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Start Log
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Anya led the two squadrons in a silent dive to the surface
of Canna III. In a way it should have been a dream come
true for her , seeing her AX-01s and AX-02s flying side by
side but something was unsettling her. She didn't know if
it was something she was detecting through Prophet's
prescience or merely her own reliable gut instinct, what
she did know was something bad was going to happen.
The Lancers and M-35As had made their descent to the
surface on the opposite side of the planet to avoid
detection and to also allow time for the barrage of
stealthed Skyscreamer missiles from the EAS Prometheus
to reach the target. They flew near blindly through
canyons and extremely low over the surface to continue
avoiding detection relying heavily on topographical maps
taken during the last days of the Solrin War when Alliance
Forces were trying to dig out the remaining Solrin Forces
and barely functioning passive sensors. Anya had no
doubt that despite the experience of both her and the
Prometheus pilots that they were all highly stressed at
the moment.
The route indicator bleeped a warning indicating that they
were five minutes from the suspected target base and
Anya readied herself accordingly. Above the base the
Skyscreamer Missiles raced in and detonated in the upper
atmosphere creating a massive cloud of chaff and emitting
a jamming signal which to those on the ground would look
like a group of ships jumping into low orbit causing every
anti-air defense system to target them allowing Anya's
Lancers and the M-35As a clear visual on their first target.
Anya broke comm silence for the first time since launching.
"All units this is Strike Commander. Commence Operation
Phase One, code ES for mission go. Break by flights and
light 'em up." In return she received a barrage of
affirmatives from both squadrons although it was easy to
discern between the Erassian voices and those of her very
own Lancers. The Lancers addressed her as 'Lead' or 'One'
and the Erassians addressed her as 'Stormchild'. That last
title often held more weight than a high rank within the
Erassian Alliance Military.
Targetting a light anti-air battery Anya rapidly turned it
into molten slag with the powerful pulse phaser cannon
mounted in the nose of the AX-02 Lancer. In theory the
more heavily armed M-35As were focusing on the heavy
anti-orbital guns and the base shield generators but as
they hadn't known the exact layout of the base during
the planning phase of the mission it was a bit like pot luck
as to what targets popped up for each sweeping route.
Anya spotted a likely looking target, a long transparisteel
window overlooking a long stretch of the base perimeter.
It was likely the primary control centre for the bases
external defences. Taking it out would provide a definite
advantage to the attacking forces. She banked hard and
kicked in the thrusters so her Lancer hovered in front of
the window. Thumbing the weapons select to the
quantumn nano-torpedo chainguns and depressing the
trigger Anya ruthlessly fired, the rounds ripping through
glass, machines, blood, bone and flesh.
Rejoining the rest of her flight she poured over the
information being transmitted from Sun God through the
combat datastream evaluating the damage the squadrons
had achieved. Opening up a channel to all the fighters
Anya called "Move to Operation Phase Two. Lancers
provide Close Air Support for ODA Assault teams and
hit any lazed targets. Prometheus Fire assume High
Altitude Combat Air Patrol and cover the Special Forces
Orbital Drop Pods on their way down."
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End of Part One
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Marine Captain Anya Xerxes
Flight Ops CO
USS Chimera - C
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