Ace Combat: Gryphon Assault

A/N: some of the events near the end of this chapter are based on a couple of scenes from the movie "The Sum of All Fears"  Also, there's some battleship action.

The F-16G Sea Falcon is a fictional variant developed by Equestria's aviation research and development facilites.

(30 miles off the coast, near Mareami)

(5:45 PM)

The Celestia-class battleship ERNS Luna, along with a flotilla of four Bridle-class frigates and two Unicorn-class destroyers of the 1st Fleet were engaging the enemy invasion fleet.

The destroyers and frigates split off to engage the enemy escort ships while the battleship would take out the enemy amphibious ships.

The enemy ships had already been spotted on radar and the battleship was closing in to engage with her nine massive Mk-7 16-inch guns.

“Enemy ships spotted, stand by to engage with guns!” the TAO (Tactical Action Officer) said from the ship's CIC (Combat Information Center).

“Mount One-Five-One manned, ready and standing by.” the phone talker in the foremost turret said.

“Mount One-Five-Two manned, ready and standing by.” the phone talker in the second forward turret said.

“Mount One-Five-Three manned, ready and standing by.” the phone talker in the aft turret said.

The massive warship got within ten miles of the beach and turned to port, bringing all nine of her main guns to bear on the enemy.

The gunners used their targeting computers to input target data and calculate the necessary angles to insure a hit.

“In range and locked in!” the gunner in the forward turret, Gunner's Mate Third-class Blaster said from his gun control console inside the turret.

The other two turret gunners gave similar statements as the first enemy ship was targeted.

“All stations, TAO, kill track 1532 with guns.” the TAO said after receiving the go-ahead from the CO (Commanding Officer).

“Roger, kill track 1532 with guns, firing salvo!” the gunners each said.

The salvo alarm sounded on the weather decks, warning all hands topside to get inside the skin of the ship.

Seconds later, the gunners pressed the FIRE button on their respective consoles.

*BOOM!  BOOM!  BOOM!* The forward turret fired one barrel at a time, the other two turrets fired at the same time in the same style.

Nine two-thousand pound armor-piercing shells flew through the air at roughly 2600 feet per second, slamming into the hull of the enemy ship!

The shells penetrated through the hull and exploded deep within the bowels of the ship, causing massive damage.  A massive twenty-foot hole was opened up in the hull, near the waterline.

Three more shells from the Luna's next salvo hit the bridge and radar station.  The flooding became uncontrollable and the ship went down in minutes.

“Good kill, targeting next hostile!” the TAO said after the kill had been confirmed.  The next enemy amphibious ship was sunk in three salvos, and the last two were sunk in two salvos each.

By this time, all of the enemy escorts had been sunk, and the other allied ships rejoined their flagship.

The group then went to join the newly-formed Task Force 129, a massive provisional battle fleet consisting of three aircraft carrier strike groups: AFS Kestrel, AFS Aquaria, ERNS Harmony and, coming soon, ERNS Friendship.

At the same time, another group was created: Task Force 121, a joint Arcadian-Equestrian amphibious assault group, consisting of AFS Hellspawn, AFS Hellgate, AFS Portal, AFS Stargate, ERNS Barnyard, ERNS Stable, ERNS Canterlot and ERNS Swayback, as well as their escort ships.

(AFS Kestrel, twenty miles off the coast from Mareami)

(6:01 PM)

Robert and Vidal's planes were on the catapult, fully loaded, fueled and ready to go.

Robert went to full afterburners after receiving the signal from the deck crew.

Seconds later, the catapult fired and the plane was launched.

The other planes followed soon afterwards.  The four F/A-18Es formed up and began their approach to Canterlot.

Their mission: assist the ERAF in escorting Sun Force One to the safe-zone in the Swayback Mountains.  “Watch-horse, Shadow Flight is airborne.” Robert said after raising his landing gear and turning towards Canterlot.

“Roger, Wonderbolt Flight will be with you during your mission.” Watch-horse, an ERAF E-767 AWACS, replied.

Robert's eyes lit up when he heard this.

{That's Rainbow's unit!  I'm glad I'm getting the chance to fly side-by side with her, and in quite an important mission, too!} Robert thought as the flight entered Canterlot airspace.

The Wonderbolt squadron was already on station and Princess Celestia's 747 was already on the runway in its takeoff run.

“Shadow Flight, this is Spectrum, your objective is to engage any enemy aircraft before they get too close, we''ll handle the leakers!” Rainbow said once she spotted Robert's unit.

“Roger that, Spectrum, standing by to take escort positions!” Robert replied.

Seconds later, the 747 was airborne and climbing fast.  “Sun Force One is airborne!” Rainbow said.  The Wonderbolts swooped in and took up their escort positions near the aircraft.

Once the group passed 3,000 feet, Robert and his flight took up their positions a bit further from the 747, but still close enough to provide quick response to enemy threats.

The Wonderbolts formed an octagon around the 747 while Shadow Flight took up positions at each end: Robert in front, Vidal on the port side, Angelo on the starboard side, and Megan covering the aircraft's six o'clock.

A flight of Typhoons were already engaging the enemy fighters, but the escort force was ready to respond if necessary.

Only one MiG-29 made it through and made an attempt to attack Sun Force One.

“Shadow flight, be advised, we have a single leaker inbound on Sun Force One, protect that bird at all costs!” Watch-horse ordered after detecting the single bandit.  Megan was quick to respond.

“I've got tone!” she called out as she locked up the bandit.  “Shadow Four, Fox three!” she called out as she fired an AMRAAM at the MiG.

The missile streaked towards the MiG at mach 4 and impacted seconds after launch, shattering the MiG, which went down in flames.  Megan rejoined the formation as they got closer to the safe-zone.

Once they reached the mountain range and closed in on the airstrip twenty minutes later, the escorts split off and set up CAP stations above the area.

The 747 lined up and began its approach.  “This is Sun Force One, beginning approach to land!” the pilot said as he lowered the landing gear and flaps.  “Roger, approach looks good!” Robert replied.

After three minutes, Sun Force One landed safely.  “Stardust, this is Shadow One, good landing confirmed on Sun Force One.” Robert said.

“Roger, mission is complete, return to home plate.” Watch-horse said.  “Roger, Shadow Flight is RTB!” Robert replied as his flight split off and headed back towards the Kestrel.

“All allied forces, be advised, the enemy has been pushed out of Mareami and Seahorse City, only Seaddle remains, I say again, the enemy has been pushed out of Mareami and Seahorse City, and now only Seaddle remains.” Watch-horse said after receiving a sit-rep from the Equestrian military HQ.

Robert closed in on the carrier, for he was the first to land.  Robert lined his plane up for the approach.  He lowered the landing gear, tail hook, and full flaps.  He also switched the aircraft's HUD to ILS mode.

"Strike, Shadow 1 inbound to land." Robert said.  "Shadow 1, fly the bull’s-eye." The air boss said.

"Strike, Shadow 1 checking in, flight of four, good fuel state." Robert replied.

"Shadow 1, this is Strike, descend and maintain Angels 2 for approach, maintain 175kt, final heading 320, switch Marshall." The air boss said.

"Strike, Shadow 1 copies all." Robert replied.

"Shadow 1, this is Marshall, mother is case 1, expect CV1 approach." the LSO (Landing Signal Officer) said.

Robert was on a three-mile final at this point.  "Shadow 1, on course, on glide-slope, begin descent." The LSO said.  A few slow minutes passed as Robert closed in on the carrier.

"Shadow 1, you're at three-quarters of a mile, call the ball." The LSO said.  "Roger, Shadow 1 has the ball." Robert replied.  “Roger ball, roger ball.” the LSO replied.

Ten seconds later, the plane touched down on the deck and the tail hook snagged the #3 wire.

As it hit, Robert went to full military power as a precaution.

“Trap, 3 wire, red deck!" the LSO said as the plane touched down.  Robert grunted as the plane came to a quick stop!

Two seconds after touchdown, the plane was at a stand-still.

"Shadow 1, raise your hook and taxi to parking." The air boss said.

Robert raised the hook and flaps and folded the plane's outer wings and taxied off of the runway.  "Deck is green, Shadow 2 cleared to land." The air boss said.

Vidal then lined up and carried out his landing, followed by Angelo and finally, Megan.

Over the next four hours, the two militaries, now joined together as the Arcadia-Equestrian Joint Strike Force (AEJSF), managed to push the enemy out of Seaddle, that had been attacked by Akaelian forces.

(Atlantic Ocean, 150 miles east of Mareami, Equestria)

(July 24, 2016, 1:25 AM)

The Equestrian Royal Navy aircraft carrier ERNS Friendship was en-route to rendezvous with the other ships of Task Force 129, located 200 miles to the south on a course of 170 at 35 knots.

On her flight deck, four of her F-14 Tomcats were on the catapults, on alert 5 readiness and ready to launch quickly.  In the carrier's CIC, one of the radar operators spotted a dot on his screen.

“TAO, EW, I'm picking up intermittent radar bearing 087.” the operator, Operations Specialist Third-class Seeker, a young earth pony whose cutie mark was, in fact, a radar screen, said as he tracked the radar signature with his eyes.

“Where?” The TAO asked as he came over to see what Seeker was looking at.

Suddenly, the blip on the screen disappeared.  “Now it's gone.” Seeker said.

Meanwhile, a flight of six Tu-22 bombers were racing towards the carrier.  They were flying at low altitude, below radar coverage.

“Target acquired, initiate attack run.” the lead bomber pilot ordered.

On the carrier, the blip reappeared on Seeker's screen.  “There!  It's a weak signal, low on the horizon!” he said.

“TAO, Air Sup, inbound contact!” the air supervisor said in a slightly nervous tone as he spotted the bomber group on his screen.

A minute later, the Tu-22s each launched a pair of AS-16 Kickback anti-ship cruise missiles in a single wave.  After the missiles were in flight, the Backfire-Cs turned away.

“Multiples on the same bearing!” the air supervisor said urgently as he spotted the missiles on his screen.

“Vampire!  Vampire!” Seeker said as he spotted the missiles on his screen heading straight for the carrier.

“Fast-movers inbound, I've got seven, eight, no, nine of them!” the air supervisor reported, his voice full of horror and near-panic.

As the missiles approached, the ship's port-side Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapons system) mounts began to automatically track the inbound missiles as they began unleashing a torrent of rounds at the incoming threat.

Most of the missiles were destroyed, but one of them struck the aft end of the island, taking out the primary flight control center (Pri-Fly).

A second missile hit the port side forward, underneath the catapult.

The last missile went into the hangar deck through the open door and struck the bulkhead on the other side.

Massive plumes of thick, black smoke rose from the stricken aircraft carrier as fires from the missile impacts and the resulting spills of JP-5 jet fuel raged.

Damage control teams fought desperately and after nearly two hours, managed to put out the fires and contain any flooding.

They managed to save the ship, but she had lost her ability to launch or recover aircraft, her arresting cables being damaged by the third missile impact.

ERNS Friendship was forced to return to her home-port in Seaddle for repairs.

(Two hours later)

A flight of F-16G Sea Falcons from ERNS Generosity were headed for Talon Air Force Base, where it was discovered that the attacks on the cruise ship several days ago, and the recent attack on the ERNS Friendship just two hours earlier.

Their mission: destroy the base facilities and all aircraft on the tarmac.

A flight of ERAF F-117A Nighthawk stealth strike craft was leading the pack to destroy the enemy radar sites around the base.

“This is Ninja One, ordnance away!” Captain Nightfall, the lead F-117A pilot called out as he released his aircraft's two Paveway III laser-guided bombs from his aircraft's twin internal weapons bays.

The F-16 pilots watched as plumes of flame erupted from the ground near the horizon as the Nighthawks deployed their payloads.  At the same time, the F-16s acquired their targets as they prepared to attack.

“Falcon's Nest, this is Falcon One, we have target acquired.” the lead F-16 pilot, Captain Hunter, said as he spotted the base on his targeting display.

“Target is lit.” Hunter said as he activated his aircraft's laser designator to put a laser spot on the target to give his laser-guided bombs something to home in on.

“Goodbye!” Hunter said as he released his payload of two Paveway III 2000-lb laser-guided bombs on the base facilities, his fellow pilots following suit just after.

Another wave, this one of Arcadian Navy F/A-18F Super Hornets of the 12th Naval Strike Fighter Squadron from AFS Arcadia, dropped Mk 20 cluster bombs on the flightline to destroy the base's aircraft.

The bombs all hit their marks, and the base was rendered combat ineffective, its facilities and aircraft obliterated in a single, massive blow.

The strike planes all turned around after releasing their ordnance.  They dipped back to their egress altitude and returned to their carriers without incident, having successfully carried out the first strike against Akael on their home territory.