3:22 pm, February 27th, 2003
.
.
.
Officer Taksu Nulax is devastated to see her factory blown to smithereens by a fighter plane. All of her hard work, gone. Three consecutive years of building, gone.
No. She will not let this slide.
She removes her walkie-talkie from her utility belt and radios the Air Traffic Control.
“We need four Benulin F-13s to bomb Loritz Airfield.”
She waits a second and a transmission comes in.
“Roger that, scrambling fighters.”
.
.
.
3:56 pm, the same day
.
.
.
The sound of a Mk. 81 Qula cannon rips past Colonel Pek “Shocker” Jones’ canopy as he performs evasive maneuvers to get a Tuman F-90 off his tail.
“Ugh,” he grunts as he recovers from a stall.
His Benulin F-13D belongs to the 52nd Strike Division, but he likes to think of it as his own.
Suddenly, several pings ring in his ears as his engine fails
Alarms are blaring as his plane spirals and spins.
He has no choice but to eject.
He reaches for the yellow-and-black striped handle and yanks as hard as he can.
Whoosh. The rockets come to life and lift him out of the plane.
The parachute deploys.
A few minutes later, he lands at an allied base. He is saved.
.
.
.
4:39 pm, the same day
.
.
.
18-year-old Keo Baron is scared for his life. He has just enlisted in the Keiyronelle Air Force, and he is on a training mission in his brand new F-15.
He hopes he will never engage in combat, but, after all, it is inevitable.
He tunes his radio to the news station.
“Breaking news! A war has broken out between the Armed Forces of Kerbania and the People
of Siltria! Watch out, your city may get bombed!”
He banks right to head back towards the air base, but he begins to hear the deafening roar of an approaching fighter.
He hopes it’s allied, but, deep down, he knows the truth…