Paladin saw Jager's missile miss out of the corner of his eye. That shouldn't have been possible at this range, even with Wernher-Noah's shoddy missile homing systems. His own loadout--a few normal AIM-9 Sidewinders plus a clutch of heavy-hitting HPAAs--was built on the quantity-over-quality policy W-N took with its bog-standard ordnance. The premium missile lines with their upgraded warheads, propellant, and homing systems, were a bit out of Arrows' current price range.<br/><br/>It took him a moment to put the pieces together. Low heat signatures. The UAVs weren't putting out nearly as much exahust as your average fighter, which meant that heaters would simply go wide beyond handshake range. As the UNF forces closed in on the drones, he refrained from letting one of his few missiles loose, opting instead for a gun kill. As one of the drones broke into a steep climb, he followed suit, pitching his craft upward and rolling to get a better angle. Open the throttle a little more and...<br/><br/>'In gun range, Five,' Goodfellow said.<br/><br/>Just then, a crosshairs appeared on his display. He nudged the stick just a touch to starboard, leading his target as it turned, and squeezed off a burst from his fighter's built-in Vulcan. He was gratified to see the drone break apart and explode in midair. He must have hit a battery or fuel tank. It wasn't a very impressive kill, but a guy had to start somewhere. Besides, UNF policy was to pay mercenary pilots a commission on every kill. Every one was a little extra padding for the bank account, no matter how insignificant. Still, something was off about this business. Only eight UAVs, and so far, they weren't actually putting up much of a fight. A quick glance at the remaining targets in the air told him these were Searcher-class UAVs--recon drones.<br/><br/>Omega had caught on as well. 'Omega to Goodfellow, these guys are all scout UAVs. Do you have eyes on a second wave?'<br/><br/>There was a pause.<br/><br/>'Goodfellow here. Affirmative. Another squadron of UAVs has just entered J4E airspace. I'm seeing twelve this time, and they're different models. Be careful, these new bandits have anti-air weapons. Finish up that first wave, then engage the new targets.'<br/><br/>The new bogeys appeared at the very edge of Paladin's radar display. Judging by the speed at which they moved on the screen, the Arrows and 309 Squadron still had a couple of minutes to mop up these last scouts before the UCAVs posed a big threat. In other words, plenty of time. Paladin leveled his fighter and banked to starboard, hoping to steal an extra drone or two from under the JASDF pilots' noses.