Author's Note

Before you read this chapter, here are a few things that you need to know.

Firstly, the following are a few things about The Sky Crawlers lore that you should know:

• All main machine guns on all aircraft have unlimited ammo (not including defensive guns on bombers)
• Each plane has a different set of four special weapons, each with different ammo loads, but projectile weapons (e.g. rapid-firing guns) will have a higher ammo count than dropped weapons (e.g. unguided bombs)
• Equestrian, Allied and Equinox aircraft use the exact same radio frequency in their aircraft, ground units and ships

Secondly, the following is a list of the things that DIFFER from The Sky Crawlers lore:

• Aircraft damage is more realistic and enemy pilots will have a chance to bail out, unlike destroyed aircraft exploding after being shot down (although aircraft exploding will happen to some aircraft)
• The Equestrians use both Rostock and Lautern aircraft, with the Equinox using aircraft of my own design (excluding the AB-RADAR aircraft in this chapter and the cargo aircraft used in a later chapter)
• Aircraft that make contact with the ground will instantly crash, rather that bouncing off the ground and taking damage
• Friendly aircraft colliding with each other will result in a crash, rather than the aircraft phasing through each other

Thirdly, all links provided in this story will either lead to songs or aircraft.

And finally, all but a few missions will be recreations of missions from The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces (with the rest being my own missions)

That's all, enjoy the first mission!

Radio Silence (Operation Predator & Prey)

Celestial Base, Ponyville
179 km within Equestrian lines
Briefing room
Mission about to begin...

Luckily, before the briefing began, Spitfire and Akula managed to arrive.

The briefing room was a simple meeting room, with a small amount of chairs facing a whiteboard, with a projector in the middle of the room. Immediately, Spitfire and Akula took their seats, and Twilight started the briefing. Twilight switched on the projector, which projected a map of Equestria. A blue circle appeared around where the Celestial Base was, from which a blue arrow coming from it that pointed to the Western Coast of Equestria, which the area where the mission would take place circled in red. Before the pilots could identify this area, an inset came up. On the edge of the inset, was a picture showing the coastline they were fighting over, which they recognized as the coastline near Las Pegasus. Then came a red circle and line, this also was tipped with an arrow, which went around the circle. On the line was a red aircraft mark, which represented hostile aircraft, quickly followed by two pictures of massive, four-engined aircraft.

"Wonderbolts, this is your mission," Twilight spoke in a professional tone "Equinox aircraft have been spotted near Los Pegasus, on the Western coast. From what we can gather, these planes are believed to be jamming our encrypted communications stations on that coast. And that's all we know. Regardless, you mission is simple," She said, as three blue planes appeared at the North-East end of the inset. "Destroy these jammer craft, so our troops and intelligence units won't be left in the dark for too long. We have Intel from coastal spotter stations that they have escorts," Two more red aircraft showed up on the map, next to the big aircraft representing the jammer planes, "But they should be no match for seasoned veterans such as yourselves. And one more thing. Your new Wonderbolt, Rapier, will be joining this mission. I'm sure you can learn much from your squad mates, Akula! That will be all pilots, happy hunting," Once she finished, a more advanced map of the combat theater showed up in place of the inset, showing enemy numbers, weather conditions and ally numbers.

Finally, the briefing concluded.

As the Wonderbolts scrambled to get to their aircraft, Akula did the same, rushing to his hangar. Once he managed to reach the open hangar, a Diamond Dog crew member was waiting for him there.

Akula just nodded to him as he slowed down to speak with the dog.

"Just two things I need to tell you before you head out. Firstly, as you keep flying well for us, you will be able to access new technology to fit onto your aircraft and improve it. These include more powerful engines and more sturdy armour, among other things. Also, since you're new to the squadron, the only secondary weapon available to you now is the unguided bomb. But as you get more experience and rack up your kill count, more secondaries will become available to you. Good luck!" The dog explained, before saluting the changeling pilot.

Akula just saluted him back and rushed to his fighter, jumped up on the wing and strapped himself into the seat.

Moments later...
Near Los Pegasus
Operation Predator & Prey

The stillness of the skies above the Equestrian coast was shattered by the loudness of the Wonderbolt Squadron's aircraft. All of their aircraft were arranged into an V formation, to increase range and reduce drag and fuel usage.

At the head of the formation, was Spitfire, in her custom Suiga. Yellow strokes on the wings distinguished it from the standard paint that the Equestrian Air Force used on their Suigas. And an emblem of a yellow SUIGA silhouette spitting fire from its wings adorned the plane's tail.

Flying on Spitfire's left as element lead of the formation, was Rainbow Dash, in her custom SUIGA. Instead of yellow, the strokes were coloured blue and an emblem of a blue Suiga silhouette leaving a rainbow trail adorning the tail.

On Spitfire's right as wingpony No.1, was Misty Fly, in her customized Fission. The Fission looked like a cross with the SAAB 21 and the Cessna O-2 Skymaster, with it's twin-boom tail and push-pull engine configuration. The Fission wasn't as heavily armed as the Suiga, with only four guns (one in each wing and two on the nose). While the Fission's peculiar design granted great stability, its engines are relatively weak, making it difficult to maneuver. Misty's Fission was coloured all over in dark orange, with light grey prop spinners on both engines. Her tail emblem was of Mistmane, with her mane flowing all around her.

On Rainbow's left as wingpony No.2, was Fleetfoot, in her custom Tulip. The Tulip is a lesser common tractor fighter in the Equestrian arsenal, being the most maneuverable fighter in Equestria, due to its light armour and weight. The Tulip slightly resembles the late-model P-51D Mustang, but with slightly bent gull-wings. It is armed with six guns (two in each wing and two in the nose). Fleetfoot's Tulip was coloured completely in a naval-blue, with a tail emblem of an arrow creating a sonic rainboom around it.

Finally, sitting in the rear of the formation behind Spitfire, was Akula, in his Suiga. Although it had the traditional livery, it had a tail emblem of a black rapier sword.

As they gained on the enemy formation, Akula couldn't help but gaze at the beautiful coastline and the clear blue skies above. This beautiful sky and coast was in complete contrast to the dark landscape and skies of his home. And he loved it.

Suddenly, Rainbow came in over the radio, "So, Rapier. How you feeling?"

"Wait a minute, this can't be his first sortie in a modern fighter, can it?" Misty then asked.

"Yeah, well I can vouch for his skill,"

After a moment of silence, Spitfire then asked, "Speedster, how's it looking?"

"Hostiles have pasted Point 2, right on schedule," Fleetfoot then reported.

"Hmm, excellent," Spitfire then started ordering the squadron to their targets, "Mistmane. Speedster. Blue Thunder. Take care of the escorts,"

All three pilots responded with a clear, "Roger!"

Spitfire turned her attention to Akula, "All right, Rapier, go ahead and take out the targets. I'll cover you," She then wished good luck to the others by saying, "Happy hunting, everypony!"

After Spitfire finished her wishes, a red box with the white caption 'MISSION START' appeared on the gunsight of his aircraft. The planes being used by Equestria might have looked like old prop planes and had no air-to-air rockets or missiles but they were still quite advanced aircraft for their design.

Maintaining cruising speed and keeping in formation, the squadron managed to pick up the first jammer aircraft, labeled AB_RADAR. This was the trailing aircraft of the formation, and according to the radar, there was a single fighter protecting it.

"They're still a ways off," Misty said, before talking to Fleetfoot, "Hey, Fleet. By the way..."

"Use code names in battle," The mare interrupted,

"Oh, right,"

"Incoming!" After Fleetfoot said that, Akula suddenly went full throttle and raced away from the squadron. He switched his target from the AB_RADAR plane to the fighter escorting it, and made his approach. Little did he know, that the rest of the squadron had increased speed to follow him.

"Target secured!" Fleetfoot suddenly announced.

"ALL WONDERBOLTS, OPEN FIRE!!!!" Spitfire commanded.

"Okay, time to show us what you've got!" Misty said to Akula.

"Go for it, Rapier!" Dash agreed.

"You can do it!" Fleetfoot also agreed. Once the Wonderbolts came a little closer, they opened fire from the maximum distance that their guns could reach. White hot, phosphorous-filled ball tracer, AP-I and incendiary bullets arced through the air towards the tail-enders of the squadron.

On board the hostile AB_RADAR plane, two pilots, by the names of Golden Gavel and Silver Frames had already settled in for their long mission. With a single fighter to escort them, and some others ahead, they didn't think that they would have any trouble in their mission.

To them, this jamming mission was just another milk run.

"Ahhhhhh. So bored," Silver Frame complained, "Why did Fancy Pants send us on this boring ass mission?"

Golden Gavel just turned to Silver with an annoyed gaze, and said, "Because Fancy Pants operates under the control of the Federation High Command. And his forces have to follow those orders," What he said was true, as Fancy Pants' Equestrian Security PMC was one of the PMCs that were bought by the Crystal Federation.

"But it sure is quiet. Are they even going to come out at all?" Silver then asked.

"Oh, you want the Equestrians to pop up and say hi?" Golden retorted.

"Well... It's just moments like these that I start to crave some action," Moments after she said this, a loud noise jolted the two pilots. It sounded like somepony had thrown a hoof-full of rocks against a metal shed, while they were standing inside the shed. Immediately, the two pilots got their heads onto a swivel and started looking around. And just as immediately, they saw bright tracers zip past the cockpit.

"Bandits on our six!" One of the escort pilots called out.

"Give 'em a warm welcome!" The squadron commander replied. Both Golden and Silver saw that their escort had turned away to engage the hostiles. Both of the AB pilots decided to perform some evasive maneuvers to shake their pursuers as best as they could, and for a while, it seemed to be working.

"Blue Thunder engaging!" Dash reported.

"Mistmane engaging!" Misty reported.

"Speedster engaging!" Fleetfoot reported.

Akula, not wanting the mission to be finished too easily, decided to attack to trailing escort fighter first. His radar identified the hostile fighter as a 'MAMBA', and the changeling felt a little bit of shock go through him.

The fighter, code named 'Mamba' by the Equestrians, was the primary fighter in the Equestrian Security divisions of the Equinox. Akula actually fought against this fighter in his final days in the Changeling Military. It was also the fighter responsible for the deaths of most of his friends and family. The Mamba was an advanced fighter, combining the wings of an F4U Corsair with the fuselage and tail of a Messerschmitt Bf 109. It was also heavily armed with nine guns (three in each wing, two on the nose and one mounted in the engine, firing through the propeller hub), two more than the Suiga. As such, Mamba units were assigned to vital missions and were flown by very skilled pilots.

"Enemy aircraft on our six, turn to engage," The hostile squadron leader reported,

"Fine. I'll just start on the one with the rapier mark," One of the enemy pilot replied.

Akula, knowing that the Mamba was a dangerous fighter, moved in to take it down. However, he was planning on taking down the fighter by surprise and didn't notice the rest of the squadron on his tail. And when he saw the tracers flying over his canopy and both the fighter and the main target break away from the squadron, he knew he would have to dogfight the Mamba.

At he thought that it wasn't a problem at all.

The Mamba performed a high-side tight right turn, to get its nose towards the attacking Wonderbolts. Akula climbed up to meet him, going full throttle. He started closing with the fighter at such a rate, he was able to catch up to the fighter while it was still turning. Trying his best to pull lead, he closed his hoof around the trigger. Hot lead zipped towards the fighter, but since Akula was coming it at such a bad angle, there were no hits. And Akula was coming in too fast, and overshot his opponent.

Immediately, seeing the changeling's mistake, the Mamba pilot reversed his turn and pulled onto the tail of the Suiga. But as he closed in for a shot, Akula then did something unexpected. The Mamba opened fire, but then, Akula chopped his power, deployed his flaps and pulled up on his stick. His aircraft responded by sharply nosing up and stopping all of its forward momentum, just like a cobra raising its head up to strike. Caught unprepared, the Mamba pilot barrel rolled out of the way of the nosing-up fighter, overshooting. Akula, seeing the Equinox fighter overshoot, reapplied full throttle and pulled back on the stick again, causing his fighter to flip over and drop point-blank onto the tail of the Mamba.

And with a sly smirk, he clasped the trigger.

All of his Suiga's seven guns lit up, and hot lead teared into the enemy fighter. Almost instantly, the Mamba's inline engine caught on fire and flames started to lick around the cockpit. "How did he get behind me?!" The Mamba pilot asked himself in shock, before bailing from his aircraft, moments before it exploded.

Spitfire, who was now closing with the second set of fighters, watched Akula's move in shock and awe. Wow. How did he do that?! That's not even possible for me, and I'm a really good pilot! Spitfire thought, as Akula pulled away. Suddenly, she realized that Akula was engaging the escorts instead of the jamming plane. So, she decided to call him out on it. "Rapier, don't be greedy! Just aim for the targets!"

"Leave the bogies to us!" Dash added.

"Target is along the coast," Spitfire pointed out to Akula, as he moved to engage the first jammer plane.

After seeing the enemy pilot successfully bail out, he turned his attention to the first AB_RADAR. Closing on it rapidly, he came to within firing range. Squeezing the trigger again, he saw his rounds impacting the hostile jammer plane all over, from wingtip to wingtip. Suddenly, both starboard side engines exploded, cutting the entire right wing from the enemy plane. Akula counted his second kill of the day, and moved to assist the rest of the squadron.

Noticing that Akula had downed the first target, Fleetfoot then cried out, "Target shot down!"

"Look at you go! Not bad for a newbie!" Misty complimented.

"Can't slack off now!" Fleetfoot then said.

"Yeah, keep it up, Rapier!" Dash added, as he approached their position. This time, two Mamba fighters were escorting the second AB_RADAR. But both were locked in a dogfight with the whole Wonderbolt Squadron.

Spitfire then reported in, "Rapier, you copy? Find and destroy all targets before time runs out,"

Akula then arrived on the situation, seeing Fleetfoot being tailed by one of the Mambas and the rest of the squadron engaged with the other fighter. Immediately, he turned onto the tail of the fighter that was trailing Fleetfoot. Catching the Mamba in a shallow left turn, Akula squeezed the trigger when the fighter filled his gunsight. The hostile fighter's right wing ripped under the weight of fire from the changeling's Suiga. Without even getting a thank you from Speedster, Akula moved to engage the second jammer, while the second fighter was downed by Misty.

Closing rapidly on the unsuspecting jammer, Akula opened fire. His rounds slammed into the aircraft's fuel tanks, suddenly detonating them. The hostile was turned into a dust cloud, there was nothing left.

Seeing the second jammer plan go down, Fleetfoot called out the kill, "Second target down!"

Actually impressed with Akula's ability being shown in his first mission, Spitfire then said, "Not bad,"

"Hey, you hear that?" Misty asked retorically.

"Sounds like you pass," Fleet said.

"Save some for me!" Dash cried out, having not gotten any kills.

Breaking away from his recent kill, he raced towards the final jammer plane. This one was escorted by one Mamba, with another four Mambas a few meters ahead. He decided to leave the first fighter for the others and raced towards the four fighters. Unseen by the jammer and its escort, he raced over the top of the target plane, causing the pilots to freak out and break away, right towards the rest of Wonderbolt Squadron.

As Akula raced to the head of the pack, he heard some chatter being spoken between Dash and Misty. "Mistmane, you there?" Dash asked.

"What's up?" Misty asked back.

"Just wondering... What is it exactly that the enemy is trying to jam?"

"Don't worry about it! No point trying to figure them out. We just do our duty and keep quiet,"

"It's all business with you,"

"That's how it goes,"

Akula just decided to ignore it. As he approached the hostile formation, the enemy pilots seemed to notice him and broke formation, one by one. Akula, knowing that his prey had spotted him, decided to pull up to chase them, starting with the nearest enemy to him.

Climbing up to meet him, he opened fire once he got within range, but ended up missing. But as the Mamba soared over the changeling's head, Akula yanked back on the stick and employed full throttle. His aircraft snapped into half-Immelmann/half-chandelle turn, pulling inverted before rolling out and being put into a high-left-side barrel roll, putting him on the Equinox fighter's tail. He opened fire and the rounds impacted the cockpit, killing the pilot. Pulling away from the stricken fighter, a second Mamba leveled off in front of him. Bringing his guns to bare on the hostile, the enemy noticed Akula on his tail and attempts to lose him in a tight, right-hand turn. But Akula keeps with him, firing a quick burst at the Mamba. The hostile fighter's coolant system was hit and he started smoking white smoke, before the pilot bailed out. The third Mamba came around to perform a head-on pass at Akula. However, despite having more guns, the Mamba's guns had worse range that the Suigas guns. Once in range, Akula opened fire. The Equinox aircraft couldn't fire back, as he wasn't in range. Instantly, the Mamba fighter was shredded and fell from the sky, its engine knocked out. He decided to leave the last hostile to the others as they had finished off their aircraft, the kill going to Dash.

As the rest of the Wonderbolts moved in to finish off the last Mamba, Akula raced after the final jammer plane. The final jammer plane had nowhere to go, as Akula's gunfire tore into the plane's fuselage and ripped off the tail of the plane, just as the final fighter was downed by Fleetfoot. The changeling immediately pulled an Immelmann to turn back the way he had come, as the squadron reformed formation with him. Once the others were in formation, a loud ping rang out and the same red box as before, but with the white caption 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED' appeared on the gunsight.

"All targets destroyed!" Fleetfoot reported,

"Mission accomplished. Speedster, any damage?" Spitfire asked.

"Negative," Was the reply.

"Well done, everypony!" She congratulated, before turning her attention to the changeling, "Rapier, you did well,"

"Good job!" Dash congratulated him.

"Guess a new species is taking over!" Misty joked.

"The life of a pilot is short as it is," Fleetfoot said, being a buzz-kill.

Not wanting to hear her wingponies complain about Fleetfoot's comment, Spitfire immediately said, "Alright, mares and changeling. Pull out," And with that, the squadron raced back towards their base.

Celestial Base, Ponyville
175 km inside Equestrian lines
Debriefing of Operation Predator & Prey

After landing and proceeding to the briefing room, and having their gun camera footage checked out, the debrief started. A map of the combat area appeared in the projector screen, which had different coloured X's that represented the squadron's kills.

Twilight came in and started the debrief. "Well done, everypony! You stopped them from jamming our signal, and the costal radio stations' signals are clearing up from the jamming. Rapier, fine job today! A lot of ponies are looking forward to seeing what your full potential is," And with that, the kills were tallied up and the debriefing ended.

And as Akula left, he couldn't help but think, Hmm, the ponies are not what I thought they would be like. I might get used to life here,