Chapter Text
He had thought that Harling was smarter than that.
Not the whole ‘head to North Point and hold talks in neutral territory’; no, that’s on brand for the kind of intelligence and intellect that many came to know Harling for. The man could convince a starving polar bear to lay down and have a nap and it’d listen and follow his guidance.
But flying there on a transport plane through wartime air defence systems and not broadcasting friendly ident codes? And then using the publicly known call sign for any presidential transport aircraft once they were hit?
Granted, it likely wasn’t his call to make in terms of the means and method of transport; regardless, someone needed their ass kicked.
On the plus side, Nagase has a promising instructor career ahead if spaceflight falls through.
He also wonders how the Yuktobanians knew where to find them, and how they got overland and bypassed the coastal radars. They weren’t flying stealths or low-observable aircraft either. Someone had to be asleep at the wheel tor that to have happened…
… he dares not think about the only other logical explanation. Even with the spy or sleeper agent aboard the transport…
Regardless, he adds it to the list of increasingly important missions that Wardog have found themselves a part of: defending St Hewlett, defending Sand Island twice , escorting the Third Fleet for their regroup, and defending Bassett during the Arkbird resupply mission…
A small part of him wants to know when they’re going to stop defending and start attacking . Give the Yukes the fight they’re so desperately trying to get from them. He knows that Osea has been rather restrained in their responses so far, despite some of their losses. If a counter-offensive were to start, it’d only be a matter of time before Cinigrad fell…
But as much as he wants that… he also doesn’t. Because switching to the offensive would just mean more death and destruction for everyone involved. It means higher risks, and a greater chance of him or one of his squadron not coming home.
Bartlett’s loss still weighs on the team, especially with him being officially declared MIA. And while he wasn’t in charge at the time, he still feels somewhat responsible…
Either way, he has more to worry about. With the recent promotions, he finds himself bearing greater responsibility. Not only is he just the leader of his flight, but now the acting squadron leader… not that the squadron is growing any time soon. It’s still just the four of them plus the ground support crews. After the total losses following the second defence of Sand Island, reserve aircrew numbers are critical and other squadrons aren’t able to transfer pilots to fill gaps.
Even the Air National Guards are spread thin, having been the biggest victim of budget cuts. And all of their pilots are being posted to air defence roles while mainline squadrons prep for a potential offensive.
The OADF’s a mess, but once it gets itself sorted out, it’ll be a force to be reckoned with…