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Ace Combat XCOM: Enemy Skies

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We are playing on the hardest difficulty, so better safe than sorry. Besides, we still have Ground Based Radar right?

[X] Do Not Launch AWACS Long Caster (No risk of being shot down)
 
[X] Do Not Launch AWACS Long Caster (No risk of being shot down)

This is a scramble to defend our own air-base. We don't need the additional coverage and something as big as a AWACS is going to be a prime target. Best to hold that in reserve for a mission where being able to have AWACS is going to be worth the risk.
 
[X] Do Not Launch AWACS Long Caster (No risk of being shot down)

I am pretty sure the majority or even every AC mission that involves scrambling the AWACS with a base under attack involves securing local airspace and then it launches. Then you go off running to pick off targets across the map.
 
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Mission One: Contact, Phase One
  • Threadmarks
    • AWACS Long Caster
    <<All forces, scramble!>>​

    Trigger

    The feel of the engines flexing as he pushed up and down on the throttle always brought the slightest of grins to Trigger's face. The slight twitches that he put into the sticks as he completed the final preflight checks felt just slightly less responsive than they were at the Lighthouse; Avril really didn't hold back on maintaining his wings, even after everything was supposed to be over.

    Just how he liked it, honestly. On the ground, he was lowercase d-deaf, but in the air, that didn't matter. On the ground, he was impaired, but with his, he could soar like nobody else. Warming up his fingers one last time, roving over the instrument panel, he braced himself.

    The throttle slammed forward, past the recommended takeoff speed and into the afterburners. The shock rattled him from his curled toes to his huge grin and shining eyes. Yes, this is what he lived for. He rocketed down the length of the runway and pulled up just as his landing gears were going to clip the trees; each torturous second that his landing gears retracted was another second that he'd have to watch his manuevering.

    To distract himself, he looked through his HUD, and through the canopy's mirror-shine; he could barely see the specks of green hovering over the water, right where his radar marked out the indistinct targets.

    Osean Destroyer
    <<    Damage critical! Everybody get to the lifeboats!>>​

    As his jet roared in, he began to pick out the smaller details: how they looked more like discs than planes, how certain parts of their craft shimmered like a green oil on water, and how the crafts shivered in an unbelievably tight turn before glowing green up and down the spine. Instinctively, Trigger knew what the aliens pilots were thinking.

    One head-on pass, a deadly game of chicken.

    He ignored the pilot to the far left and right. The angle was too far off to get it just right. He dismissed the one in the front as well, because his gut told him that the pilot in the front would be able to dodge. That left the second in the wing, just to the right of the presumed leader.

    Out of habit, he flared his engine, dipping in and out of afterburners.

    The other aliens in the wing tried to turn and shoot, but the ones on the ends couldn't yaw far enough and the one in the front didn't even try.

    With one glance, Trigger dismissed them all and reduced his entire world to the straight line between him and his target.

    The green light running down the spine of his opposite number grew and grew, as the distance between the two shrunk and shrunk. In that frozen instant, Trigger could feel everything on his plane, down to the very reflections of his own heartbeat. Then red reticle locked on and both pulled the trigger at the same time.

    The alien bolt seemed to travel in slow motion, as his own missiles barely cleared the racks.

    Trigger smiled viciously.

    He slammed his ailerons down, hit the brakes, and immediately shifted his stick to roll and to pitch back up. His thumb switched to the machine gun as he pulled on the trigger for three heartbeats, green light flashing bare inches above the cockpit and down the spine of the aircraft. In the fourth heartbeat, his thumb shifted over to his special weapons pods, and two QAAMs rammed themselves into the alien craft just as they cleared the wing-mounted coverings.

    But Trigger wasn't done yet. Slamming on the brakes as he pitched the plane further up, he let go of the throttle and looked at the one alien craft that had apparently gotten on his tail; the green light pulsed with a greater and greater urgency as the alien pulled impossible g-forces, vibrating with a greater and greater intensity as the tip of the plane pulled itself over to where Trigger was going to be.

    As the light hit the point of no return, he let go of the throttle and airbrake for one beat.

    The bright ball flashed, and Trigger instantly slammed the throttle, airbrake and stick. His aircraft defied aerodynamics to pull the nose of the airplane out of the way of the emerald death, whizzing past his undercarriage.

    Count
    <<    Trigger, save some for the rest of us!>>​

    Finally glancing around, Trigger took in the new situation. The one alien craft was gunning for him, while the two others were racing into the rest of the airforce.

    Wit (Allied)
    <<    Looks like you get your wish after all, Count.>>​

    He could engage the aircraft chasing him, or he could go kill the rest at full afterburners.

    It wasn't even a decision.

    Trigger pitched his F-22 towards the plane chasing him, and other pilot obliged, aiming for another head-on pass. As the pent-up energy in the enemy craft reached the peak, Trigger suddenly slammed hard on the stick, throttle, and brakes, pitching himself in to pursue the aircraft chasing Jaeger, as the other engaged Count.

    The green bolt from his pursuer hit the space that he had left a full two heartbeats ago, as the reticle on the alien craft finally turned red. Immediately, Trigger fired his entire weapons bay, missiles, QAAMs, and machine guns cutting five streaks in the air to the enemy.

    The alien craft itself had not been idle. It was lined up for a joust with Jaeger, and by the time the missiles flew off Trigger's racks the shot had already left the alien barrel. However, Jaeger was not waiting to die either; just as the alien fired he sharply banked towards Count, allowing the alien projectile to pierce through his jet exhaust.

    Then all of Trigger's shells impacted, and the second alien craft went down.

    Salamander 1
    <<    Am I the only one feeling an intense sense of deja vu?>>​


    Long Caster

    "No, you're not the only one," Long Caster chuckled over the radio, chewing on a cold slice of bread. Then he immediately switched back to business. "We've got their weapons figured out," he said. "Check your HUDs; they should show the expected line of fire for the remaining craft."

    His fingers drummed over the improvised command center; it wasn't like being in the plane, but it was safer, and that meant that the Food Airmobile would probably still be safe.

    God, the crew's been getting to me, Long Caster thought, shaking his head and refocusing in on the radar.

    The lines had shot across the screens, but fortunately it looked like most of their planes would pull through. As he thought that, one alien craft completely overshot Trigger's aircraft as Trigger led the entire squadron to launch every missile at the other alien craft; as usual, though, Trigger was the one to secure the kill.

    "All pilots, there's just one craft remaining! Take it down and we can all go home early!" Long Caster couldn't help but radio, as he took down the downed alien's symbol on the HUD.


    Count

    AWACS Long Caster
    <<    All pilots, there's just one craft remaining! Take it down and we can all go home early!>>​


    Something screamed at Count's instincts, and if there was one thing Count was good at nowadays, it was listening to his instincts.

    He tilted his head over to keep track of the final enemy, but nearly flicked over it; the alien craft was floating still in the air, unmoving.

    Count drew his breath in sharply, but didn't react: how was he supposed to react to the enemy standing still as his instincts screamed at him?

    "Something...something's wrong," he radioed.

    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Trigger had no such problems reacting, jetting towards the still craft at maximum afterburner.

    Then the alien moved.

    The disk suddenly began spinning around, filling his radar with the predicted firing lines. As Trigger approached, the spinning craft began to bank, before suddenly moving out like a thrown frisbee, arcing high and trailing a golden stream behind it. Just as suddenly, the craft moved at a ninety degree angle from it's previous path, before zagging sharply across the sky. Each second the red line of death flashed closer to Count, his hands gripped tighter and tighter.

    Trigger tried to follow, but it was hopeless; the instant Trigger came close to getting a lock, the alien craft was already moving in a different direction. Count tried to follow as well, but couldn't even come anywhere close to the golden exhaust. Still, it was the only thing that he could think of.

    Then the alien craft shot past Jaeger's aircraft. Jaeger tried turning to answer, but suddenly realized halfway through the turn that the line of death would intersect his path if he kept trying to match it.

    Jaeger
    <<    I'm going home to my son, dammit!>>​

    He banked upwards, but the line approached still closer. In one last desperation move, Jaeger tried turning his plane away and ejecting; as the bolt impacted his plane he flew out of the canopy on his side, engaging the parachute as the smoke from his exploding F-15 began to clear.

    Above him, Count let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.


    Trigger

    Trigger narrowed his eyes. The alien craft had made a mistake when it shot down Jaeger. Now it was time to punish it for entering a jousting position.

    He threw open the throttle and accelerated for the alien craft.

    As if recognizing the situation it was in, the alien made to bank instead of engaging Trigger, but Trigger banked in response as well, pulling right behind the alien craft's tail. It tried weaving back and forth, but neither shook Trigger off of its tail before Trigger fired, just as the alien craft was about to pull the fourth weave.

    Suddenly, the alien craft entered a barrel roll, throwing the missiles off into irrelevance; gritting his teeth, Trigger let the twin QAAMs on his wings fly, impacting the alien craft but not putting it down.

    Huxian
    <<    This really is like before...>>​

    However, the alien craft seemed to know that it couldn't dodge these missiles, so it didn't even try; somehow, the aircraft decelerated at an impossible rate, causing Trigger to wildly overshoot. Before Trigger could pull his nose around, the flying saucer had alreadly launched off at a different angle, arcing behind one of the other planes flying around.

    Rigel 1 (Allied)
    <<    Rigel 4, he's on your tail! Break! Break!>>​

    Trigger could do nothing but watch helplessly through the clean cockpit as the alien appeared on Rigel 4's tail, green gathering along the spine.

    Rigel 4 (Allied)
    <<    I can't shake him! He's - >>
    ​
    The light impacted Rigel 4's cockpit, before penetrating straight through. For a split second, Trigger could see the gaping hole where the cockpit used to be on the Mig 29A.

    Then the plane exploded, and the alien craft zoomed out.


    Long Caster

    It had happened so fast. Trigger had been picking off the alien craft one by one, as his once-pursuer was totally unable to stop Trigger from decimating their allies. Now, however, the tables had turned; now his once-pursuer was picking off the squadron one by one, and Trigger could only just barely hold his attention.

    What are your orders?
    [] Mission Update: All units, continue to engage! Long Caster emphasizes survival, so the one option that doesn't is right out.
    [] Mission Update: All units, focus on survival!
    [] Mission Update: Rigel, Salamander, Skoll sqaudrons retreat! All remaining units, cover them!
    [] Mission Update: All units, retreat! Strider Squadron, cover the retreat!
    [] Mission Update: All units, retreat! Trigger, cover them!

    me: hmm today I will hype up the aliens by getting the ace to 1v1 trigger and have the rest go through your forces
    Trigger: no
    me: what do you mean no?
    <<Long Caster: Trigger's taken down all of them! There's just the one!>>
    me: wtf i had a plan
    Trigger: ToO bAd
    Jaeger: This is a story I'll tell my son
    Skymount Lead: nO
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Count: "Trigger, save some for the rest of us!"
    Trigger: *Comms off* "WELL MAYBE IF YOU WEREN'T FUCKING USELESS I MIGHT TRUST YOU TO HANDLE THEM BUT NOOOOOO IT'S JUST LIKE FUCKING FARBANTI ASSHOLE" *Comms on* "Roger that, take your shot."

    *enemy Ace proceeds to shoot Jaeger down*

    Trigger: *Comms Off* "GOD DAMMIT COUNT"
     
    [x] Mission Update: Rigel, Salamander, Skoll sqaudrons retreat! All remaining units, cover them!

    Reasoning: These folks have no call-signs and thus are red shirts. Get them on the ground or out of the AO so the Mauve shirts can finish off the last enemy without having to babysit them.
     
    Swordomatic said:
    Count: "Trigger, save some for the rest of us!"
    Trigger: *Comms off* "WELL MAYBE IF YOU WEREN'T FUCKING USELESS I MIGHT TRUST YOU TO HANDLE THEM BUT NOOOOOO IT'S JUST LIKE FUCKING FARBANTI ASSHOLE" *Comms on* "Roger that, take your shot."

    *enemy Ace proceeds to shoot Jaeger down*

    Trigger: *Comms Off* "GOD DAMMIT COUNT"
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    informative would make this canon

    insightful would make this semi-canon

    funny would make this non-canon

    decisions, decisions, decisions

    fake edit: alright, got it: funny rating it is, because trigger's already dealt with count not pulling his fuckin' weight for months and in his heart he has already accepted that the other people in the squadron are just there as cheerleaders and to 'maintain the cordon'
     
    Dr. Schroeder needs to restart drone production but target them against the ayys. Swarm the UFOs with ADF-11s that learned from Trigger.

    Was Dr. Vahlen a Belkan scientist?

    [x] Mission Update: Rigel, Salamander, Skoll sqaudrons retreat! All remaining units, cover them!
     
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    Leeanderthal said:
    Dr. Schroeder needs to restart drone production but target them against the ayys. Swarm the UFOs with ADF-11s that learned from Trigger.

    [x] Mission Update: Rigel, Salamander, Skoll sqaudrons retreat! All remaining units, cover them!
    Click to expand...
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    ...

    [Condition for Midgame Aerial Denial Superweapon: Zone of Endless Discovered!]
     
    [X] Mission Update: All units, retreat! Trigger, cover them!

    Trigger's the only one who can really keep up with it. The others are flying coffins in comparison. Get them out of the AO so Trigger can get to work - and respond to any other outbreaks when they show up.
     
    [x] Mission Update: Rigel, Salamander, Skoll sqaudrons retreat! All remaining units, cover them!
     
    huhYeahGoodPoint said:
    ...

    [Condition for Midgame Aerial Denial Superweapon: Zone of Endless Discovered!]
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    I just want this picture to come about:
    If they learn from Trigger...

    Should totally have Trigger take the raven twins underneath his wing.
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    To be honest, a fic from the perspective of Hugin and Munin also influenced that idea, along with Leobracer's idea over on SB. This was heartwrenching for me:
    [Huginn] was watching the opponent that killed him, how it went on its mission like he was barely a distraction. And as he fell he felt none of the shame he was supposed to, just a sort of pleasure a human might call wonder or awe. Because
    the
    world
    had
    such
    amazing things
    and
    he
    was
    lucky
    enough
    to see them.
    Click to expand...
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    And I just want to give the drones one last chance to see the world. (later: dammit Leeanderthal! you and your bleeding heart brought back Skynet!)
     
    huhYeahGoodPoint said:
    me: hmm today I will hype up the aliens by getting the ace to 1v1 trigger and have the rest go through your forces
    Trigger: no
    me: what do you mean no?
    <<Long Caster: Trigger's taken down all of them! There's just the one!>>
    me: wtf i had a plan
    Trigger: ToO bAd
    Jaeger: This is a story I'll tell my son
    Skymount Lead: nO
    Click to expand...
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    I'm very confused. Were there dice rolls?
     
    huhYeahGoodPoint said:
    1 Focus?

    A question that takes a little bit of searching to find out. Whether you have the Focus to do so on top of everything else you need to do...

    Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?
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    Inb4 Dr. Schroeder's female assistant was Vahlen all along!

    That said, I'd rather not do that for now until we get ourselves more oriented on the base situation.

    [X] Mission Update: Rigel, Salamander, Skoll sqaudrons retreat! All remaining units, cover them!

    Let's not leave Trigger completely unsupported. I know he's a AC Protag and all, but we are still dealing woth a unknown on the highest difficulty so better safe than sorry for now.

    Also, OSEA's gonna rebuild Stonehenge to full capacity. Just imagine every single AC Superweapon firing at a Alien Mothership!
     
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