Chapter 15

 FIFTEEN

It was a moonless night over the nearly pitch-black darkness of the forests of central Usea. Two Federation of Central Usea Air Force F-16’s screamed their way overhead, the only sound in the night over the pitch black Chopinburg Jungle. “Foil One, on station at Angels Two” The lead pilot, Major Curt ‘Squidbait’ Langenhorst reported.

“Athena, Foil Two, Picture?” Langenhorst’s Wingman, Captain Rich ‘Aqua’ Hiller called out on the frequency.

“Picture is clean Foil.” A bored sounding controller reported.

Neither pilot had expected anything different. For Foil Squadron, the war had largely passed them by. Save for a few minor skirmishes early on in the war, the Federation of Central Usean Air Force had taken a back seat in favor of letting the Osean’s take point on fighting Erusea. Now all the FCUAF Fighters attached to the IUN spent their time warding off the occasional smuggling operation in southern Usea, rather than crisscrossing the skies in do-or-die dogfights.

Squidbait keyed his mic “Relax Aqua, the war is over. Just sit there and shut up until you get your seven fifty.” He admonished his wingman.

“Yeah I know. I just wish we would have, you know, actually seen some action instead of sitting around with our thumbs up our asses.” Aqua griped.

“Hey now, remember how you blew up those trucks a few months back?” Squidbait asked jokingly.

“Oh yay, a truck. That sure taught the Crown.  You know how much I got laid because of that truck?” Aqua griped

“How much?”

“Not one damn time! Turns out ladies don’t really care if you blow up a truck! Dude I joined up to be a fighter pilot, not this shit!” Aqua complained.

“Hey at least you guys are doing something up there.” The AWACS ‘Athena’ chimed in. “Most of the times we just sat doing the same goddamn circles and our only SA was what our sensors could see. Really wish we could get a window or something on these birds.”

“Solid copy Athena” Squidbait replied.

The three continued,

“Foil, Passing Lexus” Squidbait reported, signaling that the patrol had crossed yet another waypoint on their flight.

“How many more do we have left?” Aqua asked

“Chrysler, Ford and Fiat from the looks of it. So probably another hour and change at our airspeed” Squidbait replied.

“Foil One, Athena” The AWACS called

“Go Athena”

“How’d you even get a callsign like Squidbait in the first place?” the AWACS asked.

“Should you tell it, or can I?” Aqua asked.

“I got it,” Squidbait replied “Turns out a great shame is brought upon you when you’re a young Air Force lieutenant and you try to take on a Sortie of North Point Navy Tomcats all by yourself.” Squidbait replied.

“I don’t think I follow” Athena said slowly

“It means the Major here got his ass shot down by the Navy for being stupid. Hence, ‘Squid Bait’” Aqua chimed in.

“Beats being ‘Aqua’.” Squidbait retorted.

“Hey now! I-“ Aqua began to defend himself before being interrupted.

“Lock it down Foil. Be advised, possible Contact, one four zero and four zero miles.” Athena interjected.

“Foil Copies all, define ‘Possible Contact’” Squidbait asked, turning the flight towards the heading of 140.

“Question of the hour Foil One. Ground stations are reporting something in that area, but we aren’t getting anything on primary or secondary from either our bird or ground stations.” Athena replied. “Picture clean in that sector. Command wants you to investigate. Your cleared off.” He then reported.

“Foil copies all. Enroute.” Squidbait reported. “Hey Aqua, you wanted some action right?” He joked.

“ooh, Scary ghost Airplanes!” Aqua replied sarcastically.  

 

At their F-16’s current cruise speed of 300 knots, Squidbait calculated that it would only take them around 8 minutes to reach the location Athena had sent them to. He knew the Viper could provide more, easily reaching around 600 knots, but he was weary of tempting the fuel gods and not wanting to Joker out too quickly if something was there. Squidbait was more than happy to leave the fuel burn at less than 2000 pounds per hour.

Quickly arriving to the area, Squidbait looked around with the radar, then outside to the pitch-black nothingness that surrounded the two. Not seeing anything with his naked eye, he dimmed the cockpits lights and turned on the bulky night vision monocle attached to his Helmet. The world was bathed in an eerie green glow, he could barely make out the treetops thousands of feet below him.

 

“Two, you have anything on your scope?” Squidbait asked hesitantly.

“Negative lead. Scope is clean. Got nothing visually either. Looks to be just you and me up here” Aqua replied.

“Probably just a crop duster and the ground pounders fucking with us” Squidbait theorized.

“Probably. What a colossal waste of time. You promised me action dammit!” Aqua joked.

Squidbait rolled his eyes at his wingman. “Athena, Foil One. Scope is clean and theres nothing but us out here. If something was here it bugged out already. Returning to route” Squidbait reported.

“Copy that Foil, cleared –“ Athena cut out.

“Athena say again?” Squidbait called out on the radio.

Silence.

“Foil Two, how do you hear?”

Silence.

 

Squidbait looked over to his shoulder and saw Aqua’s Viper closing in on his own. He could see Aqua moving a hand Infront of his mouth, then across his ear.  It was the hand gesture for a radio out situation. Squidbait returned the hand gesture in kind. Squidbait tapped the side of his helmet, then gestured a 2 4 and 3. The Military emergency frequency.

“Foil Two, Foil One, how Copy?” Squidbait called

HE was answered by silence.

He looked over and saw Aqua shaking his head in frustration.

Whatever, we train for this shit. Squidbait thought to himself.

Squidbait yawed his Viper back and forth indicating to Aqua that they were going to return to their pre-briefed route.  

“Athena, Foil One, in the blind. We are having radio issues and are returning back to pre-briefed route” Squidbait said on the radio, likely to no one.

Squidbait went to check his fuel quantities and caught a flash out of the corner of his eye. Looking off his right wing he could see a fireball that was Aqua’s Viper as it plunged towards the jungle below. The flashes of the fire temporarily overloaded Squidbaits monocle as it strangled to squelch the light.

“Holy shit!” Squidbait exclaimed, He threw his Viper in a wheel around the crash site, desperately looking for a parachute or any indication his wingman had made it out of the fighter.

“Athena, Foil One in the blind. Foil Two is Down! I repeat, we have a Viper down!” He yelled into the radio.

Silence was Squidbait’s response.

He looked up from the devastation to see tracers streaming towards his jet. A wave of confusion and anger washed over the Usean pilot. What in gods name is happening? The war’s over! He thought as he jinked the F-16 wildly to dodge the cannon rounds. Suddenly Squidbait’s cockpit was filled with a rapid chirping from the jet’s radar warning receiver.

“Foil one, Im spiked, defending!” he exclaimed, doubtful anyone could hear him.

He slammed the throttle forward and felt the afterburner ignite on the F100 turbofan. Squidbait desperately looked behind himself to see the attacker.

Too dark, dammit! He thought to himself. Quickly, Squidbait punched off the excess weight on the Viper, to include two dumb Mark 82 bombs and two 370 gallon drop tanks. It would significantly shorten his range but the moment they departed the aircraft he could feel the plane lighten up enough.

Alright, now we’re in the fight! Squidbait thought to himself. He jerked the Viper in a hard turn in an attempt to jink the bandit off his tail. Squidbait knew he was stuck in a low aspect shot for the bandit.

“Let’s see if you can do this, asshole.” Squidbait growled as he pulled the Viper into a high G climb. Not being adequately prepared with the anti-G straining maneuver, Squidbait could feel his body get painfully heavy, he could see the corners of his vision begin to fade and what felt like off in the distance he could feel the G-suit start to inflate, He looked up and saw the flash of the bandits afterburner before it disappeared under his jet. He rolled the Viper over as his HUD ticked past 35,000 feet. Pulling the Vipers nose towards the ground he threw the plane into a dive, With the afterburner roaring he could see the Airspeed climb rapidly almost as quickly as his altitude was falling. He hit the weapons select switch until he saw the gun maneuvering line appear on his HUD. He looked in vain but didn’t see the bandit in front of him.

What the hell is this thing? He thought as he pulled the jet level at fourteen thousand feet. Once again, his cockpit was silent as he had broken lock with the bandit.

“Foil One, Naked. Egressing” He called out exhausted.

A moment later, more tracers surrounded his cockpit. “Can you just quit it already!?” He yelled, pulling the jet into a hard turn to the right. Even with a straining maneuver, he saw the G meter tick up to 8.

If I can’t run, I can at least fight this fucker. He thought. Backing the weapons selector on his stick, he saw the small ring appear on his HUD and a comforting growl from the Vipers two AIM-9L Sidewinder Infrared missiles. Along with the bombs and fuel, every CUAF Patrol carried no less than two AIM-9 heat seekers and two AIM-120B radar guided missiles.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the Bandit once again was right on his tail. Gotcha! He thought as he engaged the speed brakes and pulled the nose up. Feeling the airspeed bleed off he started a roll to increase his distance from the bandit. It wasn’t quite the rolling scissor he has been trained but he was pleasantly surprised to see the attacking jet pass underneath him and turn Squidbait’s defensive fight into an offensive one. Kicking in the boards the opened the throttle to regain airspeed and stay on the bandit.

Closing the distance, he put the Bandit in the middle of the Sidewinders reticle. Instead of the high-pitched tone he expected however, the Sidewinder continued its idle growl. He switched between the two Missiles on the pylons to the same effect. What the hell? He thought in frustration. He fired one of the Sidewinders, hoping it was bad indicators from the G’s that he had been putting the jet through.

“Foil One, Fox Two!” He yelled out hitting the weapons release switch.

The jet shuddered as the missile flew off the pylon, and much to Squidbaits annoyance, past the bandit to flame out harmlessly over the jungle.

The Bandit, seeing the missile go stupid, started his own jinking maneuvers. They were sloppy but the enemy jets high maneuverability made up for the lack in skill. Squidbait did his best to stay on the bandits tail. He looked through the green haze of the NVG’s to see what he was fighting.

 

The enemies jet was small and angular. It struck him as odd that it didn’t quite look like anything he had seen in the past.  JF-17 Maybe? He thought. Squidbait had only seen the Xiaolong’s in magazines and occasional intelligence briefings. To the best of his knowledge, they were a Verusean domestic fighter and only a handful existed. What he did know was that the JF-17 did not have any of the capabilities of his current bandit.

 

Centering the bandit in the Sidewinders reticle again, he waited for the tone. Hearing nothing, he once again hit the trigger and prayed.

To his dismay, the missile once again ‘went stupid’ and flew past the bandit.

 

Squidbait weighed his options. He didn’t want to lose the separation he already had on his target, but he also was low on options. I need a minimum of a mile for the ARMAAM to arm. He thought to himself. Slowly he let off on the throttle and watched the distance increase, as he neared a mile in distance, he switched the weapons selector over to the AIM-120s and engaged the Air to Air Radar.

He looked in annoyance at the blank screen. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” He hissed. According to his jets radar, they were alone. There was nothing to shoot in front of him.

The enemy jet continued its sloppy maneuvering over the Jungle. Squidbait closed the distance, hoping to get within guns range before the Bandit could make a reversal on him. Before he could switch back to the guns, The Bandit started a turns reversal, before Squidbait could realize it, he had closed into a scissors with the bandit, every other second the defender became the attacker. Squidbait was getting tired. By his guess only a few moments had passed since Aqua had been shot down, but the way he felt was closer to running two back to back marathons.

This is some bullshit. He thought as he worked to stay out of phase with the mystery aircraft.

As he rolled the Viper once again into a low aspect shot, the Bandit made a blinding fast pitch upwards.

What the hell is this thing? Squidbait thought as he engaged the Afterburner to pursue his target. Going into the climb, the F-16 had nearly 600 knots of airspeed, But it was falling quickly. Still the Bandits airplane continued to climb unrestricted, Front Squidbait’s guess, it had crossed 30,000’ easily with no issues.

Closing the distance, Squidbait re-engaged the guns. Once again, his HUD was filled with the maneuvering line, He put the Bandit at the base of the line and squeezed the trigger.

Nothing.

Instead of the belch of the Vipers 20mm Cannon, Squidbait saw large X’s across the two multi-function displays in the fighter.

As his Viper neared 40,000 feet, Squidbait could feel the jet start to shake. He looked at the Airspeed fall below 200 knots. Within a second the stall tone was sounding. A Moment later the nose broke as the Viper fell helplessly into a spin, screaming towards the ground.

Squidbait idled the throttle and sent the stick forward to break the stall. The nose lazily tracked along the horizon as the altitude kept decreasing in Squidbaits HUD.

Passing 25,000 feet, Squidbait reached down to pull the Ejection handle between his legs. Inexplicably to himself, he paused briefly and looked up towards the bandit.

Now bearing down on him, he could see the enemy fighter’s angular nose, as well as the missile flying closing the distance impossibly fast.

“Fuck”

***
“Foil One lost” Technical Sergeant Penikett reported sadly, slumping back into his chair. The Air Battle Manager, Captain Sharon “Athena” Agathon walked down the isle along the E-767 to Penikett’s station.

“What happened Tech Sergeant?” She asked concerned. Penikett took off his headset and turned around to talk to the Captain.

“Don’t know. It was a flight of two CUAF Vipers. I’ve lost both of them on our primary and I’m getting nothing on secondary from the ground stations either” He reported. “But whatever happened, it wasn’t normal. He was making some aggressive maneuvers and multiple climbs.”

“What were they doing?” Agathon asked.

“Command reported some weird sightings in the region. So, I dispatched Foil to investigate. They reported that nothing was there, then I lost their IFF data and communications with them.”

“See anything else out there with them?” Agathon asked.

“Not a damn thing Ma’am. Its like the hand of god just flicked them out of the sky.” Penikett replied.

Agathon pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “Tech Sergeant mark their last known locations. Master Sergeant Park-“ Agathon ordered “Call up Command, let them know we have two possible shoot downs, we need Search and Rescue and Alert Fighters out to the location.”

“Yes Ma’am” The two NCO’s replied, quickly getting to work.

***

Mancuso sat in his office smoking a cigar and reading the report.

He flinched when he saw that both of the Usean Pilots had been killed, and their remains were found within the wreckage of their aircraft.

He exhaled a large cloud of smoke.

“Does someone want to tell me how old this report is?” He said slowly.

In his office, choking from the secondhand smoke was his intelligence officer, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Gillette. “About two weeks old” Gillette responded with a cough.

“Any reason why we’re just seeing it now?” Mancuso asked annoyed.

“IUN has always been awful with sharing details. Even after the fuck up with Harling. We just got the report this morning.”

“Did Fick say anything about this?”

“Not that we saw sir. But Fick’s team has been mostly operating along the coastal region around Axel Bay. This was further inland, around the former Istas Fortress region.” Gillette reported.

“I’m guessing we still haven’t any clues who is responsible?”

“Not one. Rebels indicated they were working with the responsible party but, they themselves did not do the shoot down.” Gillette explained.

Mancuso sighed.

“This is just one gut punch after another. Really wish we could have kept the LRSSG and Three Strikes. But I got overruled. Now he’s off making sure Navarro plays nice.” Mancuso groaned, steepling his hands on his desk.

Gillette shrugged. “I will have Fick look into the area a bit more, at least for now sir, we do believe the origin point for all these attacks is in Chopinburg.”

“it’s a start. But where exactly? There has to be forty or fifty air strips that could field a fighter in that area. Who knows how many are actually charted? And its not like I can get authorization to send a Bone in there and JDAM everything we think might be a runway.” Mancuso sighed.

“Well Sir, its not like we would have gotten this assignment without it being some kind of difficult or next to impossible” Gillette said jokingly.

Mancuso cracked a smirk at his subordinate. “I’m just hoping we don’t lose the entire air force before that happens.”