Three Strikes [✓]

Last Hope

Chapter Forty-Five: Last Hope

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Anchorhead Bay, Erusea.
October 1st, 2019.
2059hrs.

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City lights broke through the darkness in the distance as Strider Squadron made their approach from the northwest. The main highway leading into the city was deserted, save for a single vehicle that was most likely carrying the general they were here to escort. Though the city looked bright and warm at a glance, plumes of smoke from explosions and the spray of gunfire from AA guns in every which way quickly proved it was once again a warzone.

Naomi wasn't sure how to feel flying into this, only able to make out guilt mixed with a rush of adrenaline in anticipation for a fight. They had been lucky to avoid interference en route, having left in the early evening, which meant she wasn't yet sure how this plane was going to handle in a dogfight. It was armed to the teeth, though, no doubt about that; pulse lasers equipped under the wing, with a limited supply of bombs stored in the main internal weapons bay. Whatever she might need it to do, it seemed more than capable of.

"Take a look at that," Count said as the clouds began to thin and their view of the city became clearer. "Nice party they have waiting for us."

His deadpan sarcasm did little to lighten the mood, earning a somber sigh from Jaeger instead. "Not one I wanted an invitation to. We'll just have to keep reminding ourselves what's at stake here."

"Guess we just grit our teeth and get through it somehow," Húxiān said, a clear lack of energy in her tone of voice. "Things are lookin' worse than I expected."

"What did I say about leaving the worrying to me?" Naomi asked, trying her hardest to sound uplifting and hide her own nerves. Their confidence from the previous day was fading fast, and that was the last thing she wanted. "There's nothing down there we haven't faced before."

"Trigger makes a good point. No use in letting nerves get the better of you. Things may be uncertain down there, but that's what you have us watching over you for," Long Caster said, having been quiet for a good portion of their flight. "That being said, apologies for interrupting, Strider Squadron, but do you have eyes on our VIP?"

Before anyone could answer, a new voice came over the radio. The voice of a man, speaking quickly and to the point though there was the slightest hint of wariness in his voice. "To the unidentified Osean craft, this is Captain Karl of the Osean Army," he said, identifying himself before continuing. "Are you here for the escort? You're not the squadron I was expecting. Are you really friendlies? Over."

"Ah, perfect timing. This is Long Caster, Airborne Warning and Control System for the Osean Long Range Strategic Strike Group," Long Caster answered. "Captain Karl, you can rest easy, they're on our side."

"Good, good...then those two pilots we've heard about must be here too," Captain Karl said, sounding almost relieved. Though it wasn't easy to tell if he was referring to Naomi and Count or Naomi and Wiseman.

By now they were almost right on top of the city, about to enter into the chaos waiting for them. They'd be in the enemy's range before long, Naomi's radar already picking up the blips. Not having much time, she quickly worked up a plan. "Jaeger, Húxiān, you two stay as close to the car as you can and handle stragglers. Count, stay on my wing, we'll ID and knock out what we can. Everyone just stay focused and we're golden."

"Righto, Trig," Count said, flying in closer to her aircraft's wing as Jaeger and Húxiān broke the formation to lower their altitude. There wasn't any hesitation in his voice. "I just hope you're right."

"You said it yourself, we've got this," Naomi said, echoing his words after the briefing. She didn't really need to remind him, it was more of a reminder to herself than anything. And once they were within range of their potential enemies and allies alike she realized she really did need that reminder. "Shit..."

As they reached the city limits, Naomi's HUD lit up with scattered groups of yellow targets. While they had expected the confusion, there were more combatants than any of them had thought. Everyone was shooting first and asking questions later, stuck in a messed up standoff where everyone was a target.

"Long Caster, it's a real mess down there," Count observed, taking in the scene for himself. He almost sounded in disbelief. "Are all of these really unknowns?"

"It's a state of civil war," Captain Karl answered instead of Long Caster, explaining the situation with a sense of urgency to his words. "The Erusean Army split into factions following the satellites' destruction, and is now fighting itself. There's no guarantee the Oseans won't shoot us in this confusion."

"I knew it was gonna be hell, but I never would have thought the Eruseans would have turned on themselves like that," Naomi said, somehow finding the situation even more messed up than before. "Has this shit been festering behind the scenes this whole time or what?"

There was no answer right away, almost as if Captain Karl was checking with their cargo before he said anything. A few seconds of silence and he finally replied, "It's a...rather long and complicated story, I'm afraid."

"We'll have answers soon enough, Trigger," Long Caster said, changing the topic back to the operation. "Entering the Anchorhead Bay area. Buildings will block your line of sight, so be sure to keep track of your objective the whole time. It's just like the briefing said, we'll image process the unknowns caught in your cams to identify friend from foe."

"How long do we have to close in before you can complete the ID?" Naomi asked, fastening her oxygen mask in place and lowering her visor.

"It's difficult to say," Long Caster replied quickly. "However, the process'll be faster if you're able to get a close up, well-centered image."

"Meanwhile, we just run if they shoot us, right?" Count asked.

"Affirmative. Always identify your target before you fire," Long Caster said. Almost apologetically, he added, "Sorry, I know it's easier said than done."

"Righto. That about describes most of our sorties, nothin' new," Count said with a sigh. "Alright, Trigger, let's go."

"Good luck, you two, clear the way for us," Jaeger said to them as he and Húxiān lowered their speed to one that allowed them to remain close to the car.

"Roger that, let's get this show on the road," Naomi said, throttling up Count close behind, the two of them selecting a group of targets on the road and lowering altitude to close in, weaving between buildings as they did.

The Raptor's response to increases and decreases in speed was almost instantaneous, something that would be an advantage in any situation. In this case it would keep her from crashing into a building or the ground, neither an appealing option. Judging by all of the aircraft buzzing around, it would soon prove how useful it was in a dogfight.

Switching her weapons over to the XSDBs, she got a radar lock on a cluster of four unknown targets. One directly in the path of their VIP, the others on a different, nearby road. She made as low an approach as she dared and waited before she fired, resisting the knee jerk reaction to fire as soon as she heard the tone, lucky that the three that actually looked capable of firing were occupied by a nearby helicopter.

Long Caster was quickly able to ID the group as Eruseans, and the second Naomi heard a different sound identifying it as such she fired. She switched back to regular missiles as she circled around, catching sight of the guided bombs reaching their targets in a brief burst of fire and smoke. It was a small victory and one that she hardly felt good about, though she was admittedly impressed with the weapons at her disposal.

Count maneuvered his Eagle as carefully as he could between a pair of buildings to ID a group further along the route that the General's vehicle would inevitably have to pass through, doing the same as Naomi and holding his fire. The ID was completed and Count immediately pulled up and away as they were identified as friendlies.

"ID'd as Osean Forces," Long Caster announced, almost sounding relieved by the fact, addressing their allies as he went on. "This is AWACS for the LRSSG."

"Our info has been updated!" a soldier on the ground said, definitely relieved to have found other Oseans. "Much appreciated!"

Just like that silence followed. It was almost eerie how quiet things were without their allies' constant radio chatter on the ground. Almost like their operation to take Cape Rainy, although arguably things were worse out here. Naomi would have taken a high-speed, low altitude flight through a canyon over flying past buildings hoping your own allies weren't going to kill you.

"Nice to see our guys are still hangin' in there," Húxiān commented, taking out an Erusean vehicle that Count missed on a pass after it was identified with her aircraft's gun, not wasting a missile on it. "I was almost worried the Eruseans would've overwhelmed 'em by now."

"The Osean Army is tougher than we give them credit for," Jaeger pointed out to her, and he was right. "They may not be as flashy as the OADF, but they're not lacking in ability. No telling how long they've been holding their ground here."

"Not like their odds are better outside of the city," Count said, his tone heavy and almost dark. "Wouldn't surprise me if they're ready to just throw in the towel and give up already."

"Quitting isn't really something our military is good at. All we can do is try to make things easier on them," Naomi said, making a pass near the harbor to ID the targets spread out near the water. "They've got enough on their plates."

The others all murmured their agreement, and nothing else was said on the matter as once more silence fell over the pilots. Aside from short announcements any time they fired, or updates from Jaeger and Húxiān as Captain Karl and General Labarthe's vehicle tried to make good time through checkpoints.

Count moved to Naomi's wing as they circled back to the smaller harbor, every single unknown now marked as hostile Erusean forces. Not a single ally in sight, just a handful of Erusean AA guns and APCs scattered along the water's edge, set up between warehouses and trees. Naomi switched once again to bombs, firing once she had a lock while Count made a run behind her and cleared out what remained with simple gunfire.

From there they moved onto the cluster of targets nearest to the General's vehicle, a pair of helicopters tracking them as they approached. Count went for them, giving them a wide berth but remaining close enough to get a clear view of them, while Naomi dove for the road to identify the vehicles. The response to Naomi's approach was to immediately open fire, which by some miracle barely so much as grazed her plane.

As soon as Long Caster was able to identify them as Oseans, the attack ceased as quickly as it had begun and Naomi pulled up and circled back towards Count. The helicopters along with the vehicles on the ground were all allied forces.

One of the men on the ground sounded desperate with fear and uncertainty as he radioed them. "Thank God...so you were the ones on the radio! We don't know our location! Please, give us orders!"

"We have no orders but we do have ID data. Check your TAC terminal," Long Caster instructed calmly. "Apologies, it's the best we can do."

"Roger that. We'll look for our way home," the man replied, though he didn't sound hopeful.

No one could blame him for that. Naomi wondered if there was a home out here anymore. Before this war there was safety throughout the continent, courtesy of the IUN and the fact the easternmost Usean countries were tolerant of Osean presence. But now practically no one was safe anywhere, Osean or Erusean from the way things looked tonight.

There was a pause before Long Caster spoke again. "Detecting more unknowns along the route, ID and take 'em out if you have to," he said, and then to someone else aboard the AWACS aircraft he said, "Give me Strider Squadrons IDs. Oh, and uh...hand me that sandwich."

"On it," Naomi said, unable to help but smiling a bit at the fact Long Caster's appetite had apparently returned.

She pulled up and cleared the buildings so she could circle back to where the General's vehicle was. The Raptor handled well, and though it was taking some getting used to and she was only just getting started things were feeling pretty smooth.

Diving back towards the street, ignoring the automated voice in her ear warning her she was dangerously close to the ground, she leveled and banked to avoid clipping any of the buildings as she slowed and targeted the unknowns waiting for the vehicle. Whoever they were, they had no interest in a fight, not responding to Naomi's approach in any way. She pulled up again while she waited for Long Caster to process them, hesitant to fire.

By now Labarthe's vehicle slowed to a halt, and Jaeger and Húxiān strayed slightly from their objective as they observed the enemies below before branching out and following Count as he chased down the fighters approaching from the harbor. Right as they identified the fighters as Osean, the verdict on the group below them was announced.

"It's Erusean," Long Caster said, though he too hesitated in marking them as targets.

"They aren't responding aggressively," Naomi said, still circling overhead. Down below, they still hadn't opened fire and the General's car was unharmed. "It's a civil war down there, right? Maybe they're on the General's side."

"Or perhaps they think we're Erusean." Jaeger sounded thoughtful, not doubtful. "Whatever the reason, it's their call down there. Are they friend or foe?"

Karl sounded just as urgent as he did before as he spoke. "Hold on! It's Captain Foulke, right?"

"It's Major Foulke," Count corrected on Naomi's behalf before she had a chance to respond, informing them of the changes they were unaware of. "Guess we can't blame you for being out of the loop, though."

"My apologies, our intel is from August...Major Foulke, then?" Karl said, taking a deep breath.

"Yes, sir, that's right," Naomi answered, instinctively calling him 'sir'. Once again finding it hard to adjust, even though had he been right she still wouldn't have had to address him that way. "What's going on down there?"

"I'll explain in a minute, I just need you to hold your fire," Karl said, and then he spoke to their guest of honor in the car with him. "General, if they're conservatives, they'll listen to us."

Silence followed, and Naomi and the rest of Strider Squadron were left to circle overhead, this side of the city at least cleared of all unknowns. Anchorhead was a big city, not quite on the scale of Farbanti as far as Erusean city's go but definitely not small. The General's route was still long and they were far from being in the clear.

After only a few minutes that felt like hours, Karl spoke again, sounding just as relieved as Naomi felt as he updated them on the situation. "The negotiations were a success, Long Caster. They've opened up a path for us."

"The more the merrier," Jaeger said, likely through a smile.

"That General must have a way with words to convince 'em that fast," Húxiān muttered, almost curiously. "Either that or they're just as sick of this war as we are."

"There's no telling anymore, not right now at least," Naomi said, leveling out her aircraft as the car was allowed to move forward along the road. Her radar warned of additional enemies inbound, and the rest of the city they had yet to cover no doubt had many more already waiting. Time for a new strategy. "Damn, why would anyone else want to be out here? Ugh...Captain Karl, how are things looking?"

"Well, for one we can't see the tops of buildings from down here, so I hope you're on the lookout for enemy ambushes. Sorry, I'm sure you are, but..." Karl said, clearing his throat after a brief pause. "We'll be exiting the Anchorhead Bay area shortly. From there we're going to head along Highway 208 under the bridge, and we'll take the Coastal Highway at the next ramp."

"Roger that, we've got eyes on you, don't worry," Naomi said, hoping if he wasn't going to lose his nerve halfway through the operation. Though even she didn't like the way things were feeling. It was all too unknown. "Long Caster?"

He didn't answer her right away, and truth be told the people up there with him were probably all over the place like everyone else around the city was. After a couple of seconds of silence, he finally spoke. "The radar is picking up more hostiles, including more aircraft. You still have your work cut out for you Strider Squadron."

Naomi took a breath, briefly letting her head fall back against her ejection seat. There was no time for a break, and it was hardly a comfortable position, so she quickly pulled her thoughts together. "Change of plans. Jaeger, Húxiān, you two handle the air-to-ground combat. Work together to clean up the roads and keep a perimeter. Count, we're gonna knock out the fighters."

"Alright," Húxiān quickly said, breaking from her position beside Jaeger almost instantly. She almost made Naomi feel bad for not having more for them to do until now. Half-joking she added, "It's been a real pain watchin' you two have all the fun."

Jaeger gave a dry chuckle as he pulled up and turned in the opposite direction to her. "Relax. It's hardly 'fun'."

"Ain't that the truth," Count mumbled. He pulled his nose around so he was off Naomi's wing like he had been before.

"Come on Count, let's get this area cleaned up. I'm getting sick of seeing yellow," Naomi said, setting her sights on the unidentified helicopters and fighters surrounding the area.

As the two of them set off to take care of threats in the air, Jaeger and Húxiān had split and made low high-speed approaches to clusters on the ground. Húxiān had identified a pair of gunboats as hostile Erusean forces, and with a missile each both of them began to smoke following the explosion, soon to sink into a pitch black ocean. It was almost haunting to think about, but no one had any time to grieve for their enemy and with more pressing matters couldn't be bothered to let it eat away at them.

Meanwhile, though Jaeger had begun to fly further away from their VIP, he remained close by for support. Naomi figured the last thing anyone wanted was getting too far out chasing down a stubborn target and not being able to keep tabs on the General and Karl's car. They had no idea if it was armored or not, and even if it was there was almost no chance it could survive a missile hit. Risking not being able to reach the car until it was too late was a bad call, practically the same as leaving it defenseless completely.

Jaeger, as always, followed his orders without complaint and without fail. He remained trained on a group of enemies that Karl was fast approaching, identifying them as Eruseans. The friendly ones, something that was still a confusing concept to Naomi but that she'd accept if it meant less people trying to kill them and the General they were trying to protect. At the same moment that Jaeger ID'd the friendlies below, Count had closed in on a pair of Erusean helos likely working alongside the same unit below as Long Caster marked them as friendlies and Count broke off from his pursuit of them.

Steeling herself for a fight as two unknown squadrons closed in, Naomi throttled up and lifted her nose to climb up and get at the same altitude they were. The Raptor's speed increased quickly, feeling what felt like a jolt through her body as it did. Almost like a rollercoaster she knew was going to go out of control, only in this situation it only felt that way. She was in complete and total control of this ride, if she could call it that. Even so, it was an exhilarating feeling and she was just getting started.

Naomi made her approach, quickly meeting the squadron as they broke through the cover of a cloud. Having been heading towards them long enough she was able to ID them, and sure enough Long Caster changed their designation to mark them as enemies on her HUD. Something Naomi confirmed for herself as she rolled her fighter onto its side and flew between the lead plane and its wingman, the only detail she was able to make out being a familiar red glow under one of the aircrafts' cockpits.

They were drones, like Super Hornets they'd faced over Waiapolo.

"Alright. Time to see what you can do..." Naomi spoke quietly, addressing herself as well as her plane. She snapped the Raptor around, pulling it into a sharp turn to get on her opponents' tails. The abrupt force was bearable, not any more or less strenuous than this same turn would be in an Eagle or the F-16 she used to fly. It felt more 'loose' than her previous aircraft, or at least that's the only way she could think of to describe it.

By the time the Erusean drones moved to counter, she already had a solid lock on one of them. While the others moved to turn, Naomi fired a missile at the first one and it made contact with the wing. It didn't stand a chance as the wing broke off, leaving it to fall down to the water below. With no actual people in it, Naomi didn't care much about its fate. It was a machine, nothing more.

As soon as it was down Naomi turned to chase down the others. They were already moving to counter, their movements easy to track even without radar or her HUD with that creepy red glow of theirs. But Naomi had more on her side than they did, disappearing from whatever line of view these things had as quickly as she could with the aid of the growing cloud cover and darkness. The drone fighters scattered but did not pursue, and by the time she was within range with her pulse lasers they were unable to escape. She fired, clipping the wings of her second drone kill that evening just as she'd done the first, then striking the engine of the third. They both burst into flames and crumbled to the earth below.

The fourth member of the drone squadron was Count's kill as he finally caught up to her, intercepting the enemy with a missile right as it turned and made a futile attempt to keep fighting. The missile hit the aircraft head on, the cockpit and the red eyes the first to disappear as the explosion went off like a firework.

"Alright!" Naomi couldn't help but give a short cheer at the kill, tired and fed up with this fight as she was, it was still something. The less drones the better. Though she was sure it came across as half-hearted praise with how much effort it took. At the very least the short lived fight had been enough to get her heart pounding at the chance to really fly again, and she even felt up to some light teasing at the Count's detriment. "Finally decided to join us?"

"When you said we were going to knock out the fighters, I didn't expect you to pull some magic trick and disappear like that," he said with a tired laugh, just barely sounding annoyed by her comment. "You'd taken those three out before I even knew where you went!"

"Trust me, I hadn't planned on that," Naomi said, feeling a bit shaken but not from fear. "Anyways, that handles the Fullbacks...let's hurry up and find their buddies. I could have sworn I saw two squadrons."

Count circled around until his aircraft flew beside Naomi's once again, the two of them checking their radars and doing a quick scan over the bay. They had scattered but the other squadron of drones was easy to spot in the darkness, if only just barely. A pair of Super Hornets and maybe another pair of Flankers, though it was hard to tell just judging from their silhouettes. They wouldn't know until they got a closer look, but given Naomi had already identified them as hostile Erusean forces she wasn't interested in getting up close and personal with them.

"There they are, Trigger," Count announced, having spotted them about the same time she had. "Slippery bastards, as usual. That red light look familiar to you?"

"It was the first thing I noticed about them. At least they make their drones obvious when you learn their tricks, though I don't think they were banking on anyone surviving long enough to figure it out," Naomi couldn't help but comment. They'd been through this before, it wasn't anything new. "Let's go knock them down before they give Jaeger and the General a hard time."

The two of them throttled up and went after the first pair, splitting them up from one another so it was a one on one fight. Naomi set out to keep Strider Squadron well-rounded in a fight with the uncertainty of things going forward, having requested that their Eagles be equipped with pulse lasers just like her Raptor, meaning they had an edge in the situation regardless of what the battle threw at them. Which meant Count was having the time of his life up against these drones, getting unnervingly close to the one he'd gone after and practically toying with it before he braked and lined up the shot with the lasers. A few well placed hits in the wing and engine and the drone was history in the blink of an eye.

Naomi's target pulled up abruptly as she went after it, trying to lead her into the clouds where she knew her pulse lasers would be useless and her radar and missiles would become a gamble. If the drones were capable of that level of artificial intelligence she'd be both surprised and impressed, but it could have very well just been attempting to survive at all costs. Though not the best call, Naomi stayed on its tail while she struggled to get a solid lock on it. As it flew into the clouds with her right behind it, she figured her best option was her Raptor's gun.

As her surroundings outside her cockpit disappeared to a dark, dull brownish-gray color and droplets of water began to streak across the canopy and muddle her vision Naomi did her best to focus and keep her eyes on her target. She adjusted her sight and lined up her shot, firing as soon as she was certain she was going to hit the mark. Her finger tightened on the trigger and the rapid gunfire struck the drone fighter along the wings and fuselage before finally hitting the engine. Its speed decreased and it began a descent, disappearing from the clouds as it trailed smoke behind it. Naomi's aircraft shot past it, emerging from the clouds and rounding to finish it off if she needed to, but it seemed too damaged to maintain any altitude. It would collide with the ground soon enough, and it wasn't any threat in a fight as it stood.

In an instant Naomi checked her radar and HUD in search of the remaining drones from earlier, finding it with ease and immediately taking off for it. When it finally detected her presence on its tail and turned to evade, she had already gotten a lock and fired the second she heard the tone. The missile collided with the drone's cockpit as it banked, just like before the red glow vanished from the sky first as it caught fire, disappearing from radar soon after. Count had similarly finished off the remaining Flanker with ease, with a missile hit that just barely made contact and damaged the aircraft and following up with the pulse lasers to do it in he managed another drone kill.

On the ground, Jaeger and Húxiān were on enemy ground forces in the blink of an eye, though by now most unknowns in the immediate area around their VIP had been identified. If they were enemies they'd been destroyed, allied Eruseans left alone, and other Oseans reassured that there was a light at the end of the tunnel after all they'd been through. All that remained were vehicles that only made their presence known once the General was closing in on their position.

"Ah, great, there's another vehicle blocking the road. Think it's gonna ask us to pay a toll?" Karl asked, trying for a joke to lighten the mood. Though it sounded as if he was smiling, his words had very little energy to them. "If that's the case I probably should let you all know that I was in such a rush when we left I forgot to grab my wallet."

"I'm afraid you and I are in the same boat there, Captain," Jaeger said with a tired chuckle, lowering his altitude ever so slightly in case he needed to identify them. "I'll get closer and see what the deal is. Maybe if they're with the General they'll let us off the hook, hmm?"

A period of silence went by as Karl's vehicle slowed to buy them more time to figure out what was going on. Whoever it was, they weren't willing to wait very long before they tried to open fire at the distance they were at. When Karl spoke again there was the distinct sound of bullets striking metal in the background as well as other passengers – the General among them – spitting out a string of curses.

"Shit, there's no response to hails!" Karl said, his tone a mix of frustration and almost desperation. "It's the Radicals, take them out!"

"Already on it!" Húxiān called out as she and Jaeger both sprang into action. She made a low high speed approach and took out half of the new group of hostiles with her machine gun, pulling up as Jaeger made a final pass and wiped out what remained. Húxiān gave a short huff. "There. Won't have to worry about your wallets anymore."

"Thanks to you we got out of paying that toll...but it's no good, that's the least of our worries now. There's still a car on the road," Karl said, but they were approaching an area of the city that wasn't as well lit so it was damn near impossible to see exactly what Karl did. He sighed. "Just to be safe, we'd better avoid the highway and head for the warehouse district. Long Caster, Strider Squadron, we're taking a detour. Don't lose us, alright?"

"Strider Squadron, the General's route has changed. All of you stay sharp and keep your eyes on the vehicle," Long Caster told them, doing his best to keep the situation updated every step of the way, though he sounded almost overwhelmed. "Don't let him out of your sights."

The vehicle turned off the highway, down a road with a handful of smaller office buildings on one side and nothing but rows of poorly lit warehouses on the other. As they made the turn, a handful of other vehicles suddenly pulled out from the security of a small parking lot tucked away between several other buildings and began a pursuit.

Something Naomi and the others were only made aware of when Karl called out to them. "They just keep coming! This is a wide net they've cast...guess they really don't want the war to end, do they?" he said, then raised his voice to address Strider Squadron, "We have some enemies coming up behind us! They're gaining on us!"

They weren't military vehicles. It didn't take much to finish them off, a missile from Jaeger's plane taking out the one in the center, sending it crashing into the one in front of it as the third was unable to stop in time and crashed into the first two. Hardly a fight and not a victory Jaeger celebrated, giving a sigh as he scornfully observed, "They've been set up in all the right places. Far too organized if you ask me...who knows how long the enemy anticipated the General's movements."

"Wouldn't surprise me if they've wanted him dead from the get-go," Naomi said, circling the area to make sure the skies and roads were clear. So far things looked quiet on her radar, but there could be enemies hiding anywhere. She leveled out, satisfied there were no immediate threats. "Captain Karl, how are things?"

"We're almost at Landfill #7," he informed her quickly. "If we can make it through, we'll be within arm's reach of the rendezvous at Gründer Park. Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from there on out."

Suddenly a new voice came over the radio. Older than Karl, with a clipped accent that was distinctly Erusean. There was little doubt it was General Labarthe. Though he maintained his composure, it was clear there was something on his mind. "Captain Karl, do you have the means to record this conversation? I wish to explain to you the situation inside Erusea since the war began."

"I'm sure our friends listening upstairs will be happy to record it, General," Karl replied, though he sounded surprised by the General's sudden interest in conversation.

"Long Caster?" Naomi prompted, making sure he was able to get whatever Labarthe had to say. If things were this bad, they'd need this information in peace talks no doubt.

"We're good to go up here, Trigger," Long Caster replied immediately, wasting no time. "General, whenever you're ready, sir."

"Hmm. Good, very good. Now, then...everything that's brought us to where we are now – the open declaration of war, expanding the front lines – it was all the work of some young Erusean officers," General Labarthe said with a sigh. "They were referred to by some as the Radicals, but there was an unseen force guiding them this whole time. It was technology they borrowed from the Belkans, looking to breed a new kind of soldier in the form of drones and artificial intelligence."

There was nothing but silence as he paused, allowing everyone to take in what he'd told them. Naomi felt herself tense, her jaw clenching as she thought about what she'd just been told. It shouldn't have been a surprise to her, but she didn't want to believe that they'd actually played a part in this war. She didn't want to believe Osea had a good reason to lock her up like they did. And then again that they were in any way justified in seeing her as a risk they needed to dispose of, out of fear she'd go ballistic and turn on her own people. Yet here they were, revealing the truth everyone had suspected but few actually wanted to bring up.

A silent enemy lurking in shadows and subtly pulling strings, with a history and reputation she was expected to answer for. Just great.

"When they actually went to war, the performance of the attack drones far exceeded even their wildest dreams," Labarthe continued in no time, cutting Naomi's thoughts short. And she was almost grateful for that. "And they were incredibly clean, which got public opinion and the opportunists within the military on their side. They even manipulated the Princess. The Belkan technology advanced UAV research within the EASA flight test center by at least ten years. They used the flight data from a former ace pilot to create drone AI, but...to us it's no different than magic or alchemy."

"You think so?" Karl asked, not disagreeing but likely pressing for him to continue.

"Airplanes are meant to be flown by human beings. They're a way for us to reach the sky, to find our wings and take our place in a kingdom out of our reach," Labarthe said, proving to them that Húxiān had been right when she said he had a way with words. The man could have written poetry in another time. "To those of you listening in, am I wrong?"

"Can't argue with you there, sir," Naomi said, and the others made it quite clear that she spoke for all of them when no further comments on the subject came. Though, admittedly Naomi was still unable to get past the information he'd given them prior to that comment. This whole mess was even more screwed up than it looked, and with everything going on around them that was saying something.

If there was anything else to be said, it had to wait as Karl broke the silence a minute or two later as the car approached a bridge. "Alright, we're heading towards Gründer Park. Our rendezvous point is the helipad on this man-made island. We'll ditch the car and take the helicopter from there...everything should be a walk in the park."

"I'm afraid you just jinxed it, Captain," Long Caster quickly said right as Naomi's radar picked up new targets. He marked them on everyone's HUD in no time before he continued. "An unknown is blocking our scheduled route. And unfortunately they're not alone, we're picking up multiple groups on the ground, now."

"Damn...got a bad feeling about all of this," Karl said, his voice lowered. He paused for a second or two before he collected himself. "My nerves are shot right now. God, I wish I could take these guys out myself."

Naomi checked her ammunition, doing a onceover of the numbers. She had enough bombs left for maybe a few more runs from the looks of things, and more than enough pulse lasers to last her through the operation. Missiles looked to be holding up alright too, not enough to spare but enough that she could use them in a fight. They'd be reaching the rendezvous point soon, anyways, but something told her things weren't going to be that easy for them. Not with the way things were going.

Jaeger and Húxiān were busy identifying nearby helicopters buzzing around a group of Osean ground forces Count had identified, and Naomi was closer to the group on the road anyways. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She flew out over the water, just above the bridge that stretched over the bay, and circled around as she selected one of the targets and switched over to her bombs.

It was a group of four, lined up at different levels on a stretch of road that looped into the bridge. The weapons locked on with ease, but Naomi had to brake and slow her approach as Long Caster identified them one by one. All hostiles, or rather the 'Radicals' as Karl and Labarthe called them, though it would take some time to get used to calling them that. Naomi fired once she was almost on top of them, making sure they were able to hit their target before she pulled up and away from the road.

An alert in her ear warned of more incoming on radar. No new arrivals, it seemed to be forces set up that they were only just now within range of. A handful of aircraft were picked up but it mainly seemed to be ground forces now. On one hand less aircraft made supporting the General a lot easier, but only ground forces set up behind buildings made things a bit frustrating. A few runs would knock them out, but any mistakes on Strider Squadron's part that caused damage to civilian buildings and vehicles would reflect badly on Osea in any future negotiations. They'd need to be careful.

"We'd be toast without that air support, thanks," Karl said, genuine gratitude in his voice.

"I'd save the thanks. The road looks like it just gets bumpier from here," Naomi said, craning her neck to try and get a view on everyone from the skies before she looked back to her radar. "Long Caster, things aren't looking so good anymore."

"Unfortunately...trust me, our boys down there have figured that out. Captain Karl, we have a new rendezvous point," Long Caster said, not waiting for a response from anyone before he went on. "New coordinates are as follows: 263 Tango 4. 199 Delta Lima. Rescue team says hostiles are making the area too dangerous, afraid this is your best bet."

"Well yeah, don't they know nowhere is safe?" Count asked sharply, his annoyance not directed at Long Caster. "We're gonna get shot at no matter where we go, what the hell were they expecting?"

"I doubt anyone was expectin' things to be this bad," Húxiān muttered, barely hiding her own disdain for the situation.

"It's all gone to hell out here," Count said with a sigh as he turned his plane away from the car and began to regroup with Naomi. "Even the damn radio chatter's about the civil war."

"Wait, radio?" Jaeger seemed surprised, likely the first he was hearing of that piece of scrap Count had somehow gotten his hands on back at Zapland. "As in a regular radio? You have one in your cockpit?"

If not for how fed up he was by whatever news he was listening to, Count may have sounded amused when he answered, though instead he just sounded tired. "Yep, ever since the 444th. I've got it taped, nice and secure."

"I still have no idea how you managed that or why," Naomi said, earning herself a short, dry laugh from him. While anyone else may have taken an issue with it, she didn't really mind him carrying it around. It wasn't as though it had ever distracted him, and it was probably the best way to stay ahead of things. Unfortunately, they still had other things to attend to. "Anyway. Keep your heads up, we still have some tidying up to do."

"Right behind you, Trig," Count said right as he caught up to her.

"We're about to cross Anchor Bridge. There'll be nowhere to hide, so I'm really going to have to count on you to stay on top of things," Karl said quickly as the car approached the end of the bridge. He couldn't help but joke a little to lighten the mood for everyone. "You've gotten us this far, don't start slacking now."

"We've got you covered, don't worry," Naomi said, checking her radar and what she was able to see for herself as she tried to come up with a new plan. It looked as though they were spread out, any one group in a good attack position, with very little enemies in the air to worry about. There wasn't any need to keep things uniform, really, not when everyone was scattered like this. "Everyone split up and take out what you can, just make sure you keep an eye out for the General. If he requests support, get on it in a heartbeat!"

"Wilco," the three of them sounded off one by one as they began to spread out. Jaeger and Húxiān went in opposite directions to identify unknowns on opposite sides of the bridge, though Jaeger still maintained a closer presence to Labarthe.

Naomi flew along the bridge and towards the unknowns waiting on the other side in perfect ambush position. Some set up between or atop buildings, a few in the road. As she did this the familiar warning that she was being tracked on radar went off, though whether it was a SAM on the ground of the enemies in the air she didn't know. Regardless of what she'd said, Count stayed near her wing and once he'd gotten a visual on the aircraft in the area he went for them to keep them off of her while she headed for those on the ground.

Long Caster marked them as Erusean Radicals, and they fired on her without any hesitation long before the ID was even complete. Naomi released her flares and pulled up last minute to evade an oncoming missile from one of the SAMs they had set up, then she throttled up and went around for the second time to wipe them out. She switched to her bombs, already within range, and the tanks and AA guns on the road were history in a few short explosions. After that she used the machine gun to target the SAM, ignoring her knee jerk reaction to evade once it had locked onto her. Luckily for her, she destroyed it before it had a chance to fire a second time.

By the time she'd wrapped up with the last remaining tank and SAM tucked away in a street a short ways from the main road, Count had already identified the planes overhead as Osean. Yet in spite of that, as Naomi pulled up from the buildings and banked to her right to return to the bridge she still heard the warning of a radar lock in her ears with no idea where it was possibly coming from.

"What the hell?" Naomi spat as she tried to get a visual on any enemy that the radar may not have picked up. Absolutely nothing. Nothing but Osean allies in the air, and the two ships below were Osean as well. "Shit! Something's tracking me on radar and I can't see a damn thing! Long Caster?"

"No SAMs detected on the ground, and there's nothing but allies in the air," Long Caster said, a worry in his voice Naomi hadn't heard from him since Farbanti.

Suddenly the volume in her ear grew to a deafening volume and the speed of the alarm increased rapidly. She reacted just as Count called out to her, "Dammit! Missile in the air, Trigger, evade!"

"Who the –" Naomi cut herself off, finishing the swear silently in her head as she throttled up, climbed, and rolled in an attempt to outrun and evade the missile. It wasn't difficult to do, but it was unexpected. As she turned around to face her enemy, her HUD showed nothing but Osean fighters on her tail and the Osean ships below suddenly began shooting once she was over them. She increased her speed once again as the warning returned, playing keep-away with them. Feeling her anger growing with an underlying fear, she radioed any Osean that could hear her, "This is Strider 1, someone better tell me why the hell I have allies on my tail!"

"Osean craft, cease fire immediately," Long Caster followed up, but much like Naomi's demand it went unanswered. He continued. "This is AWACS Long Caster of the LRSSG! Your IFF should be updated to register the LRSSG's Strider Squadron as allies. Do any of you copy?"

A new voice came over the radio, whether belonging to one of the Osean pilots or to the crew of the gunships Naomi had no idea. "We're under orders to shoot down all aircraft with tally marks on their tails. They're penal unit rebels," he said. "You have a traitor flying among your ranks, Long Caster."

"Hey, hey, she's on your side you idiots!" Count growled, enough anger in his voice that it was almost unnerving. Though Naomi had no difficulties outrunning their fighters and getting out of range, he continued to fly in their way to prevent them from pursuing. She'd never heard him this angry. "Do you have any idea who the hell you're trying to gun down?"

"Does it matter? We have our orders, and you have yours," the man said, keeping his voice low and his tone almost venomous. "I would advise you to get out of our way, unless you intend on joining her in death."

"Oh, for the love of..." Naomi felt her blood boil, mad enough they were targeting her but then they had to go and threaten Count. How come both times they were here they had allies turn on them all over their past? She was getting sick and tired of it. Thankfully, she'd disappeared from their radars but she was willing to put herself back in their line of fire if they shot at Count. "Hey! Dumbasses! Mind telling me what the hell a penal unit pilot would be doing all the way out here?"

Silence followed, a silence that Húxiān broke with a scoff. "Yeah, didn't think so."

"The penal units were disbanded months ago! Every pilot was either cleared of their charges or sent back to the states," Jaeger said, frustration taking its hold on him as well. "She's done more for Osea in this war than anyone! The pilot that helped Stonehenge bring down the Arsenal Bird? The same one that later destroyed a rogue Erusean submarine? Ringing any bells or shall I continue?"

No answer came right away, and Naomi could feel her body literally shaking with anger while they waited. At last he answered. "There's no way this is the same pilot we heard about. The marks on her tail–"

"Did you morons bother counting 'em?" Húxiān interrupted him, and they hesitated in answering her. "Ex-con or not at least she isn't stupid enough to fire on her own people."

"Of course we counted them! Our intel told us Three Strikes was a traitor and to be brought down at all costs," another voice joined in, likely the first man's wingman if these two were in fact the Osean pilots. "It was the last transmission we received before everything went to shit!"

"She's LRSSG! Do you copy?" Long Caster insisted, and below them Karl had stopped the car. He could hear what was going on, and with the state of things they couldn't move forward. "She hasn't betrayed anyone! You're interfering with an operation to protect a peace envoy, back off now."

There was another pause, then the pilot from before answered again, his voice taking on a new edge. "That's funny...because our AWACS just informed us that this entire operation is one big con. You've no interest in ending this war, you're selling us out to the Eruseans!"

Naomi had enough. While she'd been keeping her distance, she wasn't going to listen to their crap anymore nor was she going to endanger her wingmen or their VIP. She throttled up, sharply turning like she'd done when facing the drone fighters before so she was on their tails, diving from a higher altitude and through the cover of clouds as she headed straight for them. In the blink of an eye she was on top of them, quite literally. She angled her Raptor so that she was partially inverted over one of their aircrafts and shot past them. Close enough that the two of them could have looked each other right in the eye.

"Visual on Three Strikes!" The second pilot announced.

"Yeah, no shit!" The man from before spat, visibly shaken.

Her intention was to intimidate them, not shoot them, and almost as soon as she'd appeared over them she was out of their range once more and hidden against the night sky. But they were still close enough to her if they tried anything. Raising her voice just below shouting level she snapped at them, "I don't know what 'intel' you pulled out of your asses, but do me a favor and kindly shove it back there!"

"LRSSG this is AWACS Argus." Yet another newcomer, a man with a deeper and older sounding voice than Long Caster. "If you can hear me over this channel, your new orders are to dispose of Édouard Labarthe and the pilot they call 'Three Strikes'. The Osean Army officer escorting the General is an imposter, and as for Three Strikes she is a target of high interest to the Osean government. Repeat..."

"Argus! Switch channels, now!" one of the pilots shouted urgently, meaning whoever was monitoring them had no clue what was going on. "The LRSSG and Three Strikes are on the same side!"

"Hey! Someone better answer me now and tell me who the hell your information source is!" Long Caster snapped, though the odds they couldn't hear a word he was saying was likely. "We're on a mission to deliver a peace envoy to a secure location to put an end to this war! Do not engage Three Strikes or her squadron, we are not your enemy!"

All transmissions with the Osean fighters ceased.

There was dead silence, and suddenly the pair of fighters broke their formation and went for the LRSSG pilots closest to them. Count and Húxiān both cursed and moved to evade as their own allies opened fire on them. Naomi sprang into action the second she saw them move, desperate to get to them before they got to her wingmen. They were still allies on her IFF, and even if they weren't she didn't know if she could shoot down her own people. If any of her wingmen were hit by them, though...if it was a choice between them and the people she was responsible for...

"Long Caster!" Naomi shouted, a cry for him to do something about the situation though truthfully she didn't know what could be done. Her wingmen were being chased down by their allies and below Karl and Labarthe were sitting ducks, quite literally stuck on the bridge in the open with little support. She could feel her anger rising past a dangerous point and she was fighting to keep her emotions in check as she tried to catch the other Oseans' attention.

"Son of a bitch!" Count spat as Naomi successfully caught the attention of the fighter tailing him, baiting him into a chase with her that he had no chance of emerging successfully from. "Long Caster, these bastards are gonna kill us and the General if we don't do something!"

"They're being manipulated and misled!" Jaeger called out as he worked with Húxiān to make sure the wingman wasn't able to attack the General. "This chaos has gone too far!"

It was Karl that spoke up after being quiet for so long. If he'd heard what that 'Argus' had said he made no indication, but what he said was enough to prove to Naomi that he wasn't their enemy. "Dammit, it's not safe out in the open like this! Can I speak with them? Maybe I can talk them down!"

"They won't listen to you, Captain, they're scared past the point of reason," Long Caster replied, falling silent as Strider Squadron was left in a defenseless game of tag. He stayed quiet for a few seconds, and when he spoke again it sounded as though it was through gritted teeth. His voice was cracking, either through grief or frustration. "Strider Squadron...Trigger...do what you have to do. I'm not going to lose any more of you."

Naomi felt her breath stop for just a few seconds. Allegedly firing on an ally was what got her locked in prison with a target apparently still on her back, but in this situation what was the alternative? Put the General in further danger and let themselves get shot down? She didn't want to do this, but she couldn't see another choice. "Roger that, Long Caster," she said slowly, coming back to her senses. "Strider Squadron, focus fire to disable them. Got it? We're not out to kill them."

There was less hesitation than she expected. She knew what she was asking them to do, and what Long Caster had given them permission to do. If they had to answer for this when everything had settled, so be it. But this war was never going to end if they couldn't even get out of this city alive. Her wingman understood this and accepted it, all sounding off as they split off in pairs to corral the Osean fighters.

The ships below had stopped firing on them, already making their way out of the bay and towards open waters, ignoring their allies as they proceeded to chase one another down. It would take precision not to kill the other Oseans, but Naomi had faith in them. Count formed a perimeter to keep the one Naomi was after from slipping away, allowing Naomi to focus on getting a shot and taking it. It was easy to catch up with him, something she was able to do with ease, in fact she matched his speed and could have easily outrun the aircraft without difficulty. But that wasn't her goal anymore.

She was within range in a matter of seconds, braking ever so slightly so she could target the wing of the aircraft. Although challenging and terrifying to think about, Naomi lined up her shot and readied to fire. She could feel herself sweating as her stomach twisted in knots, whether from the speed and maneuvering in her plane or from nerves she wasn't sure. Her whole body was shaking and she tried not to think about it too hard. Slowing her breathing and gritting her teeth, she pulled the trigger to fire. In a few short but sickening seconds, half of the wing of the Osean fighter was blown off, forcing the pilot to eject. Naomi quickly pulled clear of the wreckage and the parachute as it deployed, feeling as though she was going to throw up.

As Naomi and Count circled back around, they caught sight of Húxiān mimicking what Naomi had done and aiming for the wing of the fighter. The damage was the same, and the pilot had to ditch the plane in the water below. Her wingmen regrouped as the hostile Oseans were no longer a threat to them, a fact they all confirmed over and over until Long Caster finally spoke up. His voice was shaky, but he kept himself together. "Osean aircraft splashed. The pilots both ejected to safety...all we can do is pray they're found by other Oseans."

"I'm to assume all of us realize the gravity of what we just did?" Jaeger asked them slowly, his voice a mix of exhaustion and lingering frustration.

"What other choice did we have?" Húxiān pointed out shortly, her own irritability not directed at Jaeger. "We did what we needed to do, end of story...right?"

"Something tells me the road ahead ain't gonna be any easier," Count said through a sigh, concern clear in his voice as he went on to address Naomi. "How're you holding up over there, Trig?"

"I'll manage." Naomi could still feel herself shaking, a cold sweat brought on by the incident as she focused on regulating her breathing again. They weren't done here, there was still a mission to complete. And she'd rather not think about what had happened too much, not when it felt as familiar as it did. She needed to focus on the task at hand. "Captain Karl?"

"I'm...I'm sorry you had to do that. I wish I could have spoken to them," he replied, every word slow and careful. It was as though he was similarly in a state of shock, but he tried to pull himself together all the same. Clearing his throat, he continued. "We've been sitting out in the open too long. We're gonna gun it and hope for the best, though there's no telling what's ahead or behind."

Right as he spoke the car below started moving again, starting forward as abruptly as it had halted when Strider Squadron had their hands full. Anchor Bridge was a long stretch, but with no traffic or law to contend with and their lives on the line the speed restriction going across meant absolutely nothing to the driver as the vehicle sped across. In a matter of a few seconds they were almost halfway across, and that was when more unknown forces finally began to catch up to them. As the General's car passed the halfway point, a line of tanks and APCs pulled onto the bridge.

"Trigger, armored vehicles are on the General's tail. Identify and take 'em out," Long Caster called at, slowly returning to his former demeanor. She had a pretty good idea he was feeling exactly the same way the rest of them were, but they couldn't worry about that until the General was safely out of the AO.

"On it!" Naomi called out, switching over to her bombs once again as she changed her course to the group of targets. They were identified as Erusean Radicals almost instantly, and she fired and pulled up to get clear of the blast and smoke. They were no longer an issue, though she still couldn't shake the guilt from before creeping up when she took a shot at an actual enemy. She continued her efforts of shoving it down. "This is Strider 1, no more enemies on the General's tail. Looks like they're coming up on a checkpoint, though."

"Hold on, Major. The General's speaking to them now," Karl told her as the car came to a halt at the checkpoint. Once they passed that group, they'd be off the bridge and back on the road. Naomi held her fire and waited for word from Karl. He sounded relieved when he spoke again and the car's path was clear. "Alright, we're back on track. We've almost reached the container area. Watch out for enemy ambushes."

"The area's already been cleared, sir," Jaeger announced as he and the rest of Strider formed up on Naomi's wing. "There's nothing but smooth sailing for a short while."

"Ah, good. The four of you take a breather, then, you've earned it," Karl said, but unfortunately that was the last thing they were really able to do. Maybe a few moments of not diving and flying straight through bullets to ID a target, but that was about it.

As the car continued to speed along, Labarthe took advantage of the lull in the fighting to continue his explanation from earlier. "In the meantime, I'm afraid that there's more to Belkan technology than just UAVs," he said, likely realizing once more he was running out of time. "Faking IFF designations, for one, was an astonishing feat of theirs, and one I'm sure you had the misfortune of finding out the hard way, Major Foulke."

"That's right. They attacked us during an operation over the Waiapolo Mountains," Naomi replied, recalling the incident vividly. She didn't forget these things easily, everything she saw but didn't want to showing up in her mind's eye as crystal clear as the day they happened. "It wasn't difficult to figure out what they were doing once we got close enough to them. We barely made it out of there, though."

"It's a pretty messed up trick if you ask me," Count muttered, though he didn't have much else to say. She knew he remembered that day just as clearly.

"Yes, well, unfortunately that was not the first or last time they used it," Labarthe said, hesitating just slightly before he continued. "As you're aware, they used the technology to aid the creation of drones that resembled Osean aircraft. And then again, after the start of the war...to assassinate Harling and put the blame on Osean fighters. What happened next, I'm sure you're all too painfully familiar with. In the end, Belkan technology only brought chaos and destruction to the world."

Naomi froze and faltered again, feeling as though someone had punched her in the throat. Although she knew she'd never intentionally killed Harling, she had doubted herself over and over again that she hadn't accidentally done so. So somewhere among their allies that day there had been an Erusean drone posing as Osean, fooling all of them and setting her up to take the fall so Osea would throw her to the wolves. Granted she was pretty much a nobody at that point of the war, at least setting a bloodline she knew nothing about aside. She specifically wasn't the drone's scapegoat, it's just how it played out.

And yet here she was at a loss for words. She should have felt relieved, and instead she felt her grief and anger amplified.

Count's voice brought her out of her thoughts, in shock himself but also speaking quietly with an edge of hesitancy. "I...I never saw that one coming. I can't believe that Erusea's responsible for Harling's assassination."

"You, talkin' politics? That's new," Húxiān observed, lightly teasing but just as taken aback by the information. "Figured that was Tabloid's thing."

"Yeah, well, can't ignore a story like that, right Trigger?" Count asked, and the tone of voice he'd taken now almost made him sound remorseful. Maybe even guilty. But he said nothing else on it, waiting for some response from her.

She didn't know what to say, unable to pin down any thought or feeling let alone how to express it. But she had to brush it off, force herself to do or say something so she wasn't worrying anyone. The first thing that came to mind. "All this time, I never would have even thought...it's so stupid."

Though Naomi was more referring to herself as 'it' in that moment for not considering this sooner. It was right under her nose all this time. She knew those drones were bad news, she knew the ones over Waiapolo were too quick and efficient to have only been deployed a few times. And what had she thought or said? Though the title of 'dumbass' had become more endearing than an insult on Avril, Count, and even Bandog's parts, Naomi thought herself fitting of the title at that moment. Even if she was being harsh on herself she didn't care, she wasn't that forgiving.

"I can't believe they would have stooped so low..." Jaeger muttered under his breath. It seemed somehow he picked up on or got an idea of Naomi's anger towards herself from what she'd said, his voice gentle when he addressed her. Like how her father would try to comfort her. "There was nothing you could have done, Trigger. It's Erusea's fault, not yours."

"I know, but...it's not something I can just let go of," Naomi said, her head reeling. She wanted to throw up. Or cry. Or both. But she wasn't in any position to do that, and she sure as hell wasn't going to let herself break that easy. "It's a lot to take in, that's all."

Karl awkwardly cleared his throat, clearly feeling bad about interrupting but having no choice. "Apologies, I know you all have a lot on your minds now, but we're making good progress. We're coming up on a tunnel, so we'll need to split up until we reach the exit."

"Alright," Húxiān said, the first one to come around. "We'll see you both on the other side, then."

"Yeesh, why'd you have to say it like that, Húxiān?" Count said, and it almost would have lightened the mood if he didn't sound more tired than playful.

"Knock it off. You know what I meant, wise guy," she replied, though there wasn't an edge to her voice. She knew he was just messing with her. "Jesus, your sense of humor's dark."

"What can I say? Keeps me from losing it," Count said dismissively, forcing a chuckle.

"Beats the alternative if you ask me," Naomi added softly, mostly to herself than anyone else. She was ready for this operation to be over, her entire body and brain on overdrive after all of tonight's events. "Let's spread out and cover the surrounding area, get a visual and ID whatever forces are still hanging around. Maybe we can leave this place nicer than we found it."

"Unfortunately, it's not going to make much of a difference. Once we're gone they're gonna keep sending in as many men as it takes to keep the city secure for their forces while keeping ours out," Jaeger said, although he didn't argue. "Nothing's that simple anymore, if there was anything simple about war to begin with."

No one said anything else on the matter, following Naomi's instructions to clear out the area. The process was simple enough, though they did initially have to dodge bullets going in. In a matter of only a couple of minutes they had identified every Erusean Conservative and allied Osean in the shipyard and buildings near the tunnel. No enemies in sight, though that didn't mean they weren't hiding out there. Only a few small, unexpected groups of unknowns remained on the road, four waiting directly outside the tunnel. By now the General's car was more than halfway there.

Naomi and Jaeger swooped in low together to identify the ones directly waiting outside the tunnel, pulling up at the hill and banking to the right to circle back around. Naomi could have made a tighter turn, but frankly she already knew how to deal with the issue. Though she wanted a proper build up if this was to actually have an effect. "Hostile armored forces waiting outside of the tunnel. Looks like bad news to me. What do you think, Jaeger?"

"I'm thinking we should go say 'hi' before they ruin the General's day," Jaeger answered her right away, though he had followed her flight path and noticed they'd already shot past the hill and back around to the tunnel's entrance. "Where are you going off to?"

"Well, figured I'd make things more interesting," Naomi said, lowering her altitude and making a tight turn. One she felt all throughout her body, but managed to make nonetheless. Her muscles were killing her and whatever logical part of her brain still had something to say was screaming at her not to take the risk she was about to. But she'd done it before, she could do it again.

"Don't tell me –" Count was a step ahead of Jaeger, already figuring out exactly what she was thinking. "Tonight isn't a great night for any of your crazy stunts, Trigger."

"The road and hill are gonna make the shots tricky to make," Naomi argued, though truly even she didn't know what was possessing her to do this. Maybe she just wanted some kind of thrill to keep her from breaking down, give her something to put her mind to and keep her distracted. Anything so she had nothing to confront when they returned to base. "Figured you of all people had faith in me."

"I do, but..." Count started to protest, but in the end he probably realized she was too committed at this point. He gave an irritated sigh. "Just don't go and get yourself killed. Please."

"Trust me, I'll do my best," Naomi said, and that was the last thing that was said about it.

Because before Húxiān had a turn at scolding her and trying to talk her out of it, Naomi had already gotten her aircraft level with the road and in a matter of seconds she was flying through the tunnel. Banking ever so slightly as the turn approached, she maintained as high a speed as she dared and could trust herself to control, she continued flying with the Raptor at that angle despite the altitude warnings and her own struggle to maintain it. Her heart was pounding and the rhythm of her breathing had increased, but she couldn't back out now.

The second turn approached, the tunnel flying by, and Naomi rolled in the opposite direction as the General's car made the same turn and the exit of the tunnel came into view, along with the enemy. She switched over to what remained of her bombs, waiting for them to lock on to the forces outside of the tunnel and fired right as she cleared the exit and immediately pulled up from the road, feeling the abrupt force of the motion as she did. She was too fired up from it to care about how much she'd been risking.

"Holy shit!" Karl's voice sounded over the radio with a short laugh, sounding completely dumbfounded by what he'd just witnessed. Clearly through a grin. "That was the most terrified and awestruck I've ever been at one time! Here I was thinking we were goners...damn!"

"That was...unexpected," Labarthe said shakily, not quite as cheerful as Karl. "More than enough proof of your skill, but next time please give me some warning. That kind of shock isn't good for the system when you get to be my age..."

"She really is something else," Count said with a tired laugh of his own. "You scare the shit out of me, dumbass."

"I'll second that..." Húxiān added, also through a smile but on the more nervous side. "But I guess it's nice to see you're still the same Trigger that we're used to."

Naomi's sense of accomplishment wavered slightly at the comment, realizing her error much too late. It was a stupid stunt, and she'd done it on impulse. All because she wanted some excitement to keep her problems at bay. However, she shook the feeling off as quickly as she could and cleared her throat. "Sorry, I...uh...got carried away there."

"You got the job done, so I'm not complaining," Long Caster said, apparently relieved she'd pulled it off. "Responsibility doesn't mean you can't let loose. Just don't go too crazy out there, alright? I have no clue what we'd do without you."

"Don't be so quick to celebrate, we've got more unknowns on the road ahead," Jaeger said quickly. "We're almost home free, we just need to hang in there."

"Man, the General sure is a real celebrity. It seems everyone wants to meet him," Húxiān said with a huff, gearing up for a fight.

But before anyone made a dive to identify them, the sound of a familiar voice came over the radio. One Naomi hadn't heard since Farbanti, but one she was nevertheless more than happy to hear. "Haha! Found you at last, Long Caster! I'd recognize that daredevil of yours anywhere!"

"Major Grimm? Damn, it's good to hear from you, sir," Long Caster said, his surprise fading as it was replaced by joy and relief at hearing from their old friends on the ground. "Did you and your men make it out of Farbanti okay? Is that journalist that tagged along still kicking?"

"We're all safe and sound...well, for the most part. As much as we can be out here. We came here hoping to find some friendly faces and sure enough we found you," the Major said quickly, weary but clearly relieved. "Found a lot more friends than that, too. We've been briefed and we're here to help if we can!"

"There isn't much left from here, but we'd appreciate it if you could watch our VIP's 6 o'clock for us," Long Caster told him, their allies already beginning to clear the route for the General.

"Roger that. Glad we held out as long as we did," Major Grimm said. "Don't worry, we won't let anyone through after you."

"Alright, we've reached the industrial zone. This should be the new rendezvous point," Karl spoke up again as the car cleared Major Grimm's checkpoint, finally within reach of the helicopter. "The coordinates are up ahead...boy, this has been one hell of a night."

"Perfect. All aircraft, we're almost at the rendezvous, leave the rear to the others," Long Caster informed them. Not that there was anyone else jumping on their tails yet. If there were any reinforcements inbound, they hadn't caught up to them yet.

"Well, it looks like our time together is running out," Labarthe said quietly, and then with a soft hum to himself he cleared his throat to continue. "The Radicals...namely their leader, General François Parrish, truly believe boosting drone productions will make up for our losses and pave the way for Erusea's future. They should be taking responsibility for the capital's fall, but instead they're prolonging the war and our people are paying for it. Which is why proper conservatives like myself are moving to regain control. If all goes well, we should be able to sign a truce with Osea quickly and put an end to this war."

Naomi didn't know what to say, hoping things would be that easy but having a sinking feeling it wasn't going to be. Something she knew from the start. Like Jaeger had said, things weren't that simple. She stayed quiet, as did the others, as the car below finally came to a halt and the General and Karl were now safely among their allies with a free ride to safety. They could all rest easy.

"We've reached the rendezvous point, and there's the chopper too," Karl said, and silence followed as the two of them presumably exited the car. She'd be willing to bet they were in a hurry but still cautious enough not to let their guards down even when surrounded by Osean soldiers. Especially not after that display from their allies earlier. When he spoke again, it was accompanied by the familiar static and background noise aboard an aircraft. "Okay, let's go! We're finally getting out of here. I've had just about enough of this place."

"Heh, I think you speak for all of us there," Count said with a scoff. "Seriously, though, watch your backs out there."

"You don't have to tell us twice, not after tonight," Karl said through a short breath. "I'd like to offer my thanks to all of you within the LRSSG. This should finally bring about a true end to the war."

"Understood," Long Caster said. "Good luck."

"Guess we'll see you around, then," Naomi added her own farewell as the helicopter began to lift into the skies, glad they could finally relax. "Take care."

"Thanks, and the same to you, Major," Karl said, and that was the last they heard from him as the helicopter headed off in the opposite direction, leaving Strider Squadron and Anchorhead behind them. Whatever happened to them was out of the LRSSG's hands, and all they could do was sit back and hope they made it to allied territory in one piece. This was likely their last hope, and just about everyone knew it. Which is probably what made the goodbye strangely difficult.

Long Caster tried not to dwell on it, moving on to their friends on the ground. There wasn't anything left to do, really. "Major Grimm, do you and your men have a base to return to?"

"Afraid not. We came here chasing down a hunch, but once our work is over..." Major Grimm started, but trailed off. "We're pretty much useless out here."

"I'll send you coordinates to Gardos Air Base, give me just a moment," Long Caster said quickly, pausing for only a few seconds. "If nothing else, it's better to stick together, right? We wouldn't want anything to happen to you, especially not with a civilian in tow. And you've got family back at the base waiting for you anyways. I'd say it's a good boost for everyone's morale, your brother's especially."

"Ah, Hans and Kathryn joined the party, did they? Shame they weren't flying tonight, but this isn't really their style anyways. It'll be good to see Tailor again as well," Major Grimm said, mostly thinking aloud. No one had the heart to tell him that his sister-in-law had been MIA since before Farbanti, but it wasn't their place to do so as badly as Naomi felt for leading him on like that. "Many thanks to you, Long Caster. We'll meet you back there as soon as we're done here."

"Just be careful out there," Long Caster said. Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short as he picked up new blips on radar. "Dammit...multiple unidentified aircraft approaching."

"Dammit, what now?" Naomi said through gritted teeth, pulling her nose up as the others followed, all of them raising their altitude to meet whoever – or whatever, assuming there were drones – had decided now would be the perfect time to show up.

Almost as soon as they could detect a formation in the distance, nothing more than blips on the radar and yellow squares dotting Naomi's HUD, a transmission came over the channel. The person it belonged to was formal and straight to the point as he spoke. "This plane is carrying civilians. We have escort fighters, but we do not intend to engage in combat. We are of no threat to you. Please stand down."'

"What's goin' on?" Húxiān asked quickly, sounding fearful and suspicious. Naomi couldn't blame her.

"Try to get a little closer. Weapon use is prohibited," Long Caster informed them sternly, not that any of them needed to be told. On the off chance this guy was lying, you'd have to be completely void of humanity to shoot down a transport without feeling an ounce of hesitation while doing so. Especially if there was even the slightest possibility there truly were innocents on board.

"Alright, I'm on it. Keep your guards up, they still have escorts," Naomi said, doubtful of Erusean fighters more than she'd ever be of a transport. She accelerated and kept on course to fly straight ahead, in a matter of seconds having cleared the distance between her and the unidentified aircraft. She pulled up to avoid crashing into them, performing a barrel roll as she flew past them before circling back around and braking to face them head on in case she'd gone too fast to pick up a clear image. Under the cockpit of the escort fighters was a thin blue line on either side of the aircraft, which instantly set her on edge. "Long Caster what's it looking like up there?"

Before he could answer, and likely before the man that spoke to them before could say anything, the voice of a young girl sounded over the radio. "What's going on?!" the girl demanded, and though it was hard to tell with all of the static she sounded like a teenager to Naomi. "Dr. Schroeder!"

"Whoah, whoah, there's a girl on board?!" Count said, likely thinking the same thing Naomi was. Who were these people and why were they dragging a child through a warzone?

"He's not lying about carrying civilians," Long Caster said, confident now that the man wasn't lying.

"No...unless she's a soldier," Count pointed out. "But she doesn't sound like one, and I doubt even Erusea's desperate enough to throw children out onto the battlefield."

"Weapon use is prohibited," Long Caster reminded them, getting to work on identifying the aircraft in front of them. Once he had finished, he was quick to inform them. "We've checked the footage. It does seem to be a transport with escorts."

"I repeat! This craft is carrying civilians!" the man from before, who Naomi figured might have been the 'Dr. Schroeder' that girl called out to, spoke more urgently this time. He was clearly worried they weren't going to listen. "We are not here to fight!"

"Dr. Schroeder! Tell me what's happening!" the girl from before called out in the background, having not been answered the first time when she asked. If her safety was on the line, she probably wanted to know.

"I'm sure I don't need to remind you a third time, but do not attack the civilian liaison," Long Caster said, making sure all of them remembered it.

Before any of them could try and contact whoever was onboard, the aircraft began a turn to evade right as a long range attack narrowly missed the transport, the escort fighters maintaining their formation. On radar new blips appeared seemingly from thin air, heading straight for the transport.

"Hey! Unknowns attacking the girl's plane!" Naomi called out, turning in the direction of the fighters that had attacked, ready for a dogfight. "Long Caster?"

When no response came, Count called out next. "If we don't do something they aren't gonna last long! Long Caster, permission to engage?!"

"Negative!" Long Caster replied.

"What?!" All four of them demanded simultaneously, taking his response to mean they should stand down rather than protect the civilian transport.

"They could be Osean fighters," Long Caster explained to them quickly. "ID them ASAP!"

"Shit!" Húxiān spat, but moved to comply anyways.

"That's all we can do," Jaeger said to her in an attempt to calm the others down. "We can't charge in like we used to, tonight proved that. Just get out there and put yourselves between the fighters and that escort in the meantime."

Naomi didn't argue, switching over to target the unknown aircraft but not firing as four fighters began to tangle with the liaison's escort fighters. She targeted one of them and stayed on its tail as it evaded a missile from one of the escorts, keeping up with it although it did its best to get her off their back even though she wasn't firing on them. It began to circle back around to attack the transport once again, and Naomi could feel her patience wearing thin. "Long Caster, tell me you've got something!"

"ID complete! They're Erusean fighters," Long Caster announced quickly, changing them to read as hostiles on their IFF. "What the hell is goin' on?"

"Stay sharp you three, they're stubborn," Naomi ordered, pulling a high-G turn that made it feel like her body was being crushed after a night of fighting drained her strength and stamina, but she held on for the sake of the civilians on that transport.

"Uh-huh," Húxiān said, rounding on one of them to chase him away from the transport. "I'm not in the mood for games with these guys right now..."

"Right, I've had enough. I'm shootin' 'em down!" Count announced as he got a solid lock on one of them, keeping pace with it despite the enemy's attempts to shake him and evade at all costs. He held back for only a moment. "Any complaints?"

"Granted." Long Caster said.

"Wilco!" The four of them sounded off one by one. That was all they'd needed to hear. Naomi stayed glued to the enemy's tail, chasing it up and around as she tried to maintain a lock on it, but these pilots weren't nearly as exhausted as Naomi and Strider Squadron was. They didn't make it easy, but Naomi wasn't in the mood for a long winded round of tag. She finally had him where she wanted, taking the shot as soon as she had it and sending the enemy plane down to the ground in a ball of fire. The pilot ejected at the last second, everyone steering clear of the chute.

Jaeger and Húxiān worked alongside the escorts to take down one of them, practically boxing him in on all sides so he barely had enough room to maneuver and fly out of their reach. Jaeger stayed on its tail even in a vertical climb, firing and breaking off the pursuit as soon as he did, leveling out safely as the escort and Húxiān broke off soon after. The pilot tried to evade, attempting to level out as well but his plane was already hit, and he ditched it rather than attempt to keep flying any longer. Count had quickly done away with the plane he'd stuck on from the start, finishing it off with the pulse lasers he still had in large supply after nothing but a night of short dogfights and ground targets.

All that remained was one final fighter that was attempting to chase after the transport as it continued to fly away from the conflict, leaving the enemy to its escorts. But the Flanker went after it while leaving his wingmen behind. Naomi wasn't going to let him get off that easily, catching up to him and firing as soon as she heard the tone, pulling back around as soon as he was down to return to her own allies. "Long Caster, I think that's the last of them!"

"Good work. All hostile aircraft have been eliminated. The liaison is safe," Long Caster confirmed, and Naomi breathed a sigh of relief. Everything hurt and she just wanted to get back to base and go to bed. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't the end of it, and she felt her heart drop as a warning sounded off and Long Caster's tone completely changed. "Wait..."

"Long Caster?" Naomi felt her anxiety rising, her fight and flight response kicking in for what had to be the millionth time this night.

"No, the escort fighter is–" the man aboard the liaison must have spoken up to warn them, but his train of thought was quickly derailed as he almost distractedly continued. "The drive. They're missing the drive. Damn, this wasn't in their orders..."

Long Caster was quick to assess the situation, everyone caught off guard by the fear in his voice. "What the hell? You've gotta be kidding me. The liaison escort has a radar lock, they're targeting you guys!"

"What the hell?!" Count sputtered, voicing the same shock everyone else helped. "We were just helping them!"

"Oh, God...not right now..." Naomi knew she should have said something when she noticed that blue light. Just like the fighters over Waiapolo. It was hard to see in the darkness, but she didn't remember seeing a pilot. "Shit..."

"Erusean aircraft, this is AWACS Long Caster. Do not engage the liaison, break off now!" Long Caster radioed them, an attempt to get them to back down. Naomi hoped and prayed she was somehow wrong and there were pilots, but it just wasn't adding up.

Before she could warn Long Caster and the others, the man on the transport did it for her, confirming her suspicions. "Osean craft, you can hear me on this channel, correct? Those escort aircraft are drones. They're currently being operated autonomously," he told them. "They are not being controlled by anyone, they are flying on their own volition."

"Dammit, are you serious?!" Húxiān raised her voice slightly, all of them having had more than enough of this night.

"In that case, we have no choice but to shoot the aircraft down," Long Caster said slowly, almost apologetically, even.

"Unfortunately...yes." He was willing to accept this fact, albeit with some reluctance. "Forgive me."

Long Caster took a deep breath. "We did what we could. Weapons free, Strider Squadron, you are cleared to attack the escort."

"Wilco," Naomi called out, having already gotten a lock on one of them and prepared to fight. She ignored the warning in her ear, taking aim on the drone and firing without any hesitation, reminding herself that they weren't human just like she'd done over Anchorhead Bay. The missile collided with the escort drone head on, turning it into nothing more than a few pieces of scrap in a matter of seconds.

The others had already taken down one of the other two that remained, Naomi circling around to chase down the third. It was more stubborn than its allies, attempting to dodge and face her rather than go down easily. On some level it seemed to be trying to anticipate her movements, but it was poorly executed in comparison. Almost sloppy, as though it was a rookie trying to start out doing exactly what its instructors were, but without the understanding of them that was needed in order to do them. For Naomi everything she'd learned to do was on instinct and through observation, but she didn't learn overnight. A computer may be able to, but it would still take time. Time that this particular drone had run out of.

Naomi followed it into a dive, firing her pulse lasers at it and clipping the wings right off of it. She was willing to bet that wasn't the end of it, scanning the skies for more. She knew it wasn't over, she could feel it in her gut and she wanted to be certain they were safe. This entire night was turning into a real nightmare. Unfortunately, she was right that their fight wasn't over as her radar picked up more hostiles. "Shit, additional hostiles inbound!"

"Great timing..." Count grumbled.

"Son of a bitch!" Húxiān added in her own complaint, all of them too tired to keep up this pace for much longer.

"More drones approaching," Long Caster informed them. "Brace yourself, it's not over!"

"No, the escort must have used its remote activation rights to gain more allies before it went down," the man aboard the escort said, assessing the situation from safety while they moved to engage his escort's new friends. "Clever..."

As the drones flew past them, spreading out and trying to find an opening, Naomi could feel her exhaustion closing in. Every maneuver, regardless of how seamless the Raptor operated, almost felt like she was being crushed. She continued to push through, gritting her teeth and regulating her breathing as best she could to keep up with the drones. Fighting other pilots while battle weary was one thing, fighting drones was another. And these drones seemed to have them all figured out.

"Dammit...these guys are good," Naomi said, sticking to one like glue and trying to take it down as quickly as it could. It dodged the missile she threw its way, but she was able to remain close enough to it that she could fire at it with the machine gun. Smaller than your average aircraft, it didn't take much to go down.

"Y'know, it's not our fault they won't listen to reason," Count said with a tired huff, not caring who he was talking to or what was said. That was one luxury they had right now. "Why build something like that? Whoever did is the king of all dumbasses..."

"Maybe...he meant to build something else entirely..." the man, having been listening in, replied but something about the way he said it felt off. As though he knew the other side to this story or his ego had taken a hit. He said nothing more to them, the aircraft continuing safely out of the warzone while they continued to engage the drones.

With the Raptor on her side, Naomi could match the drones in speed and agility, but it still came down to what her body could take and she was starting to feel the strain. What might have been a simple fight had she been well rested and fresh to the fight was now a living hell as she matched the drones move for move, picking them off one by one. Count, Húxiān, and Jaeger were all struggling as well but had managed to take down their own targets and moved on, announcing their kills as they were made. Naomi continued to power through, pushing herself through the fight to make sure she was still there for her wingmen when this was all over, getting a solid lock at a good angle and taking down another drone.

"Three drones left, show 'em what you've got!" Long Caster called out, encouraging them as best he could through the fight.

Jaeger and Húxiān paired up once again, leaving one for Count and one for Naomi. She matched the drone move for move, the pain through her body on every high-G turn enough to make her want to vomit, but she wouldn't go down here. Not because she passed out or let a drone get the better of her. She channeled her anger from earlier, at what she'd learned about Harling's death, the truth behind it all, and she used that to drive her forward. An extra kick of adrenaline to give her the push to line up the pulse lasers on the target, the sight turning red as soon as she was in range. She fired like her life depended on it and the drone practically disintegrated, leaving her with just enough energy to help Count chase his down.

They corralled the drone together while Jaeger finished off the one he and Húxiān had gone after, and once Naomi had a shot she took it, not waiting for Count to take his. The two of them ended up firing together, the last of their missiles hitting the drone at the same time marking it as a kill for both of them.

"Great job! That's what I like to see!" Jaeger called out to her, out of breath. "Another story to tell my boy."

The four of them, exhausted and their nerves shot, leveled out and waited for Long Caster to give the word before they did anything else.

"Understood. Strider Squadron, all hostiles have been eliminated. Nice. And the General's helicopter is flying safely outside of Anchorhead Bay," Long Caster informed them at last, giving the all clear they were so desperate for. "All aircraft, RTB. The mission is complete. It's time to call it a night."

"All 'hostiles' huh? Pfft..." Count scoffed, the turn of events that night having done a number on each and every one of them.

Naomi forced her breathing to slow, trying to relax herself as she banked and turned back towards the direction of the base, the others following suit right behind her as they all formed up. Hopefully for the last time that night. Her nerves were shot, everything hurt, and her body still trembled against her will, but they could all finally rest. "Come on. Let's get home."

Even after all they'd been through, they still had a long night ahead of them.