Three Strikes [✓]

Battle Of The Giants

As she leveled out, she heard the rest of Strider Squadron let out cheers and Long Caster quickly announced that Naomi had successfully destroyed the target, and Jaeger had also bagged one. Lanza and Skald paired up as they maneuvered around one another and the last two Gripens. The two enemies split up in different directions in an attempt to outmaneuver them, but Lanza and Skald matched their movements and followed. As the Gripen made a dive, Lanza made an even sharper one and pulled up, almost right on top of him. He braked hard and swiftly took out the enemy with the machine gun. Meanwhile, a well-placed shot from a missile Skald had fired and the remaining Gripen's wing tore clean off. The pilot had no choice but to bail out, likely to be picked up as a POW later on.

"Haha! Nice shooting, boys!" Naomi called out to them, so far liking the way things were going. They didn't have time to celebrate yet, though, and they couldn't let their guard up either. Missiles and machine gun fire was coming from every direction, and they'd be toast if they lost focus for even a second. She took a good look around the battle field, having a clearer view of everything going on now. Erusea had gone all out in preparing. They had air, ground, and naval support. There were even AA guns and SAM sites set up on top of buildings in the submerged area. They had to be desperate. Naomi sighed. "This is gonna be a long day. Everyone keep your eyes open!"

Nearby, Cyclops Squadron was handling the Berkuts with ease. Count was actually working together with Wiseman, not flawlessly but with almost as much ease as he had flown with her. She couldn't help but feel a bit proud of her friend, who a few weeks ago would never have been able to read Wiseman's maneuvers well enough to follow along with them. Not because he wasn't a good pilot, but because he was too damn stubborn to. But he hadn't even badmouthed him in a while, at least not in a way that showed he still resented him. Whatever Wiseman had said to him the other day, it must have really had an impact on him.

While Wiseman went after one of the enemy aircraft, Count moved with him to cover him and help corral the opposing squadron. Not far from them, Húxiān and Fencer tangled with their own opponents. It didn't take long to take out the Erusean squadron. There were five Berkuts, and they'd already wiped out one and evened out the odds. As Wiseman lined up a shot on the enemy he was chasing, the enemy's wingman tried to make a move on his tail. Before the Berkut could fire, Count climbed high and then swooped in on him, guns blazing. He dealt a good deal of damage, but fired a missile for good measure before rolling clear of the explosion, continuing his dive and pulling up at the last possible second.

The maneuver had given Wiseman time to finish off his own target, and the company commander gave a quick laugh as he regrouped with Count and the others. "Fancy shooting, Count. Looks like you're officially back in the saddle as Cyclops 2, eh? Good to be flyin' with you again, partner!"

"Picked up a few extra tricks while you were gone, too, from the looks of things," Fencer added with a light chuckle. Then he decided to join in on the teasing with a joke of his own. "Try not too show off too much, though, cowboy."

The rest of Cyclops all laughed at the comment, and Strider Squadron let out a few scattered chuckles of their own at Count's expense. Unlike them, he wasn't as amused and let out an irritated scoff before he sarcastically replied, "Cute. No, that's real funny, you two."

He pulled a few extra laughs out of them, but they quickly put their heads back in the game and moved on to the next targets. While all of that had been going on at Cyclops' end, Naomi and the rest of Strider Squadron had set off after the squadron of MiGs from earlier. These guys weren't as fresh as the Gripens, though they still had some tricks up their sleeves. They definitely hadn't been here as long as most of those on the battlefield had been, Oseans and Eruseans alike. They'd all be exhausted before long, but Naomi didn't plan for that to happen for a while. If they just focused on their job and kept their priorities straight, they'd be done in no time.