Volume 4 - CH 8

Soaring through Gloria’s skies, adorned on an innumerable amount of aircraft, Parabellum’s national emblem, its scarlet circle shone for all to see.

「This is so breathtaking I don’t even know what to say…..」

「I’m pretty sure the guys at air traffic control are screaming their heads off by now. …..This will be quite dangerous, if we aren’t careful」

Having been deprived of their Aerial Superiority with the onset of Dragon Knights, the Parabellum Airforce began to retake control over the skies, in order to create a buffer for their three Marine Corps divisions which were about to land on Gloria’s shores. 

Gloria’s skies became congested by the large quantity of aircraft which had been sortied in order to provide support for the ground troops who were facing extreme difficulty.

「Alright…… Witchbird 02, Witchbird 04, this is Witchbird 01. We’ll be breaking off and heading in separate flight paths. Witchbird 02 will support the 75th Rangers. Witchbird 04 will support our Delta forces isolated within the Palace. We will directly support the 1st Battalion 」

『Witchbird 02, Copies』

『Witchbird 04, Will Comply』

The three AC-130U Spooky II’s that entered Gloria’s Airspace were each escorted by a squadron of F-35C Lighning II’s which took off from the Nimitz-Class carrier CVN-77『George Herbert Walker Bush』

In order to provide aerial support for Delta Forces, the 75th Ranger Regiment who were currently fighting at the beaches, and the 1st Battalion who were enroute to rescue their scattered forces, the three airships flew in separate directions.

『Witchbird 01 this is Hawkeye 01, Please respond』

Flying towards 1st Battalion’s location Witchbird 01 received a transmission from an EH-60L Black Hawk which had been modified with specialty equipment, external antennae and Command & Control modules.

「This is Witchbird 01,  Over」

『Witchbird 01, our bird will guide you to where 1st Battalion is.  How copy, over』

「That’s a good copy Hawkeye 01, Witchbird 01 will comply, over」

Linking up with Hawkeye 01, in order to receive up-to-date guidance in real-time, both aircraft set a course to rescue the divided 1st Battalion within the Gloria’s city.

「What the…? Looks like hell…… This is Witchbird 01, 1st Battalion Commander, please respond」

『This Captain Kirby of the 1st Battalion!! Glad to have you boys come around!! 』

「Well, sorry to have kept you waiting, sir. Commencing close air support. Please direct  us on where to target our fires, we need you to paint our targets」

『That’s a negative, we can’t afford to do that at the moment!! We’re doing all we can just to fight back!! Please eliminate the enemy at your sole discretion!!』

As Witchbird 01 tried to gain targeting information in order to provide air support, he became troubled by Captain Kirby’s reply.

「…….. It doesn’t look like we’ll be informed where to fire」

「Sir, what should we do?」

「Not much we can do, it doesn’t give us a lot of leeway….. I’ll just leave the targeting up to our guys back there, have the tactical officer make the final call」

「Understood」

Nodding towards each other simultaneously the Captain and the Lieutenant maneuver their aircraft into a supporting posture. Taking into account their inability to strike enemy targets immediately while 1st Battalion continued to advance towards their cut off comrades; who were exposed to concentrated attacks from the City’s forces.

「Set our altitude to 2000 meters, bank angle should be roughly 30 to 35 degrees, then begin our orbit around our targets」

「Altitude 2000 meters, bank angle is about 30-35 degrees, beginning to circle round now」

Giving directions to his Lieutenant, the Captain of Witchbird 01 plots a course for their aircraft, to maintain its position (they’ll be circling the battlespace in a counter-clockwise rotation in order to pick off targets from the ground)

「Witchbird 01, this is the captain speaking. Our primary targets are enemy combatants who are holding down our boys from moving forward. We have a green light to target buildings with enemy forces along the roadway.  All other buildings are off-limits. This will be danger-close, don’t fire on friendlies. That is all, over」

『『『『Roger that!!』』』』

The crew within the cabin, who were preparing to engage at their Captain’s orders, respond back with a firm resolution and immediately began to fire.

The first to begin firing was the AC-130U’s 105mm Howitzer, zoning in on its prey. It’s first target had been a group of enemy Soldiers which had come out of hiding from in between some houses, trying to ambush the series of vehicles traversing through, they appeared at the tail of the convoy.

While it wasn’t possible to engage due to the possibility of striking their own allies. The moment the enemy appeared, it was in an area which the convoy of vehicles already passed. Firing without worry, the explosives trajectory honed on the group of Imperial Soldiers, annihilating them and only leaving charred remains.

A torrent of bullets and explosives from the GAU-12 25mm Gatling gun and 40mm cannon rain down on the Imperial Soldiers & combatants. 

Their Gatling gun swept the roads and alleyways with Imperial Soldiers hidden behind those walls, all the while the 40mm Cannon would take out those lurking within the houses and building waiting for the opportunity to strike.

「There’s a wall that appeared 75 meters in front of the firing line, eliminate it」

「Understood」

「We’ve confirmed a Machina at the corner of the intersection near the convoy, have the 40mm Cannon take care of it」

「Roger that」

「Enemy infantry moving along the sides, their visible from the front, annihilate them with the 25mm Gatling gun」

「Sir, yes sir!!」

Receiving targeting information from Hawkeye 01, in place of 1st Battalion, Witchbird 01 was able to respond effectively, lighting up the battlefield as their barrage from the skies raged on.

Utilizing a Forward-Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) the tactical officer was able to distinguish enemy combatants which struck out at the convoy, delivering concise directions, eliminating the enemy before they could complete their ambush.

「I’m detecting friendlies in the vicinity….. stand down, ceasefire」

「「「Copy that」」」

Witchbird 01’s support was temporarily halted as the tactical officer confirmed the vitals of friendlies within buildings which the convoy had stopped at.

『This is the 1st Battalion, we successfully linked up with our boys!! I say again, we’ve linked up with the remaining Soldiers of 1st Battalion, over!! 』

Thanks to Hawkeye 01 & Witchbird 01’s support, the 1st battalion was able to reach the place where their comrades were.

『Witchbird 01, this is Captain Kirby. Thanks for providing us your aerial support. It all thanks to you guys, I was able to rejoin ranks with the rest of my men』

With Witchbird 01 close air support, Captain Kirby was able to break through the enemy forces and link up with his divided forces.

「It’s the most we can do Captain, its the most we can do. ….. We’ve expended all our ammunition, we will be returning to the ship to resupply. Witchbird 01, out」

Having exhausted all munitions on board to provide air support, the crew of Witchbird 01 decided to return to their ship the『Forrestal』in order to resupply. Jilting the aircraft in a manner, waving goodbye towards the Soldiers on the ground, they turned their nose in the direction of their carrier.

「I guess now’s bout the right time, huh」

「Yeah, you ready for this? 」

The tension within the cabin tightened once more; it would be like re-threading a needle as the Captain and his Lieutenant were faced with the difficulty of landing back on the CV-59『Forrestal』

This Chapter was translated by Kuro_0ni

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「Ah fuck me… hey man, you haven’t kicked the bucket yet?」

「Dammit Roofe, that should be my line. Looks like you’re all safe n’ sound」

「Geez, don’t kill me off, before I actually die y’know」

「…… More than anything else, you guys seem fine to me, having survived at least」

When the 1st Battalion became divided during the Imperial Forces ambushes, it was pure luck that 55 Soldiers out of their 300 had survived at all.

Having reunited with Sergeant Roofe, Sergeant Seig was in high spirits as he bumped fists, just like they did before they had departed the boat.

「Hey, what’s up with the current situation, weren’t you guys supposed to link up with Delta whose stuck at the palace? I don’t know what going on around here, it’s not like information was passed along to us」

「You didn’t hear me, I just told you the situation like five and half minutes ago. The Night Stalkers, managed to recover Delta and extract them from the palace safely」

「Oh, is that right, so what are we supposed to do now? Withdraw?」

「At the moment, we suffered too many casualties to move, what’s more our forces are still in combat as we speak.  We’ll probably wait until the Marine Corps link up with us」

「I guess that makes sense. That sounds like a better plan, we wait for friendlies to get here, than forcing  our guys to move」

「Sergeants, Brett, Wax, get over here, help me move our critically wounded to where the helicopters are gonna land, they’ll be bringing us more supplies.」

「「Yes, Sir, moving Sir」」

Sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall of a house, the two Non-Commissioned Officers had been lazing around with some chitchat, right before Captain Kirby had called them over to do some actual work.

「Woah…. Make sure you guys don’t get covered in sand」

「It’s a good thing you told the guys to bring their goggles」

Going on top the roof of one of the houses, Sergeants Seig and Roofe had a squad of soldiers with them as the wind picked up and blew sand and dust all over them.

「Ever since the wind picked up―― *Bleugh* sand just went in my mouth……」

「If you don’t shut yer mouth, you’ll end up with a stomach full of sand」

「Roger Sarge」

Tasked with maintaining perimeter security for the helicopters en-route to their position, Sergeant Seig became a little annoyed by the dust which had been kicked up by the low-flying formation of Black Hawks.

「They’re here」

「Huh? The radio is going off……」

Watching the helicopter in the distance, Seig notices a transmission blip over his radio.

「This Sergeant Sieg, standing by」

『*Static* Sksksks- Zzpp, This is Private First Class Jackson Park, Sarge do you read me, over!?』

The moment he heard that familiar voice, Sergeant Seig immediately froze.

「Huh!? No way… you’ve got to be kidding me Private Park…. is that you!?」

『Oh yeah, roger Sarge, this is Park!! Sarge it was bad, I almost went all the way back to the mainland, good thing the Helicopter had trouble with its engine and had to return back to the San Antonio, otherwise I wouldn’t be here at all!!』

「… …. …. Hey…. Park where are you now?」

『Right now? Well right now, I’m in a Black Hawk carrying supplies on its way to support you guys, Sarge… …. … Sarge? Something wrong? 』

Horrified by Private Park’s reply, Sergeant Seig barked at his men on the roof.

「Everyone be on the lookout and stay vigilant towards our surroundings now!!」

But Seig’s orders were too little too late.

『What the!? Aw fuck!! Chief were being shot at by several ballistas!!』

『 Break Break Break!! All birds evasive maneuvers!!』

『Huh!?――Guagh!! 』

Voices of several people blast through the radio, as the formation of Black Hawks raise their altitude at the same time.

『Shit! This is Sweeper 06 we’ve been hit!!』

『They took damage to their tail rotor!! Their aircraft is going out of control, they’re gonna crash!!』

『Aaaaaauuuuuggggghhh!! Sarge, we’re going down!!』

But due unfortunate circumstances, a large bolt from one of the ballista struck Sweeper 06’s tail rotor, the very same Black Hawk which Private First Class Park had been riding.

As Sweeper 06 spun out of control, it began to drop in altitude, spiraling downwards.

『Sweeper 06 has been hit and has gone down. I repeat, Sweeper 06 has been hit!! ―― Mayday Mayday we have a Black Hawk down!! I say again we have a Black Hawk down!!』

『Sweeper 06 has fallen, we have a bird down!! I say again, we have a bird down!! 』

For all who could see, within the blink of an eye, the Black Hawk which had been flying at a low altitude, had crashed.

「「「「……」」」」

Sergeant Seig stared off into the direction of the crash site, he could only watch as Sweeper 06, which had been carrying Private First Class Park crash within the maze-like city.