grouping of bullets not being as tight. Which works in my favor giving me an almost area of effect damage with each burst I let rip.
[Author's note: This is an actual tactic used by A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots during their runs. The steep attack angle also helps with penetration with their guns.]
Before engaging I gave one final direction to my wingman planning to mop up all of them with the confirmation of their tactics, "I'll take the ones banking right, you take the one's going left,".
A minute or two later all of the Covenant in our zone were now either dust or hurling to the ground in fiery wreckage. Meanwhile, most other pilots were wrapping up their dog fights (if they could be called that). One or two pilots were hit by a lucky shot or two from a plasma cannon, but weren't in any critical condition and were ready to continue the mission. Shortly, after our skirmish in the sky the squadron reformed in the VIC formation and we continued our approach to the target.
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(Daisy S-023)
"It's a pretty day, huh Chief?" said Sergeant First Class Foley. He was a man of African descent and had brown eyes, and was the second in command of the platoon. Emphasis on the 'was' part because now he is the default leader along with me for the remaining forty or so marines in the Gamma four sector. Originally they had a Lieutenant first-class leading them, but he got flanked by a Brute with a spiker. There wasn't much we could do for him when the firefight was finished. A spike cleanly severed his Aorta and he bled out making Foley the next in line for command.
(Spiker)
(Regular Brute foot soldier)
"It would seem so," I replied in a quiet and calm voice. The weather was clear and the sky was blue and vibrant with the Algol star shining brightly. For all intents and purposes it would be a good day to sit in a garden, 'Talk about trouble in paradise,' I mused to myself with a snort internally.
A couple of other marines in the vicinity also agreed with the Sergeant's statement and they began small talk. They talked about a variety of topics from food they wanted to eat back on their home planets to plans of getting married and other goals for after the war. It was strange seeing as we were sitting in the ruins of a courthouse, the irony was not lost on me though I am not sure if the same could be said for them.
I listened to them as they spoke with passion about their hopes and dreams. They spoke fervently about small things like restoring their parent's homes or just having reunions with everyone after the war and having a 'bbq'? Whatever that was, it made everyone immediately begin planning what they would bring to said event.
But even as they spoke about these events I knew that most likely everyone in the platoon would die. I would most likely be the only one remaining in this sector and eventually the order to pull out will come and I would exit. I would exit lighter on ammo, maybe a wound or two sustained, but I would have an entire pouch filled with forty to fifty dog tags. That was simply the ugly truth of this war, but I didn't have the heart to tell them the truth.
I stopped thinking about the depressing thoughts and heard the sound of boots clomping around twenty feet away. I saw a marine running through the ruins with a green box with his MA5B assault rifle slung over his back. He ran and eventually stopped once he was at the front of the group.
"Hey, guys! Chief!," The young soldier greeted us, "The battle group has deployed that Spartan, and he is accompanied by a squadron of eagles. They are broadcasting some of the comms over the encrypted STRAT COMM channel," The young marine private came running through the ruins with a radio. He sits down on a fallen brick wall and plugs the radio into a portable power supply. Once plugged in he tuned the piece of equipment to the correct channel and cranked up the volume by twisting the volume knob.
Everyone came close to listening to the comms over the radio. Even I scooted closer as I was curious about this mystery Spartan pilot, "This is Warthog Eight, engine successfully re-ignited. You are the last one Warthog One. What's your status? Over," was the first voice heard on the radio. It was a female with a calm tone, her voice carried a combat pilot's signature collected demeanor.
"Attempt two failure, beginning attempt number three. Approaching 150,000 feet," A deep male voice replied.
'Wait a minute did they say engine re-ignite? Don't tell me this guy's plan was to fall from orbit and restart their engines,' I looked around and all the other marines seemed to have understood the unspoken plan and were chatting in disbelief. I could only shake my head with an internal chuckle, 'This guy's nuts. Now I have to meet this asylum patient,'. I was intrigued, to say the least, he reminded me of John with this plan that he came up with and somehow managed to get the go-ahead for.
A few seconds went by as everyone huddled around the radio and waited in silence hoping to hear good news until, "Re-ignitions successful, Warthogs form up in VIC formation and begin the approach to the mission area,". Hearing those words the marines around the radio cheered and even I nodded and smiled happily at the news from where I was sitting.
Eventually, after a minute or two of the Marines high-fiving and fist bumping they sat back down eagerly awaiting the next transmission. It was silent and I was getting bored, but just as I was about to move away I heard the next transmission, "Heads up! Banshees and Vampires in mass dead ahead. Scatter and pick them off with your wingman,". This caught my attention and I changed my mind. I stayed seated and listened eagerly to the radio awaiting the next transmission regarding the results of the engagement.
'Maybe this day won't be so bad after all,' I thought with a small smile on my face.
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Boooooom another chapter. The bombing run shall commence next chapter because I really wanted to do a Daisy Pov featuring the marines on the ground. Some character development is needed for future chapters... (ominous music)
So talking about the weapons on the eagles especially the 30 mm autocannon I don't think I exaggerated when I was describing them. If you look at modern day 30 mm that's basically what it does, and I am talking about 26th century 30 mm so I don't think my description is to farfetched. I mean have you seen a 30 mm it is literally as big as my forearm.
A random thought why isn't there any Code Geass fanfics? I mean it's super popular and has one of the greatest Mc's in fiction in my opinion. Heck I even came up with a good idea for one and would love to write it if I actually had a good grasp on Code Geass.
Anyway if you have any questions be sure to leave them.
Song of the day is "The Reason" by Hoobastank
I hope you all have a blessed day and I will See You Star Side