Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Acecombat: dawn of Eva ❯ Flashbacks and Interludes Part 2 ( Chapter 3 )

Author's disclaimer: See first chapter

Acecombat: Dawn of Eva

Chapter 4: Flashbacks and Interludes Part 2

Skies Above the Mainland: En route to Stonehenge: Date Unknown

"That's a roge, Eagle 4. Moving to attack formation."

The lead Strike Eagle, Eagle 4, armed his AIM-120 AMRAAM Slammer as they got closer to the Stonehenge AA Tactical Cannons. The AIM-120 AMRAAM is an all-weather, supersonic, air launched, aerial intercept, guided missile employing active radar tracking, proportional navigation guidance and active Radio Frequency (RF) detection. It employs active, semi-active, and inertial navigational methods of guidance to provide an autonomous launch and leave capability against single and multiple targets in all environments.

The radar of the -15-Echoes chirped again as the 5 bandits came closing on them.

"Fan out and engage the targets!"

Beriev A-50 NATO codenamed `Mainstay', call-sign: Ulysses: Date Unknown

The Beriev A-50 Mainstay flew high in the sky as it circled the battlefield. It was assigned to Yellow squadron to help them detect incoming enemies at log range. The Electronic operators of the Mainstay were surprised when they saw a lot of red blips on their radars. The operator immediately sent a message to Yellow squadron.

"This is Ulysses to all Yellow aircraft. We have detected a group of F-15-Echoes heading to vector three-five-zero. Head out and engage the enemy."

The reply was crisp and clear. "Roger that Ulysses."

Yellow Squadron: Su-37 Flanker, call-sign: Yellow 13: Date Unknown

The pilot of the lead Yellow aircraft, Yellow 13, scanned the horizon with his blood red eyes as he saw the blips on his radar getting closer. He immediately opened a link to the other Yellow aircraft.

"Yellow 13 to all Yellow aircrafts. Inbound enemy bandits at 12:00 heading to Vector three-five-zero. Fan out and engage the targets individually. They must not come close to the cannons!"

"That's a roge, yellow 13. Heading to Vector three-five-zero now."

The pilots engaged their AA-11 Archer R-73 and AA-12 Adder R-77 missiles as they prepared to engage the enemy. The Archer is the currently the best Russian short-range missile and is very similar to the western AIM-9X Sidewinder. The Adder is the newest Medium-range missile and is similar and somewhat equal to the American AMRAAM Slammer. Both of these missile systems are very formidable and are designed to engage future fighters, bombers, attack choppers, drones, attack aircraft and those aircrafts that are executing maneuvers that are over 12-Gs.

The Yellow Squadron Su-37s throttled their two Lyulka AL-37FU vectored-thrust afterburning turbofans to afterburners as they continued to fly towards the last known location of the strike team. Their radars chirped simultaneously when they detected their targets.

"All Yellow aircraft break formation and engage all hostiles."

"Roger that Lead." The pilots replied, almost in unison.

A small targeting reticule appeared in his HUD, circling the target slowly

Eagle Squadron: F-15E Strike Eagle, call-sign: Eagle 4: Date Unknown

"Okay people, let's get this show rolling. Once the bogeys are in range, fire your slammers."

"Roge."

The Strike Eagles broke formation, and some of the leading Eagles, including Eagle 4, began preparing to fire their slammers. A small targeting reticule locked on to one of the Yellows.

"Eagle 4 going Slammer."

Ikari Gendo's -15-Echo shook almost imperceptibly as one of the AIM-120 AMRAAM Slammer broke free from one of the aircraft's external pylons. The Hughes aircraft and Raytheon co. missile entered supersonic speeds as its high performance power plant pushed it towards the target. Not too long after, the other aircrafts fired their own slammers.

Yellow Squadron: Su-37 Flanker, call-sign: Yellow 4: Date Unknown

The pilot of Yellow 13's wingman, Yellow 4, detected a missile going right for her. The pilot didn't seem the least bit alarmed that a high performance missile is headed right for her. She merely smirked.

"This should be a piece of cake."

She banked to the right and pushed her throttle downward, making the highly maneuverable Flanker go downward at a very high speed. The Slammer followed the aircraft as it once again banked to the right. The Flanker released some Electronic Counter Measures; more specifically chaffs, to "confuse" the missile. The Slammer ignored this, however, because it has an Electronic counter measure counter measure, which allows the Slammer to ignore the chaffs.

"Hmm. This one is persistent. I'd better lose this now."

The aircraft performed a barrel roll, yanking her throttle to one side and circling in a cylindrical manner. The missile lost lock after a few moments.

"This is Yellow 4. Engaging bandits at my 1 o'clock."

"Roger that, Yellow 4. Be very careful."

"Roger that lead." She smirked as she saw two Strike Eagles. She locked on to them. After a few moments, she felt the slight rumble of the airframe as two R-73 missiles broke free of their pylons and headed for their respective targets.

Eagle Squadron: F-15E Strike Eagle, call-sign: Eagle 9: Date Unknown

"What?! Missile warning? This is Eagle 9, evading missile!"

The Strike Eagle pushed its Pratt and Whitney Turbofans to afterburners and proceeded to dive. The R-73 Archer, continued its pursuit, never losing its target. The solid propellant rocket motor of the Archer pushed it to Mach 2.5, thereby allowing it to close on the enemy. The Strike Eagle frantically unleashed some of its flares, but the passive infrared homing head completely ignored it.

"Damn! This is Eagle 9! I'm punching out!"

The pilot successfully cleared the aircraft just before the missile impacted on the lower half of the strike eagle. The 7.4 Kg HE expanding rod warhead exploded upon impact, completely destroying the turbofans and engulfing the airframe in a ball of fire. The other pilots watched in shock as one by one, their comrades were being shot down. Eagle 4 broke of engagement along with the surviving Strike Eagles.

"All Eagles, break off engagement. Head to the target zone immediately! Prepare your bombs!"

"Roger that."

Eagle 4 and his wingman, Eagle 2(Yui) flew side by side as they headed for the cannons. They heard their missile warning systems chirp as the SAM sites on the ground illuminated them.

"Dropping ECMs!"

The aircrafts shot their chaffs and flares as they saw a thin line of smoke rising before them. The SAM followed the countermeasures blindly, not knowing that it wasn't its correct target. The missile exploded harmlessly a few feet away from them. At last, they were closing on the cannons.

"Targeting now."

Yellow Squadron: Su-37 Flanker, call-sign: Yellow 13: Date Unknown

The pilot of the lead yellow aircraft saw that the Strike Eagles has now withdrawn from the engagement zone and is now heading for the cannons.

"All Yellow aircraft! Do not let them near the cannons! Splash every one of them!

Eagle Squadron: F-15E Strike Eagle, call-sign: Eagle 4: Date Unknown

Ikari Gendo was beginning to feel hopeless. He could clearly see that the mission was going to be a failure. He saw that Eagle 5 through 24 were now of radar. Only Eagles 1 through four were alive and kicking

`We won't know until we try.' He thought grimly.

The four strike eagles were about to drop their Mk. 84 free fall non-guided 2,000-pound bombs on the targets when their Missile Warning began to flash in their HUDs.

"All units evade!"

The four eagles broke off dropped off some ECMs. They could clearly see that Archers were painting them. Eagle 1 managed to evade the first missile, but on the second one, he wasn't lucky. The Archer ripped off its left wing, igniting its ordinance and turning the expensive strike aircraft into expensive pieces of scrap. Eagle 3 didn't fare much better though, as the two missiles chasing him successfully intercepted the target. Ikari Gendo and Ikari Yui saw this, much to their horror.

They were the only ones left.

The two Strike Eagles once again flew side by side.

"Eagle 2, head for the cannons and drop your bombs. I'll try to buy you some time."

Yui hesitated for a moment. "But-"

Gendo cut him off quickly. "No buts. Just head to the target area!"

"Roger that!"

Eagle 4 and Eagle 2 parted and headed towards their respective areas of operation. Eagle 4 engaged his Sidewinders and illuminated one of the Yellow aircraft. A few moments later, he was locked-on. He fired two of his AIM-9X

"Fox 2! Fox 2!"

The AIM-9X began to enter supersonic speed as it headed towards the target. The pilot of the illuminated Yellow saw this and dropped some ECM pods right before he pushed his turbofans to afterburners. The missile ignored the ECM pods and headed straight for the target. The pilot made several sharp turns, while finally performing a barrel roll. The missile failed to pursue the target because it ran out of fuel.

"Damn!"

He fired another and another and another, hoping to hit one of those Yellows, but he could see that the missile were all for naught. All of them missed its targets. He could now see several thin lines of smoke headed towards him. Alas, his success was not meant to be. He dropped off some ECM pods, some lost lock, but the other didn't. There were simply too many.

`I'm sorry, Shinji, Yui.'

A split second later, The Archers impacted with the Strike Eagle's airframe, making it explode. The airframe was ripped apart into several fragments. Ikari Gendo knew no more.

Eagle Squadron: F-15E Strike Eagle, call-sign: Eagle 4: Date Unknown

"NOOOOOOOO!!!"

Ikari Yui could feel herself scream as she saw her husband's demise. She could feel rage, sadness and hopelessness well up in her being. No. It wasn't supposed to end this way. She could feel her determination build up once again.

`I'm going to do this for Shinji.'

She pushed her turbofans to full power, making the airframe shake almost imperceptibly. She already had her bombing sights on to the nearest cannon, which was under construction.

"Dropping bombs now!"

Her Strike Eagle dropped four Mk-84s toward the target. The bombs broke free from the pylons and proceeded to head downward towards the target.

The Mainland: Stonehenge Offensive/Defensive cannons: Date Unknown

The workers were already moving the earthmovers when they heard the air raid warning blare. They were scrambling furiously to activate their defense systems when the first bomb dropped on the cannon without warning.

The cannon's barrel was ripped apart by the impact. The 945 lbs. Tritonal has done the job rather nicely. The other three bombs exploded near the base of the cannon, not only making a hole but also making it unable to turn around. The chief worker was already yelling around orders.

"Repair the cannon immediately! Put the fire out!"

Yellow Squadron: Su-37 Flanker, call-sign: Yellow 13: Date Unknown

Yellow 13 could clearly see the damage caused by the lone Strike Eagle. The cannon was completely incapacitated and is now impossible to repair because the main structure and most of the important targeting systems were destroyed. Not only that, the particle generator of the respective cannon was effectively obliterated, thereby making the cannon useless, even if it was repaired.

How could he have let a SINGLE hostile to get through?

`No time to think about that.' He admonished himself. `Must splash that one before it does anymore damage.'

"All units intercept the lone bandit!"

Eagle Squadron: F-15E Strike Eagle, call-sign: Eagle 4: Date Unknown

She was already preparing for another bomb run when she saw several missiles following her.

"Damn! I'll have to shake them!"

She went down and headed towards the cannons, hoping to use the cannons as obstacles. Some of the missile struck the damaged cannon, making it slightly shake as the cannon began to descend downward. A few moments later, the cannon's barrel landed on the ground, hard.

Yui was about to fire off some ECMs when cannon fire ripped her right wing, completely tearing it apart from the fuselage. More cannon fire struck her P&W Turbofans, making them erupt in flames. She saw that her attacker, an Su-37 Yellow, had a large 13 emblazoned on the side.

`I'm sorry. I can't fulfill the promise. Farewell, Shinji.'

Her aircraft was beginning to rotate uncontrollably as more debris fell out from the fuselage. Moments later, the aircraft landed on the ground, skidding on the ground for a few seconds before exploding, pieces of metal flying at every direction. Once could clearly see the insignia of ISAF on one of the surviving wings.

Yellow Squadron: Su-37 Flanker, call-sign: Yellow 13: Date Unknown

Yellow 13 savored the feeling that he and his squad mates were able to protect the most prized possession of Erusea, the Stonehenge Tactical Cannons. He felt compassion to the ones he shot down, especially the last ones, since they showed such skill and prowess in flying their aircrafts. Pushing these thoughts aside, he opened a link to his squad mates.

"All units RTB. Great job everyone."

Jefferson Air Force Base: Tactical Operations Room: Date Unknown

"I'm sorry Commander, Eagle squadron is off radar and incommunicado."

Gerard Schoerberg closed his eyes and took a deep breath. How could this have happened? 24 Strike Eagles, piloted by Aces who were veterans of past conflicts, shot down by 5 aircraft? Are they that good? What would happen to our air superiority over the mainland? Most importantly, how about the families? How would I tell them? This was the SACISAF's greatest problem, aside from the war. How to tell the families of those lost in battle. The only family the pilots had were the children they left. With a defeated sigh, he went out of the operations room and began to call the families of those lost.

Ikari Residence: Date Unknown

Shinji was doing some chores at the Ikari residence when the phone rang. He quickly rushed to it and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Ikari, this is Comander Schoerberg."

"Commander Schoerberg sir! What can I do for you?" He heard the man sigh in a defeated kind of way. He braced for the worse.

"Mr. Ikari, your parents… did not… survive. I'm sorry."

USS Nimitz: Pilots' Quarters: September 19, 2004

"NOOOOOO!!!"

Shinji bolt upright in his bed, his face mated with sweat. He looked around and spotted a glass of water nearby. He drank it up, took a few deep breaths and picked up a picture of his parents. He sighed.

"I'll do my best mom and dad. I shall avenge your deaths. I promise."

Author's notes: I'm sorry for the very late update. I was bogged down by projects and the final exams. I hope you understand. Feel free to correct any mistakes.

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