Three Strikes [✓]

Two Birds, One Stone

Chapter Twenty-Three: Two Birds, One Stone

|...|...|...|

Erusean Air and Space Administration, Erusea.
August 13th, 2019.
1640hrs.

|...|...|...|

The receiver on the old fashioned phone clicked as Mihaly set it back down, ending the call with the Erusean agent he was speaking with. After some subtle prodding around the EASA base, he'd managed to learn the name of an active Erusean agent that was currently working to undermine Osea's next operations. But Mihaly didn't care about what the agent was doing. What he did care about was Osea's most recent attack, and the fact that a pilot with three scratches on his tail and a red wing had shown up leading one of the flights that conducted the operation to destroy Erusea's resupply base in Snider's Top. However, it was an F-15 and not an F-2 that had been there, and the red wing confirmed some connection to the infamous Solo Wing Pixy.

From the photographs that he'd seen that someone managed to snap while retreating the marine base, it looked like this pilot had not only stylized his three strikes, but also gave the red wing a new look. It didn't reach the body of the aircraft, fading to gray halfway up the wing. The flying style was the same as the pilot from Yinshi, aggressive and fast, leaving his target little time to recover from the first blow before moving in for the second. Apparently this pilot also chose to fly through their northernmost platform, destroying it with some new laser weaponry. Mihaly found himself a little jealous of the fancy weapon, actually. It did a hell of a lot of damage in just a few hits.

The general let his mind wander for just a moment, wondering if Dr. Schroeder knew if Gründer Industries was working on any new weapons. It would work much better than the standard special weaponry that Mihaly was stuck using. Being part of the experimental squadron usually meant that they'd get several new toys to try out, be it aircraft or some ridiculously designed weapon. However, that was when there wasn't a war going on. Right now they had the drones as their main project, focusing on improving them with Mihaly's data rather than allowing him to try out anything new. But he was content with that. He got to fly and continue to defend his throne. The King of the Skies accomplished his feats without any aid. Not that it wouldn't be fun to fly with a weapon that had more...kick to it.

Mihaly shook his head, clearing his thoughts so that he could finish scribbling down the name and number of the Erusean double-agent in case he forgot. His codename was Glitnir, and he had told Mihaly that he also had an interest in this pilot. According to him, two of his comrades that were now presumably captured had this pilot under their command, and that they were supposed to continue gathering information about him. Glitnir said that once some things were confirmed and the file they had on this three strikes was updated, he'd send a copy to Mihaly so that he could look it over and learn just who his enemy was. It was only fair. The Osean military almost definitely had intel on him that — with the proper clearance, of course — Three Strikes could probably just look up whenever he wanted.

Not that it bothered him. Putting a face to the enemy was something many people did, and something most people needed. For others it made the 'bad guys' less intimidating. If they had a face, then that told you that they were humans like you, not mindless, faceless monsters. For some, it gave them closure and guilt for their kills. For others, it fueled their hatred and will to fight. For Mihaly, it was all a part of his process. He learned as much as he could about pilots he'd downed. Those that were documented aces, at least. It gave him motivation. It gave him understanding. More importantly, he thought he could honor them better that way. The longer they survived against him, the better.