“Yankee, Tequila, you need to get away from the bird and get in the fight, I am not going to be able to take out all five before they get to our bomber,” he said into his radio.
His heartbeat continued to rise, he attempted to breathe deeply, and this was not a time to lose mental control. His fighter was the superior to the enemy aircraft in every way. Now he had to be superior to the pilots in every way possible. Two F-22 Raptors could easily handle more than five MIGs, however it wasn’t enough to just handle them, they needed to work fast before the enemy could get in close enough to do damage or outright destroy the bomber. Time was essential here. It wasn’t just their destruction that mattered, there was a clock ticking away as these guys approached his bomber. Those bombs must find their targets if this mission was going be successful.
All five enemy fighters went supersonic. He saw that it was too late for the one he had fired upon.
The missile hit the rear quarter of the MIG. The MIG exploded in a pinwheel of fire on the way to the ground. He looked to the west and there was no parachute that escaped. The pilot exploded along with the aircraft.
He tried to gain a better position in behind one of the remaining enemy fighters. He knew that as he did, one or more of the other remaining four MIGs would try to work their way in behind him. That was a problem for after he shot down another one of their team.
He hoped that his wingman, call sign “Yankee” could distract the other enemy aircraft for just a few minutes, if not destroy one or more of them.
He found position, “Yankee, this is Tequila, I have lock on target number two, Fox Three,” he felt the aircraft shudder again as a second missile took off.
He knew the AMRAAM combined with the F-22 could not be beaten, and that would be a second MIG down.
Now all he had to do was worry about the one that had worked its way in behind. That shouldn’t be too hard.
He heard his radio come to life, “Tequila this is Yankee. Fox three on target three. You have one of them on your six, I lost track of target five. Try to shake him, I’ll work my way in behind and peel him off your ass.”
He looked to his west and saw Yankee’s aircraft. “Yankee, worry about the bomber I can shake this guy loose,” he said confident in his abilities, and concerned about the unaccounted for enemy MIG.
He pushed for more speed, gained altitude, and then pulled hard east. He hoped to blind the MIG pilot with the Sun. With the additional speed came far more G forces that would cause him to black out if he wasn’t careful. Even with the G-suit on the turn was still a problem at the speed he was moving.
The MIG stayed right behind him matching him move for move. It was impressive given the differences in the aircraft. He would have been happy to meet such a skilled pilot if the situation were different. The end result of this meeting would be that one of them was most likely going to die in an explosion of fire and debris.
Tequila slowed, not wanting to stray too far from the bomber. As long as he continued to maneuver and prevent the MIG from getting lock on him, or within gun range he would be fine. His aircraft would alert him if he the MIG got a missile lock, then he could launch countermeasures.
It was at that moment, Tequila heard the bomber pilot come on, “Yankee, Tequila, or anyone else within my range, I have one coming in behind me and I can’t shake him with this big assed thing. I need help and need it now! Our defenses will not be able to take him out in time.”
“Fuck, Tequila on the way,” he pushed into afterburner to get back within range, not concerned with what the pilot on his tail was doing. He suddenly realized he was 150 miles away from the bomber. His remaining missiles only had a 40-mile range, “Pushing back into supersonic I’ll be there in 20 seconds,” he pushed for all of the power his aircraft had.
At least speed was on his side. He knew that flying this straight was dangerous with a fighter tracking him. It didn’t matter. It was a risk he must take to protect the bomber.
“I have lock on him. Firing now,” the missile streaked away and he knew the bomber would be fine.
“Tequila, look out, he is firing on you!” All the sudden his aircraft warning lights came on. It wasn’t missiles being fired at him, but guns. He pulled left, right, tried to maneuver into a barrel roll. He could not shake the other pilot.
In close, the MIG turned out to be more maneuverable than even his advanced fighter. All of the amazing electronics and stealth capabilities weren’t doing anything for him now that this was a pure dogfight.
All of the radar stealth capability in the world didn’t mean anything if you were visible, and being shot at with a chain-gun.
“Tequila, this is Yankee. Try coming west I’ll see if I can get him off your ass.”
“Yankee, Tequila pulling west now,” he said quickly, thankful for the help.
The G’s were incredible at this speed. He saw the world in front of him start to turn gray and he knew he was reaching his limit. He had to slow down in this turn or lose consciousness. He pulled back slightly on the speed.
He saw bullets streaking past within feet of the cockpit then with a violent jolt, the fighter lost all power, “Yankee this is Tequila. I have been hit. I have lost all power. I have five warning lights. I am punching out.”
Making sure his back was tight against the seat and his elbows were tucked in, he pulled the ejector handle and was kicked square in the ass and blown free on a plume of fire from his dying aircraft. Looking up, he saw his parachute deploy. His eyes and ears were drawn towards the sight and sound of his aircraft exploding a few seconds later as the enemy MIG streaked away.
He watched his wingman dive in and then destroyed the fighter that had been tailing him. He lost track of the dogfight after, that but he hoped that Yankee finished off the fifth and that should allow the bomber to get through to its targets.
This war could not be allowed to expand.
The world just could not take it.
All he could do now was try to remember his survival training. He knew his position was well inside the Iranian borders, and he didn’t want to be taken prisoner. Hopefully a Special Operations team could get to him before the Iranians.
AP NEWS FLASH: International news reports say the United States has stepped up bombing efforts today in an attempt to force peace negotiations to commence. Spotters positioned at airbases in Turkey counted the aircraft leaving, and those landing later in the day. There are three aircraft missing. Two F-22 Raptors and a B-52 Stratofortress did not come back to the air base. Details on the various aircraft are going to be released, pilots are presumed either missing or dead. Several other aircraft were seen to be coming back with damage to various parts of the body of the aircraft. Two aircraft had ambulances meet them on the tarmac. Condition of the flight crews of those two aircraft to be released once the families can be reached.
AP ECONOMIC NEWS FLASH: A gallon of milk has passed the price of a gallon of gasoline today and is currently at $5.50 per gallon. Some parts of the country have fresh vegetable shortages. Railway companies are emerging as the only viable cost effective shipping method for farmers to bring their goods to market. < STORY DEVELOPING>
Chapter Thirty-Five
The President and Frank stood outside of the Press Room listening to Scott Waits give the introductory briefing. The Press Secretary was stressing how questions should be held until asked for, as is courtesy with Presidents making any type formal statements. All of this was done with the television cameras turned off.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, I give you, The President of the United States,” the room could be heard standing up and waiting. Frank assumed that the television cameras went live just seconds before the announcement of the President.