>>1251932

"We've got echo-cats chief. We can haul just as much mud as you eagles." Dredd spoke up from the front row. You had to peer up over the crowd in order to see him better.

"Well 'aint that something. We might actually have a shot at this then." The chief grinned, apparently happy at the news. "Well, here's how we're gonna do this."

At this, the slide changed to show a flight-plan. The attack route in shown in blue while the route out was shown in red. "We're gonna go wheels up with external tanks. This shouldn't be an issue for you navy boys as you always have those tanks on your birds, my boys can just carry some FAST-packs. We'll come in at NOE, drop or bombs and get out at speed." The chief continued on, detailing how your flights would have to fly at low level for obvious reasons.

"Now, I shouldn't have to tell you this but I'm gonna anyways. We're gonna be right up in the red's back-yard. If you go down then SAR is gonna have a hard time getting to ya before the reds do. Any questions?" The chief finished, leaving things open.

When nobody answered, he nodded to one of the people at the back of the room. Who then switched on the lights.

"Well, the information is in those folders. Take it and plan your loads accordingly. We're wheels up in two hours time. So get your loads planned and set by then. Ya'll are dismissed." The chief finished, before then stepping off. Making his way towards Dredd while the rest of the pilots got up.

>Head back to the barracks, plan your load and go over the intel with the squadron.
>Head down to the hanger, get the low-down from your crew chief on how she's doing.
>Try and find one of your squadmates (who?)
>Other (write in)

>>1251933
>Head down to the hanger, get the low-down from your crew chief on how she's doing.
Ha ha! Time for piloting!

>>1251933
>>Head down to the hanger, get the low-down from your crew chief on how she's doing.

>>1251933
>>Head back to the barracks, plan your load and go over the intel with the squadron.

>>1251933
>Head down to the hanger, get the low-down from your crew chief on how she's doing.

File: Tomcat hanger.jpg (225 KB, 706x492)

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As you left the building, you looked over to Zeus. The mass of pilots splitting off into two groups as they made their ways off to plan loads. "Hey Zeus, I'm going to head off to the hanger to check up on the bird."

"Sure, I'll plan our load for us. Don't take too long." Zeus replied, before then turning off and heading towards the barracks. You on the other hand flagged down a passing jeep.

"Aye, where d'ya want 'tae go?" The driver asked as you hopped into the jeep. His obviously Scottish accent making you wonder if the Brits had sent anybody over.

"Hangers, specifically B two three." You replied as you opened up the folder and began to read up on expected enemy strength for the mission.

As the truck made it's way on, you read into the expected enemy strength, you found that the intel logs were pretty sparse on everything but the train. The train itself was pretty heavily armed. The drive sections at the front and back of the train were made up of steam locomotives with a flat-bed section between the two with a shilka mobile AA gun on it. Additionally, a pair of buk missile launchers on the train to defend it against aircraft. Additionally, it's crew also had a number of assorted MANPADS to help ward off aircraft. There was also a number of assorted machine guns mounted on the train.

On the subject of aircraft however, the intel packet was fairly limited, though there was some intel that the train was almost always accompanied by a pair of hind-d's. There was also a number of assorted fighters flying CAP of the line. Thankfully, the aircraft were predicted to be assorted MiG-17s and 21s, armed with COIN armament. Rocket pods and iron bombs. Nothing that could really harm a fighter jet.

"Aye, here we are." The driver announced as the jeep came to a stop just outside of the hanger. You thanked the driver and climbed out. Before making your way into the hanger, your crew chief making his way over.

"Hey boss. What's the occasion?" Your chief asked as you walked over.

"Sup chief. I'm here to check up on the 'cat." You replied as you made your way into the hanger. Your cat's access panels open as the crew gave it pre-mission checks.

"She's doing good boss. Your RIO helped us integrate some new weapons onto it. You want me to give you a run-down?" You chief offered, a smile on his face as a pair of his men removed a twin-adaptor from one of the wing-glove hardpoints.

>"Sure, give me the news chief."
>"Nah, I just came here to see if there was any problems."
>Other (write in)

>>1252650
>>"Sure, give me the news chief."

File: something else also rises.jpg (24 KB, 625x705)

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>>1252650
>"Sure, give me the news chief."
inb4 MiG1.44 swarm

>>1252650

>"Sure, give me the news chief."

File: F-14 with 2 AIM-9s.jpg (134 KB, 1000x518)

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"Sure, give me the news chief." You agreed. You were always one to care about your bird, and the shit it could carry.

"Sure, let me give you the run down." Your chief agreed, before leading you towards the corner of the hanger. Where a number of assorted adaptors waited.

"So we've basically been shipped a number of modified adaptors for assorted weapon. Mostly for weapons that we have integrated already. Though the real beauties here are these twin and triple adaptors." He said as he pointed down to the twin mounts. The twin rails apparently being designed to haul a pair of smaller weapons. The triple rails however looked like they had just been ripped off a hornet.

"These beauties are meant to carry double or even triple the amount or ordnance you can carry. The twin adaptors are meant to carry sidewinders while the triple adaptors are meant to carry five-hundred pound bombs. Unfortunately though they can only be fitted to the wing-glove hard points." Your chief continued on, turning to face you.

"You can also carry the new mark eighty-two laser-guided bomb on the triple adaptor. Along with the new japanese missiles. We've also updated and fixed the targeting systems for some of the other bombs and gun-pods. Mostly for the su eleven and the cluster bombs. They're ready for your mission today so you can smoke some soviets with them." Your chief explained as his crew moved a cart loaded with a cluster-bomb out of the hanger, clipping it onto the back of a small utility cart to move it off to some other hanger.

"Sounds good chief. Anything else I should know about?" You asked as you made your way towards the tomcat. The tail seemingly having received a new lick of paint.

"Well the turbines are almost near their replacement date. So maybe you shouldn't tax them too much during the mission. Statistically speaking, when you put that bird through her paces you run the engines twice as hard as normal. Other than that, you ought to be fine." Your chief warned you, passing you a scrap of paper with the remaining flight hours of your bird's engines before replacement. The number now in the dozens of hours.

"Anything else boss?" Your chief asked as you pocketed the scrap, you'd have to bring this up with the unit.

>"Do you know anything about my wingmate's birds?"
>"We're going to be slinging iron on this mission. Do you have any recommendations for the op?"
>"Nothing more chief, have a good one."
>Other (write in)

>>1253041
>>"We're going to be slinging iron on this mission. Do you have any recommendations for the op?"

>>1253041
>>"We're going to be slinging iron on this mission. Do you have any recommendations for the op?"

>>1253041
>"Do you know anything about my wingmate's birds?"

File: F-14 TALD.jpg (1.62 MB, 3000x2400)

1.62 MB JPG

"Walk with me chief. We're going to be slinging iron on this mission. Do you have any recommendations for the op?" You asked the chief as you made your way over to some of the stacked, but obviously empty wooden boxes.

"Well, I can't really make a recomdation unless I know what the mission is." Your chief admitted as you sat down on one of the boxes. Your chief gesturing off to one of his boys before sitting down.

"We're going to be hitting a soviet supply train with some strike eagles in the red back yard. Unfortunately though the train's armed to the fucking teeth. It's got a pair of shilkas, buks and the reds on board have shoulder-launched missiles too, We have to both take out the train, and the railway itself. Enemy air-cover is set to be limited, but we both know that ti can change." You briefed the man, his expression darkening as he realised that there was a very real chance of his bird coming back with some holes in it. He was quiet, but eventually he spoke.

"If I'm honest sir, I'd recommend that you leave the ground pounding to the eagles. They're practically build for it. If you are insistent on carrying some bomb though then I would recommend that you either take six of the guided mark eighty-twos on the rear of the centre-line or a pair of cluster bombs. Add to that load four sidewinders on the wing-gloves with the twin adaptors, some TALDs under one of the wing gloves and a jammer under the other. Fill up the remaining two centre-line hardpoints with either more mark eighty-twos, a pair of AMRAAMs or a pair of cluster bombs." Your chief replied after thinking the load through in his head. You nodded at this, the TALDs would probably be good for distracting the shilkas while you bombed them to hell.

"What about HARMs?" You asked as the utility cart from before stopped outside. A group of ground crewmen quickly detached the bomb cart and moved it into the hanger. The bomb it once carried now gone.

"Maybe? If you moved the jammer and TALDs onto the centre-line hardpoints. But in that case it really limits what you can do against aircraft." Your chief pondered as one of his men ran up, carrying a pair of water bottles. Your chief took them both, opened one of them and then handed it to you.

"Thanks chief. But what about if I didn't want to haul iron?" You thanked your chief, before posing the question to him. He nodded at this as he sipped down his water.

"No problem. And if you didn't want to haul iron then say that you should take the same load. Just carry either four AMRAAMs or four phoenix-Cs. Though you'd probably get better use out of the AMRAAMs. If you need phoenix range on this mission then things have gone tits up." Your chief recommended as you took a sip of your own water. The slightly grainy taste of the water making you frown slightly as you checked the label. The label was no help however as it was in Japanese.

>CONT

>>1253269
>"What about Agiles? Don't they have a better kill probability than the sidewinder?"
>"What other things could I carry on this op?"
>"That'll be all chief, carry on."
>Other (write in)

>>1253273
>"That'll be all chief, carry on."

>>1253273
>>Other (write in)
"There any more of those GPU-5s laying around?"

>>1253269
>"What about Agiles? Don't they have a better kill probability than the sidewinder?"

>>1253273
>>"What about Agiles? Don't they have a better kill probability than the sidewinder?"

File: Agile in flight.jpg (4 KB, 350x190)

4 KB JPG

"What about Agiles? Don't they have a better kill probability than the sidewinder?" You asked as you remembered the deadly little missiles that had been your mainstay since the start of the war.

"Yep. They also have a better seeker, manoeuvrability and slightly better range. It's also better at off boresight shots. But after reviewing your combat date and AARs, me and your RIO came to the conclusion that you'd get better mileage out of the twin sidewinders. They aren't as good at off boresight shots, but on the flip-side. Any target good enough for a gun-run would be smoked by a sidewinder." Your crew chief replied, his argument making sense.

"I see, though speaking of the Agile, do we have any other hardpoints that can haul them?" You asked as you took another sip of water.

"Yeah, your wing-glove points can haul them along with the centre-line hardpoints. We had to remove the missile integration on the nacelle hardpoints after testing by VX four. Later testing showed that it could cause the engines to eat a load of ehaust. And that would flame-out the engine." Your chief reported, causing you to frown. This really limited the amount of air to ground ordnance you could haul. The nacelle hardpoints couldn't carry many of the larger bombs to begin with. You were probably limited to mk-82s at best now.

"I was wonder where you'd gotten off to." A voice spoke up behind you. You turned to face the speaker, and found yourself looking Dredd dead in the eye.

"Sorry for the trouble then boss." You apologised, before then cocking your head towards the 'cat. "I was just coming over to check up on my bird."

"Well I would have preferred it if you'd left it for later. Either way, Zeus can give you a run-down on the plan in flight." Dredd shrugged as he made his way over. Your crew chief quickly making off to look as if he was doing something.

"So, what's the planned load?" You asked as Dredd came to a stop.

"Air-to-air missiles only. We're flying CAP for the strike eagles on this one." Dredd replied with a shrug, before then looking over towards your bird as the ground crew began to close up the maintenance panels on the aircraft's body.

"What about TALDs?" You asked, the option of carrying decoys being rather appealing. Mostly because it reduced the chances of you getting shot down.

"Take 'em if you want to help the eagle pilots. Though if all goes well then they shouldn't need 'em." Dredd explained, before then turning and making his way towards his hanger. "Get your load sorted and head down to the weather shack. We're wheels up in less than thirty."

As he left, your crew chief made his way over, the notepad in his hands indicating that he was ready to write down your armament.

>CONT

>>1255935
>Take the chief's recommended mixed load (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders, x3 TALDs, x1 jammer pod, x6 mk 82s, EITHER x2 AIM-120s OR x2 cluster bombs OR x8 mk 82s)
>Take the chief's recommended air-to-ir load (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders, x3 TALDs, x1 jammer pod, x4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs)
>Take the long range load (x6 AIM-54 Phoenixs, x2 AIM-95 Agiles)
>Take the long-mid range load (x4 AIM-54 Phoenixs, x2 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, x2 AIM-95 Agiles)
>Take the medium range load (x6 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, x2 AIM-95 Agiles)
>Take the mid-short range load (x4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, x4 AIM-95 Agiles)
>Other (you have 8 hardpoints, 4 on the centerline and 2 under each wing glove. You can carry AIM-9 sidewinders, AIM-7 sparrows, AIM-54 Phoenixs, AIM-120 AMRAAMs and AIM-95 Agiles)

>>1255935
>>Take the chief's recommended air-to-ir load (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders, x3 TALDs, x1 jammer pod, x4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs)

>>1255941
>Take the mid-short range load (x4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, x4 AIM-95 Agiles)

Need a tiebreaker.

>>1256096
I'll just switch on over.

>>1255941
>Take the chief's recommended air-to-ir load (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders, x3 TALDs, x1 jammer pod, x4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs)

"I'll take your suggested load chief. Just with AMRAAMs on the centre-line." You addressed your chief, he quickly scribbled down a few notes, before then nodding to you.

"Sure boss. I'll have the boys get it done while you hit up the weather shop." The chief replied, before turning back to his men and gesturing for them to ready the assorted missiles, jammers and racks for loading.

The weather shop was sparely filled, with most of the other pilots on your op instead off picking their mission loads and relaying it to their crew chiefs. Unfortunately however, the weather would be shit for the operation. A storm was rolling through the area, and there would be severe winds at ground level. So your approach would be a piece of shit. On the way back to the hanger however, you met up with Zeus.

"Hey Zeus, how was the planning session?" You asked as you intercepted him on the way to your hanger.

"It was pretty normal. But I think we'll have a problem with the eagle drivers." Zeus huffed, looking rather dejected as the pair of you made your ways into the hanger.

"How so? Are they not carrying HARMs or some shit?" You asked as you entered into the hanger, only stopping to wait for a cart carrying four sidewinders made it's way past you. The cart stopping as a mass of ordnance technicians made their way over and began man-handling the sidewinders towards one of the twin-mounts on your jet's port wing-glove hardpoint.

"No, but a couple of them have decided that taking out napalm... fucking napalm." Zeus complained as you made your way past the cart, headed towards the lockers near to the wall of the hanger.

"So? Wouldn't that set off the ordnance on the train?" You asked, not really seeing Zeus's point. Well, you did see his point, but considering the mission you were all doing it would probably be a good idea to bring it.

"What's the problem? It's fucking napalm, have you seen what that shit can do to someone? And my momma always told me that you should do unto others what you'd do to yourself." Zeus continued on as you retrieved your life support vest and helmet from your locker.

"Yeah, and how does you being an RIO factor into that?" You asked as you put on the vest.

"Simple, when we kill someone we do it quickly. Napalm isn't quick." Zeus replied as the pair of you made your way towards the jet.

"I guess so... are they carrying HARMs?" You asked as you climbed up the boarding stairs into the cockpit. Plopping your ass into the well worn seat.

"Thankfully they aren't stupid enough not to. They're also carrying TALDs to trip the enemy radars before we get close. Our job in this is just to keep enemy jets off them." Zeus answered as he sat down in his seat. One of the ground technicians pulling the boarding stairs away as the pair of you began your pre-flights.

>Continue talking with Zeus, get the low-down on the plan.
>Try and contact your wingmates, see what your wingmates are hauling.
>Other (write in)

>>1256558
>Continue talking with Zeus, get the low-down on the plan.
Napalm. For a moving train.

u fukken wot m8

>>1256558
>>Continue talking with Zeus, get the low-down on the plan.

>>1256558
>Continue talking with Zeus, get the low-down on the plan.

>>1256558
>>Continue talking with Zeus, get the low-down on the plan.

"So what's the plan then?" You asked as your crew chief gave you the thumbs up to start your engines. You closed the canopy and finished plugging your life support vest and helmet into the seat to link up with the life support systems and the monitoring systems.

"Simple, after the tanker we're going to descend to NOE for the approach. When we're at fifteen mikes out, the eagles will launch their TALDs, which will fly up into the red's radar cones. They're set up to give the same radar return as a flight of falcons. When the red's radars go online the eagles will launch HARMs to deal with the buk and shilkas. After that, the eagles will charge in and try to hit the locomotives with mark eighty-twos and eighty-fours. After the train is stopped, the eagles drivers will try to hit the train with their cluster bombs and napalm. The hope is that the napalm will cook off or melt anything that doesn't get set off by the cluster bombs. After the eagles are done, we'll sprint out on full blowers at NOE. If needed a flight of tankers will be waiting to refuel us on the way back. Modified eagles with buddy tanks and corsairs." Zeus continued on as you started up the port engine, making sure to ease it up due to it's low remaining flight hours.

"What about the railway?" You asked as the port engine reached idling levels, everything nominal as you started up the starboard engine.

"Simple, they're going to drop some delayed-fuse snakeyes on the railway in front of the train. That way if the drive locomotives aren't taken out the train will still be forced to either run off the track or come to a stop." Zeus explained as the engines both reached their recommended idling levels. All temperature and pressure gauges in acceptable levels.

"And us?" You asked as you waited for Dredd to taxi past. Thankfully, you didn't have to wait long enough, as Dredd passed by only a few seconds later. His hardpoints carrying a mix of agiles and AMRAAMs. Ahab followed behind him with a similar load, though you could see a pair of phoenixs nestled between the engine nacelles.

"We'll just be performing CAP. Simply shooting down anything that tries to intervene." Zeus replied as you wheeled out of the hanger, taking up your position just behind Ahab in the line.

"Radars on?" You asked as you rolled past Svetlana's hanger. The eagle inside loaded with a mix of sidewinders and sparrows.

"Only once the eagles hit the train. By then word should have gone out so we can go loud. We'll need the radar in order to deal with threats before they get into IR range." Zeus replied as your jet came to a stop, the line of Tomcats stopping in order to let the flight of eagles go past. All of them carrying assorted bombs.

>Plan out your use of the TALDs with Zeus.
>Contact Dredd, tell him your load.
>Contact your wingmates, see what your wingmates are hauling.
>Other (write in)

>>1257047
>Contact Dredd, tell him your load.

>>1257047
>>Contact Dredd, tell him your load.

>>1257047
>Contact Dredd, tell him your load.

As the line of tomcats began to move again, you switched your comms over to the squadron line. "Freelancer two-one, radio check."

"Freelancer two-one, radio check confirmed. What's your load?" Dredd asked after confirming your connection to the squadron network.

"I've got four sidewinders, four AMRAAMs, three TALDs and a jammer. Rounded for short to mid range combat." You replied as the squadron began to move towards the main taxi way, headed towards the main runway as the eagles began to take off.

"I'm pretty sure that you would have been better off with more AMRAAMs. But I can see why you chose the TALDs and jammers." Dredd commented as the squadron came to a stop, waiting for the last of the strike eagles to take off. All of the eagles taking off on full afterburners.

"Eh, we can just drop them if the HARMs fail to kill the triple-A. Or if the reds send in interceptors." You replied as Dredd and Ahab both taxied onto the runway. Each flight in the squadron taking off one by one.

"Sounds good. But if I'm honest the AMRAAMs or phoenixes would have been better options. But it's your choice." Dredd continued to press on, his disdain for things that weren't missiles clearly showing.

>Plan out your use of the TALDs with Zeus.
>Contact your wingmates, see what they are hauling.
>Keep quiet until you reach the danger zone.
>Contact one of your squadmates (who?)
>Other (write in)

>>1257411
>>Plan out your use of the TALDs with Zeus.

>>1257411
>>Plan out your use of the TALDs with Zeus.

>>1257411
>Plan out your use of the TALDs with Zeus.

>>1257411
>Contact your wingmates, see what they are hauling.

"So what's the plan for the TALDs?" You asked Zeus as you taxied onto the runway, your flight froming a tight triangle as you formed up. Your tomcat at the front, Weiss's 'cat behind you and to your left and Svetlana's temporary eagle behind and to the left of you.

"Tower, freelancer two-one. Flight of three requesting clearance to take off." You radioed to the tower before Zeus responded to your question.

"Tower to freelancer two-one. Permission granted, safe skies two-one." The tower controller replied, giving you all you needed in order begin your takeoff run. You rolled the throttle to 75% and thumbed the afterburners. After a few seconds, you thumbed off the brakes after a few seconds and pushed the throttle forwards to it's stops. As you began your run, your wingmates mirrored your actions with practised precision. Weiss mirroring you through practice borne from your constant assignment since Arizona. Svetlana mirroring you through sheer attention and skill.

"Simple, we should drop the TALDs as soon as we climb to CAP positions. That way they have the maximum amount of time to be a nuisance to the soviet radars and missiles." Zeus recommended as you tugged back on the stick, lofting your bird into a gentle climb.

"But that gives the Soviets ,more time to figure out what is a decoy and what is a bird. Additionally, the TALDs aren't any good against iglas, or whatever those Soviet shoulder-launched rockets are." You replied as you retracted the landing gear, the reinforced gear designed for carrier landings having been put under little strain.

"Alternately, you could tie it to your countermeasures. That way you can drop those screamers along with the chaff and flares when evading long-range SAMs and BVR missiles. Those things area tasty target with those radar reflectors." Weiss suggested as you spotted where Dredd's flight and the strike eagles were waiting. You quickly adjusted your flight's trajectory to climb up into the group from below.

"Maybe, though it does seem like a bit of a waste." You commented as you dialled back a bit on the throttle as the temperature gauges on the port engine began to red-line.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Weiss began to trail off as you began to drop behind her. Unlike you, she could still red-line her engines. They still had plenty of flight hours left in them. "Hey, are you alright? You're dropping back, is there something wrong?"

"No, I'm just not pushing these engines as much as usual. They're on their last flight before they get replaced." You replied as Weiss and Svetlana both dropped back to keep in formation with you.

>Talk with your wingmates, see how they are doing.
>Find out what your wingmates are hauling.
>Keep quiet until you reach the danger zone.
>Contact one of your squadmates (who?)
>Other (write in)

>>1257864
>>Find out what your wingmates are hauling.

>>1257864
>Find out what your wingmates are hauling.

>>1257864
>Find out what your wingmates are hauling.

File: fishbeds, oh god.jpg (104 KB, 480x360)

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"So, what are you both hauling?" You asked as the flight finally joined up with the growing strike package. Your squadron having taken up roost slightly above and behind the eagles.

"I've got four sidewinders, four AMRAAMS and a pair of mark eighty-fours. The latter to deal with the railway and cause the reds more trouble. delayed fuse too so they'll actually mess up the ground underneath the railway too." Weiss reported happily, and looking over you did indeed see that she was loaded as such. The sidewinders on twin-racks on the wing-glove hardpoints, the mk-84s sat beneath them.

"I am carrying four sidewinders, six of those sparrow missiles and a fuel tank comrade." Svetlana replied, her eagle sitting as the odd one out amongst a squadron that would normally be exclusive to tomcat drivers.

"So out of the entire flight, nobody brought agiles?" Zeus asked, before then sighing. "Well here's hoping that we don't run into any modern fighters out there..."

"We shouldn't do, intel said that we'd be facing fishbeds at best. And we all know how the soviets group them." Vampire -Weiss's RIO- spoke up in a distracted tone of voice. Refering to how the Soviet tactic with their old aircraft was similar to their ethic towards infantry back during the last world war. So in short, they'd drown to drown you in swarms of old fighters while their more expensive and more capable fighters hung back to hit you when you were out of fuel and weapons from the swarm of shitty fighters.

>Talk with your wingmates, see how they are doing.
>Keep quiet until you reach the danger zone.
>Contact one of your squadmates (who?)
>Other (write in)

>>1258075
>>Talk with your wingmates, see how they are doing.

>>1258075
>Talk with your wingmates, see how they are doing.

>>1258075
>Talk with your wingmates, see how they are doing.

>>1258075
>Talk with your wingmates, see how they are doing.

File: F-14 refueling (3).jpg (71 KB, 736x516)

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"So, how are ya'll doing?" You asked as Slider and Durendal's flights joined up with the strike element.

"I'm doing pretty well, though yesterday was pretty boring. All we did was just sit on alert and fly CAP over Tokyo. " Weiss huffed, her tone of voice confirming that she envied your small foray off base.

"Well it it's any consolation to you, I don't think that Svetlana enjoyed the trip off base as much as she would have wanted." You returned as you rolled over to look down, checking to see where the rest of your squadmates were. As it turned out, Kay's flight was almost up to altitude.

"Oh I enjoyed the change of pace, but it would have been better if Durendal hadn't joined us." Svetlana quickly corrected you, her voice slightly clipped.

"Oh? So you would have preferred some more quiet time alone with our flight lead?" Durendal asked, her smug tone of voice only adding to the implied lewdness.

"Da. he is one of the few people who I actually feel safe around in my panties." Svetlana replied incredulously, causing Weiss to splutter.

"A bit too much information there." You remarked as the flight vectored towards the first waypoint on your route. Where you would rendezvous with a flight of tankers.

"Da. But it's more fun this way~" Svetlana chuckled as Weiss continued to splutter. Apparently unable to decide between laughing and something else.

Regardless, the you spent the rest of the flight out chatting with you wingmates as you refuelled off a pair of KC-135s. Finishing off the fuel reserves in the first tanker before finishing yourself off the second tanker. After that, your flight dived down to just above sea level and made it's way towards the target zone. Freelancer flight's F-14s leading the charge.

As you approached, you thanked whatever was up there for the storm that had popped up only a few hours ago. The wind whipping the water up into great waves that threatened to reach up and swat your jets from the sky. The jets would probably need a wash after this to remove the salt water spray from the bodies of each hull.

As your flight went feet-dry, passing onto the soviet occupied land. Zeus spoke up.

"You want the set on? At this range they might not see up coming with the storm. But if they do see us then the jig is up." Zeus asked, referring to your bird's powerful radar set.

>"Leave the set off for now, we'll run off the IRST and passive sensors."
>"Turn it on, we'll just have to hope that we're facing birds without RWRs."
>Other (write in)

>>1261245
>"Leave the set off for now, we'll run off the IRST and passive sensors."

>>1261245
>"Leave the set off for now, we'll run off the IRST and passive sensors."

>>1261245
>"Leave the set off for now, we'll run off the IRST and passive sensors."

"Leave the set off for now, we'll run off the IRST and passive sensors." You instructed, and as instructed, the feed on one of your MFDs switched over to show the feed from your IRST. An unfortunately, it showed up a pair of contacts.

"Boss, we've got contacts." You immediately reported to Dredd. Only for him to get an immidiate responce.

"We've got em, the eagles will hit them with their sidewinders on their pass while we climb to altitude." Dredd replied, before then switching to the squadron channel.

"Take spacings." Dredd ordered, and quickly the squadron broke apart, your flight separating by a good kilometre by the time a new voice spoke over the frequency.

"Aw'right now, We're gonna launch our TALDs in a couple of seconds. You get ready to watch our asses." The Texan from before reported. His drawl unmistakable.

"Understood chief. We'll wait for your go." Dredd responded, his tone of voice level and calm. The perfect model for an officer in combat.

You didn't even have to wait, as a couple of seconds later, a volley of rockets lanced skyward from the strike eagles next to you, you barely managed to catch a glimpse of them before having to turn your attention back to the controls of the tomcat.

So that's how they were going to get the TALDs to altitude, they fixed the bloody things to the bodies of hellfire missiles. Using the small bodies of each missile as boosters.

Almost a few seconds afterwards, the lead pair of eagles launched a pair of sidewinders each. Meanwhile, the two eagles next to you launched a volley of HARMs. The large missiles boosting up into the sky to engage the enemy guns and missile launchers.

"Aw'right we've got their atten-sun. Ya'll are clear to climb." The texan reported after a few seconds. You didn't bother waiting for confirmation, instead taking the cat into a boost climb. Svetlana and Weiss following you up.

"Radars on?" Weiss asked as you climbed up to 5000 feet, jut under the flight level for most soviet SAMs in the area.

>"Get them on, they probably already know we're here."
>"Leave them off just a bit longer, maybe we can fool the reds into thinking that they're facing skyhawks or something."

-ALSO-

>Deploy the TALDs now.
>Save the TALDs for later.

>>1262035
>"Leave them off just a bit longer, maybe we can fool the reds into thinking that they're facing skyhawks or something."
>Deploy the TALDs now.

>>1262035
>"Leave them off just a bit longer, maybe we can fool the reds into thinking that they're facing skyhawks or something."
>Save the TALDs for later.

>>1262035
>"Leave them off just a bit longer, maybe we can fool the reds into thinking that they're facing skyhawks or something."
>save the TALDs now.

>>1262035
>>"Leave them off just a bit longer, maybe we can fool the reds into thinking that they're facing skyhawks or something."
>Save the TALDs for later.

"Leave them off just a bit longer, maybe we can fool the reds into thinking that they're facing skyhawks or something." You ordered, switching over to sidewinders as you looked around, having to search for targets with your eyes and the short-range IRST.

"What skyhawk has two engines and swing wings?" Weiss asked sarcastically.

"Ardvarks? Or maybe those IJN copies, Kate twos or whatever they're called." You replied as you looked down towards the railway. The train below was burning, it's defensive AA guns and SAM batteries destroyed. But it continued on it's way as the eagles buzzed around it like angry bees.

"Contacts, four contacts north, inbound at ten thousand meters. Farmers from the returns." Dredd announced, before then adding. "Also got some floggers coming in from the east. Group of two."

"Anything else?" You asked worriedly, the lack of a radar picture setting you slightly on edge.

"Not right now." Dredd answered curtly, before going silent.

You couldn't help but grimace. The farmers were the least worrying threat, they were so far out of your league that you could probably kill them all in a guns-only fight. But you knew that they were probably also carrying heat-seekers, and those could cause serious problems for the distracted eagle drivers. On the other hand however, the floggers actually had some BVR capabilities, and up here they were a greater threat to you. But they were unmanuverable, and their electronic warfare suite was total garbage. You could probably hit them with your AMRAAMs before they closed to distance. But that would break the illusion of being hapless attackers if you brought the set online.

>Shoot down the floggers, their missiles are the biggest threat to you!
>Bounce the farmers before they get to the strike aircraft!
>Hold your position and heading, keep the act up.
>Other (write in)

>>1262590
>Bounce the farmers before they get to the strike aircraft!

>>1262590
>>Bounce the farmers before they get to the strike aircraft!

>>1262590
>Bounce the farmers before they get to the strike aircraft!

>>1262590
>Bounce the farmers before they get to the strike aircraft!

File: mig-19 (1).jpg (100 KB, 600x355)

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"Freelancer flight two, moving to engage inbound farmers." You reported to Dredd across the squadron line, before then switching over to the flight frequency. "We'll hit them with sidewinders, save the BVR stuff for the more advanced birds."

"Wilco." Svetlana confirmed, before taking her spacing further away from you.

A few minutes later, you found the MiGs. The swept wing, 30 year old jets carrying a mix of weapons. The four aircraft formation was flying a good few kilometres above you, and hadn't seemed to have spotted you.

In spite of your worse positioning, it would seem that you could make the first move.

>Climb and engage them head-on.
>Wait until they are overhead before climbing up to them.
>Get on their tails for a sidewinder shot.
>Other (write in)

>>1264574
>>Climb and engage them head-on.
I'm always up for a game of chicken.

>>1264574
>Wait until they are overhead before climbing up to them.

Let's play it safe, too many heroes got too confident and ended up dead

Need a tiebreaker.

I'll change my vote.

>>1264574
>>Wait until they are overhead before climbing up to them.

File: Mig-19.jpg (93 KB, 1661x791)

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"Hold for now, they don't see us." You ordered, before switching to guns. Removing the likelihood that you would get a lock with your helmet mounted sights. That would surely announce your presence to the soviet jets.

You kept your eyes locked on the MiGs as they continued on, their conspicuous lack of air searching systems allowing you to sneak directly beneath them. As they moved into position, you felt slightly sorry for the pilots. They were probably rookie pilots, it did make sense to assign the more inexperienced pilots to older aircraft. Assigning those pilots to patrol missions in secure territory was a good way to give them flight hours in preparation for actual combat. And the irony of having a jet older than it's pilot bombing a squad of special forces was probably too good to pass up.

You lamented that it was a pity as you pulled up into a vertical climb. A pity that you were about to cut their careers of so soon.

"I'm on the leader and his wingmate. You two hit the other dildos." You ordered as you watched the projected distance between your jet and your target fell away. Your tomcat climbing on full afterburners as you made to flip over to sidewinders.

At only a thousand meters separation, you flipped over to sidewinders and snapped off a shot on the leading MiG. While the Sidewinder was not as good as the Agile, it was still more than capable of swatting the farmer out of the sky. The nippy little missile lancing off your rail as you switched over to guns, kicking he rudder pedals to drift your nose in front of the second farmer. The burst slamming into the MiG's belly as the sidewinder swatted the first MiG out of the sky.

As you pitched over so that your jet would pass behind the Soviet jet, you looked over towards the second pair of MiGs. Finding them in much the same way as your prey. As in they were burning, shredded fireballs on their terminal decent towards the ground.

"Flight two to flight lead. Farmers down. What's the situation with the train?" You asked as you pitched over until you were upside down, before then rolling over into normal flight.

"The train has stopped, the strike birds are wreaking it. One bird down and one heading back to base with Kay's flight running escort. Though we've got fulcrums and fishbeds inbound. Six and eight respectively. We're waiting for the chair force boys to finish up before we get swamped." Dredd reported, before feeding you his radar picture. Zeus bringing it up on one of your MFDs.

>Engage the fulcrums, they're the modern threat!
>Engage the fishbeds, there are more of them!
>Other (write in)

>>1265697
>>Engage the fulcrums, they're the modern threat!

>>1265697
>Engage the fulcrums, they're the modern threat!

>>1265697
>>Engage the fulcrums, they're the modern threat!

>>1265697
>>Engage the fulcrums, they're the modern threat!

>>1265697
>Engage the fulcrums, they're the modern threat!

"Good copy, engaging enemy fulcrums." You replied, before completely dropping the charade of being a completely defenceless strike aircraft. Your radar snapping on, immediately showing you the incoming aircraft. The MiG-29s diving from altitude towards your flight.

"Incoming! Fox three!" You crowed as you locked up the incoming flight, before launching a pair of AMRAAMs. Your missiles being joined in the air by another pair of AMRAAMs and a sparrow.

The flight of fulcrums split into a 2 groups. One group pulling up into a climb, reversing their direction of travel as the other group entered a steep dive. You quickly re-targeted your missiles onto the first group, and cursed as only one missile hit it's target. The other one loosing it's track thanks to some hard evasive manuvers by it's target.

"Two down." Weiss reported as the entire second group dropped off the radar. Weiss's AMRAAM volley and the one sparrow from Svetlana all hitting.

"They're still coming!" Ahab called out as the rest of the fulcrums rolled back around, the pair of them choosing to try and engage the strike aircraft before you shot them down.

"Slider and Durendal are engaging the fishbeds, but they need support. Help them out if you can!" Dredd ordered over the squadron network.

>Focus fire on the fulcrums, make sure they're down!
>Break off the fulcrums, cover your comrades!
>Other (write in)

>>1266101
>Focus fire on the fulcrums, make sure they're down!

>>1266101
>>Focus fire on the fulcrums, make sure they're down!

>>1266101
>>Focus fire on the fulcrums, make sure they're down!

>>1266101
>Focus fire on the fulcrums, make sure they're down!

File: MiG-21 fishbed.jpg (85 KB, 900x720)

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"Standby, we're finishing off the fulcrums!" Your replied, before locking the second fulcrum, waiting for a few seconds for your aircraft's targeting computer to gain a solid lock as the fulcrums turned back into their dives.

The AMRAAM dropped away from your centre-line hardpoint and lancing out towards the fulcurm. The missile screaming up towards the jet, only to streak past it, it's internal fuse failing to detonate. Your missile warning receiver screaming into life as the fulcrums returned fire. As such, you executed a snap climb, dumping countermeasures as Zeus brought your jamming suite online.

"TALDs out!" Zeus crowed as you reversed the manuver into a dive. A couple of seconds later, the missile warning system shut off. And you pitched up, nose-on to the incoming fulcrums. You instantly switched over to Sidewinders as the fulcrums entered range. You locked up the lead aircraft as they entered range, before pausing for a few seconds to give the missile some wiggle room. But as soon as those few seconds were up, you immediately thumbed the missile launch button. The sidewinder launching into a head-on approach as the fulcrum launched a pair of missiles of it's own.

You dumped chaff and flares as you executed a brutal snap-climb, you looked up in time to see the missile coming, before rolling and executing another snap turn. The missile unable to track your brutal turn as it's seeker lost track.

Your sidewinder -a lima model- did not loose it's track, as it blew the wing off the fulcrum that had fired upon you. It's wingmate having been blown apart by your wingmates.

"Mayday! Mayday! Freelancer three-one, I'm hit!" Slider announced over the squadron frequency. Immediately catching your attention.

"How bad is it?" You asked as you immediately moved to assist your squadmate. Her IFF pinging on your HUD.

"Engine one is down, multiple fuel tanks ruptured. I've lost sweep ability on my port wing, it's stuck!" Slider explained as your fire control system identified the remaining MiG-21s that were hounding your comrades. You immediately hit the afterburners on your aircraft, quickly breaking the sound barrier on approach.

"Fox two" Svetlana crowed as a missile passed your jet, screaming into the dogfight and blowing the cockpit off one of the MiGs.

Your target however was a MiG that was hounding Slider. The MiG sending bursts of cannon fire against your comrade. However, his single-minded attention for your comrade left him as easy prey for a guns kill. Your long burst punching along it's body, tracking from the nose to the tail of the aircraft.

The third MiG died to Durendal. A failed guns run from Weiss forced the aircraft off Durendal's tail, and allowed her to gain positioning on it. A missile lanced out and blew the tail off the MiG as it tried to turn, leaving it's pilot to eject as the final MiG attempted to flee. You didn't bother watching it go, instead focused on your comrade's broken bird.

>CONT

>>1266681
"Can you make it back to Japan?" You asked as you fell into position just behind and to the left of Slider's aircraft, giving you a great position to look at the damage.

"Only it I leave right now." Slider replied, already tuning for home.

"Understood, Razor it's your call if you want to escort her. The eagles are almost done." Dredd stated as he orbited above the now burning wreak of the train. The very railway it had once rode upon now buckled and broken.

>Escort Slider back, she needs all the assistance she can get.
>Have your wingmates escort slider out (which one?)
>Let Slider and Durendal escape on their own, you still have to cover the strike package.
>Other (write in)

>>1266686
>Have your wingmates escort slider out (which one?)
Whoever has the least ordinance left

>>1266686
>>1266858
Supporting this.

>>1266686
>>Escort Slider back, she needs all the assistance she can get.

>>1266686
>Escort Slider back, she needs all the assistance she can get.

We don't want her to get jumped without someone able to defend, we are still flying back through Russian Territory

>>1266686
>>Escort Slider back, she needs all the assistance she can get.

"Understood, I'll escort you out. Svetlana, Weiss, what do you have left?" You asked as you took spacing off Slider. Durendal taking up position opposite of you.

"I've got two AMRAAMS, three sidewinders and the bombs." Weiss reported, surprising you that she was still carrying the pair of 2,000lbs bombs.

"I have four sidewinders and five sparrows comrade." Svetlana reported, her remaining load giving her the most firepower out of your wingmates. But the missiles she carried were far less advanced than the AMRAAMs that were afforded to your tomcats due to their modern weapons handling suite.

This left you a choice on what to do. You could have them both stay with the ealges or they could both escort the strike eagles. The problem with this however was that if they stayed with one then the other would be more vulnerable to soviet fighters. The eagles could certainly take more losses, but they were only carrying the bare minimum air to air load. A few well armed flankers could wipe them out. But on the flip side, Slider was probably more vulnerable, having jettisoned her missiles to reduce fly-home weight and maximise her chances of actually returning back to Japan. Sure, she had her echo-cat's powerful ESM suite, and even in it's damaged state you were sure that she was still manoeuvrable. Sure, you had TALDs that could take the heat off her if needed to. But with only two of them you had to make sure that they would have to be spent wisely.

You could split the flight, but that left even more questions. You could take Svetlana with you and leave Weiss behind to cover the eagles. If you took Svetlana with you than you could probably take out enemy aircraft before they reached your damaged comrade, and the extra sidewinders wouldn't be remiss. But that would take missiles away from the eagles, and if they were swamped then they would need as much as they could get. However, if Weiss was left behind then she could cause even more damage to the railway with those 2,000lbs bombs.

If you took Weiss with you then you could probably leverage your better ESM suites to ward off some enemy missiles. And the AMRAAMs were your best BVR missiles. And the eagles would get access to Svetlana's mass of missiles. However, this had it's own issues. Cheif among them being that if Svetlana went down then the reds wouldn't show her any mercy. Sure, the eagle was notorious for being able to loose entire wings and make it back to base. Hell, there was entire flight of eagles back at Chitose that had lost wings, returned to base and then had new wings bolted on them from birds that were set to be gutted for parts. But even then, you still worried. By taking Weiss away with you, you were limiting your damage on the railway, and if you were forced into a dogfight then she'd probably have to ditch them.

>CONT

>>1268806
>Leave Svetlana and Weiss with the eagles, you can cover Slider with Durendal.
>Take Svetlana and Weiss with you, the air force guys will be fine.
>Take Svetlana with you, leave Weiss to cover the eagles.
>Take Weiss with you, leave Svetlana to cover the eagles.
>Other (write in)

>>1268810
>>Leave Svetlana and Weiss with the eagles, you can cover Slider with Durendal.

>>1268810
>Leave Svetlana and Weiss with the eagles, you can cover Slider with Durendal.

"You two keep your head on a swivel and make it home safe, I'll see you back at base."

We're an elite unit, we need to have faith in our team and let them do their job.

>>1268810
>>Leave Svetlana and Weiss with the eagles, you can cover Slider with Durendal.

"Understood, You're both going to stay here and cover the strike birds while I escort Slider out. Weiss, you have the lead." You ordered as you noticed your wingmates falling into formation behind you.

"Comrade, with all due respect-" Svetlana began, only for you to cut her off.

"I gave you both orders, now get to it." You paused, aware that you might have come across as a bit too harsh. "Look, I trust the both of you to be able to do this. Now, you two keep your head on a swivel and make it home safe, I'll see you back at base."

The silence lasted for a few seconds, before Weiss answered. "Understood, we'll meet you back there. Come on Svetlana."

Svetlana only responded with a pair of microphone clicks. The general affirmative response for when you didn't want to talk. You didn't watch them go, instead focusing on following Slider lower.

Unfortunately for Slider, she had taken a hit in the worst possible place. The standard method of taking a broken bird home was to gain altitude, so that if you lost engine power for some reason, you would have the necessary altitude and airspeed to glide on for another few dozen kilometres. And if somethingreally bad happened, you would have ample time to punch out.

However, out here you were forced low in order to stay below Soviet air defences, and to mask yourself on radar. The latter however being slightly nullified by all three of you buzzing out with your radar sets on and searching for foes.

You didn't have to wait long.

"Tally one group of bandits, mixed group of fullbacks and floggers. Looks like a maritime patrol group." Zeus called out from behind you as your MFD began to feed you targeting data.

"They use fullbacks for maritime patrol?" You asked as you considered thumbing over to AMRAAMs and engaging.

"According to the intel packet they can haul everything but the kitchen sink. They're probably the best tactical assets for the job. Either way, it's your call on the engagement." Zeus replied, reminding you once again that you still had intel packets left unread. You should probably give them a read once you get back to base.

>Engage the soviet flight, you can't risk them tattling on you to other nearby soviets.
>Try to skirt around the flight, it's safer to your charge if you don't go kicking the hornet's nest.
>Other (write in)

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>>1269143
>>Try to skirt around the flight, it's safer to your charge if you don't go kicking the hornet's nest.

>>1269143
>Try to skirt around the flight, it's safer to your charge if you don't go kicking the hornet's nest.
Wish I had anon_bottles_a_hornet.jpg convenient right now.

>>1269143
>>Try to skirt around the flight, it's safer to your charge if you don't go kicking the hornet's nest.

>>1269143
>Try to skirt around the flight, it's safer to your charge if you don't go kicking the hornet's nest.

"Set's cold, we'll try to sneak around them." You ordered over the local frequency, your set snapping off just a few seconds before Durendal and Slider did the same.

"You know, while that set is off we're almost completely blind." Zeus commented as you adjusted your flight path to pass behind and below the soviet flight, right in their blind spot.

"And hopefully they won't see us." You replied as your flight continued on. Your RIO's head on a swivel as you focused on not slamming into the ocean at hundreds of miles per hour.

The flight continued on in relative silence for a good few more minutes, the sea below you now calmer than when you had flown in to begin with. But before long, Zeus spoke again. Bringing you more ill news.

"Hold up, I'm getting radio chatter along the emergency frequency... apparently a strike group just got bounced while heading out for Korea. The furball is directly between us and Yokota." Zeus reported, his news throwing a spanner in the works of your plan.

"Slider, what's your fuel status?" You asked, your mind racing to figure out a new plan.

"Low, there's no way I can tangle with those reds and still have fuel to make it back to base." Slider replied, practically killing your first decision.

"What about Misawa? We can have Slider land there for patch-work before hopping back to Yokota." Durendal suggested, and you kicked yourself for not thinking of it sooner. Misawa was closer, and while it lacked the same standard of air defences, it was till very well defended.

"Razor, if Soviets are still in the air by the time the strike eagles arrive, then they might not be able to get through..." Zeus reminded you, returning your thoughts back to the fight you had left behind. Idly, you wondered about Kay's flight and where they were right now.

Knowing Kay's luck, they were probably back at Yokota right now. Sipping on a nice, cold beer while you were stuck in this damn jet.

>Divert to Misawa, it's closer and should keep you away from that furball.
>Head into the furball alone, have Durendal escort Slider.
>Head into the furball at maximum strength, Slider should be able to fight and land at Misawa.
>Try to pass the furball unnoticed.
>Other (write in)

>>1269418
>>Divert to Misawa, it's closer and should keep you away from that furball.

>>1269418
>Head into the furball alone, have Durendal escort Slider.

We've got the ordinance still and need to make sure that our own group gets back safe, might be spreading ourselves a little thin though

>>1269418
>Divert to Misawa, it's closer and should keep you away from that furball.

>>1269418
>Head into the furball alone, have Durendal escort Slider.

>>1269418
>>Head into the furball alone, have Durendal escort Slider.
we top gun now

>>1269418
>Head into the furball alone, have Durendal escort Slider.

"Alright then, I'll try to see if I can swing the battle in our favour. Durendal, " You replied, before dropping out of the formation, and making ready to break off towards the rolling engagements.

"Are you sure? If you want I can follow you in." Durendal offered as you checked your key systems. Fuel was within acceptable levels, and there were probably tankers waiting just outside of the engagement range to help people back to base. You still had a pair of AMRAAMs, a pair of Sidewinders and the guns. Your engines were reading fine with no problems, but you knew that their allotted time was still ticking down. You would have to be careful not to tax them too much, lest they fail at the worst possible time.

"Understood, I'll escort her into the base's SAM envelope, but as soon as she's safe I'm coming back to bail your dumb ass out." Durendal relented, you decided to take this opportunity to leave now before she changed her mind.

Regardless, you couldn't help but feel vulnerable. Flying without support really rubbed you the wrong way.

"Any juicy targets in there Zeus?" You asked as you switched over to the intercom. The rolling dogfight spreading out in front of you.

"No joy, the reds have jammer birds in the mix." Zeus sighed, his sight into the fight now robbed from him. "I can vector you in on them, or we can take up a perch and do this the old fashioned way."

"If we have strike birds in the mix then they aren't going to last long enough for us to pick out a target." You reminded your faithful RIO. Most strike groups were comprised of A-4 Skyhawks and F-4 Phantoms that had been pulled from bone yards to bulk up numbers. And neither of them were any good in a dogfight. Not against modern Soviet birds.

"Either way, we need to get moving right now. We don't have time to waste." Zues reminded you, reminding you that you were on a timer in more ways than one.

>Get stuck in right now! You'll take targets as they come.
>Vector in on those jammer birds! Once they're down your allies will have more options.
>Take up an orbit above the dogfight, try to pick a high value target.
>Other (write in)

>>1275356
>>Vector in on those jammer birds! Once they're down your allies will have more options.

>>1275356
>Vector in on those jammer birds! Once they're down your allies will have more options.
FUCK ENEMY JAMMERS

>>1275356
>>Vector in on those jammer birds! Once they're down your allies will have more options.

>>1275356
>Vector in on those jammer birds! Once they're down your allies will have more options.

"Get me a vector on those jammer birds. I want to smoke them before they have a chance to run." You decided as you adjusted course towards the centre of the furball.

"You know... one day, your tendency to charge into things will get us shot down." Zeus sighed as he worked his magic.

"And it'll be worth it." You returned idly, not in the mood for self review. Not with a battle looming.

"Alright, I've got them. One at angles twenty at bearing three-three-one. The other is at bearing zero-three-two on angles two-one. Heading, airspeed and distance to target is unknown." Zeus reported, you lightly tipped the cat over to the left, bringing you on track to engage the jammer bird at bearing 331.

As you approached the furbal, you began to notice the aircraft you were facing. A mix of MiG-23s and 21s, older model aircraft that were probably sent on this mission to kill allied fighters in the area regardless of the cost.

Your first kill was a MiG-23, a flogger. A jet that you hadn't expected to be sent on such a suicide mission as it could be converted into a dedicated ground attack aircraft. Reguardless, you felled it with a burst of cannon fire as it chased an A-4 through your path. The soviet pilot not managing to see you as you fired.

"Break right!" Zeus called out, and you immediately broke right, dodging a burst of cannon shells. The aggressor diving away as you rolled upside down, and for a second you briefly considered chasing him down.

You resisted the urge, instead turning back towards where Zeus had identified the jamming aircraft. And now you were close enough to see it. The aircraft itself was another fullback, or the duck as it was nicknamed by your allied pilots due to it's distinctively wide cockpit. This aircraft in particular was in the middle of a sharp turn towards the tail of an F-15. The large pod nestled between the aircraft's engine nacelles and tucked beneath the wing roots likely containing the jamming systems that were causing your allies trouble.

>Go in for guns, you can't risk a missile in such a tight dogfight.
>Lock it up with a sidewinder, you need to engage the other jamming aircraft ASAP.

>>1277104
>>Go in for guns, you can't risk a missile in such a tight dogfight.

>>1277104
>Go in for guns, you can't risk a missile in such a tight dogfight.

>>1277104
>>Go in for guns, you can't risk a missile in such a tight dogfight.

>>1277104
>>Go in for guns, you can't risk a missile in such a tight dogfight.

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"Guns. Guns. Guns." You crowed to nobody in particular as the fullback presented it's profile to you. The fat, flanker derived aircraft filling your gunsights as you made to lead in front of him. Your burst to cut into where he would be, intercepting him and hopefully killing him.

"BREAK BREAK BREAK!" Zeus practically screamed from behind you, his voice so loud that you were sure that you probably could have heard him without the headset. Mindlessly, you broke left, before snapping right. Dodging two bursts of tracer fire from a target above you. As you cut right the aircraft passed you. A black Flanker-C cutting past you as quickly pulling up as you rolled over him. The pair of you fighting for position.

"One more on our tail, he's firing!" Zeus yelled as you were just about to get on the first flanker's tail. This second one firing a burst that cut just above your canopy and forced you evasive once again.

You quickly threw the tail of your tomcat out and rolled, the chasing flanker trying to follow you through the manuver, only to loose your tail. You capitalised on it as you threw your jet's wings forwards and dropping the flaps, killing your airspeed to get on the second flanker's tail. Only for your shot to be ruined as the first flanker turned back towards you, forcing you to go evasive.

"These guys are good!" Zeus remarked as your missile warning receiver screamed into life, you quickly dumped chaff and flares as you executed another brutal turn, trying to latch onto the tali of the second fighter.

"FUCK THEM!" You yelled as the first fighter again forced you to go evasive. The pair pushing you away from the jammer aircraft.

>Prioritise the black fighters! They're the biggest threat!
>Ignore these clowns and get after that jammer bird!
>Other (write in)

>>1277681
>Prioritise the black fighters! They're the biggest threat!

>>1277681
>Prioritise the black fighters! They're the biggest threat!

>>1277681
>>Prioritise the black fighters! They're the biggest threat!

>>1277681
>Ignore these clowns and get after that jammer bird!

As you watched the jammer aircraft saunter out of range, you couldn't help but grunt in dismay. That jamming aircraft would continue to be a pain in the ass of every allied pilot in the dogfight. And might even survive to continue to pester your comrades. But right now, your main priority rested solely in not getting shot down by the pair of black flankers that were doing their level best to usurp your position as king of the sky -lord of all that flew on the constant controlled detonations provided by almost every aviation engine.

As such, you continued to push yourself and your jet through the rigorous cycles of death defying aerial manoeuvres, pushing your body between the extremes of too many positive and negative G's. Each extreme being felt by the black-outs and red-outs caused by the respective extremes. You knew that you were pushing your jet hard, and the engines harder. The engine's scant few remaining flight hours being burned away for the power you needed to avoid the enemy gunsights.

"Zeus! Is there some kind of edge you can give me?" You asked as you rolled the Tomcat over a stream of tracer fire. You had to be gutting their gun bins right now.

"Maybe... I think I can get you into their comms network." Zeus replied as you just barely managed to shake the pursuing flanker, the one that had bounced you in the first place. But he managed to just barely avoid a sidewinder lock as he dived into the rolling mix of fighters. His buddy already moving to pressure you again.

This time however, you weren't fast enough. Though that's not to say that you weren't faster than a spitting cobra. The second flanker managing to catch your tail with a burst of cannon shells, the terrifying screech of metal and composites being reduced to shrapnel by the 30mm shells reverberating through the air frame.

"ECM is down! They hit the stinger!" Zues called out the damage, and you couldn't help but think that you had gotten off lightly. Sure the stinger was the primary ECM housing area on your aircraft, but you had others. You weren't totally boned.

But hot damn, your crew chief would gut your ass for this.

"Freelancer three-two to... two-one." Durendal reported in, her message broken up by static. "Flight three-one is... SAM sites. Say again, flight three is now under cover of patriot batteries. I can now move to assist."

>Order Durendal into the dogfight, you just need to hold out for a little longer.
>Order Durendal to continue escorting Slider. Her safety is more important.
>Other (write in)

>>1280548
>>Order Durendal into the dogfight, you just need to hold out for a little longer.

>>1280548
>Order Durendal into the dogfight, you just need to hold out for a little longer.

>>1280548
>>Order Durendal into the dogfight, you just need to hold out for a little longer.

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"I read you three-one, get over here ASAP. These reds are better than usual." You replied as the second flanker thundered past you. As it passed you you were already pitching up to get on it's tail, your weapons selector switched to sidewinders.

You could have simply snapped the shot off boresight, but you wanted that damn flanker dead so that you could focus on it's buddy. You waited for a couple of seconds for the low rumbling tone of the missile locking system switched over to the high pitched scream that told you that you had a missile lock.

"Fox two!" You crowed a second after the tone changed, and the missile lock message popped up on your HUD. And as soon as you were finished, you thumbed the missile launch button. The missile lancing off your port-side adaptor. Your eyes locked on the soviet aircraft as you pitched down, dodging an expected stream of tracer fire.

The flanker crew was good, and they dumped countermeasures as they went evasive. Their attempt to evade the missile culminating into a brutal roll and an attempt to level off as quickly as possible. And in a final act of superb piloting, or insane luck, the sidewinder tracked into one of the flares. The missile detonating behind the flanker.

Thankfully, this proved to be their first and last mistake in this fight. Their new position and lack of airspeed making them far too vulnerable, and this time their buddy was too far away to stop you. Your first pass snaked fire up from the right tailplane, over the right engine nacelle, the centre-line fuel pod, the let engine nacelle and then terminating the run over the aircraft's left canard as you passed the aircraft. As you passed over the aircraft, you kicked out your airbrakes and cut your engines. Dumping your airspeed through a U turn, and giving you a great look at the dead flanker as it tried to dive out of the dogfight, both of it's engines burning as it's comrade screamed up towards you.

You had the altitude advantage, but not the speed advantage. The Soviet pilot throwing caution and his remaining fuel away to force you away from his wingmate. You dived towards him, your missile locked onto him to try and bluff him into going evasive. You couldn't risk firing right now, not with such a terrible angle. But thankfully, it was good enough to force him off his guns run, allowing you to drag this battle out a bit longer.

"Engine one is showing multiple problems. We've lost most of the temperature and pressure sensors, and we have asymmetric combustion. We've also got multiple stress warnings throughout the air frame. We need to end this quickly." Zeus stated, his voice level and calm in spite of the problems.

"Hopefully it will be over soon. We just need Durendal to get over here." You stated, as you entered another turning battle with the remaining flanker. The battle between his tandem-triple layout against your advanced fly-by-wire and thrust vectoring. Your aircraft just barely managing to eek out a lead.

>CONT

>>1282111

As you dragged the aircraft away, your eye darting between his aircraft and the fuel gauge. You didn't know which one of you should be more worried about your fuel. Sure, the pair of you both were on long range missions, but he still had to get back to Soviet bases in Korea. On the other hand, if he was committed to killing you, then his remaining fuel was probably of little concern to him.

You hoped that it wasn't the latter.

In a brief break of sanity, you tried to drag the fight further and further away from the damaged aircraft. Your hope being that the wingmate would rush back to cover his friend, or that you would be able to lure him out for Durendal to hit him. It didn't take long for things to change, the Soviet pilot began to start flying less aggressively, trying to break off from you as you fought to keep him tied up. Your plan shifting to trying to kill his wingmate by proxy. A vain hope that one of your allies would take the initiative and kill the obviously damaged fighter for good.

"Razor, we need to bug out NOW if we want to get back to Yokota. The engines are on their last legs." Zeus insisted from his position behind you. His steely voice telling you that this wasn't up for debate.

However, you knew that as soon as you turned to leave, that flanker would kill you dead. You were caught between a rock and a hard place.

>Push on and kill that fucker! You can't let a pilot who was certainly an ace get away!
>Try to drag this out a bit further, you need to either bluff him into leaving or get Durendal to end him.
>Dash out as fast as you can, maybe he'll take this chance to return to his wounded friend?
>Other (write in)

>>1282155
>>Try to drag this out a bit further, you need to either bluff him into leaving or get Durendal to end him.

>>1282155
>>Dash out as fast as you can, maybe he'll take this chance to return to his wounded friend?
We're not losing the E-Cat today.

>>1282155
>Try to drag this out a bit further, you need to either bluff him into leaving or get Durendal to end him.

"We're stuck here Zeus, do what you can to keep them running!" You ordered as the flanker suddenly broke off from the turning battle, instead pulling up into a loop. His exposed tail making an obvious target, but if you knew anything about these reds, he was probably planning on you following the bait.

You didn't disappoint, following in behind him, and hitting your burners as quickly as you could. Your Tomcat's insanely powerful engines now kicking out their maximum amount of thrust as you climbed up towards the flanker. The tomcat closing the distance slightly quicker than you had expected, and that's where you realised what the flanker pilot was planning. He was trying to bait you into passing him, you would defiantly kill his bird, but he would be able to get a great firing solution on you as you thundered past him.

It would be a mutual kill, and you would end up as the looser if it came down to costs. Your tomcat was probably double the cost of his Flanker-C.

As such, you chopped the engines to half throttle and hit the airbrakes again. Dumping your built up airspeed before you could pass him without loosing position on him. Your quick thinking saving you from a terminal case of being in his gunsights, but also costing you your position behind him. Your fighters exactly level with each other as you both levelled out. The enemy pilot having seen his plan fail now switched to another one as he attempted to slow down and cut behind you. You quickly rolled out of the way of the stream of tracers as he fired. You both entered a brutal knife-fight, reminiscent of a rolling scissors at close range.

"Two-one, I'm in range. Break off so I can get a shot!" Durendal radioed over, informing you that you now had the option to disengage.

"Negative, he's too close. You're going to need to get into close range." You replied as you continued your deadly ballet with the Soviet pilot. You didn't have to wait very long for him to respond, a few seconds after Durendal reported in, the Soviet pilot dropped away from you. The pilot choosing to run rather than face the pair of you.

"Leave him, we need to get out of here." You preempted Durendal's charge against the fleeing Soviet. Instead choosing to disengage, to save your aircraft and RIO.

"Razor, we need to divert to Misawa. The engines won't last until Yokota unless Jesus himself blesses us." Zeus stated as you turned towards home, only to turn back towards Misawa.

"How bad is i-" You began, only to be cut off by a barrage of warning sirens. All of them relating to the engines, with both fire, pressure and fan-blade fracture warnings in both engines. You instinctively slashed engine power to half and hit the extinguishers, killing many of the assorted warnings.

"Well that's your explanation." Zeus replied to your half question. The jet shuddering as you egressesed from the combat zone. Your pair of fighters being passed by a wave of F-15s that were sprinting towards the fight.

>CONT

>>1283230


Thankfully, you just barely had enough fuel to make it to Misawa. The tower giving you priority after your damage and fuel status as reported by Zeus. You lined up with the runway on final, having been rushed through waiting ahead of any other aircraft.

"Freelancer two-one. Beginning final approach." You reported to the tower, ignoring the small shudders coursing through your body as the landing gear came down. You didn't know it that was you or the bird shaking.

"Understood freelancer, you are cleared for landing. Upon touchdown come to a complete stop on the runway and await a tug. Do not attempt to taxi under your own power." The tower controller ordered. This rare break of protocol only further reinforcing the fact that you were up shit creek.

"Understood tower, shutdown on-" You began to read back to the tower controller, when you were cut off by a colossal bang. And almost every warning system in your jet going off at once.

"Engine one is down! We're loosing power in engine two, we're on fire!" Zeus yelled over the radio, you didn't even wait for him to respond as you killed the throttle and cut the fuel flow to the remains of both engines to starve the fire out.

"Mayday! Mayday! Freelancer two-one has lost both engines on final, ditching fuel now!" A second after the call went out, Zeus hit the fuel dumping system, jettisoning your aircraft's remaining fuel. Meanwhile, you retracted your landing flaps to the takeoff position, making to generate as much lift as possible so you could glide in.

"We have eyes on two-one. Recommend that you punch out." The tower controller recommended as you checked your airspeed and rate of decent. As it turned out, you would make it to the runway. But you had no idea if the damaged 'cat would withstand the landing. And unlike you, the tower controller had an outside view that you lacked. He might have seen something that you missed.

It took you a couple of seconds -too many seconds- to make the decision to stay in the cockpit. Your bird was designed for rough landings, courtesy of having to land on a damn carrier. You trusted the aircraft and the crew that maintained it.

"Negative tower, we can get her down." You replied as you continued down on a far more gentle approach. Your normally aggressive and forceful landing technique would probably break your gear in this state.

The tower controller was quiet for a few seconds, apparently processing the unfurling fuckup before him. Before eventually he responded. "Understood two-one... We'll have emergency crews ready for you."

You didn't have to wait long before spotting the emergency vehicles waiting for you at the end of the runway, all of them waiting for you to touch tarmac before tending to you.

>CONT

>>1283233

They didn't have to wait long, your wheels kissing the tarmac within the first 300 feet of the runway. You instantly hit the flaps down to their maximum deployed angle to slow your roll, almost fully arresting your landing roll as the fire engines began to douse your smouldering aircraft with aviation grade fire-fighting foam.

Inside the sealed cockpit, blocked from the spray from outside, you disconnected your oxygen mask and slumped back in your seat. Great heaving pants escaping you as the exhaustion from the fight caught up to you. Something mirrored by Zeus.

The pair of you sat in silence for a few seconds, before Zeus spoke up. "Congrats... on actually landing us."

"Another happy landing..." You stated simply, as a pair of aircraft techs manually opened the cockpit. The smell of smouldering JP-8 and firefighting foam mixing with the scent of melted steal and burned composites.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's where we'll call it for this run! I don't really have much more to say here aside from the fact that this arc has drained me quite a bit. While it would be remiss of me to say that I didn't enjoy running this quest, the recent threads along with some IRL stuff has had it's toll on me. So suffice to say that I'm looking forwards to a change of pace.

Either way, if you have any questions then do feel free to ask them while the thread is still up. If I don't manage to answer you question before the thread falls off the board then I'll answer it either on my twitter account or next week.

>>1283234
Thanks for running! This arc has been a pretty wild ride. Our chief is going to kill us, isn't he?

>>1283259

Thanks, it's been pretty wild to write too! yeah, you'd better stay clear of the hanger for a few weeks unless it's an emergency

>>1283234
Christ, so much for muh two-engine safety. Those things were due for replacement an ice age ago.

See you next time, Thunderhead!