Fallen Angels

Chapter Eleven

The takeoff was a little rusty, at least for me. The hornet's air intakes were partially clogged because of some dirt and ash from the previous battle. But luckily, the hornet was able to unclog the intake before I crashed. Then the hornet lifted and was just able to avoid the trees. I looked behind and see all three hornets in perfect formation. The sun was below the horizon and darkness was just about to fill every crevice. Lights turned on and the land filed up with what looked like glowing fireflies.

"Devil One One to all Devil One victors, maintain formation and follow me to the squadron." I spot the large formation in front of me, consisting of Warthogs, Ospreys, and Hornets. There were so many of them, maybe around five hundred aircraft total. If this was a carpet bombing, then we were ready. I sped up to catch up with the squadron, evetually reaching them and keeping their flank covered. 

"Assault squadron this is Devil One One, my squadron is in formation and ready to assist." 

"Roger that Devil One One, maintain formation. The operation is a go. All units engage afterburners. Osprey units, engage secondary engines and turn off primary rotors." 

I flip a couple of switches and immediately feel the speed pushing me against the seat. I looked around and notice all the other aircraft, including my squadron, flying at the same speed. Good thing our afterburners were adjusted to the same speed before takeoff. I looked around some more, noticing small pockets of infantry here and there, running about for exercise and patrol. I noticed a fireteam on top of a mountain. They had a small fire going and one started waving their hand towards us. I smiled and shook my wings in the form of a salute.

A few minutes later, we reach the destination. The two cities, La Paz and El Alto were glooming with light. Fuck, were civilians still living there? Why didn't they leave when the Chinese attacked? I radioed in just to make sure I was right.

"Roebuck, this is Devil One One. I notice lights within the city of El Alto. Are civilians locative do within the fire zone?"

"Affirmative, Devil One One." The person speaking on the other side wasn't Roebuck. He was older and probably some intern, I don't know. What as more annoying was that this operation was threatening civilians, and this guy was acting like it was nothing. 

"Uh, sir, wouldn't this be a job for the infantry?" I stated.

"Negative, there are strongholds within the city that need to be destroyed." This guy was pissing me off.

"Wouldn't this be against military conduct?" 

"Listen, Devil One One. This is war, China and Bolivia are the enemy. If there are strongholds within a city, they must be destroyed. Infantry cannot do that job."

"Then bring in tanks, maybe some..."

"Devil One One, your task has been given. Out." 

Well, this guy was an asshole. Who gave him permission to operate on this field? Wouldn't he at least notify Roebuck? He didn't seem like he gave a damn about the civilians. I guess, to him, everyone that wasn't American was an enemy. Either way, there were people that I needed to help, but this was wrong. At least I'm not the ones dropping the fucking bombs. 

The more I thought about it, the more I distracted myself. I resolved the issue by saving it for later. This was stupid and fucking bullshit. But I needed to clear my mind to stay alive. 

"All fighters, maintain formation until the first bomb has been dropped." 

We begin to pass the city overhead. Moments later, streams of light erupt from the city below and streak into the sky. A few more seconds and a fireball erupts below where the streaks were developing. This was our que.