The element of surprise was running out for the Excalibur Squadron as the disoriented bombers started to pick up the pace and started to spread out, looking to evade their fire so that they can unleash their payload. After securing Eight by taking down a bandit looking to assault them, Matt and his Jaguar were looking for a new victim. He just saw a pack of bombers splitting, one of them taking a small nose dive in order to get below him. Instead, he quickly got on his tail, firing small bursts from his ADEN. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to make much of an impact. Seeing that he is too close for long range missiles, he switched to the R.550 Magic rockets. By the time he did that, he and the bomber were flying pretty separated from the rest of the fight.

A one-on-one scenario would favor him because of his aircraft's superior mobility and his opponent's weapon advantage was mitigated by the fact that he was the one chasing. Making sure the bandit has no way of getting behind him, he fired. "Fox Two!" he reported as the missile hit its thrusters and ending that Bear's ride for good. "Kill scored for Seven" he announced in a cool tone, like it's no big deal. However, this confidence would soon backfire as he realized he got separated from his allies and earned an Su-27 on his tail looking for the kill. "All right, let's party!" he said to himself and started evading the fighter's fire while thrusting closer to friendlies.

Once he was in range for the Excalibur fighters to strike back on the bandit, he reported on the squad channel: "Got engaged on by a fighter, completely focused on me, should be an easy one for someone else." So far, he had done an excellent job in evading, only taking one or two rounds, which didn't make any impact. He didn't let his confidence take over him again though, as he kept respecting his opponent's firepower. The fact that he was almost taken down by the same type of aircraft back at the HAF, only helped him with that.