Until further orders, the 42nd are to remain on standby at Bukit Merah, and with a new information about their missing comrades, would they prevail?

---

I stared out at the clear blue sky above, as scorching heat of the desert continued to batter my body. The thing that keep me positive in this area is 'one day you will be used for this heat', from my contacts.

My eyes flickered over to my working station on the left side of an underground bunker, a table with two laptops set beside an unmanned trailer. An assistant humanoid robot regularly brought me water as I am working with them.

Well, a little background was needed. I have many names, and the name written on my nametag, Dr. Uwais, is one of them. Originally, I'm from Japan, and my adult life revolved in the world of robotics and artificial intelligence. I once worked for SoftBank before moved to Kawasaki and from there, I got involved with it's drone program for the SDF. Things seems good, but in 2025 I got myself an existential crisis and from there I converted to Islam two years later.

As the world continue to unravel I keep my faith to myself while at the same I feel a new sense of brotherhood and solidarity within it, unlike my old traditions of my family. However, things changed as I feel that I am being spied upon by the government. Then one day my superior called me, and things went downhill as they confronted me of my pro-Palestinian tweets as well as my chats pertaining to such issue. So they then publicly exposed me in front of the press. They booted me out, and I got disowned from my family.

From a rising scientist, a pariah overnight.

I hate my sorry state of life as I have to move into a small flat in the outskirts of Tokyo. The only friend I have is in the mosque and worked in a back-alley robot service and modification shop just for putting rice on the table.

Months later the news went in about the founding of a new Caliphate. With the help of a contact of mine who supported it's cause in Saudi Arabia I finally landed this job just as it began it's war preparation on November 2041. I offered them my AI and drone knowledge and my fealty, in which they responded positively and sent me to work for UCAB, United Caliphate Aerospace Bureau.

And that's when I met one certain pilot with almost the similar story as me who is more than willing to be my test subject.

"Here they comes" I said.

Four TAI TF-1s approached the well-positioned runway on the mountain area, touched down, and taxi straight into the underground hangar dig into the mountain and the nearby abandoned gold mine facility in the town.

"Rizieq and his men were doing good today. Still, engaging the enemy in combat for sake of data to improve our drones is always hard to someone's body as you aged." I said to myself as the ground crew handled the plane and the pilots went to their quarters for rest.

In occasion that Colonel Rizieq went over for some coffee and khat with me, he eagerly told me about his past life in Indonesia and how his family conviction forced him to life in exile in the age of sixteen in Saudi Arabia and later went to it's air force, but missed the Saudi-Iranian war, before went to told me about what he saw in his battles so far.

Our drones are being taken down much faster than we can replace as the Coalition is getting closer and closer to us and I bet their satellites could see us already. As the result Rizieq and some others often volunteered, sometimes entire squadron, to fly personally to figure things out, now focusing on the Western Theater against the Israelis and their imperialist allies as we had lost Iran, according to the personal directive from the Caliph itself pertaining to the "Jewish State". He knew that his family is taken care of by the Caliphate, and that's what motivated him to exceed our expectations so far. It takes time before our drones can match his skill. However, one day for sure he will show his age, so we need to act fast.

I believe that we still have a fighting chance with Rizieq on our side, and almost everyday the drones are being tweaked for more efficiency and survivability.

"Perhaps a sense for belonging in a group is indeed the best motivator."

"Dr. Uwais, we need you on the lab" Ah, a call from my fellow researcher..

...

"Paul"

That familiar voice.

"You're alone again."

She's right. I am having my 'me-time' alone in the hangar just for me to write on my personal combat journal unmolested. I have my favorite official gray T-shirt with the drawing of Su-57 on it's front side and a word 'FIREFOX DRIVERS TNI-AU' put on. She doesn't mind me and the entire squadron well understood about my particular quirk.

"You look happy as always, Raden" I put down my journal below my feet as she went closer to my space.

"Always."

God, how I enjoy looking at her face as her patented smile and a carefree complexion went through my often uneasy and troubled heart.

Evelyn is the few who had access to my personal combat journal which also a vehicle of me to express my thought about this war. I obtained such habit from the academy thanks to a suggestion from my Kakak Asuh during the Chandradimuka interservice one year basic military training for new cadets in the Military Academy in Magelang; or roughly in English as Senior-Parents.

Speaking of such bond between senior and juniors;

"You seems.. in a good mood." Damn her.

"Remember Danu?"

"Your Senior-Parents, right?"

"Yes. He just told me that he had confirmed to be promoted to Air Commodore. A commodore at thirty-seven, to boot!"

"Well, more wings are being created as we speak, Paul. Especially for aces like him which survived real hell."

I remembered when Danu Setiaji, the full name of the said senior of me and Evy in the Academy, told me in detail about the first day of fighting in India, as he, already a Colonel at the point and survived the Civil War, like the most of the Air Force, had his first baptism of fire in the war, flying as the commander of the 11th Air Group of the 11th Wing, and even seen an entire squadron wiped out and he himself had lost two wingmen in two separate encounter as he conducted missions above the mountainous terrain of Kashmir with the Indians.

His kill score is 35, already include combat drones like the Sofreh Mahi.

"On the other hand... have you heard that the force had convened a special early retirement board and some marshals and field officers are being sent off?"

"Good for us" Like normal officers, both me and her definitely coveted a good promotion, and the cleanup of under-performing officers would motivate us more.

"By the way..." Evy looked at me in a more serious expression after we have done exchanging stories about our seniors.

"Ever think that some of UCC pilots that we shot down so far are once, sons of ISIL?"

"Of course some of them are. Why you ask me about it? A fruit fall not far from its tree." she replied.

"I mean, we were, and are being sucked into a never ending vortex of revenge. If you remember what we have done to some rebel families, the (used to be) Iraqis basically regarded families of ISIL, which are basically NII in steroids, as, well, not people, Men, women, children, all the same in their eyes. In my younger days I admit, I am complicit of abuses of friends in high school with families supporting Islamists in school, by not reporting it. And, those people who were rejected by us, had no way to go but to their jihad ways."

She nodded, but I can see from her face that she is not about to judge me.

"Which means we are paying for our own mistakes. But we're beating the shit out of them for the greater good. For sake of a free Indonesia, if an entire civilization should be extinguished, so be it."

"You are a bit like what Russians thought about Ukrainians.. Your mind is hard to understand, but let me told you, please don't tell such statement in public, okay?"

She went closer to me and almost ready to kiss me before the intercom rang, calling us into the briefing room.

"Dang" grumbled both of us as we run as fast as we can into the room as it might mean a mission.

---

"Ladies and Gentlemen" greeted Colonel Medi with his usual gruffy, but friendly voice. "We have an urgent mission."

I raised my hand.

"What is it, Colonel?"

"We just receive the news that Capt. Bachtiar and Capt. Andrea's location has been found. They are alive and holding inside the Mount Dena Protected Area, and had managed to evade their UCC pursuers. However, they are dangerously close to the town of Yasuj which were still under UCC control and two prior separate rescue attempt has been aborted with two rescue crafts were shot down. Furthermore, the presence of fast air, especially Saegheh and Sofreh Mahi combat drones further complicated things; 6th generations were busy elsewhere, so it's our responsibility to sweep the immediate area before the tiltrotors can enter the AO.

"And for sake of dealing with the drones that all of our assets used in this ops will be equipped with PLS"

"Oh yeah" I thought.

"Twelve of us will go up. Major Paulus, Major Pongoh, Major Evy, you lead the way, while overall mission lead is Major Pongoh. Before anyone ask, rather save than sorry, as I already said before, we are not just facing drones but manned fighters were still a significant threat and even elite squadron could as well be deployed." said Medi again.

He then also explained that the package will consist of two CV-24 Kestrels with one primary and one backup. Meanwhile behind the tiltrotors two American A-11 will provide immediate ground support. To make things better the Invaders have four MQ-58D Valkyries on tow. Forward Air Control role was assumed by an Indonesian IF-33D.

"Bukit Merah Tower this is Emerald 2 in position and holding." I called the Malaysian controller at the base as my flight were lined up for takeoff following Pongoh's Emerald 1.

"Emerald 2. Departure 9-1, turn left following Emerald 1. You're cleared to take off"

"Affirmative Bukit Merah, proceeding to take off."

As we left ground followed by Emerald 3 the base commander, Colonel Mohammad Akbar looked skyward and muttered the following.

"May God be with them.. and get your pilots back in one piece!"

---

Soon we reached the last known location of Bachtiar and Andrea; their emergency beacons are transmitting their position in a short pulse to reduce the likeness of the UCC caught wind of the signal and facilitate their capture.

Especially as the nearby AEW, an American callsign "Moose" in a safe distance from the enemy lines had called the joint force.

"Be advised, we detected a pair of EW aircraft on the area, engage and destroy; they will definitely try to triangulate the position of Captain Bachtiar and Andrea!"

"Understood, they are close to a good radar-guided salvo" replied Maj. Pongoh.

---

Bachtiar was forced to call Andrea earlier in a secured channel when he heard more vehicles. They had rendezvoused in an abandoned greenhouse, then managed to enter the Kholah Ghazi after a long trek, losing Caliphate police and Fedayeen combined patrol with two old Zulfiqar-I tanks in the process and even two separate UCC Air Force drones and a police helo. However, he know that they will try again. In fact for sake of blending with the environment Andrea had her head covered a la Muslim women, with scarf from one of their pursuers that has been killed trying to catch them.

"No dogs, clear" he walked through and rendezvoused with Andrea in one of the area's hills. In their process of evading the enemy both Andrea and Bachtiar had secured two MPT-76 battle rifles each, with two mags for spare from two unsuspecting UCC soldiers. Their bloodied knives were the testament of their success of evading so far. However, back to the rifles, it had no suppressors. Their option is now to either seize a UCC vehicle and try to reach either cities of Yazd, or Rafsanjan, the latter were garrisoned and occupied by an Indonesian unit, 119th Cavalry Regiment.

The vehicles, two Safir-4s, were coming from the village of Sisakht and soon stopped, disembarking regular UCC infantry armed with SA-24 and a mix of Turkish-made MPT-76 and Iranian KH-2025, just like they expected. Ten men disembarked from both vehicles and split up, with the MANPADS armed soldiers attempted to find a good vantage point to shoot down any approaching rescue helo or tiltrotors. One man in each jeep remained behind on the Karrar MG, a copy of the old German MG3.

"Our signal are being compromised" said Bachtiar

"Or we're being tracked from the air" added Andrea

"Move, slowly and keep low"

---

"Fox three!"

My formation was the first to lock on the jammers, luckily they were unstealthy Su-34 Fullbacks which were immediately dispatched along with its Su-30 escorts.

"This is Margaraya, we're approaching their location, wait.. the drone feed indicated that they are heading into a park ranger station that is occupied.. They are heading for trouble!" called one of the Kestrels.

The observation was confirmed "... this is 5-2 Alpha.. I've been trapped with 4-3 Alpha near an enemy park ranger station and they are closer to spot us!"

"Echo that, hold tight, we're coming for you"

"I see the park ranger station" said Andreas.

"Call those Invaders!" barked Pongoh upon hearing the report.

"Affirmative!"

The FAC and the drones obtained a larger picture about the said facility. It turns out that the said station was not just a park ranger outpost, but also functioned as a communication relay with two UCC militarized park rangers with SA-24s guarding the post from air attack, and the said infantry squad was intended to reinforce the facility.

"Heads up, more fighters inbound..."

Smart-asses, they try to ambush us from multiple direction, so Pongoh ordered us to split into pairs and engage the closest fighters threatening both the A-11s and the CSAR VTOL.

In the meantime, "Rhinoceros 1-1, Rifle" The A-11s were equipped with AGM-184 Joint Strike Missile, then pulled up after the missiles had began their flight phase into the target.

"Fox two!" I and Andreas simultaneously released a barrage of R-75s at two MiG-35s that are about to pounce at us. Both Fulcrums instantly burst to flames, and the two other MiGs decided to retreat. Definitely their 5th gen and combat drones were busy elsewhere.

As we are holding our position for another possible enemy aircraft, almost 13 minutes later; "This is Margaraya 1, we had confirmed that the facility has been destroyed."

I also believed that their pursuers and the facility itself were served a good portion of the infamous depleted uranium rounds from the Avenger 30mm. However..

"Drones!" Andreas suddenly shouted as we saw four Saegheh combat drones passed at us.

"Shit, we have to shoot down those little buggers before they threatened the rescue tiltrotor!" I replied.

"Wilco!" Just in time as my element pair, Capt. Gary and his wingmen Maulana had found the drones and engaged it.

Me and Andreas focused on two other drones, which with the virtue of their programming were immediately proceed to engage us instead of the rescue craft.

"Fox two special!"

The Saeghehs were unable to escape the burst missile from me and Andreas, and went tumbling down as its engines gave up due to the explosion.

"Stay down, asshole!" Andreas cursed.

"Heads up 2-2, there are definitely more of them" I replied.

Just as I expected AEW called. "More drones, 10 o'clock, Angels 15!"

"PLS active" I switched into the PLS and led my flight to charge straight ahead on the drones.

"Activate PLS and fire at will" I ordered.

Lasers really make our job easier in terms of shooting down drones. Despite in the process of 9-minutes turning engagement with four times I executed Kulbits, and other super maneuvers such as J-turns to avoid being pursued; my plane were hit by a near missed AIM-9 from one of the Saeghehs that even lodged a shrapnel into my right side we finally managed to get rid of those things.

"Gah" I winced slightly. I was never being in this pain during the war, and I realized as I'm looking at the life support system interface I realized that I was bleeding.

"Rahayu 1-1 here, package has been secured, we're heading home!"

I limped back to base with the others, and upon landing I found myself immediately carried by the medics in an ambulance into the field hospital just west of the main building.

"For a shrapnel wound, you're lucky that you not passed out." said a RMAF doctor after he proceeded to gave me a blood transfusion.

"My plane won't take my absence well, you know." I chuckled, almost to the point of laughing at that remark of the Malaysian.

The doctor can only replied in kind upon hearing my statement. In truth, I had lost a good amount of blood and was close to collapse just as I opened the cockpit.

And the better thing is, our squadron is whole again with Bachtiar and Andrea have returned, safe and sound!

---

: Hope you enjoy!