ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Qwepir]

With all that sorted out your planes are prepared for takeoff and head out to meet the escort target. Upon arrival, Shortsword and Tourist receive multiple radar locks from ship-based SAMs.
: [Heads up! Deltan planes, incoming- oh. Scrach that, stand down!]

The Mercanans point their weapons someplace else.
: Hello, Mjolnir! Sorry about the inhospitable welcome, we are all a little on edge here. Looks like you have secured a good amount of enemy kit, eh?

[Ad Bot]

[Mr. Hurricane]

"[You owe the old new guy a new set of boxers,]" Jaakko giggles, "[and you may want to apologize again to the flight lead, who knows if it is her time of the month.]"

"But yes, I suppose the nice vehicles are the only benefit of jungle stuff hole airbases,"

[CypherX]

i cant even imagine what thermal is going to look like when we all dump our flares

[Qwepir]

"[You owe the old new guy a new set of boxers,]" Jaakko giggles, "[and you may want to apologize again to the flight lead, who knows if it is her time of the month.]"

: [Yikes, I would not be saying that within earshot of my squad leader. Do not worry, my friend, we will hold a vigil for you at the end of this if it turns out she speaks Mercanan as well.]

There are a few minutes of calm and quiet, eventually broken by the Mercanans spotting an incoming enemy flight.
: Looks like you got here just in time, here they come! Ark preserve us, there are so many of them!
: [Only four escorts? This must be a trap. Keep your eyes open, and- what?]

There is a brief silence as the enemy planes draw closer.
: [This cannot be real. Sir, we are not really going to sit here and attack supply ships while that happens, are we?]
: [We certainly will not. Squadron, on me! We are leaving this place.]

[Mr. Hurricane]

"Gods, are they turning away?"

[CypherX]

"Let them, I'd say. I think I see Coaxoch with them, too."

[Mr. Hurricane]

"The destruction of this supply convoy is far to important for them to pass up, there's no way that they'll just forget off, especially with the Sky Marshal's presence. Do not pursue, do not let them draw you off,"

[blockguy™]

"What the hell?"

[Lockebox]

Roger slumps a little deeper into his pilot seat and gives a sigh of relief.

[Qwepir]

: Mjolnir, you have new orders. Uploading new navigational coordinates, move there ASAP.

A waypoint appears on everyones' HUD, placed in the same direction the Huitzitlaotani planes exited towards.
: Wait, Mjolnir, you cannot just leave all of a sudden! Surely this can wait until we've reached the shore?
: I'm afraid it cannot. The Huits have punched through your fleet and Mjolnir is the nearest allied air unit. We need them over there immediately to engage carrier-based fighters.
: You do not need to deploy the entire squadron, do you? We would be totally defenseless!
: Mjolnir, you tell us. How are you going to play this one?



You may now commence debating what course of action to take, whether to stay and defend the Mercanans against new orders, abandon them to take care of business, or split the squad. Or, find a fourth option. Mission rewards will be affected by the decision made.

Note: for simplicity's sake, the "split the squad" option is essentially a few people dropping out of the mission to remain with the shipping. Any attack will be automatically repelled, and the Mercanans will have something to give as a show of gratitude, but there will be less people taking the fight to the carrier's planes.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"Whiskey and I are the fastest. AWACS, what is the situation of the Mercanan fleet? Is the Sky Marshal engaged there?"

[Qwepir]

: Considering he was just here, I'm going with "No". That may change, however, it looks like he was headed in that direction.

[Lockebox]

"This shipment is supposedly extremely vital to our allies. I don't know about the rest of you but i'm more inclined to stay and see this through. Wars are harder to fight if our allies are hurting more than we are. Is the situation dire?"

[CypherX]

"That heavy gun of yours will be needed. I'll stay behind and keep track of the shipping; if the situation really is bad enough for the Marshal to entirely disengage I doubt I'll run into much trouble." Gus pauses before adding, "And one more thing; make sure you kill that forgeter."

[Lockebox]

No i want to stay as far away from Coaxoch and the Sky Marshall for the love of the gods

"I'm interested in this shipment. Crash might be able to fill in the heavy weapons slot if he's willing."