Quintus Caelum shifted slightly in the tight confines of his cockpit as his Vulture class aircraft streaked over the devastated landscape of Kali V. The Vulture was built from the same chassis as the venerable Valkyrie assault transport, but the boxy cargo area had been removed and replaced with powerful turbines. It was fast, it was agile, and it could carry an extraordinary load of ordinance. It was also better armored than other aircraft, making it ideally suited for ground attack duties.
He picked out a number of specks against the grey skies and keyed up his vox, "The is Aeratus squadron Primus Pilum, I have contact…two dozen bogies at Az-thirty, El-three."
"Affirmative, Aeratus," Came the reply over the vox. "Argentum squadron moving in to engage."
He watched as the small Lightning class interceptors dropped down from above them, vectoring in to meet the approaching enemy. The Lightning aircraft were the most maneuverable in the Imperial inventory, nearly as much so as vaunted Eldar fighters. Their armament of a nose-mounted long-barreled autocannon and twin lascannons gave it the ideal weapons mix to engage other aircraft, supported by four Hellstrike missiles if needed. It was the finest interceptor they had, and the pilots who flew them thought they were the next best thing to the Emperor.
Quintus knew better. The Lightning jocks might be more glamorous, and get the glory of their air-to-air kills, but it was the Vulture pilots who were the beloved of the soldiers. It was the Vultures that roared in with close air support, striking armored targets and mass concentrations of the enemy. The infantry grunt knew it was the Vultures that were his guardian angels, swooping down from the heavens with the fiery sword of retribution against the enemies of the Imperium.
He watched as the grey Lightning interceptors danced among the crude Ork fighter-bombers painted garish red. The superstitious Orks believed anything painted red was faster than painted any other color, so they decorated their aircraft in talismanic fashion. For all their bravado and arrogance, Quintus knew the Lightning pilots of Argentum squadron would keep the Ork air support off their backs.
Marauder bombers were coming back from their own attack sorties at higher altitude. The massive aircraft had been unloading tons of ordinance on the approaching Greenskin hordes. Flying in close escort were the large Thunderbolt fighters of Aureus squadron. Though not as fast or agile as the Lightning, the Thunderbolt was a fare more heavily armed all-purpose fighter. The four autocannon, twin lascannons, and compliment of Hellstrike missiles could rip apart just about anything in a single burst of fire. It was the perfect armament for escorts who needed to take out attacking interceptors quickly, before they could damage the lumbering and vulnerable bombers. Aureus squadron dipped their wings in salute as the passed far overhead of the Vultures.
Pulling back on the stick slightly, Quintus guided his Vulture up over a hill, nosing back down over the crest. His eyes opened wide as he saw the Ork army before him. It was an unbelievable mass of undulating green with hundreds of crude, cobbled together vehicles. It looked like a colossal grey-green amoeba, slithering across the valley toward Point Phobos. Huge holes had been blasted in the mass of Orks, but even as he watched they closed up as the Greenskins pressed forward.
"Emperor's Balls!" He heard one of his pilots exclaim over the vox.
"Cut the chatter, Aeratus squadron," He said automatically. "Take off your safety interlocks and go Weapons Hot." He clicked a set of toggles on his left hand control panel to free up his guidance systems and arm the weapons slung under the gull-wings of his Vulture. "Flights Primus and Tertius concentrate on their armor. Flight Secondus strike any high value infantry targets. Let's send them to Hell."
Seeing the approaching ground attack fighters, the Orks sporadically opened fire long before they were in range. He climbed slightly to give him a better view of the enemy and selected his target.
