Rise of The Terran Alliance- Crosspost

Chapter 13- Battle of California

Chapter 13- Battle of California

Alarms blare across the flight line of NAS Miramar as US Navy fighter pilots race to their aircraft. While Miramar is usually just a training base, every military air base had been equipped with live ordnance over the last few months in preparation for the Separatist invasion.

Separatist forces had landed at several spots in California over the last half hour. A massive force of almost 250,000 battle droids and 2,000 heavy droid units had landed east of Los Angeles. A second force, comprised of about 75,000 battle droids and 900 heavy droid units had landed just south of Fresno. And a third force of about 140,000 battle droids and 1,500 heavy droid units had landed in between San Francisco and Sacramento.

However, as base commanders had pointed out to hundreds of pilots across the West, the Separatists had made a big mistake. They had chosen to land such a large portion of their forces in one of the hearts of American airpower. There were several dozen Air Force Bases, Air National Guard bases, Naval Air Stations, and Marine Corps Air Stations within air range of California. And of those bases, 18 of them were home to combat fighters and bombers. Over a thousand combat aircraft, in addition to attack helicopters from the Army and Marine Corps, are in position to unleash a firestorm on the droids.

At Miramar, Anakin smiles as he heads for the flightline, wearing an American flight suit. Given his skills as a pilot, President Bush had assigned Anakin to serve as pilot rather than on the ground in the coming battle.

Anakin hurries towards a parked F-14 Tomcat, the aircraft he has been assigned to fly. He was given his choice of aircraft to fly, and after reviewing the various fighters used by the US military, he chose the F-14. Despite the fact it was neither the fastest or most agile fighter the US had, there was something about the F-14 that just drew him to it. His F-14 he'll be flying today is one of a few that has had their internal cannon replaced with a small laser cannon. Only a few American fighters had yet received this treatment, and the military was still on the fence as to whether this was going to become standard issue among its fighters.

Anakin climbs up into the cockpit and settles down into his seat. Behind him, his assigned RIO, an Ensign by the name of Jack Halladay, is strapping into his seat.

Anakin straps in, then closes the canopy. He checks over the systems, then powers up the plane. He smiles as he hears the engines quickly rev up.

"General Skywalker, this is Miramar tower. You are clear to proceed to the runway. Take off as soon as your path is clear," the tower calls out over the radio.

"Copy," Anakin responds. He finishes his pre-flight check, then revs up the engines and starts taxiing towards the runway. A number of F-14s are ahead of him, and Anakin tries to remain patient.

Finally, Anakin taxis onto the runway with his wingman, and revs the engines into full power. Anakin's F-14, and his wingman's, streak down the runway and into the air.

The F-14s circle Miramar, waiting for remaining aircraft to join them. Finally, the rest of the 32 F-14s and 16 F/A-18s from Miramar able to fly are in the air. They all form up behind Anakin, then set off east.

"What's it looking like, Jack?" Anakin calls back to his RIO.

"I've got multiple contacts on long distance radar. It looks like the fighters from Edwards have already started engaging the Separatist fighters," Jack responds.

"How long until we're within missile range?" Anakin asks. 4 of the missiles that the Tomcat is carrying are powerful AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, with a range of 100 miles.

"We're be in range in 5 minutes. But remember, command has asked us to refrain from beyond visual range shots," Jack responds.

Anakin sighs a bit, remembering that part. All pilots had been told that if there were friendlies in the area, they were not to fire from beyond visual range.