The Tyrant’s Ascension to the Throne is a short story included as part of TSFIA.
Summary[]
#12 The tyrant’s accession to the throne
September 17, 1998. United States of America, Nevada, Nellis Air Force Base training grounds.
The US Army 65th Tactical Surface Fighter Instructional Squadron is thought by many to be the premier OpFor Aggressor unit within the United States. Equipped with the F-15E Strike Eagle, the squadron is often referred to as the "Flankers", due to the squadron painting their TSFs with the same colors of their Soviet adversaries. And for years they are feared as the "Strongest enemy" for any squadron who are training against them.
Today it seems as though a new challenger has come to claim the throne from the undefeated Eagles.
"Flanker 1 to all units, do not stop moving, we don't want to be sniped yet."
In this case of Anti-human simulations, the Flight leader of The Flankers is Capt. Gregory and he is annoyed. The battle started 10 minutes ago, and yet he still has yet to catch any sign of the enemy. Having issued his subordinates their search patterns and interlocking arc of observation, the Captain had decided to utilize the shared data link of his flight to track empty pings and holes in their radar net to find these "Stealth" TSFs. Still, after years of playing the role of the "Hunter" the experienced Captain can't help but feel a little agitated and pissed, not to mention his gut is telling him that something really bad is about to happen.
Even if these things are hidden from radar, they can't hide the ground vibration when they move, and when they fire on me, I'll know where they are. I have the advantage in numbers, so even if they sprung an ambush, I can afford to lose a couple units. They can't hope to beat us all when we know where they are.
Taking a deep breath Capt. Gregory calmed himself. To him and his Flankers, this is a battle they do not wish to lose. When it was revealed to the public that the range combat oriented YF-22 had won the ATSF, a large number of US pilots who abhorred melee combat were jubilant at the announcement. Though to a few select group of US pilots, like the members of the Flankers, this was not welcome news. They believed that ultimately melee is unavoidable with an skilled opponent, and especially the against endless hordes of BETA. So to forget the importance of Hand to Hand CQC is something a pilot should be ashamed of. Thus the goal of the 65th is to drill the importance of close range fighting into all pilots who come through these grounds. And now with the introduction of the F-22, it is clear that even the higher ups clearly believe that CQC is unnecessary, and this implication is something that Capt. Gregory and the rest of the 65th cannot stand. To make matters even more humiliating, command has ordered him to conduct combat trials against the new F-22 prototype, and that he will participate in an 8 vs 2 in urban close quarter terrain against the F-22 challengers. Normally the aggressors flight operate under the numerical disadvantage against the challengers, but command has ordered otherwise for today's exercise. The insinuation that he and his veteran squadron would need this handicap to win against 2 untested prototypes designed for ranged warfare in a close quarter environment is a stain upon the squadron's reputation and honor.
For the whole day before the exercise, the pilots of the 65th laughed and ridiculed the F-22 pilots to no end, saying that if they really wanted to not lose in urban they should have challenged an M1 Abram tank squadron instead. In the face of such insults, the F-22 pilots chose to remain indifferent and silent.
The fucking chickens shits don't even have the balls to defend themselves against insults. I can't fucking stand them or their machine, they are fucking dead when I find them.
Suddenly the radio came to life with the excited voice of Flanker 3.
"Bingo! Boss I found them, your 10'o clock , about 7500m behind a building. They are in the open on the streets!"
Suddenly all the tension and worry left his body. His mind was clear, he knows what to do.
"Good work, Flanker 3, don't engage them yet, approach using cover. We are going to surround them first."
"All Flankers, suppressive fire once we surround them!"
"Roger!"
As all flankers moved in to position, 8 120mm Launcher belched out fire the keep the F22's pinned.
"Sir! I lost them in the buildings, no positive fix on their positions."
"Those quarters are too tight for guns, so they want to challenge us to a Dogfight? Hmmph, we will shown them who are the CQC masters here."
"Even if they are stealth, it won't matter if we know they are in this area."
The Flankers split in to their 2 respective flights. Stacked up into a CQC formation the 8 F-15Es closed in for the kill.
Roughly 360 seconds later:
"Command Post to all units, simulation end. All units return to your respective starting points. I say again All units return......"
"I.....I...I don't fucking believe this..impossible.....What the fuck just happened?!"
Capt. Gregory stared dumbfounded and confused at the shadowed form towering above him and his fallen F-15E. The F-22 has both its CIWS-2 combat knives in each hand, and symbol for 'Infinite possibilities' shone and glistered brightly under the Sun.
"Do you see now? The F-22's CQC capabilities should not be underestimated."
"......Is that...why you two never fire back during the fight? To prove a point?"
"Haha..... looks like we will be working together for awhile, Captain. I hope we will both enjoy our time and experiences here."
"Fuck you, you little shit! Don't think you can beat me so easily next time!"
"Well, that's why we are here, until next time Captain."
Thus began the official combat trial of the F-22 EMD phase 2 by the "Infinities". In accordance with the development plan set forth by the US military, the F-22 will be modified for further efficiency in Anti-Human warfare. Compared to the YF-22, the EMD phase 2 version features even lower fuel consumption and improved thrust power, with a built in walking stealth mode designed to reduce vibration and noise during ground movement. A cobalt blue colored radio wave-absorbing paint is also applied to further radar stealth.
During its time of trials at Nellis, the Infinites would achieve the legendary record of 100 versus trials wins against F-15 Eagles with zero losses, 199 trials wins against F-18 Hornets with one loss, and obtaining 144 wins to one tie against the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
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