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Red Demon A: Man, it's quiet out here today...
Dapper: I heard that Warpath's been working with the big man to coordinate a massive strike, they're probably just planning's all.
Tux: Massive strike? I was told it was a full-blown invasion...
Dapper: Well, we don't have Invaders yet, so no.
Red Demon A: What about those silly Amphibian things?
Dapper: There's a reason we haven't deployed more than one of them...

As the three continue their minor quarelling, an aircraft approaches them... they don't notice anything strange until their comms start breaking up...

Red Demon A: OK, I'm telling you right now, BTS is NOT better than the Saja Boys, Tux.
Tux: ......
Red Demon A: What, got nothing to say?
<D4R>: Who the everlovingtruck are the Saja Boys?
Red Demon A: WHA- ... wait. You're not Tux. Who are you?
<D4R>: The guy you've been testing the railgun for.
Red Demon A: Scourge??
<D4R>: Not quite. But close enough.
Red Demon A: A Prophet?
<D4R>: OK now we're getting off track.
Red Demon A: Well then stop being obscure and just say it out flat!
<D4R>: I am something. Something so powerful that Scourge was too afraid to keep me at homebase. That's why I'm here... as an experimental.
Red Demon A: Man. Sucks for you buddy-
<D4R>: Actually, I was looking forward to this. To test my skill against actual fighters.
Red Demon A: Oh please. You look like an X-02S Strike Wyvern from Soviet Walmart. What good are you going to do to me?

A few minutes later...

Red Demon A: SOMEBODY GET THIS THING AWAY FROM ME!!
<D4R>: I have never been less amused in my life. I thought you were supposed to be "our closest thing to a superplane?"
Red Demon A: Yeah, the closest thing, not some unholy spawn of the Ace Combat rituals!
<D4R>: Wait, that's how I was born?

D4R is cut off by Tux
Tux: PREPARE FOR TROUBLE...
Dapper: ...
Tux: Oh, come on.
<D4R>: He can't hear you. Your comms are jammed. In fact, nobody in the Krakabloa area can communicate by radio at this moment.
Tux: Why can you do that, exactly?
<D4R>: You expect me to know that?
Tux: I expect you to be a half-decent fighter!

Dapper: I have no idea what's going on right now, but as usual, I shall strike with precision and class!
<D4R>: You all disappoint me to a painful degree.
Dapper & Tux, sharing a braincell: We haven't even fought yet!
<D4R>: And I wish not to. I want something that will challenge me. Or at least entertain me.
Tux: Like those MDA aircraft suspiciously scrambling right now?
A squad of several MDA aircraft launch from Yeager, most notably A-49Bs, F-33A-50s, and LF-5s
<D4R>: Good spot... weak still, though. At least I get some free kills, I guess.
F-33 Silver 1: Hey! Who are you calling a free kill?!
<D4R>: Your mother.
F-33 Silver 1: Wait what?

D4R opens fire with actual weapons this time, severly damaging the left side of Silver 1's Falchion
F-33 Silver 4: You've got a hole in your left wing!!
F-33 Silver 1: No, no I don't actually! In fact, it seems to be more of a burn? Laser weaponry... oh no-
Silver 1 explodes due to heat
F-33 Silver 2: SILVER 1!
<D4R>: Breakfast was harder to swallow than this...
F-33 Silver 3: You can eat breakfast?!
F-33 Silver 2: I didn't get to eat breakfast this morning.
F-33 Silver 4: Nobdoy asked, Silver 2-
Silver 4 gets struck by D4R's twin lasers and immediately explodes as well
F-33 Silver 2: ...not gonna lie, he kinda deserved it.
F-33 Silver 3: Come on, we need to fo-
Silver 3 is lasered as well, while flying directly beside Silver 2
F-33 Silver 2: AHG!
<D4R>: You really oughta go home. I'd hate for yesterday's breakfast to be today's last.
F-33 Silver 2: Why was that actually kinda poetic
<D4R>: Destroying the body leaves a clear view of the soul, child.
D4R proceeds to shoot of Silver 2's wing, but he thankfully has time to eject

Meanwhile...
A-94 Stonewall 6: Guys, that thing just wiped out all the Falchions before we could even climb to 5,000.
A-94 Stonewall 3: We are so cooked.
A-94 Stonewall 1: Everybody, stay calm. Nobody is going to die-

Stonewall 1 immediately dies

Stonewall 3: I WANNA GO HOME
Stonewall 4: Why did they think it was a good idea to send attackers against a superfighter?!
<D4R>: Can you guys stop ya-
Stonewall 5: WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!
Stonewall 2: C-O-O-K-E-D, that spells COOKED, if you're too COOKED to see!
Stonewall 6: I didn't even get to propose to my girlfriend yet. I got flowers and everything-
<D4R>: SHUT UP PJ

D4R forgets who he was aiming at and destroys Stonewall 5

<D4R>: Wait, wrong target. Let me try again-

D4R fires at a low-flying A-94, it's Stonewall 4.

<D4R>: Dangit. Somebody needs to fix my identifier.

D4R comes under fire from a different angle. It's the LF-5s! Salvation!

LF-5 Dirks 8: Get out of here, let us do the combat.
A-94 Stonewall 6: Looks like I survived this mission after all!
A-94 Stonewall 2: DON'T JINX IT.
LF-5 Dirks 7: Now, let's see what this hunk of bolts is really made of.
LF-5 Dirks 6: I bet $200 that he dies in one minute.
LF-5 Dirks 7: Make it $350 and you've got yourself a deal-

Dirks 7 is shot down whilst yapping
<D4R>: $350. Better pay it up next time we meet, Dirks 6.
Dirks 6: Wha- hey! We won't be meeting again, ya foolish, blabbering-
<D4R>: So be it.
Dirks 6 is also obliterated
Dirks 8: ...should uh... should we do something, Dirks 5?
Dirks 5: Yeah, let's BOOK IT
Dirks 8: We can't just abandon Yeager, sir-
Dirks 5: I'm not fighting that thing, not today, our Aerowings aren't gonna beat it in this state.
Dirks 8: Still, I refuse to ab-
Dirks 8 attempts to fly over Yeager but is gunned down by D4R
Dirks 5: Well, I'm just gonna leave.

<D4R>: The entire dispatchment... that quickly... barely even worth yawning over.
D4R turns to face the MDA base
Soldier 4: He's turning this way! Ready the defensive missiles!
Soldier 31: Uh... what do you mean.
Soldier 4: THE ONES THE- THE ALLI- THE FT MISSILES!!! IN THE TRUCKS!!
Soldier 31: ...sir, requesting orders.
Soldier 4: WHAT?!
<D4R>: He can't hear you. Of the comms I can jam, yours are somehow the easiest.
Soldier 4: Wha-... well, you're in for a surprise! I know how to operate an SBS-2!
<D4R>: Go ahead. Amuse me.

Head to head, gun to gun... auto-aiming versus railguns... a standoff for the age-

Oh that was quick.

Soldier 59: WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!
Soldier 67: That madman in the SBS just got... atomized...
Soldier 4: I'm fine! My wife's done worse than that when I got the groceries wrong...
Soldier 22: Well OK, but we still don't have a runway now.
Soldier 4: One. We don't have one runway. The other one, however...

In a last ditch effort to ward off the attacker, two dozen aircraft are scrambled, consisting of VNF-25A Diyus and FT-10C Upheavors.

FT-10 Bullseye 12: Alright guys, move fast and take that thing down!
VNF-25 Hunter 1: Finally getting to put these Diyus to use, think it'll be enough?
FT-10 Bullseye 11: Haha, we're all absolutely cooked.
Dapper: Hey wait a minute... I can hear you!
VNF-25 Hunter 6: In fact, he can hear us.
<D4R>: I turned comms back on. I wanna see where this goes-
Soldier 4: They are?! ALL SOLDIERS, READY THE FT MISSILES!
<D4R>: Well, what do you know? This might actually be interesting...

The Final Standoff

The FT-10Cs are first to engage, attacking the D4R head on... it's not very effective.

<D4R>: Your aim is sloppy. I'm up here.
FT-10 Bullseye 3: Maybe I wouldn't be sloppy if you weren't wobbling like a chair with a missing leg!
<D4R>: Interesting analogy. May I suggest you without a tail?
FT-10 Bullseye 3: Oh heck no!
Bullseye 3 turns around to face D4R, but mid turn his tail is sawed off by the lasers of the D4R. After a short swearing session, Bullseye 3 is force to eject. He is shortly followed by Bullseye 5, who's tail is also demolished, though not by D4R, but by Bullseye 3's plane falling on his.
Bullseye 3: ...how did that even happen, bruh.
Bullseye 5: Anything can happen in aerial combat.
Bullseye 3: IT WAS RIGHT THERE, IT WAS SO EASY TO DODGE!

The other FT-10s don't do too great against D4R either. The VNF-25As attempt to attack the D4R, but it manages to down a total of 7 more FT-10s. Now, the combat force is left with all 12 Diyus and only 3 of the original FT-10Cs.

<D4R>: You know how this ends, right?
VNF-25 Hunter 9: No. Enlighten me?
<D4R>: You will be destroyed. Your friends will be destroyed. Everything you're fighting for will be destroyed. And once you're out of the way, we will finally achieve total dominance.
VNF-25 Hunter 9: Well, that's a big what, where's the why?
<D4R>: It's not obvious?
VNF-25 Hunter 9: ...
<D4R>: Salvation. Your world... it's full of darkness. If SCOURGE pulls this off... he could save the whole world.
VNF-25 Hunter 9: By wiping out humanity?
<D4R>: By gaining total control. By making a world with no outlaws, criminals, none of it. A utopia if you will.
VNF-25 Hunter 9: Sounds like a dystopian society to me.
<D4R>: Call it what you wish. Either way, I plan to be one of many vanguards for this dream.
VNF-25 Hunter 7: The joke is on you, bud! While you were yapping, we got the FT missiles up!
<D4R>: I know.

D4R pulls a hard bank, surprisingly, the first couple FT missiles are dodged.
Soldier 4: Impossible...
<D4R>: Electronics... so powerful... but so sensitive. One wrong signal destroys the whole thing... SCOURGE figured you might try that-
While flexing, D4R is struck by a VNF-25A.

VNF-25 Hunter 12: HA! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?!
<D4R>: I did not.
D4R fires the railgun. It's only a glacing hit, but the force is enough to shear off the right wing. Hunter 12 ejects from his stricken bird, and survives the day as the only pilot to strike D4R.

<D4R>: Now, how many more of your kin do you wish to send to their dem-
-Flagstaff-: That's enough, D4R.
<D4R>: Really? I wasn't even warmed up yet...
-Flagstaff-: Don't show off too much too early. We don't want to give them any ideas...
<D4R>: Very well then. Just, one more pass.

D4R flies by the MDA base. This time, he doesn't fire, but if anything he does so as an even further statement, showing he feels safe enough to not even need to attack any further.

<D4R>: Now we go.

---

Back at Bandit...

UNO: ...
<D4R>: ...
Dapper and Tux, sharing a braincell again: ...
-Flagstaff-: ...this coffee is cold.
Red Demon A: I still don't get how y'all can consume food.
Silence...
UNO: ......Señor Flagstaff?
-Flagstaff-: Uno.
UNO: ...¿Vas a explicar qué demonios fue eso?
DOS: Yeah, I wasn't aware we were building superplanes now...
-Flagstaff-: Me neither. I got the word at five this morning. He's some kind of experiment... he doesn't even have a name...
D4R also drinks some coffee for some reason
<D4R>: ...I imagine Snowstone is warmer than this.
Red Demon A: OK OK, just, hear me out guys, what about Destroyer?
-Flagstaff-: What's that now?
Red Demon A: I mean... D-Four-Are, D-Strour-Are, Destroyer? Kinda sound similar??
-Flagstaff-: ...that is the absolute worst reasoning I've ever heard.
Dapper: Ehhh I dunno Flag, she kinda has a point.
Tux: Besides, what else are you going to name something that insane? "Butterfly?"
DOS: In all fairness, he does have a butterfly tail.
UNO: ¿Por qué se llama así? Suena tan intimidante como un osito de peluche.
Red Demon A: Still suggesting we call him Destroyer.
<D4R>: Guys, my name is-
-Flagstaff-: We're getting off topic here, point is, SCOURGE wanted D4R here-
<D4R>: I'm trying to tell you my name is-
-Flagstaff-: -so he's here. And we are NOT calling him Destroyer-
Dapper: Yea we are!
<D4R>: MY NAME-
Tux: Destroyer!
DOS: Ah, what the heck. Destroyer it is.
UNO: Destroyer...
-Flagstaff-: I hate you. All of you.

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Chart of all aircraft involved, because this time I finally can since there's not like 20000 fighters in one space

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End of Message

Also first TUPL-made Scourge War article of 2026 yeeee