Ace Combat Zero: The Aether Guard

[Katamari Roller]

Miranda crossed her arms in front of her, and stretched her legs, still breathing the fresh mountain air in Valais as Crow took off, one F-16 after the other.

"Kaiserin good to go Kommander. Vot is the launch order?"

"Just let the signallers tell you."

Four men were out there, between the hangars and the runways, timing the exit of the aircraft from both the hangars and staging areas. After Crow left, it was the turn for Shadow's stealth to go out. Then, Brigand. And finally, Fenrir. Being the last taking off might not be the most desirable circumstance for some, but that was fine by Miranda. That just meant a bit more time to stretch, check the instruments, or simply let the mind wander.

Wander to the dinner with Kayla, to Mayana's talk... Miranda slowly found she had some extra reasons to return alive besides getting the pay money. Now she thought about it, she pitied those who were in this only for the money. At least you felt proud of dying for an ideal. Dying for money didn't carry too much glamour with it.

"Attention, teams Brigand, Crow, Fenrir, and Shadow. This is AWACS Wind Read. We will be directors for today's action." The AWACS commander's voice sounded very, very young. Not even past the mid-twenties. "Wind Read is a fine Osean-made AWACS, leased to the Ustian forces to use against the Belkan aggressors. Soon, the Osean regular air force will be here, but until then we'll be providing an eye in the sky for you guys. I hope you'll make fine hosts."

 

[Dynosius]

Mayana threw herself on the bed, giggling. Her face was flushed, her eyes half-closed, and the bottle of "painkiller" in her hand. She took a swig from the bottle, letting the clear liquid burn her throat. Mayana had a glee smile on her face. She wasn't far gone, but she was getting closer with every drop of alcohol.

Normally, she wouldn't let herself drink like this. Mayana had a duty to fulfill and she be damned if she was drunk at work. But now, with her arm stitched and all, she just let go. And that "medicine" was just tasting so darn good, it should be a crime to make it. She had nearly emptied the bottle, only a small amount left. Staring at the bottle, Mayana closed her left eye, trying to see how much actually was left. She was having troubles focusing... Hihihhii... Mayana giggled, her tummy was tickling. She found it odd, but couldn't think straight. Maybe it was a side effect caused by the boozzzee... Hihhi, booozzzee... Perhaps Mayana should get back to Kayla, get some more "medicine" and find out if the tickling tummy was bad...

Taking that final swig of the bottle, Mayana thought it to be a little too warm in her coverall. Unzipping, Mayana kicked her suit off, changing it for jeans. She kept her black tank top though, but it might be a bit cold outside... Who cares...

She took a careful step around, trying to stay upright. She had drunk the alcohol too fast as she was beyond tipsy. Mayana took in a deep breath, clearing her head, for only a second. Oh well... She giggled again, starting her looonng journey towards the doctor's office a second time this day, swaying a bit as she went.

 

[Kaskasero_Kunai]

Well, Luisa thought to herself, trying to look at the positives. He's in a stealth fighter, so even after his strike, he should be able to get out of there before the enemy fighters know what hit their eye-in-the-sky.

Her resolve suitably steeled, her grip on the control stick and throttle tightened. And I'll be there to provide cover for him.

 

[gagonthis]

Alverz squinted his eyes slightly as he looked at the mounting job on his weapons nodding approvingly when he saw everything was as secure as possible. It wasn't that he distrusted the ground crew, but any polite worth his salt would check his equipment before flying, and he knew that at this moment each member of Brigand was conducting their own preflight check. He frowned slightly as he looked at the shape of the new ECM pod they had mounted under his right wing. It was a bit different than the one he was used to flying with, might add a little drag, but nothing that couldn't be compensated for.

He felt his stomach rumble and realized he hadn't eaten anything since the previous day's morning meal. He sighed slightly, this was a problem he'd always had. His mind would get so caught up in thinking about the details of an upcoming mission that he'd sort of let everything else fall to the background. At least he'd remembered to shower this time he thought with a small chuckle. Well it wouldn't do to have him pass out of hunger up there under the continuous G-forces, but he couldn't eat so much he'd get sick either. He finally decided to pop into the mess hall and see if he could get a small protein bar or something to hold him over until he got back. Assuming he did get back... he pushed that thought out of his mind as he hustled down the hallway.

 

[Kaskasero_Kunai]

Waiting for the other planes in the flight, Luisa's mind wandered back to her encounter with Uriem the night before. Far did her thoughts drift that her subconcious took advantage of the cockpit features as her fighter sat idle.

Outside of her aircraft, the ground crew went about their business, accustomed to the fidgeting of impatient pilots that they barely registered the subtle wiggling of her Viggen's flaps.

None bothered to note that the "fidgeting" amounted solely to up-and-down manipulation of the HOTAS and not side-to-side...

 

[dragonrazor]

Miranda crossed her arms in front of her, and stretched her legs, still breathing the fresh mountain air in Valais as Crow took off, one F-16 after the other.

"Kaiserin good to go Kommander. Vot is the launch order?"

"Just let the signallers tell you."

Four men were out there, between the hangars and the runways, timing the exit of the aircraft from both the hangars and staging areas. After Crow left, it was the turn for Shadow's stealth to go out. Then, Brigand. And finally, Fenrir. Being the last taking off might not be the most desirable circumstance for some, but that was fine by Miranda. That just meant a bit more time to stretch, check the instruments, or simply let the mind wander.

Wander to the dinner with Kayla, to Mayana's talk... Miranda slowly found she had some extra reasons to return alive besides getting the pay money. Now she thought about it, she pitied those who were in this only for the money. At least you felt proud of dying for an ideal. Dying for money didn't carry too much glamour with it.

"Attention, teams Brigand, Crow, Fenrir, and Shadow. This is AWACS Wind Read. We will be directors for today's action." The AWACS commander's voice sounded very, very young. Not even past the mid-twenties. "Wind Read is a fine Osean-made AWACS, leased to the Ustian forces to use against the Belkan aggressors. Soon, the Osean regular air force will be here, but until then we'll be providing an eye in the sky for you guys. I hope you'll make fine hosts."

Jack grinned, hearing a familiar accent to the Ustian language. He flipped on his radio, and spoke into it. "Good to hear a fellow Osean voice out here. You keep us in the know about their locations, and we'll make them sorry they picked this little bit of sky. Cap, whenever you're ready, let's bring down the house." With that, he spiked the vertical thrusters, sending the craft streaking up into the sky to a standard cruising height.

 

[RedMageNeko]

Uriem made one last minute check of his instrument panel. All lights green.

Glancing over at the other idling planes, he saw Lusia's Viggen idling behind him, ready to take to the skies as he was. Chuckling lightly, he let his mind play over the meeting once more, playing out his role. It seemed like he was going to get an escort. Hopefully, it wouldn't be necessary.

Clicking his radio over to the channel designated for his squad, one he hadn't thought he'd be needing, speaking into the mic mounted on his flight helmet as he finished his check. "Snow Angel, this is Shadow. Ready to unsheath that things claws?"

 

[Kaskasero_Kunai]

Snapped from her reverie, Luisa almost squeezed the trigger on her stick. Whoops, I'm supposed to be preventing holes in his plane.

Quickly, she wiped off the silly grin resulting from her imagination and radioed back.

"I look forward to scratching your back, Shadow," she called out, her tone heavy with innuendo the communications specialists were by now familiar with. She winked, even though she knew he couldn't see it.

Properly composed, she settled her shoulders and went over her instrumentation once more, waiting for the mission to start.

 

[RedMageNeko]

Glancing down at the radio, he frowned softly, catching the tone of Lusia's voice. That was something new. Turning his head as best he could to look back, he could still just barely see her Viggen. "........." Shaking his head, he sighed lightly,closing his eyes, using the time to compose himself as he waited.

 

[Katamari Roller]

Crow roared down the runway, their Falcons launching themselves up into the sky like arrows, before breaking away and assuming a perfect triangular formation. Their lights faded in the cloudy sky around Valais, before shining up against the blue. Shadow's F-117, meanwhile, was already moving into the runway.

Miranda watched the hovering Harrier with a bit of disgust. When fully loaded, the Harrier was supposed to take off like any other plane to save fuel. Taking off using its VTOL capabilities consumed quite a bit of precious fuel... which Ustio was paying out of its reserves. Now, Miranda was a mercenary and she certainly was bleeding her own country, but at least she had the decorum not to bleed it further than she needed to defend it.

Still, she swallowed her anger as her engines flared on, and the Eagle rolled out slowly, its figure looking curiously stiff on the ground as it took a side of the runway. Brigand was already moving out, or at least two of its Tornados were. Alverz's A-10 didn't seem to have come out of its hangar yet. Damn... last-minute breakdown?

"Ok, Fenrir, callsign assignment. Me, Pegasus. Fenrir 1. Vanya, Hydra, Fenrir 2. Ivanova, Kaiserin. You're Fenrir 3. Grimm, Reaper, you are Fenrir 4. These assignments are provisional until Kaiserin is formally introduced and assigned by Command.

Take-off order, as per numbers. Fenrir 1, then 2, then 3, then 4, although you are already in the air so just circle above us. And for the love of God, quit hovering. You are wasting fuel.

Shadow, you... hey, got company...?"

Miranda noticed the Viggen behind, wondering who that was. "Ok then. Shadow 1, your turn. When approaching the combat zone, your pal had better stay low or away if you don't want to get your cover blown. Come on guys, take off..."

 

[RedMageNeko]

I was already pulling onto the runway as I was ordered to take off, the jets on my Stealth thrumming with power. Slowly pressing the throttle forward, the sleek black craft moved down the runway, picking up speed. Soon I felt the gears lifting from the ground, hitting the sky as I retracted them back into the craft, turning me once more near invisible. "Don't worry Pegasus. You won't even know we're there. Just watch out for falling AWACS pieces."

 

[gagonthis]

Alverz came jogging back into the hangar, protein bar held in his mouth as he broke into a sprint, ascending the ladder into his A-10 and quickly going through the pre-flight check and warm up procedures. "Sorry about that Brigs, had to get a bite to eat before the fun." A couple of chuckles greeted him on the squadron only frequency. "Alright, you know the call signs, I'm Brig 1, and no one else is to say a word! Just kidding." He went down the list, assigning the call signs as he taxied out. He watched as Crow took off, typical fighter showboating as they flew into the sky. Whatever, this mission called for heavy saturation of ground based defenses. Let the fighters have the fun, his boys would win the day.

"Everyone prep for launch, I want a call out. Brigand 1 is go for launch." He listened as his men affirmed their status, nodding satisfied at the calmness in each man's voice. Brigand might not be as fancy as the other flights, but they were made of steel. "Alright, let's show these bastards Brigand mercy..."

 

[Kaskasero_Kunai]

Luisa throttled up, her Viggen roaring down the runway and lifting off into the sky. She hung back and at a lower altitude, far enough from Uriem, Shadow, so she could see him, but not so close that her own plane would draw attention to his if anyone came to intercept her.

She didn't like the tone of the Eagle pilot, but pushed the thoughts aside to focus on the mission at hand.

 

[Katamari Roller]

Miranda watched the Brigand team roll out as she closed the F-15's cockpit. Brigand, two Tornados and an A-10, positioned themselves in the runways, before letting their engines flare away. Then they raced down the asphalt, ready to lose touch with the ground.

"Ok, Fenrir! Let's get to this!" Miranda's Pegasus rolled out, the dark silhouette sliding smoothly into the ready position. Miranda adjusted her mask, and waited for the signallers to tell her it was Ok to take off.

 

[Wyldfire]

Michaella.

Miranda watched the Brigand team roll out as she closed the F-15's cockpit. Brigand, two Tornados and an A-10, positioned themselves in the runways, before letting their engines flare away. Then they raced down the asphalt, ready to lose touch with the ground.

"Ok, Fenrir! Let's get to this!" Miranda's Pegasus rolled out, the dark silhouette sliding smoothly into the ready position. Miranda adjusted her mask, and waited for the signallers to tell her it was Ok to take off.

"Dah, Pegasus, Waiting on you to clear the runway," Kaiserinn laughed, "I know it takes forefer for you to get those big birds up."

Michaella took the time to make a last check on her systems. She was itching to get airbourne. The chance to fight was like a drug at times for her.

 

[Kaskasero_Kunai]

Luisa maintained her distance, keeping quiet, so as not to give away Uriem's position, even through radio transmission. She didn't know how exactly his stealth fighter worked, but she decided to err on the side of caution.

Keeping her eyes open to both the airspace outside her canopy and her Viggen's instruments, she was vigilant for any enemy craft. Uriem was a good distance ahead of her, though not so far she couldn't reach him with careful application of her afterburner.

It's awfully quiet up here, she thought to herself.

 

[Wyldfire]

Cindy to the rescue!

Mayana threw herself on the bed, giggling. Her face was flushed, her eyes half-closed, and the bottle of "painkiller" in her hand. She took a swig from the bottle, letting the clear liquid burn her throat. Mayana had a glee smile on her face. She wasn't far gone, but she was getting closer with every drop of alcohol.

Normally, she wouldn't let herself drink like this. Mayana had a duty to fulfill and she be damned if she was drunk at work. But now, with her arm stitched and all, she just let go. And that "medicine" was just tasting so darn good, it should be a crime to make it. She had nearly emptied the bottle, only a small amount left. Staring at the bottle, Mayana closed her left eye, trying to see how much actually was left. She was having troubles focusing... Hihihhii... Mayana giggled, her tummy was tickling. She found it odd, but couldn't think straight. Maybe it was a side effect caused by the boozzzee... Hihhi, booozzzee... Perhaps Mayana should get back to Kayla, get some more "medicine" and find out if the tickling tummy was bad...

Taking that final swig of the bottle, Mayana thought it to be a little too warm in her coverall. Unzipping, Mayana kicked her suit off, changing it for jeans. She kept her black tank top though, but it might be a bit cold outside... Who cares...

She took a careful step around, trying to stay upright. She had drunk the alcohol too fast as she was beyond tipsy. Mayana took in a deep breath, clearing her head, for only a second. Oh well... She giggled again, starting her looonng journey towards the doctor's office a second time this day, swaying a bit as she went.

As Mayana was swaying her way around the base Cindy, sitting near the Helo used for rescues saw her and realized something was not right. She slipped up behind the Mechanic and gently took an elbow and began guiding her towards the O.R. where Kayla would be. The nurse had an idea what was wrong with Mayana and one intake of the girl's breath verified it. Damn it Kayla was going to kill someone one of these days with that rot gut she made.

"Hey Maya, Thought I might help you find that errant Doc of ours." she said with a smile. Tomorrow Doc was going to get such an ass chewing.

 

[Dynosius]

Mayana couldn't keep straight focus on her path, blinking with her eyes as she tried to figure out the correct way to walk. If just that damn tarmac was level and not all wavy. She could just walk in a normal line, but now... Oh no, she had to sway from left to right and back again.

Having completed half of her journey, Mayana felt the world spinning around. She was about to fall. Again. Steady now... Putting her arms a bit out to the sides to balance herself, Mayana couldn't think straight anymore, nor walk straight.

"Hey Maya, Thought I might help you find that errant Doc of ours."

Along with those sweet words came an arm around her elbow. And attached to that elbow was...

"Cindy! What a p-pleasant supwise to see you." Mayana giggled, her cheeks burning with a blush and whatnot. Oh, she was just glad that Cindy was her to help her. She turned towards the girl.

"Letsss go."

 

[Katamari Roller]

All the birds lost themselves into the blue sky, moving away at sub-sonic speeds as they cruised for a good altitude. Wind Read could see the blips in his radar as all the teams and their members rose to fight. Likewise, the pilots could see a small constellation of bright dots in their radar screens, moving at different speeds at first before the fighters decelerated to match the fighter-bombers.

It was about two hours before reaching the battlezone, two long hours. Piloting an aircraft for a long time could be unbearably boring, even if you were accustomed to it, and Miranda was not invulnerable to that...

"All teams, this is Wind Read. We are almost there..."

"I can see that, Wind Read."

Smoke columns rose in the distance, dark and reaching for the sky. Definitely, combat was taking place.

"Prepare to receive orders, we are moving into range."

 

[Wyldfire]

Kayla and Cindy with Mayana.

Mayana couldn't keep straight focus on her path, blinking with her eyes as she tried to figure out the correct way to walk. If just that damn tarmac was level and not all wavy. She could just walk in a normal line, but now... Oh no, she had to sway from left to right and back again.

Having completed half of her journey, Mayana felt the world spinning around. She was about to fall. Again. Steady now... Putting her arms a bit out to the sides to balance herself, Mayana couldn't think straight anymore, nor walk straight.



Along with those sweet words came an arm around her elbow. And attached to that elbow was...

"Cindy! What a p-pleasant supwise to see you." Mayana giggled, her cheeks burning with a blush and whatnot. Oh, she was just glad that Cindy was her to help her. She turned towards the girl.

"Letsss go."

It was all Cindy could do to not fall over howling laughing at what the Doc had accomplished with Mayana. One quick set of stitches and here was Maya stumbling around the base when a mission was happening. "Okay Maya, let's just take it nice and slowly. No need to fall over from rushing."

Cindy led the girl down to the operating room and Opened the office door calling into it "Hey Doc, Your patient is back!"

Kayla looked up from the book she had been reading saying "So, what's up Miss Del'Cruz? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

 

[Wyldfire]

Michaella in formation.

All the birds lost themselves into the blue sky, moving away at sub-sonic speeds as they cruised for a good altitude. Wind Read could see the blips in his radar as all the teams and their members rose to fight. Likewise, the pilots could see a small constellation of bright dots in their radar screens, moving at different speeds at first before the fighters decelerated to match the fighter-bombers.

It was about two hours before reaching the battlezone, two long hours. Piloting an aircraft for a long time could be unbearably boring, even if you were accustomed to it, and Miranda was not invulnerable to that...

"All teams, this is Wind Read. We are almost there..."

"I can see that, Wind Read."

Smoke columns rose in the distance, dark and reaching for the sky. Definitely, combat was taking place.

"Prepare to receive orders, we are moving into range."

"Avaiting orders Kommander," Michaella answered, "Vot is wrong with the Belkan boys? They should be up here vaiting for us. Let's see if we can't get their attention." With that she put a "wag" to the tail of her Gripen.

 

[dragonrazor]

Jack was silent, listening to the chatter on his radio. He had a gift with the operation of the Harrier, and managed to easily match the speed set by his wing leader. The truth was, very little of his fuel had been used up in his maneuvering. With most VTOL craft, the hovering system was rather inefficient. In fact, when Jack had originally gotten his bird, it had been as such. But the engineers on his last base had shown him a few tricks and upgrades that had increased the efficiency quite a bit, including changing the air-to-fuel ratio and using a special remixing system to pull any unused fuel out of the exhaust and feed it back into the engines. It was a technology used mostly in trucks that had to be able to pass through water, but his last base had exceptional engineers. They had easily adapted the system for use in such craft. Last he had heard, they had been making plans for introducing a version for regular craft as well, such as the Gripen used by the Belkan woman. Jack had to smile as he thought of that. If anyone could accomplis that, it was them. When the Belkan woman asked for orders, Jack couldn't resist. "Well, common sense tells you that you should pick your targets, aim carefully, and do whatever your wing leader tells you, but aside from that, that's up to her."

 

[Wyldfire]

Michaella.

When the Belkan woman asked for orders, Jack couldn't resist. "Well, common sense tells you that you should pick your targets, aim carefully, and do whatever your wing leader tells you, but aside from that, that's up to her."

"Vell, vas dat somethink dhey taught you in flight school? It is clever und simple, but it vas also not vhat I meant. If this is an important objective to the Belkan boys they should haff this sky crawling vith planes." Michaella said to the harrier pilot.

Michaella was searching the sky for the enemy. They should be up here already. "Kommander, I haff a bad feeling about this. Permission to go high and see if they are trying to use cloud cover? I don't trust this set up."

 

[RedMageNeko]

Listening to the radio chatter, I remained silently, my eyes scanning every inch of the sky. The belkan woman was right. Something was off. Could someone have gotten here before us? But still, I remained silent. A single message intercept would give away my position.

Slowly drifting further away from the bulk of the force, I continued to scan they area. Listening. Watching. Waiting.

 

[Kaskasero_Kunai]

Luisa, watching Uriem's plane intently, hadn't noticed the smoke until now. She followed his progress with her eyes, then shadowed his manuever, maintaining the significant distance between their planes, so as not to compromise his stealth signature.

I hope, she thought. She tried not to remember the proverb about what paved the road to hell.

Her Viggen was a good craft, but lacked the more sophisticated sensors the other planes had, so she tried to split her attention between covering Uriem and the rest of the sky. She had no intention of letting anyone lay a finger on him, if she could help it.