Celestial Base, Ponyville
179 km within Equestrian lines
Squadron break room
Present day...
Spitfire couldn't believe what she was reading, as she flicked the pages of her newspaper to that of the main headline page.
What she saw, imprinted in bold was: 'Equestria Declares War!' As she read through the article, she discovered a recap on everything that had gone on in the past few weeks. How the right-wing Crystal Federation party bought every single PMC in Equestria to create Equinox, how Equinox took over the entire Crystal Empire, then declared war on all of Equestria and invaded their neighbors.
Equestria, now sheltering the leaders of each of the fallen nations, realized that they could be open to invasion and started to buff up their forces with fresh-faced recruits and even mercenaries. Even their legendary Wonderbolts of the Equestrian Air Force took on some new recruits.
Which is what was happening today.
As Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolt Squadron, sat on the couch in the room and flipped the page, Rainbow Dash entered the room, with a coffee being held in her right wing. And judging by the bags under her eyes, she had just woken up. Upon seeing her captain sitting at the couch, she saluted her with her other wing and said, "Morning, Captain!"
Out of habit, Spitfire saluted her back. "At ease, Crash. It ain't time for that yet," With that said, Rainbow sat down at the big table in the middle of the room, and started to take sips from her coffee.
"Any news on when the rookies are getting here?" Dash asked, taking another sip.
"First, the recruits are getting here until later this morning. And second, it's not 'rookies', it's 'rookie'," Spitfire replied, the last statement causing Rainbow to do a spit-take.
"WHAT?!" She exclaimed, "I thought we sent out a request for six recruits! Why are we only getting one?"
"We're only getting one out of the six pilots requested, because they had to get here by road, as our trains aren't running near the frontlines, due to recent air attacks on the trains close to the front. And the first rookie to be sent to us was already in Ponyville, so he's on his way now," Spitfire replied. It was unwise to transport ponies via train, due to the Friendship Express Incident, when the Friendship Express, while transporting troops to the frontline, came under attack by Equinox aircraft. Although the train made it to its destination, the conductor was killed during the attack. Since then, only ground transport has been used, unless it's deep within friendly lines work, where trains are able to operate unopposed.
The train line that leads the pilot training facility to Ponyville is the exact same line that the Friendship Express came under attack on, so the Equestrian Military weren't going to take any chances.
Moments later, after Spitfire had finished reading her newspaper and Dash had finished her coffee, they had decided to head down to the hangars and see how the others were doing. And sure enough, down in the hangars, were Misty Fly, Thunderlane and Fleetfoot. They were all working on their fighters with the Diamond Dog crewmen that worked at the base. And the moment they saw their captain approaching, just like Dash, they all saluted.
"At ease, everypony," Spitfire said to the group, saluting them back. She then turned her attention to Fleetfoot's aircraft, and the two dogs working on it. "Still tuning your Tulip's engine?"
"Yep," Fleet replied, "Tuning a Tulip's engine is a bona fide bitch, isn't it?"
"It's just that you've been working on it since last night," She then snapped a glace her own fighter, sitting proudly in its hangar, untouched by the crew, "It pains me to say it, but you should've stuck to the Suiga," This statement caused the other Wonderbolts to laugh.
"SHUT UP!!!!" Fleet snapped, "Just because it's difficult to maintain, doesn't mean I don't like it!" The speedy mare turned to Misty, who was still laughing, "Looks who's laughing, with her underpowered Fission!" Immediately, Misty shot the fellow mare a death glare. Immediately, Spitfire broke the two's argument up before any blows could be traded.
Then suddenly, there came a massive roar approaching the base. The Wonderbolt members all saw what was causing the noise: a massive four-engined aircraft coming in to land. As soon as the plane touched the ground, it taxied to an empty spot on the taxiway and stopped, with the Wonderbolt members saluting as it came up and stopped before them.
Once the plane had stopped, the side door of the plane opened and out stepped Base Commander Twilight Sparkle, the commanding officer of the Celestial Base. Immediately, the Wonderbolt pilots saluted her as she stepped out of her plane, with Twilight saluting them back.
"Commander Twilight! Welcome back to Celestial Base! It's great to have you back ma'am!" Spitfire greeted.
"Thanks, Captain Spitfire. It's great to be back on home soil," the unicorn said back.
"Ma'am, is the new recruit of my squadron with you now?" Spitfire asked, raising an eyebrow.
Twilight just jestured to the open door of her plane and out stepped Spitfire's new rookie. But he wasn't what she or the rest of the squadron were expecting. He was an unreformed changeling with red eyes, red wings, red shell, bloodied hooves and fangs and a Cutie Mark of the Soviet Air Force Roundel on his flank. He was also wearing a World War II-style flight suit. He stopped beside Twilight and just stared at the pilots, as if he was assessing them very carefully. And Spitfire was starting to feel uneasy at the changeling's silence.
Luckily, Twilight noticed her discomfort. "Don't worry about him. He's always like this," The unicorn then started to introduce the new pilot, "Wonderbolt Squadron, meet your new recruit! His name is Akula, and he was a pilot in the Changeling Kingdom's Air Armada, before the nation fell under the Equinox. His kill record is incredible. During the invasion, he was responsible for the destruction of 3 Equinox tank platoons in a single battle and has a kill record of 39 aircraft destroyed. After the fall of the Changelings, he lead his squadron out of a base that was supposed to surrender, destroyed most of the base and fled to Equestria. After arriving, he and his squadron mates split ways and he joined our air force,"
"Umm, hold on a second there, ma'am," Fleetfoot interrupted, "Why couldn't this bug introduce himself? Why did you do it for him?"
"Good question, Fleetfoot! Well, Akula is a little bit tight and doesn't speak much. The only times he does is when it is absolutely necessary. And he deems introductions not important enough. So, don't be spooked by his silence," When Twilight said that, Akula's expression softened and he just nodded lightly.
"Oh! I almost forgot! His callsign is Rapier, as he may be silent most of the time, but he is incredibly intelligent and skilled. The emblem he has on his planes, is a black rapier sword,"
After taking a moment to look him over, Spitfire could sense something about this Akula character that she liked. No, it wasn't good looks or sexual prowess. Instead, she could sense Akula's combat ability and had a feeling that he would be a valuable asset to the Wonderbolts.
"Well, with that out of the way, I'll leave you all to get acquainted," And with that, Twilight left the group as the bigger plane that brought her here taxied for a takeoff.
The group of Wonderbolt approached the lone changeling as the transport plane flew away to its base. "So. You're the rookie we have been assigned. I'm Captain Spitfire, the leader of this squadron. My callsign is Blazer. You may have commanded your own squadron in the Changeling Military, but now, you're under MY jurisdiction! Since the Wonderbolts are the best flyers in Equestria, I expect all orders given to you to be followed and all mission objectives to be completed WITHOUT FAILURE!! AM I UNDERSTOOD?!!" Spitfire yelled, getting right in the changeling's face.
Akula just kept his composure and nodded lightly. Spitfire was taken aback by his calmness, backed off and introduced the other squadron members, "These are the other members of the Wonderbolts. The blue pegasus with the rainbow mane is Rainbow Dash, her callsign is Blue Thunder. She still is a bit of a newbie, so don't complain if you have to watch her back from time to time. The stallion is Thunderlane, his callsign is Storm. He is not as talented as some of the others, but he is a really incredible ally. His extraordinary escort capability makes him very valuable, so if you need some help in getting a fighter of your tail, you should call on him. That light-yellow mare is Misty Fly, her callsign is Mistmane. She's also very talented. You'll be watching her tail, unless I order otherwise. Finally, that light-blue mare is Fleetfoot, her callsign is Speedster. She's the fastest of the team, which makes her perfect for interception missions. Be sure to get to know them,"
Spitfire then turned to her squadron mates and ordered them to head off to the briefing room, as she led the changeling to his new hangar. When the hangar opened up, only one aircraft was visible. A single-engined, gull-winged single seat propeller fighter. To the changeling, it looked like a cross between the F2G Super Corsair and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.
"Meet the SUIGA," Spitfire said, introducing the aircraft to him, "This is the standard fighter of the Equestrian Air Force. It's trusted by all Equestrian pilots and its tractor engine configuration grants great stability and visibility for the pilot, making it suitable for various missions. This, along with its multiple payload options, makes the Suiga a very useful multirole aircraft. You may be stuck with it for the time being, but once you start proving yourself, more aircraft will become available to you,"
Akula just listened to Spitfire, as he looked over the aircraft. He discovered some of the very advanced features that the Suiga had over the fighters he used to fly in during his time in his home's air force. The Suiga had a bubble canopy for great all-round visibility for the pilot, and had a total of seven guns (two in each wing and three in the nose). This was three more guns than the Lancer fighter that Akula flew in the Changeling Armada, and five more guns than the Stinger fighter he flew before he flew his squadron was equipped with the Lancer.
Wow, The changeling thought, examining the position of the guns and the external hardpoints, The positions of the guns is perfect for both air combat and strafing attacks. And those hardpoints under the wings and the belly give me a really good choice of secondary weapons. No wonder why the ponies love this plane,
"I see you're falling in love with the Suiga as well, I see," Spitfire commented, cutting the changeling from his thoughts, "C'mon, if we daddle around the hangar now, we'll be late for the briefing," And after sharing a laugh with her, the first changeling pilot in the Wonderbolt Squadron followed his captain to the briefing room, ready for his very first mission.
Author's Note
The Lancer and Stinger fighter mentioned in this chapter will be given a visual explanation in a later chapter. For now, try to imagine what they look like for now. Just know that they resemble late-1930's monoplane fighters and are purely outdated against the more modern aircraft in use by the Equinox.
For now, hope you enjoyed!!!
Radio Silence (Operation Predator & Prey)
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,
