Mobius Squadron: Shattered Skies

Chapter 35: Enemy Attack

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A flight of four Mig 29's carved their way over towards the Gnome Ravine. The flight lead called to all his wings. <<Aardvark Squadron, stay sharp. We have to intercept this recon plane before it makes it back to ISAF lines>>. His wingmen called in: <<Aardvark 2, roger>> <<Aardvark 3, roger>> <<Aardvark 4, roger>>. All four of them pushed their planes to the limit to reach the ravine to intercept. All of them were ready for a fight. That U2 wouldn't get away from them.

Mobius 1

The F-22 practically glided over the U2 as it made its way into the ravine. The sleek black recon plane usually operated at near space altitudes. The pilots had to wear the equivalent of spacesuits because of that fact. Mobius anticipated a nice quiet mission after this. He was wrong. Sky Eye called with new radar data. <<4 new contacts, Erusean Mig 29s moving to intercept. Take them down Mobius 1.>>. This was followed by the AWACS operator telling the U2 to get low and use the fog as cover. Mobius pushed his F-22 to supersonic as he moved to intercept.

Aardvark Squadron

<<New contact inbound! He just went supersonic!>>. Aardvark 1 looked at the radar and saw the contact closing in fast. <<Punch tanks and break!>> he called. All four Mig 29s dropped their three carry tanks and pulled away from the incoming contact. The Raptor blew past and Aardvark 1 spotted something. An insignia on the vertical stabilisers. <<A Ribbon>> he said over the radio. <<That's the one that shot down Yellow 4!>> Aardvark 2 had anger evident in his voice as he transmitted. <<Forget the recon plane. Focus on the Ribbon!>> Aardvark Squadron responded to the command and turned to engage the F-22.

Mobius 1

The Fulcrums were on his tail quickly. They were designed to be the answer to the F-16C in terms of manoeuvrability, so their turning capacity would be greater than his own. Mobius put himself into a corkscrew turn as the first missiles were fired from the Eruseans. All missed as they sought the magnesium flares Mobius deployed. The F-22 pulled upwards causing one of his pursuers to overshoot. He reversed the joystick input to get himself into trail of the Mig. The AIM-9X seeker recognised the heat signature, and gave a strong growl. Hearing that indicator, Mobius thumbed the trigger twice. Two missiles left his weapons bay.

Aardvark Squadron

<<Aardvark 4, missile!>>. << I can't evade!>>. <<Dump flares!>>. <<I'm hi->>.

Mobius 1

The first Mig burst into a fireball. No parachute came from the burning metal. No time to think about that now, raced through Mobius' head as he located the next bandit. This one was about 7 km from his position. Manipulating the controls on the instrument panel, he lined up the radar onto the Fulcrum. Once the 'SHOOT' appeared in the green HUD, Mobius thumbed the firing button. An AIM-120 was ejected and its solid rocket motor ignited and sped towards the targeted Mig.

Aardvark Squadron

<<Aardvark 3, get out of there!>>. <<Controls hit, non responsive!>>. <<Eject!>>.

<<.....>>.

Mobius 1

Another fireball. Another lack of parachute. Another kill. Two to go, and then the U2 would be safe. The third had managed to get himself on Mobius' tail. The RHAW gear started blaring in his ear as Mobius' pursuer lined up a shot.

Aardvark Squadron

<<Take the shot!>>. <<Aardvark 2, Fox 1!>>.

Mobius 1

The missile alert blared along with his AWACS' call <<Warning, inbound missile!>>. Mobius dumped chaff and pulled to the left. The missile kept moving on an intercept course. Mobius waited until it was about a kilometre away. Then, he pulled a high-g turn into the missile course. Because it had already exhausted its motor, it wasn't able to correct for the sudden manoeuvre. The missile overshot and Mobius fired off two ARAAMs, one at the shooter and one at the other Mig.

Aardvark Squadron

<<Missies on us both 2. Burn and evade!>>. <<Roger, evadi->>. <<Aardvark 2?>>.

<<Aardvark 2!>>.

Mobius 1

One of the missiles impacted, and again the Fulcrums fuel tanks ruptured. The last one turned into a head on with Mobius' fighter. It wasn't a smart move. Mobius prepped his AIM-9Xs and waited. The Fulcrum was coming head on at full throttle. Two heatseekers were fired by both combatants. Mobius dumped more flares and started a rapid dive. The heatseekers tried to hit the flares. When they overshot them, they tried to find another heat signature, but they couldn't. This forced the missiles to self-destruct. Mobius' missiles didn't suffer the same fate.

Aardvark Squadron

The sound of the missile alert filled his ears. He had no flares left. He waited for the missiles to impact. The last thought he had before the explosion engulfed him was 'Damn you Ribbon'. And then there was nothing at all.

Mobius 1

The final Mig fell to the floor of Gnome Ravine and detonated on impact. Mobius flew over the site, and saw that there was no evidence of survivors. <<Sky Eye, all 4 neutralised. Mobius 1 RTB>>. He heard a relieved sigh on the other side of the radio and an acknowledgment. He banked the plane to the South and headed back to the Valley.

<<Mobius 1, you're cleared to land>> came the control tower at the Valley. Mobius lowered his landing gear and lined up with the runway. Slowly he descended down until his wheels touched the tarmac. The F-22s air brakes popped up in response to slow down the fighter to taxiing speed. The acceleration was slow because despite all of its manoeuvrability, the Raptor really hated changing its speed when on the ground. Eventually, Mobius pulled off the runway and onto the taxiway. The other hangars were all filled as the other squadrons had completed their sorties earlier. Mobius pulled into his hangar and went through the shutdown sequence. The canopy popped open as he removed the helmet. Mobius held it in his hands for a second. The ocean blue paint was still solid, as was the Ribbon Insignia. The lettering on the opposite side to the Ribbon was starting to wear, so Mobius would have to give it a touchup soon. He finally scaled the ladder down from the cockpit to the ground 2 minutes after the canopy had opened. The remaining AMRAAMs and Sidewinders were being unloaded as usual, and a gun plumber team was rearming the cannon. Mobius walked back towards the main building. Sky Eye caught up with him about halfway. "Don't forget what I told you" the AWACS said with a knowing grin. Mobius just brushed his comment off. His brain was already trying to comprehend what Sky Eye had said. The sun was starting to descend so Mobius decided to head back to his quarters. He had to sleep on the information. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.