[><] Heads
[><] Catapult takeoff. Experience the thrill of being shot forward! You call for heads. The coin lands on Ruya's outstretched hand. It stands upright for a few seconds before landing flat. Heads.
...
It's time to take off. You wheel over to the number 4 catapult as the deck crew position you onto the catapult mount. Striker landing gear are too weak to take the strain of the catapult directly, so instead it applies the force to your body. It uses a pair of C-shaped bars to grip your arms, and a soft-tipped, larger C-shaped bar to grip your torso. It then slowly leans you forward until you're almost horizontal - being held up only by the bars.
A deck crewman puts a life jacket on you as you observe another put one on Ruya, who appears to be waiting for you to take off before you do so yourself. The crewman who put the jacket on you then pats your back and gives you a thumbs-up.
It's time. You brace yourself for launch.
<<Bonneville, Bonneville, this is Dekabrist, requesting takeoff clearance.>>
You wait for permission from the Yeager's air officer - you use the ship's call sign.
<<Bonneville to Dekabrist, permission granted.>>
You return the thumbs up to the crewman. You are then immediately thrown forward as the steam catapult activates. In barely a second you are over open ocean, thousands of meters of water beneath you.
But at least you're going fast enough to maintain flight. You pull up the landing gear and wheel back around over the carrier. el-Amin waves at you before performing a vertical takeoff so smooth you would think she was violating physics.
She flies alongside you as you head for the helicopter, her polished metal Strikers standing out starkly against her light-caramel skin and your own blue-grey Strikers.
The two of you head for the awaiting helicopter. Ruya sticks behind as you continue ahead to scout.
As you head further north, the sky starts to darken. A storm looms overhead. Odd, the ship forecast did not call for rain, let alone a thunderstorm. Yet even as the thought enters your mind, a bolt of lightning reaches from sky to sea in the distance ahead of you as the sky darkens further.
It illuminates a small object off to your one-o-clock. It's hard to make out the shape or size, but if you were to guess you'd say it was about the size of a witch, maybe a bit larger. Very interesting. It hovers steadily at your altitude and while it maintains its distance, it does not seem to be making any genuine effort to avoid you.
Your radar flickers for a moment, but not long or strong enough for you to notice.
What shall you do? [ ] Approach it
[ ] Attempt to communicate with it from where you are
- [ ] Wave
- [ ] Shout
[ ] Contact the helicopter
- [ ] Contact Ruya
- [ ] Contact the carrier [ ] Shoot it
[><] Contact Ruya and the carrier
- [><] Inform them of the contact and your intent
[><] Approach it You slowly approach the unidentified object while turning the comms on of your monocle HUD.
<<Uhm... Cipher, Spyglass, Bonneville, this is Dekabrist... I have an unidentified contact at my one-o-clock, moving north... not transmitting... anything whatsoever.>>
You take a breath, then begin to close the distance.
<<Dekabrist this is Spyglass. Do you have a visual on it?>>
<<Spyglass, yes... it is humanoid and roughly four meters in length. I am approaching. Advice?>>
As you approach, it becomes more apparent that the UFO is indeed humanoid, and is definitely not much larger than yourself. Again the radar flickers, only this time you notice it. However, you disregard it. You give your left Striker a hearty smack then continue on your way.
<<Bonneville to Dekabrist, approach the UFO but do not engage.... don't have it on radar... nothing besides you and the helicopter.>>
You are now less than 500 meters away from the UFO, and the black body is unmistakable. It is definitely a Neuroi, and from your memory you remember a handful of non-hostile, humanoid Neuroi being spotted by witches, most famously Dr. Miyafuji Yoshika when she was assigned to the 501st. This one looks similar to that one in most aspects - humanoid, all-black body, stubby Striker wings with red hexagons, and helmet-like 'hair'. However, this Neuroi girl's 'hair' is longer, reaching past where you would assume its shoulder blades are. Instead of cat ear like intakes, it has a pair of large conical protrusions angling backwards from its head, looking rather like fat rabbit ears. Its legs end not in a cone but a vent, emitting bright red light. Its arms end in hands, not rotary cannons. Your radar flickers again as you cross the 500 meter threshold, more substantially this time. In fact, your entire HUD flickers.
Is the Neuroi causing electronic interference? But that can't possibly be what sunk the two destroyers, they were all sailing within visual range of each other and arrived at the sight during daytime.
At 250 meters, a pair of yellow magic antennae extend from its head. They are massive, appearing rather like pentagonal feathers with the point at the Neuroi's head. Your alert system emits a continuous, low hiss.
It knows I'm here.
As you close within 100 meters, it finally reacts to you. With inhuman mobility, it rolls first onto its back, then to a horizontal position in order to face you. Its face is obscured by a solid black mass, in the centre of which is an inverted three-point star shape, shiny black unlike the rest of the mask.
It charges, covering the remaining 99 meters in an instant. Its antennae flash red as it points its right arm at you, whose sleeve extends around its hand and begins to emit a sinister red glow. Your alert system shifts from a low hiss to a loud sizzle.
You ready your own Kord, but before you can even lift it, the glow stops, the Neuroi's arm drops, the antennae fade, the moment passes. You could swear you saw it exhale.
Its right sleeve retracts, and again its hand comes out. It points at you, then it points back at the direction of the carrier. You get its message, but...
"I can't go back. I have orders. I have to help find out what happened to those two destroyers."
More forcefully, it points in the direction of the carrier.
"I told you, I can't, I have a job to do." You turn to head again on your path towards the incident site, but it grabs you and again points towards the carrier, this time pushing you towards it. You maneuver around it and continue on your path towards the incident site. It raises a knife hand at you, then lowers it and waves dismissively before turning to leave, perpendicular right to the direction it was travelling before it stopped.
The entire time this conversation was going on, you failed to notice your radar had gone completely dead, your radio had gone dead, and the sky had gone black. Your radar and radio returned once the Neuroi girl was out of visual range and-
<<CIPHER TO DEKABRIST, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?>>
<<I-что?>>
<<You've got unidentifieds inbound, vector 350. They're coming in hard and fast, so they're probably hostiles!>>
Sure enough, your radar indicates that you have several objects heading your way at a rather high speed.
<<I have them on radar. Eight contacts, bearing 350! Headed this way!>>
<<Hang on, Dekabrist, I'll be there ASAP.>> [ ] Wait for Ruya to arrive.
[ ] Engage them yourself.
[ ] Contact the carrier
- [ ] Ask if they've sent backup
-- [ ] If not, ask for backup
--- [ ] Fighters
--- [ ] Witches
--- [ ] Everything
[ ] Try to escape
- [ ] To Ruya
- [ ] To the carrier
- [ ] Away from the carrier, lure them away from the fleet and hope they decide to engage you and not it
[><] Wait for Ruya to arrive
[><] Contact the carrier
- [><] Ask if they've sent backup
-- [><] If not, ask for backup
--- [><] Everything
[><] Engage them Music
Engaging them solo? What insane person would try to solo eight high speed Neuroi in a light bomber? No, you're waiting for Ruya to arrive, or at least fire her long-range missiles.
You don't have to wait that long, which is great because the enemy is closing in fast.
<<Cipher, Fox Three, Fox Three, Fox Three!>>
You see three AIM-120C AMRAAMs arc over your head towards the enemy targets. They charge up their lasers as if to intercept them...
The first AMRAAM detonates near the right wing of the lead aircraft after nearly getting cut in half midair by a laser. The missile's shotgun-like warhead explodes forward, obliterating the wing as well as the right vertical stabilizer and a bit of the engine. The force of the explosion and losing the wing causes the Neuroi to flip over and nosedive towards the ground. It just barely recovers from the dive, managing to level off while still upside down. It doesn't look like it will gain any altitude anytime soon though. But it's still alive and regenerating its wing.
The second AMRAAM goes in a little high towards the Neuroi to the lead's left. The Neuroi stupidly attempts to brake and pull up to avoid, possibly to fire from the red sections on its stomach instead of the ones on its sides - perhaps those are more powerful?
Regardless, it takes the missile almost directly in the stomach, destroying the aforementioned stomach laser sections. The warhead's explosion is such that it exposes the core before that too is consumed in the explosion. The Neuroi emits a hideous shriek, like that of tearing metal, before bursting into white shards of metal.
The third AMRAAM hits the Neuroi to the lead's right dead on. The Neuroi rolls to its side and turns belly-first to avoid the missile, which it does relatively well - the proximity fuse goes off and the missile explodes, but it doesn't sustain significant damage. The left laser section is gone, and there are a few holes along the left side and left top, but other than that the damage is only superficial.
<<Dekabrist to Cipher, one good kill, one heavily damaged, one... not so heavily damaged. What's your ETA?>>
<<Forty-five seconds until WVR. Spyglass, you're heading back?>>
Well that was fast.
<<Spyglass, roger. I'm a fuckin' anti-sub helicopter, ain't no way I'll be useful against flying Neds.>>
As you ready one of your own missiles, one of the Neuroi fires a barrage of lasers at you.
You don't manage to avoid the lasers, but you do manage to put up your shield. Lasers slam into it, pushing you back half a meter or so, but at least you aren't hurt.
While they continue to pound your shield, you take the time to contact the carrier.
<<Bonneville, Bonneville, this is Dekabrist, Cipher and I have made contact with hostile... Novembers? Is that the correct term?>>
<<...derstood Dekabrist, we're sending up a squadron now.>>
<<...Bonneville, I believe I stated that we have encountered Neuroi, eight to be specific, and I highly doubt these are the only ones out here judging by the darkness of the sky.>>
<<Wait, did you say Ne- ... Dekabrist, just say Neuroi!>>
Ruya pulls up alongside you and supports your shield with her own.
"Kept you waiting, huh?"
"Just take out the Neuroi, Liberion."
"That's Captain Liberion to you, junior lieutenant." You stare at her. She just grins and gives a thumbs up before diving after the first Neuroi. Four more contacts appear on your radar, these just outside of Ruya's AMRAAM range and not currently flying towards your position.
You listen in as the Yeager transmits again.
<<This is the Liberion aircraft carrier Charlotte E. Yeager transmitting on all channels. To all vessels in the vicinity, we have confirmed Neuroi sighting and engagement, bearing 350 and closing. To all Liberion vessels, we are now at DEFCON 0, RED GLARE. Repeat, DEFCON 0. To all military vessels in the vicinity, battle stations. To all carriers, cruisers, anything with aircraft or witches really, scramble all air assets. Everything that can shoot air-to-air in the air.>>
Well that's a relief. They're sending everything.
<<Thank you, Bonneville,>> you reply over the radio. <<You should also send someone to watch the Seahawk as it heads back.>>
You will: [ ] Team up with Ruya
- [ ] Guns
- [ ] Archons
- [ ] Concave shields
-- [ ] Fly with her as her 2
-- [ ] Keep the Neuroi off her back, pick off anything that locks on to her
-- [ ] Distract the Neuroi
[ ] Retreat to
- [ ] The helicopter
- [ ] The carrier
[ ] Break off, investigate the radar signatures to the north
1x Medium Interceptor Neuroi destroyed
1x Medium Interceptor Neuroi incapacitated (2 turns)
1x Medium Interceptor Neuroi light damage
6x MI Neuroi combat capable, 7 remaining
4x ???? Neuroi out of range
[><] Team up with Ruya
- [><] Concave shields
-- [><] Keep the Neuroi off her back, pick off anything that locks onto her No matter how you look at it, you are not wearing fighter Strikers. At best you're wearing strike aircraft Strikers. You weren't meant to take on aerial targets, certainly not with the same enthusiasm as a Raptor, or the ferocity Ruya was displaying in her mad dive towards the six remaining Neuroi.
Said Neuroi had by now broken formation and were splitting up into three teams of two, each one focusing their attention largely on Ruya. And while she was certainly agile, she wasn't agile enough to deal with lasers from six directions at once - or perhaps it was just nerves. It was her first contact with Neuroi too.
You watch as she readies her rotary cannon and opens fire at the nearest Neuroi, taking advantage of the brief amount of time she has to fire.
Accuracy: 25
Damage: 46
Enemy Dodge: 27
She gets nothing but air.
You dive into the hairball she now finds herself in as she narrowly avoids getting hit by a laser for the seventeenth time.
<<Dekabrist to Cipher, you focus on attacking, I will defend you.>>
<<Cipher, much obliged.>> "And just talk at this range. I can hear you from here well enou-"
You manage to block a laser with your own shield, and redirect it in the general direction of the Neuroi that fired it. You miss, but the laser is stopped and the Neuroi takes time to readjust its aim. Long enough for Ruya to aim at it.
Her aim is poor, but the Neuroi's focus was not on avoiding it in the first place. The 20x102mms of Ruya's rotary cannon tear up the Neuroi's side, leaving a huge gash and exposing the core. An easy target. You deliberately put yourself in the path of another Neuroi's beam to finish it off.
The laser obliterates the core and punches through to the other side of the Neuroi before it even has time to react.
"Nice kill."
"Спасибо."
<<Cipher, Dekabrist, ERAMs inbound in 5, 4, 3..>>
You stop paying attention to the countdown as you can now see the missiles incoming. There are eight of them. Apparently the fleet decided to launch eight anyway despite one (now two) having been destroyed. You and Ruya both dive down and out of the fight, luring some of the Neuroi towards you but for the most part you get yourselves out of danger from the ERAM blast.
That... was probably not a good idea. All but four of the long-range missiles miss, a few come close, and two are lasered out of the sky before they can even get close to hitting anything.
The first missile hits the farthest Neuroi from you and detonates above its back, obliterating most of its top. It struggles to maintain speed with a hole in its back, and though you can't see it from where you are, you suspect that its core is exposed. It turns to escape.
The second missile manages to keep up with a particularly evasive Neuroi, exploding near its tail section and tearing it apart - but not destroying the tail. The Neuroi attempts to right itself, but only manages to get itself stuck in an aileron roll. The red glow of its 'exhaust' dulls and it slows down - engine damage no doubt, though you're not sure if Neuroi even have engines. Or if they do, if they're anything like human jet engines.
The third missile hits the Neuroi with light damage, detonating in the same area that Ruya's AMRAAM had. But it does a lot more damage than the AMRAAM did. Most of that side is gone, and about half of the top and a third of the wing with it. It drifts in midair, trying to turn north to escape. You don't think Ruya will let it.
The fourth missile hits the incapacitated Neuroi that was currently struggling to keep from dropping into the sea. Obviously it stood no chance of avoiding it. It is destroyed as well.
<<Cipher to Bonneville, confirmed one kill, three heavily damaged.>>
"Now, which to go for..." Ruya mutters under her breath as the remaining combat capable Neuroi start to regroup. For Ruya:
[ ] One of the incapacitated Neuroi
[ ] The heavily damaged Neuroi
[ ] One of the intact Neuroi
[ ] Investigate the out-of-range Neuroi
For you:
[ ] Continue guarding Ruya
- [ ] Continue using shields
- [ ] Switch to guns
- [ ] Switch to missiles
- [ ] Combination of the above (Write-in)
[ ] Break off and engage on your own
- [ ] Continue using shields
- [ ] Switch to guns
- [ ] Switch to missiles
- [ ] Combination of the above (Write-in) 2x MI Neuroi incapacitated
1x MI Neuroi heavily damaged
1x MI Neuroi destroyed
3x MI Neuroi combat capable, 6x remaining
4x ???? Neuroi out of range
[><] One of the incapacitated Neuroi
[><] The heavily damaged Neuroi
[><] Continue guarding Ruya
- [><] Continue using shields
- [><] Don't be afraid to fire AAMs if you see an opportunity to do so without compromising your defense of Ruya/yourself <<Bonneville to Cipher, confirmed. We've also got backup on the way - sorry it took until now, we had to get another Hawkeye up and some more Hornets first.>>
"Idiots," Ruya mutters. "If this were an air base the sky would've been full of Sentries by the time I was out of the shower. Whose bright idea was it to send up a chopper without an AWACS?"
You stare at Ruya as she says this. Frickin' Liberions and their inter-service rivalries.
<<What was that, Cipher?>>
<<Nothing~ Have the Hornets passed Spyglass yet?>>
<<They're within VR of him now. He's pretty pissed.>>
Ruya huffed as she charged through the furball towards one of the Neuroi currently escaping, mostly managing to avoid lasers and blocking the rest with her shield. One of the belly lasers comes particularly close, and you back up her shield with your own.
Good thing you did, as her shield shatters. Yours does not. She yelps and bumps into you as you focus on altering your shield's shape to attack the enemy Neuroi.
The beam melts a part of the right (near) tailfin, but otherwise does nothing.
<<So about those unidentified Neurois outside of range...>>
<<We see 'em. Four of them, judging by the signatures they're heavy bombers. But....>>
You decide to interject. <<But?>>
<<But, they're not doing anything... for some reason. They're just circling around an area, radius 1 kilometer. If we had gotten a sonobuoy that far out I'd tell you what was there, but we didn't, so I can't. For all I know they could be summoning Satan.>>
<<That's a distinct possibility,>> Ruya says.
While the two of you pursue the one Neuroi, you notice the other does indeed have its core exposed. Though at the rate it's regenerating, it won't be exposed for long.
<<So what's our plan, then?>>
<<Take out those Neuroi you're with now, and the bombers if they start coming for us. Other than that, retreat and regroup with the other CBGs and hope whatever other Neuroi appear come after us and not any nearby islands. Fuso is also lining up as much anti-air and anti-ship artillery as it can on the northern shore of the South Sea Island, so we have another area to fall back to. Karlsland's also sending out the Otto I der Grosse to that area to assist - it won't make it to the rendezvous in time.>>
You break off from Ruya long enough to go after it. It's not as good as a mana-dummy's signature for a lock, but you get one and fire away.
The Neuroi is too quick for you. It quickly rolls over and zaps the missile out of the sky, just as it was about to detonate. You are not about to take that lying down. You point your Kord machine gun at it and fire.
Accuracy: 74
Damage: 90
Enemy Dodge: 89
It again manages to avoid your shots, then fires back at you. You decide not to dodge it, and give it a taste of its own medicine. Hopefully that works better.
It does not, and you eat laser - though mercifully you don't get blasted out of the sky from it. You do get knocked several meters, and your uniform gets singed. You're lucky it didn't burn anything sensitive, or worse, cook off anything. You swear anyway.
<<I heard that, Dekabrist,>> you hear from Bonneville. <<Watch your comms. Your backup's almost here by the way.>>
After giving the Neuroi the middle finger, you quickly return to Ruya's side as she fires her own infrared-seeking missile at the other escaping Neuroi.
She has much better luck than you do. The annular blast fragmentation warhead rips through the open inner side of the Neuroi and cuts it in half, taking out the core along the way. It too explodes into shards, as the two of you turn around to face the three remaining interceptor Neuroi.
<<Oh? What's this? You still haven't finished off those Neuroi, Ruya?>>
<<Lieutenant Colonel? Is that you?>>
Elizabeth Silverstein. Eighteen year old lieutenant colonel in the Liberion Air Force, from New York City. Ruya's commanding officer. Her mother was a witch, her mother was a witch, her mother was a witch, etc etc, witches have been in her family since before they immigrated to Liberion. Perhaps it's in her veins, or perhaps she just fell into it out of family history. But that matters little, because she excels at being a witch - almost too well, even. While Ruya's fighting style is aggressive, Eli's style is outright brutal, preferring to get up close and personal with her targets. She hasn't gotten in trouble for this... yet. She's the main reason Ruya and the 7th are here in the first place. She can be... 'convincing' when she wants to be. 'Empress' truly is an apt call sign for her. Homosexual, openly so, but doesn't bring it up unless asked about it. Political opinions are remarkably conservative.
Full Name: Elizabeth Silverstein Ability: IFF Shields - Eli can selectively control what can or cannot pass through her shield, ranging from certain materials to certain frequencies of light. Strikers: F-22A Raptor Armament: 2x M100.3 custom autocannons - 20mm autocannons based off of the XM301 but single barrel. She officially asked for them so that she could fire in multiple directions. Really she just wanted something she could put a bayonet on. They both utilize belt-in-box magazines with capacities from 100 to 250 rounds. And of course she uses various missiles, bombs, and grenades as the situation demands. Familiar: Wolverine Religion: Reform Judaism Appearance: Looks remarkably like Kaoru Tanamachi, but a cup size higher. An inch shorter than Ruya at 5'6" (168 cm) and 133 lbs (60.3 kg). Keeps her hair short. Last Deployment: Syria Theme: 'I Want You' by Teddyloid
<<Yes, Captain, it's me. I see you have four left. Mind if I do the honors?>>
<<Be my guest.>>
"Wait, you're all our backup? Just one witch?"
<<Don't be ridiculous. I also brought Hornets. They'll clean up whatever I miss. Empress, fox three!>>
Four AMRAAMS streak from her lower weapon bays. The first one is blasted out of the sky before it even gets close. The next three are far more lucky.
The first hits an undamaged Neuroi almost dead on the roof, blasting a hole through both sides. Its engines sputter and die momentarily. It focuses all its efforts on repairing those engines, as evidenced by the gaping holes remaining gaping and not being filled in with a Neuroi's signature regeneration ability. It pays off. The engines of the wounded Neuroi restart... right before it slams into the water, crumpling and snapping in half. The core is crushed from the force of impact, and it shatters.
The second targets the Neuroi you were firing at earlier, but by now the hole on its back was largely sealed. It detonates in the same area as the hole, ripping it open again. However, the core is no longer in that area. It does a complete aileron roll then turns to engage you.
Smartass alien.
The third meets a similar fate as the first, only this one actually spears the core on what's left of the missile, and the Neuroi explodes in midair.
The smartass Neuroi turns to charge you along with the undamaged Neuroi that Eli had missed. You ready your Kord, but are surprised to see neither Eli nor Ruya readying their weapons, only their shields.
<<Boys?>>
<<Felix One-Six, Fox three! Guns, guns!>>
<<Felix One-Seven, Fox three! Guns, guns!>>
The missed Neuroi takes the full brunt of a Super Hornet-launched AMRAAM to the nose. Whatever core was inside gets shredded, and it promptly explodes. The smartass Neuroi again manages to avoid getting taken down by a missile, but by now it looks pretty ragged. A burst of gunfire from Felix 1-7 finishes it off, leaving one incapacitated Neuroi left - the one with the bad engines.
By now its engines have been repaired, and it is intact. However, it turns back towards the bombers.
"Oh no you don't," Eli says as she charges after it, Ruya close behind.
It manages to avoid being killed by the Sidewinder, but Eli seems far from willing to let it go. She charges after it, blocking incoming lasers with her shield.
While not 100% accurate, the withering fire let out by Eli's twin 20mm cannons ends the last interceptor Neuroi. She lifts them up, resting their butts on her shoulder and grinning.
"And that's how we do it. Empress to Bonneville, all interceptors destroyed. Any change in behavior from the bombers?>>
<<None, but we have some rather odd radar readings from the area.>>
Ruya nods. "Any opportunity to kill Neuroi is a good one in my book." You barely notice her shaking. You're not surprised; what's surprising is that Eli isn't. She must have a lot more combat experience then.
<<Felix One-Six, Felix One-Seven, you coming along?>>
<<Don't see why not. We've still got missiles, and there are still Neuroi.>>
Eli nods, then turns to you.
"What about you... Junior Lieutenant Fedchenko, was it?" [ ] Go after the bombers
[ ] Return to the
- [ ] Carrier
- [ ] Helicopter
[ ] Write-in
[><] Go after the bombers. You are a little annoyed that Eli so swiftly took all your kills, even if it was mostly because your missiles screwed up.
"да Подполко́вник, Мла́дший лейтена́нт Федченко," you inform Eli in as polite a tone as possible. You don't expect her to understand Orussian.
She laughs. You're not sure if she understood or not.
"Хорошая попытка сука, но я говорю на орусском тоже," she replies. Dammit, she does.
"You two mind speaking English?"
You sigh, Eli smirks.
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel, I will go with you to the bombers."
The two Liberion witches both grin.
"Excellent!" Eli exclaims, spreading her arms with the autocannons still in them. "Then we shall go. Empress to Bonneville, I am adding Captain el-Amin and Junior Lieutenant Fedchenko to A Flight and proceeding to engage the bombers, over.>>
<<Understood and roger, Empress. You watch yourself out there.>>
<<Hmh. I always do.>>
With that, the five of you proceed northward towards the bombers at the incredible speed of... 800 miles per hour. You slowly accelerate as you gain a few thousand feet, allowing you to push up to 900, then 1,000 miles per hour, but it's clear the Hornets and Raptors can and want to go faster. It feels less like a flight and more like an escort group.
You don't really like it.
The bombers themselves were 70 nautical miles away when you began your approach. Even at the speed you were travelling, it would only take a minute or so to get within AMRAAM range, but Eli orders the group to hold their fire until they're 20 nautical miles further in - she wants to get a better shot without getting too close.
"But what about me? I don't have any BVR missiles."
Eli shrugged. "Considering how we've done so far, I doubt you won't get your chance to shoot a Neuroi bomber down." She then muttered something about strangling whoever last worked on their AMRAAMs
At 40 nautical miles, the Liberions each fire one AMRAAM.
Eli's does the most damage. It hits the bomber dead on, and it drops into the water. That's the good news. The bad news is that Eli's was the only missile that got a kill. Felix One-Six's missile only slows it down, causing it to move into a tighter orbit. The other two are either complete lock failures or are shot out of the sky.
"Well, Fedchenko? Looks like you'll get your wish. A Flight to Bonneville, only got one kill from AMRAAMs. We're closing in.>>
[ ] Go after the damaged bomber
[ ] Go after one of the undamaged bombers
[ ] Try to get multiple kills [ ] Steal kills from Eli
[ ] Get close to the water and find out what they're doing
[ ] Write-in
[><] Go after the damaged bomber
[><] Get close to the water and find out what they're doing Your one regret is that you have but one air-to-air missile left. And your radar indicates those are some pretty big bombers.
When you finally do get in range, your eyes agree.
They're huge. Tip to tail they're as long as a Tu-95, but the wingspan is substantially longer. As the report indicated, they are flying in a circle, their bodies angled to make the turn.
You notice that one of them has a respectable chunk of its left wing shredded apart, along with the ring on that side. It is making a smaller circuit, and is struggling to even do that. Perhaps the ring is an engine? Or some other source of power.
Or a cannon.
All four bombers are circling above what appears to be an enormous magical circle a full kilometer in diameter. It looks rather like a hospital's healing circle, but with more straight lines and angles, and much, much more intricate. It could be they're trying to accelerate the regeneration of the damaged bomber. Or summon something.
Every few seconds the bombers crackle with energy, their red sections glowing, before discharging the energy into the circle. The circle then glows brighter with energy. You're no expert, but judging by how bright that circle is, it already has a lot of energy in it.
<<All right,>> Eli begins, <<Felix, you two stay at long range. Try to avoid getting your wings cut off.>>
<<But->>
<<Oh I'm sorry, can your Hornets generate pressurization shields capable of letting you withstand double digit G forces? No? Then shut the fuck up.>>
Grumbles over the radio, but the Hornets comply and pull away from the formation.
<<Also, you probably already know this, but if anything tries to escape, kill it. That's the other reason for you to stay at long range.>>
"Ruya, you and I will go after the three on the outside. Fedchenko?"
"Da?"
"You go after the damaged one."
Can she read minds? It wasn't like you were going to suggest going after one of the undamaged bombers. Judging by the number of red spots peppering their wings, you don't think you'd be able to handle it.
"Understood."
The three of you break formation. Eli and Ruya both charge at the bomber on the near side, while you fly high up and dive towards the bomber in the center.
You play it safe and start with your remaining air-to-air missile.
Lady luck smiles upon you. Your missile turns as it flies towards the bomber and cleanly rips off the damaged, exposing the core. The bomber turns into an even sharper bank, almost vertical, but still does not go down.
<<Good ki- wait, no, it's still alive Fedchenko.>>
<<Cipher, Fox Two!>>
You use up the remainder of your current belt, but no luck on the hit.
The lowest ring of the damaged bomber begins to glow brightly. While it does so, the regeneration stops - looks like it can only do one or the other. A ball of red light forms in the center of the ring, then explodes outward in a beam that you are very certain your shield wouldn't be able to stop.
You initially pay the laser no mind, instead focusing on reloading your machine gun and firing again. It missed you and A flight, didn't it? Ruya gets broadsided by a series of lasers from the bomber she had just hit, blocking one, dodging another and eating the third. She yelps, but from where you are the injury doesn't seem serious.
This time, you do make a hit, and with its core gone, the bomber explodes.
<<All units, all units, the Stuart has sustained a direct hit! She's... there's a hole right through her superstructure!>>
<<She's out of control! Get out of the way!>>
Eli finishes off the near bomber spectacularly, tearing through the center and cutting off both wings. Its core is exposed as she opens fire at the falling hulk. The core shatters, and what was left of the bomber explodes, leaving one bomber left.
Rounds used: 38 (19 rounds for each gun)
You fly over to catch up to her, barely noticing that the circle below you vanished before Eli had even fired her missile. Whatever they were doing, they finished it in time. And considering a damaged one just bored a hole through a frigate at long range, you don't really want to stick around to find out what it is.
The remaining bomber leaves its orbit and starts flying straight towards the carrier fleet, maintaining its speed as you fly over to Eli and Ruya. It completely ignores you, accelerating on a direct course to the fleet. Below, something - no, two somethings - in the water are just beneath the surface, and heading in the same direction. They're going fast, impossibly fast for anything from Earth, but they're still going slower than the bombers. Judging by how Eli and Ruya both glance at the ocean surface, they saw them too. Ruya's arm is bleeding through the shirt, but for the moment it doesn't seem very serious.
"Well?" you ask. "What do we do now?"
Eli sighs, pinching her chin in thought.
<<We're splitting into two groups. Cipher and I will go after the bomber. Felix, you'll go after whatever those underwater things are.>> [ ] After that bomber (Go with Eli and Ruya)
[ ] Investigate the water things (go with Felix)
[ ] Return to the carrier
[ ] Stay put in case something else shows up in the area
[ ] Write-in
[><] Investigate the water things (go with Felix) You would love to go after the bomber. You really would. But all you have is a machine gun, and against bombers, you don't think that will be of much help. Besides, with your lack of speed and agility compared to the Raptor witches...
"I will go with the Hornets."
"Good call."
<<Felix, Dekabrist will be joining you. Be nice to her.>>
You can hear Felix One-Six roll his eyes at Eli as you move to join their flight, flying about 20 meters behind them in an inverse-V formation. The formation is fairly wide to allow you to be close to them without having to worry about inhaling exhaust or getting torched.
<<Dekabrist to Bonneville, have any of the submarines detected the underwater objects?>>
<<...Bonneville, roger. All four submarines, hell every ship is detecting it on sonar. Whatever they are, they want us to know they're there. Or they don't care that we know they're there.>>
They're either that confident or that stupid.
<<Felix One-Six to Bonneville, then why not send out one of the submarines after them?>>
<<We... aren't sure what we're even looking at. All we know is it's loud as hell. It sounds like someone's towing a shipwreck at warp speed.>>
As the two objects breach the water, you can't help but think he isn't that far off.
ORUSSIAN DESTROYERS VICE-ADMIRAL KULAKOV AND ADMIRAL VINOGRADOV
HP: 9000 (each)
Max speed: ??? knots
Armament:
2x4 SS-N-22 Sunburn ASM (P-270 Moskit)
8x8 SA-N-9 Gauntlet VLS (3K95 Kinzhal)
2x SA-N-11 Grison SAM (Kortik SAM)
1 x 2 AK-130 DP (130 mm)
2x Kashtan CIWS
1x6 ??? Laser battery
1x4 ??? Laser battery (Vinogradov)
36x ??? Vertical Laser Battery (Vinogradov)
50x ??? Vertical Laser Battery (Kulakov)
<<Felix One-Six to Bonneville, the unidentified objects are-er, were, the escort destroyers of the Varyag. The Vice-Admiral Kulakov and Admiral Vinogradov.>>
Both warships have clearly taken a beating from whatever sank them. The Kulakov has most of its stern replaced entirely with Neuroi metal, along with smaller spots peppered along its left side. Its rear mast is also entirely missing, instead replaced with a pyramid of Neuroi metal with a red laser pad on each of the six faces. The stern is covered with evenly spaced laser pads like a VLS - obviously Neuroi have no need for helicopters as primitive as a Helix.
The Vinogradov has the same pyramid, along with a smaller, four-sided pyramid replacing its fore gun turret. The area around its front magazine is Neuroi metal, along with all of the bow deck and the upper deck just before the bridge - there are a series of lasers on the bow deck too, arranged like a VLS. There are fewer than there are on the Kulakov though. The two quickly slow down to a much more reasonable surface speed of 70 knots.
<<The Neuroi have made some modifications, though, a->>
<<FELIX ONE-SIX, BREAK, GAUNTLET!>>
Enemy Aim: 93, 54
Enemy Damage: 62
Felix Dodge: 72, 44 (Hit!)
Felix Armor: 47
Felix One-Six does indeed break. In half. The Gauntlet missile's frag warhead destroys the entire midsection of the Hornet, separating the wings, cockpit, and tail from each other, and the cockpit somersaulting through the air. He pulls the cord to eject...
..and is hit by a pair of lasers from the Kulakov. The first hits him squarely in the torso - a powerful shot, but it doesn't appear to be lethal. The second incinerates his parachute. Hitting the water at his altitude probably would be lethal.
<<Felix One-Seven to Bonneville, Felix One-Six is hit!>>
<<The fuck?>> Eli. <<All ships, fire anti-ship missiles!>>
The Bystryy's supersonic missiles are first to arrive in the area. It fires two.
Neither hit - the first is tricked by the Kulakov's jamming, the second destroyed by both ship's CIWS after making the mistake of flying between the two. The second to arrive will be the Gorean SSM-700K missiles with the Harpoons close behind, though considering the two Neuroi destroyers just shredded a pair of supersonic missiles, you doubt they'll be much use.
<<Empress to Bonneville, just finished off that bomber. Should we assist?>>
<<Negative, Empress, you don't have the same anti-ship capability at the moment. Return to the carrier ASAP and hold until you can land. We're sending up a squadron of witches armed with Harpoons in case the first Harpoon wave doesn't finish them off. Dekabrist, Felix One-Seven, try to keep the destroyers attention focused on you - we can't let them fire anything at us!>>
What will you do now? [ ] Wait for the next wave of missiles (SSM-700K and Harpoon)
[ ] Attack with
- [ ] Missiles
- [ ] Guns
- [ ] Shields
- [ ] Grenades
- [ ] Everything
-- [ ] Coordinate with Felix One-Seven to attack (Has 2x Harpoon missiles)
--- [ ] Felix One-Seven stays at long range
--- [ ] Felix One-Seven stays with you
--- [ ] Write-in
-- [ ] Fight on your own
[ ] Write-in
[><] Attack with
-[><] Everything
--[><] Coordinate with Felix One-Seven to attack (Has 2x Harpoon missiles)
---[><] Felix One-Seven stays at long range
--[><] 'Escort' Felix One-Seven's missiles to their target using shields This is so very much not good. Orussian destroyers may not be the jack-of-all-trades type Liberion destroyers are, but they are very good at anti-air defense. And with these... modified... destroyers having Neuroi lasers as well, that makes them even better at anti-air. You're going to have to use everything you've got just to kill one of them.
<<Dekabrist to Felix One-Seven, I would suggest you stay at long range and fire your Harpoon.>>
<<Wilco.>>
You think it odd that he so casually follows your orders when he outranks you, even if not by much. But then you're a witch and he's a pilot - you guess Liberion doesn't train their pilots as deeply in anti-Neuroi combat as they do their witches, or at least not as deeply as Orussian pilots are trained in the matter.
Before pulling away to merge with him, you fire off one of your Kedges to test its reaction to a witch-fired anti-ship missile.
It goes pretty well actually. The missile, guided by your steady laser guidance, manages to avoid most of the Kulakov's lasers, and the ones that hit it aren't enough to stop it from exploding in the bridge section. Were it commanded by humans, that would be seriously damaging to it.
As it is, though, all you did was make a huge hole in its side, and make it target you instead.
Accuracy: 56, 49, 61, 28
Damage: 60, 90, 43, 71
You Dodge: 24, 90, 16, 44
You Shield: 23, XX, 50, XX
You Accuracy: 74
You Damage: 61
Enemy Armor: 20 (Hit, full damage!)
A mixture of lasers and bullets are fired your way by the Kulakov. You bob and weave to avoid the incoming fire, and manage to block a laser well enough to fire it back, knocking out the CIWS mount on the side facing you. Unfortunately that is not before the same CIWS manages to nick you with a 30x165 mm anti-air shell. Ow.
You join up with Felix One-Seven, who is ready to fire his Harpoons.
It worked well. The Harpoon hit in about the same area as your Kedge did, albeit lower. The explosion was very impressive (and very loud), managing to destroy a few vertical laser pads and rip a hole in the Kulakov's side down below the waterline. While it didn't completely destroy the fore superstructure, most of the interior of that section was probably destroyed. Already it's beginning to list to port, even as the hole is slowly repaired with Neuroi material. It's a start.
Well screw 'just a start'. Just to add some insult, you throw a grenade as you pull away from the ship.
Accuracy: 4
Damage: 15
Enemy Armor: 92
It doesn't do anything, but you feel a bit better.
<<Dekabrist to Bonneville, where are the Super Hornets you've sent out?>>
<<Six minutes. They'll be in range to fire their Harpoons in six minutes.>>
What will you do until then? [ ] Keep up against the Kulakov
- [ ] Continue firing everything
- [ ] Guns
- [ ] Grenades
- [ ] Shield
-- [ ] Go inside
-- [ ] Stay outside and attack from
--- [ ] Close range
--- [ ] Long range
[ ] Target the Vinogradov, soften it up too before the other Hornets get here
- [ ] Same strategy as with the Kulakov
- [ ] Write-in Vinogradov: Undamaged Kulakov:
-1x Kashtan 'Kortik' CIWS (-12.5% all CIWS rolls)
-7x Vertical Laser Battery (-14% all laser VLB rolls)
[>< Keep up against the Kulakov
--[><] Stay outside and attack from
---[><] Close range
---[><] Target their CIWS system with your remaining missile, grenades, and gun. If it fires at you, redirect its laser back at it with your shield. There's no need to change your plans or your target significantly, so long as the ships remain active, and as long as the Hornets are still out of range. One thing you can do is help the incoming Hornets out. Those CIWS systems are dangerous enough to Moskits, to Harpoons? Well, you think that Felix One-Seven's hit was probably just luck - and him hitting the side with the freshly destroyed human CIWS.
<<I am going to try and take out the other CIWS. You stay at long range.>>
You fly around the Kulakov, staying low to the sea and close to its sides so that it cannot easily fire at you, and so that the other destroyer can't fire at you either - lest it damage the Kulakov.
You rise up above the deckline and open fire on the Kulakov's remaining Kashtan CIWS with your Kord machine gun at point-blank range, too close and too fast for it to react.
The CIWS explodes violently, sending you back a little. That's bad, because it makes it easier for the other CIWS to fire at you.
Enemy Accuracy: 56, 100 (Triple KEK), 7
Enemy Damage: 26, 7, 90
You Dodge: 61, Irrelevant, 96
You Shield: 35, 19, XX
You Accuracy: 56, 94
You Damage: 40, 1 (Quadruple KEK)
Enemy Armor: 7, 98
You manage to catch two of them with your shield, and send them back. Oddly, the more accurate of your shots did next to nothing, while the one you weren't honestly sure about sliced a hole in the laser CIWS tower, exposing the interior. There was no core there, but at least the laser CIWS' rate of fire slowed from the damage. and you didn't have long to dwell on it because the Vinogradov soon opened up on you.
Enemy Accuracy: 73, 85, 23
Enemy Damage: XX, XX, XX
You Dodge: 89, 86, 66
You Shield: XX, XX, XX
Somehow... somehow you manage to avoid the lasers and the bullets. Once again you turn your attention to the Kulakov, this time to its fore mast. Perhaps you can actually hit something with your grenade and do some damage. You pull it out, hold onto it after pulling the pin, then throw.
Luck: 80
Accuracy: 72
Damage: 97
Enemy Luck: 58
It lands near one of the support struts, and explodes with just enough force to rip out two struts, and damage the centre one. The strain is enough to topple the whole thing over. You have no idea how that happened, but you're not going to worry about it. The Hornets are almost in range after all.
You have one minute until the Hornets are within firing range. What will you do?
[ ] Distract the CIWS of...
- [ ] The Kulakov
- [ ] The Vinogradov
[ ] Take out the Vinogradov's CIWS, or at least do as much damage to it as you can. Focus on -
- [ ] The laser turret
- [ ] The Kashtan CIWS
[ ] Target something other than the CIWS
- [ ] The Kulakov's...
- [ ] The Vinogradov's...
-- [ ] Moskit launchers
-- [ ] Gauntlet VLS
-- [ ] Laser VLS
-- [ ] Main gun Vinogradov: Undamaged Kulakov: All non-laser CIWS destroyed, -25% to CIWS rolls
Main Radar destroyed, -50% to initial Moskit accuracy rolls, -50% to Accuracy rolls for all non-guided munitions
