USS Enterprise (CVN-80), South China Sea

0730 hours, PST

3 Months after last chapter

To say Andy and Prez pulled their weight in their new position as Strider Squadron's 5th member would be the understatement of the decade. Both were absolute monsters on the battlefield, both already had double-digit kill counts, both...well mainly Andy could keep up with Trigger's High-G maneuvers during battle which her other wingmen and even her sister squad's pilots struggled to do, and both were relatively active in maintaining and upgrading their aircraft in the hangar bay. Thanks to these achievements and feats alongside his Red Left Tail, Andy (and by extension Prez) was given the title of Solo-Tail Bullet among the Russians and Chinese.

One day, after a tiring sortie, Andy and Prez were heading back to Strider Squadron's bunks, their jet had been stowed away with the others and was being looked after, in the 3 Months they had been on the Enterprise, both Andy and Prez grew to see their F/A-18 as their baby as they continuously upgraded it, with no plans of stopping anytime soon, but the pair didn't care about that right now, they just wanted to sleep.

Prez: "So tired...." she groaned, plopping down in her bunk.

Andy: "Ugh...who knew SU-57's were so fucking annoying to fight?" he added, crashing down on the bunk below Prez's.

Prez: "No talk, just sleep." she said, hitting him over the head.

Andy grunted, wordlessly agreeing with his WSO and lying down in his bunk. Bad news for the people who bet under 3 Months, both Andy and Prez at the moment were in a sibling-like relationship, they still needed some time to get to know each other, grow to like each other, and eventually fall for each other so High Roller collected the winnings from....Bandog, Avril, all of Red Squadron, and half of Spare Squadron who all bet somewhere in the range of 1 Week and 3 Months.

As the pair were about to fall asleep however, the Red Alert klaxons roared to life, causing both to groan and get up.

Prez: "Ugh...LET US GET SOME FUCKING REST YOU CHINESE BASTARDS!!" she roared, shaking a fist up at the ceiling.

Andy: "Let's get this over with, we're way over our duty-time limits anyway...let's just see what the hell is happening..." he said, leading the way.

Prez: "Ugh...I hate the sounds of these fucking klaxons!" she yelled, following Andy out the door.

Andy: "I know Robin, but there's nothing we can really do about them." he shrugged.

The pilot and his WSO jogged up to the flight deck as fast as they could to see what was happening. On the way out, they ran into the rest of Strider, who had also been on the way to the bunks.

Trigger: "You guys too?" she asked.

Andy: "Yeah," he replied, "what do you guys think is happening up there?"

Count: "No clue kid." he replied.

Huxian: "I'm gonna bet that it's another goddamn attack." she bet, with a groan.

Jaeger: "I'm not so sure, I heard they're rigging the barricade." he put in.

Prez: "Huh, wonder what's landing." she hummed.

Earlier that day

0728 hours

That morning, 2 minutes before Andy and Prez made it into their bunks, Bandog was manning the control tower, the normal controller was past his duty time limits and the guy who normally relieved him was doing his other duty thus the Spare AWACs was filling in for both of them, he had just finished guiding Strider Squadron in when he noticed something on RADAR making a beeline towards the Enterprise.

Bandog: "Unknown aircraft, identify yourself and state your reason for entering US airspace." he demanded, "Failure to comply will result in retaliatory efforts."

Phenix?: "This is..." he started, over heavy static, "....Phe-nix.....from....carrier.....USS Hornet...CVA-12."

Bandog: "Um...copy that Phenix," he said, changing the craft's IFF from 'Unknown' to 'Ally', "where in the world is your squadron and, better yet, where is your carrier?"

Phenix: "They're all....they're all gone....submarine sank Hornet....SU-57's downed my squad..." he replied, still over heavy static, "I'm all that's left....but I'm heavily damaged."

Bandog went quiet for a few seconds, processing that one of the US Navy's Fleet Carriers, an Essex Class was gone, sinking to the bottom of the ocean. As soon as he was done processing he got back on the radio.

Bandog: "Understood Phenix." he said, "You're cleared for landing. May God be with you."

Bandog then hung up and grabbed a phone, pushing a button to sound the red alert.

Bandog: "All recovery and flight deck personnel we have a developing situation on our hands, rig the barricade." he ordered, hanging up the phone and running into the bridge a door behind him, "All engines ahead flank, we have a damaged aircraft incoming."

Enterprise Helmsman: "Engines Ahead Flank aye." he saluted, gunning the throttles.

The Enterprise picked up speed slowly to just over 30 knots as a web of ropes was lifted up, ready to catch the wounded aircraft.

Island interior

0732 hours

The Squadron finally made it up the stairs to the inside of the Enterprise's island, they were about to make their way out onto the flight deck when they ran into a familiar figure already there.

Andy: "C-Captain!" he saluted.

Prez: "Wh-what a surprise ma'am!" she saluted, "Please don't kill us."

Captain Elizabeth Dare: "At ease you 2." she said, nodding back, "Esdeath's asleep at the moment."

Prez: "Oh! Thank God!" she sighed in relief.

Trigger: "What's the situation?" she asked.

Captain Elizabeth: "Bandog picked up an unknown contact on RADAR when you and your squadron landed earlier, when he hailed it, the pilot identified himself as Outlaw 3, TAC Name Phenix." she explained, "Phenix claims to be the last of his Squadron and Carrier Force, claiming USS Hornet CVA-12 be sunk and Outlaw Squadron shot down."

Count: "An entire squadron!?" he yelled, shocked.

Andy: "An entire Carrier..." he trailed off, shocked.

Trigger: "Wait...Mage Squadron was supposed to be on Hornet!" she yelled, concerned for her old squadron.

Captain Elizabeth: "Don't worry Trigger, Mage was on shore leave when the incident occurred." she assured, kindly.

Prez: "Were there any survivors?" she asked.

Captain Elizabeth: "We don't know...not yet, we'll find out from our pilot when he lands." she replied.

Satisfied with the answers given, Strider Squadron step out onto the flight deck and turn their heads toward their ship's stern to see what was coming in. They were greeted by a heavily damaged F4U Corsair, trailing all sorts of shit coming in to land at an uncomfortably high speed, the Corsair proceeded to slam into the deck its left set of landing gear collapsing, sending sparks and shrapnel everywhere before it was finally caught in the barricade.

Andy: "Jesus Christ!" he cussed.

Jaeger: "Well that was rough." he said, watching as a Corpsman took the heavily wounded pilot out while everyone else clamored around the Corsair.

Prez: "Yikes!" she winced, coming up on the wounded plane, "She looks like she fought through a war on her own."

Avril: "Yeah! When the bastard who flew this thing in gets out of the sick bay, I'm giving him a wrench to the head with how he abused this baby." she said, looking over the plane.

As Avril began looking it over, they began pushing the plane onto the elevators.

Avril: "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!" she yelled, shocked.

The yell of shock suddenly drew everyone towards the Scrap Queen who was beginning to geek out about the outdated as fuck aircraft.

Captain Elizabeth: "What? What is it?" she asked.

Avril: "Whoever this person is is an amazing fucking mechanic!" she yelled, "He modernized and modified this World War 2 fucker so it can probably compete with even Bullet and Prez's baby!"

Prez: "How?" she asked.

Wiseman: "Something I'd also like to know." he said, walking up to the aircraft.

Avril: "The bastard is straddling an F-16's engine! And everything on this plane has been ripped right off an F-15 or something and jerry-rigged for this historical piece of art! Oh shit! They also fitted a fucking Howitzer!" she explained, "God, I am gonna kiss this son of a bitch once I'm done kicking the crap out of him!"

Strider Squadron collectively looked at Huxian, over the 3 Months that Andy and Prez had been part of the Carrier Airwing, it had been made rather clear that Huxian had a massive crush on their resident Queen of Scrap. Huxian made no move to suggest such infatuation and her left eye simply twitched in annoyance at the claim.

Captain Elizabeth: "Ahem! Bullet, Prez; I want you to come with me." she said, beckoning them to follow her.

Andy: "Yes ma'am." he said, turning to Trigger.

Trigger: "Go ahead Bullet, we'll meet you and possibly the survivor in a few mikes in the mess hall." she said, nudging Andy and Prez forward.

Prez: "Copy that flight lead." she smiled, grabbing Andy by the scruff of his jacket and dragging him away, "C'mon Andy."

Andy: "Gah! Ok! Ok! Don't drag me Prez!" he complained, trying to yank himself free of his WSO.

Tabloid: "Well, we know who's on top in bed now." he snickered, as the group disappeared out of earshot.

Huxian: "Were there any bets about this part?" she asked.

High Roller: "Not to my knowledge." he replied, shrugging.

Count: "If there were, I would've won it." he bragged.

Avril: "Yeah right Nickelback." she said, rolling her eyes.

Count: "IS EVERYONE USING THAT GODDAMN JOKE ON ME?!" he demanded.

Full Band: "I mean, you do look like that guy." he pointed out.

Count: "Shut it Full Band!" he snapped.

The pilots all chuckle at Count's anger. Cutting to Andy and Prez, they had caught up to Captain Elizabeth and began to enter the Sick Bay. Immediately as they enter, they came into contact with the pilot, his entire body was covered in bandages, except for his face and most of his right leg. Both Andy and Prez recognized the pilot as the first graduate to walk up on stage.

Captain Elizabeth: "So, you're the cause of all the commotion earlier." she said, "Gimme a sit-rep."

Alex: "It was bad Captain, the Russians came at Hornet and her squadrons with at the very least 30 Felons and one of their submarines." he started, producing his Corsair's flight data recorder, "Hornet was understaffed that day so the defense was...pathetic, 3 F-4's and my F4U, Hornet's Escorts were unable to defend her sufficiently but when she sank they made sure to avenge her and pick up all the surviving crew."

Alex hobbled over to a monitor and plugged in his flight data recorder, allowing those in the room to see what he had been into, Andy and Prez were the most interested in the footage as they watched what they knew was an F4U Corsair perform feats of maneuverability that Andy knew he would struggle with even in an F-22 or in his and Prez's F/A-18.

Captain Elizabeth: "I must say kid, I'm impressed, even my best aces can't match the shit you pulled." she commented, "Though, I must ask why there is a howitzer fitted on your jet's underbelly."

Alex: "Because why not?" he shrugged.

Captain Elizabeth: "Well then, seeing as we may as well make the most of you being here, I decided to take you aboard my ship and assign you to one of my squadrons." she said, proudly, "Welcome aboard the USS Enterprise CVN-80. Andy, Robin; show him around."

Andy: "Yes ma'am!" he saluted, tearing his eyes away from the screen.

Alex: "Hope we can be friends I guess." he said, hobbling over.

Prez: "Just don't hog all the glory and we'll be good." she said, rolling her eyes, "Now c'mon, let's get this tour going."

Prez grabbed Andy by the scruff of his outfit again and dragged him out.

Andy: "Wha-!? ROBIN!" he yelled trying to squirm out of her hold.

Prez: "Shush it Bullet." she said, continuing to drag him, "While you're a speed demon in the air, you suck at walking speed."

Andy glared at Prez for a second before slumping and accepting her dragging him away.

Alex: "Um....are they....a thing?" he asked.

Captain Elizabeth: "Nope." she replied, "Though everyone else is already betting on when they kick it off, it's already been 3 months, most people have already lost, it's not too late to add to the pot."

Alex: "Um...I see, well, I guess I'm off." he said, hobbling after the couple.

Captain Elizabeth: "I'll finish the paperwork and deal with the doctor, you just catch up with Andy and Robin." she instructed.

Alex nodded and limped after Prez and Andy.

A few minutes of walking around the ship later, Andy opens a door which leads up into the hangar, having escaped from Prez's hold during the trip.

Andy: "And this is the hangar, there's an entire section dedicated to scrap and spare parts, and all our aircraft are repaired and upgraded with those parts." he explained, "Your plane should be somewhere in here."

Alex: "Do you have spares for an F4U?" he asked.

Prez: "Considering all the shit in that pile, I don't doubt that some parts for a Corsair somehow snuck their way aboard." she replied, gesturing to the pile of spare parts.

Andy: "If Avril hasn't already had them all fitted." he remarked, "I swear, she was running around like a giddy school kid when she saw all the modifications you put on your plane."

Prez: "And I am definitely going to when I get a chance to look at it later." she added.

Alex: "I guess I'm flattered to know that my work is appreciated." he chuckled.

Andy: "You kidding? You made what me and Prez did to our F/A-18 look like child's play." he said, "I don't even wanna know how you stuffed an F-16 Turbofan and a Howitzer in your plane at the same time."

Alex: "There was a lot of hull extensions involved and a lot of reprimands from superiors about making my aircraft non-standard." he replied, sheepishly.

Avril: "Ah, you've run into the fun police before." she commented suddenly.

Prez: "Jesus Christ Avril!" she cursed.

Avril: "Sup, you must be Phenix, name's Avril Mead, though the guys 'round here call me the Scrap Queen." she said, holding a handshake out and ignoring Prez.

Alex: "Nice to meet you, these 2 have told me many things about you." he chuckled, taking the handshake.

Avril: "Oh? Good things I hope." she said, leaning over and glaring at the pair of them.

Alex: "Nothing but." he replied, "So, how's my baby doin?"

Avril: "Your Corsair? It...could be in better states...." she trailed off.

Alex: "Well, if the tour's over, mind if I have a look?" he asked.

Prez: "Go ahead, me and Andy are running on fumes so we'll see you in 7 hours." she replied, grabbing Andy by the scruff of his shirt and dragging him away.

Andy: "Goddamn it Prez! Let me go!" he yelled.

Prez: "No." she said, simply.

With a grumble, Andy had no choice but to accept his WSO dragging him again.

Long Caster: "Hey!" he yelled, running into the pair, "Briefing in 20 mikes, take a small nap and then meet us in the ready room."

Andy: "Copy that..." he groaned, tiredly, "any details you can disclose?"

Long Caster: "You're going in at night, and expect conditions to be horrendous." he replied, running off.

Prez: "Welp, let's get moving Bullet." she said, dragging him away.

Andy mumbled a complaint before just letting her drag him away.

Mirror Sea, ???

???? hours

Current Conditions: N/A

Red Lightning roared angrily in an unknown realm, the place seemingly empty except for a small fleet of angular ships, all in a dormant state. None moved, none awoke, there was no need to at that moment, no battles were taking place, time being relative in the Mirror Sea what felt like years was mere hours so this was less than a few seconds in real time.

Tester B: "I'm assuming that this little meeting of ours isn't necessarily a social call." she said, sipping a cup of Green Tea.

Shoukaku: "Indeed," she said, sitting alongside Tester, "normally the only reason we use the Mirror Sea is for a quick sneak attack."

Musashi: "What do we have cooking now?" she asked.

Observer A: "Well, I'll be honest with you." she said, setting her cup down, "While our efforts have been noble and rather successful, we are still loosing more ships than we are saving, thus, we need a new strategy."

Kaga: "What do you mean 'new strategy', we've tried every trick in the book, we've tried anything and everything our rescued kansen have suggested and still nothing." she snapped, "If you're just telling us to do better then go kiss my ass!"

Akagi: "Calm down Kaga." she said, trying to calm her sister.

Observer A: "No no, the frustration is understandable." she said, standing up, "But, that wasn't what I was talking about."

Kaga: "Then what were you talking about?" she demanded.

Observer A: "I was talking about messing with the dimensional barrier, peeking into our neighbor dimension and grabbing a hero to assist us." she replied, smugly.

Zuikaku: "But, you said when you started this that-..." she started.

Observer A: "I know, I vowed to never touch the dimensional borders other than our own but desperate times call for desperate measures," she explained, "besides, I have already picked our champion of sorts."

Tester B: "Really? Who?" she asked.

Observer A: "I shall show you as we grab them." she replied, creating a portal.

Tester stared through the portal curiously before turning to the kansen in the room.

Tester B: "We shall meet again when we return, we will not be long." she said, stepping through.

Observer followed Tester in before closing the portal, ending up in the middle of a Super Typhoon over a Naval and Air base.

Flight Deck, USS Enterprise (CVN-80)

2000 hours

Current Conditions: Super Typhoon

That night, sailing parallel to a massive Super Typhoon, Strider Squadron were hopping into their F/A-18's. They were being sent on a night mission to raid the Naval and Air Base Fokino. As Andy and Prez completed their checklist on the elevator, they were joined by a hastily patched up F4U Corsair, upon Alex's insistence Trigger eventually caved and allowed Alex to join them for the mission.

Long Caster: "Strider Squadron, this is Long Caster, I am currently flying above the storm, I shall now brief you and give you updates to your strategy. As you know, you are to attack Fokino Naval and Air Base." he said, "Currently, you have the cover of a Super Typhoon, you shall approach from a high altitude before diving through the storm to reach your target, the winds are strong but you should be able to handle it. Do not engage in dogfights, retreat immediately as soon as all objectives have been accomplished."

Trigger: "This is Strider 1, all aircraft report in." she instructed.

Count: "This is Strider 2, ready to go." he called.

Jaeger: "Strider 3, ready to rock and roll." he grinned.

Huxian: "Strider 4, let's knock some Ruskies down a few notches." she said, cockily.

Andy: "Strider 5, Bullet, let's avenge Hornet." he said, determined.

Prez: "Strider 5, Prez, don't be so serious Bullet." she said, a little more laid back.

Alex: "Strider 6, ready to go." he said, having been given an honorary spot as Strider's 6th pilot.

Deck Leader: "Strider Squadron, checks complete, sortie ASAP." he ordered.

Strider Squadron's first 3 members locked into the catapults as their 4th, 5th, and their honorary 6th waited their turn. They didn't have too long to wait however as Trigger roared off into the air followed swiftly by Count and Jaeger who roared off after their flight lead allowing Huxian, Andy and Prez, and Alex slipped into the catapults and got ready to fly. As they did, Andy glanced left and stared at the massive storm raging alongside the Enterprise, remembering the times that the Philippines had been hit by the same type of storm and how viciously strong they had been all those times before taking a deep breath, turning to the shooter and giving a quick salute before grabbing the handle on the side of his cockpit as his plane lurched forward and into the air.

Long Caster: "All aircraft in the air, the Super Typhoon's eye is currently on top of the target, if you can attack the target when the eye wall is on top of it, that would give the best chance of success." he reported.

Trigger: "Copy that Long Caster." she nodded, "Alright Strider, let's haul ass, the eye wall is only going to be on top of the base for a small window, so let's move."

Count: "Copy that, on your wing." he reported.

Jaeger: "Following ya in Trig." he added.

Huxian: "Hey new kid, form up on me, nice and tight." she instructed.

Alex: "Copy 4." he said, guiding his Corsair to altitude with Huxian.

Prez: "Long Caster, give us a countdown, are we gonna make it to the base before the Eye Wall?" she asked.

Long Caster: "Eye Wall's ETA is 10 minutes, you have a 3 minute flight ahead of you." he replied, "You'll be fine."

Prez: "Copy Long Caster." she said, muting the radios for her and Andy.

Andy: "You got a bad feeling bout this Prez?" he asked.

Prez: "I mean, who wouldn't?" she asked, "We're being asked to risk life and limb by flying through the roughest part of a storm to strike a target."

Andy: "Well, that's why you have me here," he said, "I'll get us home safe and sound if it's the last thing I do."

Prez: "You promise?" she asked, oddly meekly.

Andy: "I promise." he said, reaching an open hand behind his seat.

Prez grabbed Andy's hand and gave it a small squeeze to try and comfort herself.

Trigger: "All pilots, we are approaching the Eye Wall, get ready." she instructed.

Andy: "Copy that Flight Lead." he said, unmuting his comms.

Count: "Alright, what's our loiter time at the moment?" he asked.

Long Caster: "You've got 5 minutes til the Eye Wall is on top of the target." he replied, the crunch of a sandwich being heard over the radio, "Mm! So good!"

Huxian: "Of course you're eating right now Long Caster." she sighed, rolling her eyes.

Long Caster: "What? I didn't have dinner." he shrugged, chuckling.

Andy muted himself on the comms again to bank his aircraft left, staring down into the growing storm as it slowly moved over the port and air base. As he was about to level out he saw multiple bright red flashes within the clouds alongside a few bolts of yellow.

Andy: "What the heck...?" he questioned.

Prez: "I see it too." she said, "What are those?"

Alex: "Yo Bullet, you good?" he asked, "Staring down into the abyss isn't exactly healthy y'know."

Andy: "Yeah, yeah I'm good." he replied, leveling out and unmuting, "I just swear I saw yellow and red flashes in there."

Trigger: "Yellow and red?" she questioned, banking her own aircraft.

Prez: "Can confirm Strider 1." she said, "Yellow and Red flashes were observed."

Count: "The hell....Long Caster, what causes those colors in fucking lightning?" he asked.

Long Caster: "Um....last I checked, red is high concentrations of electricity and yellow is because of sand in the air." he replied, "But that's not right....red I can see but yellow is unlikely and both at the same time is impossible."

Andy: "Well, we saw it, chalk it up for when the mission is complete." he said, "Eye Wall's over the target."

Trigger: "Alright Striders, assume attack formation and stay on me." she ordered.

With a wordless confirmation Strider Squadron created a line behind their leader before following her as she rolled into a dive, plunging nose first into the most violent part of the storm. As they pierced the clouds the squadron broke up, dodging clouds and lightning while relying on their instruments to find their way down to their target.

Andy: "Prez, you've got the Bruisers and ECM." he said, "I've got the bombs and the guns."

Prez: "Copy Bullet." she said, suddenly yelping as Andy violently maneuvered, "Goddamn it Andy!"

Count: "I really don't regret riding Trigger's coattails now." he chuckled.

Prez: "Eat my ass Co-OUNT!! WARN ME NEXT TIME YOU ASSHOLE!!" she roared.

Andy: "Ow!" he yelped, being hit on the shoulder.

Huxian: "Bullet you good? You know Prez is bullying you a bit." she said.

Andy: "Nah, I know it's all in good fun, and besides I kinda have it coming sometimes." he said, a yelp from Prez following his statement, "Like that time."

Prez: "ASSHOLE!!" she roared.

As Strider Squadron continued descending through the clouds, dodging and weaving at random, the pair of Siren from earlier watched as Andy made his plane dance through the storm without assistance from his thrust vectoring nozzles.

Observer A: "So? What do you think?" she asked.

Tester B: "He is talented, I will give him that." she said, watching his flying carefully, "Can do with a bit of refinement and fine tuning though."

Observer A: "That is because, despite that level of skill, he has only graduated from pilot school a few months ago." she stated.

Tester B: "A young prodigy? Why?" she asked.

Observer A: "It means that he won't be as willing to murder as the other pilots are." she replied, "Plus, it means that we have a younger man for the girls to find comfort in unlike the man I pulled out of this timeline's World War 2 a few years back."

Tester B: "Have...have you been scrolling through the Human's Internet again?" she asked, deadpanning at Observer.

Observer A: "...yes, but to be fair, it is rather...addicting..." she trailed off.

Tester B: "Just...don't have him fuck them," she sighed, "they have enough trust issues as is."

Observer A: "I know, I'm going to gradually introduce him to them, have them not make contact at all at first, then have them glance at each other across the room, and then finally have them go for little playdates with each other." she replied, nonchalantly.

Tester B: "That's....that's how you introduce 2 birds to each other-" she pointed out, "Are you sure this is even wise?"

Observer A: "Yes, I am sure, what's the worst that can happen?" she asked, shrugging without a care in the world.

Tester rolled her eyes as Strider punched through the bottom of the storm, revealing Fokino Naval and Air Base bracing for the storm but not much else.

Trigger: "Alright Count, Jaeger, Huxian; play with some boats." she ordered, "Bullet, Phenix; you're with me, we play with the planes."

Count: "Copy that Trig." he saluted.

Huxian: "Copy flight lead." she nodded.

Jaeger: "You got it Trigger." he saluted.

Andy: "Yes ma'am!" he saluted.

Prez: "We're on your tail Three Strikes." she added.

Alex: "We won't have too long, so let's hurry." he said.

The 6 aircraft broke formation with the Corsair following the visually distinct F/A-18's inland while the mostly stock F/A-18's charged at the ships in the harbor. The Russians on the other hand had no idea that the Americans were even in the area because their RADARs had been switched off to avoid interference with the comm lines, so it came as an utter surprise when the Three Strikes, Solo-Tail Bullet, and the Demon of 1944 appeared over the airfield and began attacking alongside the Snowbirds who wreaked havoc in the harbor.

On the first run, the trio attacking the air base dropped their bombs to wreck the runway, carrying 5 each they spread their drops out as to hit the entire length of the runway. Once the bombs were all extended the trio of aircraft wheeled around to see the extent of what they had done.

Prez: "Runway knocked out!" she yelled, "SAMs aren't even turning at us!"

Trigger: "Thanks for that Prez." she thanked, "Alright, let's take out the AA defenses, the hangars, and the fuel depots."

Andy: "Copy that, Long Caster, how we doing on time?" he asked.

Long Caster: "Storm's slowed a little, you'll be in the eye-wall for a little linger than first anticipated, you still have 45 mikes." he reported.

Alex: "Copy that Long Caster." he nodded, "How's the port looking?"

Count: "Still working on it, we've dealt with all the warships and have enough ammo to destroy the supplies to repair them." he reported. 

Trigger: "Understood, let us know if you need help." she instructed. 

Andy, Trigger, and Alex proceeded to circle back and use their guns to destroy the hangars and aircraft on the base while Prez jammed the Russian comms to keep the attack secret until Strider Squadron left thus keeping the Russian Retaliation to a minimum. After 2 or 3 runs with their guns, the trio of planes broke off. 

Andy: "Strider 5 here, air base neutralized." he reported, "Moving to help Striders 2-4." 

Huxian: "Copy that Strider 5, we need that assist." she said, thankfully. 

Count: "We've run out of Bruisers and Bombs thanks to this stubborn ass fleet." he explained, "We need you guys to finish the Port off." 

Trigger: "Copy that Strider 2, we're coming." she said. 

Andy: "Prez, lock and load." he called. 

Prez: "Copy that Bullet." she grinned, "Let's finish this off and get out of this weather." 

Andy: "Aye, let's do that." he said. 

Trigger banked hard left and set course for the Naval Base with Andy on her tail and Alex trailing behind. The Russians on the ground were unable to get their guns or their SAMs ready to fight their aircraft and thus were unable to shoot down Strider Squadron as their facilities exploded, vaporizing anyone close enough and making sure that any and all supplies that had been delivered thus far were now unusable. 

Long Caster: "Strider Squadron, operation is complete, results are better than anticipated, retreat through the storm to keep them guessing as to where you came from." he instructed. 

Andy: "Copy that Long Caster." he saluted. 

Count: "Whoo! Man I am hungry, you guys wanna go grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria?" he asked, "I'm paying." 

Huxian: "What would even be on offer at this hour?" he asked, 

Count: "I dunno, heard the chefs leave the kitchen open, so for all they care, we can break in and make some ramen or something." he replied. 

Jaeger: "Meh, I'm down." he shrugged, "What about you guys?" 

Huxian: "Sure, why not?" she replied. 

Trigger: "I can eat." she chuckled, "What about you 5?" 

Andy: "I'll join in." he smiled. 

Prez: "It's food, so of course we're joining, Long Caster too." she said. 

Long Caster: "Not wrong there, I'll bring the boys in my E-2 along as well," he laughed, "what about you Strider 6? You coming?" 

Alex: "Yeah, I'll tag along." he said, "As long as the cooking's good." 

Count: "I'll have you know I'm an excellent cook, I'll cook us up some delicious fucking hamburgers." he said, defensively. 

Alex: "Right..." he trailed off. 

Andy chuckled, his plane entering the storm clouds...but before either he or Prez could say anymore banter, a bright red flash of lightning engulfed their aircraft....and they disappeared into thin air, their squad only finding out that they went missing when they landed, an attempted search would result in Alex also disappearing. 

A/N: Alright, that'll do for now, thank you all so much for reading, I have spent way too much time in making this, you have no idea. dieHero, it's your turn, gimme your thoughts.

 Next time, Andy and Prez wake up in a calm blue sky over a still blue ocean, they have no idea where they are and pick up no transponders so when they run into some suspicious Aircraft claiming to be of 'Eagle Union' origin, the pair are put on edge, stay tuned to find out what'll happen next.