Fallen Eagle

Prologue: Shattered Skies

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The faint sound of jet engines shutting down for the night filled the air of my temporary bunk room. The smell of burning jet fuel entered my nose and kept me calm. I kept the window open since the sound of dead silence would have driven me insane long ago. My radio was connected to my phone, playing Bad Moon Rising from CCR. Footsteps echoed throughout the hallway near my room, for several pilots had just exited their jets and were getting ready to retire for the night. Being a fighter pilot in the movies looks badass, but in real life, it takes its toll on people. My eyes hadn't opened since I put music on, allowing me to relax until tomorrow.

I see a bad moon arisin'
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin'
I see bad times today

My left eye creaked open when there was a soft rapping on my door. My hand reached down and turned the volume down until the song was playing as a faint whisper. "Cougar, you awake?" I heard a voice question. I propped myself up and stretched my arms out, putting on my United States Air Force hat and started to go for the door. Before opening the door, I turned my lamp on, quickly illuminated my small room. "Hey Cougar, how you doing?" A man about my age entered the room.

Don't go around tonight
Well, it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise

I shut the door as he entered and turned the radio completely off. "Can't sleep Reaper," I replied, calling my best friend by his call sign. He smirked and sat down on a small wooden chair in the corner of the room. "There's just too much going on to let me sleep," I added.

"Yeah me too," Reaper replied, "ever since this second Missile Crisis started, I've been more on edge than before; I can't even remember the last time I slept for more than 40 minutes straight." I pinched the bridge of my nose when I heard him talk about the missile crisis. Having to be relocated from our home base of Elmendorf in Alaska to this makeshift base at the Homestead Airport put a lot of stress on us and the rest of our squad mates in Ghostrider Squadron. It still amazed me how fast the airport and practically every citizen that had zero military experience had been evacuated.

"Well I understand your situation, at least you have a family to think and worry about back home," I quietly reminded my friend. Reaper sighed and put and arm on my shoulder and hugged me tight.

"Don't think like that Cougar, I'm sure that your family is still proud of what you've been able to do in the Air Force," he reassured me. My eyes drifted over to a picture on the table next to my bed. My eyes fell onto a picture of myself and my parents on the day I graduated from the academy.

"You know Reaper, sometimes I think humanity is just a waste, and what we're up against here doesn't make me think otherwise. Whenever I strap into my jet and soar through the clouds, I feel at peace. It makes me feel that humanity can and should be better, but maybe that's because I'm all by myself up there," I kept talking down.

"Come on Cougar, I know it sucks that we're practically in World War III here, but you and I are apart of something that can stop this from going further. As long as there are people like us in the Air Force, humanity has a chance to live on." I looked back up at Reaper and cracked a smile.

"You're the only family or friend I've got left, I won't let you down, I can promise you that," I put my hand on Reaper's shoulder.

"Cougar, you've never let anyone down before, I doubt you're gonna start with me," Reaper replied and sat up from his chair. "And I know how much you want this war to be over, trust me on this Cougar, you're not the only one that hates it," and with that, Reaper left. Just as I was about to turn my radio back on and try to fall asleep, my phone rang.

"Cougar, we need you in the briefing room, we may have a crisis situation so bring your flight suit and helmet," I heard the base commander on the other end of the line, "I'll also be getting in touch with Reaper, Grizz, Boa and Tex, this may require the best we've got," the Base Commander added before hanging up.

"Better to be up and at it than failing at sleep," I said to myself as I opened my closet to find my green flight suit with various Air Force and F-15 patches sewn on. I grabbed my duffel bag to store my helmet in just so I wouldn't drop it on the ground. I also grabbed my phone, which was odd since I've never and the desire to bring it before, but something told me I should bring it just in case.

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"Gentleman, I apologize for calling you in this close to lights out, but we have a slight problem," the Base Commander known only as Stinger announced as myself, Reaper and the three other pilots arrived inside the briefing room. Stinger had a pot of coffee ready for us and had us all sit down at a round table in front of a large computer screen. Out of instinct, I had my helmet sitting next to me on the table, ready for when I had to put it on for a flight.

"What do you need us for sir?" Reaper asked when another officer flicked on the computer screen to show the schematics of a recon ship known as the SS Layton. Stinger cleared his throat and pulled out a laser pointer from his front shirt pocket.

"Three hours ago, the Recon Ship SS Layton launched for a nightly patrol from north of the Florida Keys on a mission to the East Florida keys," Stinger waived the laser pointer around a picture of the ship. He clicked on a mouse and the image changed to show a map of the ship's route. "However, one hour ago, the commander of the ship failed to check in and we need to find the ship to make sure it's safe and that the crew is safe as well. The area near Cuba is very dangerous right now and we need these patrol ships to make sure we will not get attacked," Stinger informed us.

"So do you want us to find the ship Sir?" Tex raised his hand in question.

"Find it and escort it to it's destination," Stinger replied as he pointed the laser pointer to the eastern most island. "I've already gotten off the phone with the port where the Layton is supposed to dock and they are expecting a four jet escort. They even have reserve fuel on standby for your jets, any other questions?" Stinger asked. When no one else raised a hand, Stinger put away his laser pointer. "Then good luck to you gentleman and be safe," he wished us.

"Let's do this!" Grizz exclaimed and grabbed his helmet. We all put on our helmets and jogged on out to the makeshift hanger where our jets were kept. My personal F-15C Eagle was sitting proudly on its wheels at the head of the group with my call sign painted just below the canopy. Reaper's jet, an F-16 Fighting Falcon, was sitting to the left of my jet. We both jogged on over and climbed into the jets as other aircraft personnel hooked our jets up to trucks to tow us out of the hanger and onto the taxiing area. I looked behind me briefly in time to see Grizz climb into his F-22A Raptor and quickly shut the canopy before buckling in. I set my duffel bag in the little area behind my seat and hooked it to my seat as I had been ordered to do ever since I joined the Air Force. Not only did it house my helmet when I wasn't using it, the duffel bag also had a spare set of clothes, a first aid kit, food, water, an emergency CB radio, a pair of aviators for flying during the day and for special occasions, a .44 magnum pistol.

"Are you boys ready?" I heard Tex call from his T-38 Talon.

"Born ready Tex!" Boa called from the backseat of the T-38. Normally the Air Force used the T-38 for strictly training purposes, but Tex and Boa worked so well together in a T-38 that the Air Force had specially weaponized one just for them. And boy, I knew they were dangerous in that jet. As I hooked up my oxygen mask to my helmet, I heard from the tower that we were ready to launch.

"Cougar this is tower, you are cleared for launch," the tower controller radioed to me. I breathed in deeply and replied, "Tower this is Cougar, I copy that," I radioed back. My hand moved from the joy stick to the throttle control and inched the lever forward. The rumble of my F-15 engines built up until there was a deafening roar and I released the break. Instantly my jet took off like a cannon. My speed built up and up until I reached 200 miles per hour and I gently moved the joystick back and my jet took off for the wild blue yonder, or the black yonder as the sky was currently turning. "Cougar is airborne, I repeat, Cougar is airborne," I radioed back to the tower.

"Roger Cougar," the tower controller replied, "maintain speed of 700 knots and an altitude of 9,000 feet," I was ordered. I checked the altimeter on my dash and pitched my jet further up until it read 9,000 feet and my speedometer read between 698 and 702 knots. Soon enough, Reaper, Grizz and Tex and Boa were in the air along side me and we headed for our destination of the last known area of the SS Layton: Key Largo.

"So Cougar, where exactly are we heading?" Grizz asked me.

"Key Largo is near where we lost contact with the ship and that's also near where it was supposed to dock," I relayed back, "so about 30-40 miles west of Key Largo," I explained. I could hear Reaper whistling slowly in amazement.

"Wow, that's near the Bermuda Triangle!" He commented, "or at least right up against the border, maybe the ship got lost in the Triangle and got sucked up into another dimension," he pondered. Boa and Grizz snickered while Tex began howling with laughter. Although light was still fading away, I could see his Red, White and Blue Texas themed helmet bobbing up and down as he laughed.

"Boy Reaper, you sure do love those science fiction shows don't ya?" Tex teased. I even cracked a small smile at Reaper's expense whom just sighed at us from his F-16.

"Say what you want boys, but there are phenomenons in this world that we can't explain," he retorted.

"Alright that's enough guys," I stopped the laughter, "I hate to be a party pooper but we still have a job to do," I reminded the rest of my Ghostrider Squadron. Every pilot shut up at that statement. Even though we all lost our maturity at some points and had fun immature times, we still got serious when the time called for it, and this was one of the most important times to be serious. "Boa, anything on radar yet?" I called to Tex's WSO.

Boa gave me a second so he could check his radar for anything. "Nope, nothing yet, but we're getting close to Key Largo as we speak," Boa radioed, "should we try radioing to the Layton? Maybe they've got communications back online," Boa suggested.

"I don't think so, we should wait until we're right at the exact spot of where we lost contact," I replied.

"So Cougar, have you ever given thought to ditching your dusty old Eagle for a Raptor or maybe an F-35?" Reaper asked me as he and Grizz grouped up closer to my jet. Truth be told, I had thought about it before, right when Grizz dumped his F-16 for a new F-22 that was personally delivered to our squadron. The way he could out maneuver all of us was just astounding to me, but the F-15 had never let me down and has always exceeded my expectations.

"Not until Stinger holds me down and forces the crew to dismantle my jet," I replied, "we've been through too much together to part ways," I added with a smile. The rest of the flight remained a silent journey. My eyes kept drifting down to the radar on my dash, waiting to spot a blip for the SS Layton. The sky was now completely black and the only things any of us could see were the stars and tail lights of all the jets. "Alright boys, time to flip to night vision," I radioed. I flicked my visor down and clicked a button which switched it to bright green so we could see.

"Hey Cougar, my radar is picking something up about two miles to the west of our location," Boa relayed.

"Roger that, let's descend to 7000 feet and keep our eyes peeled for that ship. Reaper, you try to hail them," I ordered my friend. Reaper gave me the thumbs up signal and began attempting to hail the SS Layton. We all began to slowly drop our altitudes and scanned the ocean waters.

"SS Layton, this is Reaper with the Ghostrider Squadron, do you have a copy?" We all heard Reaper in the radio. "Hmm, nothing but static guys, I'll try again."

"Keep it up Reaper, we need this ship," Grizz reminded. Reaper nodded before reattempting to hail the recon ship.

"Again, SS Layton, this is Reaper of the United States Air Force Ghostrider Squadron, do you have a copy?" Reaper called. He waited a few seconds before groaning in frustration, "still nothing guys. Boa, how's your radar looking?" He asked.

"We're just about on top of the ship guys. There it is!" He exclaimed. We all looked down to scan the ocean where we saw a faint spec with our night vision visors. "Your call Cougar," Boa said.

"Try hailing her one more time, if it fails, we'll have the Coast Guard come out here and investigate," I replied.

"SS Layton, this is the Ghostrider Squadron," Reaper skipped his name this time, "do you have a copy? We are here to escort you to your destination." Finally, there was a crackle and hiss in the middle of the static.

"-urn, ba-, ow," we all heard a faint voice.

"SS Layton, please repeat that," Tex said.

"Turn, back now," the voice whispered in the radio. My heart stopped at what happened next. We all heard the distinct sound of a gunshot on the radio and a body thumping against the floor.

"SS Layton! What's going on!?" Reaper shouted into his radio. Some fumbling was heard on the other side before we heard heavy breathing on the other end.

"Hello, American Scum," a spanish accented voice said on the radio.

"Who is this!?" Tex demanded. The voice cackled and teased us.

"The one who just ordered your execution, DEATH TO AMERICA!" The voice cut off transmission. Suddenly, all of our radars went crazy as four surface to air missiles came flying at us.

"EVADE, EVADE!" I shouted. Reaper and I broke to the right and barrel rolled while Tex and Boa and Grizz broke to the left. Through my night vision, I saw two missiles fly in between our four jets. "Homestead Tower, the crew of the SS Layton is dead and the ship has been taken over. We have just been fired upon," I relayed back to base.

"Roger that Cougar, any enemy bogeys?" The tower questioned.

"None yet so far, but keep the alert backup on standby," I replied. Just as I ceased communicating with the tower, there was a loud and long sustaining tone bombarding me. "Reaper, check our tails," I nervously stated.

"Oh shit, we got about ten enemy bogeys behind us!" Reaper shouted.

"Tower this is Cougar, we have ten enemy bogeys on our tails and have us locked on. Launch the backup squad now!" I ordered the tower.

"Backup is on their way Cougar," the tower reported, "we have orders from Stinger for you to take on as many enemies as possible and lure them away from Key Largo."

"You heard them boys, let's blow them right outta the sky!" Tex cackled and dropped below the wave of enemy fighters and came up behind them. Grizz did a 180 and took the bogeys head on. Fearing a collision, three bogeys broke away as Grizz started firing off his guns. Tex maneuvered his T-38 upwards and began to pursue two of the enemy jets.

"Alright Reaper, attack pattern Delta now." Reaper flew just below and to the right of me as we suddenly dropped down and hit the brakes. The other five jets flew past us overhead and we both locked onto two jets. We both flinched as we heard a large explosion followed by the flash of fire.

"Got ya you miserable SOB!" Tex declared and began to lock onto another jet.

"Better move it Tex, we got one trying to get on our six," Boa radioed to his pilot.

"Reaper, stick together, we got these two up ahead of us," I told Reaper. My tracker waved around on the screen, trying to lock onto the bogey ahead. The tracker turned from Green to red as it hovered over the jet I was pursuing. "I got tone, firing!" I announced. My thumb clicked down on the button and a missile dislodged from my right wing and fired off towards the enemy. There was a loud explosion as my missile made contact and demolished the jet. "Fox 2!"

"Cougar, I'm too close for missiles on this one, switching to guns," Reaper informed me.

"I roger that Reaper, I'll drop in behind and cover you." I yanked the joystick to the left and my F-15 pitched to the left hard, forcing me against the right side of the fuselage. As I turned around however, I could feel something hitting my Jet in the rear. My jet began shaking and an alarm went off. "Guys, we've got more enemies coming in from the south! I'm hit in the right engine," I informed my sqaudmates. I quickly killed the engine so my jet wouldn't seize up.

"Get out of here and get your plane fixed!" Reaper ordered me.

"I'm not leaving you guys in danger!" I shouted back, "I can last on one engine, but I just can't perform the same maneuvers." I checked my radar only to have my heart stop at the sight of thirty more aircraft heading right for us. "Tower, where is the backup aircraft?" I asked.

"HELP US! WE'VE BEEN BOMBED! ALERT AIRCRAFT HAVE BEEN DEMOLISHED!" The tower screamed back.

"Guys, our base was attacked, help isn't coming," I said with a stopped heart.

"We've gotta retreat to the nearest air field and request help, we don't have enough weapons for this!" Grizz worriedly replied.

"Not with thirty eight enemies trailing us, we can't just lead them to another air field," I replied. "We can try to lose them in the darkness of night, but that may not work," I said as I fired my guns at an enemy. My bullets hit their target and the jet exploded. The familiar sustained tone of being locked on hit my jet again. I checked wildly behind me while pitching my jet back and forth. I knew I was putting too much stress on my one engine, but I had to keep fighting to keep my friends safe.

"Hold on Coug!" Reaper shouted and blasted the enemy out of the sky. As the explosion went off, I could see the faint outlines of the enemy jets above us.

"They're everywhere. We've gotta move!" Grizz shouted. Despite having one of the most sophisticated jets ever created, Grizz was at a big disadvantage with being outnumbered.

"You got a bogey to the left at 3 o'clock! He's gonna fire!" Tex exclaimed. We all heard the sustained lock on tone and saw a flash of light as the missile took off.

"AHHH!" We heard as Grizz's F-22 went up in flames.

"GRIZZ!" I screamed. The flaming remains of his F-22 Raptor crashed into the ocean and fizzled away into the night. I could feel a tightness in my chest and a tear roll down my cheek.

"His whole plane went up, there's no way he could've ejected," Reaper said solemnly.

"THOSE SONS OF BITCHES!" Tex shouted and went ballistic on the enemies; firing bullets and several missiles everywhere. For reasons I cannot explain, Tex actually took down three more bogeys because of this.

"Jesus Tex, calm down, we can outsmart these guys!" Boa said in a panicked tone from the back seat of the T-38.

"They took down Grizz, now they're gonna pay," Tex gritted his teeth and went to pursue another bogey. He was pushing his T-38 to its limits. Tex was pulling off dangerous moves that could cause his engine to stall at any moment.

"COUGAR! BOGEY ON YOUR TAIL!" Reaper shouted. I braced my hand against the glass of the canopy to look behind me and saw flashes of light coming from an enemy jet.

"Shit," I commented as I barrel rolled and ascended higher. "Tex! You get your ass over near Reaper and I and we can outrun these guys!" I ordered the T-38 pilot.

"For the love of God do what he says, please!" Boa begged from his seat. Tex ignored me and continued to try and bring down another jet with his guns.

"Just a little closer," Tex growled and switched back to his missiles. "I'll bring down one more then we'll join your escape route," Tex relayed back. I heard through his radio that he had locked onto the bogey. Suddenly, the jet in front of Tex pitched up and vanished for a brief moment before reappearing behind his T-38.

"Now he's behind us!" Boa looked behind wildly. "GET US OUT OF HERE!" Boa shrieked as the bogey locked onto their T-38.

"Reaper follow me and take down that bogey!" I ordered. Reaper banked left and followed me over behind the enemy.

"I've got a lock on," Reaper reported and fired his missile. Right as he did however, the enemy launched his and his jet exploded. "Tex, break left! His missile is still heading towards you!" Reaper warned.

"My engines stalled, dammit!" Tex cursed in his radio. "PUNCH US OUT BOA!" Tex yelled. Their canopy exploded off the jet and I saw their seats rocket from the fuselage. Right as they ejected, the missile hit their T-38. The explosion engulfed the pilots before they drifted away in their parachutes.

"No," Reaper breathed out. I couldn't say a word. Three of our friends were now gone. "Come on Cougar, let's get out of here before they can catch us," Reaper suggested, "maybe we can hide out at Daytona Air Base."

"Yeah, let's get out of here," I said as we both pitched lower to the islands to mask our planes. "Fly tightly together," I reminded Reaper. As we descended lower, an alarm went off on my Dash. "NO! Don't seize up on me!" I tried to jiggled the joystick around to try and speed my jet up faster.

"Come on Coug, before they catch up," Reaper slowed down to stay with me. I finally got my engine re-fired, but that also alerted a nearby bogey of our location. I felt the pinging sensation of 30MM bullets piercing through the left engine of my F-15. "COUGAR!" Reaper exclaimed as my engine let go. I had to shut it off before it exploded and took me with it.

"REAPER, I CAN'T CONTROL IT!" I shrieked as the force launched me forward into the dash while my F-15 was sent into a flat spin. "Save yourself Reaper, you've got a family to think about! Forget about me!" I begged as my jet started doing random barrel rolls and pitches. My altimeter and GPS were going haywire, trying to figure out where my jet was going to end up.

"Cougar, eject out of there. I'll give you cover until you're out," he informed and started to encircle me. My GPS started to fizzle out when we crossed over the border for the Bermuda Triangle.

"Just leave me! I'm done for!" I ordered him.

"I'M NEVER LEAVING YOU!" Reaper replied and shot his guns in all directions, trying to keep enemies at bay. I found myself having trouble breathing with all the pressure being exerted on my body. With all my strength, I lifted my hand up and grabbed onto the ejection lever. The canopy jettisoned off my jet and my pilot seat rocketed out of the fuselage. The 20Gs of pressure from ejection was almost too much for me. I felt my seat jerk when the parachute opened. My jet had plummeted towards the ocean below me, but I was curious as to why I didn't see a splash or hear a crash for that matter. My helmet was still on, but my oxygen mask was gone. The energy I had was almost empty, and as I looked up towards Reaper's F-16, all I could see was a ball of fire engulfing his jet.

"Rea-" I said until I blacked out and the world around me disappeared.

End Prologue.

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Well, here's the prologue to my newest MLP story: Fallen Eagle. I really hope this was a good and intense start. And, most of the call signs were inspired by Top Gun and most of the jet facts come from my grandpa and my dad. And I hope you all like the cover, I made it myself using photoshop. Also, in case anyone is wondering, Cougar's real name will not be revealed until much later on in the story.

I do not own MLP, the USAF or Bad Moon Rising by CCR.

This story also has it's own soundtrack that I've picked out. Some songs will be played from an MP3 source, be played just to set up a scene, or actually be sung by the cast. Please read and review!