>>2451132
>Push him lower! Once you have the height advantage, then you can control the engagement.
Suffer not the Flanker to fly.

>>2451132
>Push him lower! Once you have the height advantage, then you can control the engagement.

>>2451132
>>Push him lower! Once you have the height advantage, then you can control the engagement.

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You kept up the rolling scissors for a few more passes, analysing your opponent and his jet as you went. His stock SU-27 was either a down rated export version, or the Soviet production line was already cutting corners. The IRST mounted just afore of the cockpit had apparently not been installed, with a faring covering where it once sat. And almost as if to match, the pilot's flying was sloppy. Not so sloppy that you thought of him as a rookie, but more as if he wasn't used to flying the aircraft he was currently sat in. From there, you formulated a plan to overpower your foe.

You waited until you crossed paths again before pressing firmly down onto one of your rudder pedals. Your jet's nose angling higher into the air as you gained positioning over the enemy fighter. The flanker tried to follow you, but he couldn't keep up with your thrust vectoring. And soon enough, you got above him. The enemy pilot sussed out that you were planning something, and nosed his plane down, trying to gain speed and distance by sacrificing what little altitude he had.

You grinned into your oxygen mask as you made to follow him. You gun-sights already projected onto the heads up display fixed to your cockpit.

The enemy aircraft broke the sound barrier first. But even at what you assumed was his top speed at sea-level, your jet was faster. Much faster. It didn't take you too long to get back into normal guns range of him, but you still needed to get closer, lest you miss.

Yet once again, the enemy pilot proved that he knew what he was doing, and with the flick of a button, he cut off his afterburners and began to rapidly decelerate. You rushed to fire a burst, but missed by a good meter or so as you rapidly approached him. You slammed your throttle all the way to the stops and activated your afterburners at almost the same time. You couldn't avoid overshooting him, but you could reduce the chances of being hit by the missile that he would inevitably sick on you. Your theory was only proved correct as you passed, the enemy fighter fired a missile at you as you broke mach 2. Your speed gave you only a few seconds, and you spent them spewing flares and pulling your jet up and to the left.

With a colossal, but slightly muted bang. The missile detonated behind and just below your jet. The shockwave sent a rumble through your jet and knocked it around a bit. You chopped your throttle, not just to reduce fuel flow to the engines in case of damage, but also so your could quickly turn your nose down, headed back down and out of your climb as the enemy fighter tried to run once again.

>Disengage and call for help! You can't risk taking another hit like that.
>Press the attack! This is a guns only fight, and you have the advantage of altitude.
>Other (write in)

>>2451310
>Press the attack! This is a guns only fight, and you have the advantage of altitude.
Come on, he ain't THAT good.

>>2451310
>Press the attack! This is a guns only fight, and you have the advantage of altitude.

>>2451310
>>Press the attack! This is a guns only fight, and you have the advantage of altitude.

>>2451310
>Press the attack! This is a guns only fight, and you have the advantage of altitude.

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Grunting to yourself, you kicked the rudder pedals as your nose passed the horizon. Already, you could feel the tomcat struggling to follow through with your commands. For a half-second, you removed your eyes from the flanker, and glanced over to your heads-up-display. And sure enough, the "TVEC" marker on the HUD was highlighted in a deep red, signalling that it had either been critically damaged, or had been shut off. Either way, it didn't matter, the enemy flanker was almost out of guns range.

Quickly dropping down from altitude, you threw your engines to their stops to pursue the enemy fighter. You pushed your bird closer to the ground, trying to get into enemy fighter's blind spot. And sure enough, you were able to. While you could certainly feel some buffeting from being caught in the turbulent air behind the enemy fighter, you didn't think of it as much more than a mile inconvenience.

You waited until you were close before popping up and firing, leaving almost no time for the enemy pilot to respond. Your first burst blew out his port-side engine. The turbojet engine shattering in a great ball of fire. You pulled up and away to avoid the shrapnel, and almost committed to a second pass when you saw the canopy be blown away. The enemy pilot had apparently decided that fighting you with just one engine was a bad plan, and instead chose to ride the rocket out of the fight. You watched as the ejector seat lanced high into the sky, well past your fighter. And turned back towards the mountain as the fighter slammed into the jungle behind you.

"Splash one. Zeus, what's the damage?" You asked your RIO as you checked over your fuel status. Thankfully, it was still within acceptable levels, but you hadn't been paying too much attention to it during the fight, so you didn't know if you had suffered a breach to one of your tanks.

"Nothing that I can tell, but it would be best if Scorpion got a look at it. I don't have the best angle to look for damage from." Zeus replied, before then adding. "I've shut off the thrust vectoring for that reason. If Scorpion gives us the all clear, then we should be fine."

"Well luckily for you, I was able to take out my target with ease." Your wingmate answered your RIO's suggestion, her IFF marking her as a couple of kilometres to your north-west.

>Return to CAP! You can't let the Soviets try to sneak anything through.
>Check your planes! You can spend a little time licking your wounds.
>Check the convoy! You need to make sure that they are staying put.
>Other (write in)

>>2453734
>Check your planes! You can spend a little time licking your wounds.

>>2453734
>Check your planes! You can spend a little time licking your wounds.

>>2453734
>Check your planes! You can spend a little time licking your wounds.

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>>2453734
>Check your planes! You can spend a little time licking your wounds.
But try to make it quick.

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"Get over here and give me an external damage assessment. We had a near-hit from a missile and may have lost the thrust vectoring nozzles." You ordered your wingmate, who sighed as she approached your aircraft. She was quiet for a few minutes as her jet hit in the blind spot where you had taken damage. Had you come under enemy fire then, one of you would have certainly been shot down. Fortunately however, the minutes passed uneventfully, and she finally reported back to you.

"Looks like you have damage to your thrust vectoring control. Almost all of the actuators on the lower part of your jet have been snapped or bent out of shape. Your elevons and ventral fins are also damaged. I can't see any fluid leak, from the aft tank, but given the distance between it and the damaged sections, I don't think that it has been hit. But you should check either way. I think you are dogfight capable, I wouldn't chance it if I were you." Scorpion informed you, and checking down to your screen you confirmed that the fuel tanks weren't damaged.

"I don't see any abnormal fuel drain from the aft fuselage tanks, no damage to them." You answered your wingmate as you inspected her aircraft. And in an unfortunate turn for your pride, you didn't even find a scratch. "You seem fine, did they even fire at you?"

"He did, but the seeker must have failed. Damn thing lanced off towards the sun." Scorpion replied smugly as you both returned to the mountain airspace, oily black smoke rising from the convoy.

"Freelancer two-one to freelancer lead. We have engaged and eliminated a flight of enemy flankers. Two-one is no longer dogfight capable." You reported in as you once again split off from your wingmate to return to your patrolling pattern.

"Understood two-one. What's your damage?" Dredd asked, getting right to the point.

"Thrust vectoring is offline, elevons and ventral fins are also damaged. According to Weiss, I might be fine for dog fighting. But I don't fancy chancing it." You listed the damage to your CO as you tested your controls. Your yaw control was a bit more sluggish than before, and the jet seemed a bit harder to keep from sliding. It would definitely be an issue in a dogfight, and it stopped you from going supersonic. But you were still technically capable. With the right tactics at the very least.

"Understood, I'll dispatch Kenji's flight to either supplement or replace you. It's your call if you want to continue flying CAP, or if you want to help interdict enemy reinforcements. Your choice." Dredd answered you after a good 30 seconds. You knew that he had taken that time to order Kenji and Kay to join you as they both broke off from their position above the ground and began to head towards you.

>CONT

>>2457545

Considering your CO's choice. You felt that you could still bag a couple more air to air kills with your AMRAAMs. However, if you took fire then you would be at even more risk of being hit as you would have to rely more on your countermeasures and sole TALD. And even then, you didn't like your odds. Alternately, you could try and kill the enemy reinforcements. On the plus side, the worst you would face would be mobile AA and some helicopters. However, both were very dangerous to you if properly armed and employed. The J-CATCH exercise of '79 was proof enough that a well armed and well utilised helicopter could kill jets with no issue. And as for the mobile AA, you already knew how deadly they could be by the number of CAS aircraft losses.

>Remain on CAP. You still have AMRAAMs and a gun for killing air contacts.
>Interdict enemy reinforcements. You aren't dogfight capable, and that's the crux of your air combat tactics.
>Other (write in)

>>2457552
>>Interdict enemy reinforcements. You aren't dogfight capable, and that's the crux of your air combat tactics.

>>2457552
>>Interdict enemy reinforcements. You aren't dogfight capable, and that's the crux of your air combat tactics.

>>2457552
>Interdict enemy reinforcements. You aren't dogfight capable, and that's the crux of your air combat tactics.

>>2457552
>>Interdict enemy reinforcements. You aren't dogfight capable, and that's the crux of your air combat tactics

"Freelancer two-one and two-two will move to interdict ground reinforcements. AMRAAMs are unlocked for squadron wide use." You replied, before turning back towards where the rest of the squadron was loitering. Your radar being shut off after a second by your RIO as Scorpion moved back to her position off your wing.

"Alright, you have three options for where you can hit. First up are the roads to the north-east of the mountain. While the roads are generally in disrepair, there are many routes that troops from the Hwangsuwon base could take to reach the convoy. And as they have already scrambled helicopters, we have to assume that the rest of their garrison is also on the way over." Dredd briefed you on where you could attack as Scorpion arrived off your wing. Her practically intact aircraft demonstrating it's fine handling as she easily arrived at her roost.

"Second off, the lowlands to the south-east. The coast is mostly flat between the mountain and the Sea of Japan. However, there is a highway that was recently developed by the Japanese for local use. Ever since the Soviet takeover it has been used as a major transit line for troops. We think that is the most likely way for troops from areas other than the Hwangsuwon base to arrive from. And as the roads in that area are in far better condition than the mountain roads, they are more likely to bring in heavy equipment." Dredd continued on, oblivious to your wingmate's arrival. He paused for a second, before sighing, and then continued. "The third target is the convoy itself. The SAR flight's arrival is imminent, however, we would like it if they are softened up. You'll have to be careful not to hit the princess and her RIO, but from what we can see from Durendal's FLIR unit, it shouldn't be impossible. This has by far the lowest risk of facing enemy helicopters and AA units. However, there is a chance of hitting the princess, so you'll have to be careful."

"So no pressure on that last one..." Scorpion huffed, obviously not amused at having to pound ground targets.

>Hit the mountain roads! It's the most direct route in from the Hwangsuwon base, and if they are scrambling their aircraft, then their garrison is soon to follow.
>Hit the coastal highway! if the intel is right, then the highway would be the best way for the Soviets to send in reinforcements.
>Thin out the convoy! If you can make the SAR team's job easier then you can leave sooner!
>Other (write in)

>>2458508
>Hit the coastal highway! if the intel is right, then the highway would be the best way for the Soviets to send in reinforcements.

>>2458508
>>Hit the coastal highway! if the intel is right, then the highway would be the best way for the Soviets to send in reinforcements.

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"We'll cover the highway. The mountain tracks should be fairly hard to navigate at any speed. I’ll radio in if I find anything.” You decided, before leading your flight of two towards the coast. You waited for Dredd to click his radio twice in confirmation, before switching over to your link to your wingmate.

"Scorpion, search the south-western stretch of the highway, you can cover more ground than me. I'll search the north-eastern stretch of the highway. If you see something then report in, do not engage unless I give the all clear." You briefed your wingmate as the pair of you passed close to the halted convoy, the black smoke rising from the destroyed vehicles.

“Wilco boss. What should I do if we encounter enemy aircraft?” Scorpion asked as you watched a tomcat dive towards the convoy. A pair of flashes and streaks of white rocket propellent signifying that rockets were being launched against the targets on the ground. You silently hoped that whoever was firing them was being damn accurate.

“Call it out, then, if they are at proper range you should engage them with them with AMRAAMs. If not, fall back. Do not go into a dogfight with uneven odds.” You explained to your wingmate, who clicked her radio twice in confirmation. A few minutes later, the pair of you reached the highway and went your separate ways. You didn’t fly directly over the highway, instead, you flew parallel to it at low altitudes. And at a scant few hundred meters off the ground, the lack of traffic on the arterial road, and the lack of activity in the small settlements that rested near to the highway took on a completely new perspective. You searched for a good five minutes, before your radio crackled into life.

"I have something. One convoy of transport vehicles. I see a mix of APCs, jeeps and trucks, I count four APCs, a pair of gaskins, four jeeps, and two trucks." Scorpion broke the silence first, just a scant second before you were to ask her about her search. The answer to the question that you hadn’t even asked being tossed right into your lap.

"How far out are they?” You asked, trying to get an idea for if you needed to turn back to assist your wingmate. While you hadn’t spotted any enemy units coming down the highway, you didn’t want to run off and leave a route open for the enemy to exploit.

"Around five kilometres out. Should I take them out? They are approaching a bridge." Scorpion reported back, and telling you that there was an opportunity to at the very least delay them. If not, stop the convoy outright.

>Order Weiss to engage! She can handle them on her own.
>Order Weiss to wait for you! You don’t particularly fancy her running head-long into a pair of mobile SAMs.
>Order Weiss to leave them be! Chances are that the SAR helicopter will have the princess onboard before the reinforcements even reach the foot of the mountain.
>Other (write in)

>>2459246
>Order Weiss to wait for you! You don’t particularly fancy her running head-long into a pair of mobile SAMs.

>>2459246
>>Order Weiss to wait for you! You don’t particularly fancy her running head-long into a pair of mobile SAMs.

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>>2459246
>Order Weiss to wait for you! You don’t particularly fancy her running head-long into a pair of mobile SAMs.

>>2457545
Hey, I've got a model Tomcat with that paint scheme (if a little on the green side).

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>>2459347

>>2459246
>>Order Weiss to wait for you! You don’t particularly fancy her running head-long into a pair of mobile SAMs.

>>2459246
>Order Weiss to wait for you! You don’t particularly fancy her running head-long into a pair of mobile SAMs.

"Hold your fire. I'll move over to assist. Give me the view from your FLIR." You asked as you began to turn your tomcat around. The aircraft's fly-by-wire system had been programmed to be able to cope with battle damage. However, it needed damaged to be entered into the system manually due to a lack of sensors. Zeus had spent the last 5 minutes of your search entering the damage into the computer, thus forcing you to search on your own.

"Sure. The convoy are moving at forty miles per hour down the highway, they are still a while out so we have time to plan." Scorpion replied, allowing you to see out of her fighter's FLIR. However, you had to zoom-in rather significantly in order to be able to see the convoy in much detail. Your wingmate loitering just outside of the AA vehicle's missile range.

The 12 vehicle convoy was arranged with two APCs at the front and rear of the convoy, with the gaskins just a bit deeper inside the convoy. The two trucks and the jeeps sat in the middle of the convoy, protected by their escort. Directing Scorpion to pan the FLIR further down the road, you couldn't see any obvious ways off, aside from a 2 meter sheer drop on either side of the raised highway. There was a chance that the vehicles could survive jumping over the side like that, but the passengers certainly wouldn't enjoy it. They were effectively trapped. However, there was no bridge that you could blow out in front of them. At least, not one that you could currently see. As such, your options for attacking the convoy was rather limited.

>Try and stop the convoy with the first pass! At the very least, running into a crater at 40mph will take some vehicles out alone.
>Target the gaskins first! As soon as they are gone, you'll have easy pickings on the convoy then.
>Split the convoy! Once they have broken apart it will be far easier to take them out one by one.
>Have Scorpion range forwards to find a bridge! If you time it correctly, you can take out the bridge and send the convoy for a swim.
>Other (write in)

>>2461791
>>Have Scorpion range forwards to find a bridge! If you time it correctly, you can take out the bridge and send the convoy for a swim.

>>2461791
>Target the gaskins first! As soon as they are gone, you'll have easy pickings on the convoy then.

>>2461791
>>Target the gaskins first! As soon as they are gone, you'll have easy pickings on the convoy then.

>>2461791
>>Try and stop the convoy with the first pass! At the very least, running into a crater at 40mph will take some vehicles out alone.

>>2461791
>>Target the gaskins first! As soon as they are gone, you'll have easy pickings on the convoy then.

>>2461791
>Target the gaskins first! As soon as they are gone, you'll have easy pickings on the convoy then.

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"We'll hit the gaskins first, rockets only at close range. We'll strike from opposite sides to reduce chances of being hit, I'll take the one towards the front of the convoy while you take he one further to the rear. Hold for my cue." You ordered as you switched your countermeasure deployment to automatic, and brought your dorsal flare canisters online in the place of the ventral canisters. Usually, the ventral canisters would be fired off first before the ventral ones as they were easier to replace in the event of a scramble. However, because you were going to move in just scant meters above the ocean, it would be better to use the dorsal canisters and keep low.

Moving out over the ocean, you dropped to only a scant few hundred feet above the waves and began to head closer. Any prying eyes in the convoy would see you coming, however, you knew that your plan would give the Soviet AA units little time to respond. After 5 minutes, you started your countdown as you caught sight of the convoy.

"Get ready. Engage in three... two..." You began, watching the convoy grow larger on the horizon. The countdown continued in spite of the growing feeling that missile launchers were currently bearing towards you. "One... engage!"

As soon as you gave the order, you pulled over towards the enemy convoy. Your MAWS activating as the pair of gaskins began to aquaire a lock on you, both of them marked out in red squares on your helmet mounted sights. However, one of the boxes soon winked out as Scorpion popped out from behind cover and began her run.

That left only one set of gunsights to run head-first into. No pressure.

The gaskin fired first, and almost as soon as the missile began to move, your jet began to spew flares. You tried your hardest to jink to the left as the missile tracked towards you, and you were lucky, as the missile tracked after one of your first flares. A second missile cleared the launcher as you turned back towards the convoy, and lady luck was on your side as the missile's seeker failed after a few seconds of flight.

He wouldn't get a 3rd missile off.

By the time the second missile passed you, you were in your firing position. You could have fired from the maximum 8 kilometre range and not risk getting shot down. However the chances of missing were too great as the convoy slowed down and began to break up. Your vehicle however had continued on, trying to get clear of the larger target of the convoy as the tomcats dived. You drew a lead on the enemy vehicle and fired off 4 rockets, going through a quarter of your available rockets. You watched the vehicle try and swerve out of the way of the incoming rockets, only to be knocked onto it's side by a near-hit. The blast rolled the vehicle onto it's side, and it careened over the side of the raised highway. The crash barrier obviously not meant to stop an over 10 ton vehicle that was travelling at high speeds. The vehicle disappearing over the side as you passed overhead.

>CONT

>>2464943

"Freelancer two-one and two-two, you have enemy aircraft inbound on your location!" Kay barked over the radio, her voice terse and commanding as she passed over her warning.

>Continue attacking the convoy! You still have time to hit them.
>Engage the enemy aircraft! You still have AMRAAMs that they can taste.
>Fall back! You are in no position to fight you best.
>Other (write in)

>>2464950
>>Fall back! You are in no position to fight you best.

>>2464950
>Fall back! You are in no position to fight you best.

>>2464950
>Engage the enemy aircraft! You still have AMRAAMs that they can taste.

>>2464950
>>Fall back! You are in no position to fight you best.

"Understood, flight two is falling back." You replied instantly to Kay's warning, and began to bank away from the convoy. "Scorpion, we are falling back."

"Really? We did practically nothing to them!" Scorpion tried to argue as you finished your turn, now flying north-east, parallel to the highway below.

"This isn't up for debate Weiss, we are leaving!" You barked at your wingmate as you looked over your shoulder, back towards the convoy and the lone tomcat. Scorpion did not respond to you verbally, however, she did break off from the start of a second attack run. The pair of you left at high speed, with two mobile AA vehicles killed to your credit.

"Freelancer two-one to freelancer lead. We have encountered an enemy convoy on the highway, headed north-east along the highway. However, we have not been able to inflict more than minimal damage due to the arrival of hostile fighters. Flight four is engaging the enemy fighters." You reported to Dredd, updating him on your situation as you checked your own ordnance. Outside of your pair of AMRAAMs and your cannon. You had 12 air to ground rockets, you had fired off a quarter of your total number of rockets against a single target.

And with your current reduced ordnance load, you considered your next moves.

>Hold off until the enemy fighters have been destroyed, then finish off the convoy! Leaving a job half-done is just sloppy.
>Hit the mountain roads! It's the most direct route in from the Hwangsuwon base, and if they are scrambling their aircraft, then their garrison is soon to follow.
>Support Kenji and Kay! An extra set of AMRAAMs, and a pair of guns wouldn't go amiss.
>Support the SAR team! This is the final stretch!
>Other (write in)

>>2466878
>>Support the SAR team! This is the final stretch!

>>2466878
>>Support the SAR team! This is the final stretch!

"Freelancer one-one, requesting an update on the SAR team's current status." You asked, mostly out of wonder for what was taking them so damn long.

"The SAR team has arrived at the convoy, they are fighting the Soviet units that have dug in around the convoy. However, we are also tracking a group that is moving through the forest. Both the convoy and the group in the forest have one of the GPS transponders with them, so we don't know which one has the princess, and which one has her RIO. The SAR flight has has focused their efforts on the convoy, including their remaining gunship." Dredd explained the situation to you, causing you to sigh to yourself. Of course, the Soviets hadn't made this easy for you to begin with, so why would they stop now?

"Where do you need us?" Scorpion asked, speaking up before you could ask the same question.

"You can either provide precision fire support to the SAR team, and burn off your remaining ground attack ordnance. Or you can replace Slider and Durendal in following the group in the forest, so that they can provide CAS for the SAR unit." Dredd gave you you two options, though the 3rd option to go back and support Kay and Kenji was still there.

>Replace Slider and Duendal! you can't see such heavily armed aircraft being needed for following a single squad.
>Provide CAS for your guys on the ground! You might as well use up what you have left.
>Other (write in)

>>2467328
>>Provide CAS for your guys on the ground! You might as well use up what you have left.

>>2467328
>Provide CAS for your guys on the ground! You might as well use up what you have left.

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>>2467328
>Provide CAS for your guys on the ground! You might as well use up what you have left.

>>2467328
>>Provide CAS for your guys on the ground! You might as well use up what you have left.

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"Freelancer two-one, moving to support the SAR flight." You decided, realising that if something did encounter Slider and Durendal, they would be best equipped to deal with whatever it was.

"Understood, I am overhead and acting as forward air control for fixed wing CAS. I am sending you my camera feed.” Dredd informed you, before your screen once again snapped into life. A feed from Dredd’s FLIR camera showing you the battle that raged on the ground below.

The small Japanese squad of 8 men were pinned down a good hundred meters down the road from the convoy, and were hiding in a bomb crater to avoid the torrent of enemy fire. They were taking fire from 4 groups of Soviet soldiers. One took cover in the crater from one of your bomb strikes, while another group took cover behind the remaining vehicles in the convoy. The 2 other groups had taken cover in the treeline, and were advancing on the Japanese squad.

“I’ll hit the guys in the crater. Scorpion, you should go after the guys in the trees. You can turn faster than me and can thus carry out your second run much faster than I would.” You ordered your RIO, before winging over towards the convoy, and setting up your attack run on the unprotected Soviet infantry.

Scorpion was fairly liberal with her weapons, and poured fire into the treeline as she began her run. 6 rockets lanced out of her pods along with a stream of tracer fire as she did her level best to kill as many soviets as possible in a single run. Soon enough however, she pulled up and began to make into a high and tight turn,giving herself a lot of altitude in order to have a lot of time to lay waste to the other Soviet squad. You were far more conservative with your attack, and fired your rockets far earlier than you would have otherwise liked. However, that was because you could ill afford to plant a rocket in the middle of the convoy itself. You fired just as many rockets as your wingmate, and you walked your fire up the road from just in front of the crater, to the bed of the truck that had crashed into it. Your first 2 rockets did nothing more than blow more holes into the road, the next pair detonated inside the crater, while the last ones hit the truck and blew it sky-high. It’s fuel tank detonating as soon as the 5 inch rocket went off. You pulled off and broke away from the road, clearing the airspace for your wingmate to begin her run as she performed a J-turn.

However, Dredd’s voice crackled over the radio before Scorpion could begin her second pass. “All aircraft over the convoy, hold fire, the SAR team will be pushing in now and we can’t risk friendly fire.”

>CONT

>>2475574

Looking back to the feed from Dredd’s FLIR, you watched as the squad of Japanese soldiers broke cover and began to push up along the side of the road closest to the treeline that Scorpion had poured so many rockets into. Almost immediately, they started taking fire, with one of them not making the brief run out of cover. The condemned man was knocked off his feet by rifle fire from the Soviet squad in the opposite treeline. But in kind, the Japanese AH-1 simply fired a volley of rockets into the treeline. Silencing the fire coming from that direction.

The Japanese squad continued forwards, not stopping to return fire on the Soviet soldiers that poured rifle fire at their supporting helicopters as they advanced into point-blank range to lay down suppressing fire. They didn't even stop when a pair of Soviet soldiers tried to make the brief run off the road, and into the grassy side of the raised road. In a true testament to the skill of the Japanese team, the Soviet flankers didn't even make it halfway before they were shredded by 30mm cannon fire from the gunship. And as soon as they were close enough, the Japanese helicopters stopped firing, and the infantry charged the convoy’s defenders. The few Russian soldiers that tried to take advantage of the lack of incoming fire were either suppressed or killed by automatic fire from the charging squad, who soon clashed in brutal hand-to-hand combat with the worn down Soviets less than a couple of seconds later. You idly wondered if these kinds of tactics were normal, or if this squad in particular was just very brutal. Then you remembered back to your grandpa’s stories of their civil war, and the pictures he had taken of it.

No wonder he had trouble sleeping for the rest of his life. That war made the war in Afghanistan look like child’s play.

For a solid couple of minutes, you watched the feed as Dredd circled the smoking convoy. Occasionally, you would catch a glimpse of the conflict within. And while you weren’t an expert on foreign infantry tactics and equipment, you were pretty sure that no US infantry units of any kind were so well trained in sword and bayonet fighting that it became a primary tactic for them.

However, the fighting soon died down, and after a minute of silence, Dredd’s voice “The Japanese have confirmed that the prisoner held at the convoy was the Princess’s RIO. The Japs will recover their squad and casualties before flying over.”

>Assist Kenji and Kay on CAP, they probably expended a number of missiles already.
>Stay close to the SAR helicopter, you don’t want the Soviets to get a lucky hit on them.
>Try to find where the Soviets may be running to, you know where they are, but not where they are going.
>Ask about the Japanese squad and their casualties, they must have suffered a lot of damage.
>Ask about the RIO, she might know something useful.
>Other (write in)

>>2475580
>>Stay close to the SAR helicopter, you don’t want the Soviets to get a lucky hit on them.

>>2475580
>Stay close to the SAR helicopter, you don’t want the Soviets to get a lucky hit on them.

>>2475580
>Stay close to the SAR helicopter, you don’t want the Soviets to get a lucky hit on them.

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As the Japanese credible hawk touched down much closer to the remains of the convoy, you watched as the Japanese soldiers set about collecting their wounded and fallen. Bodies, both damaged and destroyed were quickly picked up and rushed to the helicopter. Taking up the rear of the line of running Japanese soldiers was one that carried the unmistakable beige flight suit of the downed RIO. She was carried into the helicopter, and a few seconds later, the rescue helicopter took off. It’s armed escort soon taking up position just behind and to the left of the packed transport.

“Dredd to all units, the SAR helicopter is on the move again. Kenji, Slider, report in.” You CO ordered as the tomcats began to assemble around the slow helicopters. Your and Scorpion held position closest to the helicopters, roughly at the same altitude and less than an hundred feet away from them. Dredd and Ahab took up position much higher than the both of you, looking out for targets before they could get their first shot off.

“Perfect timing, sir. My flight have just intercepted a pair of hinds that were en-route to try and meet up with the squad on foot.” Slider answered first, her voice betraying how pleased she was with herself, or the work that she had done. “We exchanged heaters, and they came off the worse. The enemy squad is currently standing around in the middle of a field, looking all confused. I’m pretty sure that they think that their rides are still on the way.”

Dredd’s response, and Kenji’s report both went completely ignored by you as you tried to look inside the SAR helicopter. Inside the helicopter, you could just about make out the black shapes of occupied body bags. They were shoved into the corner just behind the pilot’s seat, just under the port-side gunner’s position. Meanwhile, the wounded were draped over the floor and the seats, with one even packing his own leg, before tending to the wounded next to him. The RIO. She had sustained injuries to the leg and arm, with the arm injury bleeding through her hand. The man next to her began to pack the wound as she looked past him, and out of the window at you.

You simply waved your hand at her, before looking ahead at the encroaching field.

>CONT

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>>2481826

To call it a field would be disrespectful to almost all fields in the world. If anything, it looked more like someone had dropped a big fucking daisy cutter on it and left the grass to grow over it. And sure enough, a small gathering of shapes stood out from the green grass in the middle of the field. You didn’t have to wait long as Dredd’s RIO brought their FLIR camera to bare on the individuals, confirming that they were the Soviet soldiers that you were looking for. The Soviets seemed to panic for a couple of seconds, before they realised the futility of it all, and just dropped their rifles into the grass as the transport helicopter made to land. The helicopter deployed 4 soldiers, who quickly jumped out and advanced with weapons raised. The Soviets faced the encroaching special forces soldiers in a rough line, the man roughly in the middle keeping a firm grip on Sakamoto. After a few seconds however, the man released the restless royal, who immediately began to sprint towards her rescuers and their waiting helicopter.

And then, you watched as one of the apparently disarmed Soviets reached behind his back and pulled a pistol of some kind. His arm raised as he made to shoot the oblivious woman as she rushed to freedom.

Thankfully, he didn’t have time to get a shot off, as he was cut down by the guns of the Japanese. The man dropped like a sack of potatoes, before all hell broke loose. The princess reacted first to the gunshot, and hit the deck before more bullets could fly. And as soon as she was down, the Japanese opened fire on the Soviets as they dropped towards the ground. The very same ground where they had dropped their rifles and other weapons. Automatic fire poured into the Soviet position as the SAR helicopter gunner opened fire with his mounted 50 cal. The firing continued for a few seconds, before it stopped to allow one of the special forces soldiers to run forwards to pick up the prone princess. He lofted the princess over his shoulder, and sprinted back to the helicopter as fast as he could. The rest of the squad followed close behind him, occasionally stopping to fire a few more shots at where the Soviets once were.

Once again, as soon as the soldiers and the aviator were onboard, the helicopter took off almost immediately. This time however, it turned towards the ocean as the rest of VF-21 began to secure it’s escape route. All unused bombs were jettisoned, leaving craters in the earth below. You joined them, but unfortunately, you didn’t encounter any more aircraft. According to Dredd, that was due to air attacks further north and south of your escape route. Neither were directly meant to act as diversions for you, but instead it was simply good timing as Ahab put it.

However, you didn’t know what you should be worrying more about. The fact that you were still in the middle of enemy airspace, or that you had just witnessed what could very well be a war crime.

>CONT

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>>2481831

I'm gonna call the thread here. We'll pick up Pilot Quest, and what happens next in a week or two’s time. I’ll probably just do a jump-cut so that we can cut the boring stuff and get onto more interesting things. However, as I mentioned back in thread 35, I will be taking some time off Pilot Quest so that we can come back fresh. Of course, that will mean either a limited run of some other quest, or actual time off where there will be no quests from me. The options are as follows:

>1) Return to Where Wolves Fear To Tread, AKA, grenade quest WITHOUT a time skip. We would be picking up from where we left off, innajungle in occupied CHina, trying to figure out where the Japanese are taking missing civilians.
>2) Return to Where Wolves Fear To Tread, AKA, grenade quest WITH a time skip. No characters will have died, and the timeskip will just be explained away. New mission options will be given with pre-set weapons loads and objectives.
>3) Halo FLEETCOM Quest. You would be the captain of a UNSC warship, doing warship things. This is a far cry from anything that I have done before, but it would involve spessships. Mission and ship options would be provided, but the quest would be short and might not be good. Possibility for rolls and second “season”.
>4) Muv Luv Quest. Inspite of the confusing unit names, this is pretty much just the original draft for starship troopers on cold war earth. Bug-Ayys invade and humanity fights back with big fucking mechs. Expect a high mortality rate. Possibility for rolls and second “season”.
>5) Take a break. Fairly self explanatory.

Voting can either be done in this thread, or on my twitter, which can be seen in the OP.

Anyways, if you you have any questions then do feel free to ask them while the thread is still up. If I don't manage to answer you question before the thread falls off the board then I'll answer it either on my twitter account or next thread. Which may not be for some time.

>>2481837
>>3) Halo FLEETCOM Quest. You would be the captain of a UNSC warship, doing warship things. This is a far cry from anything that I have done before, but it would involve spessships. Mission and ship options would be provided, but the quest would be short and might not be good. Possibility for rolls and second “season”.
Please

>>2481837
Regardless of what happens, see you next time!

>>2481837
>>3) Halo FLEETCOM Quest. You would be the captain of a UNSC warship, doing warship things. This is a far cry from anything that I have done before, but it would involve spessships. Mission and ship options would be provided, but the quest would be short and might not be good. Possibility for rolls and second “season”.

>>2481837
>1) Return to Where Wolves Fear To Tread, AKA, grenade quest WITHOUT a time skip. We would be picking up from where we left off, innajungle in occupied CHina, trying to figure out where the Japanese are taking missing civilians.
I miss Magical Boy Eugen.