Mobius Squadron: Shattered Skies

Chapter 17: Stonehenge's Attack

Mobius 1

They were still circling when he heard a loud smash from the other side of the radio. A swear followed as did Sky Eye talking in the manner Mobius hadn't heard since his fight with the Yellows. <<Incoming from Stonehenge. All aircraft get below 2000 metres fast!>>. <<What, Stonehenge, on us?!>> came Halo 4, not quite believing that Sotnehenge would be firing at a small raid of 4 aircraft. <<Below 2 clicks, what do you expect us to do fly underground?!>> came Viper 9, scrambling to find a way to avoid the shell. <<That ravine leads out of Stonehenges range, get down in it to terrain mask!>> called Omega 11, banking his craft. All three of the others followed him. Mobius eventually made it in, flying wing to wing with Viper 9. Sky Eye came over the radio again, still with that overly concerned tone of voice. <<Impact in 10 .. 9 .. 8 .. 7 .. 6 .. 5 .. 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. Impact!>>. The moment he called impact, the sky above the canyon was filled with the detonation of the round. It exploded into large balls of fire. Had the ISAF raiders not been in the canyon, they would've been vaporised in the explosion. Halo 4 then came over the radio. <<Enemy AA in the canyon ahead>>. The others moved to avoid it, but Viper 9 was hit. On instinct he seemed to pull up. <<Viper 9, get back in the canyon!>> called Mobius. Viper seemed to have damage to his control surface. <<I can't, my control surfaces are damaged>> came the reply. Mobius was so focused on his craft he didn't hear Sky Eye call about a new salvo. He was trying to get Viper back down. He almost succeeded, only for the sky to ignite in balls of fire. Vipers craft was caught in the blast. <<I'm hi->> crackled over the radio, the message was broken by static that indicated the worst. The Hornet exploded into fire, and fell to the ground. Mobius was speechless and could only see the wreckage. Eventually they made it out of range, and headed back for North Point, only they were one plane less.

Yellow 13

San Salvacion was quiet. The airbase was receiving a visit from a high official within the air force. 13 was making his last rounds before the transport landed. The area was completely set, except for one small detail: the boy. No one could figure out what to do with him. Should they keep him out in the open? Should they hide him away? No consensus could be reached and even 13 was stuck on the problem, despite giving much thought to the question. Eventually, they decided to just have him hide behind Yellow 4 for the duration of the visit. The squadron was lined up in parade formation when the C-17 descended onto the runway. It taxied to a stop in front of them and the door opened. A man in his late 40's descended, followed by a familiar face for 13. It was Mihaly: his teacher during his time in the academy. Mihaly was a legend in Erusea's military for abandoning his privilege as a member of the aristocracy and enlisting as a regular citizen. The man in front of Mihaly was in a full dress uniform, complete with full cap. His chest was full of medals, earned despite never having seen direct combat during his period of service. 13 saluted the official as he walked towards him. The salute was returned and then the man shook 13's hand. "Greetings captain, it's good to see you" the man said, beaming a smile. 13 acknowledged with a nod before turning to Mihaly. "So, they're still keeping old relics around," 13 joked. MIhaly laughed in return before embracing the man who was basically a son to him. "Watch your mouth young man, this 'old relic' still flies better than you ever will" came the reply from 13's mentor. With that they broke the embrace and 13 gestured the two of them over to a waiting jeep for their tour of the base. The function would take most of the day, and 13 was glad he had gotten all the squadron paperwork done before this.

Mobius 1

Nobody talked on the flight back. Nobody talked during the recovery and landing. And nobody talked as the craft all taxied to their hangars. Mobius popped his canopy after shutting down his engines and just sat there in his cockpit for a second or two. He then scaled down the ladder that popped out of the Raptor's airframe and looked across the taxiway. The hangar that formerly housed Viper 9's bird was distinctly empty. Mobius felt a pang of guilt as he saw the empty hangar. He had been so close to Viper when the AA fired. He should've taken the hits. But instead, fate had decided that the Hornet was to take the hits. And just like that, with a fluke of physics and ballistics, Mobius had lost one of his closest fellow pilots. He saw Omega, Halo and Sky Eye watching him from a distance. Nobody wanted to disturb him. Eventually, Mobius turned and headed back for the main base building. He had a report to make on the mission. The double doors were unlocked and he marched into the commander's office. The old warbird looked up from the paperwork he was doing and looked at Mobius. He knew how the ace must be feeling. To lose a comrade that was within arms reach of you, and having to live with the knowledge that you could do nothing about it was hard on even the most hardened of veterans. "I heard what happened, damn shame about Viper 9" started the warbird. Mobius just nodded, staring straight forward. The commander sighed and continued "If you need some time off, to recover or just rest or anything like that, you can take it, ok?". Mobius shook his head "No need sir. I just have a request". The commander looked at him with a slight bit of disbelief but nodded for him to continue. Mobius swallowed the lump in his throat and made his request. "When the new replacements get here sir, let me train them. I failed one pilot, I won't let the others die." The commander looked shocked. This man had come into his office and asked for the most hated assignment on North Point in order to deal with his guilt? Well, he was an unorthodox pilot. The commander nodded his assent and Mobius turned and left, heading for his quarters to recover from the ordeal as the sun set on North Point.

Yellow 13

The visit was a great success. The visitors had inspected the functions of this base and found everything to their liking. It culminated in 13 showing the visitors the debriefing room and running them through Yellow Squadron's encounter with the Ribbon. The high ranking man nodded and leaned forward, feigning knowledge of what 13 was talking about in the manner shown by the movies and showing his inexperience greatly. Mihaly on the other hand, was sitting regularly in the chair and just observing. It was the sign of an expert. As 13 finished up and the senior official moved for the door, Mihaly took 13 aside for a quick talk. "The Ribbon, have you seen the news on him?" the mentor questioned. 13 nodded, remembering the news of Comberth Harbour and the solar plant facilities. "We had to use Stonehenge to drive him off, but he survived. He's going to become a major threat. Keep an eye on him." 13 nodded in response. Mihaly gave him a last slap on the shoulder before heading to the C-17. The large cargo plane throttled up and flew off back towards Farbanti. 13 watched the transport leave, before leaving to consider his mentor's advice and the threat posed by the Ribbon. It was going to be a long night.