Fort Spearhead boasted quite the arsenal of aerial weapons. In total the military facility hosted about 500 aircraft, with 200 of them being the powerful air superiority fighter known was the Pale Rider.

In this battle the general sent all 200 pale riders he had at his disposal to completely wipe out the aerial “threat” that was at hand. He firmly believed that the most crucial advantage is the high ground which is the sky itself in modern warfare.

Admittedly the desire to completely crush the enemy air force was a sentiment all the pilots shared. This of course included the “Ace” pilot John Walters. He had been itching to pit his skills against the creatures of Nelithea, and even though he got some action against the Manticores, he still wanted more.

Finally, a battle! John thought to himself as he and his fellow pilots soared above the clouds.

“Listen up pilots!” A voice in the comms called for their attention.

“You’re mission is to destroy the enemy’s aerial capabilities and to help decimate their ground forces!” The voice continued.

Well, at least we have more things to do once we run out of things to shoot. John thought to himself smiling pretty smugly.

“The total number of bogeys is confirmed to be 500 and as was shown in the briefing, they are fairly large birdlike creatures with four wings. We don’t know their full capabilities so we advice all of you exercise caution.” The voiced commanded, then paused a little bit.

“That being said, the general also added that the pilot who shoots down the most number of flyers will be given triple their paycheck his month, and if all of you come back alive, you will all receive bonus pay!” The voice declared.

The pilots were now overly motivated in their mission. John however didn’t care about the reward, all he cared about was testing his skills.

After their orders were given, the comms then exploded with activity as the pilots all cheered and talked about their mission, some of them confident that they will take on the prize; something that John couldn’t help but laugh at.

John then decided to join the chatter.

“Ahem this is call sign Death speaking.” John said into the comms.

The moment he talked everyone went silent.

“I’m speaking now just to apologize to some of you in advance.” John continued.

“Apologize?” The pilots replied in confusion.

“Well, you see not only will you all fail at getting the prize, some of you might not even get to shoot down any of them. That is all, happy hunting!” John said in a fake cheerful tone.

The comms then erupted with anger.

“OH YEAH, WILL SEE ABOUT THAT.”

“COCKY BASTARD, THE ACADEMY AND THE REAL WORLD ARE DIFFERENT THINGS!”

“YOU’RE GOING TO EAT YOUR WORDS, YOU PRICK!”

These were some of the replies he received.

“Was that really necessary?” A familiar voice spoke to him, it was Norman.

“Of course it was!” John immediately replied

A few moments later the bogeys then registered on their radars. They started to descend down to the enemy’s position, and once they were in range, they released their payload.

“Fox two!” All the pilots said in unison as their missiles flew towards the unknowing enemies.

The sky was then lit up by fierce explosions and when the smoked cleared, the only things left were the barely recognizable corpses of the enemy hurtling back to the ground.

In this pre-emptive strike they were able to eliminate 200 of the enemy air force, one kill per pilot. They didn’t know whether to be happy or sad at their overwhelming might, but they once again gained more appreciation for the terrifying monster they rode into battle.

Now they have to fight over the remaining 300 flyers.

John then increased his speed and came flying past everyone else. He was greeted by the enemy’s counter attack. The flying beasts flapped their wing and spear like projectiles came flying from them. Sadly, like the attack of the Manitcores, their attempt at a counter strike was severely ineffective.

John easily breezed through their attacks and unloaded his mounted machine guns at beasts.

In one passing John was able to destroy 5 flyers and was now set on his next target. He then positioned himself above it when suddenly it was hit by a missile.

“Oops! I’m sorry.” A sly voice came from his comms. It was Norman again.

“BASTARD DON’T STEAL MY KILLS!” John replied half annoyed, half amused.

The sky then erupted in a cataclysmic one sided battle that far surpassed even the great turkey shoot of the Pacific war.

The demonic “birds” were completely out of their league. They were outclassed in fire power, intelligence, speed, and maneuverability. Even their numbers advantage meant nothing to the overwhelming might of the Pale Rider.

The battle was raging for about 10-15 minutes now and yet it felt even shorter for the John. He scrambled left and right trying to kill as many flyers as he can. As of this moment he has managed to kill 30 birds and was still hungry for more.

It wasn’t the skill test that he was hoping for but it was still exciting nonetheless. This was his first taste of the battlefield and it was very riveting. It also helped that they were fighting unknown monsters from another world hence the moral dilemmas that of the came with warfare were completely irrelevant.

You could say that humanity’s inner beast was unleashed.

As the sky began to clear, it was evident that only the metallic birds of prey remained triumphantly soaring its heights. The pilots then started to boast about their kill count.

“HAHA I GOT 8!” One pilot chimed in.

“Weakling, I got 10!” Another one declared.

“Well I shot down 20 bogeys.” Norman said in a defeated tone, because he knew that John had a way larger kill count.

“What about you, “Death”?” Norman said teasingly.

“44. I got 44 kills.” John proudly declared over the comms.

"Hey atleast you all get bonus pay this month. Good job everyone!" John added with a hint of sarcasm.

The rest of the pilots went silent, but then started yelling profanities over the comms after a little while. It was a mixture of respect and jealously directed toward the legendary young “ace”.

As the skies became peaceful, the land below was then engulfed in a violent inferno.

Humanity has brought the “demons” to hell.