"Another letter, Major?" Ronny asked me. We're in my quarter, just enjoying any situation we are here in order to keep boredom at bay in this massive floating city.

"Yup." I told him, as I continue to look at my phone where the video letter was delivered. "Want to watch it?"

"Sure!"

"Dear Major Yoel: Give them hell, spare no one! Hope you'll be back for the Centennial! - From Joseph Abraham Hutama."

"He's an old friend of mine back in Makassar. Worked for Komodo Arms. His job means he's exempted from the draft. Funny guy, he is. He's married too and his wife is expecting their first kid. You gonna love him."

"How about your wife?" he asked back.

"She's doing well. Strong woman, she is, you know with his brother..."

"Yeah, Colonel Paulus. Our Ace of Aces. And his lover is the female counterpart. I still cannot comprehend how hard he struggled to be just like us. A loving family must be a very big factor for him to be as strong as now, and it's God's way too."

"I agree."

"Yes, Now, I'll tell you something else, I got a little problem.."

"Hey... Captain Ronny, what is it?" I asked him.

"Has Major Yonathan mentioned his brother?"

"Only a few times to me..."

Ronny replied. "My parents keep up with things at home, casualty lists and like that."

"... but what I know is, his brother is in Egypt with our force there... Killed in El Alamein."

"I doubt he know, Major."

"And so?"

"If I am you I'd tell him." he replied.

"Well, then, I'll go tell him myself." He checked his tablet. "He's about to be here."

"That's what I like to see, Major."

A few minutes later, "Major Yonathan's brother..." I mumbled, just as the said major entered my quarter.

"Sir." Ronny stood up in attention and saluted him.

"At ease, I just want to know everyone's status, and to remind you that we are to gather at the ready room in 5 minutes."

"Sorry about your brother, Jo." I said.

"Thank you, people. the CAG had told me first, but I still can't believe he's gone so soon, with our victory is imminent... My mother won't take it well... By the way. Let's get this over with. We have a job to do."

"Jo?"

"Let's check the briefing room, the rest are there."

"Yes, sir." Ronny replied.

The room is empty but the rest of the Sea Knights are there, seems they are like us, expecting an order to launch.

"Squadron, attention on deck!"

Just another day with Colonel Rahmadi. But it's good for me to finally see action again after two weeks worth of break.

"We just receive this following news."

"First thing, that the joint communique from all components of the Coalition; NATO, PPDU, and VP, have confirmed that we are facing a new threat to our war effort, the dispersed but well organized or Their next moves are currently unknown but expect an increase of "rogue" aircraft with friendly markings, as they're trying to divide us and show themselves to the world."

"The second is from Riyadh."

The screen went to the UCC capital. "The War Minister al-Husayni had managed to break out from his house arrest under the Caliphate's nose. We don't know what his next move is going to be, but we should be ready for a coup attempt or something of that nature. However, that is not our problem now, as the mission today will revolve on this."

The screen switched to Manama, in what used to be Bahrain.

"Our mission is defensive combat air patrol with the main objective is to prevent drone raids on the area, especially the main naval base here." He pointed at the city's main port area, which was known as the headquarters of the United States' Fifth Fleet in the past as well as a British Royal Navy base, HMS Jufair. And before you ask why we got tapped here, well, American and British air assets nearby are heavily committed and in a need of relief. Some of them have been sent off to Iran for maintenance. Drones were taxing their assets into a near-breaking point even the sixth generations, while at the same time we're pushing towards Saudi territory... Every single gain here in this peninsula... is a must-defend-at-all-cost one. And our intel did suggest that a large formation of enemy drones are to be deployed from dispersal bases in what was left from their holding inside Saudi to carve the path for deep strikes into Iran, which means, they want to take out Manama."

I did understand what he emphasized; if Bahrain Island is to fall, UCC aircraft and drones can have an easier time attacking our shipping around the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean as well as a springboard for raids on Iran.

"Our special forces counterpart." He was referring to the Task Force 808 now. "did also gave us an advanced intel that the GRM forces are taking interest with that area as well, so always pay attention to your surroundings."

"We have designated nearby Iranian bases in Bandar Abbas as well as in the UAE, here, if you need to resupply or have to divert for emergency."

"Thank you, sir," we replied.

"Any doubts?"

"No sir!"

"Sam Ratulangi once said that we must make a man be truly a man (1), but always remember, some are too barbaric to be worthy for it, and will never be. Fight them hard, watch each other's back, show the world that we deserve the status of great power! Good luck and God speed!"

And so we rose up from our seat and geared up, even the CO himself, with grunts of renewed eagerness for the mission, but also an increasingly cynical and "I want to go home." mood among us, even with the break.

......

"Sea Knight 101 and 102, you're cleared to launch."

Today I'll to be the wingman of the Colonel himself.

Six planes, while the Trident Squadron served as alert five gained altitude and head for our usual refueling with Cakalang drone tankers.

We're strolling around Manama and its port alongside a flight of four American F-38s taking off from the city's airport with their AWACS and wingman drone companions on tow.

"Sea Knight flight to Sharp Eye, come in Sharp Eye." Legolas was calling the American AWACS orbiting the Persian Gulf.

"This is Sharp Eye, glad for someone to join us. Your AWACS has told us that you're joining us today. Some of our SAM and DEAD systems are down for maintenance and so we requested experienced allies to back us up for a while."

"This is Windhover 1, on behalf of the 332nd Wing, we welcomed you to Bahrain." greeted the lead pilot of the 4-ship formation by the name of Major Robert Funk, US Air Force 22nd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, heir of the famous World War II-era "Tuskegee Airman" assigned to Central Command. Other than the F-38s we're supporting, from the neighboring Al Udeid Air Base in Allied-occupied Qatar, we can count for backup from US 455th Air Expeditionary Wing with its main assets were F-35Ds as well as the recently stationed Indonesian 12th Squadron, led by now Lt. Col Ahmad Suryadharma, one of the aces from the famous 42nd Squadron. Speaking about the 42nd, it's now assigned somewhere in the Western Sector, taking out enemy air defenses in the holy city of Mecca and Medina.

Most of the time, along with American and British ones, UNC air assets assigned to the Bahrain sector are mostly from Australia and France, as well as the Free Arab Legion ones; the latter now mostly seen with F-35As, Hailstorms, or Esprits.

A lot of rumors among us that the reason that we are increasingly committed to defend the Persian Gulf Area in conjunction with our Western allies was that we Indonesians (as well as the Indians with their 1,5 billion population and their equally large, battle-hardened military despite heavy losses suffered during UCC invasion) are less sensitive to casualties compared to Europeans, still recovering from their civil war; Australians, with their inherently small population or Japan and Korea, who have a memory of low birth rate plus a lingering legacy of decades-long division for the latter, which significantly affected recruitment to it's military, and in the lesser extent Americans, the legacy of what commentators called "The Endless War" in the early 21st century and beyond.

"Fight well, Indonesians. We're counting on you as well as our own pilots." said some controllers on the ground of Manama Airport.

"Lanner 1-1 extended his greeting to our allies joining us up today." Another gruffy American male voice made himself and his formation of eight aircraft, part of the 421st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flying F-35Ds from Al Udeid.

Damages from what's certainly air raids were still visible across the city as well as Allied bombardments during it's liberation. While we are told to expect incoming drones, but it seems the enemy has slipped by.

"Be advised, we got low-level targets... multiple UAVs inbound, moving fast!"

"They are here" said one of the American pilots.

"... Target identified as multiple Saegheh and Sofreh Mahi drones, wait, more targets behind... they have manned fighters too in the mix..."

Then my on-board computer's AI flashed a warning "ECM, JAMMING." The integrated electronic warfare module installed on my aircraft immediately kicked in to counter. With our ground-based radar and EW, facilities were also doing their job, I managed to gain a lock on two agile, maneuvering Saeghehs and gun them down.

Somehow, an enemy fighter supporting the attack drones, a JF-20, had fired a heatseeker towards Legolas who was chasing another pair of drones, but he evaded, and the Chukar fell victim to my laser cannons.

I stayed on his side when Legolas called "Fox two" and serviced the drones completely.

"Nice shot, Sea Knight 1-1"

"Datalink setup complete" called AWACS Sharp Eye. "Work together to destroy our enemies."

Our true power lies from being connected to each other; much more as data has become a sort of new currency as the 21st century approached its half-century timeline.

"This is Battery Delta, we're engaging with a swarm of Ababil-7 suicide drones, request support!" reported one of the American AN/SEQ-6 Jupiter mobile laser defense batteries, as the system kicked in after detecting the low flying drones deployed in tandem with the Saeghehs and Sofreh Mahis.

"Let's split up. Those four drones are closer to the firing range. We'll prioritize. I'll engage the front, you'll engage the second (pair)" Legolas contacted me as our radar detected another group of ground-attack drones approaching Manama in formation following the smaller, lower altitude flying Ababils engaged by the DEAD system, while AWACS had already close to screaming in calling our planes to prioritize the bomb trucks.

Bearing 050, the drones scattered as laser cannons went to life. We pushed our plane to the limit as we engaged in yet another turning fight with the drones, using primarily our guns and laser cannon, saving the missiles for later use. Somehow my plane's radio caught on an enemy propaganda broadcast, but I couldn't worry about that. I ignored it and focused on my objective. In the meantime, the second pair of our unit did finally report kill as well.

"Splash one drone..." called a female voice identified as Windhover 1-3.

"Fox two!"

"Bullseye! That's why you don't mess with America, yeah!" said Windhover 1-2.

"More fast moving bandits are showing up on radar, bearing 270. It's another drone formation, intercept ASAP" called Sharp Eye.

"Switch to TLP" I commanded, and the computer automatically switched the active weapon to the longer-ranged laser, and I did it while doing a hard turn towards the third wave of drones, but not before destroying the last two bomb-carrying drones with my PLS.

"Those lying sons of a bitch."

"Sir, what are you talking about?"

"Not the UCC propaganda, My radio captured the GRM broadcast try to flood our frequency with theirs."

"Well, sir, just ignore them. I did tell my assistant to block them out."

"Done, thank you. Focus, Fishnet."

"So am I, sir."

"Evade!" I shouted as outside I saw two escort Sofreh Mahi, optimized for air-to-air engagement, who finally found our position and started to engage us with their lasers. But we didn't let them slip by and Legolas called for backup by the second pair, filled by Captain Ritonga "Pelatuk" and his wingman Captain Satya "Scepter" which in a fluid motion, took down those drones for us with standard missiles while we proceeded towards the Saegheh formation.

"Sea Knight 102, you go after the two Saeghehs. I'll cover you."

This time the remaining Sofreh Mahis paid attention to me as I took down the attack Saeghehs. Once more Legolas joined me in the ensuing dogfight and with the help of two American F-35s, we had the laser drones slashed and exploded in a ball of flames, too.

"Tell the Caliph we say hello."

"Um, sir." Said Lanner 1-4. "Those are unmanned craft."

"Well" replied Lanner 1-3, "Those things have controllers somewhere. Now back to the engagement."

"Sir, yes sir" replied his wingman before the two F-35s broke right to rejoin their unit.

"Sharp Eye," asked Ramadi. "How many drones are there in the next wave?"

"Stand by... be advised, we got an entire squadron of Saeghehs and Sofreh Mahi escorts and manned JF-20 Chukars!"

"Are those bastards really that desperate?" asked Scepter on the net.

"You seem to forget that they were dispersing their drone production well up to the point they still capable to resist..." The Colonel answered.

Have been regrouped, all six of us wasted no time intercepting the new wave of drones, and the heavy escort and intensive maneuvering were enough to cause us, despite our latest generation machine, a heap of trouble targeting them all.

"This is Sea Knight 1" Legolas called on the net. "Requesting immediate allied support over here!"

"Lanner, on the way." said the F-35 leader.

"Windhover lead, engaging, cover your eyes!" From beyond the horizon, the F-38 formation fired two long-range laser shot before closing in following the F-35s.

"Be advised, more allied planes are on their way from Qatar, Iran, and two aircraft carriers." I understand that one of the carriers the American controller mentioned was ours, the second was the American USS Thomas Jefferson.

"Your reinforcements will come soon... wait, I'm picking up multiple bogeys coming from the northwest, bearing 120. They are HA450s! Enemy fighters and they are an elite squadron!"

"Shit!" I exclaimed as the warning about a new enemy squadron was broadcasted over my headset.

"The new enemy is closing fast, but focus on the drones first."

Not long, the first sigh of relief came from several laser shot from F-22Cs taking off from southern Iran, and the alert five squadron of ours, the Tridents.

"Trident to Sea Knights. We're dealing with the drones, you take care of those jokers."

"Understood" Legolas replied, and so we punched afterburner and head for the newcomers with Windhover flight on tow.

.....

"They must know that we still exist and still can fight. Any gains here will raise our spirit in this final moment..." The Squadron commander, Lt. Colonel Ali Tansal Dilazak, callsign "Black Horse" attempted to rally his men. His kill score was 77, mostly against Russian and Chinese aircraft operating in Central Asia, Turkey, and Syria before he was recalled and put in command of the elite Zulfiqar Squadron.

"The Indonesians are bringing their best today with Major Angsana 'Fishnet' is among them. Stay focus, but don't give them any chances. We prevail here, or we die. No retreat unless ordered from above. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Break now, and release your laser payloads."

......

"All enemy drone formation has been destroyed, and now, all aircraft, focus on engaging the elite squadron." ordered Sharp Eye. However, it was the controller's final word as several beams pierced the sky, one of them hit the E-12 straight ahead, sending the fragile airliner to its doom without any survivors.

The ensuing mayhem was quickly used by the new ace squadron to be closer to us. Unfortunately for them, we have backup for this kind of contingency, as our E-23 AWACS, callsign "Halasan" (an Indonesian traditional weapon) from Sriwijaya dispatched as backup for precisely this occurrence, took over their duties.

"This is Halasan from KRI Sriwijaya to all units above Manama sector, I am taking command... Engage and destroy."

I saw on the radar that the Helwans, 24 in number, split into two groups of twelve respectively, the first wave will engage us while the second would act as a reserve or rear guard if necessary. The enemy jets spread into pairs and pick their targets, Indonesians and Americans.

Two Helwans raced straight at me and Legolas, subsequently forced a merge, in which we can see each other visually despite the sunset. The lead aimed at me while the Colonel engaged the wingman. I dove to a lower altitude, the desert floor in order to break the lock-on, plus chaffs for a good measure. In the meantime, Legolas soon reported that he had shot down the wingman.

"Sea Knight 103, Fox three!"

"Lanner 1-2, slash, slash, slash"

The lead Helwan that I engaged in left the area for now.

We used our better turning radius compared to the Helwan for easier close-range lock on or the most optimal degree of our heatseekers launch. One such instance was me chasing a third Helwan that had stumbled to my sight, and just upon I nailed him from his hot tail using my AIM-10, the lead Helwan, recognized by calligraphic markings on its fuselage returned and attempted to slam me with the pulse laser cannon but failed. In the process, the extensive hard turning maneuver cause both me and the Helwan to lose altitude, however he recognized the situation and climbed up, full power. The dance continues and he even managed to fire a couple of cannon rounds.

"Aircraft damaged... structural integrity 81%"

Regardless of the damage, I have to push forward. He seems to entirely focus on taking me down.

"I'm hit... I'm bailing out!!" shouted a Zulfiqar pilot as a missile from one American F-35 fatally damaged its engine.

"Damn you!" roared another UCC pilot, but his attempt of revenge was cut off by Sea Knight 104 firing his laser cannon against him.

"Splash one!"

"Keep it going!" exclaimed Ramadi, who had also splashed two Helwans tried to outflank him, a testament of our training.

"Lanner 1-3 here, shit I'm hit, mayday, mayda..."

I gritted my teeth as the final word of the said American went through. My plane is still combat effective, despite several hits had reduced the integrity to 78 percent. I pushed my bird to its near limit as lasers and missiles were evaded.

"I know he's as good as the Angel of Azrael, but not this good!" said one F-38 pilot, impressed on what he saw.