Aurélie toggled the detachment push on her radio. "Good work, Cobalt 2. I confirm seven repeat seven helos and multiple triple alpha. I'm picking up search radar but no targeting. Could just mean they're smarter than we think and they're not switching on until they have a decent shot. With how they just performed I am not betting against it."

Her voice was terse, with much less of her usual singing accent in it. The enemy had taken out two of their squadron in the first set of contacts. This would not be easy, and it would get even harder with the loss of capability. 

Aurélie's mind raced through the permutations. Cobalt was down, effectively, two strike and one air superiority fighters. Dealing with the bases was going to be a pain. They would need to make multiple sorties, peel back the defences gradually, against an enemy that was quite capable of taking a toll on them. It would hinge not only on pilot skill, but the ability of Shattered Steel's maintainers and logisticians, to keep up their sortie levels enough to get the job done. 

It wasn't a bet Aurélie was entirely comfortable making, but it was the only game in the house. Sometimes you just had to accept the odds and deal with it the best you could. Or, as the Ami liked to say, "suck it up".

"All right, Cobalt 2, I'm calling part 1 done. Let's get over to Lampedusa. You fly top cover this time, and I'll do the close pass."

[@Smike]