The Neptunia Chronicles

A Brand New War

It had been two weeks since Neptune was first kidnapped from the Basilicom, and already the wound on her hand has formed into a painful scar. Andrew was just glad that she was home safe. That didn't mean, however, that he was on edge. Just this morning, Jose Carter, Neptune's former master, declared war on the CPUs and their nations, and simultaneously launched skirmishes along the Planeptune-Lastation border with his mercenaries. a group of Blackhawks from Lastation was already on the scene by this point, trying to put down the enemy.

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"We're approaching the target! Gunner, get ready to give them steel rain!" a Blackhawk pilot announced as they flew over a desert plateau along the border.

Next to the gunner, a Sergeant played "Rebirth From Sandstorm" from the Ace Combat Assault Horizon soundtrack on an MP3 player docked to a radio. The gunner on the chopper, Corporal Lance Kennedy, laughed with the choice of music as he set himself up on the door-mounted minigun. Two other Blackhawks roared next to them as they flew in formation, followed by two Ka-50 Hokums for heavy support.

"You know the objectives, boys. We go out here, hammer the shit out of Jose's mercenary forces, then return in time for lunch. Lady Black Heart will award any one of us for bravery and performance on this mission, so do your best out there. Now, split up and take them out." a Hokum pilot called out, his HMD controlling the chain gun of the attack helicopter as he flew around. Ahead of them, a dust cloud formed where the enemy was preparing to launch another skirmish.

"There they are! Fire away, comrades!" the other Hokum pilot shouted in a somewhat thick Russian accent. At that moment, all three Blackhawks began firing on the enemy, supported by the Hokums as they launched rockets at high threats like mobile AA guns and mercenaries with Stinger missiles. By this point the music on the radio behind Lance picked up, and he felt like he was actually a character in the video game this song came from. Laughing at himself for this, Lance picked his targets carefully, and fired on trucks, tanks and infantry.

"Heads up boys, the enemy's got a choppah with them." a Blackhawk pilot said in a very thick Boston accent, sounding almost similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Seeing the threat, Lance ceased his fire on the enemy below, and fired on an approaching Mi-24 Hind.

"Got'ya, motherf-!" Lance shouted as the enemy Hind burst into flames and fell on a small group of mercenaries below. The Blackhawk shuddered as the shockwave from the impact rocked it. Though the black helicopter remained stable, it was enough for Lance to lose focus for a short moment, before he returned his fire to the enemy below.

"Nice one, Corporal!" the Sergeant shouted with joy and laughter behind him as he witnessed Lance's handiwork below. As they finish their pass, the Hokums and Blackhawks make a U-turn, before firing on the enemy again.

"Keep going, boys. We've gotten a good number of them." the first Hokum pilot said as a good 60% of the enemy went up in smoke. This second run, Lance caught a glimpse of another Hind about to take off.

"Another Hind, and he's about to take off. I've got him!" Lance shouted, before he opened up on the Hind below. As the Mi-24 below them lifted up from the ground. a stray bullet from Lance's minigun tore a hole in the rotor linkage and disabled the tail rotor, sending it spinning out of control and straight into the ground on top of a lone tank.

"Great shot!" another gunner shouted. Lance was feeling pretty lucky today as he racked up his kills. His luck was about to run out, however, as an RPG hit the tail of another Blackhawk, breaking it clean off. The Blackhawk spun out of control the same way the Hind did a few minutes ago, but the pilot was able to regain control just before it hit the ground.