There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just - Catechism of Roman Catholic Church.

This will be the chapter when four former penal pilots meet Paulus and others... Enjoy. Also, the picture above is how floating mobile offshore bases look like.

BGM: Siren Song (Ace Combat 7)

...

When the news of the loss of the prototype came, I began to feel a sense of dread. The pilot who managed to take down that said vehicle must be a good one. And if it is Wise, I don't know how he will treat me if one day I got captured. However, Rizieq's story revealed that the Military Intelligence Directorate had confirmed that the said pilot was not him. Instead, it's the one that he engaged over the Zagros Mountains, only known by his codename "Charge" even he had told me that the intel needs time to be retrieved and analyzed, as well as it was still incomplete.

But as he often spoke to me by himself, he knows that they had agents working for those imperialists that they managed to buy out. On the other hand, he also can feel that their findings were no longer as reliable as the past with their sources were being bought off by the Coalition or turned themselves in. So, for now, he and his squadron were left waiting until they decided they could share the information. Apparently they had other priorities, such as discovering when and where the Coalition will make landfall on the Peninsula. In his opinion, their priority should be that two pilots. If they went down, the morale of the Coalition will surely be hit considerably and a beginning for a step to a favorable peace term for the Caliphate.

Since December the 101st TFS, now with new aircraft augmented with the same battle data as the drones, and the entire research team has been redeployed into the area to reduce the possibility of them being attacked on the ground. Back to those pilots, the first was likely by now flying the sixth generation with the formation of the Task Force 808, the only major finding, while incomplete, that the UCC managed to uncover. On the other hand, the Directorate didn't know if the second was roped into the said task force.

But not all things went badly.

"Doctor?" called my assistant. I immediately went on to her station and began to look after the last data obtained by the prototype before it was lost. What I got is this pilot's flying style was unorthodox, much more than even Wise with his own penchant of close-range combat. I answered her.

"Anything that could be used to our advantage.. will be useful. It needs time, but this will be worthwhile. Upload this data to their aircraft as well."

...

The Colonel let his mind wander for just a moment as he is reading the latest intelligence about the 808 that suggested their basings are dispersed, wondering if Dr. Uwais knew if any new weapons are being worked by the UCAB. Anything that could complement their already formidable directed energy weaponry, the better. Being part of the experimental squadron usually meant that they'd get several new toys to try out, be it aircraft or some newly designed weapon. In reality, the UCC, in general, had the drones as their main project, focusing on improving them with his data. But he was content with that. He still had chances to fly and continue to defend his master. Furthermore, an equal fight is his desire, even outnumbered.

A double agent had told him more information about Charge with more personal information about him, in the process, putting a face to the said Indonesian. Not that it bothered him. Putting the face of the enemy is a process to know them better, a needed and important thing for victory. For others, it made the 'bad guys' less intimidating. If they had a face, then that told you that they were humans like you, not mindless, faceless monsters. For some, it gave them closure but also guilt for their kills.

But for most of the UCC military hierarchy especially Quds Legionnaires like him, it fueled their hatred and will to fight. Along with the latter, for Rizieq it was all a part of his process. He learned as much as he could about pilots he'd downed. Those that were aces, at least, especially Israelis. It gave him motivation. It gave him an understanding. More importantly, he thought he could honor them better that way despite their labels as infidels. The longer they survived against him or the UCC in general, the better.

Wise is a hot-blooded pilot and an incredible flyer, but Charge had his own style and endurance, and obviously some sort of foolish courage to perform the stunts that were equal to the former. The fact that already this pilot, and many others from the big Coalition, had made a name for themselves instead of crashing nose-first into the ground was something that impressed him.

A knock on the door brought Rizieq out of his thoughts, but it didn't startle him. He turned to look at the door, figuring that it was one of his wingmen. "Come in," he called out, neatly folding the piece of paper with the writing he needed on it. The door opened just as the Indonesian closed the drawer in his nightstand, slipping the paper into it on top of the journal that he kept to take note of his sorties. As he turned around, he saw his second in command standing in the doorway, a curious look on his face before he saluted Rizieq.

"I assume you came for something important?"

"Yes, sir," replied Duran. "The Caliph had personally ordered us to be ready for operation. Our drones have taken too many losses recently with the raids almost everywhere. This base is more than lucky to not been targeted yet, Colonel." He stepped aside to allow his superior to exit and shut the blast-proof door behind him as the two quickly went straight to the hall. Rizieq barely glanced at him, picking up a brisk pace. Duran, ever confident in Waleed Squadron's abilities, continued, "It should be an easy mission. It's probably some Iranians or Indians plus American or Indonesian-Japanese-Korean bombers. All we have to do is chase them off and head home. No reason why there should be any complications."

"I know for a fact that I've told you never to underestimate your enemy," he said to him, withholding a sigh. "Their pilots are just as skilled as we are, and I must admit their cause is more united than us despite their differences. Ever since our very first fight above Bethlehem, they've been more alert. It taught them a lesson as much as it did us. Expect complications and prepare for them so that you're able to counter or prevent them."

"Right," Duran said, almost seeming embarrassed by his own brief moment of cockiness. "Sorry, Colonel."

Rizieq sighed. "Apology accepted..."

...

Pandawa

Task Force 808 was spread out in terms of placement across the Indian Ocean. One of those is in a newly commissioned mobile offshore base Pandawa built-in response for the planned task force since 2042. Under direct command of Joint Defense Command I with the Indian Ocean as its area of responsibility, it's the first non-American floating base in the world, to the surprise of many NATO countries as well as Russia and China.

Quoting our president. "We are a nation of sailors, so why we couldn't have our own mobile sea supply bases?"

Along with the 11th, the Indonesian contribution to the 808 is the 19th Squadron.

We also have been informed that a month before the UCC attempted a desperate drone raid against Coalition mobile bases as well including the Pandawa from disguised container ship but was detected by our own beforehand and in a large-scale air battle ensued, we've lost 20 pilots and up to 35 drones of all kinds, however, the entire drone attack force of the UCC were completely wiped out.

Two days upon we were stationed, the overall base commander Colonel Billy Sahilatua called us for a briefing. After the usual ceremonial part, the commander called four names. Captain Doni Heryawan, Captain Joseph Limanto, Major Ahmad bin Mulyana, and Major Sonny Kuncoro.

I keep listening as the Colonel explained the four pilots about their new assignments. "We've received confirmation directly from the Air Force HQ about what your new assignments will be. Thanks to your performances, the commanding officer of the 19th Squadron has made it clear that she'd like all four of you to officially join her squadron and within it, the Task Force 808. This is an unprecedented move, and without her and others' recommendation, including your old squadron's commanding officer, we might not have considered it. Ladies and gentlemen, meet our new member of the 808."

The screen now displayed a zoomed image of the Middle East and North Africa area, with the Coalition occupied territory marked with a light blue and UCC territory with a pinkish-red color. "Okay, time for your briefing. It's time to begin a new phase of our counteroffensive to defeat and destroy the so-called Caliphate completely in the continent. Even with our successes so far their extensive use of drones and other A2/AD systems covering what was left of their air force, like laser air defenses, contributed to our significant number of casualties in the process as well as hampering our cruise missile strikes. On the other hand, thanks to its obsession to destroy Israel, many of their drones were used in raids into the said country until it's too late for them. Furthermore, their resources are further stretched in supporting Fedayeen guerillas in Afghanistan, North Africa, Iraq, and Iran as well as Indonesia, Southern Philippines, and Malaysia."

"The Coalition has further knowledge of this with our combined drone-manned penetrations of the whole area, and many lives to tell the tale."

To my surprise, Major Adam Abdurrahman "Gandiwa" was also assigned to the 808, as he stepped in and add to the base commander's explanation. "We are going to listen to the briefing from General Kim directly." The screen changed into the face of the Korean general, as he stood up.

"All squadrons of the 808, let's begin. To those recently joined this task force, let me reiterate the main purpose of this task force; Long-range surgical and strategic strike and air superiority operations; operating within and separately from the main forces. The screen then showed the emblems of the squadrons in the task force all contained the word "TASK FORCE 808" as well as the force's emblem bearing the following motto; Valour and Faith.

Then they faded away and started to show a route from Pandawa and other bases of the TF 808 Group A straight into a Saudi town of Ash-Shaifa. Once a desert village, thanks to solar power and drip irrigation techniques (which ironically were pioneered by Arabs' mortal enemy Israel) the Saudis were able to turn it to fertile agricultural land, things that the UCC is more than happy to keep it that way.

"The UCC is ramping up production of drones and manned fighters with numbers of them are using recycled components of destroyed aircraft recovered from all fronts and smuggled by small ships to the peninsula. We are to be the first to enter the area and execute fighter sweep operation before our bombers could drop and launch their payloads. Be advised we are not going to attack their agricultural production or their solar power facility, only military targets!"

"Heavy resistance to be expected... and... First In?"

"Last Out!" We replied at the General.

"Dismissed and get ready, we'll be airborne in three hours!"

I went to Colonel Kurniasih and her squadron after the briefing and pretty soon the four former convicts are facing me for the first time. Even while I am not their CO, I am still their senior and expect no less, as they stood in attention.

"At ease. I've received the directive that you four will be airborne with us, am I right?"

"Yes, Colonel. It's an honor to meet our top scorer." Red Cap told me.

"It's truly amazing for us here to fight alongside you, Colonel." Charge added.

"Thanks for the compliment. I just want to add a couple of words that I believe your CO had not told you yet. Don't forget to pray and always seek forgiveness from Him. And always be grateful for His grace. And always stick with your comrades, as I heard that you people still need refinement with this part."

"Amen, Colonel.." Leaflet replied.

"What's your position in the squadron?"

"I will be Rinjani 1-2, while Red Cap will be leading Rinjani 3. Rinjani 4-3 and 4-4 will be Leaflet and Scale, Colonel." said Doni. "And I'm eager to work together with new planes!"

...

The attack was to be executed at night, and after Maghrib prayer for Muslim pilots, we're on our way.

A German-led group was dispatched earlier somewhere to Sudan thirty minutes ago, but they didn't tell us about their exact mission.

"This is AWACS Hanazawa, Japan National Air Force. I will be the operator for this mission.." said a cool female Japanese-sounded voice. I muttered to myself as the autopilot was doing its job. "Evelyn had my heart, but this girl is also a beauty as well.."

"Hanazawa, Thunder leader reporting all transmission clear"

"Copy that, Thunder."

"This is Thunderclap to 808, we're counting on you!" called the leader of two flights of American B-21s, four ship in total, sent behind the fighters.

"One minute to the enemy airspace, all allied fighters, proceed to receive enemy target pictures."

"Datalink online.. 3..2..1, setup complete." replied the Japanese AWACS.

Not long the AWACS announced that we're in the UCC airspace, and they already sent us a welcoming committee. "We have bandits on our scope, vector 105 speed 850 knots. Angels 15. All units, weapons free you're clear to engage! Also we detected enemy laser AA, so watch out for the beam!" She then detected a second group of bandits, vector 050 with the same speed and altitude.

"All allied squadron, spread out and engage!" I ordered.

"Hellhound to Hanazawa, engaging drones at 050.." called the Filipino contribution to the task force, the 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron "Lobos" flying KF-25Es.

"Red Fox to Hanazawa, engaging drones coming at 090"

"Vigilant, engaging!" reported the leader of Singaporean 160 Squadron in their F-35Ds.

"Rinjani, engage"

"Talon, engaging!" said the Indian Tempest flight leader of the No. 101 Squadron.

I craned my head slightly upward and quickly obtained a good solution as Sofreh Mahi drones were detected on the radar. This is the moment of truth.

AIM-10 launched, and three drones went down, one evaded it.

"Splash three drones" So I split up with Maulana, while evading a couple of AA and laser, activated the internal PLS, and downed the last drone. However, the AI warned me of two more Sofreh Mahis and so I rolled in clockwise to get them in front of me just before it fired its lasers. The pipper went on target, and the beam weapon once again did its job in taking care of the drones.

On the other side "Oh no, you don't" Evy, commanding Thunder 2, downed another drone that was way too close to a Singaporean JSF below her which the latter was covering his wingman in taking out one of the laser AA system near the factory.

"Thunder 1-3 here, stay sharp, there must be another wave" called Nana.

"Anybody here not yet got their prey?" I asked all of my squadron present.

"Negative, Colonel." answered Thunder 2-4, Erwin, also like Nana was a transferee from the 42nd.

A follow up wave by a combination of Saeghehs and TF-1s were detected. Maulana and I immediately took position and charged forward to break their formation, in the process corralling some them into my element's position, Bull and Razor.

"1-4, slash.. slash.. slash.. target destroyed!"

"Good shooting Razor!" exclaimed Maj. Toding.

After I blasted one Saegheh out of the way after a minute of maneuvering I saw a sweet target, a TF-1 that was vulnerable and separated from his wingman as he pursued an Indian Tempest. I dived onto his position and fired a Buzzard with the help of my IRST to keep me undetected by the poor guy. There is no ejection.

"Hellhound 1-4, bombs away! Enemy AA out of commission!"

"Vigilant 2-2 to Hanazawa, Laser AA has been taken out.."

"Hanazawa to all allied aircraft, Thunderclap had entered the launching range from your relative position, congratulations of taking out the laser AA, but keep them covered!"

"This is Thunderclap lead... all units open your bay door, check it out."

"Yes sir, all systems green"

"Adjust course by 25 degrees north, AI called slow down, you're going too fast... wait for it... 3..2..1.. launch!"

Two AGM-181B hypersonic cruise missiles each went out from the bombers and made their way towards the factory complex and supporting facilities like it's auxiliary power generator, and with extreme accuracy, hitting various part of it.

"Connecting to drones for damage assessment.." said one of the bomber crew.

"Burn, baby, burn!" exclaimed Pandu on the comm, flying as Thunder 2-3 while looking at the destruction transmitted to his plane by one orbiting Capung.

"As we're speaking we're continuing our way into the city (via Yemen) with reinforcements on the way as well for a second strike. Thunderclap out"

"Hanazawa to all allied aircraft, continue patrol... Be advised we have twelve leakers, coming in hot and fast from vector 080, speed 990, angels 12, 10 klicks from the AO... four bandits identified as HA550s trailed by TF-1s!"

I froze. I never encountered the said fighter before. It's the UCC real answer to Coalition sixth gens. Derived from the HA450 and TF-1, while it often derided as a piss-poor copy of Dassault Esprit or Eurofighter Hailstorm, it still a tough opponent with well trained pilots.

"With their penchant of stealing technologies and supporters from abroad that not all of them have been rooted out I am not surprised that they have it in the end, in spite of their experts got offed by those Zionists left and right" said Maulana.

"Wait.. we catch an encrypted message from the lead craft... Angel of Azrael, it's time for you to lost your wings. Leave no survivors. It's that test-eval squadron! All Coalition aircraft in the area, get them off the bombers at all costs!"

My blood boiled, meanwhile from one of the allied flight Rinjani 1-2 spoke. "It's an honor to meet you again, Aulia. And you won't be so lucky today."

"Sir, the Waleeds are heading towards Rinjani. Thunder 2 assisting ally." chimed Evy.

"Understood, Thunder 1-3 and 1-4, stay in position and take down any enemy drones, while 1-2 and I will assist Thunder 2"

"Roger that Thunder lead."

"He doesn't know our frequency yet, and vice versa." I murmured as thirty seconds later I reached Rinjani position, already been engaged by the four Helwans, while their TF-1 accompaniments and the drones were busy elsewhere with other 808' squadrons.

"Rinjani 4-3, fox two... no joy, he evaded!"