Project Styx

6 JUN, 2023. NORTHERN DRAGONLAND, THORN'S BOULDERS

Hikari took a deep breath, frowning as sensed the smell of slight sulfur. Not the best place to be stationed, he could think of several places; Valleys of Griffonia, Icy Rocks of Yakyakstan, the cliffs of Changeling Kingdom, or the Peak of Peril. Any of them could beat this place full of shit. Despite having most of his organs replaced with artificial mechanical gears, his heat sensors never went below 13 degrees Celsius, every so often Hikari found himself overheating, literally.

He looked at the time.

0748 Hour AM.

The air around him is starting to get toasty.

"Fuck damn it, whoever the new guy is, sure knows how to pick a good-ass time." Came the rough voice of Air Roller, who's wearing a cap with the big words ' Born in Hell' written all over it.

"Ugh, just wanna get this crap over with and head somewhere else," said Boulder, who was finishing up his sausage, "I'd rather drown somewhere in the Ponific Islands than get my feathers burnt like yesterday."

"You're the one to talk, leaning on the airframe right after RTB." Kitsune shot back, standing next to Hikari, "Say cap, anything special about the fresh meat?"

"The kid's from IPF."

"From the I fucking PF eh?" Air Roller snorted.

"Now that's some fresh meat." Boulder had a wild smirk across his beak as he finished his breakfast.

"Those IPF cowards? He better watch his back." Kitsune sneered at the memories of one of their missions, they were tasked with a CAS operation with the IPF, and it was supposed to be a joint attack. However, when more enemy squadrons began to show up, they bailed out immediately, leaving Egret Squadron's rear open for the enemies. Kitsune was nearly shot down in the process, she was raging for the rest of the week.

"Speak of the devil," Hikari nodded at the taxiway, "Here he comes." A Humvee was driving towards their hanger, it screeched to a stop in front of the gate. The side door opened, finally revealing the new guy. He was a... Kirin; grey coat, silver mane, and icy-blue eyes. Hikari's eyes sparked with interest, it had been a while since he'd flown beside a Kirin pilot.

Not that he's racist and all, but the Kirins are known for their hatred toward war and would always stay as far away from it as possible. The last time he saw a Kirin in the air was the time when he was still serving in the Equestrian National Air Defence Force many moons ago, that Kirin was a hot shot, he remembered having a simulated dogfight against him and getting his ass beaten up by the silent Kirin.

During one of their combat missions, this Kirin goes by the TAC name of Mobius single-hooved went up against two enemy squadrons trying to cover for the retreating allies and managed to kill 3/4 of them. He almost became the first Ace instead of Hikari, sadly, Mobius was shot down during one of the biggest counterattack operations that the ENADF executed during the Second Draco-Equestrian War by Checkmate.

Back to reality from his memories, Hikari walked towards the Kirin, stopping when there was only about an inch between their snouts.

"You're late by 3.34 seconds." Hikari said with a cold voice, "You think you're special heh? Well, we have a tradition for any fresh meat that has the balls to do it."

The Kirin, however, wasn't taken aback, as if he had been expecting this all along.

"From the moment you came here, either by yourself or some jackass decides to throw you here as a pawn, you are dead. Your name will no longer exist, at least until Mikiro decides to disassemble itself. Until you prove yourself worth living a fight, you'll go by 'Spare'. Now get your coward-looking ass to your dorm."

As the Kirin left, Hikari added, "Briefing's 0810 Hours, you're late then you can get the hell back to where you came from."

MERCENARY DATA
--------------------------------
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AFFILIATION: IPF, MIKIRO MERCENARY ARMED FORCE
SQUADRON: EGRET
SQUADRON NUMBER: 5
TAC NAME: SPARE

2023 JUNE 6TH

CONTRACT DETAILS

ASSIGNED GROUP: MIKIRO MERCENARY ARMED FORCE
CLIENT: CEMIA (Central Equestrian and Mainland Intelligence Agency)

OPERATION NAME: EMBERSTRIKE

Task:
- DESTROY AMMUNITION RESERVES

By the time Egret Squadron got to the Briefing Room, they found Spare already sitting there.

"Fast as fuck eh?" Air Roller snarked.

"You better don't run off as fast as you got here," Kitsune added.

"Settle down, you guys can pick on the fresh meat after you get the bits." The Briefing Officer said, "Alright, here's what's on the menu for today." He then taps the touchpad, and the screen behind him flickered to life, revealing a divided map of the Dragonland, a red laser pointer was then activated, "We have confirmed several old ammunition reserves within an abandoned Equestrian Military Stronghold, which is currently occupied by the Rogue Draconian Forces. Your objective is to take out its ammunition reserves, leave absolutely nothing to them, as said by our contractor. According to the satellites, they had a small airfield stationed nearby, as well as several Tunguskas and M163s. The guys are paying us double if we can take out their extra ground vehicles as well. So grab the right bird, especially the fresh meat. Alright, time is bits, dismissed."

AIRCRAFT SELECTION:

EGRET 1 "DISCORD"
GRIPEN E
- IRIS-T x4
- GBU-39 x8

EGRET 2 "KISTUNE"
SUPER HORNET
- AIM-9X x2
- AiM-120 x-2
- MAVERICK x6

EGRET 3 "BOULDER"
MIKOYAN-GUREVICH 35
- R-73 x4
- Kh-38M x4

EGRET 4 "AIR ROLLER"
F-16C FIGHTING FALCON
- AiM-9X x2
- GBU-24 PAVEWAY III x4

EGRET 5 "SPARE"
F-5E TIGER
- AiM-9J x-2
- Maverick x2
- Rocket Pods x2

“Control to Egret Squadron, proceed to the runway, the weather will be windy in about an hour, so be sure to make your way back ASAP."

"Egret 1 ready at the end." 'Discord' said in the intercom.

"Egret 1, fly runway heading, unrestricted climb approved, you're clear for take off. Egret Squadron follow Egret 1, form up with Egret 1 as soon as you're airborne. Happy hunting" Came the ATC.

The Gripen's engine roared with the afterburner on as it quickly accelerated into a rapid climb. One by one the Egret Squadron followed.

"Heh heh, here comes the fresh meat." Once airborne and in formation, Air Roller again lunged his tongue at Spare.

"Make yourself useful up here. We don't want a wreckage ruining our reputation," Boulder added. "They'll pay us less, especially if they find another crate of cigarettes sitting where the gear oils are supposed to be. "

Another snarky voice said, "This is AWACS Cerberus. I have you on record saying that Boulder."

"Oh come on man, don't be a snitch," Boulder whined, "You know you liked it better than I do."

"Shut it Egret 3." Cerberus then noticed Spare, "Excited to have another murderer up here with you?"

"If he can make it back that is." Air Roller laughed.

"I wouldn't let that slide if I were you Egret 5," Cerberus teased.

"..." Came Spare's response.

"Oh, now he thinks he's the cool guy," Boulder said half-sarcastically.

“Can we rely on this guy?" Kitsune asked, "We all saw how the IPF fought."

"That'll get decided once we get into our business," 'Discord' said, "There's a reason why Spare is called 'Spare' and flying a spare aircraft."

"HAHAHA!!! That's funny boss." Boulder laughed almost hysterically.

"Alright cut the crap," all of the funny business faded from 'Discord's tone, "We're 4 Mikes from the hostile area, remember, this operation has to be fast, clean, and precise."

After about five minutes of flying, the ground in front of them began to clear, through the targeting pod, a rather ravaged-looking Rogue Force basement appeared through the dust, over the horizon, a large brownish-yellow cloud of dust was moving in.

"Egret Squadron, weapons free, dive in and enjoy the food," Cerberus said, "you guys have about 15 minutes to take out everything beneath before the dust storm comes in. Go on, each target counts as bits."

"Pick your favorite and bang them, Egret engage!" 'Discord' then dove down head first.

Boulder cried like a maniac as he lunged at the targets below, Kitsune followed.

"Keep that count fresh meat," Air Roller said as he went down as well, "we can compare later."

Spare said nothing as his F-5E rolled one eighty degrees and dove down, he then rolled over the belly again and began TV-locking a Tunguska that was not in the shape of combat; from the loads of ammunition chain scattered around, it's not hard to tell that this Tunguska is still under maintenance. The white crosshair on the targeting screen found itself glued onto the Tunguska as it vibrated, Spare knew his shot came.

A Maverick came loose from the rack and spearheaded towards the Tunguska while Spare broke off to engage another target.

"Egret 2, Rifle!"

"Pickle! Pickle!"

The others dropped their loads as well, and a few seconds later, the basement was blown inside out. From his cockpit, Spare watched as the Tunguska detonated, he immediately fired the last Maverick toward another Tunguska, and then he saw the twin guns of the Tunguska lit up. Just as Spare jerked his aircraft left, a streak of tracer rounds whizzed by his canopy.

"I'm spiked! Defending!" Came Boulder's voice as he released a swarm of flares, behind him are three smoke trails; the remaining M163s and Tunguskas opened up on them.

"MANPADS! They're coming from the bunker!" 'Discord' ordered, "Air Roller, take' 'em out! Spare use your rockets!"

Spare circled the bunker and waited for Air Roller's GBU to hit, then it went by fast; something pierced through the bunker's sealing like a heated knife through butter, then the entire bunker went off inside out.

"Hell yeah!" Air Roller laughed as he barrel-rolled aside, Spare saw several dragons stumbling out of the ruins, two of them had their MANPADS pointed direction at him. Spare wasted no time as he pressed hard against the trigger and emptied one of the rocket pods on these guys. There were no leftovers of the MANPADS operators except for chunks of burnt flesh.

After leveling his F-5, Spare looked to his right and saw a column of Rogue Force armor trying to escape the area, without a second thought, Spare made his move. The leading M60 tank commander saw the F-5 which was now diving toward them as his tank launched smoke, so did the other APCs, unfortunately for them, it was too late. Spare emptied his last rocket pods on the column, as he was pulling up, he felt a huge explosion behind him. The blow was far more powerful than the detonation of a tank, then there was another, then another, until the fourth explosion went off like a massive 5,000-pound GPB.

"Damn! Look at that cook-off!" Came Air Roller's voice, "They put all that crap in those APCs?"

"Who did it? I felt that in my teeth!" Asked Kitsune.

"Still alive fresh meat?" Boulder laughed, "The dinner's on me tonight!"

"Boss, seems like Spare has what it takes." He then added.

"Don't let that get in your head, Spare," ‘Discord' said, "It's just one sortie."

"Huh, the Rogue Force emptied the reserves and loaded them onto the transport like they're leaving urgently... Oh well, ammunition reserves destroyed, the contract is finished, Egret Squadron RTB," Cerberus announced.

"Spare is still here," Kitsune said, there's a slight surprise in her voice.

"He would've been shot down the moment he tried to escape out of the combat airspace," Cerberus said coldly, "any members of the Mikiro Mercenary Corp are dead to the public, deserters or defectors will be eliminated."

"Heh, I'd watch my back if I were you Spare," Air Roller chuckled, "some guys back at the base are betting on you going down."

"Egret 4 shut up." Cerberus growled.

After the Egret Squadron landed, they were told to meet up in the Briefing room for the debrief.

Upon seeing all members enter the room, the briefing officer cleared his throat, "It went smoother than we'd expected, surprisingly, no aircraft took off from the nearby airfield. Either they're sleeping or their Tomcats are missing their engine gears again." He said jokingly, "However, what we did not expect from the Rogue Forces is that Egret 5 blew up their entire ammunition transport vehicles while they were getting out, which was not on the intelligence list. Either they found out about us coming and decided to make a run for it, or the intelligence guy decided to take a day off. But that's none of our concerns. Your bits will be sent directly to your accounts, good work today. Dismissed."

"What do we have for dinner tonight?" Boulder asked while walking to the bar, "I swear if they feed us with crackers again..."

"Oh beat it, it's not the first time." Kitsune rolled her eyes.

"Spare's the silent type eh?" Air Roller asked as he looked to the Kirin, who had his mouth shut this entire day, he glanced at Air Roller and went back to dazzing off again.

"Egret Squadron is built different," 'Discord' laughed, "You have your gambling shit not dealt with as well."

"A gambler with no luck." Boulder added.

"Fuck off birdbrain." Air Roller slapped the Griffon's back.

"Are you saying the new guy's part of us now?" Kistune asked 'Discord', who squinted his eyes, "I still don't feel comfortable around him, even if he's an ex-IPF."

"Well, here's my thought," 'Discord' said.

"He has potential."