In every age, humans be always doing the fighting - Major James "Jack" Bukhar, from anime Battle Fairy Yukikaze.

Yes. I have to admit this title was inspired by a Socialist Venezuelan slogan "Chavez vive, la lucha sigue" which means "(Hugo) Chavez lives, the struggle continues" in English. But rest assured, this is not an endorsement to the latter Latin American regime.

...

.

It's Heroes Day in Indonesia.

However, for us, it's something different.

We were awaken earlier than usual.

"All units, this is base command, get on your dress uniforms and head to the apron, we have an incoming important announcement from Nusantara."

I just about to go out there and do PT with other officers when the call came.

"What's going on?" As I and three others went out into the room I rendezvoused with Evy talking with Captain Andrea, Lieutenant Nurul, and another captain named Fraulina Lumbangaol, as they went out from one of the female officer's quarters.

"Who knows, Major." answered Nurul. "The NCO and enlisted were also assembled as well. Army units, too."

Murmurs went in until finally all officers and enlisted personnel of the 112th Expeditionary Air Wing stood up according to their units.

"Attention!" Feet stomped, we stood straight ahead, ready to whatever the message said.

"At ease." ordered Air Commodore Prawira, himself a qualified C-133 pilot. He pressed a remote button, and the holographic projector in front of us went to life with the Commander in Chief on camera. On the other hand I can see from his face that he's not quite well, but still manage to maintain his composure as a senior officer.

"To all people of Indonesia.. " PM Latuperissa began his address. "With deep condolences I brought to you this news... At 0400 Western Indonesia Time.. 8th President Basuki Tanudjaja had passed away in his sleep due to complication of multiple sclerosis..."

The base went silent like a tomb, as all airmen and officers listened. Some burst to tears, me not included.

However, as my extended family idolized him sometimes to the point of fanaticism, I already imagine that they will bawl in tears.

"...He's battling with multiple sclerosis as the result of his assassination attempt in 2033 which began the Civil War. For all of his life he fought for interests and goals of our noble country, which is to be a country inclusive for all people regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, and other communities. President Tanudjaja was a great man of courage, honor, and integrity, with even prison was unable to confine his spirit. His example had increased our people's sense of belonging as a nation, and as a country, and he moved our country and our fight for a developed society into the world history, proving that way to be our most important personality since our founding fathers... Thus forever shall his life be remembered for all time in the history of the people and nationalities of Indonesia, either born here or abroad, and in the history of the development of all Asia and the human race as a whole... Tanudjaja lives, the battle for a great Indonesia shall continue, and woe to her enemies!"

Two airmen in dress uniform then marched into the place when the Commodore stood, bringing a photograph of the former president in a ceremonial procession, while two other airmen carried the wing's standard and the Red and White, before putting it in the both left and right side of the podium.

"Detail.. Attention!"

A seven-man firing party was then assembled near one of the maintenance hangars of the base.

"To the former president Basuki... present.. arms!"

Bang, bang, bang! The 21 gun volley.

The music corps stood ready and as trumpets went to life and drums beating in the inscript of "Il Silenzio" I catch a glimpse of a four ship formation of Cakalang multirole drones flew above us and into the barracks area near the airport housing the neighboring Army units, forming a missing man formation.

"Order.. arms!"

...

"Hey, Major. Do you know that SETARA Institute (1) is going to make his life into a documentary?" asked the sullen-faced Andik, sat besides me, as the television at the officer's lounge continue to broadcast updates about the former president's death and funeral, a state one that is scheduled a week later. Furthermore the government had instituted a week of mourning nationwide.

"I see. By the way how did you know?"

"Their Facebook status, Major."

I keep eye on Maulana as we are having our breakfast after the memorial ceremony, because I know him too well as the few who strongly dislike the former president into the point of hostility. I also found that he has considerable bags in his eyes. He said to me that he's having a difficulty to sleep.

On the other hand our squadron commanders had forwarded the Commander in Chief's another message which exhorted the Armed Forces that our missions must go on. We can mourn him more after the war. We got sorties to be done!

"Ladies and Gentlemen" said the aide of Air Commodore Prawira, Chief Warrant Officer Fauzan Gumelar, two hours after the announcement. "Air Commodore Prawira is in a need of rest due to cold, but I have his order for the 11th Squadron..

"..We've got a whole brigade of Indian troops being cut off by both UCC regular mechanized forces and it's associated militias in the city of Al-Hillah, south of Baghdad. Those troops are isolated with no means of retreat and on the verge of total annihilation."

"With Karbala-Hillah and Hillah-Kush highway been controlled by the UCC, they were positioned a full 360 degrees around the troops, with intense attacks pounding away at our line of defense. If we could somehow manage to join up with our besieged forces there, we could considerably strengthen their position. Furthermore, they want to destroy the nearby ruin of the ancient city of Babylon.. so we need to be quick. Don't want a piece of history to be lost here, people. after so long."

"This is where you come in. We need you to free up our surrounded unit and the city, and eliminate all Caliphate forces through the area. Major Hutapea, would you like to add anything before concluding this briefing?"

"The main focus should be securing the ruins, and then destroy the enemy along the highway and the surrounding area in coordination with any Allied squadron that will be in the AO."

"Excellent proposition, Major Hutapea. And speaking of allied squadron, yes, there are multiple units. There are the 107th Squadron of the Irish Expeditionary Air Force under RAF command attacking from the northwest along with No. 106 Squadron IAF. From the south west, the Hellenic 338th Squadron "Ares", VMFA-121 "Black Knights" from the US Marine Corps, and another Indian squadron, the No. 32 Squadron, and it's just the land-based units, ladies and gentlemen. From the carriers, KRI Majapahit, INS Viraat, and USS Thomas Jefferson (CVN-87), which had relieved the Bush, are in range and available for both air-to-air and air-to-ground role. Expect their presence at all times. There will be four AWACS in this operation with Gandiwa order will be the highest priority for you to follow. The other have these following callsign; Tinkerer, from NATO; Hammerhead, from the RAF; and finally Archer, from the IAF. Anything else?"

"Payload?"

"Alright. We have strike aircraft in the area, but to augment their effort.. one from the each flight will be equipped with RBK-500s. A flight of unmanned Su-30 will also carry the similar payload to add to the mix, that you could control while you engaging air target, especially drones."

"Any more question?" asked the WO.

"No sir!"

"Good. Every minute counts in this operation. So get out there and get things done. Pacifists can deal with the rubbles later, Merdeka!"

"Merdeka!"

...

We refueled above the Coalition-controlled Zagros Mountains near the Iran-Iraq border before heading straight into Al-Hillah.

"All planes listen up." AWACS Gandiwa commanded. "The Coalition forces are completely surrounded over a wide area. We've got four sectors of operation to concentrate on. Use your radar to check enemy positions, and destroy every enemies in all sector. Priority sector is the Babylonian ruin. After you done with it, support our allies and coordinate with NATO, British, and Indian AWACS in the AO."

"This is Thunder 1-1, we are heading to Babylon now, over." I hollered.

"Confirmed, Thunder 1, Do what you have to do."

"Roger"

I and my wingman for today, Maulana, as well as my element leader Captain Gunarto and his wingman Lieutenant Hidayah, were all flying high above the rest, at 45000 feet. We wanted to fly straight to the thick of the action and get started as soon as possible. It's a good thing we're flying straight to them. Judging by the looks of things, we don't have a second to spare.

I heard an intercepted UCC radio transmission as soon as we entered the mission area. "Enemy forces approaching. Get ready to intercept."

"Menhir leader here. We are holding the ruins but are taking heavy fire! We've lost contact with two of our platoons in sector A-5!"

"...1/9 Horse, can you get there? Sector D-2 needs help.." I wasn't sure who that was.

"Can everyone call out the name of their unit when transmitting? This is Thunder 1 Wise, Indonesian Air Force. For sake of clearance, we request you mention your unit identifications so we know who needs what and where."

"Roger. This is the leader of Menhir, from the 8 Grenadiers, Indian Army. Requesting support on the ruins, immediately!"

I caught another UCC radio transmission. "Waleed 2-1 to all planes. Destroy all incoming enemy reinforcements."

"Waleed 2-2, roger. Those Sukhois will be our priority."

"So Rizieq, or at least his subordinates are here, too, huh?" I said. "This should be fun."

"All Allied aircraft in the area, initiate close-range air support." Gandiwa ordered. "Get out there and hit what you can!"

"Thunder 1 to Thunders.. spread out to your flight, and support our allies that need our help."

"Gandiwa to Thunder, you have access to UCAV in this mission, use it as you see fit in supporting the ground troops" radioed the AWACS.

"Roger. I see them now, connecting our datalinks to them."

"Su-65s, and the pentagon insignia... These are Indonesians, brothers and sisters!" Some random Indian soldier defending the ancient ruin exclaimed.

"Praise the gods! Our allies are here! Inform all units our reinforcements have arrived!"

I wish they'd call out their unit names like I asked.

"Let's get it, Wise." said Maulana. "So we can get out of this shithole faster."

"Menhir to Thunder, help us out if you can. We're completely surrounded by enemy armor and infantry!"

"This is Thunder 1-3, callsign Osprey. Help is in route, Menhir."

"Wise to Thunder 1 flight, I will be the first to drop the bombs while you, Pustaka, tend the drones and designate target for them. 1-3 and 1-4 will get aircraft off our back as we conduct our attack run."

"Osprey to Lead, leave it to us!"

"Wilco, Insha Allah Lead, you'll be okay."

"Release point reached, release.. release.." said the AI voice command inside the cockpit, soon I dived for a while before finally let go of the two bombs. It split into several IR-guided submunitions which were on route to the targets surrounding Menhir, as well as some other targets nearby.

"Menhir, cover your ears!" I hollered as my bombs are doing the job.

"Pickle, pickle" Maulana called as the Flanker drones he ordered had also ejected their payload.

There was a chain of explosion on armored vehicles surrounding the ruin.

"Thunder 1-3, fox two"

"Thunder 1-4, slash, slash, slash"

Those two are definitely taking down a few air targets. The ground pounder's life will be much more easier.

Not even five seconds after my RBK hit it's intended targets, I saw another barrage of small explosions on the other side of the ruin, which means Maulana had taken action as well.

"This is Menhir, the path is clear, Pebble, you're clear to head to the ruin and reinforce it's position. Take out all enemy forces on your way. We have helicopter support approaching as we speak, but they can't stay long due to the threat of drones!"

I climbed slightly and saw a Caliphate F-16, trying to get a bearing on itself. Vulnerable to my shot, and without wasting time I fired just a single R-75, that initially evaded, but the poor pilot failed to maneuver sufficiently and the missile reacquired his plane and destroyed it before he can react.

"Shamrock 1-2, missile away." Northwest of my relative position I saw a pair of Irish Air Force JAS-41 Drakkars firing their Brimstone 4s at the remaining enemy armor, followed by two US Valkyrie drones firing rocket pods at the infantry below.

"This is Pebble lead, 2/41 Armoured, thank you for the assistance. We're moving forward into the ruin to support Menhir. We take over from here, over."

"Understood" said Menhir leader just as I caught four Sofreh Mahi drones on my sight. I know that they might heading towards the oncoming formation of Indian helicopters, so I and Maulana, out of air to ground ordnance, fired two R-75S burst missile into the drone's formation. It detonated, destroyed one and damaged the rest. From the east of our position a second pair of Irish Drakkars detected the limping drones and picking it one by one.

"Allied aircraft, Pebble reported that we are reaching their destination. Thanks for your support."

"This should be easy for you guys. Ain't that right, Wise?" Evy chimed in. "The ruin is clear, and the Hillah-Kush highway section had also been cleared. Evacuation of the wounded can now be executed."

"The ruins and the Hillah-Kush highway has been cleared from enemy resistance." Gandiwa confirmed. "Well done everyone. That's two operations done in less than three minutes."

"This is Shamrock lead, so that's how the Indonesians are fighting. Impressive, I say" said the Irish leader. "Let's keep assisting each other, shall we?"

As I looked at four Indian No. 106 Squadron Marut-IIs passed through our position from the north and fired their AGMs, I called back the Irish officer.

"You're welcome. Shamrock 1."

"Count us in. We've got a new reason to make it home alive."

"Careful, Clover, you still have a lot of fighting here. Their drones are still annoying." Shamrock 1 said.

"This is Pillar, 10 Grenadiers. Can you read me? Requesting support."

"Requesting your location's transmission by datalink, over. Be advised, we ran out of air to ground ordnance but we can cover the strikers for you and communicate with them." I replied as we turned towards the west of the city.

"Wilco"

"1-2, what's the nearest strike squadron?"

"Ares Squadron, the Greeks."

"Understood" I put in the said frequency for the Dassault Esprit equipped-HAF squadron together with their callsign, Enyalios. "Contacting them now."

"Enyalios, this is Thunder. do you copy, over?"

"Good day for you, this is Enyalios lead.. we see you, what's in store for us?"

I call them to connect their datalink to us, then Osprey sent them the exact location of the 10 Grenadiers.

"Confirmed, we head there, and be advised, our AWACS had reported that it detected enemy radar vehicles which seems to be providing ESM."

"We cover you, while you take out those ground targets." I said.

"Affirmative, Thunder, starting the attack run."

"Can any air unit reads me?! Enemy ground forces are closing in! This is Pillar, requesting air support!"

"Enyalios to Pillar, confirmed, commencing attack.." reported the Greek leader, Squadron Leader Antonios Florakis.

"Thunder, this is AWACS Tinkerer, we have an active search radar detected.. identified as TC-2 AWACS, and multiple bandits, eight HA450s are approaching from the south directly to Enyalios.. Angels 15, 220 klicks, take them out immediately! Those bastards had our IFF but we already know their tricks.. "

"AWACS Gandiwa confirmed to Tinkerer, we detected two Il-476 on radar. Tankers. Follow Tinkerer's order to get those Helwans off Enyalios flight."

"Roger that, Gandiwa."

That means, the UCCAF are competent enough to emphasize payload and use their tankers in a relative safety of Saudi airspace before heading into Iraq, and use their IFF spoofing techniques.

"Thunder 1, Thunder 2 reporting that we are heading to your position to take out the Helwans." called it's leader, Maj. Edward.

"Good work Thunder 2" I then switched the channel to my flight members. "Engage IRST"

"IRST activated" my AI notified.

Pretty soon we got the first lock behind the unsuspecting Helwans, at their 7 o'clock and fired a barrage of K-77 each. A few disappeared from radar, but the others, alerted to our presence, decided to deal with us, forgetting about the Greeks and proceed to swarm us, as they are not alone due to their Saegheh companions.

"Tinkerer, be advised, a US Navy squadron reported they had splashed the enemy AWACS.. it should blind them."

I can see their maneuver is getting more and more unorganized with their rear exposed by their hard charging tactics. We then take turns, each element, to be bait then another pair will take down the Helwans and drones in the process.

"1-3, fox two... Splash one"

More and more orange, yellow, and red flashes reflecting my flight's rearview mirrors as the Helwans and Saegheh drones exploded.

"Goldwing to Wise. You're clear."

"Terimakasih." I replied.

"This is Enyalios, thank you for keeping us safe, we're now Winchester, returning to base. The western sector of the city has been relieved.. Pillar will call you shortly."

"Pillar to Thunder. Thanks for the air cover..."

"You're welcome" I told the Indian.

The Coalition lost a number of planes, but most of the time the hodge-podge of manned, mostly 4.5th generation and combat drones of the UCC were being taken down by the former whose manned planes were mostly fifth generation.

"Breaking!" I accelerated as an obsolete Stinger MANPADS passed below my plane without exploding. Even while I outranged the missile, rather safe than sorry.

"Enemy J-20s inbound!" shouted one of the IF-33D pilots. Even with their drone companions and Navy escorts, the newly arrived Indonesian strike fighters were taking losses by mobile AA guns, SAM and a few tank-mounted laser as they attacking the enemy formation and interdict supplies from Saudi Arabia, while we also got reports of Kuwait's main air base, Ali al Salem, is once again raided, by Japanese and Korean planes.