Raven is leading the first flight off the Calvin Coolidge and into Libya. Launching just behind are Hunter and Cowboy with their state of the art F/A-18C Hornets, their Eyes in the sky in the AWACS, Dirk Hardpeck flying support in the EA-6B Prowler ECM plane, and air-to-air expert Waldo in the F-14 Tomcat. Their objective: To blow up Libya’s oil. The plan is to fly in from the west, where reconnaissance shows that Libyan air defenses are entirely low-altitude. The oil field is extensive. Cowboy is an air-to-ground specialist, so it goes without saying that he’ll be loaded down with high-yield guided munitions, but the field is too extensive for him to bomb on his own, so Hunter gets loaded up alongside him. It will be Waldo’s job to keep the bandits off their back while Rip Steakface keeps their radar signatures covered up with his Prowler’s ECM field. Raven’s ancient A-7 Corsair II can hardly hold onto two relatively close range AIM-9 sidewinders, while Waldo’s more modern Tomcat can carry not only a full load of eight missiles, but is also capable of mounting the longer range, radar-guided AIM-7 sparrow model. As such, Raven will be carrying some cheap unguided munitions on his Corsair II to finish any targets that Hunter and Cowboy miss. The weight of the munitions will make him a poor dogfighter on the approach, so Waldo’s going to have to keep them busy on his own.
On the same day, Wedge and Wolf are taking Kermit out to get his feet wet with a quick fighter sweep. There are 3 Mig-25s and 4 Mig-23s in the targeted squadron. Since the Sky Wolves are dumping tons of money into all the guided munitions used in the oil rig attack, Wolf decides to forego any hyper long range AIM-54 phoenix missiles and instead equip Kermit’s F-14 Tomcat with only AIM-7 sparrows and AIM-9 sidewinders, the same armament as Wedge and Wolf’s F/A-18C Hornets. They also each bring an ECM pod to keep the long range Mig-25s from downing any of them while they move into range.
It was a solid plan, a strong start to the Libyan incursion. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
0850, Northeast Libyan Coast
“This is Eyes, we’re coming up on the target now. I’m seeing lots of bandits overhead, including two Mig-25s, we’ll be in range of their missiles as soon as we arrive. I’m also picking up several unidentified aircraft inbound on radar from the south.”
“Waldo, investigate unidentified aircraft.”
“Copy that, Raven. Waldo, breaking formation.”
“Hai gaiz i found u lol! Someone forgot to tell mew e had a mission today!”
“Moon Moon, you aren’t in the flight plan! Fuck, are those bandits on your tail?”
“I’m gonna bomb the target, guys! I am sky wolf, woof!”
“Hunter, break, missile!”
“Goddammit, Moon Moon!”
“Break and engage, Waldo, chase them off. Protect Hunter and Cowboy!”
“Roger that, Raven, engaging bandit.”
—
0855, Awbari Airspace
“Are you reading any bandits, Kermit?”
“Affirmative, Wedge. I see seven bandits and a SAM on the ground.”
“I read the same over here. SAM is an SA-6, low altitude. Stay high and we won’t have to worry about it.”
“Missiles, break!”
“They’re not getting through ECMs. Arm sparrows and prepare to engage!”
—
“Waldo, fox one!”
“Confirmed kill, two more bandits engaging. Make that three!”
“Hunter, break, that 25 is still on your ass!”
“I need cover, Waldo!”
“Waldo, fox one. Hang in there, Hunter, I’ve got my hands full.”
—
“Wolf, fox one!”
“Wedge, fox one!”
“Kermit, missile, break!”
“I’m good, it went wide! Kermit, Fox one!”
“They’re dropping like flies. We’re sierra hotel today, boys!”
—
“Waldo, fox two! Hunter, how you holding up?”
“WHY DO THEY ALWAYS SHOOT THE MISSILES AT ME?! THERE ARE SIX PLANES IN THIS FLIGHT, WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!”
“Seven!”
“SHUT UP, MOON MOON!”
“Raven, fox two!”
“Holy shit, I can’t believe you can hit anything with all those bombs under your belly!”
“Eyes, sitrep?”
“Copy, Raven, I see five bandits left on radar, target is three miles out.”
“I’m gonda get teht hing guiz!”
“Waldo, where the Hell is my cover?!”
“Waldo, fox two!”
“Shit! Shit fuck, my wing’s on fire! I can’t keep my nose up! I’ve gotta drop my ordinance!”
“We don’t have enough munitions without Hunter!”
“Keep it cool, Eyes. Crunch, target that SA-6 and clear up the low-altitude approach.”
“Copy that, Raven. Crunch, missiles away!”
“SAM destroyed!”
“I’m beginning my bombing run. It’s you and me, Cowboy!”
“Copy that, Raven!”
—
“Kermit, fox two!”
“Keep trying, kid. Wedge, fox two!”
“Kill confirmed!”
“Wolf, fox two! Hey, Wedge, let the new guy have at least one, will ya?”
“I didn’t get to the top playing with a handicap, Wolf. Wedge, fox two!”
—
“Raven, bombs away!”
“Looks like that’s cleared about half of Hunter’s sector.”
“It’s all you, Cowboy.”
“I’m still seeing red on my radar!”
“Waldo, guns, guns, guns!”
“Cowboy, bombs away!”
“Did we get all targets?”
“I can’t see a thing through the smoke!”
“Eyes, sitrep?”
“Target is destroyed, it’s close to overkill! Radar is clean over site, bandits inbound from the south.”
“Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker!”
“Sky Wolves, back to the Calvin. They’ll tell stories about this one.”
—
“You wouldn’t believe how Wedge and Wolf fly!” Kermit said to Eyes within the bowels of the aircraft carrier, “Wedge literally couldn’t miss today. One of his missiles he was barely even trying and it still connected. And their maneuvers were flawless. I’m serious, there were seven planes out there, all of them in range as soon as we were, some of them before, missiles everywhere. The alerts never stopped, as soon as one missile was gone, another was behind. Wedge and Wolf barely even seemed to notice, just tore them right up. How’d the oil field go?”
“I’ll kill him!” Hunter shouted as Cowboy and Waldo held him back, “I’ll shut him in a footlocker and huck him overboard! I’ll strap him to a fucking sidewinder and shoot him at a Mig! I’ll crush his goddamn brains out with a bulkhead!”
“Well,” Eyes said, “Moon Moon showed up…”
Chamomile Has A Blog 