[b]Over the Mediterranean Sea; approximately 20 miles West of Malta
March 13th 2014[/b]

The last L-59 pilot was brave, and skillful; they weaved the spritely little jet expertly onto the Tomcat's tail, jockeying into position to unleash a burst of gunfire and kill the stricken, much larger bird. 
Mykhailo rocketing up into position with his 20mm blazing drove the light jet off, rounds punching through it's starboard wing and a trail of debris streaming in its' wake as it broke off, darting away from the hunting F-16. 

[quote]"Cobalt 1-1, you doing all right?!" Mykhailo asked Captain Scott and Kat through the radio. "I'm going to lower my altitude in case the enemy has any more surprises - Someone has to protect the convoy! Any news from Recon Team and Flight 2, by the way?"[/quote]

Scott's reply was strained as he wrestled the ASF-14, trying to keep the jet in the air as it slowly died, piece by piece. 
"Hnn- yeah, Brightspark. Just fine over here; KK and I have got this just peachy. Twin engine fighter on one engine; it's no biggie. Half of it being on fire is just an extra bit of excitement, that's all".

As Myk declared his intention to give the convoy a close escort, the AWACS operator chimed in

[quote=@Damo021]
[b]Freyja 'Valkyrie' Svensdotter[/b]

[color=00aeef]“This is cobalt 7 to cobalt 1-1, All enemy vessels accounted for and eliminated, continuing to escort the convoy, over.”[/color] Despite the crews looking like they are celebrating, Valk contained any enthusiasm, it probably sounded like it on the radio too. For her there was not much to celebrate in terms of losses. Sure she was happy they protected the convoy, it is probably cold and calculating, but Valk felt the loss was unacceptable, and more likely the team will end up with replacements to fill their ranks. She then heard the radio chatter.  [color=00aeef]“You guys good up there?” Need any assistance, over?”.[/color]

[/quote]

"Negative, Valkyrie; stay on the convoy! They need cover in case anyone else comes sniffing around. Brightspark, stay on me; I need someone to talk me in and keep an eye on me as I get this bird down - if I can, anyway"
Inside the cockpit, Kat in the rear seat fought to control and compensate for the damage; slapping fire suppression switches to try and extinguish the engine fire. Scott wrestled the jet in the front seat, jockeying the remaining throttle and coaxing as much control as he could from the ailing plane. 
"KK, what have we got to work with, talk to me baby".
"Port engine is dead; it's completely out. Starboard is still alive, but it's screaming. Hydraulics are losing pressure; electrical systems are... borderline. We're pissing fuel, oil and hydraulic fluid but I'm doing the best I can"
"Right, I'm gonna try and get some altitude, and control; try and get us as close to home as possible"
He grimaced as he hauled the stick back, the plane shuddering, straining, and reluctantly taking a nose-high altitude, clawing those extra feet in height for miles in range toward the growing shape of Malta in the sea ahead, before he switched channels. 
"Skywatch; this is Cobalt Lead, declaring an in-flight emergency. We have an aircraft fault and are heavily damaged. Going to try and make the runway at Luqa. But you might want to scramble the rescue chopper, and have emergency teams on standby, because this ain't gonna be a pretty landing, over!" 
There was a heartbeat's pause, before the voice of the AWACS operator came back, strained as she tried to maintain her composure and calmly relay information. 
"Roger, Cobalt lead; emergency services are being scrambled at Luqa international. Showing Cobalt 6 over the convoy, and Cobalt 5 on your position. No word from second flight yet, but they are on course. Cobalt Lead; showing you on good heading and closing from ten miles out. Keep your course and heading steady, over"
"Roger that, Skywatch. Thanks for the assist, going to do my best to bring this bird in, and only get out as a last option, over"
Scott checked the instruments; they flickered and fuzzed, glitches running through the touch-screen displays. He cursed fluently and extravagantly. His arms and legs were starting to ache from fighting the plane. It wanted to pull to the left, the asymmetric thrust from the right engine and drag from the damage to the left side of the plane direly affecting how it flew. 
He flicked his mis-matched eyes between the instruments inside the cockpit and view outside. Malta loomed close, the plane eating up the miles despite hanging on by strings, and the black ribbon of the runway was painfully clear to his eyes, looking almost close enough to touch. 
"We're losing hydraulics, Heartbreak!" Kat cried out from the rear cockpit. Scott grunted a reply and his hands danced across the controls.
"Going to use the last of what we have to try and get the gear and hook down and sweep the wings if we've got anything left. We'll have to rely on the crash prep to stop us". 
"Roger that, do it!" 
Scott hit the gear first and the plane rumbled and whined as the gear dropped into the slipstream. Immediately, the jet lurched and bucked, becoming more draggy. The gear lights refused to lock in the green position, and he grimaced, the controls growing ever-more mushy as the plane dropped lower.
"Fuck. Going to have to chance this. Hold on..."

From outside the plane, at Mykhailo's view, the ailing jet looked like a wounded bird. The wings had stuck half-forward, and the gear dropped three quarters of the way down. It lurched lower, dropping heavily and violently swaying, pulling to the side in the beginning of a slewing left turn, before wrenching part way around just enough to slam heavily onto one of the airport's runways, covered in crash foam. It bounced as it hit on the semi-extended gear, which collapsed as it hit the ground a second time. Skidding on its' belly, the tomcat slewed and span slowly to the left, before Scott shut off all thrust. Debris and sparks flew up in the wake of the jet as it skidded for a hundred meters, before coming to a stop. Immediately, Scott popped the canopy, it flying free as crash trucks doused the rest of the jet with foam, and crews bravely ran to the jet and hauled the pair free, them half-dragged, half-stumbling to safety. 

[b]Over the Convoy; Closing in, under 15 miles West of Malta
March 13th 2014.[/b]  

"Cobalt 6, this is Skywatch. Cobalt Lead is down, Heartbreak and KK are safe. Reading no hostiles in your area. All bandits are down or no factor, no hostile surface targets within the perimeter. Continue your escort to within five miles of the coast and then RTB, good job out there, over"

The E-2 Hawkeye's radar operator told the truth of it; there were no signs of any other hostiles near the convoy, and the ships had escaped unharmed from the incident - even if the same couldn't be said for their escort.