Ace Combat: Remnant

Chapter 1: Fragments of the Sky

"ACES even challenge the true sky." - Ace Combat 20th Anniversary

Juane Arc breathed short and steady breaths with the flightstick nearly in his chest as the radar lock warning blared in his ears.

*WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO WEE WOO*

Quickly swiveling his head to look behind him, he caught a glimpse at his pursuer; a Vacuan Mirage 2000. Juane rolled his F-16XL and dove into a half loop in an attempt to disengage, but the enemy remained on his tail determined to gain a missile lock.

Juane continued to roll and bank, the warning alarm still going off - until a feminine voice crackled over the radio.

"JNPR 2, Fox 3!"

Not a few seconds later the radar lock warning cut out and Juane saw a flash on his mirrors. Looking behind him again, he saw that the enemy Mirage had become a fireball as another F-16XL passed by it and pulled up next to him; piloted by his number two, his wingman, and girlfriend, Pyrrha Nikos.

"Thanks for that!" Juane called out over the radio.

"Don't mention it! Unfortunately, that was my last AMRAAM." she replied.

'Dammit.' he thought before asking "Sidewinders?"

"One left, three hundred rounds left for guns." she answered.

'Shit, not good.' He too had one AIM-9 Sidewinder remaining and was low on bullets.

"Ren and Nora?" he asked as his eyes constantly scanned the sky and his cluttered radar

Another feminine voice called out over the radio "JNPR 3 and 4 coming in at your 3 o'clock high!"

Looking to his right and slightly up, Juane spotted two other F-16XLs descending and forming up with him and Pyrrha.

JNPR Team

Vale Air Force

7th Air Division

63rd Air Force Unit

"How about you guys?" Juane asked his squadron mates.

"Nearly out of ammo and nearly out of fuel; we can't stick around much longer." Ren called back.

Juane ground his jaw, his number four was right - but given the current state of the battle though, he knew they couldn't retreat just yet; it would weigh too heavily on his conscience.

"JNPR Team. Engage as a formation, no single-ship attacks. We will provide support where we can; there's too many rookies out here, we can't leave them like lambs to the slaughter. We are not CRDL Team." Juane proclaimed.

Nora immediately snorted "HA! You're damn right we're not!!"

Ren replied with a simple "Hn." but Juane could hear the smile on his friend's face.

"We're with you Knight, lead the way!" Pyrrha responded confidently.

Juane couldn't help but smile, she didn't use his callsign 'Knight' often, but when she did, it gave him the feeling they could do anything despite the odds.

Unfortunately, as they merged with the large aerial battle that was taking place, any confidence they had was squashed when a call came in from the Airborne Warning and Control System.

<< This is AWACS Clocktower, we've detected five squadrons of Atlesian fighters entering the combat zone. >>

"GOD DAMMIT!!!" Nora shouted angrily.