Chapter One - part nine

   Sarah could keep her safe for only a little longer, before she would have to refuel. They had scrambled cover jets and they should be there in minutes, but no amount of jets could save the plane or Major Hawks from a ground attack that was determined. She could take the jet out, but that would still leave Major Hawks helpless. The real problem was that she was down in sight of the Iraqi border. She was in Turkey, but she was in a section where control was very questionable. It was only a few minutes before it became obvious that this wasn't over. Two different military forces were rushing towards her landing spot. The closest one appeared to be a small NATO patrol, but the other larger force couldn't be identified. It was a race to see who would get there and who they actually were. The NATO force refused to break radio silence. They could be captured vehicles being used by the very rebels that had shot down the jet.

   Relief surged when the NATO vehicles came into sight of the jet and an American voice came over the radio. "This is Corporal Matthews with the U.S. 3rd Army, assigned to NATO. We have you in sight 'Lady Hawk' and are moving to secure your location." They barely had a chance to pull up around her jet when the first rocket hit one of their vehicles. The larger force still wasn't there, but apparently some rebels were on the ground in the immediate area. Sarah reacted with a quick burst from her pulse cannons, but she had no way to verify any of that burst had hit anything other than the ground. That single rocket had put everyone into the ditches and under cover. Sarah soon had bigger problems though. Five more jets had just crossed into Turkey from Iran and were rushing towards her position. They wasted no time at all making their intentions known.

   "This is the Iranian Air Force, Major Nadal speaking. You are to leave the area at once or you will be considered hostile. You forces have provoked and fired upon our planes causing damage to several. We are here to prevent you from removing a pilot who has landed in our territory and who will be taken into custody by our forces which are about to arrive. Withdraw your aircraft or you will be fired upon." Sarah radioed in on a secure channel for orders regarding the demand from Major Nadal. After just a moment she was ordered to withdraw and let the NATO forces secure the situation. They all heard the orders given to Corporal Matthews to secure the plane and Major Hawks until relief arrived. They also knew that might be impossible without air support. That was coming, but could it get there in time?

   Before they had a chance to find out more orders were given. Those jets were to break off and return to Saudi air space immediately. The Iranians were threatening to declare war against Saudi Arabia if they didn't make the U.S. withdraw. That was when Lt. Colonel Wilson sent a secure text to James. It was two very direct texts. "We have a pilot down. Ironman, let's take a run over and see if we can be of assistance." He told the F-35's to go on back before heading towards the new situation with James on his wing. He didn't ask for permission or wait for orders. James was glad that he didn't, because they both knew this would be over before that happened. In fact they were almost back across Turkey and approaching the problem area before anyone figured out they had broken off from the F-35's. That brought an immediate response when they did figure it out.

   "Sam the Man, you are not cleared for your current course. Return to base and await further orders." Lt. Colonel Wilson didn't reply. Any broadcast, even on a secure channel would make it easier to locate them.  He intended to get in close and if possible discourage the Iranians. The next radio message was a little less direct. "Sam the Man, you have a go for support only, no offensive actions authorized. Ironman, you are to stay on his wing, but don't engage unless engaged first." At least they had now been authorized to go. It could get real sticky if the Iranians decided to press things though. They were still out a good distance when it hit the fan. The ground forces moving in were a combination of Iranian troops and rebels from Turkey. They were heavily armed and wasted no time demanding the surrender of Major Hawks and the plane to them. Corporal Matthews refused and the result was an immediate fire fight. He was out manned and out gunned, so it wasn't going to last very long without help. They were forced to withdraw further from the plane to have any real chance of holding off the assault.

   They had managed to locate a position that allowed them to hold the plane, but not be out in the open with it. Major Hawks was beginning to think she should have intentionally crashed it when help arrived. A single pass over the area made the Iranians on the ground back off, but that didn't last. The Iranians jets had arrived. They immediately moved to engage Lt. Colonel Wilson and James. The next ten minutes were an all out fight for survival. Those hidden missile launchers opened up and everything went nuts again, both in the air and on the ground. The ground forces made a mad rush to overrun the NATO position, in an attempt at capturing them as well as the plane. That was when Lt. Colonel Wilson broke off his air combat and hit the ground force as hard as he could, but he had nothing left to use other than the pulse cannons and lasers. That left James high above with three of the five Iranians still involved. Two had been damaged and forced to run. He could handle those three for a while, but the missiles were another matter.

   Four missiles fired at him, forcing James to break and run or be destroyed. That left his wing man open to attack, but there had been no choice for either of them. The Iranians wasted no time and suddenly James was alone. The Iranians had severely damaged Lt. Colonel Wilson's jet. He had been forced to eject as it came apart. Things were getting very bad very fast. Two of America's top secret new jets had been taken down and one was about to be captured almost intact. James managed to evade the missiles and quickly returned to the fight. He no longer bothered with orders. They had been ordered to damage any aircraft that did engage with them, but not to destroy any of those aircraft if at all possible. That wasn't possible now. James engaged and proceeded to take out two of the three planes in short order. Lasers could be targeted close enough to just damage a plane without destroying it if you had time for that. The pulse cannons were a whole different matter. James literally blew two of the jets to pieces with sustained burst from both pulse cannons.

   The one remaining Iranian jet was quick to break off and run. That left the ground forces along with that hidden missile launcher. The missiles were short range ground to air, but how many did they have left? James found out on his first pass against the ground units. They loosed two more missiles at close range. James barely had time to react, but react he did. He took his jet straight at the ground. He was aimed directly at the Iranians and rebels who were about to overrun the NATO position and seize the downed jet. He cut it as close as he possibly could, closer than he should have. His undercarriage literally slammed across the heaviest armored vehicle they were using for cover as they advanced. The missiles that were about to hit James hit it instead, that broke the attack. James was still fighting to regain control of a badly damaged plane when he saw that he wouldn't be alone for long. Five more jets were coming in, this time from Iraq.

   James climbed hard and tried to engage them as quickly as possible. He was losing fuel. He had lost one cannon and one laser too. He still had both engines though and he had them wide open. Apparently the Iraqi pilots hadn't expected a single, damaged fighter jet to face them head on. Two of them went down before they could react. One laser and one pulse cannon firing at full power still packed a huge wallop. That still left three jets that were undamaged and far more maneuverable than his damaged jet. They were on him in a matter of seconds. James surprised them when he took one more out directly behind him with another sustained burst. That was the best thing about the pulse cannons and lasers. They were mounted in swivel mounts that gave almost 360 degrees of firing capabilities. He had lost the ones on the bottom when his plane had hit the vehicle, but his top mounts worked fine. The last two jets were locked on him and about to fire when they got a real shock. James wasn't completely alone. Sarah had returned to the fight. She took both jets out before they even knew she was around.

   That was the end of the fighting. The ground forces had been all but wiped out when those missiles hit the armored vehicle and the ammo inside had exploded. The Iranians had lost two jets, had two more severely damaged and one had simply run. The Iraqi loss was even worse. They had seen five of the best jets they had available; a group of five F-22's shot down in just minutes. But while the fighting was over the problems were just beginning. James was losing fuel and flying a plane that had no landing gear available. Sarah was now on his wing, but was flying on fumes. She was also there against direct orders. It was a bad situation, but it was about to get a lot worse. James made a quick decision. He swung back around and prepared for a crash landing close to where Major Hawks had landed. Sarah was no better off. She was all but out of fuel and there was no safe place she could go to land that was close enough for her to make it. She watched James put his plane down and then she followed Major Hawk's path and set her jet down on the same road. They were all down, but they were far from safe.