* 06:26, LOS ANGELES BATTLE COMMAND:
Copy Rolling Thunder. Air support is seconds away. *BREAK*
AWAC North, this is LA Command. Skies are clear of friendly fire. You are cleared to engage flies.
RUN FILE.
The air defense guns of Rolling Thunder fell silent. Attention was re-directed to the bug nest ships over the hills. They opened fire with earnest along the approved battle trajectory.
END FILE.
* 06:26, AWACS NORTH GROUP:
Copy LA Command. Rolling Thunder has ceased aerial defensive fire. Angel Wings has green light to engage flies. *BREAK*
All squadrons, attention, this is AWACS North Group. You are cleared to engage enemy flies. Flies have grouped in their own ship sector, and are engaging Rolling Thunder.
North Group, squadrons 1 through 6, you are cleared hot to engage Burbank Sector flies; squadrons 7 through 12, you have Rosemead flies.
Eastern Group, squadrons 1 through 6, you have La Habra flies; squadrons 7 through 12, engage Santa Ana flies.
Be advised, the flies have not formed up. It’s chaos out there. We will call out a clearer picture if one develops. Good hunting.
* 06:27, SUMMER BREEZE, F22, North Group, Squadron Three, Aircraft One:
November-three-three, this is November-three-one, we’re cleared hot John, fence in to engage. Our link shows green. You should be able to see my displays. I have main fire control. You and Randy ready for this?
* 06:27, BIG WHEEL, B-R1 missile truck, North Group, Squadron Three, Aircraft Three:
Roger November-three-One. Affirmative displays. We’re hot to trot, Dillon. Let’s swat some bugs.
* 06:28, N-3-1, SUMMER BREEZE:
That’s a good copy Big Wheel. Link pushed. Have at it. Speak of the devil. Contact! Fly coming my way. Missiles away, Fox 2. He’s fast! Trying cannon <20 mm auto-cannon>.
RUN FILE.
N-3-1, Summer Breeze, launched two sidewinder missiles which were destroyed by enemy defensive rail fire. Summer Breeze switched to cannon fire. In the 2 second approach, Summer Breeze fired 200 rounds at the fly using his 20 mm cannon. The fly stuttered, veered to the right and impacted the ground. Splash! Dead bug.
END FILE.
* 06:28, N-3-3, BIG WHEEL:
Breeze, this is Big Wheel. Second fly on your six. Fire lock. Hypes away, ripple six.
RUN FILE.
Big Wheel fired 6 hypervelocity missiles at a fly on an attack vector to engage Summer Breeze. The fly directed railgun fire at Summer Breeze, opening a fuel tank on the F22. The fuel ignited. Captain Dillon Harvey punched out as his F22 plummeted in a death spiral.
The bug seemed crazed. Imaging suggests the flier automated defense system continued to over-ride the bug pilot’s offensive fire to deal with the hypervelocity missiles from Big Wheel. He followed the F22 down, firing, even as the aircraft smoked and burned. Computer modeling indicates the bug pilot kept pulling back on his fast-aim control stick to redirect fire to the F22.
Five of the hypervelocity missiles from Big Wheel were shot down by the fly’s computerized defenses. One hype got through, destroying the fly. Bugs have no means to eject.
END FILE.
* 06:29, LOS ANGELES BATTLE COMMAND Side Channel:
North Group, this is LA Battle Command. Picking up “music”, bugs must be jamming. Hearing the same? Source? Copy North Group. Quiet again. Whatever you did took care of it.
Say again? Comms feed from a fly? Sounded like it was laughing. Did you peg the source? Roger. On my screen now.
Ohhhh, splashed by a hype. System shows hype was from N-3-3, Big Wheel. Hold. Noise again. Sounds like they’re singing. Roger North Group, lines are clear again.
* 06:30, AWACS NORTH GROUP:
East Group, this is AWACS command. Alert! Be advised East Group Squadron six, swarm of flies approaching. Low, south, 9 o’clock.
* 06:31, E-6-1, BLAZING ONION, F22, East Group, Squadron 6, Aircraft One:
Echo-six-two, this is Echo-six-one. I’m out. Winchester. Lost our link. Can’t see your levels, no fire control anyway.
* 06:31, E-6-2, RAPID FIRE, B-R1 Missile Truck:
Copy Onion, we have Slammers <AIM 120 missiles>. Screens are up, managed an Aegis side-link. Hold. Firing solution. Fox 3 away. Got a ripple off, but still have a dozen Slammers.
* 06:32, E-6-9, HAMMER, B-R1 Missile Truck:
Echo-six-one, this is Echo-six-niner. Lost our F22. Uhhh, flying blind here. Request you push your link.
* 06:32, E-6-1, BLAZING ONION, F22:
Copy Echo-six-niner. Sorry to hear. Negative on the link. We’re midnight with Command link function. Following up with Echo-six-two. E-6-2, this is Onion. Johnny, can you push a link to Echo-six-niner?
* 06:33, E-6-9, HAMMER, B-R1:
Echo-six-two, this Echo-six-niner. Affirmative on Link. OPEN COMMS FROM HAMMER: Bill, let’s not waste these hypes. Bullseye is 185, 6 miles, 10,000 feet. All hypes away. And out. Winchester.
* 06:33, E-6-1, BLAZING ONION:
Hammer, this is Onion. I’ve got visual. No joy, fly shot them all. Sorry pal. We’re all Winchester, and nastiness coming our way. Let’s get out of Dodge. Going to move-
RUN FILE.
A swarm of flies began to rake Squadron Six with rail fire. E-6-1, Blazing Onion, Captain Dave “Edge” Edgington, took defensive action, heading to his left in a spiraling decent to gain speed and lateral distance from his attackers. Edge leveled off, flying in the weeds (very low altitude). Edge had also received the link that was pushed out by E-6-2, Rapid Fire.
He watched with dismay as the squadron dots on his screen flashed out. At least some were able to eject judging by the punch-out indicators. His F22 was no longer aerodynamic, having numerous holes and gouges, and he was out of munitions anyway. He stayed in the weeds and eased his plane toward the designated safe zone for refueling and rearming. Hopefully another aircraft was available. This one wouldn’t be back up in the sky any time soon.
END FILE.
***
+ BEGIN TIMELINE DROP.
NOTE: The Battle for Los Angeles was definitely a wake-up call. With guys like Edge and Avery (see below) on our side, the enemy doesn’t stand a chance. This is a composition Drop derived from several sources using AI synthesis journaling. It gives some interesting perspective.
1. Compilation of Angel Wings communications and flight recorders.
2. A recording file obtained from Darkside Base. The nest queen
