Up until the appearance of the UCAVs, the mission had been going exactly as planned, and Everett supposed he should have taken that as the first sign that things were about to go horribly wrong. While Excalibur Four and Five took their pictures, Everett flew his plane low and fast over the enemy positions, drawing their attention to the Fencer. Anti-air fire pierced the air around him, but he was not too worried. The enemy's guns could not traverse fast enough to track his aircraft's movements and he was going much too fast for their missiles to get a positive lock. Of course, going that fast and that low had its own risks. One accidental touch of the stick would be all it took to turn the Ghost into a flaming wreck.

When things went to hell, it was quick, sudden and caught both Everett and Zola off guard. "Something's jamming us," Everett said as he heard the voice of the AWACs slowly being drowned out by static. Zola reached forward and tweaked their frequencies until they got a garbled - but understandable - transmission from the squadron. Almost as soon as that happened, the lock warning sounded within the cockpit. The Colonel had warned them of the presence of enemy aircraft, but Everett had expected at least some form of warning from anyone before they got close enough to get a lock.

"Evading!" He shouted out and forced the Fencer into a sudden and sharp turn. "What the fuck was-"

He was interrupted by another UCAV streaking past the nose of his aircraft. Even though he only had a glimpse of the craft before it disappeared to the side, Everett recognized its outline. It was an upgraded version of the advanced target drones he had faced off against during his trainee days in the PLAAF. They were notoriously difficult to destroy and could pull off turns and climbs that would have killed any pilot. They also carried advanced targeting systems which gave them a shorter locking time than most. Everett did not know about these new drones, but he did know that the old versions were hard enough to shoot down that a trainee could pass by just surviving a swarm of them.

"Excalibur Three to squadron, don't even try to engage these bastards." Everett said over the comms, pausing to pull his aircraft into a steep climb. The higher he was, the more room he had to maneuver and against these drones, he could do little else other than to just keep out of their sights. "I flew against these drones before when they were just advanced trainers. Hard to shoot down, and they will get on your tail when you least expect it. Just keep turning and don't ever fly level."

"These are some fucking trainers." Zola said in a frustrated voice. Not being able to fire back pretty much took away everything she could do to defend herself.

"Tough training, easy fighting." Everett replied simply. The Fencer twisted and turned, never giving the drones a chance to get a good lock on it. It kept them safe, but after the sixth sharp and violent turn, both Everett and Zola were beginning to feel light-headed. The drones could handle such movements, but the human body sure could not. Unwilling to risk unconsciousness and eventually death, Everett had no choice but to level out the Fencer to allow the two of them a chance to recover.

Zola glanced out the window to their right. "Excalibur two, massive swarm to your six! Go evasive, Three's coming in to assist!"

"We are?" Everett asked. "I'm having enough trouble trying to keep us alive as it is!"

"Hell yes we are!" Zola replied. "Use the plasma stealth for what it's for, fly towards that blob and I'll take care of the rest."

Everett frowned, but did exactly as his WSO suggested. There was no telling whether or not the drones could get a lock through the plasma stealth system, but letting a fellow squadron-mate die was not exactly what Everett wanted to do either. He turned the Fencer towards the group of drones following Excalibur Two and pushed the engines to their limit. "Missiles aren't going to get a good lock on them, not with their tiny signatures." He commented.

"Guns, then." Zola said. "Any other insights you'd like to share?"

Everett shrugged. "Just what my PLAAF trainer told me." He said. "Find our gall and be daring."

The Fencer streaked towards the swarm of drones, with three of the UCAVs hot on its tail. However, the plasma stealth system proved its worth once again by disrupting the locking systems of the enemy's missiles. Once the Fencer was in gun range, Zola pulled the trigger and held it down. The extended burst of cannon fire brought down one of the drones and - from what she could see - severely damaged two others. The Fencer cut through the blob and she felt a shudder as their wing tip scythed through one of the drones. "Fuck!" She shouted out and glanced out the window to check for damage. "Wingtip's damaged, but doesn't look bad."

"Cutting stealth," Everett reported and switched off the electrodes. "Excalibur Two, you're clear. Bogeys now on Three. Took damage to wing, but not serious."

Jason cringed at how daring the enemy aircraft were and learning they were trainers made him worry. He flipped his comms back on and tried to communicate with the others but another aircraft streaking over his head stopped him short and the only thing that came out if his mouth was a loud and profound
"Holy shit!"
Moments later after a brief recovery Jason turned his comms on and tried to get a message to the other F-14 pilot.
"Well theres a reason they call me Striker and if your telling me about it You must be signing up." He said as he banked hard to his left and barely dodged another aircraft.
"Excaliber Squadron i think now is the time to turn tail and run," Jason said as he let off a burst of gun fire. "Ni matter how we slice it i don't think we're cut out for this fight. Not just yet." He added turninf to help cover Excaliber 1 as she left the battle.

As the squadron pulled together to herd off the swarming flock of drones, more of them being swatted out of the sky with some effort by Zola and Everett's efforts, the jamming dropped out.
<<"Impressive">> a female voice with a youthful and flirtatious edge sounded over the radio. <<"You did well against my Vogels this time around - especially with the surprise too. Unfortunately, it looks like playtime is over for today. Run along now, little chickens, and we'll play together again soon">>
In a dazzling shower of pyrotechnics, the UCAV's dropped a shower of chaff and flares, breaking away in a starburst pattern and running low toward the horizon as the Excalibur squadron went feet-wet over the Mediterranean and in the direction of the Nimue.
With a burst of static, the CIC was back in touch.
<<"Excalibur squadron, respond! Exacalibur squadron, this is Nimue CIC, please respond!">>
Tired and with a weariness in her voice, Ariella replied, wiping one hand across her face as she toggled the transmit button on her throttle.
"Nimue CIC, this is Lioness, Excalibur One. All aircraft present and accounted for. We were jumped by hostiles during the mission. We got the recon footage, but the surface-to-surface weapons weren't attacked. We're RTB with damage, have crash-crews on standby, over"
<<"Roger Excalibur,">> the CIC responded, the operators voice urgent and loaded with tension. <<"There's more news - the AWACS was shot down during the mission by an unidentified weapon system. The anti-ship weapons may have been decoys, as the fleet were attacked in any event. A hostile unit somehow got within striking distance and caught them unawares - we're receiving reports of the attack now. Intelligence are compiling information, and may have a lead on our next mission. There'll be a full briefing once you RTB and we're underway, over">>
"Roger," replied Ariella, feeling tiredness weigh heavy on her - she realized they'd gone straight from the emergency takeoff at Lossiemouth and the interception mission, to flying to the Nimue, to this mission with barely a chance to catch breath. What she needed was sleep and food, and she had no doubt that the others needed the same. But first, they needed to get back to the comparative safety of the sub-carrier.
"Excalibur squadron, you heard the deal," she reported to the others over the radio. "And thanks, guys, for joining us," she added to the new pilots in the brace of F-14's. "If you hadn't turned up, I think we would've been done for. You kind of broke the enemies' attacks. Good work, and glad to have you with us. Once we get five minutes and a bar, drinks are on me for you both. But in the meantime, we have to get back to the ship and land, ahead of whatever's in store for us next".
Her face set into a grimace under her mask as she considered the events: the strange drones and the weapon used on her plane, the mysterious woman who'd spoken to them, and then the unusual attack on the fleet. She considered all of it before she continued, trying to bolster her comrades confidence in the face of the near-disastrous sortie.
"They caught us on the back foot this time. But now we know they've got these weapons to use, and that means we can fight them. We aren't done yet. In fact, we're just getting started. And we drew blood out of them, even in the face of their attack. Next time, we'll send them running, hard, rather than retreating at their leisure".

Over the miles and with the ocean rolling by under the grey-painted wings of the Kfir, Ariella gave a sigh of relief as the Nimue came into view, waiting to receive the squadron. Banking into a holding pattern, she clicked onto the channel again.
"The rest of you head in first. I took the heaviest damage, and I should land last. That way I don't block the runway and you all end up running out of fuel. If it comes to the worst, I can just punch out and go for a swim... I'll see you all back down there shortly.".
She pulled the Kfir into a circular pattern around the submersible carrier, watching over the others as they went in for their own landing runs, willing each aircraft down safely, and avoiding thinking about her own landing and the challenges it would present.

Zola said
Excalibur two, massive swarm to your six! Go evasive, Three's coming in to assist!

Miyoshi immediately jammed the stick hard up and right, engaging her airbrakes and deploying chaff simultaneously. Her radar was on the fritz and Excalibur Three's callout saved her skin as the drones' attack run barely missed the Foxbat, still grazing a wing in the process. "Light damage," she called out simply as she continued through evasive maneuvers.

"Thanks Three, I owe you one," she called out when the Ghost announced it had taken care of the bogeys. Now to return the favor, she thought, jamming the throttle forward and racing to chase the Fencer's pursuers. She quickly got right on their tails, and while she didn't get a clear shot to knock them out of the sky due to their constantly quick maneuvering, she distracted them from the Su-24 with cannon fire long enough for a very oddly nonchalant woman to announce their retirement from the fight over the radio.

After the flight lead announced the situation and attempted a morale boost (which only sort of worked for Miyoshi...I'd rather leave nothing for them to run away with in the first place, she thought), the squadron turned tail for the Nimue and Miyoshi was again enveloped in her own thoughts as the flight flew on in silence. The Ghost of the Straits and its two operators had saved her skin, and she...sort of...had returned the favor, but from what? Who was the mysterious woman over the radio who sounded like she had been watching a children's television show? How did the fleet fare? And so on. As the miles lazily went by her canopy, she didn't accumulate answers to any of her questions, but mercifully the Nimue poked into view and pulled her away from her thoughts.

Now all of her focus needed to be landing on that carrier again. As she had been right on Ariella's wing, she was in prime position to land first when the Kfir banked off to land last, so she called out "Excalibur Two here. I'll land first" and began her approach. Her Foxbat had sustained light damage to the left wing, but it was nothing terribly troubling. That said, this landing was difficult even in an undamaged aircraft. As the submersible aircraft carrier got closer and closer, she was reminded all too well of what little margin for error there was. Taking slow, deep breaths and preventing her knuckles from getting too white, she carefully brought her MiG-25 down, chirping on the runway and catching the second arrestor cable without a hitch. She breathed a sigh of relief once she had come to a stop and was handed over to the taxis and elevator, mentally wishing the rest of her squadron (especially Ariella and her stricken Kfir) safe landings as she was taken down into the hangar. Once parked, she climbed out of her aircraft, gave it her requisite two pats and glance at the Japanese characters on the tail, and stood waiting for her squadron mates to arrive.