The Sentinels: The Battle for Zeta Luna

Outnumbered and Overrun

A/N: Aside from my OCs I don't own any characters that may appear all rights belong to their respective owners. Thanks to Zzshark_Stormbeard for allowing me to use their character Serial Designation U from their Murder Drones fan comic Serial Designation U

July 6th 0830 hours Astrid Airforce Base Ironvale Region, Zeta Luna

Captain Ashley "Viper" Watkins of the 376th Fighter Squadron ran to her waiting F96 as the air raid siren blared nonstop. Ashley taxied to the runway and took off quickly climbing to an altitude of 53,000 feet and linked up with the rest of her flight three F96s with the Callsigns Hollywood, Cosmo and Judge. "Viper radar's picking up a large formation of Antares bombers escorted by Mik-Five Shashka heading straight for Fosa intercept them and stay sharp" Astrid's air control told Ashley over the radio. " Copy that Astrid moving to intercept" Ashley replied over the coms. The four F96s headed northwest and as they neared the formation the sky darkened with the shapes of the lumbering Antares transports and the Mik-5 Shashka fighters moving around the formation like a swarm of angry hornets. "Alright Hollywood me and you are going to take care of the escorts Judge and Cosmo you two deal with the transports" Ashley said over the coms. "Copy that Viper lets light them up" Hollywood said excitedly. Ashley fired an AIRRAM-2 missile at a Mik-5 the Antares fighter exploding violently as a result while Hollywood took down another Mik-5 with a pair of AIRRAM-2s. Meanwhile Judge and Cosmo pounced on the bombers like sharks shotting several down in the matter of seconds. As Ashley shot down the last escorting fighter Hollwood said "Bandits twelve o'clock high" as a swarm of Shashka fighter swooped down on them shooting Hollywood in a blazing inferno. Ashley turned left and fired flares as two Antares missiles chased her. "Damn it where the hell did, they come from" Judge said frantically as four Antares fighters chased him down. As Cosmo tried to come to Judge's aid his F96 was torn apart by plasma fire from a black Entente SF-62 starfighter which flew away as fast as it had appeared. "Shit I can't shake them Viper help" Judge screamed as an Antares missile hit their left-wing causing Judge's F96 to spiral out of control down below the clouds. 

Now it was just Ashley alone surrounded by a swarm of enemy fighters and transports still closing in on Fosa, she could still see the Antares transports flying south on her radar. Ashley knew how outnumbered she was but then something clicked the fear melted away replaced by a cold steely resolve. This was her city her people her home damn it and she would die before giving up. "Alright Viper" she said gripping her controls "lets show these bastards what a Hylian pilot can do ". Ashley pushed the fighter to its limits the F96 danced trough the sky like an angel of death picking off Antares fighters one by one her maneuvers so pierce, so flawless that her opponents couldn't keep up. One after another Antares fighters fell out of the sky the odds didn't matter the numbers didn't matter all that mattered was that Ashley kept fighting. As the last of Mik-5's were shot down Ashley focused on the transports shredding through each of them with her two 30mm auto cannons and the transports went down like flies. Ashley shot down the last transport then there was silence as the adrenaline began to fade Ashley allowed herself to finally exhale her hands trembled slightly on the controls, but she forced herself to stay calm as she turned her craft back to Astrid Airforce Base "Viper to control" Ashley said over the coms her voice laced with exhaustion "mission accomplished all enemy craft destroyed". "Copy that Viper head on back to base" control said in reply. Ashley landed her F96 at the base just as more fighters from the 362nd Fighter Squadron took off on another sortie. As Ashley taxied to the hanger a crowd of officers and ground crew gathered around her as she got out of the cockpit. Damn Viper you did it I don't know how, but you did it" her CO the commander of the 376th Fighter Squadron Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Collins told her his voice a mix of disbelief and awe. "Twenty-one that's how many you shot down" Collins said quietly "that makes you a triple ace in a day". I was just doing my job sir" Ashley said as she walked out of the hanger.

Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 423rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment 106th Mechanized Infantry Division, 0920 hours, Seventy miles north of the city of Fosa.

Sargeant Nathan Clark dove to the ground as mortar rounds exploded overhead. "Get on that fucking machine gun" he yelled to one of his men as Antares paratroopers closed in on their position. the private grabbed the M470 LMG from the grasp of its dead gunner and opened fire on the Antares troops with a hail of 7.62mm rounds. The Antares paratroopers took cover as an MTD-84 APC fired at the Hylians with its 30mm gun the shells tearing through anyone unlucky enough to get hit by it. Nathan threw a grenade at the Antares paratroopers before reloading his M23 Carbine and fired short three round bursts at the enemy. A 30mm shell exploded near Nathan knocking him off his feet. Nathan tried getting up, but his left leg was pinned in a pile of rubble, and he couldn't get it free. The MTD-84 lowered its gun at Nathan's position ready to finish him of when a shell hit it head on causing the APC's turret to fly off like a champagne cork Nathan looked to his left to see an M5A3 Reaper Main Battle Tank of the 820th Tank Brigade and a pair of M6A2 Lynel IFVs pull up and the IFVs opened fire on the Antares paratroopers with their 25mm chain guns as Infantry complement dismounted and advanced alongside the tank. A medic got the rubble off of Nathan and gave him a shot of morphine as he pried shrapnel and chips of wood out of Nathans leg. "You good to go Sargeant" the Medic told Nathan before running off to go help someone else. Nathan got up grabbed his M23 Carbine and ran to go rejoin the fight for his homeland