Ace Combat Equestria: Morgan

A week has passed since Morgan's arrival. The base went from active to... more dynamic. Lancer Squadron had some newcomers, Seadroy and Lancer 2, later revealed as Aakash Skycrawler, which they did not take anycreature from with less than 4,000 hours of combat time. Under normal circumstances, they would directly contact the Air Force Academy for recruits, but with so much at stake, they have minimal choices. Morgan on the other hoof, has been fully acknowledged by the ERAF officials. However, when asked to join their Air Force, the mercenary politely declined. This made some of the officials a bit anxious, of course, not everypony liked the fact that a mercenary capable of the destruction of 1/3 of an Air Force was out of their control. But that's for the officials to worry about.

Morgan was then introduced to the newest holographic projector technology which the Equestrians installed on him; That way during special operation briefings or meetings, he wouldn't miss out. Morgan, although still his old self, took the form of a human, which surprised the Equestrians. This later led to more questioning and well... attracted some unwanted attention for quite a while. His human form? Yeah, it's Larry Foulke.

The mercenary allowed the Equestrian technicians and aerodynamic engineers to study some of his components, not the highly classified ones of course; thanks to that, the Equestrians were set off to their Next-Generation Air Dominance super fighter project, aka the 'NGAD'.

That part is for another time though.

The next day, at about six in the morning, Morgan was woken up by Seadroy, "Hey, Pixy, the recruits are here." He said as he quickly scrambled out of his hanger, "The briefing's in 2 minutes!" Morgan's HUD flashed, and a light beam was shot from the optic rang-finder scope to the spaces in front of the aircraft. The holographic 3D human body was created as the digital figure opened his eyes, in this form he'd be better known as Larry.

"Let's see if they got what it takes..." Larry murmured as he fastened his pace.

The briefing room was smaller than he thought it'd be, to be honest, it was more of a warehouse disguised as some general meeting chamber. It's not that Larry expected better from this base. Despite the size, the equipment was basic enough; the projector was crackling strange noises, a strategic map of the Equis Continent, and some aircraft models for simulation uses.

Four chairs with four creatures were in front of the projector, starting from the left, Lancer 1 Seadroy, Lancer 2 Aakash, and three recruits; Lancer 3 Kiper Moonchaser, Lancer 4 Gallus, and Lander 5 Razornail.

The officers and the two old birds were the only ones that kept their postures upon Pixy's entrance, however, the three newbies were in a state of surprise, before they could say anything, Seadroy made a gesture, which turned the three newbies down for now. Pixy spotted an empty seat next to the blue griffon and sat on it. Gallus couldn't help but take a quick look at Pixy, he was then met by Pixy's eyes.

For some reason, something clicked in Pixy's CPU, this blue griffon... For some reason... Caught his attention. Or perhaps it's his sixth sense...

"Alright, everyone's present, begin the briefing." The briefing officer announced as it activated the holographic strategic map, "The Griffons are planning another attack, not surprised though; however, their target this time is rather... interesting." The officer then clicked open a link and a labeled map of a huge satellite dish-like object appeared on screen, "This is the Vision Electromagnetic Signal and Message Repeater Telescope, aka the VESMERT . The Equestrian National Aerospace Agency once used this structure as a relay station for one of their interstellar space missions. It was deactivated during the Twilight 1994EF04 crisis and remained dead since then. However, 3 hours ago, our radar station near the VESMERT's location detected a group of boogies approaching fast, however, they turned back after circling the area for about 10 minutes, and by the time our fighters arrived they were already gone. We concluded that this is a scout operation by the Griffons, as for the reason behind this we're not currently sure." The officer then switched back to the strategic holographic map, revealing the mission objective, "We've already sent two Ospreys with some special task force colts to secure the area to prevent some sort of infiltration by the Griffons, however, there's a high chance that the Griffons has already sent some of their own towards the VESMERT as well, so expect active combat situation. Lancer Squadron will secure our colts, Pixy will help as well," The officer looked at the mercenary, who nodded in approval, then he continued, "Whatever the Griffons are looking for, it can't be good for us if they get their talons on it. Your mission is to secure the Ospreys at all costs, not one is to be shot down. Any questions?"

Razornail raised her claw.

"Alright then, let's move." The officer said as he shut down the briefing system and turned back on the lights.

The dragoness shrugged as she and the others walked out.

Gallus walked next to Pixy, "Uh, Pixy right?" He asked.

"In the... hologram, yes," Pixy said.

"Well, good to be working with you buddy," Gallus said with a smirk as he went for a talon-shake.

...Buddy...

Seeing Pixy zoning out, Gallus raised an eyebrow, Pixy switched back to reality, "Buddy? We'll see." He said as he walked toward his hanger.

Gallus frowned, "The hell was that? Arrogant..." He then walked towards his hanger.

Pixy's POV

How long ago did someone last call me his 'buddy'? I don't remember, but it has been a while. And yeah, Larry's memory is completely merged with mine, so let's simplify things; call me Larry or Pixy until this fic ends.

Did he call me arrogant? Sure, throw whatever you want at me, I'm sure my victims called me much worse in hell. I read his profile; Gallus, ERAF hotshot, has 30 confirmed kills from the beginning of the war and has 5k plus hours of flight.

Bullshit.

Chick thinks he can just call me his goddamn buddy with 30 kills and 5k flight hours. I'll reconsider that if he can catch up with me. I may be selfish., but I'm not interested in hearing my 'buddy' get his ass shot down 5 minutes into the fight, ruins my reputation.

Anyway, I hope these guys know what they're doing, I'm a mercenary, not a babysitter.

My holographic body vanished as I was back online inside Morgan. Considering we'll be closer to our VIPs during this operation, something with a large kill radius will not be recommended, so I switched the MPBS to the TLS. Hm? You said I could change gears midair? I see your point, but I don't want my hearing sensors blown off by angry AWACS, so I locked the TLS for this operation.

After I opened my hanger gate, the radio began to buzz, "Lancer Squadron, proceed to the operation. Pixy, welcome aboard."

As I glided my way on the taxiway, I saw on my right were five ERAF fighters; (Lancer 1) Seadroy and (Lancer 2) Aakash's Hornets, (Lancer 4) Kiper's F-16, (Lancer 5) Razornail's Mirage 2000, and (Lancer 3) Gallus's F-15C; Hell, Chick even colored his wing tips blue... Hang on, what-

"Lancer Squadron, you're cleared to go, God Speed." With the tower's command, the Lancer Squadron went airborne, and I went after. Seconds after I took off, our AWACS took over the tower.

"Welcome to hell," the AWACS snarked, "This is Hellcat, your AWACS for this mission and the ones that come after; Ospreys were off to their designated area 10 minutes ago, according to our newest intel. the Griffons also sent out their forces, you'll arrive just in time to engage the bandits directly."

"Don't rely on the crap some of you read on the handbook, the only thing I can and must rely on is your instinct," Lancer 1 Seadroy said, "I want you all to come home."

Their formation was suddenly interrupted when my Morgan came sweeping up from below.

"Holt shit! The buck was that for damn it?!" Lancer 4 Kiper yelped as he pulled away from Pixy.

"Get use to it, I've seen worse." Lancer 2 Akash rolled his eyes.

"Apologies fellas, I'm just warming up." I said as I rolled over Lancer 4 Kiper's cockpit, "Heads up newbie!"

"Heh, I like this guy." Lancer 5 Razornail laughed.

As I leveled out, I found myself side-by-side with Chick here. Not a word came out of his beak since we departed. I get it; the kid got some grudge.

My radar suddenly hummed, and almost immediately several bandits were marked red on my HUD, however, I didn't hear anything from Hellcat. Damn, I guess those rumors about 'Belkan Witchcraft' are real after all.

Then came the thought.

"Hey." I switched my radio channel to Lancer 3 Gallus, "I don't take any 'buddy' unless you make it out in one piece, here how 'bout this, you down their ace, I make you my buddy."

"I don't need to prove anything to you," Gallus finally said. From his tone, I could sense his competitive spirit lit up already. "Last time I was called, buddy, I saw their entire squadron going down. I'm no new to war."

If I could smirk, it'd be a cold one right now.

"Those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they're invincible, I bet you do too, Chick."