Ola had already noticed something strange behind the clouds before his subordinate warned him.
A bank of clouds suddenly parted, and countless streaks of golden light swooped down from above the Stuka formation's flank.
They were Griffins.
Royal Griffin Knights in heavy armor, wielding dragon lances.
Diana's warning before their departure flashed through Ola's mind-"Remember, the Empire has Griffins. They can't catch you in a dive, so they'll ambush you at the low-altitude point where you pull out. That's when you're most vulnerable."
"Damn it! That woman was right!"
Ola spat viciously. A savage gleam filled his eyes as he watched those golden reapers dive down to intercept them, exploiting their altitude advantage.
Great Skuas were ill-suited to low-altitude dogfights. If they scattered, they would become live targets, picked off one by one.
[Don't panic! Form up! Circular defense!]
Ola relayed his orders to every knight. [Cover each other! Climb! Nobody stops to fight them!]
The Stuka formation traced laborious arcs through the air, trying to converge on the center.
But the Griffins came too fast.
Bam!
A dull impact rang out.
A Stuka Knight on the outer edge of the formation had yet to rejoin the others when two Royal Griffins caught him from either side.
The Griffin Knights' heavy dragon lances plunged into the Great Skua's belly with the momentum of their dive.
Although Living Graft Armor covered that area, the armor woven from ironwood and blood vines still tore open before such heavy armor-breaking weapons.
[Captain! They've got me!]
The young knight's terrified cry came over the communications channel.
Ola glanced back. That Stuka looked like a wild duck caught between two hunting dogs, its speed dropping sharply. More Griffins immediately swarmed it, stabbing wildly with their dragon lances as blood and feathers burst through the air.