Episode Three: Blind Leap

[rylee]

1632
Tree line level
Delta Site


Rylee flew tree line level drawing fire from down below at the Base. Carefully pulling off evasion moves, there were a few close calls, but she managed not to get hit. Rylee’s heart was racing, knowing she could get shot down at any moment if she wasn’t careful.

[Eteocles]

1632
Delta Site
Flight Control Tower

The Hoplite warriors had noticed two craft descending through the lower atmosphere and leading towards the base. Their identification beacons, which they'd only just figured out how to use, identified them as 'Ghost Four' and 'Ghost Five', though the meanings of these names meant nothing to the warriors. The warriors in the flight control tower contacted their comrades at the rail gun positions, all three of which were now online, and informed them of the incoming vessels before stepping outside the building and preparing the concentrate small arms fire on the two vessels.

The two small craft came into visual sight, and the entire was light up with fire directed at them. The three rail guns traced rounds through the sky, and every man on the ground was firing his weapon at them. The fighters this time already knew the base had been overrun, and their evasive maneuvers made them difficult targets to hit. The warriors assumed it was the fighters from before, coming back to try to raid the base, and the lead warrior in the field returned to the control tower to contact Etocles and let him know what was going on.

Inside the tower he was reaching for his communication device when he noticed six more bleeps had appeared on the sensors, designated 'Ghost One' to 'Ghost Three' and 'Ghost Six' to 'Ghost Eight'. The craft were coming from the direction the other craft had come from, but with all weapons focused on the two decoy fighters, no one had noticed their approach. Before the warrior could issue a warning, he the craft open fire on the base...

< Tag Pilots >

[Michael "Condor" Deline]

1633
High Altitude Above Delta Site

Condor observed the two fighters flying in, Dezba being closer to the ground. Seeing shots narrowly missing the fighters, Deline cringed and moved lower, ready to strike when the order was given. On his wing was Apollo, just like on Prometheus. Hope everyone's OK down there he thought to himself.

<Tag Anyone>

[Liam "Apollo" Kelly]

1633
Tree Level
Approaching Delta Site

Liam could see the other fighters ahead, rolling and jinking through the incoming fire. They were managing to stay alive at least, which was the only thing he needed at the moment. On his own wing he could see Condor, with Dark Angel further out with her own wingman. "Ghost one to Blue and Red flights. You are cleared hot, make your shots count."

He popped up from the tree line, making his profile visible but also doing so at the last possible moment. The rail guns were too busy with the other two fighters, and the remaining flight had come in so fast, that they did not have time to react. Kelly waited for his piper to glide over the first emplacement on his list before squeezing the trigger on his joystick.

20mm rounds lashed out, ripping ground up and tracing a line right across the AAA emplacement. There was no explosion like the movies, but the gun fell silent afterward. He could see Dark Angel starting her own run on the base's other set of emplacements, and could hear Condor's cannons go off. So far it seemed as though everyone was marking their targets.

[kindred]

1633
Tree Level
Approaching Delta Site

Hearing Apollos orders "Ghost one to Blue and Red flights. You are cleared hot, make your shots count." She began her attack run and came in fast, tracing rounds through the emplacement and seeing a satisfying explosion before moving along to the next, keeping out of their fire

[Ben "Token" Cunningham]

1634
Base Airspace
Delta Site

Having drawn the fire for the remaining craft, Ben had moved into an overhead holding pattern, ready to drop in for close-in support if required. Below him he watched Apollo silence the first rail gun, and Dark Angel take the second out of commission in a fierily explosion. One weapons remained, and Condor was coming in for final approach. Throughout the entire engagement he'd been wondering in the back of his mind exactly how Major Kelly was planning on taking the base. Even with air support if would be a challenge to land a bird, and he didn't know of a suitable landing zone within walking distance, the base was surrounded with dense forest.

Maybe with some low flyovers the pilots would be able to provide enough cover fire for a bird to be put down, and once they had enough feet on the deck they could secure the area and put the other birds down safely. With eight two man craft they had sixteen men at their disposal, not exactly a battalion, but it would have to do. The pilots had all gone through the same basic weapons training the grunts had been through, and from what he'd heard a few of the pilots were a crack shot. Dark Angel had assisted with base defence will the other pilots were still on route, and he doubted she was the only one handy with a weapon.

Below him, Condor dropped in and lined up for final approach on the remaining rail gun.

< Tag Condor >

[Michael "Condor" Deline]

1634

Condor's craft slid in beneath Token and lined up for the kill. "Weapons hot," he announced over the comm link to his RIO. Upon confirmation of target lock, Deline thought to himself, I just hope the techno-weenies can get the guns back up after we do this much damage.

When his computer blipped, he let off several rounds, and was rewarded with a satisfying small explosion as the rail gun blew apart at the base and sent its operator flying.

<Tag Anyone>

[Liam "Apollo" Kelly]

1634
Delta Site Airspace

Liam banked hard to starboard, looking over his shoulder at the destruction the fighter group inflicted. There was smoke rising from two of the weapons emplacements and another was on fire. They could probably fix the first two, but the third was officially out of service.

The hostile AAA gunners had been neutralized, forcing Apollo to think of something else. He wasn't sure if the rest of the X-Rays were still alive, but wanted to know. "Geoff, get your sidearm ready." The RIO knew what he meant the second his pilot uttered those words. "Damn." Kelly informed Dark Angel that she was in charge and dropped in on an approach pattern, the dirt runway closing with his craft.

[kindred]

1634
Delta Site Airspace

Lola cmae out of her attack pattern and back into formation with the rest of the squadron, when Apollo put her in command and banked to head in. Seeing him begin his approach, Lola got quickly gave orders "All Fighters, All Fighters cover Apollo's approach, keep an eye out for hostiles" before beginning a sweep on the area surrounding the runway

<Tag Anyone>

[Michael "Condor" Deline]

1634

Condor saw Kelly's approach and said to himself, "Wonderful ... " As he pointed and was about to mention it, his RIO said, "I see." Clicking his radio, Deline said, "I'm your wingman, don't think you're going in without me."

<Tag Kelly>

With that, he followed Apollo's path slightly behind and his 9 o'clock position. His RIO announced, "Looks like a clearing long enough for both of us to land about 1.5 klicks to the southeast." Condor nodded and said over his link to Apollo and Geoff, "There's a clearing to our southeast. It's big enough for our two craft, but there aren't any decently close areas to land that would be considered safe for any of the other Interceptors."

<Tag Kelly>

After confirming, Deline radioed the rest of the wing, "Condor to Dark Angel. Apollo and I found a good spot to the southeast but the closest other spots we found seem to be at least 4 klicks from the base. Suggest you pick a spot if you want to join in a ground assault."

<Tag Kindred>

"Apollo, I'm not even sure about our landing site being safe, but it's our best bet," he said after Apollo's comment. "The four of us can do a recon and see where it goes from there." Apollo's craft was lining up with the tiny strip of land, and Condor lined up as well. "We're going to have to go practically wing-on-wing to fit Apollo," he said over the radio.

<Tag Apollo>

1636

Deline and Kelly's crafts were less than 10 meters apart as they made their approach. His RIO announced the elevation and speed, and Deline winced and said over the radio, "Good luck Major." They passed the half-klick mark and Deline muttered, "The things I do for my country ... "

<Tag Apollo and Anyone>

"Hang on!" he yelled to his RIO as they passed the 100 foot mark, knowing they were going too fast to make a decent landing. Deline shoved the craft down hard, touching the landing gear and bouncing as he pushed on the throttle as hard as it would go, flaps fully open. The vibration was so intense it felt like his head would explode. As the secondary rockets were fired full-force at the front of the craft, the negative Gs whipped Deline and his RIO forward.

After what seemed like an eternity, the craft stopped in a giant cloud of dirt. Panting slightly, Condor sat back and groaned. Pausing a moment to feel if anything was broken, he found he was working fine. "I'm fine ... nothing malfunctioning," his RIO said. Deline opened the canopy and unfastened his restraints, copied almost simultaneously by his RIO. Reaching beneath his seat, Deline grabbed the Walther P99 strapped there and the two extra magazines and exited the F-302.

Almost falling to the ground, Condor raised up and brought the weapon up and around. He looked up to see Apollo and his RIO out of the craft, doing the same. Walking over but keeping an eye on everything except the other men, Condor said, "I doubt my bird will fly anytime soon ... "

<Tag Apollo and Anyone>

[kindred]

1634
Delta Site Airspace

Lola watched as Condor followed Apollo to the small landing strip, and calling for Dexba, made for the clearing four clicks away to put down Skippy...watching the other birds break formations and head in to the clearing, Lola waited, being the last to touch down as she covered the landing of the other birds. The other birds sitting safely, Lola began her approach, coming in fast and slamming hard into the dirt, and jamming on the anchors, slowed down as she taxied around to a better position. Exiting her craft her grabbed her knife and FN57 and two extra clips and went to meet the rest of the squadron Lola radioed Apollo
"Dark Angel to Apollo. All birds touched down safely, we are making our way to your position, over"

<Tag Apollo>
<Tag Anyone>

[rylee]

1936

Rylee managed took get one of her wings clipped but she was still flying. Finding a landing spot, she landed a rough one. For a moment she thought she would crash. Grabbing a gun from a hiding spot in the 302, she exited the cockpit, wish she had a ladder.

"Dazba's on the ground, where too boss?" she called through her radio to Apollo.

[Ben "Token" Cunningham]

1637
Base Airspace
Delta Site

OOC: As mentioned in my post in the OOC board, we need to move forwards to 1644, preferably in a few small jumps instead of one big one. Also, the four pilots who are on the ground, please continue in Base Exterior

The first four fighters had handed. Ghost One and Three had put down in a small clear strip of jungle not far from the base, and Two and Four had been forced to land further away. The plan was for the pilots to meet up and secure the runway, allowing the remaining four craft to land. In order to help them achieve this objective, Token and the remaining fighters were going to do their best to provide close-in fire support for their people on the ground. It wasn't exactly the task the 302's were designed for, and he'd never participated in a mission such as this before. Then again, they say you always remember your first...

He wasn't exactly sure how the pilots were planning on taking the base - most only carried a sidearm or a small personal defence weapon, not exactly the sort of hardware they'd need to reclaim a base. They had a few advances though; they all knew the layout of the base like the back on their hands, and high ranking officers like Major Kelly and Flight Lieutenant Kindred could use their access cards to move about practically any part of the base. The auto-destruct required activations codes from two O-4 or higher ranked officers, but hopefully it didn't come to that.

It was going to be a while until the pilots regrouped and began their assault. In the mean time, Token and the fighters would move away from the base, then come in and take up an overhead holding pattern once the assault commenced. A Captain from Red Flight who'd been left in charge gave the order, and the fighters moved away from the base.

< Continued in Base Exterior >