Monika Joins the Belkan Air Force

Monika joins the Belkan Air Force

>Monika walks in with a clipboard

>the familiar Yellow/black emblem of Glorious Belka appears on screen, and the map appears, showing the entire world against you
>These Belkans did't fuck around. They needed more pilots to cover more ground though, even though their air force was the best in the world, they were not infinite. Losses had been mounting as the Allies had been getting their asses in gear.

>"Ok Anon!" said your buddy. "We got the final elimination of Ustio on the schedule today! We are attacking their last base at Valaise, should be easy since it is their last gasp as rebels. Though," Monika knitted her brow as the map showed the projected air groups "This is a final stand. They probably have their best of what survived, and maybe a few crazy mercs like us. Be ready for a huge dispairity in skills. We have to protect the bombers, hun."

"Hun?" then you thought for a minute. "We?"

>"yeah, hun. We. I think that you are going to be my <<Darling>> up there when we stamp them out."

"You aren't going to act as AWACS?"

>Monika sighed before kissing your cheek. "From this point on, we are together. I've been waiting for an excuse to take you on a date, so let's celebrate our victory after we get home tonight, huh <<Darling>>?"

>Well, you had heard that women made good pilots, so maybe she might be helpful, and you would definitely be intersted in getting closer to Monika. Maybe this was the start of a Grand Campaign?

>You and Monika go to the hanger, where she has found an old Flanker, just like yours. "Just bought it off the Captain today! I checked her out, shes still airworthy if a bit lacking on the paint. I got her some Emerald paint though, so don't worry Ahaha!"

>Indeed, the sharp nose was accented with an Emerald stripe down the middle, along with the wingtips and leading edges being kissed with green as well. You noticed it was just an emrald version of your own Sapphire livery. She was pretty serious about being together, wasn't she?

>Soon, you were taxiing down the runway, and to the sounds of jet engines like an orchestral warm up, Poet 1 and 2 blazed into the wild blue yonder.

>The bombers added their own percussion to the mix, one in particular didn't look like it could even take off, but came along anyway. The other escorts flew a screen around the bombers, and due to your experiance from previous conflicts, you were given the dubious honor of squadron leader.

><<Poet 1, do you hear me Darling? It's quite chilly up here. You should have bought me a scarf!>>

<<Can it Poet 2, we have a mission to do. This may be friendly airspace, but that doesn't mean they haven't tucked away a few SAMs here and there. I would be careful of any cloud cover, they could hide a whole squadron in this soup and we wouldn't know until someone dies.>>

><<Aww, Anon! It is so sweet that you worry about me!>>

<<This isn't a game, Monika. AWACS are safe, fighters are not. Just don't get killed out here.>>

><<Not a game? Oh ye of little faith.>>

<<What is that supposed to mean?>> the mountains were closer, and you smelled an ambush.

><<Oh nothing. Also, missile alert!>>



>a SAM roared towards you, but a hard jink right made it miss, barreling past you, unable to reaquire.

<<Christ! I told you to watch out!>> 4 more missiles were roaring up, and the bombers were desperately trying to pop flares. You weren’t even in range of the base yet!

<<Poet 2, follow me down and let’s keep our guys from being carved up.>> You dived hard, doging AA and flak.

><<Anon! It isn’t even part of our mission, we are just escorts for anti aircraft.>> She protested meekly, before following you, her dive less graceful than yours. Why was she on a fighter mission at all?

<<Those Belkans are airmen like us, Monika.  We can’t just let them die up here!>> You swiftly dropped a few bombs on a few SAMs and took out an AA nest with machine guns. Somehow, these Belkans managed to fit 72 missiles on a plane that should really only hold 6, but so did every other plane. They must be really good engineers then, you thought as you climbed back up.

>Monika had eliminated a few SAMs herself, her missiles hit, but her bombs had missed. Great, now you had to babysit her.

>Though the idea of protecting her made your heart flutter.



>Silvery white flashes appeared in the distance through the hard snow. The dregs and best of the Ustian Air Force had finally arrived. The bombers were already out of flares, so you had to provide top cover for them.

[spoiler]<<GALM SQUADRON>> a  picture of their emblem appears on your HUD, and you can hear their chatter about the weather and their pay [/spoiler]

>This was going to be bad. One of your allies blossomed into a fireball, spewing oil and shells into the air, falling to earth where you could hear the sick crumple of what used to be a man you had seen just that morning.

>Such a loss must be paid in blood, and the 4 dead Ustians fit the bill. The bombers were being torn apart by the 2 aces, however. The red one was a beautiful flier, power matched only by his lead, another F-15, blue this time. The lead, Galm 1, had no grace, but what as ruthless as you were, blasting away at bombers long after they had fallen apart.

<<Monika, protect the bombers, kill the small fry. I have to distract the aces until the bombers can get in close.>> You were returned with an angry squawk.

><<ANON! That’s too dangerous, even for you! I can’t leave you alone, you have no chance.>>

<<Neither do you, which is why I must do this alone.>>

><<Nonsense! All wings, clean up the fries, then follow me into the worst furball of your lives, please.>> A few planes followed you, and you grudgingly set about distracting the Aces. You worried a great deal, and kept the red one, Pixy, in a missile lock as much as you could. Even so, the blue one, Cipher, had gone about trying to pick off the bombers even though the rest of his force had been destroyed.

>Crazy bastard was doing it too. He was winning. How was he winning? Pixy was distracting US! You thumbed the mic.

<<Bombers, hurry the hell up! We can’t keep you alive if you die from your own laziness.>> A bit harsh, but they hurried up all the same. Pixy, however, was breaking from the trap, the lead of the green fighters having just taken a dirt nap at 4000 feet.

[spoiler] <<Haha, take that you bastards! You can’t keep a good man down!>> [/spoilers]

>He had finally got a missile off at Monika, but she was not going to be its target. You were. You strove to steal her missile away, much to the shock of Pixy behind you. He followed agressivley as you tried flares, none of which worked, and there was no time to out turn it.

>The g force was immense as you pulled a Pugachev’s Cobra, just to skirt another missile heading from the opposite direction as the one behind you. The 2 met beneath you, poking you full of holes. Luckily, Pixy had flown into the same shrapnel, and had to break off same as you.

>The only bomber to come back from the mission had been the broken Stratofortress that had been pressed into service. They had turned around after one of their engines failed. The base had been taken out by a very brave and stupid man who decided to crash his bomber like a dart to the heart of the enemy.

>Cipher limped back home with his <<Buddy>>, mission failed but he had wiped the floor with your former allies. The only thing that had prevented him from taking you out was his honor, and his lack of ammunition. He was sure to be seen again.

>Monika was at the hospital after you had collapsed on the runway, the harsh landing breaking your ability to stay awake any longer. “Anon! I heard the doctors talking. You, you lost a ton of blood. Don’t ever scare me like that again!” You gave your <<Darling>> a wan smile.

“Protecting you is my job, sweetheart. That missile was meant for you, and I was meant to keep it from you.” She blushed deeply. “I… I know. I don’t like it. I don’t want to see you hurt. When you went under those clouds, I was sure you were gone.”

>She was crying silently now, before her voice broke. “I kept repeating your name the whole time, Anon, Anon, Anon, but you never responded! Thank god the autopilot was on, and you finally woke up before the landing. A-after I landed” she paused to wipe her tears. “After I landed, you weren’t moving. It was surreal. You came back to life just to die again a minute later. If you had been really dead, I have no idea what I would have done…”

>IV tubes straining, you bring her into a hug. Monika, your…girlfriend, for a lack of a better word, sobbed gently into you, a wetness growing on your chest. You sat there for many hours, and when the doctors brought you a small plate of spaghetti, she had brightened up, and decided to play nurse and feed you by hand, much to the doctors’ amusment. Fucking assholes, you save an awful fuck up of a mission and they laugh at your pain.

>Spending a few weeks with Monika wearing a nurse uniform didn’t sound too bad though.