Act 1, Chapter 1: Killing Ground

0946 hours, 29 June 2004...

Years after tormenting myself through the hellish testaments, they’ve finally given me a first mission to become one of the UZEAF’s (Union Of Zalanthian Elite Air Force) pilots in the renowned Ephrata Airbase. And to top it all off, the commanding officer finally gave me a chance to change my callsign to prove my value to the squadrons; they even promoted me to lead my own independent squadron.

And the callsign I pick? Wyvern. I don’t know why I picked this callsign, but it is surely much nicer than them constantly calling me “Shortstack.” Maybe my flying skill was like a wyvern that rained death in the sky.

Inside this crowded briefing room, where pilots’ chatter was deafening in the area, the commanding officer, Commander Jason Vanderhall, arrived at the room and presented the mission to the entire room with a clear and solemn voice.

“Good morning, pilots. Here’s your current sitrep.”

The entire room went silent like a brief sonic book. As the latter paid attention to the blue LCD screen, which showed our home airbase’s map and the incoming enemy movements through the CGIs.

“Unidentified Kamchatka bombers with their escort fighters have breached our airspace. Intelligence suggests these may be remnants of extremist forces seeking revenge for their defeat in the 5/7 incident three years ago.”

“Kalina Satcom has been tracking their traces, but their exact origin remains unclear. What we recognize is that they’re targeting our airbase, and we cannot afford even minor damage.”

“We may look like sitting ducks, but we’ll prove we’re biting ducks. Engage, intercept, and destroy all hostiles before they reach striking distance.”

“All squadrons, give it your all—and make it back in one piece. Good luck!”

All of us stood up and responded in unison before rushing to the hangar with a unison voice that shook the briefing room like a 1 SR earthquake.

“Understood!”

***

All hangar crews are preparing each fighter plane by equipping weaponries and checking the plane's condition before it’s flown.

I, Rayburn Yorkshire (Wyvern-1), and my wingman, Beckett Jules (Wyvern-2), quickly humped into our C-16 Viperid, the deadliest light fighter. I fired up the craft, checked the systems, and waited for clearance before taxiing and takeoff.

After I arrived at the runway where the rest of the fighters took off, I confirmed to the control tower for a takeoff permission.

“Alright, Wyvern-1, this will be your first full-time mission. Runway is clear, and you are cleared to take off.”

As I put the flaps upward and push the throttle to the maximum, I pull the stick to raise my plane nose in a rush. And as my jet’s altitude increased to 656 feet (200 meters) above the ground, I then put the flaps into the neutral position and put all the gears in. All the while, ATC confirmed my departure.

“Wyvern-1, altitude restriction cancelled. Return to your mission. Good luck.”

On my way to enemy bombers with Ephrata’s squadron, Wyvern-2 flew alongside, playfully teasing me.

“Hey, buddy! Let’s make a bet: whoever got many kills deserves a free dinner coupon later on.”

I just full-throttled my aircraft with my growing irritation at his constant teasing as I briefly responded.

“Think about that later on! We’ve got bandits to bags!”

“As you wish, flight leader~”

After his brief joking response, the AWACS contacted all the squadrons through the radio communication with a solemn tone.

“This is AWACS Capricorne to all units. Tally on the 4 bombers and 6 fighters escort at the bearing 2-9-0 through the Northwest!”

And then Beck responded to the AWACS with a playful, yet confident tone. Almost as if this mission was like a weekend holiday to him.

“This is Wyvern-2! We’ve got a clear visual of those 4 hostile VR-95 Kamchatka bombers and 6 C-16 Viperids! And don’t forget to give us paychecks after the mission, AWACS!”

“Negative! Focus all your missions on the bombers and the fighters first!”

Thus, AWACS’ stern response put us into radio silence in maximum focus as we were going full afterburner toward the incoming enemy on our radars.

As I was approaching the 4 VR-95s and 6 enemy C-16s faces, I switched to the 4AAM, got a perfect lock on the 4 bombers’ faces, and immediately sent them to hell.

“Wyvern-1, Fox-3!”

BOOM

And that’s their welcoming party! My 4AAM easily obliterated the 4 Kamchatkas into oblivion. And it panicked the 6 enemy fighters, who were dispersing in every direction to avoid any missile locks.

“Let’s take care of those fighters! I’ll race ya!”

Beck confidently poked at me whilst hot on the C-16s tails, together with the latter Ephrata’s squadron. And I waste no seconds on chasing down the enemy fighters with no words.

I tried to get a lock for my missile, but the extremist pilots on their C-16s were more agile than us. It was as if they mastered some black magic to tune their fighters to be more advanced than us.

Thenceforth, I switched to the gun and got my nose right into the target’s body.

And that should do the trick; after I took down 2 enemy C-16s with my gun and finished the remaining one with my missile.

But amid the fight, Beck confidently exclaimed after he cleared the remaining enemy C-16s.

“This is Wyvern-2! I got easy kills!”

We naively thought this mission was going easy as pie as we flew side by side to confirm the AWACS. Until the AWACS warned us.

“Warning! Another phase of bombers and the fighters approaching at the bearing 0-6-0 on the northeast!”

“Another phase?! Give me a break!”

Even though I was just as frustrated as he was, I had to push through by facing them head-on.

“Unfortunately, we have to do it!”

“I’ll race ya, wyvern boy!”

My radar detected six Azrael bombers, five Phantasmus 2000s, and four C-16s. The enemy escorts got a lock on me, but I broke left and dumped flares to avoid the missile shot.

Despite the constant rings of my RWR, I harshly banked left to avoid their missile locks and then banked right to the 6 S-52’s tail. With that, I get a perfect 4AAM lock as I immediately pressed the fire button.

“Fox-3!”

BOOM

“Ha! That Wyvern boy’s gonna take all the glories as a nugget, eh?!”

Despite that, I got surrounded by 9 fighters’ escorts as I fell right into their trap to end my career. However, with my flying agility, I can break to the left or right without even being hit by a single gun or missile, dumping no single flares, as I almost blacked out myself from the brutal Gs.

After breaking left or right to avoid the escort’s missiles, I successfully tailed on their back by braking hard and shooting my missile twice into different targets.

“Fox-2!”

And I easily splashed 2 enemy Phantasmus like it was nothing. But the remaining enemy fighters were desperate to shoot me down as they kept dumping their sidewinders into my tail.

And out of a massive frustration from their threats, I constantly dumped flares as I simultaneously switched to the gun and easily shot the remaining enemy S-52s.

But as I saw the S-52s falling into their demise, I accidentally saw a mint leaves insignia on the enemy bombers’ stabilizers. Even those escort fighters have the same insignia on their stabilizers.

These plane insignias keep me distracted until one of the escort fighters scratched my left wing with their gun bullet. It pisses me off, where I switched to the gun and then pushed the fire button to pay them back.

But when I was about to pay them back by merging with 7 fighters all by myself, 3 Zalanthian A-14 Sharpshooters, despite their ancient technology, came in a sonic boom and easily mowed down the rest of the bombers and the fighters with their missiles.

As I didn’t expect their sudden arrival, one of A-14 pilots then contacted the entire Ephrata pilots in a stern voice.

“This is Lukas Ogier Kristoff, Pegasi squadron’s leader! Cease your fire because we have repelled those enemies. And mission accomplished!”

In which, I then regain back my normal control as I finally had a breather. All the while, AWACS informed all of us.

“Roger that, Pegasi-1. All units cease your fire! We got a clear visual on the downed bombers and the fighters! Return to the base immediately for debriefing!”

“That’s a roundup! Let’s go home!”

After the fierce first mission and on my way back to the runway, Beck queried me with a vibrant tone of his usual quirk.

“Hey buddy! How many kills do you have?”

Still, my mind can’t stop pondering the Mint leaves insignia on the downed planes. It was as if we were fighting a force that we were familiar with. Where I briefly responded with a confused tone.

“Don’t really know how many, but there’s something weird about them.”

But Beck casually laughed at my response as he further made fun of my confusion.

“Bro! What do you mean by something weird?! You probably blacked out from the Gs, right?!”

We then elaborate no further, as all the surviving pilots safely landed and parked their planes back in the hangar.

***

Everyone in the briefing room looked confused on the enemy they previously fought on, as chatter stormed the room like a wave from the unrestful storm. It was then, the commanding officer cleared his throat to cool down all the confusion as he elaborated in a solemn tone.

“Mission accomplished. Although we keep the damage to a minimum, you have proved yourself to make them think twice before raiding our base with their pitiful attacks. Dismissed!”

But, before Commander Jason Vanderhall was about to leave, I then stood up from the chair as I briefly questioned.

“Commander. Didn’t Commander recognize who raided us and where they came from? Because we’ve seen their insignias were from someone we knew!”

The entire room fell into a blackened silence as they glared at me with a hint of confusion or even some scorn from the seniors, had enough of my stupid question at each briefing.

Commander Vanderhall looked down in silence as he then picked up the remote, pointed it at the LCD, and it turned into ZBN’s breaking news.

“The Kingdom of Valus declared war against the Union of Zalanthian Federation. The cause was due to the massive terror attack in Sauveterre city by the Zalanthian troops. It appears the Zalanthian troops are burning, ravaging, and slaughtering Sauveterre citizens mercilessly, with a justification to purge all terrorism due to the trauma of the 5/7 incident. And now we’re jumping into the declaration speech by her majesty, Queen Elena Reine Bouquet.”

And then the news jumped into the Queen Bouquet’s speech, as she gracefully stood up on the broadcasting stage and delivered her stern speech despite her gentle demeanor and young age.

“I am Elena Reine Bouquet, the 25th Queen under the Valusian Royal Family. Zalanthian troops had burned, ravaged, and slaughtered my beloved hometown, which I swore to protect until the end of my life, Sauveterre. Unfortunately, they destroyed it with the reasoning of purging all terrorism by any means! Henceforth, we considered this as the act of war the Zalanthian troops have ever done to us!”

All of us then sat back and carefully paid attention to the news, all the while her Majesty Bouquet continued with a sterner and scornful tone.

“And don’t we realize how many war crimes they have ever committed in the previous war, as if they acted like a ‘Hero and Savior’ with their greediness, shrouded in the label of ‘Freedom and Democracy’? Which is pitiful to hear and to see. I warned you directly, President Arthur Hulkenberg! The consequences you will face are more immense than you were expecting if you do not take any responsibility for the damage that you’ve done!”

She then raised her right finger as she pointed it toward the cameras, all the while concluding her stern speech, which likened to a slam to the table.

“We declared war against you, your nation, your troops, and your peoples! I do not care if we used to be a close ally during the 5/7 incidents! Because deep in my family’s roots, all treacheries must be eradicated! I hope you will learn your lesson, President Hulkenberg, from what you have done to my beloved country!”

As the LCD had turned off after the declaration broadcast, the latter in the briefing room protested to each other as one of them trash talked to each other regarding the war declaration from the Valusian Queen herself.

However, Commander Vanderhall easily calmed the storm in the briefing room with a single hand raise as he elaborated in a solemn tone.

“All pilots, listen up! We know that you might be confused about what was going on with the recent attack on our airbase. But I want all of you to remain calm and cautious about that! Dismissed!”

We then exited the briefing room with massive confusion all over our minds.

The declaration of war from the Queen of Valus herself already gave all the pilots in this airbase massive goosebumps. Although we, the Zalanthian pilots, are from the number 1 superpower country, we should never underestimate other powerhouses, so we will not repeat the same mistake from 3 years ago.