12 November, 2015 1417hrs
Gracemeria Train Station, Gracemeria
- 3rd person's p.o.v. -
Lt. Colonel Victor Voychek awoke with a start as the train came to a stop. Blinking away the blurriness, he fought the lethargy that threatened to overwhelm him as he stood, painfully aware of the lancing pain coming from his right leg. The pain did have a positive effect on him though, as it drove away from the last of the fatigue he was feeling.
Grabbing the cane at his side, he stood slowly as the pain in his right leg throbbed dimly as he supported his weight on the wooden crutch. Grabbing his luggage along with a silver briefcase stenciled with the Estovakian coat-of-arms which he put on top of the luggage, Voychek trudged slowly out into the train's corridor and moved towards one of the open doors.
He mentally sighed as he neared the exit. "Relegated to ground duty ..." He thought sourly. "And to think that I was in the air, fighting for my country not a month and a half ago..."
He glanced up when sunlight struck his face directly despite there being a roof over the tracks, only to find a giant gaping hole was the culprit. It was from a bomb or missile, he didn't know which.
"It would seem the city's resigned to its fate beneath the Estovakian flag...what a pitiful sight."
Voychek noticed the flags of his country hanging from the building he could see through the hole in the ceiling, and after a few moments, he lowered his gaze and continued walking forward. He was thankful deep down that the city itself, for the most part, was relatively left unscathed from what he heard after the invasion had finished.
As an intelligence officer for the Air Force, he needed to see only statistics and numbers and the overall big picture, not individual faces and unnecessary distractions caused by empathy and guilt.
Having reached one of the empty tables, he sat down on one of the chairs while securing the silver briefcase with handcuffs attached to the handle connected to his wrist before putting it on the table. Setting aside his luggage and cane, the former flight lead of the feared Strigon Team waited for one of his contacts to arrive to pick him up for his newly assigned duties.
As Voychek's thoughts drifted back to his former squadron, the sound of his cane falling made him look at where his luggage is-was supposed to be. The sound of running footsteps greeted him as a child, a boy no older than ten, ran away with his luggage over his shoulder.
"Go dance with the angels!" he had called over his shoulder, before several Military Police started chasing after him, whistles blowing all the while.
"There goes my spare clothing." Voychek thought idly as he bent to pick up his cane. Clothes didn't matter to him, for they are replaceable. As for the silver briefcase in his possession...
He felt a sharp tug come from his right hand - the hand which he cuffed his wrist to the briefcase - and turned to see another child, a young boy with a beanie cap and dark blue sweater and green shorts, attempting to pry the briefcase from him.
The ensuing tug-of-war was no contest as Voychek easily wrestled the carry case from the boy, who fell on his behind before getting on his feet and running. "They would not be so lucky with these documents," he thought.
After resting for a little while after the long train ride to the city, he decided to find a ride that would take him to a landmark he expressed interest in going to once he had seen it briefly from the sky.
Gracemeria Castle, the oldest structure in the city, a landmark he remembered was the seat of power for one of Emmeria's oldest kings, the one who united the lands and established what the country was today during medieval times. Once he was dropped off by the main entrance, he thanked the taxi driver but got no response whatsoever as he drove away.
Voychek, not offended by the Emmerian's lack of manners towards him, turned and walked towards the castle's front entrance, briefcase in hand. The castle was deserted, and for a reason, that hurt Voychek's heart. He had always appreciated the history and was rather fond of it. But upon entering the castle, he found the interior utterly looted beyond recognition. Dozens of pieces from Emmeria's ancient times had been removed, with very little left behind in their original spots. Countless years of history, are gone.
Broken glass from display cases that protected more valuable or ancient items littered the ground, and he could only imagine what kind of things were there. Perhaps this was done to protect them from the Estovakians, from Voychek, and the foreign invaders coming into their lands. Regardless of the reason, he hoped that the items taken were at least safe, and hopefully one day returned to the castle.
He found his way to the throne room and like the rest of the castle, it too had been practically emptied of everything that lay within the chamber. His cane strikes echoed off the empty walls as he walked up to the throne, which now stood empty, without its king to watch Gracemeria upon it.
"Even the ancient armor of their king is gone, without a trace..."
He stopped before the steps leading up to the throne and bent down, picking up one of the large coins resting on the lowest steps to look at it. Offerings to the king, he assumed.
"I'm going to have to relay this unfortunate news back to my superiors...they were rather fond of these antiques."
•=•=•=•=•=•=•
24 November, 2015 0847hrs
Campagna Airport, Vitoze, Khesed Island
It's been a few weeks since the invasion of Gracemeria. They're being pushed by Estovakians and now all remaining forces have gathered in Khesed Island. The Campagna Airport is now used as REAF's airbase.
Talisman is sitting on the chair in the briefing room waiting for the others as she looks at the message she received about Estovakia's two trump cards: The heavy command cruiser P-1112 Aigaion, the one who launched a burst missiles before; The second will be the 9th Tactical Fighter Squadron Strigon Team.
Gab wonders if Pasternak is part of the Strigon team. If she's going to face him, she hopes none of them dies in a battle. Up until now, no replies are coming from him.
"Talisman, you came here earlier than us today?" She looks outside the door seeing Shamrock, Marcus Lampert as she got, just arrived. After they arrived at this airbase, they get to know each other well since then.
Talisman smiles and waves her hand as he sits beside her. "Nah, since there's a meeting and I'm bored, I chose to stay here for a while."
"Windhover and Avalanche were looking for you. I may have told them that you're probably in the hangar or something." Shamrock said.
She snorts and laughs, "Really? They're probably pissed knowing that I wasn't there and I was here the whole time!"
"Damn right we are." The Garuda team looks at the door, seeing Windhover, Avalanche, and their wingmen arrived. Avalanche went behind Shamrock and locks his arms around his neck.
"You lying bloody bastard. I'm going to kick your ass for lying to us."
"I didn't know she was here, okay?" Marcus said, raising his hands in surrender.
"Leave the man alone, dude." Gab taps his shoulder, smiling. "He's the only wingman I have, plus it's my fault for not telling you that I'm here."
"I'm just messing with him." Avalanche laughs as he pats her back before joining on a seat with his wingmen, just in time Ghost Eye and the base commander arrive and they begin the mission briefing.
"A large-scale formation of Estovakian bombers is heading towards Vitoze -- a city here on the island of Khesed. The enemy's plotting to storm Campagna airport, where our military is stationed, to stamp us out and put an end to this thing." The screen shows the map of Vitoze. "Enemy bombers are approaching Vitoze from the north. Our advance team estimates they'll be above the city in about 15 minutes. Air units are to cooperate with our radar facilities and resume operations. An enemy takeover of Vitoze would mean the ultimate destruction of our country Emmeria -- and our Emmerian people."
Avalanche raised a hand once he had ended, expecting questions to be asked, and he nod his head to allow him to speak.
"Do we have an idea of what kind of forces they have with the bombers? Fighter numbers, anything?"
"Currently, no. Expect the standard-issue Estovakian fighters that we encountered over Gracemeria, and enough of them to protect the bombers and attack independently as well."
"And let me guess." Talisman crosses her arms, "We still don't have clue whether those Estovakian Aces are coming or not. Am I right?"
The Base Commander sighs and shook his head. Frustrated from the lack of information they've received. And now the enemies are approaching their last area of defense.
"Damn..." Said Windhover. "Looks like we have to adapt and improvise."
"As long as the base still survives, we can still fight and beat the hell out of them," Gab said in determination. Everyone agrees with her.
"We have no time to lose, pilots. Head to your planes immediately and intercept them at once!"
The pilots swiftly left the room and jogged through the airport terminal, to the hangars where all of their planes are ready and fully loaded with ammunition. Both military and civilians work together to help to retake their homeland, that's if they managed to take down the Stovie bombers.
As Gab hopped inside her plane, she looks at Shamrock's F-16. Their planes are still the same since the invasion, thinking of getting new ones just for the two of them.
Once Talisman was settled into her jet, she went through the usual checks before she and Marcus started up their jets and were the last to taxi out onto the runway after Windhover, Avalanche, and the rest of the Emmerians flew off.
"Garuda 1, you are cleared for takeoff."
Talisman started to fly down the runway, gaining speed quickly, with Marcus hot on her tail. As they were taking off Ghost Eye, who had taken off from another airport runway, connected to them and the rest of the pilots to inform them of the situation.
"Those bombers have passed through the mountains and are still on course for Vitoze."
Talisman calls her allied pilots from the comms, "Everyone, listen up. Speed up and meet them before they reach within range of Vitoze. Engage them at all costs."
"Roger."
"Wilco."
"Head back to the base if you need supplies." Ghost Eye added. "You can land there at any time."
Once the Emmerians flew over the city of Vitoze, they spotted several fighters on their path. Talisman grinned and holds the flight stick. "Let's do this, Shamrock. Garuda 1, engaging."
"Roger. Garuda 2, engaging."
They flew towards four Mirage 2000-5s and began to launch their missiles at two of them. Two were destroyed as the other two broke off. They went after one of them each. Gab saw the Mirage lift off but it was a mistake, unleashing the burst of gunfire at the fuselage, damaging most of the engine, and smokes appear as it falls.
"Geez, where do they get all these planes?" Avalance asked as he watched his downed plane fall to the ground.
"I've heard they bought those planes from other countries, especially Yuktobania." Talisman said then thinking to herself, "But that doesn't explain where they've got the Aigaion." The sound of the missile lock-on at the enemy F/A-18 and launches a missile hits directly at the nozzle, and explodes into a ball of fire.
"Ghost Eye to allied pilots, a formation of enemy bombers is on its way to the Vitoze. Take them out."
"Roger. We'll cut them off." Gab replied, "Windhover and Garuda team will assault the enemy bombers. Avalance, your team, and other pilots will attack the escorts and provide cover for us."
"Copy that, Talisman," Avalance replied.
"This is Windhover Squadron, now forming up with Garuda Team." Three F-16s flew up beside Garuda Team, with two leaders in front of their wingmen. "Looks like we're with you now, Talisman."
"Think you can keep up with us, Windhover?" Taunted Gab, Daniel laughs and looks at her from the cockpit.
"Oh, we're confident to do that and more!"
"Yeah!" Added Lanner with Saker cheering in the background. Talisman laughs.
"Alright, let's do this!"
Both Garuda and Windhover Squadrons head on to the first group of bombers from the Northwest of Vitoze. They've spotted four bombers on their way to drop some payloads, but not until the Emmerian pilots arrive.
"Shamrock, you do the honors. Use guns on the bombers as much as possible." Gab said. Shamrock flew his F-16 towards one of the enemy bombers.
"Garuda 2, guns, guns, guns!" He pushed the trigger as a bust of gunfire unleash upon the B-52. Damaging the fuselage and wings as it cripples, and it went into a spiral downfall.
"Garuda 2, splashed one bomber." He announced.
Talisman smiles while she watches Windhover's team pursuing the three bombers. She decided to steal one kill from them. Lanner and Saker destroyed two bombers that easily. As for Windhover, he went flying off at B-52, but her position to the enemy bomber is nearer than him. She hit full throttle and flew off towards it then began to launch the missile and break off. As the trail of missile smoke went close, the enemy bomber has eradicated.
"What the- Talisman, what was mine!" Windhover yells, only for Gab to laugh hard as she flew away from him. It's either from the kills she stole or she's just crazy. Shamrock scans around his surroundings and looks at his HUD. "Where are the bombers?"
"They're probably going to send more bombers with escorts this time knowing that you took them down," Avalance said. Just as he predicted, Ghost Eye reported.
"Another formation of enemy bombers is coming towards the city. They're surrounded by escort planes. Take them out immediately."
"Roger."
As the mission went on, Talisman felt the mission was way easy and started to become bored. Shamrock looks at her plane when he heard her yawning. "Talisman, are you alright?"
"Yeah, just a little bored." She replied as she took down three fighter planes with her special missiles.
"How about you listen to the radio so you won't get bored and ended up sleepy." Avalance suggested, "Try it."
Gab looks confused but decides to search for the radio channels. Since the start of the war, most of the radio stations went offline. Luckily she found one.
"Huh, Emmerian Public Radio is still online." Talisman mumbles but is heard by everyone.
"Really?" Shamrock said in shock, "That was in Gracemeria, and somehow managed to still-."
Anything else he would've said was cut off as the radio flared to life. A heavily accented voice rang out clearly as the station began broadcasting audio again.
"Emmerian continental forces have succumbed to the might of our army and wisely admitted defeat." An Estovakian voice echoed throughout Talisman's cockpit.
"What the hell?!" Windhover roared into the coms, breaking his short silence.
"It's the Stovie's propaganda broadcast," Lanner explained in clearly restrained anger.
"Bastards are using our own radio station," Avalanche growled. Gab shook her head in disbelief. With the Estovakians having control over their radio, who knew they make people even scared of their speech.
"Our merciful government in their benevolence has taken it upon themselves to restore order to your former capital Gracemeria." The broadcast went on "But some would continue this pointless conflict to fulfill their warmongering desires."
"Dammit, what a bunch of lies!" Shamrock finally yelled and pushed past his limit.
"Focus, Shamrock." Talisman calmed, even if she almost feels the same as him. "We got probably one last formation of bombers."
The five remaining bombers came from the East, and now the Emmerian pilots are heading there with their enemy escorts interrupting them.
"Shit! I've been strafed!" Blizzard cursed.
"Blizzard, are you okay?!" Avalance called out.
"I'll be fine- Ah, shit. Someone get this plane off me!" An enemy F-16 flew after Avalanche's wingman. The way they flew, it has to be an ace. Talisman yanked her plane to the side and went right after the enemy ace. She fired her cannons right at the fuselage, then the plane broke off from Blizzard and flew away. She went after them and keep unleashing heavy gunfire until she managed to break off the wings and smoke the engines went fried.
"Enemy ace down!" Talisman reported.
"That was an Ace?!" Blizzard exclaimed, "I almost got killed by them."
"Luckily we got ourselves an Ace in our side." Windhover chuckled, mentioning Talisman, but was interrupted by another plane firing at him. He grunts and breaks off away from the missiles. "Looks like all Stovie fighters are defending their last group of bombers."
"Garuda team, go after those bombers." Ghost Eye said, "The rest of you, keep those escorts away from them."
"Copy that. Garuda 2, let's finish this!"
"Roger," Shamrock replied. They speed up their planes and pursue the enemy bombers. Gab got a lock-on to two bombers and two escorts and launches four missiles fight after she pressed the fire button. She watches as the missiles hit the targets, smiling on additional kills. Now fly back to her wingman.
"Shamrock, break!" She yelled. He didn't say anything as he avoided the missile that was about to hit him. An enemy Mirage flew over Shamrock as Talisman began her pursuit of the Stovie plane.
"C'mere, you bastard." She pushes the trigger and fires her cannon at the plane, at the same time firing her missile. The enemy pilot didn't have enough time to dodge as the missile struck the fuselage and split into two as it falls rapidly. Gab checked the amount of ammo she had and cursed from the results.
"I'm Winchester on guns and two missiles left." She reported. "Shamrock, take those remaining bombers for me, please?"
Marcus laughs, "Considering you used them too much on fighters instead of bombers and not resupply to the base at least once, I'm not surprised about that."
"Ah, shut up."
Shamrock now flew onto the three remaining bombers as Gab acts as a lookout in case of enemies coming after him. One by one, the bombers have shot down. With one last bomber remaining, Marcus aligns his plane to get a missile lock when out of nowhere, a pair of missiles blasted toward the bomber and explode.
"What the hell?" Shamrock was baffled when out of nowhere, Windhover shows up from below.
"Blame that to your captain for stealing my kill!" He laughed as performed a barrel roll. Talisman shakes her head, amused, Well, at least she deserves it for stealing a bomber kill from him. With her two remaining missiles, she flew after the enemy F/A-18 and stuck her plane's nose to its back. The Stovie pilot tries to shake her off but she keeps following them and keeps up with their move. Finally, she fires the last two missiles and breaks off before they struck the plane and explode into pieces. After reporting that she's out of ammo, all she can do is watch her friendlies take down the few remaining enemy fighters. Talisman made an idiotic move by making herself a bait so that they can shoot them down easily.
"All enemy fighters and bombers have been eliminated," Avalanche announced. "We someone plunged every last one of 'em."
"Well, this mission felt easy," Talisman said.
"For you at least!"
"Enemy bomber formation is confirmed destroyed." Ghost Eye said, "I should say you handle things well."
"Sheesh...heapin' all that praise on us has got me a little too red in the face to go back home," said Avalanche, wiping the sweat on his forehead.
Ghost Eye grinned to himself inside of his plane and leaned against a monitor inside, making a smirk that he knew they couldn't see while shuffling some paper in his hands.
"Roger that Avalanche. I'll just report you as gunned down and missing in action."
Ghost Eye's unexpected joke got a laugh out of everybody. Avalanche slumped to his plane's seat, pouting like a child. "Killjoy..."
The Emmerians finally scored a victory. They all gathered information and headed back to the base.
•=•=•=•=•=•=•
"The enemy bombers have been intercepted. Enemy aircraft around the Khesed perimeter has been significantly weakened. Our forces have taken advantage of this opportunity to arrange a swift counterattack.
"We expect the best from you."
•=•=•=•=•=•=•
After the debriefing, the pilots put back the gear in the locker. Talisman stretches her arms as pop sounds are heard from her bones. She gives an eyeshot at Avalanche after him chuckling.
"You know, it's pretty ballsy. Acting as bait with no weapons, but somehow survived from the missiles coming right after you." He said.
"He's right." Shamrock closes the locker door and looks at her. "You should at least resupply here at the base."
"First of all, we already took down the bombers. And second, I'm lazy."
"Lazy my ass." Windhover chuckles as he punches her shoulder gently. "Hey, want to come with us to the bar later? There's one nearby."
"Yeah, I'm in. But first." She points at the three men. "Shower. We need to look presentable."
"That's for the ladies," Avalanche declared, "But sure. My body is covered in sweat from the fight."
They all headed to their quarters. Gab took a shower in a separate public bathroom(taking a body wash twice cause why not). Then she puts on her grayish-blue camo pants and a white shirt on top. She went back to her room to dry her hair. Suddenly, her phone rang.
"Hmm? I was expecting I'm calling Orby or my parents instead of them calling me." Gab grabs the phone from the drawer and checks who's calling. Her eyes went wide when she saw the name.
"Pasternak..." She mumbles. After a few months of silence from him, Ilya finally made a call. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself from nervousness. She answered the phone call.
"Ilya?"
"Gab? Oh thank God, you're alive!" Ilya said, sounding relieved. "I was so worried that something happened to you."
"Alright. First of all, why the hell are you not answering my phone calls?!" She shouted. "And you never replied to my messages for months!"
"Look, I'm so sorry if I didn't get to talk to you. A lot of things happen here before the invasion of Gracemeria." Pasternak explained, "They want to cut off communications from the outside. I was so worried that you might not able to leave the city safely. But, I am so glad that you're alright."
"You idiot... You don't know how much I miss you." Gab smiles softly as she wipes tears coming out of her eye. She was happy that she can get to hear him again.
"I miss you, too. Anyways, where are you right now?"
Gab covers her phone for a short while, she peaks outside the room slightly and scans around the hallway for any people, luckily there are none. She sighed and then sits on her bed.
"Gab?"
"I'm in the evacuation camp just far away. Just heard that relief goods are coming." She lied. Talisman hasn't told him that she's a pilot ever since they've met. Pasternak hums in satisfaction. Gab stares at the runway outside of the window. She didn't want to ask him important, but then she has to.
"Why did your country attack us?" There was a little silence on her phone before his voice came back.
"Even I don't have an answer for that. But I knew, Estovakia can't hold any longer so the rope has snapped." Ilya sighed, he pause for a while. "I am going to transfer to a new squadron as their new leader soon after a few of them got shot down, including the leader."
"Is that so?" Her eyes went widened a bit. She was the one who shot down a few of the Strigon pilots and didn't expect one of them to be their leader. Pasternak may be going to transfer there.
There was a muffled sound coming from her phone, then his voice came back. "I have to go. Let's call each other again if we have time."
"Yeah." She smiles, "And you better stay alive, you dumbass."
Pasternak chuckles, "Alright, alright. See you soon." Then the line went off. Talisman releases a deep sigh and puts the phone close to her chest. Then, she remembers something. She called her friend, waiting for someone to answer.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Sulejmani. Is there a chance to get me two new planes for me and my wingman?"
•=•=•=•=•=•=•
At 6 pm, Gab joins her friends at a nearby bar. Once inside, she found the bar was fairly relaxing. There are quite military people around the bar, chatting and relaxing and having a slight celebration on their first victory. She recognized the two familiar faces among them. Avalance is playing poker with his opponents. Windhover however is sitting at the bar, grinning as he watches Freddie makes another win. Groans from his group heard as they gave their bet to him.
"Ah Garuda Team, just in time!" Daniel exclaimed, raising his glass in their direction.
"We were beginning to think you wouldn't make it." Fred chuckled, flashing them a cheeky smile. Then return his attention to the cards he had in his hands.
"What and miss out on all the fun?" Marcus laughed "You guys would be bored to tears without us."
"You're not wrong," Daniel said. "Freddie is giving a run to their money after making 3 win streaks."
"No way." Talisman chuckles, sitting beside Windhover with Shamrock sitting beside her wingman.
"By the way, drinks here are free tonight. Considering our first victory against Estovakia." Daniel explained.
Gab whistles and scratches the back of their head. "Yeah about that, I'm just gonna order juice."
Both men look at her, surprised. "You're telling me that you haven't drunk alcohol before? Not even once?"
Gab slowly looks away with no answer at all. Daniel's jaw-dropping and grips her shoulder, "Mate, you're 25. You need to start drinking."
"I appreciate it, but I rather not" She smiles, the juice she ordered has arrived. "Plus someone has to keep an eye on all of you just in case you get drunk."
"She has a point," Marcus said, ordering a glass of beer. Windhover chuckles and raises a glass of martini. "For our first victory. Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
As everyone enjoys chatting to one another, Windhover decides to compete against Avalanche on a poker that drains the color on his face. Meanwhile, as Talisman takes another sip of her juice, she looks at Shamrock looking at a picture of a woman with a child. He feels depressed when he sees it.
"Wife and daughter?" Marcus nodded then he talks, "The last time I saw them where they are in Gracemeria. I try to call them and she hasn't answered yet. I worried if something bad happens to them? What about-"
"Marcus." She clasps both of his shoulders after he went tense. Gab looks at him in the eyes. "My parents are there, too. I'm in the same situation as you. However, don't let that fear overtake you cause we have a job to do. And I don't want to lose my first and only wingman in my team."
"Talisman..."
She sighs and releases the grip. "All we can hope is that they're still alive. For now, we have to make a payback against Estovakia."
Shamrock smiles, "Yeah. We will."
Gab smiles and continues to drink. She can only hope that both of their families survive throughout this war, cause everything is about to start soon.