From the runway of Incheon International Airport,the 297ths take the final goodbye to the land of Seoul,heading to the south to the airfield at Okinawa.That is the first route they intended to go,but before they can return home,at the evening of the second vacation day,a mission was sent making them to change their course,to the southwest.
The previous evening
"Everybody"-Long Caster call his squadron-"New command from our HQ in Oured,they had ordered us to escort the Arsenal Bird Justice to the city of Shanghai"
"Wait?What about the first plan?"-Blaze ask him
"Cancel it,we will go for the new second plan"-he open his iPad,which the team have never seen before and draw a route far from what they planned-"Our squadron will fly to the city of Shanghai and help the Arsenal Bird to aim at the enemies,in other word,just like what we did in the border of DPRK and China"-he continue to draw another line to Okinawa-"Then fly back to our Japanese main base"
"That it?"-Cipher was surprised by the simplicity of the attack,all of them either,but he is the only one who dares to question.
"Yes"-Long Caster simply replied
Everybody knew what this meant:a landing at the coastal city of Shanghai,the government wanted to spread the Chinese force by an attack at an important city of the country.They and the Justice shall be the first strike at the city's defense,but the mission was too simple,perhap the government has overestimated Justice.Acknowledge of this,Blaze ask:
"May I have a question?In case the attack fails,what do we need to do?I won't confident about the APS after Russia managed to do it"
"I don't know,but perhap return to Okinawa as the plan"
"Roger that"
"Alright,that's it?Okay,go to sleep,we must get up early"
Back to present
"I see it,the city of Shanghai"-Mobius told them on the radio.Under the white cloud,the city appeared out of the morning fog,with hundreds of skyscrapers pointing to the sky,their light still shining upon the city below.A majestic sight comparable to even Oured,even at war,Shanghai is still lively as it is on peacetime,but that won't happen for any longer,the sky has roamed in the sound of jet engines.
<<Mobius,add this city to my list of travel after war,if it still here>>-Trigger request,but he notices some unusual thing far away at the city:
<<Oh,look at the harbor>>
In contrast to the sight of the city,the port wasn't looking so good,there were many cranes still underwater,crushing a few ships under them.But the thing catched most of their attention was the wreck of a giant merchant ship blocking the port and the river.The port is inactive,they can tell it by themselves,but it wasn't anything bad.
<<That gigantic ship haven't being pull out,I guess that they haven't undone what Torres did>>
<<The harbor was disabled,meaning that there are less warship>>-Cipher glare at the port,there are many ship,but most were very small-<<Good>>
<<Everybody,concentrate>>-their AWACS order-<<We are approaching the major air defense of the city,incoming missiles,split up>>
<<Roger that>>
The squadron broke into four and headed to the targets across Shanghai.Right after they went away,hundreds of explosions erupted Justice's APS.It seems like the Chinese air defense has catched their signal,but the squadron is faster.The batteries of air-to-air missiles were detected upon launching,and the 297ths just need to destroy them while they're reloading.
<<Hawkeye 5,rifle>>-Long Caster said as Trigger blew up an air defense position.He immediately turns to another one,only to find out that Mobius has destroyed it by the EML.The Ribbon-Strike continue to cover each other,destroy a dozen more of equipment.On the other side,Talisman and Maiden dive at the incoming coastal guard boats.
<<Enemy ship sunk,good job>>
<<It our turn then,Grimm,Snow,follow my lead>>
While the sinking ship blocked the flowing river,sirens went off across the city,even Mobius can heard it while fly by a tower.The attack alerted the air force stationed at the city,but it was too late:Blaze,along with his two partners split up and aimed for the runway,grounding hundreds of fighter jets before they could take off.The city became chaos,from the sky,the pilots can see people running for their lives,hiding into building and underground,car are left everywhere on the street by the owned,they weren't Osea's target.In contrast,the real target seemed to be still there,immobile.
<<Air supremacy gained,commence laser attack>>
The nightmare of the PLA came back.From the under of Justice,80 UCAV were deployed and surrounded the mothership,soon after,the laser beam shot at the ground,aiming for the coastal defense facilities,which were assisted by Hawkeye squadron.From hangars,artillery pieces,to the remain warships,were molten down from the heat of the laser gun.There are simply no way for them to fight back.
<<Fast movers inbound,I have 30 signal on radar,one-six-zero north>>-Long Caster warning-<<PLAAF from other region,all aircrafts,engage>>
The two airfleet merge into each other,unlike in the north,the Chinese here fought hard,killing drone after drone,a J-20 even shot downed four MQ-101,before getting annihilated under a missile.Unfortunately,that wasn't enough to fight any manned-fighter.The moment they got aimed by any 297ths member gave them only 3 seconds to escape,or their body would be blow up by either EML or missiles.Needless to say,the favor over sky is still in Osean hand.
<<20 more from the south,focus on gaining air superiority>>
<<This is not so easy>>-Mobius said,as she blew up a J-20 fly by,but her tail received minor damage-<<Cover my back,Trigger!>>
<<Splash two,I'm coming>>
But a strange voice took over the radio of Mobius before she can get a proper answer
<<Privet,okh podozhdi....Hello,this is Russian Air Force pilot Koshka,nice to meet you>>-a Su-57 fly by the battlefield,its radio signal was caught by Long Caster-<<You got a big bird out there>>
<<One fast mover coming,zero-zero-zero,straight from the north,very fast>>
<<Eh...thank you?Why are you flying alone here?Where are the rest of you squadron?>>-Trigger said,fully knowing that he's an enemy.But something urged him that this one is far more dangerous-<<I was surprised that you didn't fear about the Arsenal Bird>>
<<I knew about it before>>-the Felon turn it nose to the drone swarm and fired a single missile
Boom!*
A huge blue flash at the swarm of MQ-101,less than a second later,the drone began to fall.But not because of destruction,it was more like an EMP attack.
<<Holy hell...>>
<<Hawkeye 5,Hawkeye 11,Hawkeye 8,Hawkeye 9,attack the Su-57,priority at shot down that aircraft.Hawkeye 7,Hawkeye 12,blow up all MQ-101s that had been shot down,Justice reactivate APS!>>
<<Roger that>>
Right after the order,four X-02S get away from the furball of missiles and approach the enemy.In response,the Su-57 drives higher,closer to Justice's shield,but it wasn't running away.Koshka flies,continues to fly higher,letting his enemies chase behind.
<<Sorry,you should go first>>
The Russian pilot stalled his fighter and free falling in between the fighters behind him.Realized what's his intention,Mobius and Trigger break away,but unlucky for the ex-Galm team,they didn't have time to react.
<<Hawkeye 8,I was hit on my tail,permission to retreat>>
<<I'm hit,dammit,retreat>>
<<Permission granted>>-Long Caster can't finish his word when he sees the Felon dive down against the Arsenal Bird and launch an EMP missile.Luckily,the APS stopped it to get any closer,if it hit,the bird would be cooked from inside to outside.The fighter slowly fall back to parallel to the ground right before hitting the APS and fly away.
<<He defeated both Pixy and Cipher at once?>>
<<Mobius,stay away!Don't get too close>>-Trigger panicked
<<But why are you coming so close to him?>>
<<Is that a woman's voice?>>-the Russian pilot asked a weird question while pulling to avoid Trigger's missile-<<Must be Blue Ribbon,the others whose attacking me is Three Strikes,am I right?>>
<<Yes.What about it anyway?>>
<<Forget it,I just wonder if the shield eventually run out of power>>
<<Never,Justice will be supply by the Space Elevator,you can't destroy it even if you kill all of us>>-Mobius sweating,she hope that this fighter has no weapon like the one pierced through the APS back in the border clash,keeping up with dodging the attack from him is tired enough.
<<So you call it Justice?Irony.Valentina,analyze....alright,missile launch>>
The EMP were launched again at the back of Justice,approaching the outer shield at rapid speed.Out of what they expected,the missile unleashed its power before it could even reach the shield.
Flick*Flick*
To the horror of Osean pilots,the APS disappeared,leaving the Arsenal Bird vulnerable to conventional attack.Taking their chance,the remaining Chinese fighter shot all their weapons at the flying carrier,even when they were still being attacked by drones,causing significant damage to the outside of Justice.The aircraft still flying,despite being leaned to the right.
<<Arsenal Bird shield is downed!All aircrafts,protect Justice at all cost>>
<<What the hell happened!?>>
Too late for them,Koshka took the chance and shoot his plasma gun at the center of the APS unit,molten down the outer hull.A second later,an explosion split it into two pieces,falling down at the city's river,followed up by the drones falling one by one into the ground.The Arsenal Bird freely falling into the river and blocked the flow.The crash lift up a huge column of water,and the white wings slowly sink into the wave.
<<Permission to retreat>>-Blaze panicked-<<There are many blip on radar,we are outnumbered>>
<<Long Caster to HQ,mission failed,to all aircrafts,retreat!>>
<<Thank y->>
The communication was cutted.A X-02S blew up as the laser of the Felon punched through,covering it in flame.But what is worse is the pilot didn't eject,he was still on the aircraft the moment it exploded,the commander of the squadron just perished before he can realized what happened.
<<Blaze!>>-Grimm watching as the fighter of his friend fall down to earth-<<He didn't bailed out>>
<<God damn it!Hilton!Long Caster!I need to return fire>>
<<Negative,do not turn back,you will die,they don't chase after us is good enough,I can't risk another pilot's life>>
<<Yes,he's right,my left wing is on fire>>-Talisman stabilize his Wyvern after being slightly struck by the laser-<<You will die fighting him>>
<<Damn it!>>
<<Don't turn back,don't let his death lead to your death,we are lucky that that bastard and the Chinese haven't chasing us>>
<<Damn you all>>
The squadron fly away from the city as fast as possible,not even try to look back,they went silent,the loss of Blaze was too big,especially to Grimm and Snow,they bursted out crying inside of the cockpits,no one dared to say any word to them.Long Caster didn't say anything,he cut down all communication between the squadron,except for Mobius.
<<Hawkeye 1 downed,Hawkeye 11 take command>>
<<No!I can't do this>>
<<Don't complain to me,Pixy and Cipher aren't here,you must take the lead>>
<<.....>>
<<Fine>>
Back to Shanghai
<<Mission completed,you could have killed them all>>-the AI on the screen of the Felon complains to the pilot-<<Why let them flee?>>
<<I just want to know the enemy, shooting out their captain is enough,you know?The one fly at the front of the squadron?>>
Koshka flies his aircraft in circles above the wreck of Justice,even in death,that thing is intimidating,he thinks.But he took it down with his own ability,perhap with some help from Valentina,actually mostly Valentina's work,but it was him who planned the attack.
"The Osean researched for a shield that won't stop microwave power,truly advance.Until they realize that shooting EMP the space between the flying fortress and the Space Elevator can result misleading to computer and shut down the shield"-he said to himself-"In story,justice prevailed over felonies,but today,a "Felon" has taken downed "Justice""
Under his wings,several ships tried to approach the wreck,hoping to find something valuable.Even civilians sailed out to collect steel and aluminum,understandable,they had just experienced the most terrible nightmare in their life,the people deserved to be rewarded.
<<I want to meet them again,one day>>
Suddenly,the siren went off again,but the disaster didn't give them time to escape:from the west,eight shells traveling at Mach 18 ram into what remained of the Arsenal Bird and set it on fire,completely torn up the defeated superweapon into million pieces.Koshka was caught surprised,he can't even keep up with the speed of the bullets,that only mean that this is a superweapon.Fortunately,the blast can't touch him on the air.
<<Analyze,Valya>>
<<Estimated launching point:state of Wyoming,United States>>
<<Oh,so they have some secret too>>
On the river,the Chinese government personnel and civilians begin to flee away from the Arsenal Bird,knowing no technology can be recovered from the attack,and fear that the attack can continue.
On the opposite side of the globe,Yellowstone adjusts its guns back to the original position.