Roland Shaw was not a man who was easily shaken, he had been fighting aerial conflicts his entire adult life, he had no fear of losing his own life anymore, he held on to the causes he felt passionate about, and was directed by his sheer force of will and moral compass. His love of the sky kept him sane, his Iron Jackson protecting his soul in times of hell in the modern war-torn world. He knows that deep down he can make it better. He just needs to keep fighting! But seeing [b]Nishizawa[/b] being nearly blown apart by the flak gun, hearing [b]Reggie[/b] Taunting the opponent that was shooting him and saving his life, watching [b]Kerry, Alfonse and Izabelle[/b] throw themselves into the jaws of battle without any hesitation for each other, all perfect strangers all fighting to keep each other alive and complete this mission...this made tears push out of Roland's eyes. He picked them all well, they were truly [b]Sky Warriors[/b]........[i][b]These Sky Warriors...I cant let down....I cant let them die....like...[/b][/i] [b]BRAPPPPPEPEPEPEPDRRRRRRGGGGG[/b] Roland's brief internal monologue was cut short by his teammate Nishizawa. She had just pulled out of the flak cloud smoke and pulled a gorgeous U-turn and began raining shots down on to #3 a perfect counter attack, one that Roland never expected from the more tech based scanner class. [i]Yeahh! Nishizawa keep blasting him!!!....Hey number 3 I've got something for you, call it a gift from Kaga and the rest of the rest of the hayabusa clan![/i] The Iron Jackson was beaten up but still a tough old bird as the weapon system whirred open and blasted one of its standard unguided rockets at the Little Raven. Roland was dead focused with his aim and let lose as he flew head on just at and angle on the Raven's left flank. [b]SMMMAAAAHAHAHBSSHHBROOOMMM[/b] The Rocket hit hard against the raven and blew most of the right wing straight off!!, The Senshin Gado's Machine gun fire was now rattling into the cockpit and body of the Raven with terrifying accuracy, the the pilot was literally shredded apart in his seat. [b]Little Raven #3:[/b] [i]SHhheeeehsss a scannenrrrr nothing butttTtt A Skannerrr.....agggrgrrrkkkkkk.....ak...[/i] What was left of the little raven plane began to sink like a rock and hit the ground at such a high speed it could be mistaken for a megaton bomb. The Explosion was red and black an the gargles of the bullet ridden pilot went silent on the intercom. [i]Nice work Nishi...you did it....but your....plane it looks ravaged...are you okay?[/i] The Senshin Gado was now trailing smoke that was becoming increasingly dark from the wing, Roland could only wish she was okay. [b]Little Raven #1[/b]: [color=9e005d]IT DOESNT MATTER, YOU CAN KILL AS MANY AS YOU WANT...WE ARE BROKEN BIRDS WE WILL FLY FOREVER CAWWW CAWWW COME BACK STUPID RABBIT THAT ANCIENT FRENCH BOMBER FOSSIL TEAMMATE CANT HELP YOU!!!![/color] The mad leader had probably spoke to soon, his missile was flying towards Reggie on target, and his machine guns were lined up to kill, but he under-estimated Alfonse who Reggie lead right on to the attack path. The AAM missile had detonated against the Old Fart's flares but the explosion was fairly large and The Old Fart took 5% damage from the blast radius, but was unshaken, the same flares had also thrown off the missle that was chasing The Slick Sexy which now flew of course and narrowly missed Reggie by a hair. The Pilot was mad, skwaking like a bird over the intercom as his Little Raven increased speed only to fly right into the blazing firing line of the Old Farts Cannons. [b]Reggie and Alfonse[/b] had set the trap perfectly. The Leader Raven was battered with hunter-class machine fire, and the once fierce plane was now trailing black smoke and catching fire....no sounds were heard from the intercom apart from the screams of the burining pilot being roasted alive in his craft. [b][color=9e0b0f]BLLLLLAMMMMMMM![/color][/b] The leader was dead, the plane exploded in mid air like a new years firecracker, only the Holy Albatross was left. Roland switched on his intercom, his hurried breath was filled with excitement [i]Yeah yeah YEAH Reggie and Alfonse, thats how you do it! Smashed that arrogant bastard into bits! Now we just gotta take care of the bomber. I can see Izzabelle lining up nicely for a diving attack from above, lets hope she.....can.....hang on who's that??? [/i] The Duchesss dived down at insane speeds and fired two missiles at the left-top side of the Holy Albatross. As the Missiles Screamed in, out of nowere a hail of perfectly place machine gunfire lit up the bomber, smashing off two of the turbine engines. The Bomber was now no longer on its path it was diving into a crooked spiral. [i]AHHHH No way....its Ava Falke?! You're here!!! [/i] The german pilot adressed the team over the intercom as the duchesses's missiles followed up Ava's attack and smashed into the now damaged and barely flying bomber.... [b]CRAASSSSSHSHSHHHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH[/b] The explosion was absolutely huge, it looked like nucelar war, the combined attack of the two gutsy female pilots had created a large display of fire and lights for all the sky warriors to see....but the light settled...the smoke and fire cleared.....and emerged and flaming Albatross....STILL FLYING [b]Holy Albatross:[/b] [i]*Koffff* *Koff* hahahaha...kkk....my legs are on fire.....I smell like a champion meal right now....hahahahhkkkk ugrhk...You infidels dont understand....my...craft....is holy....it cannnot be defeated....by such sinful beings.....*koff Koff* as yourself...I will complete...my.....misssiii.....[/i] The Bomber pilot went silent over the intercom as the Albatross began picking up an insane speed. It was flying on a path almost a nose dive....right for the bases building!!!! [i]NOOOOOO Fuccckkk NOO!! Its a kamikaze attackkk,,, I gotta patch through to [b]Hobbes[/b]....get out of the building hobbes....the Bomber is going straight for the building.....[/i] Roland's tried to thrust the Iron Jackson in an attack path to try and shoot the falling zombie of a bomber, but it was no use, the Dead plane (full of explosives) was like a meteor it was falling to fast to catch....[color=ed1c24]it hit the AA base with force of unholy power that the broken birds spoke of.[/color] [color=ed1c24][b][u]MISSION FAILED: THE BASE WAS LOST.[/u][/b][/color] ****************************************************************************************************************************** The explosion had killed everyone in the main command center, all of the staff and officials of the AA were disintegrated with that blast. All of the sky warriors landed in the hangar which was still mostly intact, with only 6 mechanics still breathing and 4 badly injured. Hobbes' mangled corpse was spotted near the outer gate as Roland flew into land, he must have been a few seconds away from avoiding the main blast but was crushed by debris. Commander Ryan's body was nowhere to be seen, he was assumed to be obliterated in the blast if he was in his office. Dynamo gathered to the team in the hangar and addressed them with his face looking solemn and defeated. [i]You did so well, Sky Warriors...so well, we fought the enemy, and killed them, when they ambushed and struck us off gaurd. I know it must be hard to feel proud with all this death, and I don't feel too great either, but you all know what these wars do to us. They take everything away, and this is just another bloody, tragic chapter. But we are still here, and we can still do something. We can get to Neon Haven like orginally planned. We are going to change all of this mess, so these deaths werent for nothing....so that Hobbes' didnt die....for.....*sniffs* ahhh god..[/i] Roland began to cry, he obviously was fond of Hobbes and felt responsible for the his death, the lingering image of Hobbes's smashed body would never leave his mind, or his nightmares. He quickly did his best to wipe his tears and continue. [i]...ahhh shit...look, we have to get to Iceland, the hangar is still mostly in one piece and the mechanics here are going to help fix and restock all our planes to 100%, I'm going to stay here and help too. While you are all waiting you can [b]All ask me one question about this War/Situation/Current Events each, and all relevant info will be added to your codex, pick your question wisely.[/b]We will then leave for Iceland as soon as the planes are fixed, which shouldn't take long.....so get something to eat and sit down while you can...dismissed...[/i] Roland grabbed a wrench and rallied the mechanics as they began to open up and begin repairs on the planes. Hobbes memory was heavy in the air. [hider=R.I.P. Peter Hobbes] [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O41bpujWvz4[/url] [/hider]