The Hangars
Fantine HQ
0:44
"The time has come. Launch your birds."
Ari, Strygar, Adlan, and the rest of the air crew were watching as the fitters prepared their aircraft for the major operation to dislodge their mortal enemy from Kithar territory when Mikhail's message came through. Each exchanged a glance with one another confirming one thing: It was time to get airborne and spearhead the attack. After all, Fantine's trademark air force was renown for their brave pilots and honoring their commitments to the nations and kingdoms of the Offworld.
"It's about time! I was getting restless sitting there while the Survies oppress the Kithan and the whole world watches on. "Strygar puts on his flight jacket, orange and brown with green patches bearing the double eagle clutching lightning in its talons that served as Fantine's Air Emblem. "Why can't any of the Great Kingdoms or even the Capitol send forces to assist us? "
"It's the bureaucratic nonsense with all those self-serving senators sitting on their arses and sucking their thumbs as the Survies extend their grip," Adlan retorted as he took a swig of his drink in a metal canteen. As he adjusted his flight suit, the Prefontainian turned to Ari. "So what will our formations be?"
"Just like the simulations, I will lead Eagle flight, you lead Liberty flight, and Strygar will lead Thunder flight. We will fly in the Migration Pattern formation to our destination. I will lead the strikes deep into Kithan while Adlan, you handle the ground forces simultaneously as Strygar takes out what is left of the enemy air fleet. "
"It's time to move out! Move along!"
Ari turned to see one of the fitters of his Double Eagle, a Botroug with dark brown fur reminiscent of Honeywood barks, motioning to him. As he made his way to his aircraft, shining a sea-green color amid the glowing green and blue headlights in the hangar, he was offered a drink by a tech. Taking the flask, he took a quick swig of the sweet-tasting nectar before riding up the ramp to take his seat in the Double Eagle's cockpit. Once the flask was taken , the head aviator of the Air Corps watched as the tops of the hatches were closed and the hangar's metallic doors, marked by the Air Corps' sigil, gradually slid open. Glancing to his right, he saw Adlan seated in his Thunderbolt while Strygar was seated in his Comet toward the aviator's left. The three exchanged thumbs up signs and prepared to exit the hangar with their dozen wingmen at their tail as one of the flight controllers waved red and black flares to signal the planes on where to taxi to. Ari gradually gripped the control stick of his plane and lead the way out into the chilly night.
Well, the skies seem clear to me. That's a start. Although, some cloud cover would have been welcome as well. Our attack would be potentially more shattering.
The velvet sky above shone bright with the stars and galaxies of distant worlds, even outdoing the bright hangar lights or the colorful indicators lining the runways. Once he positioned his aircraft facing close to North, he felt the rest of his squadron line up beside him or behind him. On his left and right , Ludwig and Wolfgang , the Ausland-Britannican brothers, perched in their Thunder aircraft, awaiting the moment they were to take off to the skies. His Squad, Eagle flight, would fly out first to lead the dozens of aircraft to the strike site before being joined by Liberty and Thunder flight respectively. The moment the lights lining the side of the runway turned bright green, lighting the grasslands and the thick woods of the Djennar forest ahead, Ari knew it was time to take to the brilliant skies.
It's time to fly.
Soon, the nose of his bird was flying toward the velvet.
---
"Tubbs and our other sources have responded. The guerrilla strikes were successful. In fact, a few high-ranking officers were done in, including the MP's Captain Imanull."
Mikhail, seated between his second in command Calhoun and his head of security Tarkhun in the war room, rose and clapped as Sentery gave her report. "Excellent, that exceeded my expectations. Now our air squadrons should have a smoother time in completing their objectives."
The Veronian female cleared her throat. "I wasn't done yet with my account. Our agents embedded in Kithan and Kaneen had reported success in sabotaging the Survivalist and Kaneen aircraft and other vital military centers. That should further hamper any Survivalist attempt to counterattack or even summon their Kaneen allies should the need arise."
"Wonderful." Mikhail smirked, stroking his graying mustache. "Will your sources be able to provide further assistance to us or will they have to maintain radio silence for the rest of the night?"
Zayda rose from her seat to reply to her superior. "They have actually done more than they were commissioned to do. Here is the intel on the current situation, including troop numbers as well as the logistics of their armor and weapons. Have I mentioned the location of their command and control centers, including Jorji the SFF puppet's secret bunker? We already sent the coordinates of potential air strike targets to our air forces currently in the air right now. Furthermore, I even apprised our allies of our impending military operation to liberate the from our archfoe tyrannical clutches."
"Ah!" Mikhail's eyes glanced from Skandar and Scottie from the Infantry Unit to Heinrich from the shocktrooper unit. "You say our Cyber Warfare subunit was successful in shutting down the enemy's air defense system?"
"That's correct." Knutt rose from his seat and nodded. "Although the anti-aircraft guns were out of our reach."
"That's perfectly fine." Mikhail waved a gloved hand. "At the very least those Hydra and Fire Hemlock missiles won't harass our eyes in the sky."
"I have further news regarding our war preparations."
It was Calhoun's turn to respond to Sentery's proclamation. " Do go on." The Gaelan motioned.
As she pulled up the shining blue Holoschematics of a UAV, Knutt decided to answer for the Public Relations girl. "We have upgraded the Gnat and Finch drones to a new deadly weapon. We call it the Night Ninja, the first in our series of Ninja drones. It is a modified version of our previous models, Not only can it fire weapons, jam comms, and use machine gun slugs to carry out assassinations, it can respond to basic commands like 'stop' or "commence fire' or 'hover.' I am sure you get the purpose."
"Ingenious!" Mikhail's gray eyes gleamed. "Once again, you have surpassed my expectations. I have a good feeling about how this battle will turn out. This, Bartleby's intel, and my faith in our infamous Air Corps assures me of a swift and sure victory. I will love to be on the front lines again!"
---
"Bogey, on your right!"
Hearing Hiram's voice in his ear, Ari glanced down at his rader, glowing green through his visor and noted the glowing red spot bearing down on him from the east. Taking note, the veteran aviator flipped his plane out of the enemy's line of sight and prepared to flank his attacker when the blip disappeared. A baffled Ari glanced up from the sonar to see his a bright flash flare up like a shining sun where the blip was supposed to have been. A yellow Lightningbolt with green wings shot by, tipping its wings to the squad leader.
"Bummer, Ari. Jousseff beat you to the target! Next time, be quicker!" Adlan's taunting voice echoed through the vox.
"Hey Ari, did you notice Strygar was in Sentery's quarters after we flew the first mission earlier today?"
Adlan's voice snapped Ari from his reverie of past training events as the three frontal attack squads shot through the firmament at top speed, but cruising once they found backwinds in order to conserve charge for their aircraft. A slight gail from some turbulence shuddered his aircraft as they pushed on toward their target. They had been in the air for almost an hour, indicating that they were due to begin the air attack on Survivalist forces to soften them up for their liberation force. If the Capitol one of the Great Kingdoms, or any other nation aligned with them chose to bolster Fantine's forces-whether it is in the air or on the ground- that would improve things greatly. However, they didn't have their hopes up as they were more than capable of handling themselves.
"Hey hey!" Strygar cut in. "I only needed to ask her a question regarding the result of our air raids. Nothing fishy about that."
Ari decided to join in on the fun. "Well, you could have waited for the briefing to ask."
"Yeah, I am sure I'd be able to leave our mission prep and run into the war room and- Hey, let's just drop it, alright?"
Ari and Adlan both chuckled. They had hit a nerve for sure. As the leader of the Eagle flight flicked on the roaster to warm up the icy cockpit of the Double Eagle, Strygar broke radio silence again.
"Hey guys, one of my wingmen Svenja notices a bogey on our 11 o'clock. Anyone know if it is a friendly or a hostile?"
Ari glanced northwest toward Kithan and spotted what that Auslandian woman from Thunder flight was referring to. The aircraft was the size of a dinner table, no bigger than the nose cone of a Thunderbolt, shaped like a cross between a swan and an insect. It had no definite color as it seemed to alter it with the everchanging environment. The Habsburhian pilot only smiled upon recognizing it.
"No worries, Sentery and Zayda are going to be our eyes in the sky and ground. Oh, look ahead. There is our destination. Who is ready to take out some Survies?"
As the green and orange lights of the Kithan lands twinkled in the night like an island of stars among the dull gray and dirt brown landscape, the three squadrons split up to carry out their objectives.
---
"Sir, our comms are down! I repeat, our comms are down!"
Frowning, the SFF Navy Admiral posted to the communications tower in the southern tip of Kittyopolis turned to the technician who had reported to him. Summoning two olive green-suited engineers that had been assigned to this post to provide support should any issues arise, Admiral Nerezza, a former Deep Blue Ocean pirate with a mechanical nose and a robotic eye that was hidden behind an eyepatch, stroked the slim strand of greasy dark hair between his chin and mouth.
"How in Nargle's name did this occur? Was it a result of a terrorist attack or a malfunction?"
"We are not sure, sir!"one of the engineers, a purple-furred primate-looking Zasson with fox-like ears and praying mantis green eyes, responded. "We are trying to get to the bottom of it as of now."
The impatient admiral turned to one of his Navy guards, clad in all black and wearing a green armband to signify his allegiance, and barked out orders. "You! Take the TechSquad 9 members and escort them to the Armored Legion outpost where they will rendezvous with the Signal Corps and repair the downed comms pronto!"
As soon the groups left, the former pirate paced restlessly. He didn't enjoy being blind during times like these when SFF High Command was anticipating an impending attack by their historical foes.
I need to confer with Viktor as soon as possible so I'd appreciate it if they'd make haste and take us back online.
It wasn't long when the sounds of approaching aircraft traveled through the region, causing the green-tinted windows of the city to vibrate. Everyone, including Nerezza, froze like predators being hunted as they heard the rumbling roars. Admiral Nerezza turned to one of the technicians at the nearest computer.
"Did you receive any transmissions from any of our aircraft coming in to use the bases or the airspace prior to the issue?"
Before anyone could answer their superior, loud explosions rocked the vicinity, resulting in everyone stumbling to the ground. As cracks appeared in the windows, one thing became clear to the admiral.
"Those aircraft can't be friendlies! We are under attack!"
Was this the attack Sythe warned us about?
As several more explosions echoed throughout the city, the alarms finally began to blare. Nerezza clutched at a nearby lamppost, struck with the sudden horror of the idea of an impending invasion force as the sonic booms of several aircraft echoed above them.
"Sir, the comms are back up again. We have received a transmission from High Command that was backlogged."
The Blue Oceanian lumbered over and glanced over the blue jumpsuit-clad technician's shoulder at the message on his screen. The engineers and other techs wanted to get a view as well.
FANTINE STRIKE INCOMING! PREPARE FOR A MASSIVE COUNTERATTACK.
---
And so begins the first stages of the battle to liberate Kithan and the wider war against the Survivalists.
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