Generation Stealth

I sighed cruising in a complete loop around the target area, the ground team was at work. They had to keep an eye out for enemy air support in the area. It sure was boring, all we did was tell joked through the intercom and screw around, but I felt something was coming, something terrible was coming. I looked down at a picture that was taped to the far side of the control console. I had a picture of Rainbow Dash with me, I needed to come back for her, I decided I was going to tell her how I really felt.

“Alright Aero, make another perimeter check, be thorough please, we need to keep the ground team safe.” Suddenly a loud boom echoes throughout the area, then another. Soon began a cascade of cracking and miniature booms, the ground team was being engaged. I began to bring my body to full alert, there was new intel of a bomb in that base, secondary objective was to secure it. If that bomb went off, then Manehattan would be in for one hell of a surprise.

“That’s our cue, get in there Sky Blazers, go, go, go!” I yelled at the three other pilots. They dived down in unison into the area. I stayed back scanning the area around for enemy air, it seemed clear so I dove down with them.

The foot units engaging our ground team had the advantage, they had the entire cover of the building while our ponies were out in the open scrambling for cover.

“You’re free to open fire, light them!” A flurry of turret fire sprayed through the roof of the building, we didn’t relent taking complex circles around the small area. I smiled diving into the firing zone, without further warning I leveled the top floor with turret fire. I heard the screams of the dying through the cracking of weapon fire.

“Alright move up and let loose the package.” I said waving my hoof back as a signal. The rest of the squad took a long pull up the length of the building until they were a good five meters above it. We all released our air bombs onto the roofing in unison. I didn’t see the explosion but I sure heard it. The crumbling of dry wall, the cracking of wood, the splash of fire. I smiled pulling back into the clouds.

“Ground Team, you’re clear to proceed, but be cautious surviving enemy units may still be in the area.” I saw the five dots move into the nearly destroyed building to secure the explosive device; once again I heard the cracking of weapon fire. This couldn’t have gone well. I heard the whirring of planes in the distance, it was either the squad regrouping, or enemy reinforcements. I let the radars range expand revealing twenty enemy units closing in fast.

“Crap, Stealth Hawk move into the clouds take a scout of the enemy units, I read twenty coming from the south!” I yelled at him, I saw him pull off from the squad barrel rolling into the far clouds. I felt adrenaline pumping through my body. The fight was on the horizon.

“Alright, move in silently, we don’t want to be spotted quiet yet, cut them down one by one.” I said while slowly moving off into the clouds, the enemy could do the same but our planes are designed to blend into the clouds and be almost invisible, when it comes to stealth, no other squad in Equestria compares to us. I moved in the darkness for about five minutes before maneuvering out for a split second, the adrenaline moving through my body seemed to slow the moment down giving me time to react, before a stray at the back of the formation knew it, he was down in flames from a short controlled turret burst.

Before the other fighters knew of my location I flung back up into the clouds out of sight. I heard the sharp sound of an explosion over the intercom; things were going well for us so far. We were steadily removing enemy units from their formation, still remaining unseen. I laughed at their vain attempts to spot us, the resistance was futile. That was until Aero Flame made a huge mistake.

He tried to take out another stray who obviously went out to recon the area, but he over shot it, he went speeding into the formation revealing our locations.

“Damn Aero why are you always such a screw up!?” I yelled at him through the intercom, I saw him being harassed with turret fire through the cock pit window. I had to save him somehow; he was a sitting duck out there in the open! I maneuvered through the clouds getting into the fight, he was going down over my dead body, no pony gets left behind! I began to release my missile silo into the scattered formation, I got lucky, my randomized vector knocked three of the enemy fighters from the sky.

“Wow, lucky shot I guess.” I muttered moving towards Aero Flames location. I had to save him somehow, I saw him luring three fighters on his tail through the clouds.

“Come on Aero, we’ve got to retreat! Every pony take to the clouds we got to get the hell out of here!” I yelled out at them, I saw Sky Dive and Stealth Hawk move out of the fray into the now dense storm clouds. I looked to my side to see one fighter I didn’t seem to notice. The moment went in slow motion, but I saw a missile fire from underneath the plane aimed directly at me.

“Damn!” I yelled but it was too late, there was nothing I could do, but as the missile approached I looked in horror to my side. Aero was diving right down into the missiles path.

“What….what are you doing?” I asked too shocked to process what was going on. I looked at his head turn towards me with a cocky grin spread across his face.

“Suicide!? You’re crazy Aero get the hell out of there!” I screamed but he wouldn’t listen to me, he simply took the missile dead on his left wing blowing it clean from the metal plating. I saw him began to spin in flight downwards.

“No! You dumbass!” I screamed out in my fury, I clenched the turret trigger as hard as I could, refusing to let go of it. I saw bullets spray all over the enemy plane’s glass cockpit; the plane went limp in the air, now uncontrolled. It simply dropped its angle diving straight down into the grassy field below.

“Call it the rebellious stage of my service sir.” He said his voice cutting through the static on his line. He was fighting for control of the now burning hunk of scrap metal. I looked at his plane with my eyes starting to glisten with tears.

“You…shouldn’t have done that…You shouldn’t have done that! Damn it all!” I screamed out as he lost control of the plane, the rest of the plane was engulfed by the flames. It looked like a meteorite falling down into the field below us, I didn’t even bother to send a search and rescue to the crash site, no pony could have survived that.

“Sky Blazers..move out, our mission here is a failure.” I said monotonously. I looked out to the small blazing plane crumpled on the ground with a new found strength, he didn’t die in vain, I wouldn’t let him die in vain. I looked ahead in our retreat forgetting one crucial detail, the ground team! Their mission must have failed, which only means. I looked back just in time to see the blast. The shock wave swept over us shortly.

I felt every muscle in my body jolt with the kinetic outburst of energy. My back propellers were completely annihilated by the blast. My head started to swim with confusion while my plane began to nose dive. I heard the screams of the squad through the intercom. This was it, this was our end.

I looked through the blinding whiteness to see a strange Cyan pony walking towards me. I held out my hoof to her weakly, I hoped she would save me somehow. But I felt the wind knocked from my chest on impact with the hard floor. Then everything went black.

I looked through the blackness to the ponies chanting the names of their loved ones once again. This time it was different however. This time I saw three new ponies chanting along with them. A faded color began to drain into them as I realized with a depressing thought that they were my squad, they were completely annihilated in the blast. I looked at them with my eyes wide in sorrow. My mind searched for the only words I could say, finally I just broke out the only words I thought of.

“I’m sorry….I’m so…so sorry.”