A single change. AC7 story

The Old Prototype.

 As we were heading back to base Sky Keeper gave us a debrief and an overview of the situation.

Sky Keeper:* Unfortunately, the two-front offensive was a failure. The aircraft carrier Kestrel II was sunk during the attack on Farbanti. Carrier-borne aircraft mistakenly bombed urban areas, and this turned public opinion in neutral countries against us. Our own forces have also suffered heavy losses. If it weren't for a few extraordinary fighters, many of us wouldn't have made it home. The situation is grim. We have precious little time, however. We have to get to the space elevator.*

I heard the radio go off, notifying me that someone was about to talk.

Clown: "You have many people's thanks Trigger. Not many people would risk their lives fighting an unknown enemy that they know nothing about.

Knocker: "You saved many people's lives. For that, you've earned my respect." 

I heard Golem 2 inhale and about to speak before she sighed and turned off her mic. Fort Greys was now on our maps as we enters it's airspace

We reached the airfield and everyone starts to land. One-by-one my friends  landed and taxied off of the runway.

Now it was my turn. 

As I was performing my approach, a large shudder past through my aircraft and a second later my plane violently shook and banked right. Trying to stabilise, I look back and see my engine had exploded and took off the remainder of my right wing. Grabbing the stick I wrenched it to the left, trying to level it out. I cut off the fuel intake allowing the flame to die out before it could grow and consume the rest of my aircraft.

 I managed to get the landing gear to touch down on the tarmac but the offset in balance threw the plane to it's left. The momentum carried the plane into consecutive barrel rolls. I finally stopped 400 meters later, upside down. Gathering myself, I unhooked myself from my seat and carefully lowered myself down. I kicked the glass of my cockpit until it shattered. I crawled out of my now unsalvageable air craft and ripped the mask off my face and threw it on the ground, making sure that my visor still covered the majority of my face.

Emergency vehicles arrived moments later and a car picked me up and took me towards HQ. Looking back I saw my F-22 being loaded onto a trailer and taken to the hanger. It would be a miracle if they managed to salvage anything from it.

After getting checked by the on station doctor I was told to get over to the briefing room. Apparently we were going to be briefed about our next mission.

Arriving to the briefing, I found that I was the last to arrive. Sky Keeper turned to me and smiled.

"Trigger, you're here. Okay let's get this briefing started."

A projector flickered on, going through a slideshow, images of our previous operation and the Space Elevator were shown. 

"As proved by the failure of our previous strategy, the Arsenal Birds have bolstered the enemy's anti-air network. This'll be difficult to overcome. However, we still need to get swiftly to the space elevator, no matter what it takes. Someone there is counting on us. The hero of the Circum-Pacific War  and the man who spearheaded the construction of the space elevator. Osea's former president, Mr. Harling. Mr. Harling was inspecting the elevator when the war broke out. He's been classified as missing since the elevator was taken over by the Erusean forces. However, according to the latest intel, a military officer accompanying Mr. Harling hid him inside the facility. Both are waiting for a chance to escape. Enemy anti-air radar network has been set up around the space elevator. ...it's likely a large squadron would be detected. We will send a single aircraft through the network, and send in a rescue team soon after. A number of anti-air radars have been set up around the space elevator. However, our reconnaissance suggests their network is weakest along the southeastern coast of Selatapura. So, we can elude the enemy's observation. There are a lot of rain clouds this time of year. Flying through the clouds will enable us to stay hidden from their radar. If you happen to be detected by their radar, we will be forced to abort the mission. The lone pilot who will head up this strategy is you, Trigger.  After you bust through, secure the rescue craft's landing zone by taking out the anti-air weapons. and will arrive shortly for support. Provide escort for Mr. Harling's craft after rendezvous. Good luck out there, everyone. "